Previous> http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20827336/

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Samara remained standing in place as her opponent closed in. The buff, dark green dragon confidently and patiently approached the dragoness, with a lusty gleam in his eyes. Above the two small competitors in the ring, the relatively giant spectators watched on- and Scale was especially interested with the outcome, thanks to the large bet Aubern had made on his behalf. More like "nervous", really.

The small dragon in the ring, without hesitation, closed in on the smaller dragoness- stopping only when they were within touching distance. The dragoness, who still had not moved since the ringing of the bell, was near enough half his height, the top of her head not surpassing his belt. The green dragon looked down, and exhaled through his nostrils- at the same time, the dragoness slowly turned her head up, her bright, green eyes making contact with the larger dragon's brown ones.

"I'd tell you not to waste your time fighting..." the green dragon said, extending his hand to the dragoness' face, before quickly, and roughly, clutching Samara's neck in a tight grip.

Scale gulped. "Aubern..." he whispered, nudging the fox beside him. Aubern replied only with a smile.

Samara's foe began to pull her off the ground. Immediately her feet left the floor of the ring, but she didn't resist- she allowed the male dragon to lift her up, persisting even though he was choking her hard enough to cut off her breathing.

"But...", the dragon continued, "...I won't. I like when they struggle", he grunted, grinning as he held Samara up higher, so much that the end of her long tail wasn't touching the ground, while applying more pressure to her neck. "On with it. Start struggling for me. Do it, before I snap your neck like a twig."

Quietly, Samara let out a tiny squeak.

"Aubern...", Scale whispered, "...he's gonna-"

Before Scale could finish, a bright, yellow flash covered the two tiny combatants. Samara remained still in the dragon's grip, unharmed as the shocking current passed through her opponent's body, lighting him up for barely more than two seconds before ending abruptly, leaving the dragon wide-eyed with shock and comically singed a shade darker than his natural color.

Immediately, his grip loosened, and Samara dropped to the floor, falling roughly on her side as she touched the ground, otherwise unharmed. Her opponent fell back, unconscious. The bell sounded a second later.

"Aubern's dragoness wins!", Carlo announced. "Shocking, I know. Bosco, that beefy earth dragon of yours is out until the next tournament." The crowd began to chatter.

Scale's open mouth remained still before curling into a little smile. "Hahhhh... she's okay! Haha..." he laughed, nervously.

"Of course she is", Aubern said, smiling and nudging the dragon playfully. "Ya think I'd have her fight if she was just a normal dragon, with no special powers?"

The green dragon's owner- the tall, brown wolf, reached a hand into the ring and scooped up the still unconscious lizard, chuckling. "Nice one, Aubern. Even my best dragon can't stand up to your Samara."

"Well, I did warn you before, Bosco...", Aubern replied, with a smile. "...She's dangerous for such a tiny thing. Your dragons are tough, but strength isn't everything."

"Yeah... but, I really thought this guy would take a few shocks before he hit the floor", Bosco said, rubbing his dragon's chest until he came around and began to move again. "I guess... I guess I will take your advice, and try to find a dragon with magic." The wolf chuckled again and put the green dragon back in his cage.

"You do that, buddy", The fox answered. "Just be prepared to spend serious money when you find one."

Aubern extended his hand to the ring and opened his hand. Samara climbed right onto his palm, and sat down. "So, Scalie. What will you do with your winnings?", he asked.

"Uhm, I...", Scale mumbled, before a gray wolf tapped him on the shoulder, and offered him a small, black drawstring bag.

"Here's your chips, bud," he said with a smile. "Eight hundred and twenty gold worth of chips, in fact. You could buy so, soooooo many hotdogs with that, am I right?"

"Oh... thanks, haaah..." Scale replied, taking the bag of betting chips. "Aubern... uh, thanks, I guess."

"Mmmhm.", the fox mumbled, focusing on Samara. The dragoness was calmly relaxing on her master's palm, laying on her belly while the fox stroked up and down her back gently. "Now, I think you two had business with Max, yeah? Come see me afterwards. You can buy me a drink with those winnings", he said, smiling at the dragon.

"Yeah, sure, sly fox", Scale laughed. "I'm glad you were right about Samara winning. Otherwise, I'd have to... well..." the dragon playfully poked the fox on the shoulder with the orb at the end of his staff, and winked at him.

"Heh... I don't know what that means," Aubern chuckled, before slipping Samara back into his shirt pocket.

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After the dragonfighting excursion, Ash led Lyle and Scale up to the highest floor of the building. The trio emerged from a winding stairway and into a long corridor with a single window at one end. Scale could see it was still raining outside. The dragon followed the two wolves to a red double door- Ash turned the large, round combination lock in the center, taking a second to unlock it through memory, and held one of the doors open for the two guests, closing it behing after they passed through, with the combination lock re-setting automatically.

"Sssooooo... you're here at last", a voice hissed from the other side of the room.

Ignoring the details of the moderately sized room, Scale found his eyes drawn to the desk on the far end of the room and the two figured behind it. The most striking was the large, muscular, red-scaled dragon. He was leaning with his back against the wall with both arms crossed, and wore only a pair of skintight black shorts in addition to a necklace of gold. At his waist, was a sheathe holding a large, wide-bladed sword with a pommel that shone as brightly as his necklace.

The second figure was sitting on a luxurious chair behind the desk, and was hidden completely by a crimson robe with a hood. "The nightwolf hassss returned...", he hissed, before snickering, and reaching a hand up to his hood, and folding it back.

Scale was expecting someone more... sinister than the small, friendly-looking white wolf that now sat before him.

"And you brought a friend!", he said, in a voice completely different from the one he had just been speaking with.

"Hey, Max." Lyle said, smiling. "You finally beefed up the security in this place, huh?", the black wolf chuckled, walking up to the desk as Scale followed behind him.

Max got out of his chair and walked around the desk to meet Lyle. Immediately the smaller, white wolf threw his arms around the taller Lyle in a hug. "Oh Crayt? You noticed my new bodyguard, huh? He's not easy to miss, is he?", he commented, releasing the nightwolf. "I was just following your advice, friend. A dragon was just who I needed for the job. He's a deserter from drakespire... a full-blooded warrior, just like you suggested. Buuuuttt... I've mostly been using him for heavy lifting. 'Course with him being the nice, big dragon that he is, I've found... Other uses for him.", the white wolf said.

"Boss..." Crayt mumbled, looking to one side. His red scales didn't quite hide his blushing.

"And this is your buddy, hmmmm?", Max asked, stepping over to Scale. The dragon smiled nervously as the wolf's eyes scanned him. Max was shorter than Scale was expecting- being shorter than the gray dragon, but not by too much. Besides his oversized robe, the white wolf wore only one item of clothing- an eastern-style martial arts skirt identical to Lyle's, only all gray in color. "A little thin, and not the most athletic dragon... but I like this one."

"Yup, this is the lizard I was telling you about. The one I found in the jungle", Lyle replied.

"Um, I'm S-" Scale said before being cut off.

"Scale, I know. Lyle told me about you... Can't say I recognize your species though." Max said, smiling up to the dragon.

Scale laughed nervously. "Nobody ever does... There aren't that many of my kind living away from our homeland. Actually, I'm the only one. If it wasn't for Lyle, I never would have left."

"Ah... yes, he might have mentioned something about carrying you home in his pocket. Hmmhmm! And Lyle, how is my favorite nightwolf doing?"


For a while, the two wolves and dragon relaxed - on the incredibly, divinely soft couches in the room. and discussed more casual things, like the history of the city and recent events. Only later, did they get down to business.

"A crown? That's all?" Lyle asked.

Max rolled his eyes. "Yes... Not an ordinary crown, Lyle. You see, it's... well, a matter of sentimentality. It's the crown of the old wolf kings. Their kingdom might be gone, but... as their descendant... It's only right that I should have it. Of course, it would be pointless trying to negotiate for the crown. So..."

"That's where I come in." The nightwolf said. "Hmm... just stealing a crown should be easy enough."

"Don't be so sure." Crayt said.

"Crayt here used to be stationed at the wolf king's castle, Lyle. Before he deserted, he was the prison warden there, since the Drakespire army first occupied it", Max said.

"Oh?" Lyle asked with a smile, getting up from the sofa and approaching the red warrior dragon. "I bet none of those no-good criminals got past you, huh?", He asked Crayt, stopping a few inches in front of the dragon and looking up to his eyes.

Crayt looked down at the black wolf, his expression showing mild annoyance. "As a matter of fact, no, there was never an escape on my watch" he answered.

Lyle smiled and casually stroked a hand down Crayt's chest. "I guess none of your prisoners were nightwolves, then. I bet I could find a way past you... Maybe. I think I'd rather let you keep me all for yourself, though", the nightwolf said, spurring a small laugh from Max.

"Be careful what you wish for, wolf. Just remember, if you get caught in there, they probably won't even send you to the dungeon..." the dragon responded, blowing tiny flames from his nose.

"Crayt can give you a map with directions to the top of the castle where they keep the crown, Lyle. His drawing skills aren't the best, but you shouldn't get lost on your way." Max said.

"Yeah..." Lyle responed, "I don't think this is gonna be so difficult. With Scale coming along, anyway..."

"Hm..." Crayt mumbled, "Whatever you do once you're in there, don't forget that the place will go crazy if there's a hint of an intruder. Imagine a beehive, only with dragons instead of bees. You get the idea", the red warrior huffed.

"That won't be a problem, big guy. We'll be... beneath anyone's notice", the nightwolf said. "Scale... why don't you show Crayt here what your magic can do?", Lyle said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Scale yawned. "Right now? Uh... sure, whatever you say" he said sleepishly. The dragon's staff began glowing immediately, and with that, Lyle's height began to decrease to the nightwolf's surprise.

"Wait!" Lyle said, rapidly glancing back as the shrinking accelerated, "I didn't mean me, I didn't mean-"

The nightwolf's voice became quieter as he very quickly became an inch tall, leaving him little more than a tiny, furry thing on the ground- at the big, red feet of the warrior dragon.

"Oh... how interesting", Max said, smiling.

Crayt looked down at the newly resized wolf mere inches from his toes, looking skeptical, but not surprised- more curious at the ease with which the shrinking had been accomplished than anything else. He waited a moment, then knelt down, grabbing the wolf firmly but with care between his thumb and finger before standing. The dragon inspected Lyle casually.

"He's certainly... beneath notice," Crayt commented, looking directly at Lyle with his own seemingly gigantic eyes. "If this is your plan, wolf, you'll need to be mindful. Unless part of your plan is getting stepped on."

"Uh...huh..." the tiny Lyle responded, very quietly.

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That's all for now. The last part will be done... when it's done :v

Comments appreciated!