Zilferia
The Second Challenge

It turns out to be longer than one day until Kate grants me permission to try talking again. So, almost three days after Zeke rescued Lloyd and me, I am finally free to go and ask him all the questions that have been burning within me for the past few days. Kate tells me where I can replace him. I then go over to the house in the highest tree and replace him leaning out on the balcony, gazing over the other treehouses and the surrounding forest.

He doesn’t say anything when I walk up next to him, so I just stand there and look out as well. With the sun nearing the horizon, the low light makes the forest look… enchanting. Clearing his throat, Zeke turns and looks at me.

“So, have you finally been cleared to talk?”

“Yep,” I say, my voice hoarse from lack of use. “It feels good to finally talk again. So, you said you would tell me everything. Also, I need to go back to Nathan as soon as possible, so you might want to start now.”

He smiles. “Alright, then.” He grabs some chairs and I sit down next to him. He gazes back out at the forest. “Oh, where to start?”

“How about explaining why you saved me?” I suggest. “Or about these ‘river birds’ of yours.” I look at the sky as a huge silver dragon flies by. “Or why you guys have a dragon hanging out with you?”

He laughs. “Well, then I guess I’ll start… at the beginning. The Sohos weren’t called by this name at first. In fact, we started out as part of a group called the Dragon Hunters. I’m ashamed to say I was even their leader at one time. The Dragon Hunters’ only goal was to rid this world of Dragons- forever; and this was specifically my life’s goal. That is, it was, until something happened that changed my life- and my entire outlook on it.”

I listen raptly, enthralled by his rich, emotion filled voice as it paints a picture of his former life before my eyes.

“I was a young man at the time, about seventeen, and I had taken about half of the Dragon Hunters with me on a dragon hunt. We were following a huge black dragon whom we called Giusto. When we found the dragon’s cave, we waited near it for the beast to come back from hunting. We had a perfect plan. Unfortunately, someone messed up our plan. Some wanderer stupidly went into the dragon’s cave to sleep that night.

“When he came out in the morning, Giusto arrived as well. He chased the man toward us. My people wanted to flee, but I ordered them to stay put. The dragon had no idea we were there, so when it froze the guy in place with Dragon Fear, it made itself more vulnerable. So, we took advantage of this and attacked it then. It didn’t take long to kill the beast, but the stranger was injured by one of the beast’s claws. He was unconscious.

“I made the decision to take the man into our group. We brought him to our best healer and he managed to save the man’s life. When he came to, he told us that his name was Patrick, and that he hates dragons and wants to help us kill them… so we let him join.

“After a few years, I started feeling more and more lonely. My parents were both dead, I had no siblings, and my friends weren’t very good friends.

“So one day I just set off into the forest alone. I wanted to clear my head. I wandered, and eventually I found a cave. As I got near it, I could sense the presence of a dragon. I started backing away, knowing I couldn’t take on a dragon alone, but it was too late. A large red dragon leapt out of the cave and pinned me on my back. It was majestic and… beautiful. I felt its mind touch mine. It was a young mother, and it asked why I was there.

“Panicked, I couldn’t say anything. So she looked deeper into my mind and pulled up all my memories- she learned everything about me. I thought for sure that she would kill me, but she didn’t. Instead, she invited me into her cave to see her babies. I didn’t dare disobey her, so I let her lead me into the cave. The small dragons all pounced on me. I was frightened at first, but then I figured out that they were just trying to play.

“That moment changed my life. Before, I had always thought that all dragons were evil creatures without souls… not after that. So I went back to the Dragon Hunters and told my friends about it. They thought I was crazy. One of them believed me, and even let me lead him to see the dragon. He gained an appreciation for dragons as well.

“After a while, we got quite a few people to change their view on dragons. But Patrick didn’t. He swayed the people into thinking that all dragons are evil and should be killed. He took over and kicked the ‘dragon lovers,’ as he called us, out, saying that if the dragons wanted us, then they could have us.

“We didn’t know how to survive very well in the wilderness, so I went to see my dragon friend. She took us to the dragon council. The head member, Asoka, was also the wisest and oldest dragon. He agreed to help us build a new place to live, as well as teach us how to live off the land. The dragon council then used magic on us. We were changed. We were then able to use magic, although none of us had been able to before. We also aged slower.

“And thus, the Sohos were born. ‘Soho’ actually means Dragon Friend in draconian. We lived side by side with the dragons, and all was peaceful for a long time.

“Until just five years ago, when Patrick found out that not only did we not die in the wilderness, but that we were even friends with the dragons. Lusting for revenge, he decided to attack us. At first, we just tried to run and hide, but then we decided to go on the offensive.

“One dark night, we attacked the castle. We discovered that Patrick had taken many prisoners from the King and Queen Dragon’s Village, so we rescued them and burned part of the main building. It was there that I met our new doctor, Kate. She actually used to work for your parents- the King and Queen. They took her at the same time they took Hunter- your brother- and tried to take both you and your other brother, Rex.”

“Wait, what?” I say, surprised. “They tried to take me and… my brother? But they took the other one… Hunter… well, where is he now?”

Zeke grimaces. “I’m sorry to say that Patrick raised him not knowing who he really is- or so I assume- and… he is actually in line for being the next ruler. I fear that he will lead the Dragon hunters just like Patrick does- killing everything, having no mercy, nor patience…”

I sit there silently, trying to absorb the fact that not only do I have two brothers, but that one is lost and the other is a power-hungry maniac. It’s a little much to come to terms with, so I decide to think about it later.

“So why did you save me? You still haven’t answered that,” I say.

Zeke smiles a little. “I was just getting to that. Well, after we rescued Kate and some other prisoners, Kate told me that Patrick was planning to attack us full-on with everything he’s got, and that would destroy us. Not only that, but they would stand an even better chance because they found a way to steal other people’s Gifts- and use them themselves.”

“What?!” I exclaim. “No! That’s… that’s impossible!” I startle myself. I didn’t realize that I had accepted that Gifts are real in the first place, but not only that, I finally decided that this place is real. Most startling of all is that I actually now believe that I am the Princess. I mean, there are way too many things proving that I am. And now I am even defending these people that lost their Gifts that I don’t even know… well, I have changed a lot since I got here.

“Yes. It is possible, I’m sorry to say,” A voice behind me whispers. I turn and see Kate standing there. “I saw the machine with my own eyes,” she continues, walking up next to Zeke and looking into my eyes. With a shock, I realize that hers are filled with fear. “Of course, it wasn’t quite finished yet, but I saw the plans, and there were only a few minor flaws that they most likely fixed by now.” She shudders. “I urge everyone I meet to avoid that group of villains and their… Gift Stealer at all costs.” She suddenly stops and looks at me. Her eyes fill with tears and she runs off into the night.

I peer at Zeke. “What was that about?” I ask him. He sighs.

“I guess I’ll have to tell you. Just know, you don’t have to help. You can just let us fend for ourselves.” He takes a deep breath while I wait anxiously. “Well, after I found out about this new threat, I went to the dragons for help. The Dragon Mage told me a prophecy.

“When all seems dark and without hope, there will be one who comes. A Dragongirl. You will help her, and she will help you. She will attack your enemy, and hers as well, and cripple them in a way no one will see coming. She will lose much, sacrifice more than anyone else would, but it will be worth it. After her work is done, you will be left alone. However, there will be new threats looming on the horizon. New threats against more than just the Sohos, aimed to destroy more than you can imagine.” Zeke looks at me, seriousness in his eyes, as well as a kind of pain.

“Like I said, you don’t have to do this. Although… I have a feeling you are the Dragongirl- which means you will save us. But please, don’t help us just because of the prophecy. In fact, we may not need you yet anyway. It said when all hope is lost, and we still have hope. After all, we don’t know that the machine of theirs even works. Plus, we still have the dragons on our side. They don’t exactly want to be destroyed either.” He pauses to let this sink in.

“I…” I don’t know what to say or do. I want to help these people, I really do, but that Gift Stealer and the prophecy… ‘she will lose much and sacrifice more than any other would…’ well, that doesn’t comfort me at all. After a few more minutes of thinking, trying to decide, I make my decision.

“…I will help you when the time comes,” I declare to Zeke, trying to keep my voice strong and confident. It wavers anyway. I’m scared to death, but I feel like I must help them, somehow. Zeke looks extremely surprised.

“W… what? Really? You… you’ll help us? Even after…”

“Yes,” I nod, sealing my fate.

Zeke clears his throat. I realize that the sun has gone down a while ago and that it’s getting late. “Well. Thank you. We are in your debt. However, I assume that you will want to go back to your Village now, don’t you?”

I nod. “Yes, there are still some things that I need to do there.” I’m nervous that I missed the next Challenge, but I don’t know for sure, because I have lost track of the days.

Zeke accepts this. “Well, I want you to keep this as a reminder of us,” he says, handing me back my feather. “I don’t want you to forget us, or your promise. For without you, we may just be lost. Of course, we don’t know that for sure yet… but when we need you, we will send word. Now then, you need to get some rest. I will take you back in the morning.”

“Goodnight,” I tell him.

“Goodnight,” he responds. As I walk back to the hospital, my thoughts rush ahead to the next day, trying to predict how everyone will react to my return after being gone for so long.

Lloyd and I meet Zeke at a huge clearing. I finish tucking the feather into my braid and Nora lands on my shoulder. In the clearing is a huge, magnificent silver dragon. I’m not too surprised to see it, since I had glimpsed it flying by just the day before. We climb on and it takes flight. I hold tight to Eric, not willing to let him jump off like Nora told me he had on the way to the Sohos’ Village. The silver dragon flies surprisingly fast, and we are back at the Hausdorff tree in less than an hour. The sun is just coming up as we land. We say goodbye to Zeke and start walking back to Eric’s cave.

Eric isn’t too happy to be going back there just to wait for me some more, but I cheer him up by telling him that Lloyd will play with him sometimes while I’m training and in the Second Challenge. After Nora grabs something to eat, Lloyd goes his own way and I head back to my hut to try and replace Nathan. He’s not there, so I change clothes and head to the town square to see if he’s there with Vlad.

He is. When I get near him, I can tell he’s tired because he doesn’t even hear me coming, although Vlad does. As does Nathan’s Familiar, Greg. He sniffs the air and alerts Nathan, who then swings around, disbelief clear in his eyes. Then they are filled with relief and he runs forward and hugs me. I’m startled.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he whispers, pain in his voice. “I… I thought I lost you. I mean, who knows what’s out there in that forest? I…” he breaks off, his voice beginning to crack.

“It’s okay. I’m here now. I’m sorry I had you so worried.” I decide not to tell him all that happened- he seems overwhelmed already. Looking over Nathan’s shoulder, I see Vlad stepping up to me. I stiffen and Nathan turns to see why.

“Well,” Vlad spits out. “Look who decided to crawl back here. Have a nice trip in the forest?” Something in his voice tells me that he knows what I’ve learned. I scold myself. I’m just paranoid.

Swallowing my fear, I reply, “Actually, I had a hard time,” I say, looking him in the eye. “I ran into some dangerous things in there. I was lucky to come back alive.”

He smiles. I can tell he thinks I’m lying. “Well, you caused quite a stir here. Everyone was searching for you for five days.”

“Five?”

“Yes. Oh, did you not realize what day it is? Tomorrow is the Second Challenge,” he sneers.

“Well then I guess I’ll go get ready for it,” I bite back. I turn to Nathan. “Are you done training with him?”

“Yes,” he says. Not saying goodbye to Vlad, we just walk away from him. I can tell he’s not too happy with that.

On the way to train with Thaddeus, Nathan tells me how worried he was and how he didn’t sleep at all while I was gone except when Thaddeus gave him drugs to make him sleep. I feel bad, but he tells me not to. It wasn’t my fault. I comfort him some, though, by telling him that Lloyd went with me and he helped me out with the ‘wild creatures.’ Nora helped as well, and so did Eric. I feel bad lying to him, but I know that he probably wouldn’t be able to handle the truth right now. I’ll tell him what really happened later, I promise myself.

Thaddeus is relieved to see me as well. “It wouldn’t be good if we lost our only Princess, now would it?” is his take on it. Even though he doesn’t come right out and say it, I can tell he’s relieved that I’m okay.

When we break for lunch, Thaddeus tells Nathan to go on. He wants to talk to me alone. He has me tell him everything that happened while I was gone. He’s surprised that there are such people as the Sohos out there, but he’s not surprised at all to replace out about the Dragon Hunters- or what I tell him about my brother, Hunter.

When I ask him about this, he just replies that Patrick had already told the King about those things before he left with Hunter, and the King told him. Although he didn’t know about the Gift Stealer before now, and he’s concerned about it.

So I continue with my story. It’s a relief to tell someone. Maybe he can help me make sense of it all. He is shocked though, when I tell him about the Dragongirl Prophesy.

“What? Dragongirl? You think that you are the Dragongirl? Why is that?” So I tell him about mastering the dragon form. “That doesn’t mean that you’re the Dragongirl!”

“Why not?” I ask.

“Well,” he explains. “The Dragongirl is supposed to be a girl with two forms- not only is she human, but she is a dragon as well. It’s not so much that she can shape shift into one, but that she is a dragon!”

“Oh. I don’t think I am the Dragongirl then,” I say, pondering this. “but,” I add, “I promised to help the Sohos, so help them I will- even if I’m not the one in the prophesy. They need help.”

“Yes,” he says, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “but don’t give them false hopes- and especially don’t give yourself to them. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for naught. They can fend for themselves, don’t worry.”

After that, the rest of the day is uneventful, except for the reactions of the other contestants when they see that I’m back. They are both surprised to see me, as well as unhappy that I’m back in time for the next Challenge. I guess I do pose a bigger threat than I first thought.

This time, I wake up before Nathan and I make breakfast. When he gets up and sees the food ready, he has to bite back a protest before he breaks our agreement of taking turns for everything. Plus, I had plenty of sleep. That’s pretty much all I had to do all week while I was in the hospital. He was the one who needed more of it. It’s a good thing I made him sleep in, too. He looks a lot better than yesterday, but he’s still not back up to one hundred percent. He needed every little bit of sleep he could get. I just hope he got enough to be able to do this Challenge. After all, he was the only one here for most of the training. When my body was here, my mind was not, so I really didn’t get much help for this one.

Thaddeus told us to meet him where we usually do for this Challenge. He’s already waiting for us when we get there.

“There has been a slight change of rules for this Challenge. This time, you can pair up with another team. Who do you want to pair up with?”

“Red,” we say. We don’t even have to talk about it first.

“Of course,” he says with a small smile. “Good luck in the arena!” Before I can react, there is once again a prick in my arm and I’m knocked out.

I open my eyes. At first, I think that there is something wrong with my vision because I can’t see anything. After a few seconds, I realize that it’s just dark and foggy. I sit up, groaning.

“Man, I really wish they wouldn’t do that!” I complain.

“Yeah,” Nathan agrees. There’s movement to my right to my right as he sits up, but I can barely see him.

“It’s just so you don’t know where the arena is or anything. Everyone wakes up at the same time, so it’s more fair that way,” Nora states.

“Ugh! I don’t care, it’s not a fun thing to suddenly wake up and think that your eyes don’t work,” a familiar voice says.

“Sierra?” I question.

“Who else?” Ham says. “We are all going to be one team this time, which means that Sierra and I actually have a chance.”

I laugh. “It’s more like Nathan and I actually have more of a chance. Nathan’s sleep deprived, and I basically missed all of the training.”

Just as I finish speaking, I hear a voice echoing from the surrounding fog. It’s Nehru.

“Hello! Contestants! This is Nehru speaking! Just so you know, you are in another arena, competing in the Second Challenge! Once again, you will be permitted to get off of your platform only once the gun goes off. After that, it’s basically a free-for-all- but killing is not allowed. Find the end of the maze first, and you win! The end will be glowing white. This time, there will be four winners, since each of you have joined teams, and only one team can get there first. I hope you each have at least one of your Gifts, or this may be a little more difficult. For the moment, just sit still and… ponder, plan, or just procrastinate!” With a giggle, her voice disappears. I raise an eyebrow, although no one can see it.

“Does she have to say that every time?” I complain.

Ham laughs. “Apparently. Maybe it’s her catch phrase or something.” We laugh for a little, then get down to business.

“So,” Nathan says as we get into a circle. We’re close enough to see each other’s faces now. “I guess we’ll figure out which way to go as we get to each crossroad. I suppose the first item of business is to replace out what each person’s strengths are. So, Ham, do you have any of your Gifts yet?”

“Yes, actually. But it’s a dumb one.”

“What is it?” I ask. “No Gift is dumb- any one of them can help us,” I assure him.

“Well… I have the Gift of extraordinary memory,” he confides.

“Awesome!” says Nathan. “That will be a huge help with this riddle one! How about you, Sierra?”

“Um… I have the Gift of Speed, I think,” she says timidly.

“Wow,” Nathan says. “You guys are perfectly suited for this Challenge! Not only do we need to speed through this maze, we also need to answer some pretty tough riddles!”

Just as he finishes saying this, we hear the blast of a gun. This time, there aren’t any bags for us, so I suppose they either don’t think it will take very long, or that we can feed ourselves. So we walk cautiously through the fog, having no idea where we’re going.

After a few seconds, we bump into a large hedge growing there. It appears that we are outside… the only question is- why is it so dark? Where did the stars, moon, and sun go? Getting an idea, I ask Nora to fly as high as she can and see if the fog thins out; maybe see the way to go. She does so, but at about fifty feet up, she stops dead in the air and can’t seem to go any higher.

She returns with her report. “The arena seems to be enforced with magic. I assume that they made it so that we can’t fly up very high, so we can’t just fly over the whole thing. I would also wager that the hedges are enforced with magic so we can’t force our way through them.”

Sighing, I tell this to the others. “Now what?” asks Sierra. “We’ll never get to the end at all, let alone first if this is the best we can do!”

We all murmur our agreement. Suddenly Nathan comes up with an idea. “Hey, Crystal. How long can you use your dragon eyes at one time?”

“Without stopping? I don’t know… I’ve never done it for very long. It doesn’t seem to be all that difficult, though,” I reply.

“Wait, what?” Sierra exclaims, astonished by what she just heard. “Crystal has dragon eyes?!”

“Um, yes,” he replies. “You know what, I’ll explain it as we go, okay? Crystal, will you try using your dragon eyes?”

“Of course,” I reply, switching them. They help me to see almost perfectly through the fog. “Follow me,” I say, grabbing Nathan’s hand. He takes Sierra’s hand, and then she grabs Ham’s so no one gets lost. Nora flies above us while Greg rides on Nathan’s shoulder. I start though the hedges that I can now see both sides of for about three hundred yards, before it splits. As we walk, I hear Nathan explaining everything to Ham and Sierra. I don’t bother to listen in.

I stop. “Okay, there’s a split here. Do you think we should go right, or left? They both look exactly the same.”

“I don’t know,” Nathan says. “It’s up to chance anyway. We could all take turns choosing. Ham, why don’t you go first?”

“Um, okay,” he responds. “Let’s go… right.” So I take the path on the right. We walk for about another three hundred yards until we come to another split. This one’s a three-way.

“Okay, Sierra. Straight, left, or right?”

“Um… left?” Again, another three hundred yards out, we run into another split. I’m beginning to think that maybe we will be lucky and we won’t have to do a riddle or anything when Nathan decides to go right.

We get in about one hundred feet before I see something ahead. Looking closer at it, I can see that it’s a minotaur- a tall man with horns and hairy legs. He’s holding an axe and is waiting patiently for us. I swallow as I take note of his bulging muscles.

Noticing that I have seen him, he bellows, “Now that you have seen me, you may not go back. You must answer my riddle- without the help of your Familiar. Answer correctly, and you will go on a faster, less dangerous route. Answer incorrectly, and you will have to fight me. The person given the riddle will be the only one permitted to fight me. If they win, then you can move on, using a longer route with wild creatures on it. Lose to me, and you will have to backtrack. So come closer, and pick who your spokesperson will be.”

“What is it?” Sierra whimpers. I quietly tell them what it is as I inch forward, pulling them behind me.

“Ha!” Ham laughs. “Minotaurs are so dumb! This will be an easy riddle.”

“Well then,” Nathan says. “Who thinks that they are the worst at riddles? Everyone should be able to try, so we’ll save Ham for some harder ones.”

“I’ll do it!” Sierra says. “I’m horrible at riddles. I just can’t seem to think outside the box.”

“Very well,” I say, continuing on toward the Minotaur. “But fighting it will be difficult in this fog, so I would try to answer right, if I were you.”

Even as I say this, the fog thins until it is almost entirely gone and the others can now see the Minotaur. He stands head and shoulders above us, although it seems like more because of his huge muscles. “Who will challenge me?” he roars, trying to intimidate us.

Swallowing, Sierra steps up to him, trembling. “I… I will,” she stammers.

“Excellent. Now then, are you ready?”

“Y… yes.”

“Then let us begin. There are six copycats on a boat. One jumps off. How many are left?”

Sierra replies with barely a hesitation. “None, of course. They’re copycats, so they copy whatever the first one does.”

The Minotaur looks disappointed, but he steps to the side of the path and gestures for us to go through. “You have passed your first riddle. At the next fork, head left. That is the safest path.”

“Thank you,” I say, bowing to the creature. He blushes with pleasure.

“But of course, Princess. Anything to help one of the Dragons. …You remind me a lot of your mother, by the way,” he says.

“Oh,” I say, surprised. “Well, thank you.”

So we move on. The instant we are past it, the mist closes in again, and at the next fork, we head left, just like he said. This time, it’s about four hundred yards to the next split. It divides into four paths. It’s my turn to pick, so I go on the one on the farthest right.

I didn’t make a very good choice. One hundred yards in, there’s a fox sitting in the middle of the path, tail wrapped neatly over her paws. We walk up to her cautiously.

“My rules are the same as the Minotaur’s. Who will challenge me?”

I turn to my friends. “Well? Who wants to outwit the fox? Foxes are sly, so she will probably try and confuse us by making an easy riddle sound hard. So, who thinks that they can do it?”

All three of them look at me. “I think that you can,” Nathan says. “You’re pretty sly and witty yourself.” The others agree, so I decide to try it.

“What walks on first four legs, then two, then six?” she asks, not wasting any time once we’ve decided.

I think for a while. A couple of minutes later, it finally clicks in my head and I can’t believe it took me so long to figure it out. “The answer is a human. Why they are young, they crawl- using four legs. Then they learn to walk- using two. But then they get old and have to use a walker- making six legs.”

The fox looks surprised. “Well done. You may move on. At the next fork in the path, take the middle choice. Have a good day, Princess,” she adds.

“How do you know that I’m the Princess?” I ask. She grins slyly.

“Your dragon eyes are still out. Plus, you are a lot like your mother, who saved my babies years back. I’m just repaying the favor.”

“Oh… thank you,” I say as we move on.

At the next fork, we take the middle one, just like the fox told us to. Nothing happens after Ham’s choice, but when Sierra chooses to go left, we run into another creature. This one is a tiger. Nathan decides to go on this one.

“It takes six men three hours to dig ten holes. How long would it take for one man to dig half a hole?”

Nathan looks confused. “But… that’s so easy. Is that really your riddle?”

“Yes,” the tiger growls, looking like he would very much like to eat him.

“Then the answer is that you can’t dig half a hole!”

“Correct. You may continue. Take the path on the right at the next split.”

Nathan’s choice doesn’t lead us to another creature, but mine does. This time it’s a Gryphon. Ham decides to take it. The magnificent creature in front of him causes Ham to tremble with awe. Finally, he just looks at the ground so he can concentrate.

“What is greater than God, and is more evil than the Devil; the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you die?”

Ham continues staring at the ground as he thinks. I see beads of sweat growing on his face. Just as I’m getting worried that he won’t get it, his face suddenly relaxes and he stands up straight, looking right at the Gryphon.

“Nothing. Nothing is greater than God, and if you eat nothing, you die.”

“Very good. Please, go on. Go straight at the next split. Good day,” it says, laying down and waiting for any other contestants to come.

As we walk through the mist, Sierra’s hopeful voice pops up. “I think we’re going to win!” We all turn and look at her- although I’m the only one that can actually see her. “What?” she asks defensively. “Can anyone else get through this mist as easily as us? No! And not only that, but we have answered every riddle correctly! We’re flying through this Challenge!”

“…There’s just one thing,” I say as we start moving again. “Isn’t there supposed to be paths that will make it so the contestants have to run into each other eventually? …We haven’t seen anyone else the whole time!”

“Yeah… that is strange,” Ham comments. “Maybe the paths only collide when you go the slower way. The ‘dangerous’ way.”

“Yes, that must be it,” I decide. After a little longer, my stomach begins rumbling hungrily. I just ignore it for a while, but then I begin hearing the other’s stomachs as well. Well, it won’t hurt to look for food, right? So I begin looking around for food- maybe some berries growing on the branches- something.

By the time we arrive at the next riddle master, I haven’t found anything. This one is a house cat. Unlike the others, it doesn’t let us choose who will answer the riddle.

“Come forward, Crystal Dragon, and answer my riddle- if you can.”

I share a concerned look with the others and step forward, switching my eyes back to normal. After having them out for so long, it seems strange not having everything all golden.

“Are you ready?” It asks me. I swallow hard, nodding.

“Very well then. I give you a group of three. One is sitting down, and will never get up. The second eats as much as is given to it, yet is always hungry. The third goes away and never returns. What are the three?”

I think for a long time. I ask the cat to repeat the riddle. I think again. The second one sounds like a black hole, or maybe a fire. But I can’t figure out the other two. Finally, I decide that I am wasting too much time. The slow path would be faster than this. So I tell the cat what I think the second one is.

“Is that all? What are the first and third objects?”

“I don’t know,” I reply.

With a snarl, the cat swells to twice the size of a tiger. “Then you fail. The answer is a stove, a fire, and smoke,” it growls as it jumps at me. I’m ready however, and leap to the side. It barely misses. It’s faster than I thought. The huge cat swings around at me, its eyes narrowing in anger. I barely have time to duck and avoid its claws, but I don’t escape completely unscathed. Its hind claws rake my shoulder and take out a fair chunk of flesh. Yelping, I fall to the ground.

Before I can get back up, the cat’s huge paw is resting on me, pinning me down. Holding my right arm to immobilize my shoulder, I struggle to get out, but the cat’s too strong.

“Crystal!” I hear Nathan yell. I turn my head and see my three friends rushing toward us. Suddenly they stop, frozen in mid-step.

“No,” the cat growls, looking over at them. “No one interferes. Don’t worry, I won’t kill her- just wound her enough that I can declare that she has lost this battle- and you all have to go back.” As the cat is talking, I kick it in the stomach, as hard as I can. It grunts, retreating. I don’t let it. With a powerful leap, I fly onto its back and hold onto the fur on its head. The beast starts kicking, trying to buck me off, but I’ve got too firm of a grip. Its convulsions send my wounded shoulder burning, but I refuse to loosen my grip. After a few minutes, it gets tired.

“Fine,” it growls. “You are the winner. Go through the path on our right.” I turn my head and notice a path that was not there before. I climb down and walk toward it. The cat shrinks back to size and begins licking my blood from its claws. My friends follow me into the path in the hedge. It closes behind us. I switch my eyes back. I notice that the mist is thinner here. I start heading in the direction that we were going before we were stopped by the cat. I hold back tears at the pain in my shoulder. I glance at it, then quickly look away. I don’t like seeing how much muscle and skin has been scraped off. I don’t dare touch it, letting the blood flow slowly down my arm instead.

The others don’t say anything, afraid of ticking me off, so they just follow behind me silently. After a while Nathan catches up to me. “Hey,” he says softly. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t have gotten that riddle either. That was a hard one. And that cat would have torn me to shreds. You got away without a scratch! You did your best, so don’t beat yourself up over it. Okay?”

I duck my head, hiding the tears that erupt from the intense pain in my shoulder. I don’t dare say anything. I don’t want to be seen crying in front of him. Or Ham and Sierra, for that matter.

“Crystal?” he probes. He puts a hand on my good shoulder, stopping me. I still refuse to look at him. “What’s wrong?” He puts his other hand on my other shoulder. I gasp in pain- barely not screaming- and pull away. I collapse on the ground and now there’s no stopping the tears.

I sit there sobbing as Nathan kneels in front of me. He looks at his hand and notices the blood. He grimaces as he realizes what he’s done. “I’m so sorry!” He exclaims. “I didn’t notice your wounded shoulder! Please, can you forgive me?” The pain is so intense I can barely nod, but this only gives him some relief as he realizes just how much pain I’m in. However, he can’t do anything about it.

He gets an idea and quickly shape shifts into a midnight black horse, telling Ham and Sierra to help me on. Once I’m seated, we head out again. I tell him when to turn, but I don’t do much other than cry and try not to focus on the pain.

This is the state I’m in when we are attacked.

I’m in a haze of pain and can barely move when I see a flash of green and yellow in front of us. I open my mouth to croak out a warning, but it’s too late. Before I can form even one word, a huge gust of wind sends me flying off of Nathan’s back and I get knocked against a hedge. Unfortunately, it doesn’t knock me out and I am still very much aware of my pain. I slowly push myself up with my left arm and look around. Nathan is standing, shaking the dust from his mane. Lying next to him is Ham and Sierra. She’s just stirring, but Ham seems to be knocked out.

Rearing up, Nathan rushes at the nearest contestant. Nora joins him, as well as Greg. They all charge at a guy in green- Drake Kingston. He dives out of the way just in time, so the three just continue going- straight for a girl in yellow. Odette Hansen. Her eyes get big with fear. Suddenly a swarm of thorns fly off the hedge and attack Nathan. A lot of them pierce his large neck. Blood starts flowing, and he fades into his own form. He wavers and falls to the ground in a heap. A thorn pierces Nora’s wing, sending her to the ground as well. One hit Greg in the side and he falls to the ground, motionless. I hear laughing and see Frazer standing next to the hedge, grinning.

Now I’m angry. I stand up- and almost fall over from fatigue and blood loss. The yellow and green team notice. I hear them laugh.

“What happened to her?” Star mocks. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think she’s drunk!” They all laugh. I growl and stagger toward them, my dragon eyes replaced by my normal ones. This brings on more laughter. Sierra steps up next to me.

“Don’t worry,” she says, glaring at the group. “I’ll handle this.” And with that, she’s gone. Looking over at the group, I see Star go flying. The rest of them stop laughing, looking around frantically. A red blur then rams into Odette, knocking her into Frazer. The two collapse, and then there’s only Drake. Thinking fast, he suddenly whips up a hurricane to surround him. I see Sierra get sucked up into it. Drake then redirects it and she’s thrown into a hedge. She slides to the ground in a heap.

Which leaves me alone with Drake.

He walks up to me, arrogance in his stride. My legs lose their strength and I collapse back onto the ground. Drake towers over me. I struggle to get up. He watches, contempt in his eyes. Finally, we are face-to-face.

“I could easily beat you,” he contemplates, “but…” I look behind him. His team members are getting up. “…I have a Challenge to win. Besides, you can’t do much anyway.” With a laugh, he and his team walk away, leaving mine in serious trouble.

It only takes a minute to wake up Ham, but then I pass out from blood loss. It’s amazing I lasted this long in the first place, really, considering how much my shoulder was bleeding. I welcome the darkness, eager to escape the pain.