Chapter 91: Well Played

The final round was about to begin.

Nymeria stood in front of the four Year-One representatives under the tall tree sideline close to the Wildland. Her arms were crossed.

"I know the three of you cannot stand Reynold," she said. "Some of you even hate him but do me a favour and drop that h@te right here on the sideline before you step into the Wildland. Am I clear?"

No one answered.

Nymeria’s eyes narrowed as she asked again.

"Am I clear?"

Briar folded his arms and let out a short nod. "Of course."

Torian and Zephyr looked at each other, then both nodded and muttered, "Yes."

Nymeria continued.

"Noble-High has used the same strategy every round. Two or three against one. This is the last round and I am sure they will go straight for the Command Flag and end the game as fast as they can."

Reynold scratched the back of his head and kept listening.

"Knowing Phineas," Nymeria said, "he will send Weston to hunt the Command Flag. Zephyr. Torian. You two will go after Weston. No matter what happens, do not let him eliminate you and strike that flag."

Torian and Zephyr stared at each other for a second, then nodded again.

Nymeria turned to Reynold.

"You draw the two Noble-High riders out. When you do, Briar will come out from hiding and join you."

Briar frowned. "That will leave one of their mages free to look for the flags."

Nymeria shook her head.

"Phineas will keep that mage under a tree, waiting for one of you to fall so they can push you over the elimination line. Do not worry about the mage."

She reached into her coat and pulled out four small dark bottles.

"Mind-link potion. Drink it and you be able to communicate with each other inside the Wildland."

They took the bottles one by one and drank.

Then, the whistle sounded in the air.

The final round had started.

The four of them stepped into the Wildland.

.....

Up in the big spectator stands, Gwyn and Nyx walked back to their front-row seats.

Nyx was holding a a paper cup of hot fried corn balls. Gwyn held a paper bag of sweet roasted nuts.

They sat down on the bench and looked up at the board.

Final Round: Year 1

W.A [ 16 ] vs N.H.A [ 17 ]

Inside the Wildland, the wind blew hard against Reynold’s face. He was flying high on his black dragon, Aurion. Aurion flapped the big wings and cut through the cold air.

Suddenly, the two Noble-High riders flew fast to trap Reynold from both sides.

Briar, now! They are out! Reynold said through the mind-link.

The first Noble-High dragon flew close and tried to bite Aurion’s tail. Aurion swung its heavy tail with a loud SMACK and hit the dragon right on the nose.

The second dragon flew straight into Aurion’s side.

BAM!

Aurion roared in anger and scratched the other dragon’s scales with his claws.

Right then, Briar dove down on his dragon and smashed hard into the second rider’s mount.

Briar and the second rider started fighting in the sky, with their dragons biting and hitting each other with their wings.

Down on the forest ground, Weston was running as fast as he could. He ducked under a low branches and jumped over big rocks.

Behind him, Torian and Zephyr was running to to catch up.

Torian looked at Zephyr and pointed to a small path on the right and yelled..

"Go around and cut him off!"

Zephyr turned quickly and ran into the bushes.

Weston saw a big fallen tree in front of him. He jumped high into the air and went over it.

THUD!

Torian dropped down from a tree branch and landed right in front of Weston to block him.

Weston stopped fast, but Zephyr jumped out from the bushes at the same time and tackled him hard around the waist.

CRASH!

Weston hit the wet ground and lost his breath.

Up in the sky, the dragon fight was still going on.

The first Noble-High dragon swing his big tail and hit Aurion hard on the neck.

The heavy hit shook the black dragon badly and the leather reins flew right out of Reynold’s hands.

Reynold slipped off the back of his dragon and fell straight down toward the trees.

The wind roared in his ears as the ground rushed up at him.

Aurion folded his wings and started diving straight down. The dragon caught up to Reynold in seconds.

Reynold landed hard on the leather saddle and grabbed on tight.

Before they could fly back up, the other first Noble-High dragon dropped down and hit Aurion hard with his horns.

BOOM!

The hit made them lose balance. Aurion crashed down through the thick tree branches and hit the forest floor and, throwing mud everywhere.

Reynold rolled off onto the ground. He groaned in pain and tried to stand up.

"Well, look who it is," a mean voice laughed.

Callum walked out from behind a big tree with a wide smile on his face.

Seeing Callum smile made Reynold’s face turn ugly.

"Since you’re asking... it was Callum. He is the one who broke her arm." The word resounded in his ears

Reynold felt his blood boil, but he took a deep breath. He could not out of control now and get his whole team disqualified.

Callum raised his hands to cast a spell.

But before he could finish, Aurion swung his big black head and knocked Callum and he was sent flying.

The first Noble-High riders landed nearby and faced Aurion. The black dragon turned to fight him.

Reynold left Aurion to handle the rider and walked toward Callum.

In another part of the forest, Weston was on the ground.

Torian and Zephyr grabbed his arms and started pulling him toward the white line.

Suddenly, Weston twisted hard and flipped Torian over his shoulder. Torian crashed into Zephyr and both of them went down and Zephyr hit his back against a big tree.

Weston stood up quickly. He grabbed Torian by the neck and started pulling him away toward the white line.

Zephyr groaned in pain and tried to stand up.

Weston looked over his shoulder. He waved his hand, and a blast of invisible force hit Zephyr hard, and throw him against the tree tree again.

Up, Briar pushed his dragon forward and hit the second rider.

Before the dragon could balance again, Briar’s dragon hit it again with his wing.

The hit knocked the Noble-High rider off, and he fell.

The dragon tried to fly down to help its rider, but Briar’s dragon flew in the way, biting and clawing to push it back.

Briar jumped down from his dragon and landed. He pulled out his sword. The other rider stood up and pulled out his sword too.

CLANG!

Their swords hit each other with loud sparks.

Briar twisted his blade, knocked the other sword away, and hit the boy hard in the face with the handle of his sword.

The boy stumbled back, and Briar gave him a hard push with his shoulder, throwing him over the white line.

BZZZZT!

That rider is Eliminated.

Briar turned right away and ran through the trees to help Reynold.

Over by the other side, Weston stood by the white line and moved his fingers in the air.

Torian could not breathe. He held his neck with both hands as Weston’s magic dragged him backward over the line.

BZZZZT!

Torian was eliminated.

Weston turned around and wiped the dust off his hands.

Zephyr spat out a mouthful of blood, got up, and pushed his hands forward and a big gust of wind blew leaves right into Weston’s face.

Zephyr used that second to turn around and run as fast as he could.

Back to Reynold, Callum was on the ground, groaning in pain.

Reynold walked up and punched Callum hard in the face.

Callum kicked out with his foot and hit Reynold right between the legs.

Reynold gasped and took a step back in pain.

Callum tried to get up, but Briar ran out from behind the trees, grabbed Callum by the neck from behind, and held him tight on the ground.

Right then, Zephyr’s voice shouted inside their minds: Hurry! Weston found the command flag! I cannot hold him off for long!

Briar held Callum tight and yelled, "Go, Reynold! I got him!"

Reynold ran to Aurion, jumped on the back of Aurion, and pulled the reins. Aurion kicked off the ground and flew straight into the sky.

In the big spectator stands, all the students from both schools stood up.

Nobody was sitting down.

The Wyrmwood students put their hands on their heads in fear. The big screen showed Weston pushing Zephyr away.

Zephyr hit the ground hard. Weston moved his hand, and Zephyr started choking on the ground.

Weston let him go and turned around to look at the two flags.

Weston raised his hand to smash the Wyrmwood flag with his magic.

ROOOOOAAAR!

Aurion dropped out of the sky and smashed his big body straight into Weston. He was sent him flying.

Reynold leaned over his dragon’s neck.

He looked right at the red Noble-High flag.

"Zharaak, vrek," Reynold murmured.

Aurion opened his mouth and dragon fire burn the red flag into black ash.

BOOM!

The big screen flashed with bright gold light, and the numbers changed:

W.A [ 21 ] vs N.H.A [ 17 ]

Tournament Ended! Wyrmwood Academy wins.

The Wyrmwood crowd went completely crazy.

Students screamed loudly. Some started beating their wooden drums, and jumping up and down.

"Take that, you losers!" students yelled at the Noble-High side.

"Trash!"

"Assholes."

In the front row, Gwyn jumped up with a big smile, grabbed Nyx by the face, and kissed her.

Over in representatives stand, Phineas was so angry that he kicked a chair, then walked away fast.

Down in the forest, Briar and Torian ran over with big smiles on their faces.

Reynold was still on Aurion’s back, getting ready to land. But then his eyes landed on Callum walking slowly toward the exit.

Reynold pulled the reins hard and turned Aurion around.

The black dragon dive fast, and flying straight at Callum.

"Get out of the way!" Reynold screamed loudly. "I lost control of the dragon! Move!"

Callum looked up and saw the big black dragon diving right at him. Callum panicked and started running as fast as he could.

Reynold looked at the ground. A few feet past the white elimination line was a grey boulder.

Reynold secretly moved his fingers and the leaves under Callum move.

Callum slipped and lost his step.

CRACK!

Callum flew over the line and landed on the ground but his left arm bent the wrong way and hit hard against the big grey boulder..

"My arm! My arm!" Callum screamed in pain, rolling on the ground and holding his broken arm.

Aurion and Reynold crashed into the ground a short distance away.

The officials ran over quickly. "Someone get the healers fast!" A professor shouted.

Reynold stood up slowly and held his own head and groaned, pretending to be hurt and confused.

One professor ran to him. "Reynold, are you okay?"

"I am so sorry, Professor..." Reynold said, making his voice sound shaky. "I lost control of the dragon... I was screaming for Callum to get out of the way, but it was already too late..."

The professor looked at Callum crying on the ground, then shook his head. "It is fine. It was an accident."

The helaer ran in and carried Callum away on a floating bed.

Reynold walked back to Aurion and rubbed the dragon’s scales.

"Very well played, Starweaver," a voice said from behind him. "You almost fooled me too."

Reynold turned and saw Nymeria leaning against a tree with her arms crossed.

Reynold kept a straight face. "I don’t know what you are talking about."

Nymeria gave a small smile. "Of course you don’t after all... it was just an accident."

Reynold’s hand stopped on the dragon.

He just stared at Nymeria....

Nymeria let out a soft sound, turned around, and walked away.

Reynold watched her leave. He patted Aurion one more time and walked out toward the main school yard.

Outside, the students were still shouting and partying. Some were throwing cheap drinks into the air.

As Reynold walked past, he heard a few Year-Two students talking in a hurry.

"I still can not believe Gwyn fainted like that," a girl said. "She looked totally fine all day."

"Yeah, why would she just drop to the ground like that?" a boy replied.

Reynold stopped walking. He turned to them. "Did you say Gwyn fainted?"

The girl nodded quickly. "Yes, right after the game ended. Nyx had to carry her to the Infirmary."

Reynold’s heart skipped a beat. He turned around and started running as fast as he could toward the Infirmary building.

Just as he was close to the Infirmary, a person dressed all in black stepped out of nowhere.

The figure hand reached out and grabbed Reynold’s wrist tightly.

A freezing chill ran down Reynold’s entire body.

The figure leaned close and murmured in a scary, rough voice:

"Go back! Go back!"