Glow was leaning over the balcony in front of Scarlet and Glory. She, Corona, and Evenstar were watching intently as the SkyWing guards dropped a hissing blue IceWing into the arena. Clay looked desperate, as if he realized that this was probably a bad idea. Glow nervously looked around in the crowd for Umbalite, hoping at least her kind and generous presence was enough to ease Glow's nerves. Her amber eyes spotted the magenta-and-violet clad SkyWing concealed behind a couple burly SkyWings. Unfortunately, it did nothing to calm Glow down.

       Corona elbowed Glow harshly and Evenstar struggled to sneak underneath Glow's wing even further. "What do you think you're doing? Trying to buy Sunny? Have you gone crazy? You realize the dragonets of destiny will probably hate you now, right?" Corona hissed quietly.-

       Glow rolled her eyes. "Do you honestly think that Scarlet's going to keep up her end of the bargain?" She began. Corona's black eyes softened slightly. "What I'm buying is time." Glow explained.

       Corona still looked unconvinced. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Corona asked cautiously.

       "Don't worry, I can handle it" Glow reassured. I hope.

       Glow directed her attention to Vermilion strutting into the arena confidently. From the corner, he began to bellow at the dragons in the stadium. "After last month's battle with Blaze's army, our queen's dungeons were stuffed with IceWing prisoners of war. Only nine have survived. After two wins, I give you – Fjord of the IceWings!" Although his voice projected confidence, his face betrayed his façade.

       Fjord lashed his tail and snarled at Clay.

       "And in this corner, an unusual case – a MudWing, but not one of our allies. No, this dragonet was found hiding under our mountains, protected by the Talons of Peace. Is he one of the dragonets of destiny? Not if he loses this battle!" The red dragon joked.

       There was a murmur of laughter rippling throughout the seats, although Glow and Corona snickered a bit too, surprisingly. Even in this grim situation, Vermilion had a sense of humour, although Glow wasn't entirely sure whether that was a good or bad thing. After all, it was kind of necessary for Clay to survive in order for the prophecy to come true. "If these prophesized dragonets are as wonderful and legendary as they're supposed to be, this should be a showdown to remember. I hope you're prepared to impress us, dragon of the mud. I present to you...Clay of the MudWings!" The seats erupted with blood-thirsty cheers. "Claws up, teeth ready! Fight!"

       This was it. Clay needed to prove that he was capable, or Pyrrhia would lose one of its only hopes. Glow felt her stomach turn in anticipation as Fjord began slithering towards him. Fjord was only a head bigger than him, but as Fjord was circling him like a mountain lion, Clay seemed small in comparison. Glow was feeling her teeth physically chatter with fear and felt Corona and Evenstar grip her talons tightly.

       Glow could faintly hear Clay's soft and nervous voice. "Uh, hello. Fjord, right?" Fjord stopped and stared at him. "I've never met an IceWing. I've never met much of anyone, really. I mean, I guess I read that you were all the colour of ice, but I didn't realize that ice came in so many colours. Like, you know, blue. Very surprising. It's cool, though. Oh, ha ha, no pun intended." Glow stared at him bewildered.

       "Boooo! More blood! More death! Somebody bite somebody!" Several dragons called from the stadium. Glow merely watched in horror. Clay, what are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed!

       "Are you trying to get us both killed? Shut up and let me kill you." Fjord growled.

       "I'd rather not." Clay said, stumbling backwards. Glow eyed Starflight frantically flailing his tail and bound wings trying to tell him something. She wondered if she should do the same, but decided it'd be best to get his attention undivided. Starflight was gesturing towards his mouth. Glow looked back towards Fjord and realized he was getting ready to use his frostbreath and felt her own claws go numb. Clay ducked and rolled out of the way just in time, with only the tip of his wing brushing the shimmering cloud of ice.

       "Perhaps you should listen to him, Fjord." Glow heard a chillingly sharp voice and the three dragonets whipped around in surprise to see their mentor, followed by Kite.

       Corona's black eyes widened in surprise. "When in Pyrrhia did you get here?!" The small SandWing exclaimed. Frigga's eyes were cold and callous.

       "I let myself in. To be honest, I'll probably return to my chambers once this match is finished." Frigga said, contempt layering her crackling voice.

       Glow was concerned for her master. She looked frail and her eyes were still dark from yesterday. "Are you sure you'll both be alright watching the match?" Evenstar asked. Glow thought the same thing, remembering how badly Kite had reacted to seeing the match last time.

       "Don't worry. I'm fine. Frigga just really wanted to see how this match played out for some reason." Kite answered, his eyes still reflecting defiance from earlier.

       "I heard the name of my previous mate, and I wished to see his performance." Frigga said, her eyes glittering with anger. Glow knew better than to ask any questions. Glow had never seen Frigga this angry, and thus she stepped aside to make room for her IceWing mentor. Corona shuffled closer to Glow and Evenstar for Kite to make room for Frigga to watch the match.

       Fjord's blue eyes lit up in recognition, but Frigga's remained in a fixated fury. "Frigga." He snarled. "I know we've had our differences, but you can't just let me die here. I have a duty to my tribe and I need to get home to –" He angrily pleaded.

       "– Save your breath, Fjord." Frigga interrupted with a hiss. "I don't intend to let you die. Quite the contrary – I'm here to ensure it." Frigga called, earning an oooooooh from the audience. Fjord's eyes widened in fear, as did Glow's. She began to tremble. Frigga was never someone who would wish death on anyone, at the very least not openly. Seeing this side of her master made her appreciate how much Frigga cared about and loved her. She looked over at Corona, who looked more impressed than scared. Glow focused on Clay's bewildered expression instead. She decided that now wasn't a good time to talk about Frigga's previous relations to Fjord.

       "Listen, young MudWing of destiny." Frigga called to Clay. He pricked his ears up in curiosity and his eyes lit up with hope. "The spines on an IceWing's head are incredibly sensitive. If they are stricken, it will incapacitate the opponent– temporarily, of course." Clay was listening intently to Frigga. "I warn you, MudWing. You will not always find a non-violent solution. You will not always find a solution that is ethically pleasing. You have to do what it takes to protect the ones you love, and that may mean betraying your ideals." Frigga said. "The path laid out for you is long, winding, and riddled with difficult decisions." Frigga smiled softly at Clay, like a mother at a newborn dragonet. "Navigate it carefully, Clay."

       "You wench!" Fjord spat. "How dare you expose our secrets to these war-crazy SkyWings?!" He screeched at Frigga from below.

       She merely scoffed at him. "You should have thought of that before you took advantage of me and abused my trust and my kindness." Frigga hissed coldly. The arena was cheering loudly and Scarlet seemed pleased. Even Corona was getting sucked into the energy. Glow and Evenstar were concerned for Clay's sake. Fjord looked as if he regretted every life choice he ever made, and Clay looked like he had just found his saving grace.

       Fjord whipped his head around to blast another frostbreath at him, far angrier than before, and Clay sent a blast of fire right between his teeth. Fjord scrambled backwards across the sand, batting at his mouth with his wings and claws. He looked even angrier than before.

       "Sorry." Clay apologized. "Listen, do we have to fight? What'll happen to us if we –"

       Fjord raced at him with claws outstretched. Clay darted out of the way, barely dodging his sharp claws. Fjord's IceWing tail whipped around and smacked Clay across the face.

       Clay threw his wings over his face and lashed out with his back talons. One of them reopened a scratch on Fjord's neck, which began bleeding deep royal blue blood.

       Clay seemed to be hesitating. He quivered there, trying to decide what to do. It was very clear to Glow that he didn't want to fight. But you have to learn sooner or later that sometimes you have to. In the arena, it's kill or be killed. Clay looked back up at Frigga's expecting gaze and nodded.

       "BOOOOOOOOOO!" More dragons were shouting in the crowd. "A sheep could have won this fight by now! What are you doing? Thinking? Less thinking! More killing! Claw him, claw him, claw him!"

       Clay leaped to Fjord's right side and brought his tail down on the back of Fjord's neck, right on his spines, with an audible thud. Fjord grabbed his head and screeched. He was teetering around, delusional, and hurled himself at Clay on all fours, hissing at him. Clay rolled underneath Fjord in a flash and tore through his underbelly, leaving a trail of viscous blue blood behind. Fjord doubled over and shrieked, twisting around, still dizzy, and trying to find his opponent.

       "YAAAAYYYYYY!" The crowd shouted.

       "What is wrong with you?" Fjord yelled, his speech slurred. "That's not how MudWings fight! I was trained in your techniques!"

       "Well, I wasn't. Sorry." Clay said.

       Fjord was clutching his bleeding belly, Clay stood there immobile.

       "All right, dragons." Scarlet's voice cut through all the boisterous sounds of the crowd, and everyone went silent. "Fjord and Clay, we don't have all day. Some of us have a kingdom to run. One of you kill the other one right now, or I'm coming down there to end you both myself." Glow wasn't too comfortable with the thought of Scarlet's vicious talons ripping through Clay's sweet face and shuddered at the image.

       Fjord snarled and dashed at Clay again and he reared up and grabbed the spines around Fjord's head, shoving the dragon's snout aside before the cloud of piercing ice hit him. The frostbreath blasted toward the lowest row of the seats, of which Umbalite was seated. Luckily no one was harmed, but many of them were scrambling to get away, yelping with alarm.

       Fjord's talons locked around Clay's chest, and they jostled in the arena. Clay's wings were flattened by Fjord's. His talons were trying to keep the IceWing's head from pointing at him. As Fjord clawed Clay's shoulders, he couldn't fight back.

       Glow could only watch in horror at what was taking place just in front of her. She felt her entire body go numb, and she even felt Corona trembling beside her. "Time to die." Fjord growled. He trapped Clay's back legs with his tail and pinned Clay successfully to the sand beneath them. The dragon wrapped his serrated talons around Clay's neck.

      Glow craned her neck over the balcony. She could see Clay's arms holding Fjord away were visibly shaking. His arms would give away any moment, and the battle would be lost. One of Pyrrhia's only hopes would be gone in an instant. Glow could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes and her talons begin to tremble. No. Just like that, hope is dead? Any hope for this war ending is gone? No. I can't accept it! I won't accept it! "YOU CAN'T JUST LET THIS MORON WIN, CLAY!" Glow screeched without thinking.

       A faraway yell drew her attention. A blue dragon was thrashing about in the net of wires above the arena. The other prisoners were slipping over the edges of their columns, threatening to fall over into the arena. Glow's hopes rose when she recognized the blue struggling dragon. It was Tsunami, and she was trying to distract the other dragons to give Clay a better chance.

       "Get up there!" Queen Scarlet roared, sending all her guards up to restrain the blue dragonet. Only moments passed when Glow heard a scream from the arena below.

       When Glow's attention snapped back to the dragons below, she saw Fjord screeching and clawing at his face. There was a black substance covering his eyes, disintegrating his flesh. She wondered where that came from and realized how familiar the substance looked. She looked over at Corona, who wore the expression of confused bewilderment. Her tail was still sheathed by the contraption Frigga had made especially for her.

       Glow identified the substance as some kind of venom. Who could have used it, though? It couldn't have been Clay. MudWings can't possibly possess something like that. It could have been a SandWing that wasn't Corona, but she couldn't think of any way that a SandWing could fire their tail venom. The other more likely possibility is that it's a chemical substance that was artificially created.

       Glow turned her amber gaze towards Scarlet, now accompanied by Peril. Peril looked just as terrified as Glow felt, and Scarlet looked rather pleased with herself. Glow narrowed her eyes at Glory, who was sound asleep in her tree, although her scales were now varying shades of crimson and green, some splotches of violet popped on her cornucopia of colours. Although what just happened was very confusing, Glow was certain of one thing.

       Someone else is responsible for this, and they might be closer than anyone knows.