An earth missile rocketed out of the cave and exploded. The black dragon hit the ground in a shower of sand. Tremor walked outside, and moved away from the mouth of the cave. He kept his eyes on Liun as he shook the sand off himself.

"Lucky shot." The dragon leered at the guardian.

"You think so huh?" Tremor gave a superior smirk. "There's a big difference between luck and skill."

"Don't you lecture me on skill!" Liun snarled and charged again. Tremor side-stepped him again and let the dragon run into his clubbed tail. Liun staggered forward from the hit. In a flash he whirled around and fired a bolt of black ligtning. The light blinded Tremor and he closed his eyes. The bolt struck him in the chest, just to the left of his previous injury. He grunted from the pain and stumbled back. Liun ran in and tackled Tremor to the ground.

The other guardians all rushed outside and were staring as the two combatants rolling over each other clawing and snarling wildly.

"What do we do!" Stella gasped in horror as she watched Tremor kick Liun off only to have the black dragon jump back onto him.

"I have no idea!" Flame shook his head.

"Should we jump in and break up the fight, or what?" Candice glanced over at them.

"We have to do something!" Stella insisted. "Otherwise, they'll kill each other!"

"I don't think so." Flame gave her a quick glance. "Right now I say we let Tremor handle it until it looks like he needs our assistance."

"But Flame..." Stella began to protest.

"I know." Flame placed a comforting paw on her shoulder. "I don't like it either but I'm certain Tremor can handle this."

"I...I guess." Stella turned her attention back to the fight.

Liun roared and slashed Tremor across the face. The earth dragon's blood splattered across the sand and was instantly buried beneath the two dragons. "You won't be able to beat me!" Liun laughed. "You're too tired, too confident and too slow!" He struck Tremor again leaving three claw marks across his forehead. He was about to follow up with another swipe with his claws when Tremor blocked him. Liun gasped in surprise. Tremor smiled. He hit Liun in the face with his forehead causing the black dragon to rear back. When his mid-section was exposed, Tremor struck him hard with his tail. Liun choked and gasped for air, collapsing to the sand.

"I'm not trying to kill you." Tremor yawned as if he were bored. "So don't think that I'm really trying to fight you."

"Why you smug bastard!" Liun sucked his air back in and struck Tremor beneath the jaw. He rammed Tremor as hard as he could and sent the earth guardian rolling across the sand. As Tremor began to rise, Liun pounced on his back and sank his teeth into Tremor's neck. Tremor bellowed and spun around in circles, trying to throw his opponent off. Liun dug his long claws into Tremor's flesh, drawing as much blood as he could to slow the dragon down.

At last, Tremor had had enough. He leaned down and shook himself like a dog. Liun hung on as long as he could but began to lose his grip on the young dragon. With one last thrust, Tremor shook loose the black dragon who tore off a massive chunk of his skin. Tremor gasped at the intense pain in his neck. The cold, salty air only added to the burning feeling.

Liun smiled almost evilly. "What's wrong guardian? Did I catch you off guard?"

"Yeah right. You know I let you just because I felt sorry for you." Tremor tried to form a smile but the pain was starting to get to him. Liun's temper flared none the less.

"Oh you've gone and pissed me off now." Liun snarled. But before he could go on the attack again, Tremor shot in and slammed the black dragon. Liun tumbled across the sand and looked up to see Tremor silhouetted by the two moons in the sky. Tremor roared and charged up an earth shot. Liun dug his paw deep and flung a large cloud of sand into Tremor's eyes. The earth guardian growled sharply, the tiny grains stinging his eyes. He dropped to the beach and rubbed at his eyes, but only succeeded in making it worse. Tremor forced his eyes to stay closed and began to use his earth powers.

Liun snickered and sprang into the air. Tremor slammed his foot into the sand, sending up condensed pillars of sand. Liun dodged the first three but the fourth clipped his wing sending him off balance. The fifth hit the mark, sending him flying high into the air. Liun spread his wings, catching his balance and hovered over the earth dragon below.

Tremor's muscles tensed for a spilt second. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled, calming his senses. He couldn't see or feel the black dragon anymore. He could hear the steady beating of his wings, but he was unable to get a fix on his position. Tremor fired and earth bullet and missed. Liun watched as the attack passed him several feet away. Tremor fired another and another. None of them coming close to the black dragon.

Liun smiled. "He can't tell where I am." He thought to himself. He gave his wings a hard flap and moved sideways. Tremor heard the noise and fired. Liun yelped and ducked out of the way just in time. "How'd you find me!" He demanded angrily. He was beginning to grow annoyed with the earth dragon.

"I can hear your wings beat moron!" Tremor turned in his general direction. "Each time you move in the air you beat your wings harder and that gives you away!"

"Oh really?" Liun sneered. "How about now?" He moved again and Tremor fired another bullet. He missed but only slightly. Liun moved again and once again Tremor fired. The more the black dragon moved the more precise Tremor's aim was getting. At last Liun cartwheeled over Tremor's head, dodging another attack in the process. He paused and beat his wings hard, turning himself upright. Much to his surprise, the earth dragon didn't attack. Liun moved to the side and Tremor fired. Liun feinted back to his right and Tremor stopped.

Liun looked over his shoulder to see his back to the cliffs where the cave was. A wicked smile spread across his mouth as he came to realize the situation. Black flames began to lick at Liun's lips. With a loud roar he spewed a raging fireball.

"Shit!" Tremor cursed and dove to the side. The impact sent him flying and sand stung his wounds. The earth dragon rolled to his feet and listened above. Liun beat his wings hard and Tremor was about to fire when he realized Liun had put himself in front of the cliffs again. "Damn it!" He rolled away again as another fireball hit the beach.

Off to the side, Candice watched in deep anxiety. When Liun had thrown sand in Tremor's face she had almost immediately jumped into the fight herself. Now that Tremor was completely on the defensive, her anxiousness was beginning to get to her. As Tremor dodged another fireball, she took a step forward. Flame crossed a wing in front of her. The ice dragoness looked at him, almost ready to cross him to get to the struggling earth dragon.

"Not yet." Flame shook his head. Candice pressed her lips tightly together. She wanted to go out and help but she trusted Flame's judgement. Her attention was grabbed when Tremor howled in pain. She turned back to see the earth dragon thrown into the air from the force of an explosion.

Liun dove in and struck Tremor in midair. He turned back fast and struck him twice more before slamming him down into the cold, wet sand at the shore's edge. The sand was hard and Tremor felt the wind rush out of him. As he gasped for breath a wave rose up from behind him and washed over him.

"Tremor!" Candice screamed and pushed past Flame's wing.

"Wait!" The fire breather called.

"How can you continually tell me to wait when Tremor's getting his tail kicked! I have to help him!"

"No, Tremor isn't even close to being beaten." Flame looked her in the eye and his blazed bright to show his seriousness. "He'll be fine."

"But..."

"Candice, do you trust me?"

"Of course..."

"And I know you hate Tremor, but do you trust him? Do you believe in him?"

"I..." Candice stood stiff. "I don't hate Tremor...It's not that I like him...I..."

"Do you trust him?" Flame took a forceful step towards her.

"I..." Candice hung her head. "I don't know."

Flame sighed and draped a wing around her shoulders. "Just watch." He said. Candice looked up at him. He sounded so mature, and wise. Almost as if he had been a guardian for as long as the elders. Deep down she pondered if Tremor would ever be like that in his future.

"Maybe..." She thought to herself. "Perhaps maybe...I do."

The icy cold salt water stung Tremor's wounds even more than the burning sand did. He opened his mouth to cry out and ended up with a mouth full of ocean. When the water rushed back, Tremor wretched the salty contents of his stomach.

Liun laughed as he watched Tremor cough and sputter. Another wave hit Tremor, nearly knocking him down again. The earth dragon squinted through burning eyes at the black dragon. The pain caused Tremor to shut his eyes again.

"I guess you lose." Liun called mockingly. "I guess you should have listened to me before guardian."

"I'm still standing, and I'm not dead yet." Tremor's cocky smirk spread across his mouth again. "So don't call it quits before one of us is dead." Off to the side, Candice felt her heart nearly stop.

"Then I won't disappoint you!" Liun roared and dove at Tremor. He fired a beam of black fire at Tremor. The earth dragon's green aura suddenly surrounded him. The energy focused into Tremor's arm and he raised his paw and struck the beam head on. Liun's eyes grew wide as the earth dragon pushed though his attack. Just before he hit Tremor, the earth dragon broke from the attack and struck Liun in the neck before pinning him into the sand.

The black dragon gagged and coughed and another wave engulfed the two dragons. Liun forced his head above the break, choking on air and salt water. He opened his eyes and stared in shock at Tremor. He was about to speak when Tremor brought his nose down to his. Tremor's eyes were still closed but it didn't make him look any less threatening. A low roar resonated in his chest.

"This fight is over." He growled. "I can take others calling me a weakling, or a failure or an idiot. I can even deal with others wishing I were dead." Candice felt a knife stab her in the heart. "But I will not tolerate others trying to harm my friends, or insulting someone I care about. Candice is a billion times the dragon you could ever be; even if she's a know-it-all kiss ass. I may be exhausted, but if you cross me I promise, there will be no end to my power which you will face."

Tremor stepped off of Liun and spread his wings wide, sending droplets flying and glistening in the moonlight. "I spared you this time out of respect for Stella since she liked you. Now get out of my sight and don't ever let me catch you around my friends, ever again." The roar began to grow louder and Liun felt a genuine fear grip his heart. "Or I vow that next time I won't be as forgiving."

Liun shook himself, getting more water on Tremor as a last act of defiance. He spread his wings and took off as fast as he could fly. He cursed to himself as he looked back over his shoulder at the earth dragon who stood proudly, letting the surf wash around him as if nothing could faze him.

"You'll pay for this." He hissed and disappeared into the night.