The crowd was silent as Erosion walked out onto the arena. For the little jewelry she had on, only the simple crown and the two golden bracelets around her forearms, she was quite impressive. Unlike the animalistic ferocity and power Burn emanated, Erosion gave off an aura of prestige and regality. Burn snarled at her approacher, fangs bared.
Nightreader gave a gasp of relief as she looked behind Erosion. Behind her were nine dragons, including Stonemover and the SeaWing animus she'd seen with Erosion. All of them were looking in the same direction with a glossy look on their eyes, as if they were in some sort of trance, each with the silvery collar around their necks.
Smolder looked over towards Erosion with caution, and flicked his barbed tail back and forth in the air. On signal, twenty or so SandWing soldiers rushed out from the crowd, running claws outstretched and barbs ready towards Erosion. Erosion hardly paid them a glance, and when the first one had only a few yards between him and Erosion, he suddenly burst into fine black charcoal, before his remains were blown away by the wind. A second SandWing who was unable to stop herself in time met a similar fate, before the rest of the soldiers stopped in their tracks, realizing that even approaching Erosion would be certain death.
Erosion continued to step forward on the battlefield, as every dragon's eyes were on her. "Well?" she asked, glaring straight at Burn. "Do you accept my challenge?"
Before Burn could reply, Smolder quickly interrupted. "She can't! Only royal family members are allowed to challenge for the throne," he responded, walking back on the speech he had made earlier. "The SandWing royal family has held the throne for millennia, and has proven itself to be the most capable and powerful bloodline in the kingdom. A non-royal SandWing becoming queen would be disastrous, and chaos would reign."
Erosion visibly rolled her eyes. "Ah, yes, 'powerful' is just the word I'd describe you with, Prince Smolder," she sneered. "Couldn't even save your mate from your own mother, could you? And how did your mother die? Poked in the eye by a scavenger, of all things, and started this pointless war."
Smolder glanced down to the sand shamefully, with no words to respond to that.
"Well, my new subjects," Erosion continued, "this war has gone on long enough, and you'll soon thank me for bringing it to an end. The reason your families are dying is not because of the strength, but the weakness of the royal bloodline. As Smolder reminded us all not too long ago, ancient law going back to the Scorching dictates that the queen is the most powerful dragon in the land, which neither of the three sisters is. That is why you suffer — their weakness and cowardice. I am here to bring in a new age of peace and prosperity for not only the SandWings, but all of Pyrrhia. So, Burn, I ask you again — are you a coward like your siblings, or will you fight me for the throne?"
Burn didn't need convincing to fight, even with an animus enemy in front of her. She'd waited all her life for this — a fight which actually mattered. "I will crush you under my talons, and let the sand run red with your blood."
"Then it is settled," Smolder quickly added, "Queen Burn of the SandWings will fight Erosion for the throne fairly, without trickery or magicks, and the winner will—"
Erosion snorted, and tapped a talon to one of her bracelets. Suddenly, one of the spears of the soldiers who'd attempted to attack Erosion rose up from the ground, then pointed itself towards Smolder. Smolder's eyes grew wide, and he took a step back as the spear sailed towards him, aiming straight towards his head. He yelled in terror, but the spear missed his skull, turning abruptly at his eyes and twisting itself around his snout into a coil, muffling Smolder's yell and silencing him.
"The duty of queen is given to the dragon who wields the greatest power," Erosion commanded as Smolder rolled onto the ground, struggling to get the spear off his snout as it tightened. "As the strongest dragon in Pyrrhia, I will dictate the rules of the match. If Burn's cowardice overcomes her, and she is unwilling to fight, then she isn't worthy of that duty."
Barely paying a glance to her struggling brother, Burn charged at Erosion with a terrifying roar, Erosion stepping forward to greet her. Nightreader winced. This wasn't going to end well for Burn, though considering the previous fight, Nightreader didn't feel much pity for her.
As Burn swiped an enormous paw at Erosion's snout, Erosion took a step to the side, narrowly avoiding it. Burn continued her swipes, but none were able to even touch Erosion's scales. If Nightreader had thought Burn was fast, the SandWing princess was nothing compared to Erosion. The animus's speed was faster than any dragon could have moved naturally, but Nightreader was surprised at how slow it was compared to what Erosion could have done. Nightreader could still see where Erosion moved, and how, she was far from a blur. Had she wanted to, Erosion could have forced one of her animus slaves to enchant her bracelet to give her the power of teleportation, but she seemed limited.
Still, Nightreader thought she understood. Gazelle had said that Erosion was creating a spectacle here, just like Burn had done. Erosion wanted the SandWings and MudWings in the crowd to recognize her as queen, and was keeping her use of magic to a minimum, making it seem plausible she wasn't even using it at all. Maybe to make them view the battle as more legitimate, or to seem less intimidating?
Burn roared at Erosion, and wings outstretched, attempted to tackle her. She failed, as Erosion snuck beneath Burn's wings, grazing the tip of her barb along beneath the leathery membrane and onto Burn's backside, without puncturing. She was just toying with Burn. Nightreader knew as well as Erosion did that Erosion could have turned her enemy into ash instantly, but she had chosen not to. She was drawing out the fight, exciting the crowd, pretending Burn had a chance at winning.
As Erosion walked out from Burn's wing, the SandWing princess suddenly lashed out her barbed tail, aiming it towards Erosion's neck. She hit spot-on, the barb puncturing through Erosion's scales and into her throat. Burn grinned and turned around, pulling the barb out to reveal a gaping hole in Erosion's neck, blood dripping from it down onto the dirt below. The crowd cheered, roaring in excitement as Burn lifted her head triumphantly, the smell of Erosion's blood enthralling them.
Erosion took a step back, and suddenly staggered, clutching her claws at her neck as they became stained with her own blood. Nightreader snorted, knowing she was feigning her shock. Sure enough, as she lifted her claws away, the bleeding had stopped, and pink flesh started to grow in the hole, the wound mending itself. The dragons started to shout in astonishment, few of them having seen such a display before. In seconds, golden-yellow scales had regrown, the wound having fully healed.
As Burn looked around towards Erosion in surprise, Erosion opened her jaws, letting out a great burst of flame. Burn ducked to the side as the flame spread across her scales, scorching the edge of her wing. She bared her teeth, the pain barely bothering her.
"As you can see," Erosion snarled, "Burn is as mortal as her mother. Throw a second scavenger at her or any of her sisters, and we'd have another decade of pointless war."
Burn let out another roar, attempting to leap on Erosion as she was talking, but Erosion ducked beneath Burn, meeting the princess's underbelly with her claws. Clawing her wings into the ground, and using that to propel the front of her body upwards, Erosion threw Burn behind her, the SandWing rolling through the air and falling onto the hard ground, her back and fin down.
"Under my rule, any soldier will have the same powers of healing that I have!" Erosion proclaimed loudly. "Injured veterans will regain lost limbs at my touch, dragons on the brink of death will be flying the next day!"
Burn tucked her left wing beneath her body, and used it to quickly rise to her paws, turning back towards Erosion. As Burn attempted to tear her teeth into Erosion's neck, Erosion quickly leapt out of the way, grabbing the back of Burn's tail in her jaws. Burn let out a howl as Erosion's sharp teeth tore into her flesh, her mouth becoming stained with Burn's blood. Digging a paw into the ground, Erosion twisted her neck around, and with a strength far more than any dragon could use without magic, she flung Burn into the air. The SandWing princess attempted to spread her wings to stabilize herself, but was already on her back, and sailed across the arena before crashing into the ground on a wing, rolling and sliding before finally coming to a stop on the opposite side of the battlefield from Erosion.
Burn attempted to place down a paw to prop herself up and resume the fight, but she faltered, and was unable to muster the strength to get back on her claws. Showing no fear, she stared directly into Erosion's eyes as the animus slowly stepped across the battlefield towards Burn, ready to finish her off. Panic started to ensure in the crowd, dragons yelling and shouting, some cheering for their near queen, others frightened and confused.
Nightreader glanced over to her side. The MudWing seemed to be focused on the battle now, though didn't appear to be leaning either way. She looked back across to the other end of the arena, where Stonemover stood with the other eight animuses. This might be a good time to get across the arena and closer to him, while everyone was distracted.
Nightreader stepped around the edges of the arena, behind the watching crowd keeping her head down as she tried to get closer to her brother. Meanwhile, Erosion continued slowly pacing towards Burn with a smirk. Burn stuck out her wing, her own blood dripping across her body from scrapes and scratches. She tried to stand up again, but faltered. Something in one of her back legs appeared to be fractured, or out-of-place.
"All done?" Erosion asked with a laugh. She turned to the crowd, gazing around. "Here, before you, is your queen! Unable to rule! Watch her die beneath my talons, far too weak to protect her kingdom and tribe!"
Erosion turned back to Burn, and continued her march forward, stretching her bloodsoaked talons out as she prepared to become queen.