235 Eve of Battle

Meanwhile, the Flaming Salamander Lord snorted. [A humaaan…? A humaaaan wants to challenge meeeee?]

The word had reached him three days ago. But he didn't care. Snoozing in the sun, the Flaming Salamander thought for a moment of how roasted human might taste.

[Hmm. Maybe better not use too much fire. I might burn the meat.] The Flaming Salamander Lord thought. [I think… medium-rare would be best. Yeessssss… medium-rare.]

***

The day before the duel, Phoebe brought Remian to her quarters and said, "Take off your clothes."

"What?" Remian blinked.

Wordlessly, Phoebe handed him a thick and padded package.

"What is this?" Remian opened it.

Inside was a suit of leather armor.

"Fire Wyvern leather, reinforced with dragon scales. Had to ask Darian for help to get the materials." Phoebe said shortly. "Might itch a bit. Try it on."

"Dragon scales… did some dragon die for this?" Remian eyed it dubiously.

"Actually, they're the sheddings from Har'es-dras. No dragon was hurt or killed in the gathering of these materials." Phoebe paused. "Though I can't say the same for the Fire Wyvern."

Remian sighed, slowly put both arms around her and laid his cheek on her forehead. In a low voice, he murmured, "Thank you."

She leaned in. "You should also thank your brother and his Comrade."

"Mmm."

There was a short silence. Then, Phoebe said, "I'm worried."

"Me too." Remian admitted. "And not just for my own sake. Everyone and everything here depends on this fight. I have to win it."

"Any doubts?"

"Plenty. I might win this and then what? Fight an even bigger battle against even bigger enemies? Isn't there another way?" Remian barked a laugh.

"Is there?"

"Not without breaking the rules and the ways of the Wilds. This is already a better chance than I ever hoped for."

"You're determined to win this, aren't you? And the next fight too?"

"Lacking any better options… yes."

"Then win it." Phoebe whispered. "But win it safely and come back alive. Preferably without giving me too much work healing your injuries."

"That's what you're worried about? More work for you?"

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Phoebe whacked him over the head softly.

***

"So… are we going to do anything about Remian's upcoming duel with the Flame Salamander Lord?" Max asked George as they inspected the Defense Force the day before the fight.

"Of course." George said. "I've already made all the preparations."

"Really?" Max blinked. "I mean… I thought there was honor involved and all that. Pulling an ambush or interfering might be seen as a bad thing by all the Wilds."

"Interfering?" George shook his head. "That's not what I had in mind."

"Then what are you up to?"

"That." George pointed.

Max turned around and gaped. "This… you're setting up bets?!"

"And selling airship spectator seats. 100 lir per regular ticket, 300 for the premium tickets." George supplied. "I'm bringing two Sky Barges and six Corvettes."

"Armed to the teeth, I imagine?"

"Naturally. For all their talk of honor, there's no telling what some random Wild might do in all the excitement. There could be trouble."

"How about giving the Defense Force free seats?"

"Actually, I was hoping to have three squadrons on deck fully armed and deployed in Frames." George explained. "With nine more handling every ballista we could load, all two hundred guns and plenty of ammunition."

"Do we even have that many Frames?" Max was startled.

"No. We had too many losses and took too much damage during the Tide. Almost all our older Frames are unsuited for combat use. It was all Arnold could do to equip one squadron with the new B-Frames." George sighed. "The other two will just have to make do with heavy armor."

"That's still pretty impressive, to outfit a whole squadron in one week."

"Yeah, we've been pouring manpower, resources and equipment into his Frame factory. Something tells me we're going to need Frames more and more in the coming days."

***

[Are they really going to honor the duel?] Shadowflash asked Carrie casually while watching Vigil and his friends training.

[I believe so. George is setting up bets.]

[Really? What are the odds?]

[2 to 1 in the Flame Salamander's favor. Triple payout if they fight to a draw. 5:1 if the fight lasts more than one hour. 1:5 if it's over within ten seconds.]

[That's hardly even worth betting on.] Shadowflash snorted. [Whoever wins, it'll definitely be over quickly. Me, I think it's more like 5 to 1 in the Flame Salamander's favor. What do you think his odds are?]

[Hmm. It really depends on his physical condition tomorrow. If he's healthy, he could actually win.] Carrie figured. [But if he's wobbling around on his feet… then he's dead. No odds. No guesses. Just plain lunch.]

[And the odds of him being healthy or sick?]

[Considering stress, tension and the unlikelihood of him sleeping well tonight… I'd say, 3 to 1 in favor of him being sick.]

***

Carrie, it turned out, would have won that bet if she'd made one such. On the day of the duel, Remian got out of bed after a restless, tense night, and decided to just get it over with.

The first thing he did was throw up. Then, he washed up and went looking for breakfast.

"We're all rooting for you. All our preparations for the team fight would be useless if you flop here." Song Chen said as Remian and Phoebe had breakfast at his cousin's restaurant.

"Understood. Don't stop the preparations." Remian told him.

"Really? You're that confident?"

"Really. I'm going to win this."

***

They went to meet the Flame Salamander Lord in the area known as the Rocky Thorns. It looked like a land of stalagmites, sharp pointy 'teeth' rising up from all over the ground, as though the roof of whatever giant cavern formed them had somehow completely disappeared.

Smack dab in the middle of those sharp teeth sat the Flaming Salamander Lord. As large as a row of terrace houses, the creature was constantly on fire and enjoying it. Seeing the airships arrive, it roared at them.

[Humaaaan! You dare challenge me?! Come fight me on the ground!]

[I was going to do that anyway.] Remian assured the lizard, eyeing the Rocky Thorns that gave the place its name. [Just a minute.]

"Lower a rope ladder." Remian requested.

"Are you sure? I mean, you could just bombard him from up here, right now. Nobody needs to know." George said in a low voice.

Remian barked a laugh. "I'm sure."

Below him, the Flaming Salamander Lord, similarly laughing at this human idiot who sent himself all the way here for his lunch.