Section 4

  Part IX Downtime before show time

  After my handshake with Swarf, we parted ways and walked off to the opposite ends of the stage. I then went to rejoin my group. Sojah was there, so was Fennib Flynn. "Oooh, who is the lady Draaxson?” asked Sojah as I neared the group. She was my opponent, Ms. Koi,” I said as I half-heartedly swiped at her with my claws. She easily dodged it and was about to say something back when Fennib talked to me. “That was an amazing match, tho it was lacking in some archery, and you were kinda not focusing at the beginning,” she said as she raised her hand, and I gave her a high-five. “ Was something distracting you, Draxson? Was it that lovely opponent you just fought? You seemed pretty fond of her.” Said Fennib Flynn as she bumped her right elbow into my left shoulder, smiling back at me. She wrapped her finger around mine, and I swiftly pulled my hand back. Fennib winked at me and put on a pouting face because I pulled my hand back. “No, I wasn’t distracted by her. I was watching Sopheia fight against that elf guy. Treelif, his name was. “ I said in my defense, but this, however, didn't discourage Sojah from making another comment. “Are you sure you weren't just distracted and marveling at the beauty of that well-endowed Forge Dwarf? Hmmm?” Sojah said, smiling back at me, already knowing I would respond to her accusation. “No, I wasn’t. I'm not into her like that; she was just a very fun opponent to fight with.” I retorted with much exasperation. “Uh, huh, sure you had fun. I’m kinda jealous you didn't seem to have nearly as much fun fighting me as you did with her,” said Fennib as she twirled a strand of her hair with a finger, looking back at me with a teasing smile. “It’s not like that…” I was interrupted by Sojah this time, “You weren't marveling at my beauty, Draxson. Is it because I’m blue!?! and I live mostly in the water? Huh, ya, fire-breathing lizard elf or whatever you are.” Sojah said as a slightly shorter blue-skinned girl similar in appearance to Sojah, except for a hint of pink outlining and contrasting the blue scales, walked up to Sojah and grabbed her hand. "C'mon, sis, let’s go get something to eat,” the younger blue-skinned and scaly girl said, pulling her sister away. “We just ate not too long ago, and I am talking over here with my former opponent. Just give me a moment, and we’ll find you something to eat.” Sojah exasperatedly told her sister. The younger girl looked at me with calculating eyes. If I remember correctly, she was the one that Treelif fought in the first round; Kelfin Koi, her name was, so I guess that made them sisters. Kelfin Koi, who was some kind of healer, looked at me, shyly smiled, and said, “Hi there,” before looking back at her sister.

  “I got to go, Draxson, but it was fun talking with you, Draxson; try not to admire me too much,” Sohjah said, teasing me as she was being pulled away by her sister, Klefin. “ I said it’s not like that at all; I only have feelings for Sopheia; just leave me alone about it,” I said, not realizing I was saying these things, let alone in front of Sopheia. Oh no, why did I go and say that out loud? I frantically thought of turning to look at Sopheia. Looking at her, I witnessed her face turn pinker than Kelfin’s scales. Fennib gasped her hand at her neck in mock wounding before smiling again. “Ooooooooooh, what a turn of events, I thought for sure you liked me, oh well, I guess that's acceptable since you just dropped some juicy lore. In front of Sopheia, the girl herself. I’ll leave you to that, Draxson ba-bye.” Fennib said, smiling and waving as she passed me and whispered, “Good luck, boy, you’ve got excellent tastes. See you after your next match.” Fennib finished her statement, winking at me and then walked off.

  Now that it was just me, Rebekah, Phaz, her brothers, and Sopheia, it was a bit awkward. Rebekah spoke up and broke the silence. “I’m gonna go get something ta eat you all. Do you want to go as well, Phaz?” She said as she waited for a response from Phaz. “Um, yes, my brothers and I will accompany you,” Phaz replied, nudging her brothers to go along with her. “Ok then, I can even give you a tour of the town while we wait for the next match,” enthusiastically stated.“See you two later,” Rebekah said as she walked toward the merchant stalls and town. “Yeah, I'll catch up with you later, Draxson and Sopheia,” Phaz said, walking behind her brothers.

  A moment of Me and Sopheia stealing looks at each other and watching Sopheia looking at her feet passed before Sopheia spoke up. “So, do you mean that Draxson? That's twice now that you’ve said something like that. Are you playing with my feelings, or do you truly feel that way?” “Of course, I mean what I said. I didn't mean to say it in this setting ot that particular moment, in front of so many people, but yes, I do…” I was interrupted by Sopheia pressing her face against my chest and wrapping her arms around me. “You should be more careful how you say things, Draxson. Someone else would have interpreted that as an excuse to get someone to be silent. I question your methods sometimes, Draxson. You need to get better with that. “I-I am sorry about how it came out and sounded…” “Oh, just shut up, ya thick-skulled, pointy-eared lizard. Just kiss me already.” Sopheia said before she knocked me on the ground and began sprinkling my face with kisses, “ I love ya, you dummy,” she said before she planted her lips on my right cheek. I kissed her on her cheek before I picked us up off the ground. I rose until I was able to get my knees under me. Sopheia did likewise. “Sopheia, I love you too, but I think we shouldn't do this here. Let's go see about getting some food. I’m a little hungry as well.” I said before she gave a reply, smiling back at me. “Of course, you are, Draxson. I guess some things don't ever change.” Sopheia continued speaking, “I’m sorry about getting dirt on your tunic and the rest of you. I’m glad you finally confessed how you feel to me, though. I never thought you would,” she said, wiping some tears from her eyes.

  I felt something wet on my cheeks as well. I guess I was crying in joy over the turn of events. I felt someone watching me and looked to my right to see Phaz smiling over at us, along with Rebekah. Phaz told her brothers something to get them to turn around when they looked back at us about a dozen meters away. They turned back around and continued walking. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and stood up, leaning down and offering my hand to Sopheia. “Thank you, Draxson. I guess I’m a little messy now. I’m going to need to brush my fur later and brush off my clothes.” Sopheia said as I lifted her to her feet. I looked her up and down, noticing the dust she was talking about and the messy fur she was talking about. I looked back at Sopheia and spoke up. “I could brush your fur for you if you’d like,” I said. “You’re very blunt, Draxson, but I guess I like that about you, that you say what you want,” Sopheia said, smiling back at me, her cheeks flush a lovely pink, her eyes sparkling back at me. “Yeah, you could, Draxson, and if you don't mind, could you brush my tail?” she asked, to which I happily replied, “Yeah, I can do that for you.” Then moving on to the food matter, I said, “What do you feel like eating, if you're hungry that is? Do you want me to brush you after or before we go eat?” I rapid-fire asked before Sopheia placed a finger on my lips before I could say anything else.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Yeah, I could use some food, and let's brush my hair before we go.”

  We sat down on a bench. I sat behind Sopheia, brushing her hair.

  Sophia sat happily, smiling as I brushed her hair, and when I finished, I moved on to her tail. Then, when Sopheia was satisfied with her hair, she said we could go eat now. She said she'd worry about the rest of her fur later. It was pretty comical watching Sopheia walking around with poofed out fur sticking out the edges of her clothes, but I didn't think it was funny enough to invoke the wrath of Sopheia by laughing about it.

  We ate soup from one of the event vendors and met back up with Phaz and Rebekah, who were returning from their tour.

  After Phaz and Rebekah came back from their tour, we mingled with the other contestants. The Koi family was nice to talk to. We talked with them for a while, and Sojah’s dad even invited us to visit them sometime in a place near the Efosha Sea on the lower east coast of the continent.

  I asked how long it took them to get here since they were basically on the other side of the world. They said they mostly swam here through the rivers they came across. They spent about a week total, between running and swimming, to come to this village for the tournament. I was about to ask why they came so far, and what the prize was, before I was asked a question.

  They asked what brought us here, and this is what we told them. Sopheia started talking first.

  “We came here from our Frozen village of Fornull. We left our home and started this adventure about 9 days ago. Since then, we’ve fought a group of majic-controlled skeletons, and we hunted various beasts to keep up our supplies and then…” Phaz put her hand, um paw or whatever, on Sopheia’s shoulder so she wouldn't talk, so that Sojah’s and her family's ears wouldn't bleed. I took the lapse in conversation to say the rest of the events. “Well, Sopheia already summed up our journey thus far, but to answer your question, we just happened to detour from our southward path with her guidance,” I say, pointing my thumb back at Phaz.

  “We only arrived here last night, and we joined the tournament today for fun,” I concluded. “That's very interesting. What are you going to do after the tournament?” Sojah’s father asked, he told me his name was Sefestan Koi when we started talking, if I forgot to mention that. “I thought about it for a second and I told them, 'Me, Sopheia, Phaz, and her brother are probably going to continue our adventure south from here and see where we end up,” I said before Sefestan made a follow-up question. “What, you don't have any idea where you’re going or what you're going to do?!? It sounds like you lot are going on quite the adventure without any plan at all. Well, I hope you enjoy your adventure and are safe out there,” Sefestan said, stretching out his hand to me. I took his hand and shook it. “Well, good luck, kids, I won’t hold ya up from talking with the other competitors before they leave. It was nice meeting you, Draxson, and Sopheia, oh, and you too, Phaz. You were all very interesting to talk with.” “Thank you, it was nice to meet you too, Mr. Koi,” I said as I finished shaking his hand, and he offered it to Sopheia, who happily shook his hand. “It was really delightful talking with you, Sojah, Kelfin, and Mr. Koi. I hope to see you all again someday.” Sopheia said enthusiastically, shaking Sefestan’s hand. Then Phaz briefly shook Sefestan’s hand.

  We shook and said our farewells to Sojah and her sister Klefin before finally departing from them. As we walked away, Klefin called out to us. We turned around to see Klefin in front of her family, waving us farewell as she shouted, “ Good luck on winning the tournament, Draxson, and have a safe journey, Sopheia and Phaz! Sorry, we couldn’t talk anymore. See you later!!”

  We left them and went to look for Fennib or Swarf. We found them together talking with the other dwarf that Swarf was partnered up with earlier today, and another human. We walked up to them, hailing. We talked, but I'm not going to write it all here.

  (Letter for my dearest parents)

  I'll tell you about the 4th round fight. Even writing that fight makes my arms throb in pain. Putting pressure on my side flares the bruises. It was brutal. But it was the best fight I've had so far.

  You don't need to worry about me, though, Mom and Dad. I'm doing fine, and I'm not hurt that bad. I'm really glad you let me go on this adventure.

  Anyway, the fight began intensely and ended even more intensely.

  I walked on the center stage like I did to conclude the qualifiers. I guess it was fitting that Treelif started the excitement of the event, and I would be the one to conclude it and generate more excitement. That's what I was thinking when I walked onto that stage, staring down the forward-facing, stoic-faced elf, who didn't even care to talk with me or the others before this match, well, maybe except for Rwarg when he came back from treatment, but other than that, he seemed lifeless. I was filled with hate, not lifeless, contempt as if nothing mattered. I truly want to get to know him and learn what he's thinking and his motives.

  [Letter end]