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Eluvia sat still, eyes closed, wings slightly spread. Her creamy brown, nearly white, scales glinted softly in beams of sunlight streaking through clouds. The wind brushed softly over her snout, testing her, calling to her, like a friend eager for adventure. It was like a steady presence, wanting to carry her into the sky and dance as she twisted and moved. It was her closest friend and her most trusted companion. It would carry her to victory.

The roaring in the background grew louder as she opened her eyes. Flicking her tail with eagerness as she looked down the narrow passageway in front of her. Two dozen dragons readied themselves around her. Each a formidable and worthy opponent. Many had the same creamy brown colour as she did, the symbol of a wind dragon, but there were several that had a searing icy blue colour. Rare was the ice dragon that could match a wind dragon's speed and expertise in the sky, and these ice dragons were the best of the best.

Surrounding the group was a large range of icy mountains, which seated crowds of dragons in the millions. Their roaring and cheering drowned out all other sounds, sending a cacophony of echoes through the mountain range. Most were also wind and ice dragons, each trying to yell over the other, calling for their favourites to win. Eluvia heard her name cheered several times, and she couldn't help but feel the pride rise in her chest, looking at the crowd. There was the odd different colour within the crowd. The occasional reds and yellows of fire and lighting, the green and silver of earth and metal. She even spotted a group of pitch-black shadow dragons.

Such was this event. A once in a century opportunity to win the race of a lifetime. Eluvia had been training her entire life to be placed in this position, having gone from one of the dreaming hatchlings in the crowd of the previous race, to here now, as one of the favourites. She could see it now. The screams as she passed through the finish line. She shook herself out, getting up onto all fours, spreading her wings as she once again turned her vision toward the start of the race. A long narrow cleft between two large mountains, barely wide enough to fit the wingspan of two dragons.

"Ready to be pummelled Luvy?" a cold presence to her right caused her to turn to the ice dragon next to her.

There was a smirk on his snout, and an odd cold aura radiated from him. His icy scales glittered with near unnatural brilliance, and his piercing yellow eyes held a deep power. Eluvia could even see the ice slowly forming below the drake as he turned to look down the narrow cleft in front of them.

"The only reason you beat me last time was because you flung another dragon in front of me," snorted the dragoness, "I'm not gonna let you get away with that this time."

His eyes sparkled with amusement, "Oh, we'll just have to see."

"You're going down once and for all Cesyl," she narrowed her eyes.

"I guess this is the tiebreaker isn't it," he grinned, "And what a race to have it in."

She couldn't help but smile back, "And our legendary rivalry will finally be decided."

"May the best dragon win," he replied, taking a step back and refocusing himself as a large horn blasted from one of the mountains.

Eluvia took another deep breath, hopping back and forth and flapping her wings to get her blood pumping. She ignored the growing excited anxiety growing in her stomach. She blocked out the roaring crowd. The second horn blasted, this one louder. The crowd went silent now, each dragon waiting with anticipation for the beginning of the race. Eluvia went still, crouching and gripping her claws into the stone ground beneath her feet, wings spread and at the ready. The final horn blared, a screaming sound, and Eluvia launched herself forward with a gigantic flap of her wings.

The wind leaped at her will, catching her wings and throwing her. It twisted around her in gleeful excitement, responding to her will with eagerness. But as she shot forward, a spike of ice severed the air next to her, shooting past her with cold intensity, clearing twenty dragon lengths in a near-instant, before exploding. Eluvia let out a cry of surprise as she twisted, slowing down her fast start as crystalline splinters severed through the air. Several stung her wings and scales. The dragons around her also roared out in pain as the beginning of the race quickly dissolved into pandemonium.

The only dragon that wasn't bothered by the glittering splinters of ice was Cesyl as he shot through unharmed, a victorious smirk on his mouth. He opened his mouth, breathing a stream of icy wind into the crevice in front of him, before diving through and disappearing from sight. Eluvia hovered for a moment, shaking her head as she recovered from the initial shock of the icy explosion. Her eyes widened as she looked at the crevice, growling out in frustration and anger as she watched the ice clinging to the stone edges begin to expand, quickly forming into a wall and growing down the length of the crevice.

"That damned lizard," snarled Eluvia.

She twisted in the air, calling to the wind again and with a flap shot forward. The others were recovering as well, and seeing the way forward steadily becoming blocked they followed her. The dragoness was forced into a steep dive as the ice began to race faster and faster, aiming to block the entire crevice. She could break through it with enough force, but that would take several moments that weren't worth leaving.

She managed to get underneath the growing ice, and quickly pulled out of her dive, shooting into the crevice. Three other wind dragons made it as well before the entire passageway became blocked off. She flapped her wings several times to rise higher into the air. The wind drake behind her took the opportunity, and with a burst of speed quickly passed underneath her talons as she continued to rise. She didn't mind too much. It was only the beginning of the race, and she knew it was better to be higher, where the wind was more malleable and free.

The ice wall behind them cracked as the other racers desperately tried to breakthrough. She heard it shatter as the others finally broke through, racing forward with roars and shoves, elements being flung forth as dragons were thrown against the narrow walls of the passageway, hurriedly dodging gusts of strong wind and shards of ice. She expected many of the ice dragons to end up ahead in this section of the race, as they were at a distinct advantage with their element in narrower areas.

However, the other three wind dragons and she were already far ahead, and together they shot out of the crevice and into the open mountain range. Roars met their progress as, now that they had the freedom to move, they called upon a strong tailwind with desperate flaps of their wings to catch up with the ice dragon that was still several hundred dragon lengths in front. Eluvia could barely see the ice dragon as he twisted out of their sight once again, pulling into a sharp turn and disappearing into a long narrow tunnel in the side of a mountain.

She narrowed her eyes at that. It was a risky maneuver flying through the tunnel. It was quicker than going around, for sure, but it was full of obstacles that could really be damaging if one wrong move was made. So, she simply flapped her wings, pulling around the side, smiling as the dragons watching the race from the mountainside cheered her on. Two of the wind dragons followed her, while the other, the drake that had passed her previously, followed Cesyl into the tunnel. Eluvia shook her head. The only reason she would ever risk it would be if she was so far behind that it was the only chance she had to catch up. She had already broken her wing once attempting the tunnel.

She pulled her vision forward, settling into her pace as she rose higher into the sky, trying to calm her racing heart from the intense beginning of the race. She couldn't help but smile. The exhilaration rushing through her body was unreal. This was what it was to be in the biggest race of the century. This is what it was to be in the top group and truly excel.

She pushed forward, passing around the mountain into the straight and narrow. A growl escaped her as she looked ahead to see Cesyl already was out of the tunnel and was accelerating to the next obstacle. The wind drake was nowhere to be found. Eluvia took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. The dragons behind her were pulling into her split stream, where it was easier to fly. A simple technique for long races. It wasn't good to annihilate your competitors immediately all the time.

The three dragons continued to swap positions every couple of minutes as they pushed forward as Cesyl continued to increase his lead. The mountains were becoming smaller and smaller the longer they flew, but the crowds grew no less frantic. Cesyl was putting on impressive speed, but Eluvia knew that it couldn't last. Cesyl was a strong dragon, fit, and was used to flying for long periods of time. He was also a dragon of equilibrium, a dragon who had reached the perfect balance between element and soul and had the many physical benefits that came with it, but even he couldn't maintain his current speed for too long.

Eluvia had practiced the race many times and knew every nook and cranny of its length. She knew exactly the point where she would make her effort to catch up to him. She looked back to see the other races passing the mountain, now having split into several groups as they struggled to catch up with the leaders. It was possible, but to do so would require a great effort, and they could risk exhausting themselves before they managed to catch up.

She rolled her wings as the dragoness behind her pulled forward to take the lead, allowing Eluvia to slip into the slipstream, giving her wings several minutes of rest as she pulled into a half glide. They reached the end of the mountain range, shooting out over plains of long brown grass tinged with the hints of ice. The three dragons began to increase their speed now they were out of the mountain range, rising higher into the sky as the wind began to whip and whistle around them, beckoning them onward.

Far in the horizon, Eluvia could see the turning point. A lone mountain at the very edge of the air nation's territory. It was the first checkpoint, where they could grab a quick drink of water and maybe a quick bite to eat, before continuing onward. And so, they flew. Below them, relaxing in the grassy tundra waited cheering dragons who had chosen to fly out to watch the race unfold. They passed over several human villages as well, the people watching from the ground as the dragons passed overhead. The hours passed quickly as Eluvia just focused on beating her wings, ignoring the slowly stiffening joints. They were slowly catching up to Cesyl, but she doubted they would catch him before the checkpoint, assuming he didn't do a quick stop.

By the time they reached the mountain, the sun was high in the sky, and the climate below them had changed. The yellow, brown grass had become a soft luscious green, and the occasional tree dotted the landscape. Waiting on the mountain itself were several thousand weather dragons, their green and blue mattered scales a stark contrast to the dull grey of the mountainside. They roared out their greetings as Eluvia hit the ground with a skidding thud, breathing heavily as she trotted up to an ice dragon that had been waiting for them.

"Eluvia," she told him.

He nodded, gesturing to a stone in front of him. She reached forward with a talon, scratching a mark in the stone surface, a swirl of wind that many knew as her racer's mark.

"You may rest as much as you like. There are strips of pig to eat, and a stream to drink from. I should warn you however, Cesyl only stopped to scratch his mark, and then left," the drake warned her.

She growled slightly at that, nodding in thanks. The two other wind dragons had scratched their marks in their stones as well and seemed to be taking a moment to rest. Eluvia snarled slightly, flapping her wings to get them warmed up, thinking for a moment on whether or not to continue. It was always a risk to do so, as the halfway point would take the rest of the day to reach. Cesyl would be exhausted by the time he reached the next checkpoint, but he could also be so far ahead that it wouldn't matter. He was used to pushing himself to the extremes, and if Eluvia wanted to win the race, then she would have to as well.

Before she could second guess herself, she launched into the sky with a roar, several dragons cheering her on as she sped into the sky. The two other wind dragons seemed surprised but didn't follow her. There was no more slipstream for her to rest in. Now she needed to push herself to the utmost to catch up with her foe. Usually, he did stop at the rest points, and considering this was the longest race they had ever been in, not doing so could severely impact the finish. In her practice runs, Eluvia had tried to do a quick stop at each of the three checkpoints, and her time had been slower than when she took a moment to eat and drink. But she couldn't think about that now. This was the real thing, and if she was going to win, she needed to take risks.

The next stretch of the race continued back into the Sky nation, heading toward the southernmost border where the checkpoint was a small human town near the edge. A dark line of the mountains stretched along the horizon line, ominous and eerie. A range known as the living mountains, and possibly the most dangerous place on the planet. She was thankful that, even if they got close to the mountains, they weren't forced to race through them.

Ahead of her, she could see a dot in the distance, representing the icy form of Cesyl far ahead of her. He was still keeping a fast pace, and she was forced to try and maintain hers. She pulled at the wind around her, lending herself a tailwind and she sped onward. The green grass became brown and frozen once again. A human village marked the halfway point. The sun was getting low on the horizon now. The only other racer in sight was Cesyl still far ahead of her. There weren't so many dragons waiting along the ground anymore either. The few that were waved and roared out a greeting to her, and she roared back with a smile. Their presence helped her ignore the growing exhaustion in her wings.

The sun was just beginning to set behind her as she landed at the second checkpoint. Long shadows were creeping over the ground. A wind dragon was waiting for her as she landed, breathing heavily and wings slightly sagging beside her. She looked around for the familiar ice drake, but he was nowhere to be found. An annoyed growl rose from her as she walked through the wooden buildings. Several humans watched her with curiosity as she approached the small group of dragons in the middle.

"Eluvia," she said, slightly out of breath.

She was given another stone to scratch her mark into and was told yet again that Cesyl had stopped only the give his mark, before continuing onward. She shook her head in disbelief. She was thirsty, hungry, and tired. Her body was screaming at her for a break. But she was making near-record time. Very rarely did she arrive at this village before sunset. She turned to look at the horizon line to the west and could see several other dragons probably a half-hour still away from the village. She looked east and thought she could spot Cesyl flapping his wings as he continued.

Another growl escaped her. She flicked her tail, before launching into the sky yet again, forcing her tired thoughts to the back of her mind as she continued to the race. The sky darkened, and the stars began to pierce the sky. A cold wind began to breathe along her back as the light of the moon reflected upon her creamy scales. It was tired and less responsive compared to the warmer air of the day. Its dance was slower, less erratic, and stern, making it harder to control. But Eluvia fought through it, all the same, forcing it to turn toward her will. It flung her along, a steady speed boost allowing her to fall into a resting glide for several minutes. Cesyl's glittering form was slowly getting closer, but he was still a fair distance in front. No more dragons waited on the ground to greet her. It was rather surreal, flying alone through the starry night sky.

But she was growing tired and was beginning to struggle to continue the pace she had given herself. She was starting to regret the decision to forgo a quick rest at each checkpoint. Cesyl was getting closer though, which meant he was beginning to grow tired as well, and when she looked behind her she couldn't see any of her approaching competitors. Narrowing her eyes, she began to flap her wings harder, looking forward.

The last checkpoint was a small dragon town at the very coast of the sky nation. The ocean stretched far out before her, broken only by the occasional dot of an island far in the distance. The town was along a series of cliffs, with limestone caves dug within. It was mostly wind dragons that lived there, though waiting for her was a group of both ice and wind dragons. This time she actually saw Cesyl leaving, the ice drake looking rather weary as he began the home stretch of the race. Another quick stop. But she was getting close now.

The thought gave her a burst of energy as she landed with skidding talons, not even bothering with the thought of rest as she signed her stone, and once again shot into the sky. Her wings began to beat rhythmically as she struggled to ignore the pain. Her breaths were beginning to get shorter, and her control of the wind around her was beginning to get hazy as her mind grew more tired of the constant control she was forcing herself to have.

As she looked to the south, she let out a small snarl of annoyance. The other racers were catching up. She could see them as they flew by, landing at the checkpoint. She berated herself on her stupidity. If she had just had the chance to take a rest she would easily be able to make the last stretch of the race. But now, now she was going to be forced to push further than she ever had before if she wanted to have even a chance.

So she began to flap her wings faster, ignoring the groans of protest from her body. She had to win. There wasn't another option. She could rest afterward, but all she had to do was endure the torment of a couple more hours in order to become renowned. She growled in determination, Cesyl's form growing larger and larger as she got closer and closer.

Despite her efforts, however, she knew she was going slower than she normally did at this point of the track. The sun was beginning to rise behind them, spreading its blowing purple and pink light over the sky. The mountain city of the sky nation rose up before them. Eluvia was less than twenty dragon lengths behind Cesyl, the ice dragon beating his wings frantically as the mountains began to rise underneath them, but just over a hundred dragon lengths behind Eluvia was the group of dragons steadily approaching.

Now was the time to make her move. Pushing every thought of pain from her mind, Eluvia twisted in the air, allowing it to move her wings as she gave an especially heavy flap. She pushed the pain from her mind as she accelerated toward the ice dragon. With a roar, a gust of wind launched from her mouth, a narrow stream, aimed at Cesyl's right wing. She heard his roar of surprise as he was imbalanced by the gust of wind, faltering for a moment in the wind. But that moment was all Eluvia needed, and for the first time in the race, she took the lead. The ice drake cried out his frustration as he pushed his exhausted body for more speed, shooting another ice spike at her.

She dodged, having learned from the previous time he had used this attack as the spike exploded in front of her. She hissed as the stings cut into her body, not doing any serious damage, but hurting. It was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her wings as she pushed her body for more speed, knowing that if she didn't overtake the drake now then she wouldn't be able to do so in the final moments of the race.

He was right on her tail as they continued to fly, and as they moved forward Eluvia let out a rumble of annoyance. Ahead of her was the second tunnel of the race. Again, she would usually never take such a risk in order to win. It was an especially bad idea considering how tired she was. But she also knew that Cesyl would take the tunnel, and if he got to the other side as easily as he had done with the other one then he would definitely take the lead. Not to mention the other dragons still right on their tail.

She gave another snarl, and folded her wings, pulling into a dive as she shot toward the tunnel. Cesyl followed as she descended into darkness, snapping her wings back open and allowing herself to get carried through by her tailwind. As she did she flipped around, breathing a large gust of wind back at the ice dragon. He let out a roar of surprise, as he was slowed considerably by the sudden gust, only righting himself by touching the ground with his talons, taking a couple of running steps, before launching himself back into the air.

Eluvia looked forward again, curling past a large pillar, then dodging another, and another, speeding through as fast as she could possibly manage. Any mistake would cost her the race, not to mention serious injury. She had done the tunnel before of course, but she had never taken it at this speed. Her wings strained under the pressure she put on them, dodging, again and again, Cesyl right behind her all the way. Ice shards were shot toward her, exploding in front of her to try and get her to slow down, but she refused. Light shone up ahead, and Eluvia smiled. She was nearly there.

One last obstacle lay in her path. Several pillars lay in layers before her, the gaps too small to fly between. The only way around was small gaps at the end of each row that required a dragon to angle their wings vertically to even have a chance to get through. Eluvia narrowed her eyes, giving herself a burst of speed, and twisting, folding her wings, as for but a moment she ran sideways along the wall, before pushing off and opening her wings, the wind catching her and throwing her out towards the next gap.

She let out a grunt as she jarred her right paw against the opposing wall as she tried the same trick for the next row, but she pushed herself through the pain, launching herself once again to the final gap. She screamed her frustration as she hit the wall hard, pain lancing through her paw once again, but she couldn't let it stop her, and she launched out once again, swing her wings out and into the open with a cry of victory. Cesyl had been slowed by the pillars but was still not far enough behind her that she could relax.

She sped through the mountain valley, the dragons watching on screaming out their excitement. She smiled, flapping her wings harder and harder. Only one last part to go. The dive. Preparing herself she began to climb higher and higher. The mountain in front of her was the tallest in the province. Her wings strained with the effort as she went higher and higher. The other dragons were just making their way around the mountain. They wouldn't be catching up now.

Cesyl followed her, firing several spikes of ice at her, each she either dodged, ignored, or deflected with her own blast of wind as she climbed higher and higher. The wind grew colder and stronger the higher she went, but that didn't matter to her as she twisted it for her advantage. She eclipsed the top of the mountain's snowy peak, and immediately pulled in her wings to dive. A large hole in the top of the mountain met her, and she descended, twisting the air to corkscrew the air around her, speeding her descent even further. Her surroundings became a blur, and she closed her eyes as the wind tore at her wings, beginning her to open them.

This was the feeling she lived for. She felt herself smile, counting the moments, having done this dive many times before. Her eyes snapped open with her wings. She let out a snarl as she curled out of the dive with sudden intensity, her chest and shoulders straining as her wings struggled to pull her out. Behind her, she heard a roar of victory, and Cesyl crashed into her.

The two dragons fell from the air, crashing into the ground and sliding several metres tumbling several metres, where they lay, groaning from the pain. Eluvia's vision flickered back, before she forced her eyes to open, the world looking hazy as she looked at the finish line, less than thirty dragon lengths away. Cesyl was laying still, seeming to be stunned. They had escaped through a hole in the side of the mountain, leading into the opening at the end of the dive. The finish line was the same place they had started from, and it felt as if it were right in front of Eluvia's nose.

The wind dragoness opened her eyes wide with sudden panic. She scrambled to her feet, and with a flap of her wings launched into a wobbly flight. Sudden pain in her wing caused her to cry out, falling to the ground again. The screams from the spectators were filling the arena as Cesyl slowly began to move, seeming to recover from their crash.

A growl escaped the wind dragoness as she launched into a run, ignoring the jolts in her wing with each movement, and the pain in her right forepaw with each step. A roar of panic behind her caused her to look around to see Cesyl slowly getting to his feet. The two made eye contact, and he launched a spike of ice at her. She leaped backward, sweeping her good wing around and deflecting the spike into the ground. She glanced at the finish line, only fifteen dragon lengths away. Her eyes widened as the first dragon pulled out of their dive, another wind dragon, one of the two that Eluvia had reached the first checkpoint with. He seemed to have slowed down, thinking the race was over, but when he saw the two dragons grounded mere moments away from the finish line, his eyes widened, and he flapped his wings with a sudden burst of speed.

Knowing that if she didn't act now, Eluvia launched forward with a scream, snapping open her wings, ignoring the searing pain of her broken wings as she launched forward. The wind around her caught her and threw her forward. The entire city seemed to hold their breath as the wind drake cleared the distance between them in a blur.

Eluvia hit the ground, and collapsed, breathing heavily, and her vision making the world swim at odd angles. The wind drake crash landed beside her, a moment too late. The roar of the crowd filled the stadium. The very air around them thrummed with victory. And Eluvia let out a smile, letting the world fade out of existence as her exhaustion got the best of her. A single thought flowed through her head. She had won.

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Hello all! Thank you for reading the Chronicle of the week. I hope you enjoyed this one. It was an intense one to write XD. I quite enjoyed it. Vote if you enjoyed and tell me what you think of this dragon's race. Also, below are five new stories for you to vote on. So make sure to say which one you want.

The Perfect Mate: Shyal, Light dragoness  - 16Yrs BTA

Catalyst: Zymre, Fire drake - 20Yrs BTA

The Essence of Equilibrium: Zay'ues, Weather drake - 11 Yrs BTA

Inevitable: Acre, Acid drake - 2 Days BTA

A Lost Way: Spyral, Spirit drake - 43 Yrs BTA

Till next week, See Ya!

Pennator^^