Pulling up from the area that he'd been surveying for any sign of his friend, Silverbonce knew in his heart it was time to call it a day. Any hope of him surviving had long since evaporated, realistically. Tears welled up inside him. Trying his best to hold them in check, to no avail, they streamed down the scales on his cheeks, plunging into the smoking hot, orange lava, making a sizzling sound as they made contact. Trying not to let his voice give way, the old mouth guard told the others it was time to call off the search. Of course they were all devastated, but they too knew the time had come. As a group, they made their way across to the medical bay, as that had been proven by the King's Guard to be the safest and surest way out. As the last dragon landed on the edge of the entrance, a boiling, gurgling, fizzing, bubbling sound whispered up from one of the dark corners of the arena's molten floor. Cheese alone turned to look back as some of the others made their way past him, clearly not having heard the noise. Goose bumps flitted across both his wings and down his tail. Dodging around Raptor, the last of the dragons to come in, instinct and his gut told him there was something out there.
"Wait," he cried, his soft voice echoing down the narrow tunnel. As one, the dragons all turned in his direction. "There's something out there."
Taking a step, he dived off and with one flap of his powerful wings, headed towards the far corner. At first, others stood and watched. That is, until Silverbonce pushed his way through. He'd been the first to go into the tunnel, wanting to make it easier for the others, but he had no hesitation in following Cheese. The rest of them did the same.
It didn't take long, eight or nine seconds at most, and then Cheese was there, in that darkened corner. Silverbonce arrived next.
"What is it?" he asked urgently.
"I heard something, something over here."
"Are you sure?"
Cheese turned towards his teammate, a look of utter conviction spread across his face. Silverbonce nodded at his friend, sorry for having doubted him. Abruptly, a guttural gurgle boiled up beneath them. Although not an entirely uncommon lava sound, there was something different about this. It sounded almost too loud, too full of air. Then it happened again, only this time much more violently. By now, the rest of the dragons had arrived and formed a huge ring around the unexplained bubbles in the steaming hot, viscous liquid. Smaller bubbles fizzed to the surface all around the much larger event. Some of the dragons drew back, afraid of what might happen, in case it was some sort of aftershock from the explosion. And then a giant 'SQUELCH' sounding like someone puckering up for a kiss, surprised them all, preceding a lonely grey shape bobbing to the surface. It was impossible for the dragons to make out what it was at first, because of the lava and the damage, but it didn't take them long.
"STEEL!" yelled Silverbonce at the top of his voice, immediately swooping down towards his friend. Joined by his teammates and the medics, Cheese, Barf and Zip all started to lift the dark shape.
"Careful!" screamed one of the medics, appalled at the damage the Warriors' captain had taken.
Barf looked over his shoulder and shot the medic an evil look. As the limp, wretched body was pulled out of the magma, sighs of dismay echoed around the cavern. Not a single scale remained on the burnt and disjointed body of the brave laminium ball player. But that wasn't the worst part. While the wing carpus and metacarpus bones all appeared intact, the skin, tendons and ligaments of both wings had completely disintegrated. Both wings were gone; only the outer bone remained. After Steel had been hauled out, the medics moved in to check for any sign of life. None of the dragons there could see how that would even be possible, and after the sight of his wings, or lack of them, most hoped his soul had ascended to a better place. But to the shock and awe of the medics, Steel was still alive, albeit barely. Surprise abounded from them all. Quickly, the medics ushered those carrying him towards their station, despite protests from the King's Guards, who were still trying desperately to get everyone out of the area. But the medics were having none of it. With Steel in the medical bay, they shooed everyone else away and started their most challenging piece of work ever.
Forced to leave the arena, despite their protests and the fact that the Warriors wanted to remain as close to Steel as possible, it broke Silverbonce's heart not to be at his friend's side, particularly in light of the heroics he'd performed in saving them all. Had that bomb gone off in the stadium itself, the results would have been devastating. As it was though, only a few minor injuries, Steel aside, had been reported during the whole incident. Luck and Steel's bravery had served the dragon community well.
27
The Magic Roundabout
Having been awake for a few minutes now, she decided to get up. Quietly, she pulled back the luxurious, Egyptian cotton covers on her side of the bed and brought her small but powerful feet down onto the intricate pattern woven into the expensive carpet.
'This is the life,' she thought, stretching and yawning at the same time. Feeling completely awake after her yawn, she padded softly across the room to the full sized Venetian window. Twisting the metal handle as gently as possible, she pulled open the old wooden frame and gazed out contentedly, barely able to believe she was there.
It had started out the same as any old week... work, work, work, made even more unbearable knowing that the boys... Peter, Tank and Flash... had all disappeared off to New Zealand to take in the sights and watch the laminium ball match. Of course, she could have gone with them, they had invited her after all. It would have been a mistake though, she'd known that straight away. One little slip and they'd all realise that she'd gone back on her word, gone back to... Tim. Not wanting to put them in that position, she'd declined their offer, citing work commitments as her excuse. That's how her week had started. Two days in, however, things had changed dramatically. There she'd been, sitting in her office, drudging through her emails, when the phone had rung. Annoyed at the interruption, she snappily answered the call and was pleasantly surprised to find it was Tim. Her ire at being interrupted disappeared instantly, replaced by curiosity as her love begged her to get the rest of the week off work and leave as soon as possible. While something of a rebel in general she was, however, professional in everything she did at work, and had little intention of letting anyone down. Tim though, was very persistent, and despite not telling her what he had planned, all he would allude to was that they would be able to be together without being spotted, and would have the time of their lives. In the end, it proved too much of a temptation. She asked him to phone back in fifteen minutes, which he duly did, by which time she'd booked the days off and arranged for someone to cover all her training commitments. On recounting this to Tim, he told her to get home as quickly as possible, and that he'd pick her up in an hour.
"Oh, and as well," he added, "don't forget to pack your passport." To say this piqued her interest was a massive understatement. Doing exactly as he'd said, not eight hours later they arrived in Florence, Italy. That had been two days ago. The whole thing had been a whirlwind of epic proportions, but as Richie stood, scantily clad, at the window, looking out over the Arno River with all its rich history, it occurred to her just how happy and contented she felt. Like everyone, she'd experienced perfect moments... who hadn't? But most of them had occurred in the middle of frantic lacrosse matches: sprinting down the wing towards the opposition's goal, ball cradled tightly in the head of her stick, hair flying out behind her, the sun shining through the clouds, terrified looks etched across the faces of her onrushing adversaries... PERFECT! Or dropping her shoulder one way and then diving the other, dummying with her stick, her rival falling for it big time. Continuing on her run, beating one, two, three more, until catching sight of the ball and knowing just what to do... Drawing her stick back, picking the exact spot, and then unleashing the single most ferocious shot of her life, to win the single most important match of her life... PERFECT! She could go on, of course, but you get the idea. Here she was, however, breathing in the refreshing Florentine air, the early morning sounds of the momentous city's hustle and bustle drifting up to greet her ears. Sighing softly, more out of contentment than anything else, she heard the bed rustle behind her. She turned to see Tim sitting up, smiling in her direction. A serene feeling of peace and tranquillity washed over her. Leaving the window open, she bounded over to the bed and threw herself into his waiting arms, as the bells of The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore reverberated around the city.