Chapter 7

It was hours later until Flint woke up in a pit. She was in a cage and there was a ring of lava around the pit that lit up the cave. She saw that dragons were lined up along the walls, clinging on to them, all of them Spikewings.

This must be the arena, Flint thought. She looked at her wings and saw that they weren't bound by anything so there was nothing that would be keeping her from flying out of this pit and escape.

That's strange, why wouldn't they try to make sure I didn't escape? Flint looked around the pit and up to the top where she saw Queen Helen sitting in a makeshift throne made from carved rocks. Beside her, Flint saw her friends chained up and tied to a pillar.

"Welcome Spikewings one and all!" Queen Helen's voice boomed across the cavern. "Today we are gathered here to celebrate forty years since I have become queen and the five hundredth year of the arena games."

A loud cheer erupted from all of the Spikewings that vibrated across the rocks and rattled Flint's eardrums. Flint looked around and saw Vala away from the crowd looking at her.

Don't worry Vala, I won't get myself killed.

"Today ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special battle for you," Queen Helen said. "Entering the pit is a dragon who needs no introduction, he has won countless battles in the training pit. He strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies. He's Valdis!"

From the opposite end of the pit Flint saw a Spikewing land. His body was covered in battle marks and over one of his eyes, he wore a patch covering it. He had a tense posture and Flint saw that his claws were sharp. A loud roar erupted through the crowd.

"Let's go Valdis!"

"Destroy your opponent!"

"Rip their wings off!"

"And in the other corner we have a very special guest," Queen Helen announced. "We found her wandering the caves with a bunch of her friends. She seems like a tough fighter and looks ready to kill. It's Flint of the Cavewings!"

Flint saw two Spikewings with armor on, swoop down to her cage and unlock the door. Then they prodded her out of the cage with their spears before locking the cage again and taking flight back up.

Something isn't right, Flint thought. I could just easily fly out of here and it doesn't look like any dragons are guarding the exits.

Flint heard the crowd erupt again but not out of helpful comments.

"Kill that Cavewing Valdis!"

"Get payback for our tribes!"

"Rip those fluorescent scales off of her!"

"Now I know what you are all thinking," Queen Helen said. "This dragon could fly out of the pit and escape. Yes I know that, but don't worry, it won't be the same repeat of what happened last year."

"How are you sure?" a Spikewing said from the crowd.

"Because we have leverage," Queen Helen said, pointing to Flint's friends. "These are the dragons that the Cavewing was traveling with, most likely your friends, right Flint?"

She looked right at Flint when saying this and the anger inside Flint started boiling up.

"If she tries to escape then we will execute her friends, it's that simple."

Great, there had to be a twist with it, Flint thought.

"Anyway now that we are done with introductions, I think it is time for us to get on to the battle," Queen Helen announced. "So ready your claws, face your opponent, and fight!"

Valdis immediately charged at Flint and slashed at her with his claws. She dodged out of the way and tried to slash at him, but stopped short before she hit his spikes. Flint saw Valdis have a smug look on his face.

Great, how am I going to fight against those spikes? Flint thought as she rolled away from an attack from Valdis. There has to be a way to fight these dragons, come on Flint think!

She dodged another attack from his claws but not in time as he gave her a nasty slash on her leg that was already injured from her slide earlier that day. Flint screamed in pain and Valdis used the opportunity to throw her against the wall. She hit the wall with a sickening crack and felt pain rear through her left wing. She tried to move it but got a painful shock instead.

Great, it's sprained. I won't be able to use it for a while.

Flint looked back up and saw that Valdis was swinging down at her with his claws so she decided to charge forward and slash her claws right into his face. Valdis roared with pain and backed away from her. Flint looked up to her friends and saw that Prancer was lifting up and down his wings and pointing at them.

What is he trying to say? Flint thought and then looked over to her Spikewing attacker. She realized that there were no spikes on their wings either but also that they looked very weak and flimsy, probably a mutation of being down here for a long time.

That's it! Flint thought. I just have to break his wings and it will be an even match.

Flint rolled to the side of one of Valdis attacks and jumped onto his back, careful not to touch any of his spikes. She grabbed one of his wings and pulled as hard as she could and she heard a bone snap in half and a painful scream come from Valdis as he launched her off his back. She landed inches away from the lava and stopped herself before she went in. Flint got up and saw that Valdis was charging at her and she had no time to roll out of his way. He's going to kill us both! Flint thought but then realized what she could do. She held her ground and waited for him to come closer before she launched herself over him. She turned to look at him while she was leaping over him and saw the fear in his eyes as he looked at the lava in front of him. She landed behind him and turned around to see him cascade over the edge and into a fiery death. She heard the screams from him and saw the shocked looks on all the Spikewings faces until the screams from him stopped and his body was burned by the lava.

There was silence in the arena as nobody knew what to do. Flint then heard some clapping and saw that her friends were clapping with their wings and supporting her on.

"ENOUGH OF THAT!" Queen Helen screamed and got her bodyguards to chain up her friends' wings. She then looked back at Flint with a vicious look in her eyes. "You were meant to die Cavewing!"

"Then how about you come down here yourself," Flint said. "That first round was just a warm up for me."

"Grrrr," Queen Helen grunted. "No, I'm rather fine up here," she said. "Besides that just was the first round, you still have four more to go, but you won't make it, I guarantee it."

"We'll see about that," Flint said as two Spikewings guards chained up her snout and claws and flew her out of the pit. They flew her back to her cage, unchained her, and forcefully threw her in, where she landed in front of her friends.

"Flint, that was amazing!" Hunter said. "Just incredible!"

"You really handled yourself out there," Prancer said.

"Yeah… you were good," Tulsi said from behind Prancer.

Argh, Drillwing! But Flint's wing was very hurt and she couldn't think of being mad at Tulsi right now. Instead she whimpered as Hunter went to see it.

"Can I take a look at it?" Hunter asked.

Flint nodded her head and laid down on the cool cave floor. She tried to rest her mind about everything that had just happened to them just this past day. She whimpered when she felt Hunter move around her wing with his claw.

"You only got a sprain, I'll be able to help it," Hunter said. "You are lucky that you didn't break it, I don't know if I would be able to do anything then."

Flint felt Hunter wrap something around her wing and she turned around to see that he and Prancer were wrapping their webs around the sprain like a splint to stop it from moving.

"There," Hunter said. "Now I suggest, you don't move it for a few days, if you want it to heal faster."

"Thanks," Flint said. "But I don't know if I can survive another one of those rounds."

Flint then saw Vala step out of the shadows and into the light Prancer was shining off with his scales.

"Vala!" Flint said. "I told you I wouldn't die."

"Yeah, but you did keep me on the edge of my seat," Vala said.

"So did you find a way to break us out of here?" Hunter asked, excited.

"Well maybe," Vala said "but it is going to require some time to set up."

"That's fine," Flint said. "How long will it take?"

"That's the thing Flint," Vala said. "It is going to take a long time." She then looked at Flint when she spoke her next words. "In other words, you will have to survive another round of the arena."