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CHAPTER 5

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"Will you accept our challenge Master Anaris?" Hazani asked with a tone that made me want to slap the confident grin right off his muzzle! He was surrounded by the other fifteen drakes willing to challenge me.

"I will." I declared. Not willing to back down from a fight.

Fighting against this many would be difficult. Already I felt the flow of the battle shift against me. I would need to be careful and read the battlefield if I wanted a chance to win, and prevent their sheer numbers from overwhelming me.

But why was Hazani leading them? He usually only had a small group of lackeys who followed his orders, but somehow he had convinced this many drakes to fight by his side? Perhaps he had convinced them using their own ill feelings towards me? The why didn't matter for the moment. Either way this was not going to be an easy fight, and I was going to have to focus on the fight and not the fact that Hazani was leading these drakes against me! I'm not sure I could win it without getting serious, and if I did that then I could end up killing someone, or at the very least seriously hurting them.

"Form up!" Hazani ordered and immediately they spit off into four groups.

They were definitely organised. Four warriors stood in front with swords and shields at the ready. The other groups had split off into fire benders and water benders, and a couple of warriors stood alongside Hazani at the back of the group. They must have spent the time during the last two fights preparing their strategy.

Four warriors acted as a barrier between me and the bending groups. They would attempt to hold me back while the others attacked at range. If I was going to win this fight I would need to eliminate the benders, but the warriors wouldn't allow me to get to them easily. I drew my sword and channelled my nen into it. White runes began to glow along its length as it surged with power. The air flowed around it, reacting to my nen. At a moments notice I could manipulate the air around it and create a number of effects. This sword had been gifted to me by the Guardian Deities, forged by the deity Gallium himself. It allowed me to channel my nen into even more powerful attacks.

"Is this enough of a challenge for you 'Master' Anaris?" Hazani sneered.

"If you have something to say just say it Hazani!"

"Very well, if you want to know I shall tell you! I don't see why we should follow you into battle!" He growled. "You who apparently is also a wolven k'tan!?"

So that's what this is about. Of course rumours of where I had been would spread. At least it they didn't seem to know about my title as a Daemon. I guess a few drakes didn't like the fact that I was a wolven k'tan. Many drakes had lost loved ones in the war against Zaraki Kamir, fathers, brothers and partners would never forget their losses at the paws of a wolven k'tan.

I knew there was a small percentage of the population who didn't like the fact that I was half wolf. Even though most had accepted me there would always be hatred towards wolves, just as the wolves hated dragons. There had been too much blood spilled during the countless wars between our species.

"Do you even know what a wolven k'tan is?" I asked. The warriors glanced at one another, looking to see if the drake next to them knew what I was talking about.

"WHO CARES!" Hazani snarled

"They are essentially shaman." I continued, ignoring Hazani. "Shaman so powerful that spirits are able to possess them. That is why they are taken to Aaru! So that they can learn to control their gifts and prevent dangerous spirits from taking control of them and going on a murderous rampage!"

There were mumblings in the crowd around us and the expressions of some of the warriors standing with Hazani showed worry and concern. My explanation about wolven k'tan had roused some fear in them. Everyone knew how powerful Zaraki Kamir was. Perhaps I could turn this to my advantage. They were worried about me being a wolven k'tan? Then I would show them a glimpse of what it was I faced being one!

"Like Kamir I was possessed. So I was taken to Aaru to learn how to suppress the spirit within me, and to control it." I smiled as menacingly as possible.

My smile seemed to unnerve some of the warriors standing before me. This may cause me to lose some standing amongst the warriors here, but I don't think it will be irreparable. I dove down deep inside me and began to pull on the spirits power and let it flow through me. Allowing the spirits power to flow out of me and into the air around me. Any bender here would be able to sense the change in my nen. It would summon a primal fear from the back of their minds as it did mine the first time I faced the spirit for the first time.

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I opened my eyes and felt groggy and a little nauseous. The concoction that Callen and Jan'Zar had given me had tasted foul but it didn't seem to have worked; other than to knock me out and make me feel sick. Callen was standing over me and he offered a paw to help me up. Once I was standing I looked round. We were still at camp but something seemed off. I don't know what it was, maybe it was just the lingering effects of what ever I had drank, but there was definitely something off here.

Everything looked the same. The shelters we had built, the logs around the camp fire we sat on while eating dinner last night, they were all the same. The forest looked the same. But I couldn't put my finger on what was different, it's not like I had memorised every little detail of the environment around camp.

"So did you find out what you needed to know?" I asked. Jan'Zar snorted.

"Not yet." Callen looked round the camp.

"You noticed something weird too?"

"HA! I'll give him credit for noticing, but he's pretty dumb for not realising!" Jan'Zar scoffed.

"What are you talking..." I looked up and suddenly I realised what she meant. There was no sun. No sky. No clouds. Just and endless expanse of grey. The light came from no where and yet somehow it wasn't dark at all. "Where are we?"

"We're in your mind-scape." Callen answered.

"So I'm dreaming?"

"Something like that." He smiled at me. "Jan and I are maintaining this. While you're under we are helping to keep you in this meditative state, allowing us to join you in your mind-scape. The drugs will keep you under for a number of hours."

"So I won't be able to wake up for a while?" That made me a little nervous. When I was in a drugged sleep that meant I couldn't wake up if I had a nightmare. "So are you the ones making the dream look like the camp?"

"Our presence may be influencing to some extent, but this is your mind projecting a safe place." He explained, waving his paw around at the camp. "It's good to know you consider the camp as somewhere safe."

"I guess my little demonstration yesterday worked." Jan'Zar grinned.

She had attacked me out of nowhere, with the full intent on killing me. If the protective wards had not activated and stopped her attack then she would have run me through with her spear. She had terrified me with the sudden and unprovoked attack. Had that simply been in preparation for this? To give me a place to feel safe in?

"Well now it's time to leave this place." Callen declared.

"NO!" I yelled surprising myself. A fear had gripped me the moment he had suggested leaving, one that had caused me to involuntarily shout. "Why did I say that?"

"A reflex." Callen explained. "Your mind is trying to protect itself. It is one of the mental barriers protecting your mind. But we are here to see just what it is we are dealing with."

"And we can't do that unless you let us out of here." Jan'Zar growled impatiently. She was visibly irritated.

"We are here to protect you Malakye." Callen assured me. "So long as we are here no harm will befall you. Now, we need you to let us leave this place."

"I'll... I'll try."

I closed my eyes and focused. Part of me was telling me that this was a bad idea, but if I wanted to survive in the long term I was going to need to put my trust in Callen. Jan'Zar I was not so sure of, although I think she's trying to help in her own way. Even though I get the feeling sometimes that she'd rather just kill me.

They wanted to see just what it was that had taken hold of me, so that meant that they wanted to see it up close. I focused my thoughts, pushing my doubts aside and simply placed my trust in my two protectors. They were Guardian Deities, they had fought against the Demon Lords! A spirit would be no match for them! I felt something in my mind shift as if something gave way.

"Good job Malakye!" I heard Callen's voice exclaim.

I opened my eyes to see a steel doorway sitting in the middle of the camp site. Dumbfounded at its sudden and inexplicable appearance I walked over to it and tentatively paced round it. It didn't look like it went anywhere. Across the double doors was a heavy steel bar which held it securely shut, but upon closer inspection the door itself was not in the best of conditions.

The heavy steel was dented and bent in places. Something had been trying to break through, and what ever it was had to be pretty damn strong in order to bend steel like that! I looked back at Callen and Jan'Zar who were also staring at the door with heavy expressions. They were thinking the same thing I was.

"It's strong!" Jan'Zar smiled; apparently this pleased her.

"Yes. That is a strong defence." Callen moved his gaze from the door to me. "You have a strong will, an average spirit would never have the strength to even put a scratch on it. I've seen other furs take years of training to form a mental barrier like this!"

"Does that mean..." I trailed off, unable to finish asking it fearing the worst.

"We will stop this thing Malakye! Have no doubt about that!" He declared confidently. His confidence reassured me and made me feel better. "Remember, this is your mind! The spirit only has as much power as you allow them! It feeds off your fear and wears you down in order to take over. So long as you remember that it has no power over you it won't be able to take over!"

"Lets go in!" Jan'Zar declared walking over to the door. "Open it!"

"Me?"

"This is your mind! Your barrier!" She barked. "Only you can open it!"

"Okay." I walked over and hesitantly removed the heavy steel bar, tossing it onto the ground with a heavy thud as the steel struck the ground. I gripped the handle and took a deep breath. I felt a paw come to rest on my right shoulder. It was Callen.

"We're right behind you."

With that reassurance I turned the handle and pulled open the door. The door creaked open and behind it was a heavy darkness, one which started to spill out around us like a mist. The mist enveloped us and the camp site faded from existence. Everything went black and the door disappeared.

A few moments later the darkness changed, took on the shape of a ruined keep. We stood in the middle of the courtyard. The stone walls were old and in many places nothing but rubble. The keep itself was not much better condition. I knew this place. I had been here before. Once before. It was the same place that I had been attacked by my doppelgänger! That time I had travelled with Kassandra on the way to the mine to pick up the ore for her grandfather! I had woken up outside the mine after being attacked by something that looked like me!

"Do you recognise this place Malakye?"

"I've been here before. I had thought I'd just hallucinated it though!"

"This is what your mind associates with the spirit. You are projecting this image just as you did with the camp site. Remember Malakye, nothing here is real. It can't hurt you!"

"If you believe that, then you are more gullible than I gave you credit for." Came a voice that echoed all around us. It was so familiar and yet struck fear deep inside me. "Welcome to my humble abode!"

We all turned in the direction of the voice that had come from behind us. Standing there was my doppelgänger! He looked just like me, the same muzzle, the same red head fur... the same everything! Except that his eyes were red! Like me he wore nothing more than a loin cloth. The very sight of him made me tremble in fear. I remembered our last encounter, where he had transformed into a giant, fiery, demonic dragon and had engulfed me in flames that had seared the flesh from my bones.

"I see you've brought friends this time. I'll enjoy killing them."

"Kill them?" I looked between Jan'Zar and Callen, both of them stood ready to fight. When had they drawn their weapons? They hadn't carried any with them. Callen stood with his bow, an arrow nocked and ready to be loosed. Jan'Zar had a halberd in paw. "He can't kill you can he?"

"It's not impossible." Callen admitted. "We can defend ourselves, have no fear, but this is your mind-scape not ours. But remember, he only has as much power as you allow him."

"You think that the flesh bag over there has any hope of defeating me?" My doppelgänger laughed. "Now that is amusing! First I'll take care of you two and then..."

He never got a chance to finish his sentence. Before I had even realised she'd moved, Jan'Zar had covered the distance between them and the blade of her halberd was already plunging into his chest. She had killed him in an instant!

"Don't think it's that easy!" Atop one of the wall battlements stood my doppelgänger.

"Tch!" Jan'Zar made a grunt of annoyance.

I looked back at Jan'Zar whose weapon now looked like it had struck nothing but thin air. When had he moved? Callen loosed an arrow and I watched as it cut through the air towards its target. My doppelgänger snatched it out of the air and then glared at the wolf. He was about to speak again when the arrow in his paw suddenly erupted in a blinding white light.

My doppelgänger cried out in pain and out of the corner of my eye I saw Jan'Zar take off in a blur The way she moved just seemed impossible! She was literally a blur as she moved! As the light from Callen's arrow faded I watched in awe Jan'Zar leapt twenty feet onto the battlements. She turned and ran towards my doppelgänger with her halberd poised to strike. As she came into range she swung the halberd at him, but he leapt out of way at the last possible moment. She wasted little time continuing her assault.

I could now see why she was known as the Deity of War! She was relentless, each stroke of her weapon carried with it deadly accuracy and force, the pure intent of slaying her opponent. She released a shrill battle cry that struck fear and rang out over the courtyard. My doppelgänger was surprisingly agile and somehow managed to narrowly avoid all of her attacks. However Jan'Zar's assault stopped when she was forced to leap away to avoid the sudden mass of flames that erupted around my doppelgänger.

"Hahahahaha!" He laughed manically. "Is that all you have? I expected more from the children of Asur!"

"Asur?" I heard Callen mutter behind me.

With a wave of his paw my doppelgänger launched a barrage of fireballs at Jan'Zar. She back flipped off the battlements to the ground below and then leapt backwards to avoid the second barrage of fireballs he launched at her. How she managed to avoid all of them boggled my mind. Her speed was just unbelievable!

Callen loosed three arrows in rapid succession at my doppelgänger. He saw them coming and created a wall of fire to block their path. As they struck the wall of flames they exploded with light once again. I don't know what that light was but it was obvious that my doppelgänger was hurt by it.

"Jan!" Callen called.

"TCH!" Jan'Zar grunted angrily. "Fine! I've seen enough!"

"Malakye get us out of here!"

"How?" I asked in mild panic. The doorway we had entered through had disappeared.

"Make another doorway!"

I didn't waste time with words. Already my doppelgänger was on the attack. A barrage of fireballs hurtled through the air towards us. Callen leapt in front of me and loosed another arrow, it burst with a blinding light and extinguished the fireballs in the air around it protecting us from harm.

I clenched my eyes shut, putting my trust in Callen to protect me while I made the doorway to escape. It was more difficult this time. The sounds of battle made it difficult to concentrate but something seemed to be fighting against me. I think my doppelgänger was attempting to block my efforts to escape. But remembering Callen's words I focused with all my might and I felt something giveaway once more and the doors of the keep began to open. The doors swung open to reveal a portal of bright light on the other side.

"Get to the door!" Callen yelled and without hesitation I began sprinting towards it as fast as I could.

"I don't think so!" My doppelgänger yelled.

I felt a force of some sort push against me. The force didn't slow me down but the door to the keep began to close. As I ran I tried to will the door to stay open, the doors slowed but I couldn't stop them from closing!

"I can't stop them!" I cried out. "Run!"

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When I opened my eyes I saw several of the warriors flinch. I was drawing on the spirits nen, any bender would be able to sense the change in my nen, just as I was able to sense to the spirit within me claw and scrap at the edges of my psyche. Those who couldn't sense my nen would be able to see the changes in my eyes. They would be glowing bright red in the dim light of the courtyard just as his did, the sign that the spirits power was flowing through me.

I'm sure it was a terrifying sight. After all I had faced the spirit in a similar manner to how they were facing me. But right now I was in complete control, but I could feel the malevolent intent of the spirit within my scratching at the back of my mind. The thirst for blood and violence coursed through me, but I was able to suppress it for now.

I took a slow purposeful step towards the four shield bearing warriors and they all took a step back. My tactic was working. I had sown the seed of fear amongst them. I raised my sword and swung it through the air, sending a powerful gust of wind rippling throughout the courtyard.

"Last chance to walk away!" I growled threateningly.

They were nervous, I could smell it. The flow of battle had begun to blow in my favour before the first attack had been thrown. To their credit none of them walked away. The spirit within me was getting a fair amount of pleasure from their fear. But I was easily able to suppress its influence for the moment. I couldn't deny I enjoyed the fear emanating from Hazani in particular. Suddenly his scent changed. The fear from him all but vanished in a moment!

"Get a hold of yourselves! Spirit or not he is still only one drake!" Hazani yelled.

I could smell the shift in their scent at his words. The grip of fear had loosened, but not disappeared completely. They rallied themselves and prepared to fight me. So Hazani had become a leader who could inspire those under his command during my time away. Impressive. But the seed of fear was still there. I would simply need to demonstrate my strength to make some of them run. I wouldn't be able to defeat them otherwise. Not without killing or seriously wounding them.

I stalked forwards, the four warriors armed with sword and shield slowly backed away with each step that I took. None of them willing to be the first to engage me, but none of them willing to turn tail and run from this fight. Hazani was shouting orders. The two bender groups gathered their nen and began to run through a series of run'nath moves in order to summon and execute their attacks.

So Hazani was the only na'kari amongst the group. That made things simpler. As their run'nath approached its climax I swung my sword and unleashed a powerful gust of wind at one group and then the other. The gust did little more than knock them off balance, but it was enough to disrupt them and ruin their combined attack.

Na'kari required their run'nath to be perfectly executed or the attacks, as powerful as they can be, would fail before they even began. It took months, years of training to effectively use run'nath in battle. Hazani barked an order and the four warriors standing before me charged all at once.

I dashed to the right, to try and keep them from surrounding me. The warrior who reached me first swung at me with all the determination that I would have expected from an opponent willing to cause me serious harm, but he lacked a killing resolve. I struck his sword with my own, forced his blade aside and rammed my shoulder into his raised shield and knocked him backwards a few steps. I parried the sword of the second drake and as I spun leapt and kicked off the shield of the first drake and cartwheeled over the second drake. The drake I had leapt over spun round to face me and I delivered a swift jab to his muzzle. I leapt back and swung my sword, unleashed a powerful gust of wind into the four warriors before turning and sprinting towards the group of water benders.

As they saw me approach two of the water benders flinched, their combined attack once again stopped before they could finish it! With their attack now ruined they moved to grab their weapons. I charged into them before they had readied their weapons and knocked down the first two as I barrelled into them. I kicked another in the chest with a reverse round house, before swinging my blade at the nearest standing drake. He blocked my attack with his spear, but the force of my nen enhance blow stunned him as he attempted to block them. On the third strike he fell and I turned to face the four warriors who had caught up to me. I couldn't allow myself to be surrounded!

I leapt backwards away from them and gathered my nen into my wings as I extended them. With a single powerful flap of my wings propelled myself into the air over them. I landed on the ground with thud, a good distance away from the shield bearing warriors. By this time the group of fire benders had finished preparing their attack and I quickly gathered my nen and formed a shield of nen as they launched it at me. They had created a sizeable fireball about four foot in diameter. The fireball struck my nen shield, I angled my nen shield so the attack was deflected upwards over me, and as the attack struck I forced the shield upwards with all my might. The fireball flew ten feet into the air before exploding into a shower of embers.

I shifted my nen to no longer repel fire, but to ignite and burn. Using the burning remains of the fireball which littered the ground, and floated in the air around me to ignite my nen and create a fire spirit. I fed the fire spirit with the nen I had drawn from the spirit with me. The flames turned blue and everyone halted in their tracks. I had demonstrated the power of the blue flames against Kassius during the match where I had fought four master ranked benders.

Their hesitation to approach while I wielded the blue flames gave me the time I needed. It took a few seconds to grow the fire spirit to around a foot in diameter, smaller than the fire benders attack but large enough for my purpose. I split it into four and fired them at the warriors with shields. They all stopped, braced themselves and raised their shields in defence. My attack struck their shields and exploded with considerable force. It was not enough to harm them with their shields raised but was enough to stagger them.

While the shield bearing drakes were distracted with defending themselves I gathered my nen into the blade of my sword and unleashed a powerful gust at close range at the fire benders behind me. As they braced themselves against the gust of wind I leapt at them and nailed the closest one with a kick to their chest, and then caught the second across the muzzle with a roundhouse kick. The final two fire benders drew their weapons, one with a sword and the other with a spear, and they lunged for me.

I leapt away to avoid being skewered. I fired a burst of wind nen at them, staggering them and immediately moved to grab the shaft of the spear one of them held. Once I had a firm grip on the spear I yanked it upwards to block the sword the other fire bender was now swinging at me. His attack struck the steel spear shaft. I kicked him in the stomach and then as the drake tried to pull the spear from my grasp I shove the shaft towards him, stumbling him and I leapt into the air, corkscrewing my body and extended my right leg and brought it crashing down onto the side of his neck. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees.

The sword wielding fire bender and I clashed swords, locking our weapons together as he pushed against me with all his might. Our two weapons scraped against one another as we pushed against each other for dominance. The four warriors who had been running after me this whole time were upon me. I didn't have time to use my wings to fly away as I did last time, so I stepped to the side, the fire bender stumbled and I shoved him towards them. The fire bender broke them into two pairs as they tried to side step either side of him.

I parried the sword of the drake on the right while twisting my body to narrowly avoid the blade of the other on my left. I spun on my heel and leapt into the air and extended my left leg, striking them in the side of the head with my foot-paw, swinging my sword at the drake on my right. They leapt back to avoid being struck. The moment my foot-paws touched the ground I leapt into the air with a corkscrew flip to land on the other side of the other two drakes. My sudden display of acrobatics had caught them off guard and I kicked one in the stomach while striking the other across the muzzle with a powerful nen enhanced punch which knocked him to the ground. I drove the hilt of my blade into the muzzle of the one I had just kicked and with a bloodied muzzle fell over.

I was having to get a little rough now. These warriors were relentless in pursuing me across the courtyard, and I wasn't going to win this fight by running from them. I didn't want to hurt them, they were my allies after all, and like the other three hundred drakes here we were marching towards Rengilar. I couldn't seriously injure them, that's what made this fight so awkward.

Throughout the fight Hazani had been barking out orders, ordering the others around while standing at a safe distance with two body guards at his side. The waters benders were already up and preparing another attack on his orders. The other fire benders were still down, but in a few moments they would be getting up. I needed to end this fight soon or their sheer numbers would become a problem.

I needed to deal with Hazani. Cut the head off the snake so to speak. He was their leader and the reason they had not backed out of the fight already. He obviously had no intention of fighting me himself. That meant I was going to have to bring the fight to him!

The remaining two shield bearing drakes were joined by three of the fire benders. It was all I could do to dodged and parry their attacks. Despite the lack of coordination in their attacks, they left me no opening to slip away. This was what I had tried so had to avoid the entire fight! They had me surrounded! Each time I knocked one down another stepped in to take their place, and I was trapped in a relentless cycle of defending myself.

My nen enhanced blows were enough to stun or knock them down, but not enough to keep them down. To make matters worse the other fire benders and shield bearing warriors I had knocked down earlier in the fight were already getting up! The flow of this battle was against me now! The momentum I had built up earlier had been stalled by their sheer numbers! They were getting up as fast as I could knock them down.

I could sense that the water attack was nearly complete, but while in the middle of this maelstrom of bodies and attacks they would not be able to attack carelessly without attacking their own team mates without hitting them with the large chunk of ice they had summoned. Or so I thought.

Over the clanging of steel and grunts of effort of the warriors fighting me I heard Hazani give the order. I could feel the hesitation from the water benders. But Hazani yelled and cursed at them and I felt the shift of their nen I knew they were going to do it. The attack was large enough to seriously hurt anyone it hit, potentially even fatal! How could he order such a thing!? I had no time to worry about that though as the attack was about to come rushing at me and the other eight drakes I was fighting.

Three of the drakes I was fighting had heard Hazani's order and immediately called out to the others to warn them as they ran to get out of the way of them incoming attack. Three more turned and ran, but one drake was frozen to the spot staring at the large block of ice was now hurtling towards us while the other seemingly hadn't heard the warning of his comrades and was running head long at me with his spear in paw.

I dodged the spear thrust, punched him across the snout and swept his legs out from under him knocking him onto the flat of his back. I gathered my nen, turned and fired a powerful wind burst at point blank range into the chest of the drake who was frozen to the spot; the force of the attack knocked him out of harms way.

However I didn't have time to dodge myself. I barely had enough time to brace myself as the massive block of ice struck me. I was knocked off my foot-paws and hit the ground hard before bouncing and rolling over the hard stone ground before coming to a stop. I was aware of the sound of shattering ice as it rained down around me as I rolled over the hard ground.

My head was ringing, my vision blurred. My whole body felt numb. When my vision did finally come into focus all I could see was the shattered remains of the ice on the ground a few feet away. I could hear yelling but I couldn't make out what was being said, their voices were muffled. I felt something warm and wet rolling down my muzzle, it wasn't until I smelt the familiar metallic tang that I realised it was my own blood. As my foggy haze lifted I remembered the order Hazani had given to fire the ice attack into his own warriors.

Unforgivable

This was not the time, nor the place for such tactics. I was not an opponent who needed to be defeated at all costs in order to reduce casualties. I had been deliberately trying not to severely hurt anyone, even though I hadn't been afraid to get rough with them. I could have eliminated any number of the drakes fighting against me by seriously injuring them! But I had refrained from such tactics!

My own rage blended with the blood lust I felt from the spirit within me. He was amused and desired blood. It was everything I could do in my current state to suppress the desire to kill, but I wasn't going to hold back on my rage now. Hazani was going to pay for risking the lives of the warriors under his command!

I summoned the full strength of my nen, its power coursed through me and the numbness in my body vanished from the rest of my body. Shakily I pushed myself up off the ground and stood up, grabbing my sword as I did so. Two drakes from my own unit skidded to a stop as they saw me stand. They had been running over to check on me, but I knew they could sense my rage; that was why they had stopped.

I didn't even try and control my nen at this point. It flowed freely from me, causing the air to swirl around me, causing a strong breeze to wash over the courtyard, carrying my rage and anger with it. The yelling around me had stopped as everyone else sensed my rage and anger as well.

I turned to face Hazani. I glared at him and I saw him flinch. I stepped forward. Taking each step slowly, purposefully. Casting my gaze at any drake who came close to me. Daring them to attack me right now. No one did. They slowly parted, keeping a safe distance away from me as I made my way towards Hazani. His two body guards stood with their spears ready. I stopped a few feet away and glared at them.

They understood that this was no longer a gauntlet match and that I was severely pissed off! They glanced at me and then at each other before backing away. Hazani yelled at them but he stopped when he realised that there was no one standing between me and him. My blood was dripping from my muzzle from the cut on my forehead. I must have looked quite the sight; bloodied with glowing red eyes.

"Malakye..."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I snapped. My rage consuming me. I pointed my sword at him, the tip hovering inches from his muzzle; the runes on it glowing brightly from the nen flowing thought it, the air literally quivering around the black steel it was made from. "What the hell was that!?" I growled. He didn't answer. I didn't expect him to. "You put your own allies in harms way... to beat me?! I don't know what was going through that mind of yours, or why these drakes even allowed you to lead them in this fight!"

He opened his muzzle as if to speak but then decided against it. He couldn't look me in the eye. He knew he was in the wrong here, and with how every warrior who had followed him into this fight had abandoned him he knew it. But I wasn't going to let him off with nothing but a tongue lashing.

"Prepare yourself!" I growled, sheathing my sword. He looked confused and nervous. "Fight me! Show these drakes why you were worthy of leading them into a battle! Why you had the right to put their lives in danger!" There was a brazier burning fiercely a few yards away. I saw him glance at it and then back at me several times. "Grow a spine and fight me yourself!"

He drew on his nen and I allowed him to draw from the brazier. A long trail of fire shot out of the brazier and propelled itself at me. I gathered my nen into a dense shield and blocked the attack. I sneered and with a surge of nen propelled the nen shield through his attack and into him, staggering him. He reached out to the brazier again, but I was already gathering nen into a dense ball in my left paw. I raised my paw and fired a dense wind burst into his chest. The concentrated wind attack struck him with considerable force, blowing him off his foot-paws and onto the flat of his back.

"GET UP!"

I allowed him to stand, gathering dense amounts of nen into both paws as I waited for him to stand. As he reached out with his nen once more I fired the first wind attack into his right shin. I blew his leg out from under him, forcing him to one knee. He stared at me with a stunned expression before I fire the next one right into his muzzle. His head snapped back and he once again laying on his back.

"GET UP!" I growled. But it was obvious he was not going to stand up himself.

I walked over and grabbed him buy the arm and using my nen enhanced strength yanked him up in one motion. I saw the flash of steel as he drew a knife and thrust it at my chest. I grabbed his wrist in time and then with a small amount of satisfaction, squeezed as hard as I could with my enhanced strength. He cried out in pain as the hard leather wrist guards creaked and groaned under the strain of my grip. I twisted his wrist until he dropped the blade. Once the blade clattered against the ground I released his wrist and then punched him right in the muzzle. Not once, not twice, but three times. He was now bloodied and stunned. I grabbed him by the throat and with one arm lifted him up off the ground. He spluttered and choked as he grabbed at my arm in desperation as I slowly choked the life out of him.

"Now you're going to listen to me!" I growled with the most threatening tone I could muster. "If you ever risk the life of another drake like that again... I will kill you myself!" His fear filled eyes stared down at me. "IS THAT CLEAR!?!?" He couldn't speak with my vice like grip on his throat but he nodded weakly.

I dropped him to the ground. He gasped and wheezed for air. I stared down at him for a few moments before turning away from him. Everyone in the courtyard was silent. This hadn't been the intended result of this gauntlet match. None of the other drakes who had entered this fight wanted to fight anymore. I could smell that much from them.

But I think that was as much Hazani's fault as it was mine. One of drakes from my unit came over with a rag for me to wipe the blood from my muzzle. I thanked him and began wiping myself clean while every one left the battle ground to join the rest of the silent crowd. There was no more scent of willingness to fight me. Thankfully I had not damaged my reputation amongst the other warriors too badly. But I could smell the uncertainty amongst them.

"Well done! An impressive fight!" I turned to see father approaching with Jovani in tow. "Somehow I don't think anyone else will be willing to fight you after that display."

"Perhaps not." I said and walked past him. I needed a drink. I just wanted to get drunk and pass out.

"But perhaps there is one more challenger willing to face you." Kaldor declared.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him. He was standing there proudly, smiling at me. Jovani had a more serious look on his muzzle. It hit me suddenly. They were my final challenge.

"I think it's about time we find out what your really capable of." He smirked, earning a cheer from the crowd.

I could understand their excitement. It was a rare thing to be able to witness a grandmaster fight. Even rarer to witness two fight. I may only be of Master rank now, but I was aware that my nen was the equivalent of a grandmaster. Kaldor was doing this to raise moral, to prevent this event from ending on a sour note.

In terms of bending my father was definitely the most powerful and skilled out of the two of us. Callidus had called Kaldor the most powerful fire bender in generations. And I had no doubt that it was true. He could summon flames from nothing. I was not going to be able to out bend him. But if I could make this a fist fight then I might just stand a chance. That will be why Jovani was with him. Jovani was a skilled fighter, I remember sparring with him and having my tail handed to me without him breaking a sweat. But I was not the same drake I was back then. I was confident I could hold my own against him. Either of them, but together... I couldn't underestimate them!

"Will you accept the challenge?" He asked.

After three fights I could feel fatigue being to creep up on me now I wasn't using my nen to suppress it, but nen could only do so much. Eventually your body would just simply give out. But I wasn't at my limit yet! I had fought for longer and harder when training in Aaru, against opponents that made Kaldor seem as intimidating as a young cub throwing a tantrum!

What would happen if I won? What would happen if I lost? I couldn't dwell on these thoughts. They were irrelevant. All that mattered was the fight before me, worry about the repercussions later. He had challenged me and I could not simply walk away from that challenge without good reason. So I turned and faced him, tensing my grip on the hilt of my sword, my bloodied knuckles stinging in the the cool night air. I would fight him. I would win! It was time for the son to surpass his father!

Despite the rowdiness of the crowd we prepared to begin. Jovani stood a few paces ahead of my father, his short sword drawn and an overly serious expression on his muzzle, while Kaldor stood rather relaxed with a smug grin. I hope he wasn't underestimating me, I certainly wasn't underestimating him! I was taking this fight as seriously as any I had fought before! If I could close the distance between us I was confident I could take him down at close range, but Jovani was the major hindrance there.

Jovani was the first to move. He sprinted right at me and I readied myself for his assault. However two paces away from me he suddenly darted to my left. As I followed him I sensed a sharp, sudden flash of nen. I glanced towards Kaldor and had just enough time to step out of the path of a fireball hurtling right at me. Jovani seized that very moment to strike while I was distracted with avoiding the fiery attack. Our swords clashed and he immediately had me on the defensive as he lashed out with a fast combination of sword strikes.

He was good. Damn good. There had been no visible signals, and yet they seemed to time their attacks perfectly in order to utilise their numbers against me. This is what the last group I had faced lacked. Coordination. I had taken advantage of that fact, but here it was my disadvantage. A fact that was emphasised as I was forced to not only defend myself against Jovani's assault, but also dodge the well timed, and extremely accurate fire bending attacks from my father. Each time I had a chance to turn the tide against Jovani my father launched a fireball my way with perfect accuracy to prevent me from capitalising on it. It didn't help that his attacks were so fast either! IT was like trying to dodge a flaming crossbow bolt! The only reason I had been able to dodge any of them was the split second I sense his nen surged before each attack. It was far superior to any fireball attack! It was a fire-bolt!

Jovani's skill with a sword was impressive. He was definitely the better swordsman out of the two of us. The fluency in his movements, the force and speed behind his attacks as well as his technique made him a fearsome opponent. I attempted to maneuver him between myself and Kaldor but he was aware of what I was trying to do and would immediately move to create the opening again.

I was getting nowhere with this! I needed to break free from this endless cycle they had caught me in! I gathered my nen, spread my wings and took to the air. This sensation of flying was always exhilarating. The feeling of the cold air rushing against my scales felt refreshing. I circled the courtyard a couple of times, getting a birds eye view of the courtyard, battlements and the keep. I could hear the sounds of awe from the drakes below as they watched me disappear into the nights sky. Despite being hidden in the darkness of the night Kaldor managed to fire several fire-bolts my direction. He was tracking me by my nen! I would expect no less from a grandmaster! I dodged them and dove towards the ground, I dodged a few more of Kaldor's fire-bolts, flipped in mid-air and dropped to the ground a few feet away from him. As I landed I let the momentum carry me through a roll and up onto my foot-paws before launching myself at my father who was now within arms reach!

His smirk was the first indicator of my mistake. I sensed him gather a sizeable amount of nen into his right paw and then he snapped his fingers. A fire-bolt shot out from his right paw and struck me in the chest with incredible force. I was blown backwards, but managed to roll through it into a crouched position. I quickly leapt to right, to avoid another fire-bolt, and them somersaulted through the air to dodge the following fire-bolt he fired my way.

I was slightly winded from that last attack. I gathered my nen into a shield and when it struck my shield I was shocked to find that I was barely able to stop his attacks at all! I was engulfed in a cloud of embers as he fired fire-bolt, after fire-bolt into my nen shield. After the third one my shield was already beginning to collapse.

So this is the difference between a grandmaster and other benders!. Even his basic attacks were formidable! In the corner of my eye I saw Jovani running towards me. I couldn't afford to get pinned down again. I gathered my nen into the blade of my sword and swung it to my right creating a cyclone of fiery embers around me before flooding the cyclone with my nen, using the embers to ignite my nen to create a pillar of fire. The pillar of fire blocked me from their sight and prevented Jovani from getting close. I was going to need to kick it up a notch if I wanted any chance of winning.

I drew on the spirits nen from deep inside me. I could feel its power surge through me, along with its blood-lust and malicious intent. I suppressed those emotions and focused on the task at paw. Even using the spirits nen to enhance my own there was no guarantee I would be able to beat my father in a pure bending fight. But perhaps I could at least shut him down.

As I poured the spirits nen into the cyclone the flames turned blue as their strength intensified. I could still sense Kaldor's nen beyond the wall of fire around me. Just like how he had tracked me in the pitch black sky I would use his nen to track him! I willed the fire towards Kaldor.

Lets see how he deals with being on the defensive for once!

Kaldor summoned a powerful nen shield to defend himself. As he did that I gathered my nen in my sword and fired a powerful wind burst at Jovani as I swung it in his direction. The strong gust of wind staggered him long enough for me to reach Kaldor. Kaldor had his sword drawn and swung at me with it as he saw me approach. He blocked my first two strikes before going on the attack himself, but I easily parried his attack and kicked him in the stomach. He staggered backwards and as I pulled my sword arm back I felt something wrap around my arm.

Jovani had caught my arm with some sort of weighted chain he had thrown from nearly six yards away. He had caught my sword arm and was now pulling back on the chain, preventing me from attacking my father. I sensed his nen flare for the first time and suddenly I felt my strength drain from my arm. That weakness turned into a sharp pain which spread up my arm from the chain. It wasn't that my strength was draining. It was that I could no longer control how my nen flowed through my body. I had encountered this sensation once before, in Aaru.

Not only was Jovani an bender, but he was a lightning bender! Electricity dampens the control over the body. Jovani's attack was far weaker than what I had experienced in Aaru, but it was more protracted and focused. Already my entire right arm was numb and shaking from it. And soon my entire body was doing the same unless I managed to escape!

I tossed my sword and caught it with my free paw before slicing down into the chain. My blade snapped the thin, but surprisingly strong, chain. Already I could feel my nen begin to stabilise, no longer being disrupted by Jovani's attack, but if my previous experiences with how lightning effected control over my nen it would be some time before I would be fully recovered, and trying to force through the disruption only caused more pain! With the momentary distraction Jovani had caused with his chain Kaldor was back up and landed a nen enhanced punch across my muzzle which sent me sprawling across the ground. Damn... that hurt!!!

I felt blood in my maw after that last attack. My head was spinning but I couldn't wait to recover. I rolled over and quickly rose to my foot-paws, stumbling slightly as my head was still spinning from that last blow. The first thing I could make out was Jovani sprinting towards me. He used his own sword to push mine aside and grabbed me by the throat.

He forced his nen into me, the electric nature of his nen once more disrupting my own, but this attack was far stronger. Even though I immediately knocked his paw away his attack had already had a disastrous effect on my nen. I swung my sword at him, he spun to the side to avoid it while simultaneously landing a spin kick to my muzzle.

I managed to stay standing, but I was unable to defend myself against the swift follow up attacks from Jovani as he drove his knees and fists into me over and over. After his fifth blow I managed to catch his arm, and pushing his arm aside landed a a crude, but effective head butt to his muzzle. This gave me a precious moment to create some distance between us.

The distance I created allowed me to recover momentarily, but not for long as Kaldor was already attacking me with his fire bending skills once again. I needed to regain control of the pace of this fight. So long as they had me on the defensive I had no chance against them. I needed to eliminate one of them so I could deal with the other. Their teamwork and timings were flawless. Regaining control would be no easy feat, especially with my nen still badly disrupted from Jovani's previous attacks.

Jovani came at me, his sword poised to strike. I managed to block his attack, deflect the next, but already he was reaching out to grab me once again. I couldn't let him touch me, not if I wanted a chance to regain control over my nen and win this match. I leapt out of his reach and lashed out with as powerful sword strike as I could muster with what control I had over my nen. He managed to block with his own, but the force knocked him off balance.

I narrowly dodged a fire-bolt that Kaldor fire at me and leapt back away from Jovani. Already I could feel control over my nen returning but it was still far from perfect. But it was enough. I raised my paw and gathered my nen into the palm of my paw and fired it at Jovani. The concentrated wind burst struck Jovani in the chest and knocked him off his foot-paws.

With that momentary opening I turned and ran at Kaldor. If I could take him down then I doubt Jovani would continue to fight. However Kaldor was a good fifteen paces away from me. He launched a barrage of fire-bolts at me which I dodged zig-zagging my way towards him. After covering half of the distance between us, his attacks intensified, as he used both paws to summon two fire-bolts simultaneously! Unable to use my nen to properly defend myself against his relentless assault, I was forced to back away.

Shit... Jovani had really made this complicated. He was truly a more dangerous opponent than I had given him credit for. He was the perfect defence against other k'tan; being able to disrupt their ability to control nen. And somehow I feel he still hadn't shown the full extent of his power as a bender! I focused as much of my nen into my sword as I could muster, using its ability to gather and harness nen to my advantage.

My last attack had only stalled Jovani for mere moments. I needed to get rid of him for long enough to recover control over my nen so I deal with my fathers fearsome bending skills. I dodged Jovani's outstretched paw, and attempted to keep out of his reach, deflecting his sword attacks with my own blade while continuously pouring every drop of nen I could muster into my sword for one powerful attack.

This was my only chance, I wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. Jovani was fast, and more skilled with a blade than I was. I couldn't make it a fist fight with taking the risk of him disrupting my nen again. If he did then I wouldn't be able to defeat my father.

I couldn't wait any longer. I needed to act now! I side stepped Jovani's blade and leapt away, spinning round, tracing the arc of my sword in an upwards slice in Jovani's direction and unleashed my nen in one focused burst. Jovani could sense my attack coming, but I had timed it perfectly. He was still slightly off balance from his attack, he wouldn't be able to avoid it.

The surge of nen struck Jovani dead on, the force of the blow blew him off of his foot-paws and carried him a good distance through the air before he landed atop a group of warriors in the crowd. There was a cry of surprise as winds buffeted the crowd, but that last attack had taken Jovani out of this fight. I didn't have a moments respite as I was forced to avoid a barrage of powerful fire attacks. Control of my nen was returning by the second. I was recovering faster the longer Jovani's influence was gone.

This was the chance I needed.

"Don't think you've won!" Kaldor declared as he summoned up a large amount of nen.

I charged towards him regardless. If I could get close enough then his bending skills would be hampered. I would have the advantage. Ten steps away. He slammed his paws into the ground and forced his nen into the ground in numerous directions, forming pools of nen all around him. Five paces away now. It was only as I was about to step onto one of the pools of nen I realised what he was doing.

He could ignite his nen at will, unlike other benders he didn't need a source of ignition. The moment my foot-paw stepped into the nen pool I leapt, narrowly avoiding the sudden ignition and powerful pillar of fire that erupted upwards from the ground. As I landed I narrowly avoided landing in yet another nen pool, one which ignited like the other a moment later. In fact all eight nen pools he had created erupted in spectacular fashion. He had restricted my movement, there were now fewer ways to approach him, the restricted lanes made it easier for him to defend himself.

But I couldn't hesitate now! I had control over perhaps two-thirds of my nen reserves now. More than enough to deal with a master ranked bender, but it was not enough to deal with a bender of fathers calibur! His nen felt like a raging inferno. One that threatened to consume me if I made one wrong move.

My view of him was blocked due to one of the fire pillars, but I could sense the build up in his nen. He was going for another big attack in attempt to end this match. I needed to avoid it and hopefully seize the opening created by it.

I leapt away from the fire pillars, building up my nen to use my wings to cover the distance between us, and if necessary avoid the coming attack. From behind the fire pillars a giant mass of flames burst forth, this time in the shape of the head of a feral dragon. This was the same attack Kassius had used against me! As it approached it rose into the air before diving toward me. I leapt to the left to avoid it, the dragons head crashed into the ground where I had stood and turned the ground into a large fire-pit.

I turned my gaze towards Kaldor and prepared to use my wings and wind bending to propel myself towards him, my sword held firmly in my right paw. But I felt the shift in his nen, a shift that came from right. I glanced to the side as four long streams of fire shot out of the burning fire-pit and heading straight for me. I didn't have time to launch myself towards Kaldor!

I focused a portion of my nen into the blade of my sword and with one swing eliminated two of the fire streams. I was forced to back away from the remaining two or risk being burned. I gathered my nen into a shield and blocked the other two. The fire from the streams crashed against my nen shield, but I had blocked them. However the attacks continued to build up against my shield, burning through the nen I was using to hold them back at a fast rate.

Frustration was beginning to build. I had been on the defensive for the entirety of this fight. Each time I got an opportunity to strike it was cut off. This fight had already gone on too long. I needed to end this fight now, while Jovani was still recovering!

I fired a wind burst into the flames knocking them back, giving me the opportunity to gather my nen and use my wings to propel myself towards Kaldor. He scowled and readied his sword as he saw me approach. Our swords clashed and my added momentum forced him backwards. I was not going to let this opportunity slip me by.

I lashed out with my sword, keen to force an opening to allow me to either disarm him or to restrain him and force him to yield. As he blocked an over head attack I sensed his nen gather in his left paw, it was low at his waist his fingers ready to snap and summon a fire-bolt. But I was ready this time. Before he count launch his attack I spun off round to his left, the fire-bolt sailed past me, and with his left paw still at his side I had the opening I was looking for, his entire left side was left wide open.

As I reached out to grapple him I saw a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye. I knew immediately what it was, or rather who it was. But I couldn't believe that he had recovered so quickly! Not only that but he had crossed the courtyard with me sensing him coming. He had completely suppressed his presence. Where had learned to do that!?

I spun round, my sword readied, but I was already to late. With a single stroke of his blade his knocked mine aside, grabbed my sword arm and restrained it behind my back. I felt his nen begin to disrupt my own. I began to struggle until the cold steel of Kaldor's sword came to rest against my throat.

I grunted in frustration. Knowing that struggling was futile. I had lost.

"I yield." I sighed.

"Phew!" Kaldor chuckled, sheathing his weapon. "That was some fight! I thought you had me there!"

Jovani released me and sheathed his own sword.

"Excellent fight Young Master."

"Thanks, I guess."

The warriors around us were cheering. Celebrating their leaders win. I saw some coin changing paws. Not surprising for some friendly wagers to be made during events like this.

"Don't be like that." Kaldor nudged me. "If it wasn't for Jovani saving my tail at the last second you would have won."

I glanced over at Jovani who bowed his head in respect to me.

"I must agree with your father. You are a difficult opponent to fight against."

"Where did you learn to suppress your presence like that?" I asked him. "That caught me by surprise."

He looked a little shocked at my question.

"I'm impressed you noticed."

"I've been taught how to do it myself, still not quite mastered it yet. I'm better at detecting presences that are hidden, but I let my guard down in that regard, since I didn't expect anyone in Zangar to know how." I explained. "My mistake, one I shall not be making again."

"Then I am happy to have helped you improve Young Master."

"You still haven't told me where you learned to do that!"

"Just a skill I picked up." He said with an innocent smile. "Nothing to tell."

I didn't push the issue any further. He obviously wasn't going to give me a straight answer. Right now I wanted a drink. My pride was bruised at losing the match, but I was not angry. It had been a tough fight and I had held my own. I made myself a promise. That one day I would return to Zangar and prove my strength and defeat my father in a match!