Canopus stood with the others, but waited until they had already moved with the rest toward their respective Dragons. It did not matter to him much who he was fighting for, but he was at least curious. Alexis greeted all of her fighters with the same engaging smile she had been introduced with. She shook hands with everyone but then her eyes turned to him and she beckoned him over.
He moved toward her, hearing Kyanosa as he passed by.
“So you’re Dirk’s boss? You’re really tall. How come you don’t have scales?”
“I can break you with my pinky.”
Alexis smiled again as Canopus stopped at the edge of the group aligned with her. She stepped toward him, offering her hand. “I’m pleased to meet you, Canopus. I’ve heard great things about you.”
He took it and shook it while nodding once. From what he could tell, she looked and acted like a normal human. He wondered what it would be like fighting one of the Nine. Alexis’ hand tightened on his enough to be almost painful for a moment.
“You’ll get to fight plenty,” she smiled before turning back to the rest of the group.
The opening ceremony was a standard flashy array that usually accompanied things like this. A huge stone arena was surrounded by risers that held thousands of screaming fans. Each Dragon led out their group of fighters before showing off their powers a bit. Alexis made it snow bits of ice that tasted like candy on the tongue.
Checking out his future opponents did no good in a setting like this. He could tell most all of them held themselves well, but that was normal for a fighter of the level that would gather here.
“Now I wait another day…” Canopus grumbled when the group had met up after the ceremony was over.
“Aww, it’s not so bad Canopus,” Kaye said.
He kept grumbling, but now it was quieter.
Dirk almost smiled. “So that’s the deal. Sometime tomorrow each one of us fights some random opponent, unless we end up with each other. Spend tonight however you want to, but I suggest sleeping in your rooms so you don’t miss the entrance cutoff. I’m spending tonight with some music in my soundproof room and getting up tomorrow at eight for breakfast. Besides that, whatever. Have fun. Just don’t lose.”
Kyanosa shook a finger at Dirk. “That’s all good and well, but if we do get paired up against each other, it’ll be hard for us all not to lose.”
“That’s the problem.”
“No use worrying about that now,” Kaye aid.
Kyanosa nudged Josh. “So who are you staying with?”
“Search me. Some guy with a huge sword and a little kid. House 2 if you want to visit though.” The punk grinned.
“We’re in House 8,” Kyanosa informed him.
“How about we take a tour around the village?” Kaye asked.
Kyanosa and Josh quickly agreed. Canopus and Dirk admitted to other plans and the group went their separate ways until the next morning.
