The next day Groutlick brought them to a cage that overlooked the arena. The bottom of it was made of a mesh like bars so they could see below them everything.

There was a croud all around the arena and they all cheered. A viking they hadn't seen before and his dragon entered the arena and everyone cheered. The dragon walked on two legs and had abig head.

Suddenly they opened one of the doors on the other side of the arena and another dragon burst forth! It was scrawneyer and had a crazed look in its eyes.

It immedeately leaped onto the dragon/viking pair, but they dodged. The crowd cheered. The dragon/viking ran around the srena a little bit, teasing the other dragon into chasing it. They were too fast though and the other dragon just got frustrated. Just when it looked like it was getting too confused and would stop the viking/dragon turned and charged. They flipped the other dragon on its back, bit its belly, then skipped away.

The littler dragon gave a cry of fury and raced after them again. The viking/dragon swiped its tail andnocked it over. Then they skipped forward and slashed at the dragon with its sharp clawed feet. It opened a gashed along the dragon's leg andblood flowed out so it tried to limp away. The viking dragon wouldn't let it though and it charged and nocked it halfway across the arena.

Then they flopped over on their side, taunting the other dragon and pretending to show/expose its belly. The other dragon gave one last roar and tried to charge. But the viking/dragon was just faking anf they leaped up at the last second! They wrapped their jaws around the dragon and shook it a few times before throwing it against the wall.

The dragon wimpered and didn't get up.

The crowd cheered its loudest yet, with people jumping up and down and banging against the bars. The viking/dragon made the little dragon lay down flat and the victorious dragon layed down on top of it. The little dragon moaned in pain but then it had to stop because the viking sat down on its head. Then the victor dragon started to rape the smaller dragon and the viking gave it many pets and scratches.

When they were done the dragon and viking walked out of the arena and the little dragon was poked back into its cage.

There was a wait after that of about an hour or two before the next fight.

This time a viking walked in with two dragons on long chain leashes on either side of him. They both had long necks and fierce teeth. One of them had a red crest and the other had a blue crest.

The viking unclipped their leashes and they stood ready.

This time the dragon they released was a lot bigger then them. But it was also slower and its eyes looked stupid.

The viking blew a whistle and the red one zipped off. It circled the big dragon several times, even climbing overtop of it and darting underneath it, easilt avoiding the stomping feet.

When the big dragon looked confused enough to fall over the viking whistled again and the blue one flew forward. It bit and scratched and blasted at the big dragon. But every time the big dragon tried to fight back the red one was there to distract it.

Finally the big dragon was a quivering mess huddled in the corner. It was shaking in terror and it rolled on its back in the hopes that surrender would make them stop.

The red one walked right up to it and bit it in the belly. The big dragon wimpered and cried but it was too scared to move so it stayed where it was. Then the blew one walked up to it, growled, and bit it on the belly too. The big dragon twitched, spasimed, and cried again. Then the viking called the two back and they left. It took a long time to get the big dragon back in its cage because it was so scared.

"Enya why are you watching everything?" Lipsa asked. She was curled up as comfortable as she could and facing away from the arena. Jack was lying with his hands under his head and staring at the sky. He looked at her.

Enya shrugged. "I have to. It's part of my plan."

Lipsa frowned and looked down through the floor. "Do you need us to watch too?"

Enya shook her head and waved her hands. "No, take a nap or whatever you want."

Lipsa followed Enya's advice and soon both she and Jack were snoozing.

The next fight had this big but slippery looking pair. The dragon was dirty and dark brown and black, but it also had some poison green streaks and its eyes were poison green. The viking was big and hairy and smally, he smiled a cruel smile and the crowd cheered.

The dragon they let out of the cage was big too. It had golden scles that shimmered like the sun and bright wings that flashed when she flapped them. She ushered a great melodic screech and challanged the ugly pair.

At first, it seemed like the golden dragon was doing a lot better then the other caged dragons. It moved with fluid and grace and didn't let herself be fooled by dirty tricks. The team was good too though and they were speedy and clever too. For a while they chased each other around the arena, sometimes one, sometimes the other.

But then the team managed to getunder the golden dragon and drive her flapping to the roof of ther arena. The viking took out his sword and stabbed it up through the golden dragon's thin wing membrane!

The beautiful golden dragon shrieked in terrible agony and she started to loose her height. Her cry of lament filled the space with woe as she fell, sounding like a bittersweet dawn.

She crashed onto the ground and turned to fight but the team landed right on top of her. The viking jumped to the side on her injured wing and started stabbing it again and again with his sword. The dragon meanwile got to work on the other wing, shredding the beautiful shimmering membrane with it's wicked claws.

When they were done they darted away and the golden dragon stood trembeling. She was breathing heavy with pain and her wings hung limp and useless at her side. She took a deep breath… then roared with pain and rage, the sound both beautiful and terrible, powerful as the sea.

The dark dragon darted forward before she finished roaring and jumped up, flapping twice on his perfect wings to steady himself in the air before spitting acid right in the golden dragon's eyes!

The golden dragon shrieked, a sound so terrible it reverberated in everyone's hearts. Then she fell to the ground, panting and moaning in her melodious voice.

The croud cheered longer and louder then ever before! They jumped up and down and stamped their feet and threw flowers into the arena.

The viking and dark dragon didn't leave after a bit though. The viking waited a bit until the crowd calmed down somewhat and turned to where Groutlick sat in hi throne watching.

"Groutlick!" he called.

Groutlick sat up straighter in his throne to show he was listening.

The viking pointed to the moaning golden dragon. "Give her to me! I desire to have golden dragon babies and I defeated her fair and square." he gave a cruel grin. "Besides, she will be the perfect mate for Doomdeath because she could never run away!"

Groutlick nodded and assistants quickly hurried forward to chain the golden dragon to the preening Doomdeath. They walked out with the golden dragon being forced to follow.

After that a mother dragon with a nest of young hatchlings was brought out. Several viking /dragon pairs rushed in and worked together to force her away from the nest. They all ganged up on her and piled on top of her to hold the struggling dragon down.

Then several somewhat younger vikings rushed in and started chasing the baby dragons. When they caught them they tried to get straps around their mouths, their wings, and tie their legs together. It took some of the vikings several tries to get it right but eventually each one did. When they had tied up their baby each viking grabbed its tail and dragged it out to show it to their excited friends.

The babies never stopped crying, even when it was muffled by having their jaws tied shut. The momma cried too. She had to get several bites and scratches from the other dragons to remind her that she couldn't get up and by the time all the babies were gone she was so heartbroken that it took no work at all to get her into her cage again.

After that several vikings came into the arena to spar each other. The crowd thinned out for that but those that remained cheered just as loud.

Finally when the moon came out and it got dark Groutlick came over to them and stood on top of their cage. He looked down at them and whiped his shoes on the bars so the dirt from his shoes fell on their heads.

Jack ruffled his white hair angirly and went back to glaring.

"Like what you see?" groutlick asked "tomorrow you get to be practice dummies." He threw his head back and laughed heartily. "I wonder if you'll survive?"

That night Bloodflower brought them food along with Deathstryker.

"What's with all the arena fights?" Jack asked. (He was still super angly.)

Bloodflower stopped and cocked her head to one side while she considered. "There how we train. We capture rival viking's dragons or wild dragons and practice fighting them. That way we have a realistic experience and are more prepared." she paused looking sad a little. "I do feel sorry for them sometimes."

"How did you get Deathstryker?" Enya asked. She pointed at Deathstryker who was still buisily eating fish.

Bloodflower smiled softly for the first time ever. "She was an orphain, and I rescued her." she went over to scratch Deathstryker. "We will go through everything together."

She droppedher hand and turned away. "Goodnight, and, good luck, tommorrow."

Jack held Enya very tight when they slept that night.