The next two matches passed too quickly for Canopus and too slowly for Kyanosa. Naslok, the elf, quickly magicked his way through his fight, with Canopus muttering the whole time about fighting yet another fire-based opponent, and Malhildur threw enough rocks to viciously force her plain-clothed opponent out of the ring. Then came Kyanosa’s turn.

“Good luck Kyanosa,” Kaye said with a smile. “You’ll do great.”

Kyanosa pumped his fist in the air once and left his seat, walking up the stairs to his side of the arena. His thought-out plan for sizing up his opponent (which, for fairness’ sake, was thought out by Canopus and told to Kyanosa during the first match) went out the window when he first saw him. He, Kyanosa, survivor of the exploding planets, ten-foot-robots, magic-hurling demons, and death itself, was fighting a puppy.

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“That was a marvelous breakfast as well,” Kaye said rubbing her stomach. She, Kyanosa, and Dirk had finished breakfast at Sydnei’s and were now heading toward the arena for the announcement of the matches.

Kyanosa sighed. “Yeah, I know. It was great. But I thought you guys were supposed to make sure I didn’t eat too much.”

Dirk shrugged. “Just don’t get an early match.”

“You can decide that?”

“No.”

Kyanosa sighed.

“You’ll be fine,” Kaye said, skipping a little as they walked.

She could feel the excitement in the air. The rest of the participants as well as spectators were gravitating slowly toward the arena.

Dirk looked around. “If you guys see Canopus or Josh or anybody especially good-looking, point them out so we can sit with them.”

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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.

He tapped his chin and looked thoughtful. “I think that’s all the rules for now. If you have any more questions, read your information packets. Now for the fun part. As with every tournament, we have a team of talented healers standing by in all cases to make your boo-boos go away. We’ll introduce them now so you recognize them around the grounds. Firstly, the team leader is Duran Wahl who has been a Healer of Madison for almost 50 years now.”

A man had walked up to where David was standing. He was an avian anthro, with dark maroon feathers touched by gray. He bowed to the crowd.

“Nextly is the lovely Paula Jasperson who will delight you with her soft touch, both physically and mentally as the team’s foremost mental health expert.”

The woman who came up had rich brown skin and her hair was done up in dozens of braids that fell all around her head. She lifted her fingers to her lips and blew a kiss to the crowd.

“Other nextly is Jaspel Godwin. You know that achy, tired feeling you get after an exhaustive healing session? Jaspel here is an expert in energy manipulation that will keep such healing side effects to a minimum.”

Jaspel was a man in his mid-thirties who had two antennae coming out of his brown hair. He had a mustache and smiled dazzlingly at the crowd.

“And now lastly, but of course not least is Melanie Griffin. Isn’t she adorable folks? Don’t let her countenance and age fool you. She was talented enough to catch Madison’s eye at such a young age and excels at detail-oriented vein and nerve work.”

Melanie was clearly the youngest of the group, she appeared to only be in her mid teens with waist length powder-blue hair and eyes that remained firmly on the floor.

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Exactly at 3:00, every television in the building turned on, and every eye went to the most convenient one. The screen showed the logo of the God Warrior’s Tournament with a short jingle.

At the front of the room a young man stood. Probably in his mid-twenties, dressed smartly in a dark gray suit and tie with a white shirt. His well-trimmed short black hair and glasses with rectangular frames, resting near the end of his nose, completed the scholarly look. He brought a microphone to his mouth and pointed at the people in the room. “Citizens of Dragon Village, welcome to the two hundred thirty-seventh quadrennial God Warriors’ Tournament!”

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