"Okay. We'll talk here then. Hi, I'm Cobalt," he says brightly, holding out his hand to me.
I frown. Is he serious?
When his hand has been hanging long enough for me to be sure that he is, I take it in mine and give it a shake.
"Raine."
"Nice to meet you."
I raise an eyebrow. "Is it? I wouldn't call this situation nice."
He chuckles. "You have a point."
"So, you get a dragon slayer..." I wince at my choice of words, but need to use them to remind him I'm capable and deadly. "What do I get out of this?"
"I have food," he offers.
The rumble that tears through my stomach at the mere thought of food is almost enough for me to say yes.
Almost.
"I can just go and get some dragon meat," I point out.
"What if it's poisonous?"
"I can use the Arts to change it just to be safe." I can't make meat out of things that aren't meat to begin with, but dragon shouldn't pose too much of a challenge.
"Fine. Then I can teach you how to use the weapon you've got."
"Moonslinger?" I ask, before cursing myself for revealing the now silly-sounding name I thought up to it.
Cobalt chuckles. "If that's what you're calling it."
"I am."
"It's a good name," he lies.
"I don't care what it's really called." Especially because in my head it's not going to change. "But you can teach me how to use it properly?"
He nods. "If you want. My Arts aren't as strong as yours..."
"It uses the Arts?" It's impossible to keep the surprise out of my voice.
"Yes...what did you think you were doing?"
"I wasn't really thinking," I admit. "More waving it at a dragon and hoping that was enough to keep me alive."
"It worked."
"It did."
"Didn't you feel the Arts building up inside you?" he asks.
I frown as I think about it. The feeling hadn't been recognisable to me, but I suppose that doesn't mean anything. "I did, but I didn't know it was the Arts," I admit.
"But you know you can use them?"
"I'm not sure which bit is tripping you up," I snap.
"I'm sorry, it's just strange you don't know how to use something you were born with."
"It's illegal to use the Arts in the city. The small mounts I do know, I learned through breaking that law. So excuse me if I don't know anything fancy like how it works with a weapon."
Not wanting to listen to any more of whatever it is he wants to make me feel bad for, I turn around and stalk off. I don't have to listen to any of this I don't have to. They may want to kill most of the people they put in here, but I don't have to have a miserable time other than that.
"Raine, wait, please," he calls, running after me. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise."
"Of course you didn't," I mutter.
"But I mean it, I can teach you how to use Moonslinger. With what you've already worked out, I don't think it'll take very long."
"Shouldn't you be telling me it'll take eleven days so you can keep me on your team until the end?"
He chuckles. "Maybe I should. But I don't believe in lying. Especially if I don't have to do it. I really do have food I'll share too."
"Is that what you took for your one item?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "I set a trap last night and cooked a couple of game birds who fell into it. Nothing fancy, but..." He digs around in one of his pockets and pulls out a leaf-wrapped package, handing it to me.
I take it gingerly. There's a small chance it's poisoned or something like that, but the smell of the cooked meat makes my stomach rumble too much for me to be able to ignore.
"Thank you." I take it from him and unpeel the leaves to reveal the meat within. I eat it quickly, enjoying the taste as much as possible when I'm as hungry as this.
"So, you'll agree to an alliance with me?" Cobalt asks, a hopeful look on his face.
I sigh. "Yes, okay. But if you so much as try to hurt me, then I'll kill you."
He chuckles. "I'd expect nothing less."
"Good. Then we're in agreement. Welcome to the team."
"Team Raine?" he asks, a hesitant tease in his voice.
"Team Dragon Slayer," I correct. "We can only have the coolest names here."
He snorts. "I can be on board with that."
Despite myself, a small smile stretches over my face. It's nice to know I'm not alone, even if this can only be temporary. Hopefully, I can find Marina soon too. There's still space for three people to win the Duels, so I don't have to worry about choosing between her and my potential new ally, though I hope it never comes to that.
Chapter Ten
I thrust Moonslinger forward and do my best to control the stream of the Arts through me and out of the end, just like Cobalt has been teaching me over the past few days. Much to my surprise, he's actually helped a lot when it comes to working on the Arts. I always knew I was missing the knowledge I needed to truly make the Arts my own, but there wasn't any chance of me ever finding the information out in the city.
It's funny how the Dragon Duels are actually teaching me useful skills.
"That's much better," Cobalt says from his spot by the fire.
"Thanks."
"Dinner's ready by the way."
"And by dinner, you mean roast pheasant again?" I check.
He chuckles. "What else? There isn't much roaming around that I can trap with what I've got. Now, if I had a bow and arrow, it'd be a whole other story."
"Why don't you?"
He picks up his poking stick and prods it into the fire. "Why don't I what?"
"Have a bow and arrow? You could have picked it as your item."
He shrugs. "A knife is more useful."
"Then you must think I'm extra ridiculous for picking
