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CHAPTER 2

The clear blue sky, the golden sunlight of a beautifully sunny day of spring, and the light breeze wafting across a deliriously happy crowd - it was the most anticipated day of the year.

“Battle formation” a deep loud voice rang through the stadium leaving a hush in its wake. It was General Roth who was the referee of this year’s spring celebrations. There was a booming sound of flapping wings as both teams took their positions high up in the air. Twenty dragons divided in two teams of ten for a face off competition. The presence of each team in the air was just a show of support for their respective chosen champions.

“Night hawks v/s Black gladiators. On my mark both warriors will rise. The champions from Night Hawks and Black Gladiators are Damien Priamos and Valiance D’evreux respectively” recited General Roth with his booming, no-nonsense voice, who was standing on a platform; which rose high above the stands that were jam-packed with people. He was in his human form, according to the game rules. And in the stands there were all kinds of people, cheering their teams without having a care in the world as to who sits next to what creature. They were all one people today; people of Evreux… the humans, healers, shifters, and dragons.

Like every year, the spring celebrations in Evreux were starting with this face off between the two teams. Night Hawks in their shiny silver armor in honor of the moon, while Black Gladiators in their black ones to honor the night. Two huge doors in the arena opposite each other opened with a loud bang and emerged from them two massive dragons from each team. They couldn’t be more different in looks. While one was a silver clad beautiful golden dragon who looked like he was made of burnished gold, the other one; as black as obsidian wrapped in his equally black armor looked like he was carved from night itself. They were both magnificent beasts. After they emerged from the doors into the clearing between the stands, the doors closed behind them. They both bowed to each other, none of them taking their eyes away from their opponent. But if you knew how to look, you could see the amusement and deep friendship shining in both their eyes.

“Let the face off begin” General Roth blew the whistle as the mark and in unison both dragons rose in the air. Dirt from the Stadium rose with the mighty flaps of their wings. They circled each other with a vicious efficiency, both trying to find an opening to land a blow on their challenger. Their claws were retracted as per the game rules.

The golden dragon shot towards his opponent like a bullet out of a gun but it looked like the black one anticipated this move because at the last moment he tucked in his wings, did a side-flip, and swiped his paw on the silver armor of his rival.

A roar of applause reverberated through the stands as Black Gladiators scored their first point. And then another... and another.

“Come on Dimi show me what you got man”. Valiance mocked his best friend, “you’re making it way too easy”.

“Mock me all you want brother. I’ll have my chance” and swift as an adder, Damien lashed out with his tail, hitting Valiance square in his chest and earning his own point.

Valiance dove underneath before Dimi could land the next blow he was aiming for Val’s face.

Below them the crowd was getting crazier by the minute. They had been fighting for almost fifteen minutes and were on equal footing. Suddenly Damien ducked underneath Valiance, aiming for his vulnerable stomach. At this point there could be heard a pin-drop silence as every pair of eyes was focused on the fight above. Valiance swiftly flipped above his head and the next thing – the golden dragon’s neck was in his teeth and his wings were pinned beneath Valiance’s paws. Valiance had Damien in a death grip... the ultimate move.

The face-off was over. The black dragon had won.

The crowd went wild. The whistle indicating the end of the face-off blew and Valiance let go of his best friend’s neck and wings. Black Gladiators had won the face-off yet again. Dimi was grumbling incoherently while Valiance just looked at him with a smug and somewhat amused expression on his face. Dimi had always been a sore loser. The other Black team members rose up high in the sky and performed a synchronized victory performance. there were beautiful displays of their individual powers - balls of fire that extinguished before they could burn, showers of water that fell like misty rain on the arena, snowflakes falling like confetti and so much more. below them the crowd became almost deafening.

As soon as they landed back in the arena, people showered them with ale, as was the tradition of the game. they didn't differentiate between winner and loser because the game had ended and now they were all going to celebrate.

And so the revelry began. The celebrations of spring would last the whole week in Evreux. RASK – The Festival of Spring - The most beloved holiday of the kingdom where feasts were arranged in the streets and all the people mingled and laughed and drank and danced… despite the curse plaguing most of them. The best part of being a dragon on the eve of RAASK was the mammoth troughs filled with the best ale their land had to offer. No dragon would remain sober by the coming morning. That's why the hunt was always scheduled for a couple days after they all drank themselves into a stupor. Valiance was going to have to keep an eye on his best friend so that he didn't try to drink a whole trough in order to forget his defeat. Valiance grinned to himself before he and Damien landed near the first trough they could find that wasn't already teaming with thirsty dragons.

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