Dragon Conjurer, page 18
“Fuck you,” a different voice snapped, and I wasn’t sure, but it sounded like Carrottop. “What do you know about power? You’re just a Yellow rank.”
“I know more about it than you’d think.” Nala had a growling edge to her voice when she spoke now, but she still sounded mostly composed. “Leave us alone, and you’ll get your fight before the day’s over.”
“Your Red better not try to get out of it,” Bruce grunted. “I won’t let this go. He’s going to--”
The door slammed shut before he could finish his statement, and Nala came back into the common area with a flushed face and a cheeky glint in her eyes.
“Nala, you are a lifesaver,” I said as I folded my hands together and bowed to her. Even though I’d just had sex with Steffi, I hadn’t forgotten about the darker beauty’s offer for food later. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to the idea of two insanely hot women throwing themselves at me, but it was pretty awesome. “Thanks for buying me some time.”
“You’re welcome, Dylan,” she responded as she plopped onto the couch beside me and crossed her hands behind her braided head. “So, what’s your next move?”
“I guess I have to fight him.” I chewed on my lip and stared at the blank TV screen in front of me. “I don’t think he’s going to drop it until he gets a chance to pound me into the ground.”
“Don’t say he’s going to pound you into the ground,” the blond nymph scoffed and threw himself into another beanbag. “You took on two yetis at once and won. Bruce won’t be any problem.”
“With Ky,” I muttered and crossed my legs in front of me. “My dragon does all the work.”
“So, we’ll change that,” the caramel-skinned beauty added as she got off the couch and moved onto one of the beanbags. “It won’t be much, but the three of us can give you a crash course on self-defense before we leave.”
“What’s he fight like?” I propped my chin on my fist and looked between my two teammates.
“He fights like a combo of Bakugo and Azula.” Nick frowned.
“Uhhh… the anime characters?” I chuckled.
“Yep!” Nick giggled. “Which probably helps you see that he wants to hit hard and fast.”
“He has very little endurance,” Nala added while she slumped backward on her beanbag. “But he has grit for days. He won’t go down easily.”
“So, he won’t conserve his energy,” I mumbled and closed my eyes, “but he has tenacity.”
“Exactly,” the blond nymph scoffed. “The guy’s strong, but he has weaknesses.”
“Let me guess.” I snapped my eyes open and pinned them on Nick. “I just need to run him in circles until he can’t stand up anymore? I don’t want to keep this fight going any longer than it has to, man. If we can end it in a few minutes, I want to end it in a few minutes.”
“We’ll help you,” Steffi announced as she emerged from the bathroom, cleaned and dressed in her modified uniform, and she waltzed over to the couch, sat down next to me, and then laid her head on my shoulder. “Bruce is powerful, but power isn’t everything around here.”
“He’s like the Dungeons and Dragons barbarian,” Nala piped up and shrugged. “He thinks he’s the Druid, but he’s actually the brute who didn’t balance his stats very well.”
“Imagine we all have the basic structure of a D and D character stat tree,” the green-eyed nymph said as he adjusted himself in his beanbag. “Everybody has their perks in strength, dexterity, charisma, et cetera. In Bruce’s case, he maxed out his strength and constitution because he thought those would help him out the most.”
“But he didn’t realize that in order to be great, you have to balance stats out.” Nala cleared her throat and crossed her arms and legs. “Bruce has focused his training time on only building up strength like the rest of his team.”
“So, they’re really just bullies,” I said and frowned. “They want to be the baddest and the maddest?”
“Pretty much,” Steffi scoffed while she picked her cotton candy head off my shoulder and sat up. “They want to form alliances with all the other Orange ranks in AIMM, but only if they don’t feel threatened. Bruce and Johnny bullied the other members of their team into working until they received Orange ranks, too.”
“They feel threatened by Steffi, too,” Nick snickered. “They think her hard work is intimidating, so that’s why Bruce treats her like he does.”
“That’s not the only reason.” The fairy girl cast her glance to her lap while her shoulders came forward in a slump.
“Then what’s the other reason?” I asked and put a hand on her tattooed back.
“Bruce tried to form an alliance with me when I first got promoted to Orange, but when I didn’t budge, he tried a new tactic.” Her golden eyes met mine as she picked her head up. “He tried to ask me out on a date, but he was super overbearing and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Finally, I just had to blast him in the chest with some magic until he left me alone.”
“Except he doesn’t leave you alone anymore,” I growled and remembered how Flamey-O pushed Steffi around when he was trying to get to me. “Because I’m on your team, he thinks you’re a threat.”
“You’ve got it,” she sighed and looked down at her folded hands. “But this isn’t about how he treats me. This is about getting him off your back, and I fully intend to figure out how we’ll put him into his place for good.”
“I wish you had a fire dragon,” Nick spoke up with a wry grin and a mischievous twinkle in his forest-green eyes. “Then you could Agni Kai his ass.”
“You guys love using Avatar references, don’t you?” I laughed. “That’s like the fifth one in the last twenty-four hours.”
“Well, I made Nick watch it with me again,” Nala giggled and reached up to start undoing her braids. “It’s still fresh on our minds.”
“And it’s a good show, man!” Nick added with explosive arm movements. “It still fucking slaps! The nostalgia is real.”
“I can understand that.” I turned my head from side to side to make my neck pop like milk over Rice Krispies. “So, what’s the play? How do we stop this asshole from curb stomping me?”
“He has distance attacks,” the dark-haired beauty explained with a frown, “and he can use his powers at close range. He’s spent his time here training in Shaolin kung fu, which isn’t an easy art to learn.”
“So, again, what’s the play?” I held one hand up and looked at the others in the circle.
“He’s had one style,” Nick said and leaned back into his beanbag, “but I’ve focused on MMA since I’ve been here. Now, I am in no way a master, but I can walk you through some basics that’ll give you a leg up.”
“Explain the difference to me.” I uncrossed my legs and set my feet on the floor, and then I leaned toward Nick and pressed my index fingers to my lips. “How is one going to cancel out the other?”
“Bruce’s fighting style is all here,” he said as he stood up and gestured to his torso. “Shaolin kung fu focuses its energy on chest-height blows and kicks, but they have very little ground game. They stay high and balanced, but jiu-jitsu keeps low and uses the opponents’ weight against them. If you use Ky as a distraction, you can take advantage of Bruce’s divided attention and shoot in to throw off his balance. His style is worthless without a steady base, and if you knock him off his foundation, the whole house is going to fall down.”
“Alright.” I sat back and grabbed one of the small packs of beef jerky Nick had left on the couch next to me. “Show me some moves.”
“Refuel, and I’ll pull up some demonstrations on the TV.” The nymph walked to the entertainment center to get the remote for the TV. “The best way to learn is to do it, so I fully intend on throwing you around a little.”
“You’re going to kick my ass, aren’t you?” I joked around a mouthful of spicy dried meat.
“Maybe a little, but it builds character.” The blond dude plopped down into his beanbag and used the remote to look up some jiu-jitsu takedown videos on the internet. Then he clicked on the first one, turned the TV volume up a little, and sat back to watch.
“What are we looking at here?” Nala asked before I could. “It looks like a couple of redheads throwing each other around, and I can’t even tell who’s who anymore.”
“Okay, see how these guys don’t just stick to the ground the whole time?” Nick pointed at the screen as one of the two buff gingers grabbed the other by the ankles and threw him down. “Dylan, your best bet is going to be these takedowns, because he won’t expect you to dive toward his feet.”
“Especially if you have Ky flying overhead as a distraction,” Steffi added and snuggled closer to me as I ripped into a pack of peanuts.
“So, Ky is going to be a distraction,” I chuckled before I popped a handful of nuts into my mouth. “Sounds like he’s going to do ninety percent of the work, as usual.”
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short.” The pink-haired beauty reached over and grabbed a granola bar from the pile on my other side. “You can summon dragons with a simple word. Bruce has nothing on that.”
“Steffi’s absolutely right,” the blond nymph in front of me said as he flipped over to another video. “Flamey-O bit off way more than he can chew with this challenge. He’s going to humiliate himself in front of everyone here at AIMM, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.”
“As long as I don’t get the shit kicked out of me, you mean,” I added and settled into the couch a little more. “I hope you don’t enjoy it, then.”
“You’re not going to get the shit kicked out of you, man.” Nick spun around and patted my leg once. “You’ve got all the advantages here.”
“I wouldn’t say all of the advantages--” I started to say before the nymph in front of me jumped up and motioned for me to do the same.
“Come on, let’s go train.” He jerked his head toward the clear area to the left of the TV and grinned. “Don’t worry, I won’t throw you down too hard. Besides, I think you can catch yourself if you need to.”
“Don’t hurt me before this fight, dude.” I got up from the couch and sighed heavily while we walked to the clear area. “I need my strength.”
“I know you do, so that’s why I’m not going to do much to you.” He cracked his knuckles and pulled his shoulders up to guard his neck. “Okay, first, you need to stay loose. Use your leading hand to guard your face, like this.”
He held his right hand up to his cheek and his left further out.
“Like this?” I asked as I copied his stance, even down to sticking my thumbs out of my fists.
“Exactly!” He grinned at me and rolled his shoulders. “Okay, so remember to get low when you see an opening. Don’t dive randomly, because you need to conserve energy, but shoot in when you get a chance.”
“What do you mean--” I began, but then he lunged forward, grabbed me around the waist, and tackled me to the carpeted floor. “Fuck me! Why didn’t you warn me?”
“Because you would’ve been too tense for the fall,” he said as he let me go and grinned at me with a perfect set of teeth. “Trust me, once you start to go down, it’s easier to take the fall and tense up once you’re on the ground. And once you’re here, I want you to mount Bruce.”
“Mount him?” I almost spat in his face when he started to climb up my body and position his butt against my torso. “What the fuck, Nick?”
“This is the best way to hold someone down once you’ve got them.” He wrapped his elbow into the crook of my leg and locked himself into place on top of me. “Can’t move, can you?”
“Nope, I can’t.” I cleared my throat and tried to wriggle out of the hold. “Okay, can you get off me?”
“Can I roll around with Dylan next?” Nala giggled.
“Keep it in your pants, Jefferson,” Nick groaned as he leapt off me and helped me stand up. “Okay, so we’re good. Anyway, I think if you just keep going for his feet, you’ll be in good shape. You don’t have to hold him until he gives up, because you can hit him or kick him or whatever you need to do to break his will.”
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s do it like twenty more times.”
Nick nodded, and I practiced taking him down and getting on top of his chest. The skinny elf-guy was way better at fighting than I was, but after what felt like an hour, I thought I was a bit better than a newbie.
“Yeah,” Nick panted as we both got to our feet after I’d knocked him in his ass. “You’ve got this, bro.”
“Having Ky around will help, too,” Steffi added as she came up beside me and hooked her arm inside mine. “If you can keep his focus on the dragon and away from you, he’ll be easier to defeat.”
“Okay,” I sighed and put my hands on my hips. “I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. What do you guys think?”
“You’ll be fine,” Nala assured me as she lightly punched my arm. “I know that was a short lesson, but you can do this. You’re already so powerful, and all you have to do is prove it to Bruce and everyone else around here. I believe in you, Dylan. Believe in yourself.”
“Pipsqueak’s right,” Nick added and leaned against Nala’s head like she was an armrest for him. “That dragon of yours will be more than enough to show that bully you mean business. Not to sound like a dad, but if you knock him to the ground once, he’ll leave you alone. Kick his ass for me, alright?”
“And not to sound like a mom,” the golden-eyed fairy next to me said as she rubbed my arm, “but be careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt. I might have to jump in and save you.”
“I do the saving around here, sweetheart.” I smirked and gave her a peck on the cheek. While I didn’t want the others to know what went down in the dorm room before they arrived, I didn’t mind if they knew I was kissing all over Steffi. They’d seen me kiss her on the plane anyway, so what did it matter?
“Where’s mine?” Nala pouted as she raised her eyebrows.
“Uhh, yeah, sure.” I stepped up to the dark-skinned beauty and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, but as my lips got closer, she turned her face into mine so our mouths touched.
Then she quickly slid her tongue in-between my lips.
And damn. It was so hot. Her mouth tasted like cinnamon, and I couldn’t help but move my tongue out to meet hers.
“For luck,” Nala purred after our kiss ended.
“Thanks…” I cleared my throat and glanced at Steffi in concern, but the fairy girl was smiling at both of us and didn’t seem to be the least bit upset.
I had no idea what that meant, but I didn’t have time to question the complexities of girls right now. I had a bully’s ass to kick, so I nodded once and then led the way to the door.
The rest of the team kept silent, and the quiet gave me time to prepare for what was ahead of me. I’d never been in a fight before, or at least not before yesterday. I was the kind of guy who kept my head down and walked away if someone tried to start something, but I couldn’t be that guy anymore. I had to end this bullying once and for all. If I kept trying to walk away from Bruce, he wouldn’t give up. That much was obvious, since he hadn’t stopped harassing me since I’d arrived.
“You can do this,” Steffi whispered as we got on the elevator and headed to the first basement, and she squeezed my bicep and stood on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. “I’m rooting for you.”
“Thanks, Steff,” I whispered back as I suddenly remembered what she looked like when she was naked.
The memory of her lying nude on my bed with her perfectly-toned legs spread open got my adrenaline flowing more than the fight did, and I felt like I was ready to take on Bruce, Johnny, and the rest of his team at once, if it meant I could see Steffi’s naked body just one more time.
Finally, we arrived at the training floor, and the hallway between the rooms was stopped up with cadets of all different ranks and sizes.
“Jeez, what’s the deal?” Nick asked as we squirmed through the crowd. “You think someone told about the fight?”
“Probably Johnny,” Nala sneered and shoved past a tall dude with bright blue hair. “You know he’s Bruce’s little hype man. If he thinks his teammate has a chance against Dylan, you know he’d want the whole school to see.”
“That’s true,” Steffi grumbled and clung to me as we made it through a gap in the sea of people. “But that’s not going to make things easy.”
“I don’t care,” I grunted. “I just want people to move.”
“You know a way to do that.” Nick winked at me and nodded to my arm. “Summon my boy!”
“Exokyzo!” I threw my arm into the air and blinked as the white light shot out of my arm and transformed into Ky. My dragon flapped his wings and let out a roar, and the people in front of us couldn’t get out of the way fast enough.
“He’s handy for a lot of things,” Nala giggled as the dragon flew low over our heads and followed us to the training room.
“Oh, yeah,” I chuckled as the crowds continued to split in front of us and gave me a clear view of Bruce and his cronies flanking him.
“You decided to show your face, Red?” Point Break taunted as he crossed his arms and flexed his exposed biceps.
Fuck, they were huge. Compensating for something, much?
“I didn’t have much of a choice,” I said and stopped about ten feet away from him. “But now that I’m here, I’m going to make some conditions for the fight.”
“You don’t get a say, Red,” Johnny sneered and stepped in front of the other two guys behind Bruce.
“I’m pretty sure I was talking to Bruce, Carrottop.” I scowled at Johnny while Ky landed next to me and nuzzled his head against my hip.
“You little--” The ginger’s eyes started to glow, but Bruce put a hand in front of his chest to stop him.
“Alright,” the blond beefcake said with a cock of his head. “What conditions?”
“We’re just fighting hand to hand, magic to magic.” I squared my shoulders and patted Ky on the head without breaking eye contact with Bruce and his minions. “Just two dudes hashing it out with their fists.”
“That’s all I need to beat you.” Bruce placed his hand on the right room’s panel. The doors slid open, and he walked inside without his crew. “What are you waiting on, Red?”
