Authors: Paulette Miller
Tianna giggled but then turned it into a serious look when Nathaniel snarled at her.
The day went better than expected. Although Tianna did have a constant flow of admirers coming to catch her scent and bring her gifts, they weren’t aggressive toward her or her protectors. They were truly smitten. If they had been cats, they would have been purring. There always seemed to be a knight close by to offer her their services. The moment she struggled with climbing a step, at least two males would magically appear out of nowhere to carry her to where she needed to go. Her feet hardly ever touched the ground.
The knights weren’t aggressive, so Nathaniel and Seth were able to handle shoeing her admirers away. Since they seemed to have it under control, Gabriel went to help in the training sessions he had seen. He wanted to evaluate their warrior skills as well as convince them of a dragon’s worthiness to fight by their side. For once, he would have to prove that Draaks were strong, formidable warriors even though smaller in size.
Gabriel met with his traveling companions at evening meal and was very excited by what he saw that day. The knights seemed to be equally pleased by his fighting abilities. Tianna healed his injuries while he talked animatedly about his day. Marcus was pleased. He hoped Gabriel’s efforts would sway the village leaders, who were hesitant to establish an alliance.
That night, a guard was posted outside of Tianna’s room to keep away any admirers so Tianna and her protectors could get some needed sleep.
Over the next few days, the knights began to adjust to Tianna’s presence. Although they still reacted to her scent, they seemed better able to cope with its influence. Nathaniel continued to stay close by Tianna’s side but the change allowed the other Draak’s to fall into a daily routine. Tianna was very flattered and overwhelmed by all of the attention. Nathaniel just growled a lot. To give Nathaniel a needed break from his constant guard duties, Tianna spent a day with Hannah at her side. Tianna was thrilled to meet all of the tradesmen in the village—both male and female. She spent extra time with the local seamstresses and they watched with great interest as Tianna sewed several unique dresses for herself. She was trying to embrace the local styles and colors.
Tianna enjoyed spending time with Hannah. Her quiet strength and caring for others made her think of Gabriel. Tianna wasn’t surprised to see her and Gabriel in deep discussion at evening meal each night. Given she had chosen to stay at Nathaniel’s side instead of Gabriel’s, she was thrilled to watch as a friendship seemed to form quickly.
On the afternoon before they planned to leave and continue on their quest, the knight’s leader, Jakkin, announced that they would be having a friendly competition. It would give his knights and the visiting Draaks a chance to show off and compare their skills. They all headed into the training area.
When Jakkin asked the knight crowd assembled what the winners should receive as a prize, they unanimously yelled. “A kiss from the fair Tianna.”
After all of the kindness she had received, she felt obligated to agree. Nathaniel just growled louder.
The competition was going to include knife throwing, sword fighting, wrestling, tracking, and archery. Each Draak picked an event to compete in, although the knights’ size and strength put them at a great disadvantage. Marcus hoped that by showing their skills and determination, even when faced against a much larger and stronger enemy, it might help influence their interest in forming an alliance.
Marcus competed first in knife throwing. Although Gabriel would have been a better choice for this event, they needed him to cover wresting. He was the only one strong enough to go body-to-body with a knight.
Marcus had thought that knife throwing would be an individual event, free of physical contact. He quickly found out that this was not the case. They did have to throw at a wide variety of targets but at the same time, they had to handle distractions. Although they weren’t allowed to physically touch a competitor, a distraction could come in the form of anything from verbal taunts to having to dodge thrown objects. After the first competitor was taken out when he didn’t dodge a lit torch quick enough, Marcus quickly partial shifted to give himself his body armor. The change caused him to receive applause from the females in the crowd. Although he didn’t win, he performed well enough to get several hearty pats on his back. Tianna had to stand on a chair in order to give the winner his kiss. The winner stumbled away, actually drunk from her scent.
Nathaniel competed next in sword fighting. Seeing what Marcus went through on the previous challenge, he also partially shifted to better protect himself. Although he spent most of his time on the ground, flat on his back, he never gave up. After the first few times he hit the ground, Tianna had to turn away. She couldn’t watch. Nathaniel didn’t win either but the knights were fascinated by how he could heal his own injuries with his blue fire. They watched in envy as Tianna came forward and helped him heal his wounds with her own blue fire. At the end of the event, many of those injured during the match asked for their wounds to be healed so they could experience their healing touch. Jakkin had to step in when other knights not even in the competition started to get in line to have self-inflicted injuries healed.
The winner of the sword fight had watched the previous winner, so he was prepared. When Tianna stood on her chair and gave him his prize, the knight actually hung on to her so the kiss lasted longer. Much to Nathaniel’s displeasure, the crowd counted out the seconds. Nathaniel was just about to separate them forcefully when the knight staggered and fell away from her lips.
The knight tried to walk away and lost his balance, falling back on his butt and laughing loud with the crowd. A few of his fellow knights had to help him walk off the field.
Once all the commotion died down, the wresting competition began. Tianna gasped when she saw Gabriel’s opponent approach. He was introduced as Terom and was one of the largest knights she had seen in the castle. He also looked like one of the meanest.
Marcus approached Gabriel and asked, “Are you sure about this?” Marcus thought this knight could snap him like a twig.
Gabriel made eye contact with his opponent and fire flashed in his eyes. “Leave this one to me. The larger they are, the harder they fall.”
“Given what I’ve seen in the previous events, be prepared for anything. My guess is they’ll have some tricks up their sleeves.”
Gabriel smiled a mischievous smile. He hadn’t had the opportunity for a really thorough workout for quite some time and his body craved it. “I’m looking forward to this. I’ve participated in some of their training and have watched how they fight. I think they’ll find that I have just as many tricks up my sleeves.”
Marcus reluctantly left the field, but had both Nathaniel and Tianna waiting on the sides, prepared to jump in with their healing skills.
Gabriel approached his opponent with a look of pure determination and concentration. He stretched and flexed his muscles along the way. Once the challengers were face to face, Terom stared down at Gabriel and laughed. The sound shook the ground and made the hair on the back of Tianna’s neck stand up. She wanted to run in and pull Gabriel out but Nathaniel held her back.
Tianna pleaded, “But Gabriel will get killed.”
Marcus shook his head, “Don’t count our warrior out quite so fast. I’ve seen him in battle where he single-handedly took out several of his enemy with his bare hands and didn’t even break a sweat. Let him show what the pride of Haven’s Royal Guard can do.”
Tianna reluctantly agreed but couldn’t hold back the blue fire that was already waiting at her fingertips.
Terom scanned Gabriel’s body. Staring down at him he asked, “Are you sure about this, boy?” he snickered
Gabriel growled. “Boy? I was fighting in battle before your great-grandfather was even born.” He willed his dragon forward and burst out of his shirt in his partial dragon form. He flexed his dragon strength and said in a low growling voice, “Bring it on…young pup.”
They nodded at each other, accepting the challenge.
Tianna watched the match, astonished with Gabriel’s fighting abilities. Although he looked undersized compared to his opponent, his Draak speed and strength made up for his smaller frame. Terom had a difficult time holding on to a smaller opponent that somehow always seemed to wiggle out from any hold he put him into. Every trick Terom offered, Gabriel countered with his own unique moves, including adjusting how much he shifted the necessary parts of his body to give himself the advantage. His shifting control was extraordinary. The shifting didn’t deter or anger Terom. On the contrarily, he was thrilled to test his skills against a dragon.
In the end the crowd decided their match was a draw. They both walked off the field together laughing and delved right into a deep discussion. They shared wresting move secrets and the possibility of a warrior exchange in the future.
Marcus listened from the sidelines and beamed with pride. Their quest group was winning over the confidence of the knights. An alliance was almost assured.
When Gabriel received his winner’s kiss, he took Tianna in his arms and dipped her low. Tianna felt flushed. Terom wanted to mirror Gabriel’s movements. Due to their extreme differences in size, he scooped her up into his arms, cradling her like a child. He then dipped her low and kissed her while still curled in his arms. Gabriel stood right behind Tianna in case she needed his protection.
The crowd counted out the seconds. He had passed the time of the second winner, but couldn’t last much longer as he was beginning to stagger with her scent. As he broke the kiss, Gabriel grabbed Tianna into his arms. Terom swayed, smiled a drunken smile, and fell backwards. He hit the ground, causing a rumble resembling a stone tower collapsing.
Still holding Tianna in his arms, Gabriel peered down at the giggling knight on the ground and said in disbelief, “I just wrestled this knight for almost an hour with no success. You kiss him for 30 seconds and you have him flat on his back. Your lips are one mighty strong weapon.”
Tianna shrugged her shoulders and the crowd roared their approval.
In the tracking contest, each contestant had to smell a young girl to catch her scent. She then was instructed to hide somewhere in the castle. As she giggled and ran, a large grin lit across Seth’s face. When the starting horn sounded, Seth took off like a shot arrow, easily dodging the pushing and shoving of his opponents. His speed and agility made him the ideal tracker. In no time, a horn sounded again, having Seth find the girl in what they said was impossible time.
Tianna had never kissed Seth so it was a little awkward when he came forward for his prize. Seth beamed as he walked away. Tianna felt like she has been in a constant blush all day.
The last competition was archery. When the contestants walked onto the field, everyone became quiet. Tianna was walking among them carrying her bow. Given how the knights competed in all the other events, Nathaniel tried to convince her to back out, but she shook her head. All of her companions stood up to their competitors, she wasn’t about to back down from hers. Although when she saw her rivals, she did ask him to stay on the sideline in case she needed him. Nathaniel and Gabriel were both poised and ready to jump in at the slightest hint that she was in distress.
The range was set-up more like an obstacle course, which was quickly explained. The competitors competed several at a time. The first one to hit the target within the designated circle would advance to the next round. They were each allowed five arrows per round and, to the Draak’s great relief, the competitors weren’t allowed to hurt each other.
Tianna watched the first few groups compete. Given how well they shot, Tianna wasn’t sure if she could have beaten them on a normal archery range, but having to shoot while jumping, climbing, or dodging was her specialty. She wished the obstacles they had to work around were made of wood but, to her dismay, all of them were made of stone. She had yet to see any skills manifest with manipulating stone. She would have to call on other skills to win this challenge.
When it was Tianna’s turn, there were quite a few snickers. They weren’t laughing at the fact that she was female, since several of the competitors were female. Her overly feminine figure made her appear more as someone to be protected, not as a protector.
Gabriel whispered in her ear, “Use the assets given to you to your advantage. Be their distraction.” He sniffed her neck as a hint.
Tianna nodded her understanding and headed onto the field. The crowd quieted as they watched the round progress and observed Tianna’s skills. Tianna made a point to position herself near a competitor, causing them to lose focus when they took in her scent. Soon they learned to keep their distance but the distraction worked. It took several arrows but she hit the target first, advancing to the next round.