He chuckles. "You have a point there, I must admit. What you did wasn't the official way of using Moonslinger."
"That doesn't explain why I chose it."
"Oh, right. Sorry. So there are different levels of Arts user. And those in the middle tier normally show a preference for an Arts channeller. I suspect it's about what part of the Arts is strongest in them," he explains.
"But that doesn't make any sense. The Arts are just used to change one thing into another similar thing?" I pick up a pebble and call up the Arts, transforming it into a piece of coal with ease. It's not a particularly challenging thing to do, but it demonstrated what I need it to.
"True." He holds out his hand for the lump of coal. The moment I drop it into his palm, it turns into a glittering opal.
My eyes widen. I've never been able to make a transformation like that before. "How did you do that?"
"Practice," he responds. "And someone actually teaching me how to use my Arts. There's a lot more to it than you think there is."
"I guess that's the price of making it illegal in the city."
"I think it's the point," he counters. "What would the city people do if they knew the Arts could kill a dragon when they're used right?"
Understanding dawns on me. "They'd use it against them."
"And the White Towers would lose some of their control. Not all of it, I'm sure they have other systems in place to keep everyone in check. But the dragons are a big part of it. Giving people the ability to fight back against them would ruin that."
"Huh."
"Have you never thought about any of this?" he asks, genuine curiosity in his voice.
"I guess I've never really had a chance to," I admit. "Most of life in the city is focused on surviving to see another day. We don't have a lot of time to sit around and think about the way the world works, even if we should so we can turn the system around."
"I'm sorry." The sincerity on his face almost chokes me up.
"Don't be," I assure him. "It's not your fault that we were born in different places."
"True, but it doesn't stop me being sorry that the system favours one of us against the other."
"Maybe if we win this, we can think of ways to change that," I propose.
"We can try," he promises. "But we need to survive the next few days to do that."
"What are our chances?" I almost don't want to ask in case they're that bad, but I know I have to. It's better to be prepared.
"That's a good question. So long as your leg doesn't get infected, yours are pretty good, especially with killing a dragon."
"And yours?"
"I don't know," he admits. "I don't think I've done very much to either gain or lose me points."
"Other than saving me."
"Other than that," he agrees. "But I did survive a dragon attack in the process. So that should have gained me more points than I lost."
"Promise you're not just saying that to make me feel better?" I'm not sure how I know, but that feels like the kind of thing he'd do.
"I promise I'm not just saying it."
"Okay. Then we should focus all of our energy on staying out of trouble."
He grimaces but covers it quickly.
"What?"
"It's not as simple as that. The last day often devolves into a bloodbath," he admits.
"You'd have thought that would be the first day."
He shakes his head. "Everyone comes in separately and has to work out what they're doing and how they can set up a camp. I think if everyone was sent in at once, then that would be the case. Thankfully, that's not how it's done. But everyone knows that only one in fifteen people survive, and most people don't know about the points system, so they go around trying to kill as many people as possible to make sure the odds are there that they're going to be one of the survivors."
"Ah. I can see how that's going to be a problem. We have a couple of days until that kicks off though, right?"
He nods.
"Maybe you can teach me more about how to use Moonslinger? And we can come up with a plan on how best to survive?"
"Don't forget you need to heal," he counters, pointing to my leg.
"I haven't forgotten. But a wound on my leg is something I can recover from. Being dead is pretty permanent."
"Hmm, good point. We'll do our best to be in a good position when the final day comes around. But for now, you should sleep," he instructs.
"I am feeling tired," I admit.
"I'm not surprised. I'll keep watch and wake you when I'm starting to get too tired for it."
I don't protest. My head feels heavier than it should, and a good chunk of sleep should help my leg recover sooner. It isn't until I'm starting to drift off that I realise Cobalt never told me why he volunteered, we got sidetracked by the rest of our conversation. It doesn't matter, I'm sure he'll tell me at some point.
The thoughts drift out of my mind as the welcome dark of sleep takes hold.
Chapter Fourteen
"The Dragon Duels has five hours remaining," a voice booms through the sky, making both of us jump. "To be considered as a winner, you must be present in front of the holding facility when the timer ends."
"Is it that time already?"
"Apparently," Cobalt says. "I didn't think we were that close."
Me neither, but it's difficult to keep accurate track of time inside the arena. I've been able to keep a rough track of the day number, but the hours are different.
I suppose it doesn't matter. The countdown has started and the Duels are nearly over. I wish I felt relief about surviving this far, but it's just not possible when I know there's a points system. Being alive at the end of the day isn't
