He sighs. "Ah, that. I'm guessing you know that they film the Dragon Duels?"
I nod. "We don't watch it in the city. I'm not even sure they stream it to us. But we know that there are cameras."
"I thought as much. From what we're told in the White Towers, some of the contestants are picked because of their violent tendencies. I think they assume that a lot of the people who volunteer to come in will do what Marina has and run away from everything."
"Isn't that what we've done too?"
"Technically, I have. But you've killed a dragon," he counters.
"Oh. Right." Somehow, I've already sort of managed to forget that. It's almost as if it happened in a dream, though I suspect it makes great viewing. A sick feeling settles in my stomach at the idea of my life-or-death situation being used that way.
"They say that the violent prisoners are brought in to make the Duels more challenging, but I've always suspected that's a lie and they're doing it more for entertainment."
"Why am I not surprised?" I mutter.
"I mean, you are in an arena with a lot of things that can kill you. I doubt there's much surprising anyone after that."
I sigh. "Can we win by sitting her for the rest of the week?"
"That's a good question. But not one we can find out the answer to. We're running out of water. We need to go find more tomorrow, especially with a third person to look after." He glances at Marina as if to prove his point.
"Great, just what we need. Would it be too much to ask to have all of the resources we need in one place?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be," I wave away his apology. "You're not the one who designed this place. Nor are you the employer who filled out my volunteer form. The only thing you're to blame for is me still being alive. And it may be surprising, but I'm not mad about that."
He chuckles. "I can see that."
"We should go at dawn," I say. "Dragons are reptiles, right?"
"Yes."
"That should make them slower in the mornings when it's been night and their blood isn't warm yet."
"You're forgetting they can create their own warmth," he points out.
"Eurgh. Why are dragons so overpowered? It's ridiculous."
"Says the Dragon Slayer."
"You were there, you know as well as I do that it was an accident that I managed to kill the dragon. I doubt I could do it again if I tried."
"You have Moonslinger, I suspect you could do it," he counters.
"Well I'm not in a rush to find out if that's true. We should avoid dragons if we can."
He nods. "I like that plan a lot."
I smile easily at him. A small part of me hates that I like him. He's from the White Towers, and he really volunteered to come here. Everyone knows they have all kinds of advantages when that's the case. But nothing about Cobalt makes me feel as if he thinks he's better than me. Far from it. If I'm not careful, I'll have ended up coming out of a deadly competition with more friends than I came in with. That's not what I expected when they told me I was entering the Dragon Duels.
But I guess it's better than dying alone.
Chapter Eleven
I'm constantly on edge as we make our way out of the mini-forest and enter the main part of the arena. It stretches for miles, and while I can see a few other patches of trees, and some boulders, there doesn't seem to be much of anything else around. Including people, though I'm not an idiot, I know that can change in nothing more than the blink of an eye.
"Do you know where we're going?" Marina asks. She's perked up a lot after eating and sleeping, which is a good thing in some respects, but not so much in others. She's surprisingly peppy for someone who has spent so long in prison.
Though I suppose that's part of the reason. No matter what happens next, she's able to leave that part of her life behind. She'll either die, and be free of it, or she'll win the Duels and become a Dragon Defender along with the other winners. I can see a clear winner of those two choices, but both of them are better than going back to prison, especially from all the things she told me about what it was like when she was there.
"Yes," Cobalt responds, stopping to point out a cluster of rocks a little way off. "There's a small lake behind there, we'll fill up the containers we found and then get back to our camp."
I nod along with what he's saying, grateful he's telling us the plan and not just making us follow him blindly. I know it's a small thing, but it means a lot to me.
"It's lucky you found those containers," Marina muses.
"Yes," he agrees. "But not surprising. As far as I know, they don't remove the items other contestants bring in with them."
From what I've seen, that also includes the bodies. Though the place isn't littered with them, which I'd have thought would be the case with a thousand contestants coming through each year. Maybe the dragons eat them. Bones and all.
A shiver runs down my spine at the realisation. It's best if I try not to think about that too much.
We lapse into silence as we make our way down to the lake. It only takes another half an hour until I'm able to see the sun reflecting off the surface of it. A chill wind whips up around us and I pull my coat tighter in an attempt to ward it off. it's still early in the day, so it'll probably warm up soon, but it's safe to say I'm missing the fire.
Once we're almost level with the rocks, Cobalt reaches out an arm to stop us. "Let me go ahead and check
