(Y/N)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You had not expected the day to start like this. Honestly, you should have expected that Scarlet was going to put one of the Dragonets of Destiny in her arena sooner or later, but now here you were. You and Tsunami peering over the edge as Clay was forced out by the guards into the sandy, dusty open space of the arena. 

Clay stopped, turning around to face the overhanging platform of which Scarlet resided. When she had walked out, you couldn't help but duck quickly out of sight, before you managed to force yourself to peek back over the edge. You were much more terrified of Scarlet now, but you were honestly just happy you didn't have to be accompanying her for the arena fight. You much preferred Tsunami's company. Or really any of the Dragonet of Destiny's company compared to the bloodthirsty Skywing Queen. Beside her was Glory, still chained. Still sleeping. Or at least it looked like she was sleeping. It was hard to tell from the distance, but also you weren't sure if she was pretending or not. 

Glory has her acidic venom. You remembered. She's probably our only ticket out of here. 

A part of you just wished Glory could just use her venom on Scarlet then and there, and maybe the Dragonets, (along hopefully with yourself) would be able to escape in the chaos. Like in the actual story, but of course, that wasn't the case. So far, things had been going around the same as they had in the books. The Dragonets of Destiny had been captured, they had all experienced the private audience with Scarlet, and Horizon had fought and died to Peril, and now Clay was about to fight an Icewing, if you remembered correctly, but that didn't mean things could unexpectedly change. 

That was probably the main reason why you were still being secretive about the information that you knew. And where you came from. Tsunami had already asked you many questions about your life, and how you seemed so sure of everything, but you weren't ready to tell her the truth...

Not yet anyway...

Tsunami, who sat beside you, towering over you, was currently staring intently and nervously down at Clay. You could understand why she was worried. 

"It's alright. He'll survive. I'm sure." You reassured her. Her ears flickered in your direction, as her tail twitched a bit, as she heard your words. 

A sudden flapping from nearby got you attention. You were beyond suprised to see that it was... Peril? Yes, it was her. She had flown down and landed on a platform not too far from the one that you and Tsunami shared. With a jolt, you realized that she was sitting on the now empty platform that Horizon had been imprisoned. 

You saw as she glanced at Tsunami for a second, but her eyes widened when she noticed you. You couldn't blame her if she was suprised that she was seeing an uneaten Scavenger sharing a platform with another Dragon... or at least you guessed that was the reason, but you were still uneasy around her. Especially considering that she had literally burned a Dragon to death, and you had gotten to witness it in graphic first-hand detail. You nudged Tsunami, as she looked over, saw Peril, before she growled, and pulled you closer to her with her tail. 

"Don't come any closer!" Tsunami shouted at her, even though the two of them were on completely separate pillars. Peril just snorted, giving you a mysterious look, before turning her attention to what was going on below. You and Tsunami did the same.

She must be there to watch the arena fight below. I guess she's not allowed to sit with Scarlet. Or anywhere near any other Dragons.

Queen Scarlet, meanwhile, was grinning madly, before she let out a roar. "Bring in the combatant!" 

The crowd cheered as Clay's opponent was marched out from underneath the platform, only this time, they were an Icewing, like you thought. Even from up on you pillar you could still see the sunlight reflecting from their ice-blue scales. Tracing down their neck was a huge wide scar, and they had a hauntingly grumpy look on their face. 

"After last month's battle with blazes army, my dungeons were stuffed with Icewing prisoners of war. Only five have survived. After two wins, here's - FJORD OF THE ICEWINGS!" Scarlet roared as the huge crowd of Dragon's cheered, roared and shouted. That was before Scarlet turned her attention to Clay, who stood, wings tucked in, with a rather nervous look on his face. 

Scarlet gave a toothy grin, before she called out.

"And in this corner: I'm sure a LEGENDARY DRAGONET OF DESTINY will have no problem surviving my little arena! Isn't that right, Clay of the Mudwings?" She snarled that last part. The horrible grin never vanishing. 

A chorus of voices flew up into the air. 

"KILL THE MUDWING!"

"RIP HIS TALONS OFF!"

"BURN HIM UP!"

"HUZZAH!" 

"FREEZE HIS FACE OFF!"

"KILL THE ICEWING!"

"SHOVE HIS TAIL DOWN HIS THROAT!"

"Oh god, this is going to be worse than Horizon's battle." You muttered to yourself, before Scarlet raised her head and roared the dreaded words:

"CLAW'S UP! TEETH READY! FIGHT!" She roared, and with that, the battle had officially started.

(Clay)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clay and Fjord began to circle each other, muscles tensed in case one of them decided to pounce. To be fair, Clay didn't want to fight. Not really any way. Innocent or not, he couldn't bring himself to kill another Dragon. Fjord included. 

Wanting to try and stall the whole concept of the two of them, 'trying to kill each other.' Clay decided to at least try to talk some sense into Fjord. That it didn't have to be this way. 

"Um, Hello, Fjord... Right?" He said. 

Fjord just stopped and stared at him. 

"You know, I've never really met an Icewing before. I don't really see any Ice wings where I grew up. J-Just Listen. We don't have to fight. Don't you want to escape? To end the war?"

Fjord just snarled. "Huh? I don't understand what you're talking about. This is battle. This is war. Only one of us survive. How could you not know this? What rock have you been living under?"

"Um, a pretty big one actually. In fact, I guess you could call it a mountain. I guess that probably because it is. I, um, sorry. I guess I'm still excited about meeting an Icewing. I didn't expect ice to be so, blue. It's pretty cool. Oh! N-no pun intended." Clay laughed nervously.

"BOO! Someone bite someone already!" Someone yelled from the crowd. 

"So, about not going to kill each other-" Clay started to say before he was interrupted. 

"What are you doing!? Are trying to get us both killed? Just shut-up and let me kill you!" Fjord roared before he leapt towards Clay. 

Clay only managed to just dodge out of the way before Fjord's claws closed on empty air. 

"Wait! Are you sure we have to?" Clay asked, before he noticed Fjord had his mouth open. Steamy breath was filling the air around his mouth, as Clay stood there staring back at him. Expecting him to pounce again. Suddenly, he heard someone calling. He looked up at the pillars above. 

His eyes quickly drew to a black scaled Dragon, whom he quickly identified as his friend, Starflight, pointing at his own open mouth frantically. Before blowing fire, and then covering himself with his wings, like he was cold. 

What... Clay thought, before suddenly it clicked. He had only a second to react before he rolled out of the way. Just in time for Fjord to shoot Frost breath at the spot he had just been before. Covering the ground there in ice. However, Clay wasn't completely lucky.

ooooOOWWW! Clay thought, clenching his teeth in pain. Some of the deadly freezing breath had clipped the end of his wing, encasing wing membrane there in ice. 

"Right. Icewings have freezing death breath. Forgot about that. Thanks Starflight!" He muttered, groaning in pain, as he got to his feet only to see the Icewing preparing to fire the deadly breath at him again. Thinking quickly, Clay breathed a blaze of flame directly at Fjord, earning him a few seconds as the Icewing coughed and chocked, trying to clear his lungs of the smoke. Wasting no time, Clay leapt on top of Fjord, pinning him down, and wrapped his talon around throat and began to squeeze. 

Fjord gasped and chocked, as he scrambled to get Clay off, but Clay was too heavy. Not to mention he had been caught completely off guard. 

"What's wrong with you!? This isn't how Mudwings fight! I was trained in Mudwing techniques!" Fjord cried, as Clay bared his teeth down at him.

"Well I wasn't." He said simply. 

Come on! Kill him! Kill him now! Now's your chance! Here's where that monster inside saves the day! Clay thought, as he stared down at Fjord. Completely at his mercy. 

But I don't want to kill Fjord. I don't want to kill anyone! He's as much as a prisoner as I am...

Clay thought. easing the pressure of Fjord's body slight. Suddenly, Fjord leapt up, toppling Clay off and onto his back. Before he could move, Fjord was there, Frost breath already hissing out of his jaws. 

The crowd was cheering Fjord on. Scarlet was laughing like a maniac, as she grinned, ready to see one of the Dragonets of Destiny die. 

"Time to die Mudwing!" He snarled before a massive roar interrupted them both, before that was overlapped with a voice that he did not recognize. 

"TSUNAMI! NOOOOO!"

(Y/N)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You stared down in the area, nibbling your fingernails a bit, as you urged Clay on. You could tell Tsunami was also rooting for Clay, as she paced back and forth, watching the battle play out below. Once more, you found yourself praying that things will turn out the same way things will in the books. That Clay will survive. 

You looked up at Tsunami, as she sat down again, listening to the crowd roar and cheer. When Fjord blasted his frost breath, Tsunami snarled, and looked as though she would be more than happy to just jump down into the arena and protect her friend by finishing Fjord off.  

"Listen Tsunami. He'll survive. He will. I know he will." You said, trying to calm her down. 

"How do you know that!? You don't! My friend is in danger! I-I, can't let Clay die! I won't!" She cried. 

"And he won't. He'll defeat Fjord. Or maybe something else will happen that will stop the fight. Who knows?" You said, trying to sound calm, but internally you were just as stressed for Clay as Tsunami.

 Tsunami snarled. "Oh yeah, you just HAVE to be cryptic and mysterious!" She said, as she scuffed the dust and small pebbles on the platform. Clearly panicked and annoyed. 

You felt slightly hurt by her statement, but in the end, you knew she wasn't meaning to be rude or aggressive. She was just worried for her friend. And you could relate. (Even through you hadn't properly met Clay in person yet.)

"J-Just, promise me you won't do something stupid and reckless. Alright? Clay will survive. You hear me-"

A huge roar from the crowd shot up from below. Only this time, it sounded more excited than before. You and Tsunami peered back over the edge, only just in time to see Clay be thrown to the ground. Before he could move, Fjord leapt on top of him. Clay struggled and squirmed, but he was pinned down. 

"So. How sure are your feelings that Clay will survive now?" Tsunami said, trembling. 

You were holding your breath. Waiting for something to happen. 

Something did happen. 

And that something was Tsunami. 

You looked up just in time to see Tsunami tense, before yelling.

"NO! NOOOOO GET AWAY FROM CLAY!" She roared, and before you could move, or even remind her about reckless actions, she ran and dived... Chains clanking... Wings still clamped... Right over the edge of the platform and disappeared from sight. 

"Wait! TSUNAMI! NOOOOO" You screamed, louder than you thought a Human could possibly do, gaining the attention of several Dragons on nearby pillars, who stared in shock, but you didn't care. You rushed over to the edge of the platform. 

However, you breathed an enormous sigh of relief, as you looked over the edge, only to see that Tsunami hadn't gone far. She was squirming and struggling a few meters below the pillar, tangled up in the chains that had attached her to the pillar, hanging in mid-air. Despite this, she was still roaring furiously. 

"AAARGH! UGH! DON'T... HURT... CLAY!" She roared. You could easy imagine the raw fury on her facial expression. She was so loud, that soon everyone had stopped that they were doing to stare up in stunned silence at her. 

Many of the Dragons on other platforms were crying out as some of them found themselves being pulled towards the edge, as the weight of Tsunami began to drag them all down. The chains linking each of the platforms tightened and frayed under the sudden tension as the furious Seawing retaliated. 

All of the Dragons on the platforms are connected... You remembered, glancing rapidly at all of the other platforms, where other prisoners had gripped onto the stone, or readjusted themselves to prevent being pulled off their spire.

On the bright side, Tsunami had caused quite the distraction as it turned out.

Fjord had stopped trying to rip Clay's throat out. Clay was staring up at Tsunami with a mixture of gratitude, but mainly shock on his face. The grin on Scarlet's face had vanished as she stared up at Tsunami with a frown instead. No doubt furious that Clay's thrilling death had been so rudely interrupted. Not to mention all of the other prisoners on the other platforms were also staring at her, as she kicked and clawed at the chains.  Still yelling curses and alarmingly detailed threats at the top of her lungs. She looked like a fly caught in a Spider's web. You would be lying if you said you weren't inspired by her bravery...

...Or at least her recklessness to do the exact opposite thing you told her to do. 

"Hey, what's that? On top of the platform... Is that a Scavenger?" Someone shouted from below. Suddenly, you felt hundreds of eyes turn to you, as you stood there at the edge, in clear view for all to see, but there was no time to worry about that now. There was one Dragon in particular who was staring at you, and that was Peril, only her expression was pure shock. She looked stunned. 

Uh oh. Maybe she heard me speak? That can't be good. You thought, but that thought was dismissed as soon as it entered you head. You didn't have time to worry about that now.

You were just worried about Tsunami. 

"Tsunami! Are you alright!? Why did you do that!?" You cried. Your voice sounded much more amplified in the silence. Even the winds had died down, as if the universe was giving you a chance to speak. 

"Oh, don't worry about me Y/N! I'm alright! Well, at least I will be if DRAGONS STOP TRYING TO KILL ME AND MY FRIENDS!" She roared, as she directed that last sentence directly as Scarlet, who stood, having not moved at all, staring up at Tsunami before finally... at you.

Before things could escalate further, there was suddenly an ear-piercing shriek, which instantly got everyone's attention. It was Fjord. He had risen up on his hind-legs, writhing his limbs and neck, clutching his face, before he began to scream. 

And that was when you saw it. Even from up on the platform you could the horror of what was happening to the Icewing, as he stumbled away from Clay, who got up, his eyes never leaving Fjord. A look of terror on his face.

Fjord's scales... were melting. They were bubbling and fizzling, like someone had just thrown a bucket of an unbelievably strong acid on him, as he collapsed to the ground, rolling around as he screamed and roared in unbelievable agony. 

"HHEEEEELLLPPP! OH, THREE MOONS IT HURTS! IT HURTS! PLEEASE SOMEONE HELP! MAKE IT STOOOOOP!"

He screeched, before finally giving one last spasm, his half-melted body collapsed to the ground, and didn't move again. Everyone stared. Tsunami had stopped struggling. The guards didn't even make a move to investigate what had just happened. Scarlet was grinning insanely... however, high up on your platform, you had seen something nobody else had. 

While everyone was focused on Fjord's melted corpse, you had glanced over to Scarlet's royal platform, just in time to see Glory, lower her head, close her mouth, and seemly go back to sleep...

As if nothing had ever happened. 

(Author's Note)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There we are! Another chapter done! 

Spoiler alert, things will start getting pretty interesting in the next few chapters. Especially now that Peril seems to have realized something about that Scavenger... Maybe Clay was apparently right about something? Hmmm... I wonder what? ;)

Not to mention Burn is on her way...