Chapter Six

Christian waited for the crowd to settle before continuing, "As many of you know, Tsurio is the last known takapan left in the country, possibly the world. The royal family is fortunate enough to have his loyalty to the crown. I have complete faith in his decision to choose these two based on their intelligent and cunning use of their resources in the final challenge."

Casimir risked a glance towards the takapan, who seemed a lot less aggressive now than he had before. In fact, he almost seemed peaceful as he stared out at the audience, taking them all in. Maybe it had all been part of an act to make him work harder? If it had been, then it had been some very believable acting on the dragon's behalf.

'Don't be fooled, Ivanov,' Tsurio glanced in the direction of the victor, 'I only admit to your skills. This doesn't mean I am any more satisfied that you still have your life. Don't ever try crossing my path again without backup.'

He could barely manage to swallow before he looked away, suddenly worried for his safety standing there so openly. He had been around plenty of dragons in his life and although many of them had a very threatening demeanour, they still had a softer touch to them. Even Adaline's dragon Aedre had a very slim frame and an elegant bone structure. Tsurio seemed almost archaic in appearance with his dark scales and spiked armour. Going off what Leopold had told him, no doubt this particular species of dragon was far older than the others and would have survived in much harsher times, explaining the heavily protected body.

The audience suddenly fell silent as the loud cry of a distressed dragon echoed through the arena. Looking around, Casimir could tell it didn't belong to any dragon in the arena or above it. It came from somewhere further away. It was shortly followed by a siren loud enough to make him reach up to cover his ears. It was the kind that dimmed in and out, teasing his ears. Just as the piercing sound would dim out and give him some kind of relief, it would start up again. He was surprised that when he looked around, none of the audience seemed alarmed. If anything, they almost looked annoyed by the siren. What was the siren for?

"Unfortunately," Christian boomed over the siren with surprising volume for someone of his age, "this means our presentation is cut short. Everyone knows what to do, so please hurry and leave in an orderly fashion."

He gestured for the contestants to follow him back into the exit, while Tsurio took off with impressive strength into the air. A gate was opened at the top of the dome-like barrier, presumably by one of the people working the arena, and he flew out into the open sky. The gigantic creature vanished from sight within seconds.

"Coming from the country, or even out of the country, you probably know nothing about what's happening at the moment. There's no need to worry though, it's all quite normal around here. All of the citizens are used to it now," he said to the four of them, then gestured to Dmitri and Louisa. "You two can head off to the left and follow the rest of the crowd to the safe haven nearby. You two," he pointed at Casimir and Leopold, "will follow me."

Doing as they were told, the three made their way out the back of the arena and directly ahead to another building, much smaller than the arena but made from the same intimidating stone material that looked like it could survive anything that came towards it. Casimir desperately wanted to ask the old man about what was happening and where he was taking them but held back, deciding that he would tell the two victors about what was happening when the time was right.

Christian moved over to a metal gate that appeared to be the only way in and out of the huge structure. Whatever was contained inside either didn't stay there permanently or had no need for sunlight or fresh air. It looked like a giant block of solid stone with just the simple barred gate to enter through. The old man opened it with great effort and gestured for Casimir and Leopold to enter first before dragging it shut behind him.

Shortly after entering, Casimir realised that what had looked like a solid structure from the ground was actually more like a tube with no lid. There was absolutely no roof above them, just open air.

"Recently a rebel group formed to fight against the Tiona family ruling the country," Christian began explaining as he opened a cabinet nearby that held weapons of all kinds, tossing both of the boys a sword with a belt and sheath to hold them in. "They seemed to believe that it isn't right. Something about being born with a certain blood shouldn't give them the right to overthrow the previous royal family and claim everything for themselves." He snorted as though it was the most hilarious thought he had heard in his life.

"If they had known what the royal family was really like before Arabelle 'overthrew' them, they wouldn't think the same thing," he grumbled, barely audible as he continued walking, "that rotten man didn't care about anyone in the slightest other than the other nobles."

"Why are you telling us all this?" Leopold asked, moving faster to walk beside Christian.

"Because we need you two."

"For what?"

"What do you mean, for what? Isn't it obvious?"

"To fight the rebels?"

Christian stopped walking to stare at Leopold incredulously, "Yes, to fight the rebels. The princess is gathering elite riders from around the country to join a squad to find the root of the problem. Seeing as you two are possibly the best swordsmen in Tiona and you now have dragons thanks to winning the tournament, it's only fitting that you join, no?"

Leopold scratched his head slightly, glancing towards Casimir. "I don't know about me, but Casimir is definitely good."

"Just because Casimir beat you in a tournament, doesn't mean that you weren't one of the best in Tiona before that," Christian sounded like he was growing more and more tired as he spoke to Leopold.

Casimir stepped forward and gently tapped Christian's arm. "Should we continue on?"

The ancient man nodded and began making his way to what seemed to be a set of large doors. It was so strange having the roof completely open and yet the building still had internal walls and doors. It was like something had come along one day and simply taken the roof along with it.

"As I was saying, you two will be presented your dragons as the winners of the tournament. We ask that you would consider joining the RDRA and help us."

Casimir pondered the idea. On the one hand, it sounded like a grand adventure, travelling with an elite group of dragon riders to vanquish a rising foe, while on the other hand he would much rather simply find his horse and head back to Altair to escape the madness he had somehow gotten mixed up in. He could tell that Leopold was more excited then he had ever been in his entire life before at the prospect of fighting for his country's royal family. His face was distorted trying to hide his smile.

"Of course, I would be honoured," he said, puffing his chest out.

"I'm not," Casimir grumbled, folding his arms across his chest as they reached the large doors. "What's in it for me anyway? It's not like I should be concerned for this country."

Christian turned to stare at him this time, nearing his breaking point of patience. "Look kid, I know you think you're an amazing swordsman and can do whatever you like, but can you really say you aren't concerned about this country when you're too scared to return to your own?"

He could tell? He thought with shock.

"It's written all over your face," Christian continued, as though he had read Casimir's thoughts. "Besides, I know my facts. I spent enough time in Altair to know a thing or two about the noble families overs there. You aren't fooling me with your poor swordsman act."

Leopold turned to poke Casimir, his eyes as wide as saucepans, "You're from a noble family? Woah! I never would have picked it!"

"That's beside the point," he grumbled folding his arms.

"Is it?" The old man looked exceptionally satisfied with himself. "Now that you have a dragon, there's nothing stopping you from going home now, is there? Except maybe that pride issue of yours."

Casimir scoffed, "Pride issue? What pride issue?"

Now it was Leopold's turn to scoff. "I've barely known you for a day and I can tell you have a pride issue."

"Not helping."

Christian eyed Casimir seriously, gesturing to the door behind him. "No one is telling you to stay with the RDRA forever, Casimir Ivanov. All we are asking is for your help to remove the source of our little problem -- which, might I add, is also affecting Altair. Once our goal is complete, we will send you back on your merry way home with all of your pride restored, having helped save two kingdoms and become a noble in your own right in Tiona."

That caught his attention, despite his efforts to hide it. Christian smirked and continued.

"The promise the princess has given all of the riders in the elite force is that, if they succeed, they will be knighted here in Tiona. That means you will be a step above your siblings, no? And I do believe your eldest brother is--"

"No need to share my whole life story, sir," Casimir interrupted, stepping towards the door. "Fine, fine, I agree. I'll join the stupid squad."

Christian put his arm out to stop Casimir from touching the door, clicking his tongue disapprovingly. "Who said you could go inside?"

"Well what else are we supposed to do?"

The old man turned to Leopold and gestured for his hand, then did the same to Casimir. Without giving the two of them a chance to realise what was happening, he pulled a pin out of his pocket and pricked both of their pointer fingers. While Casimir barely flinched, Leopold cried out in surprise and jumped away, almost tripping over himself in the process.

"Oh shush," Christian snapped, taking a hold of Casimir's wrist while Leopold continued to throw his tantrum. What the heck is he doing? Casimir thought to himself as the old man pulled out a piece of paper and pressed the bleeding hole against it. "There, one contract done."

The old man passed the sheet of paper to Casimir while he moved towards Leopold to do the same to him. Meanwhile, Casimir read over the contract, which had clearly been made well in advance for whoever won this tournament. There was a blank space where he assumed he was meant to write his name to finish it off. The entire thing was something along the lines of accepting the invitation to join the elite squad and understanding that they were bound to stay with the squad until the mission was complete -- in this case, until the source of the rebellious citizens was removed.

He had almost forgotten about the rebels that had disturbed their ceremony until he heard another loud cry from a dragon in the distance, but closer than last time. Christian noticed it too and finally opened the door and entered first, gesturing for Leopold and Casimir to follow him. Just like the rest of the rooms, there was no roof, only open sky. However, this room was far larger than the others and probably took up half of the space the building occupied.

Right in the centre of the room was the brilliant red dragon they had fought in the first round of the competition -- Nadi, if he recalled correctly -- waiting patiently for them to arrive. Christian approached her without hesitation and spoke to her softly. He turned to face Leopold and Casimir, gesturing back to Nadi.

"You have to thank this old girl for watching over your two mongrols. Apparently they've been a bundle of trouble for her. She doesn't have much patients for young dragons, you know."

While Casimir simply frowned with confusion, Leopold bend over into a full bow. "Thank you very much for watching over our dragons." He looked up at Casimir and straightened up, only to grab the other swordsman's head and shove it down into a bow as well.

"Ah, she says thank you. Sort of," Christian chuckled. From his expression, and from the dragon's, Casimir could tell that thank you wasn't the most accurate translation of what Nadi had said. Christian turned around and whistled. "Come on you two, stop playing around and come meet your riders."

Leopold bounced around in his spot, anxious to meet his dragon. Casimir, on the other hand, was anxious for a whole other reason. Two of the two dragons he had encountered today had naturally wanted to eat him before they even knew anything about him. He wasn't exactly optimistic about this next dragon.

A sudden rush of air brought up a cloud of air, causing Casimir to shut his eyes and cover his mouth to avoid breathing in as much of it as he could. When he opened his eyes again, standing either side of Nadi were the young dragons they were meant to ride. Both of them had their sharp eyes trained on him, teeth bared, ready to jump at him at any given moment.

Casimir closed his eyes again, Well isn't that just great.