Read The Flame Dragon for Free Online

watching the trainee. The bigger boy was sweating in the heat. He was heavy and slow – he’d be quick to tire. Quinn was fast and agile – if he had any hope he’d have to use that to his advantage to outmanoeuvre his opponent.
    Jori swung again, but this time Quinn was ready. He didn’t try to use his own chain. He twisted on the ground and leapt back as Jori’s chain whistled past.
    The crowd jeered.
    ‘Fight him!’ Goric shouted. ‘Fight him, you coward!’
    Quinn didn’t listen. Instead, he kept on dodging, retreating, moving left then right, ducking and diving.
    With a roar of frustration, the trainee lashed out his chain again and again. Ignoring the pain and the blood flowing down the side of his face, Quinn kept light on his feet. Jori became more and more frustrated. He swung his chain in every direction.
    Quinn smiled inwardly. It’s working!
    ‘Stay still!’ Jori shouted. His face had turned red. ‘Get back here!’
    The crowd booed and shouted, but the trainee was slowing down. His attacks were becoming wilder. Sweat had soaked his shirt. Quinn saw how the boy was struggling to raise his chain.
    ‘Kill him!’ Goric yelled at Jori. ‘Rip his head off!’
    Jori charged, flailing with the chain. As he stumbled past, Quinn whacked his own chain across the trainee’s back. The bigger boy stumbled, and the crowd went silent, sensing the change in fortunes.
    Quinn backed up again. He could see his opponent was exhausted; his eyes were full of fury. Quinn remembered something his aunt had told him once when she’d patched him up after a fight in the village: if you get angry, you lose. He took a calming breath and watched the trainee. Then he let himself smile.
    ‘Come at me …’
    Quinn’s smug smile drove the trainee crazy, just as Quinn had hoped. Jori’s eyes widened.His face flushed red. Then he threw himself at Quinn, forgetting all about the chain.
    The chain was too difficult a weapon. It would take weeks, maybe even months, for Quinn to figure out how to use it properly. So instead, he had to improvise. He let it fall through his hands, then gripped tight on the heavy metal weight at one end of the chain. As the trainee charged towards him like an enraged bull, Quinn swung the weight and simply threw it at the trainee. It left his hand and flew through the air, smacking right into the trainee’s head. Quinn saw Jori’s eyes roll up and his knees buckle. Then he crashed into Quinn and they both tumbled to the floor. The crowd around them gasped.
    With a grunt, Quinn pushed the trainee’s limp weight off him. The boy was out cold and the crowd was deathly silent.
    Quinn’s head was still ringing from the earlier blow, and being knocked flying to the ground with the enormous trainee on top of him hadn’t helped. His stomach ached as if he’d been kickedby a horse. He rocked back on his heels, gulping for air.
    Did I win? he wondered.
    He peered around at the crowd. They were staring at him in silence, mouths hanging open in shock. Not a single one of them had expected him to beat Jori. Quinn felt a little surge of anger. They’d all expected him to be killed.
    Marshall Stant raised a hand and Quinn immediately fell into a bow. He knew now was not the time to irritate the marshall any more. Quinn was still bowing when a noise like a whip crack sounded above him. He braced himself for the blow, but it never came. With a shiver, he looked up. As he raised his head, something warm and wet ran over his hands. It was Jori’s blood.
    ‘Stand!’ the marshall growled.
    Quinn jumped to his feet. His hands were still shaking. When he clenched them, he could still feel the other trainee’s blood. He stared at Marshall Stant’s intricately patterned night-blue jacket and the line of golden medals.
    The marshall’s hard eyes burned into Quinn’s face. ‘You have impressed me, boy,’ he said in his low, rough voice. ‘You thought quickly and used your strengths. You will make a fine addition