Savage Awakening 531. Man vs. Dragon (II)

One week until the fight… 

Zane had one last weekend back at the World Tree. Then it was crunch time all the way up until the fight.

Most of the work had been done by this point, and the work that was left he couldn’t really rush. So he didn’t mind a little time off.

First, he spent some quality time with Reina. She gave him her last briefing on Haxorax news.

“I’m not sure why they’ve decided not to do any press,” said Reina. “Patriarch Azure Flame seems quite invested in how great his son’s perceived to be. If he really wants this to be the public beatdown he’s setting up—”

She wrinkled her nose. “—he should be promoting the First Prince any chance he gets. But… it’s almost like they’ve done a media blackout.”

“Maybe they’ve decided to let the fighting speak for itself.”

“Maybe.” Reina hesitated. “…Something just isn’t adding up here.”

In general, he trusted her mental math. But she couldn’t find anything concrete to base it on, and he was confident in his plan.

He just decided to go forward with it.

That afternoon he went bird-watching with Evan. The World Tree made a uniquely great place for it; there were more nests here than anywhere in the Galaxy. Which made a lot of sense, Zane thought. Evan had been quite excited when Reina told him. 

“Are you sure it’s okay?” said Evan as they trained their binoculars on a truly outrageous toucan.

“What do you mean?” said Zane.

“I guess I just don’t want to take away from your training time…”

“It’s fine,” Zane informed him. “There’s just one thing left to do. And it isn’t the kind of thing you can actively train. I’ve just got to burn a few hours until it’s done, pretty much.”

“Oh! Okay.”

Still later, Evan gave him and Reina a show-and-tell involving various trinkets from his adventures, including a long-lost crown, a really rusted key of inexplicably high grade—“It’s supposed to open something really important,” Evan explained—“No one’s really sure what, though…” And also a golden apple.

Meanwhile, Avery mashed buttons off to the side.

“Aaaargh!” cried Avery. She then let loose a few choice words directed at Chosen Brock’s mother.

Then she licked some Cheeto dust off her fingers, and brightened. “I’ve got news!” she announced. “So I’ve been playing a lot of Super Smash Bros the last few days.”

Since it went online a half-year ago, Avery claimed it was proving quite the sensation in the Dragonspire Galaxy. Everyone from Young Masters to farmers on random moons was on. It was a real town square, she said, where you could get a finger on the pulse of the common people's thinking. She’d done quite a lot of shit-talking in various voice chats. Lately, the big fight was a hot topic.

“So y’know how they’re trying to make it sound like it’s meant to be a celebration of talent and stuff? All that stuff the Patriarch’s been saying,” said Avery. “No one’s buying it. Everyone thinks it’s just a big—”

She paused and looked at Evan, who blinked. “A big… ego…-measuring contest. Human vs. Dragon. Ol’ Patriarch always gets his scales in a bunch when a human challenges dragonkind. So he’s really trying to put Zane in his place! That’s what everyone’s saying, anyway.”

“Well I, for one, have faith in Zane’s ego,” said Reina brightly. 

“Mhm. ‘Course you’d think that.”

Reina flushed. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

But Avery just picked up her controller and went upstairs.

“I’m really not sure what’s gotten into her,” said Reina.

Zane still thought it was just a phase.

***

3 days before the fight…

Final prep was underway.

The Patriarch brought out his son for a single test run. Just to make certain the boy would be deadly come the time of the fight.

Haxorax did not disappoint.

He stood there, head hung, hair bloodied, matted over his eyes—this time, with three scales broken. Just three.

But Elder Greex the Bloodthorn, wielder of four Shards of Destruction, lay ravaged at his feet…

Lightning ripped across the Prince’s psyche; he howled, staggered. But he stayed up.

“The Ninety-Nine Lives Draught,” said Archpriest Sverrex. “Just as you’ve directed. His soul will not trouble him, come the fight.”

The Archpriest looked ashen… the Patriarch could guess the thoughts plaguing that little mind. Sverrex knew he could do nothing to stop what was to come. All he could do was ease the Prince’s pain. But if he had any more reservations—more of this incessant hand-wringing—he wisely kept them to himself.

“Say Zane clubs him with soul fire,” growled the Patriarch.

“The Prince will not go down.”

“Say he’s struck by a damned Mind-Pillar!”

“Not then either,” said the Archpriest hoarsely. “His soul will keep fighting as long as his body does. It’s as you wished. Everything is as you wished.”

“Now you’re getting it,” laughed the Patriarch. “I’ve seen enough. He’s ready.”

***

Final prep was underway.

Zane sat there on Planet Stormhaven. To his left lay a six-foot-tall stack of peak Divine dreamsteel.

It’d taken quite a while to finish digesting his last batch. But it’d gotten him pretty much exactly where he needed. He was pretty sure this ought to get the job done.

Earlier that day, one of Reina’s attendants had confronted him mid-hallway. This elf-girl who’d been dusting down one of their Scrying glasses. “You know if you lose, it’ll break Mistress Reina’s heart, right?” she said, arms crossed. “But you’re acting like it’s no big deal.”

He blinked. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb!” said the elf-girl. “The Mistress tries so hard making sure you don’t get hurt. And the first thing you do is go out and take a fight you can’t even win.”

A flushed Reina marched up this elf-girl—whose name he learned was Aelin—to apologize to him; she said it a bit sullenly.

Zane did get the sense sometimes all these elf-folk thought he was just some barbarian lunk, throwing himself at any challenge in sight without thinking. Which… at times he did do, to be fair. The thought still amused him.

“It’s fine,” he said, shrugging. He liked that the girl was looking out for Reina.

He did get where the girl was coming from. It seemed the common wisdom.

There was just too much to overcome, fighting up against a talent like Haxorax. To fight an overwhelming advantage, you had to have one of your own. Otherwise, you’d just look way out of your depth.

Chainstorm Cage was an ace Skill. So was Daybreak Horn. But though they’d help a great deal… they were like tools in his mind. They still depended on the base physique to wield them. Unlike what the elf-girl thought, he took the idea of the ‘Empyrean Wall’ quite seriously. If you wanted to break it, there was no getting around a certain amount of ‘base,’ as it were.

With that in mind, Zane started munching.

***

“This is the ‘Walker Run-up’—with your hosts, Tyler and Becca!” said Tyler. “Coming at you live from WRN Channel 6.”

“We’ve been a little overwhelmed by all the new viewers lately,” said Becca. She did look a little flustered. “The last time our Zane was on intergalactic news, our colleagues Jake Land and Stoneheart Mox did most of the coverage. Please bear with us while we sort out some kinks—and to our new non-Earth friends joining us today, we’d like to extend a hearty welcome!”

“It’s great to have you,” said Tyler.

“We’d like to clarify, though—and we know most of our new viewers are Zane fans!—that even though this is an Earth channel, this isn’t a Savage Sage fan channel. We’ll attempt to cover all news with as fair an angle as we can, and much of our news may not be about Zane.”

“That said!” Tyler chimed in. “We do like giving the big guy his due when he’s earned it.”

“Okay,” said Becca. “Following up from our news bulletin segment last time, we also got plenty of fan mail.”

“You guys are ticked off about that ranking mix-up, and we hear you. Trust me, guys, I’ve got some thoughts on it too.”

“Which is why we’ve got a special guest on today to hopefully clear things up. Please give a warm round of applause to the Scryer’s Guild’s own Grand Elder Drexel!”

The scene panned to a human-formed dragon with very tiny spectacles and stringy white wisps for a beard.

“Yes, well,” said the dragon. “Let’s make this fast.”

Becca blinked. “Um. Well… we’re glad you’re here, Elder.”

“Grand Elder.”

“That’s right. My apologies,” said Becca.

There was an awkward silence.

“It’s my understanding that you’re here to state the Scryer’s Guild’s official position?” said Becca.

“It’s rather simple,” said the Elder. “Let’s examine how this all began, first of all. It is a matter of public record that Haxorax broke through to Empyrean with the legendary Sacred Rites. He then earned the #1 Rising Dragon Ranking in the eyes of the Scryer’s Guild. Zane Walker, upon hearing of it, sent him a challenge to duel… I know not why. Evidently my Guild’s ranking was important to him. Ever since, Zane’s supporters—and they are truly a boisterous bunch—have been writing in daily, hurling insults at my Scryers. In some cases distracting them from doing their work safeguarding the security of this Galaxy. Let me make something clear: all your…shall we call them ‘well-intentioned, but uninformed’ complaints… will not change the ranking. The judgment has been cast.”

“Well, I’ve got a bone to pick with that order of events there,” said Tyler, frowning.

“Elder, I think the issue folks have is that no one knows how the judgment was made,” said Becca. “Viewers just want a little transparency. Surely that’s reasonable? Most would say Haxorax’s breakthrough wouldn’t be enough to overcome Zane’s body of work.”

“Then your viewers are not educated on the subject matter.”

“Look,” said Tyler. “All we’re saying is, there’s three dragons on your Guild Council—and I don’t want to make this a humans-vs-dragons thing!—but I mean, you’ve got to admit it does look weird when you make decisions like that, and don’t give any insight as to how your council came to it.”

“If we must be frank, it is always you humans who get emotional about such subjects,” sighed the Elder. “You never were good at accepting your place in the order of things. Now with this new ‘Earth’ Ur-planet, thinking yourselves capable of competing with dragons… it’s been awful for your species. I can see now that you’ve chosen to be obstinate. That is fine. In a few days’ time you'll understand. Then this tired matter might finally be put to rest.”

*** 

“I’m… really not sure what to make of that,” said Becca, after they were done. “I will say—that last line of his didn’t make much sense to me.”

“Yeah. The Rising Dragon’s meant to be a talent ranking… what would an Empyrean beating a Minor God prove, exactly?” 

Suffice it to say, if Elder Drexel meant for his appearance to calm mankind down, it didn’t work. Over the next few days the Guild’s mailboxes were flooded. But the Guild put out no further acknowledgment. 

*** 

“Alright, folks!” said Becca. “It’s fight day!”