This time, fresh and with no trace of the bruises from yesterday, I engage with my teacher, Jekk’s own scales flicking into pce along his arms and body. My cws rake towards his face and he sms his right fist upwards, forcing me to twitch my head out of the way of a punch that could have killed the Twin-Head I’d fought in a single blow.

  Then, I sh my tail round, smming it into his midriff. Even without his scales in pce, Jekk’s stomach is hard as steel. He barely shifts back, his cws digging into my tail-scales, as he pulls me towards him, one-handed. I let him yank me closer, taking the opportunity to bring my knee up and smming it into his thigh.

  He releases my tail and I bst a thick cloud of ice-vapour into his face. As he roars, I sm my tail into his midriff again, using the frozen bde at the end to carve a thin line of dark blood across his belly.

  Jekk’s right hand grabs the bde at the end of my tail, shattering it with a single crushing squeeze, and I whip my now-disarmed tail out of his grasp, my horns glinting as I charge him. He pirouettes to the side, his elbow coming down towards the back of my neck, but I dive lower, scything my footcws round and out, hoping to trip him.

  He hops over my feint, chuckling for the first time, then stamps downwards, pinning me to the dirt. I grin, then attack from three directions at once, biting him on the tail, grabbing his right wrist as he tries to punch me, smming my tail up towards his crotch, just like I did when I fought Skadi.

  Jekk’s left hand moves for the first time, and he swats my tail away with a powerful open-palm sp. He steps off of my stomach, the wound on his stomach already healing up and giving off a small trail of steam from the rapid regeneration, and nods down at me, his leathery face creasing into an expression of faint pride. Not a smile, just a slight rearrangement of some of his wrinkles.

  “Good. I told you right, did I not? Better, you would get, if you could make me use my left hand. And you fight well. You are willing to strike at an enemy’s weaknesses. Tomorrow, better again will you be.”

  I accept the gnarled hand he holds out to me, and he effortlessly pulls me to my feet. Elio and Bryn are grinning, with Maren and Indra sharing a high-five that looks like it could shatter bricks. As Jekk turns to give Skadi some tutege, Indra leaps from the balcony in a blue flicker of lightning, nding in front of me with a sizzling crunch.

  “Nice work, there, Scalesister. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the old lizard so impressed. He doesn’t compliment others easily!”

  Jekk calls, “I have still not gone deaf, little hatchling. Do you need a lesson from me once again?”

  Indra waves her hands frantically. “No thank you! I still have the bruises!”

  Maren grins, “Cssic Indra, always putting your tail between your teeth!”

  I blink. “Is that like the Earth saying, ‘Always putting your foot in your mouth’?”

  Maren raises an eyebrow. “Does that mean ‘to say something you immediately wish you could take back’?”

  I nod, and Maren giggles. “Then yes, it’s basically the same saying.”

  Elio and Bryn descend, both using their wings to prevent further damage to the Arena flooring. The bulky patriarch of the Earthcws holds out a meaty fist for me to nudge with my knuckles.

  “Not bad at all, little Scalesis. You’re already getting a handle on your power.”

  The chieftain of the Bzehearts adds, “I heard you came by my isnd earlier. My bad about the heat, but we Bzehearts love it. The warmer the better! If you come by at night, it’ll be cooler. Plus, the nightlife is AWESOME. If you like rock, you’ll love it!”

  I smile. “I’ll be sure to come check it out! I bet dragon music is way different from human stuff!”

  As Skadi finishes up her own training, I wave her over. “Skadi, do you wanna go to a rock performance sometime? The Bzehearts apparently have some amazing rock shows at nights!”

  The dark dragonel blinks, her sweat-dampened hair swept back and a little wild. She frowns. “Huh, I mean, I’d LIKE to, but I’d have to make sure my uncle Caliban is okay with it. He’s… a big proponent of isotionism…”

  Jekk scowls. “I remember beating him during his own training. He was most recalcitrant, and a poor choice for Deathcw. Whoever recommended him, I do not know, nor care do I. A failure, he was, and a drake who suffers embarrassment and self-viewed humiliation that doesn’t exist with a vengeance.”

  I shudder. I’m trying not to overstep my boundaries since I’m a guest here, but I can’t say I like Caliban very much…

  After a quick wash, I dress in more comfortable clothes, starting to get the hang of working my wings through the slits in the back of my t-shirt. I frown, fingering a strand of my soaking wet hair, the dark blonde at the tip repced with blue-white, smiling.

  Then, I beat my wings a few times, trying to dry it off a little, before pulling it into a loose ponytail. Then, shoving my feet into my trainers, I head outside to go back to the Winterwing Isnd for dinner.

  Today, Gwenyth hasn’t made soup. Instead, when I get home, there’s the aroma of cooking meat filling the house, and I almost start to drool. I hadn’t realised just how GOOD meat smells.

  The elderly Winterwing dragon looks up with a warm smile, standing over her stove, a rge, ft piece of bck stone which sizzles with strange runes. They’re in four circles, and a frying pan sits on one of the runic circles, a heat-haze hanging above it.

  I gasp, “What IS that? It smells amazing!”

  Gwenyth’s tail flicks in pleasure at my compliment. “Ah, I thought that, since you’ve been training all day, you’d appreciate something to really sink your fangs into. So I went and bought a good cut of meat for you. There’s snow-radishes, potatoes, and Tal roots to go with it, too. Now, sit down and I’ll have it ready in just a minute.”

  True to her word, Gwenyth sets a heaping pte in front of me in less than 60 seconds. When she said a good cut of meat, I’d expected a steak like you’d find on Earth. But this is huge! It must be the kind they use for eating challenges!

  Picking up my fork, I spear an unfamiliar, pale-green root, then bite off the end. It’s crunchy, with a slightly-sweet, nutty fvour. It’s sort of like water-chestnut, but not quite. It tastes great, though, and I finish the thing in two more bites.

  The meat is tender and cooked perfectly, with a deep, gamey fvour. It’s been seasoned, too, and I can feel my tail curling with bliss as I tear into the flesh, my teeth sharpening with each bite as I try not to let out a moan. When I finish, I’m satisfied on a spiritual level, and sigh in delight. Gwenyth sets a cup of tea in front of me, taking my empty pte away. She chuckles, “I’d forgotten how much fun it is to see a youngling truly enjoying my cooking again. Khio doesn’t come home as often as I‘d wish, so having you here is a blessing, dear. Now, drink your tea before you go to bed. It’ll help your body recover from the strain of being worked over by my ex-boyfriend.”

  I almost spit half the cup across the table. “You and Jekk Ironhide DATED?!”

  “Oh, yes, when I was less than seven-hundred. He was always the ‘bad boy’, so rebellious and scowly…”

  Gwenyth’s face wrinkles in amusement as she recounts her first meeting with the current Deathcw, back when he was still young and full of pride….

  The days turn to weeks, and in just a month, I’ve gained so much control over my powers. I can shift my wings, tail, scales, and cws in and out at will, in under twenty seconds from fully-human to full-shift. I can match any drake short of a Stormscale for speed in the air, and even withstand the searing warmth of the Bzehearts’ home city with more ease, having learned how to regute my body temperature far more efficiently, letting my cooler blood flow through me and fending off the heat. Sweaty, sleepless summer nights will be a thing of the past!

  And my strength, too! Jekk’s training has borne more fruit than I’d dreamed of. He’s been drilling every tactic and technique into my brain that he can, with consummate skill and patience. Skadi and I spar, too, more frequently now that I’m not likely to get myself killed in a heartbeat, and Aurexiar observes my progress with evident delight, along with the rest of the Council. Only Caliban seems unimpressed with my continued presence here in the Drakeblooded Cities.

  There are distinct changes that carry over to my human form, too. My stomach has toned up and my abs can be seen distinctly now, along with my upper arms bulking out somewhat. Not like some body-builder, but a clearly-defined strength.

  One te afternoon, Aurexiar approaches as I mop the sweat from my brow with a small towel, shifting into her human form to speak with me.

  “Well done, youngling. Your growth has been most remarkable! I’ve discussed with my fellow Councillors, and we’ve decided to give you a little break. You may return to Earth for three days, before coming here again to resume your studies. You are almost free, should you wish to leave at the end of your time here. Of course, once you are fully in control, I will gift you a Keystone that will enable you to open a portal, like the one I used when I brought you here. Then you may come and go as you please.”

  I stare at the tall, Amazonian dragon-dy, then hug her, much to her amused surprise.

  “You must be getting homesick, no? Rest assured, you’ll be able to see them soon. You can go home tomorrow morning, to give you the most amount of time with your kin. Then, on the morning of the fourth day, if you do not return by noon, I will come to collect you again.”

  I give her a squeeze around the waist.

  “Thank you, Lady Aurexiar. I can’t wait! My sisters are going to be so happy to see me!”

  Skadi, waiting for me by the entryway into the Arena’s under-tunnels, seems a little reluctant to get close to her aunt. Aurexiar smiles as she gently pushes me away. “Go, my niece is waiting for you. Make sure to tell her you’ll be back soon, I think she’s rather fond of you!”

  I wave her off as the powerful gold dragon shifts into full dragon-form, before heading towards the dark-haired Onyxblood dragonel, my towel around my neck. She tilts her head at me curiously.

  “What did the High Priestess want, Rika?”

  I smile. “She’s letting me go home for three days to see my family! I’ll be coming back after that, though, to finish my training.”

  “Oh, that’s nice! I’d love to hear more about your sisters, Rika…”

  Skadi and I chat as we change into casual clothes and head out of the Arena, discussing what I’m going to do with my three days back home on Earth. Where I’ll go, how I’ll spend this unexpected rgesse of time, and what I’ve missed most about my homeworld. Skadi listens intently, eyes glowing a dull purple in the dim tunnels as we take the levitating ptform back up to ground-level. We part with a friendly hug, and a promise to meet up again when I get back…