Summer Games (Pandora): Death Roll

It was another hot day. Or it was looking to turn into a hot day. The night had been cool and calm, but the air was already beginning to take on a scorching heat as the sun barely touched the skyline. Pandora much preferred this time of day, when the night sky was slowly being eaten up by the day. She would normally be off hunting on her own while Finn was just waking up or just going to bed but her rider had talked her into another competition. The last one hadn’t ended that badly, she was much more eager for this one.

There was no pile of logs waiting around this time. No being forced into a harness with numerous straps hanging off of it for hauling. Pandora was capable of the task but she did not like hauling things across the ground. The only reason she had done it was because Finn had asked it of her. He had been her end goal for the whole competition but he would be with her for this whole thing. Pandora didn’t have a bond so close to Finn that they could communicate - yet - but she knew a few things with the same surety as she knew each of her feathers.

Finn was dreadful at taking care of himself and he often chose to ride her with a specific saddle that he had made with his own hands. It was a dark thing, black as pitch but with a gleam from being well cared for, and it fit her perfectly. She had been put into that very harness when Finn had woken up earlier than usual, hair wild and eyes bright. Pandora knew that she was going to like this even much more than the other one and that was perfectly fine by her. Finn wanted to participate in these games and she wanted Finn to be happy but the first game hadn’t been nearly as fun as she’d been led to believe.

That was fine, that was great. Finn would be with her this time and he was just as excited as her about the whole thing. He had a wide grin on his face, claws on his exposed draconic feet flexing against the dirt and grass, his tail twitched at the tip, and his gaze was intent on her opponent. Unlike before, Pandora was being pitted against another Stryx of similar size to herself so she wouldn’t have a size advantage.

Pandora knew she cut an imposing figure. She looked like glowing embers and had a fierce gaze that, when coupled with her generally nasty temper, made her intimidating to those smaller than herself. But her opponent was not drastically smaller than herself. In fact, they were remarkably close in size and build but not in temperament or color. Where Pandora was dark, her opponent was light. Pandora’s glare could curdle someone’s courage and the pale Stryx looked like it chirped routinely. They were polar opposites.

Another person marched over to Finn, speaking in a low voice. She only picked up on her name, head cocking, and the sudden buzz of excitement that fizzled through the air from where Finn was standing. It was time. Pandora knew it even without being able to understand what was being said. Finn hadn’t yet reached her side when she was ducking down so he could get comfortable in the saddle. His weight was minuscule compared to what she could carry, the green cape he always wore tickling through her feathers. She didn’t need to look to know that Finn was sitting comfortably, she just knew.

Her pale opponent, another female she realized when they were closer together, attempted to offer an excited greeting. Pandora met the greeting with a short screech, clicking her beak with a clear warning that she was not interested in being friends. The other Stryx’s rider threw back his head and laughed, saying something to Finn.

There was no way Pandora would ever think Finn was being given praise for her grumpiness, even he couldn’t believe someone was delighted at her foul temper and he enjoyed everything about her. Villagers who met Pandora tended to demand he do something about her nasty personality. Some even suggested she might benefit from being muzzled like a feral dog.

A sharp sound split the air and Pandora was lurching into flight before Finn could realize what she was going to do. She heard him make a strangled sound but elation had spread through her as they steadily gained altitude with each powerful beat of her wings. This was her world as much as it could be Finn’s since he could fly with her, but he trusted her to keep him safe while they flew. And she trusted Finn to give her the best direction when it came to which way to go and what maneuvers to pull. Magic may have called to Finn more than the sword but he was plenty strong and a tug on the reins clearly indicated what he wanted from her.

Together they spun through the air, going higher and higher until she couldn’t clearly see the ground any longer. They reached the highest point of their ascent seconds before the paler gryph, each of them hovering for those precious seconds before their wings tucked in close. Pandora swore she could almost feel an echo of her own elation as they began their plummet. She was falling at the same speed as her opponent, due to their similar mass, and they were almost close enough to touch.

Some distant instinct sprung to mind and the pair of them were grasping talons, Pandora with a rumbling screech and the other gryph silently. What was once a descent not unlike a thrown javelin became a wild spiral. Their wings flared wide to keep them from tumbling uncontrollably as they fell but they continued to fall. Pandora felt the embers in her chest heat with the urge to scorch her opponent but she refrained from releasing a full flame. Smoke billowed from her parted beak. Adrenaline spiked but she refused to glance towards the ground. Finn would alert her when it was finally time to let go, he wouldn’t let her get hurt.

Distantly, she heard the roar of the crowd. They were getting closer. The pale gryph began to panic visibly, trying to pull away despite the soothing words her rider sent to the whistling wind. Just a bit more, they wouldn’t hit the ground. Finn would let her know when to let go… now!

Pandora yanked her feet away, twisting in midair to soar directly over the stands with watchers. The flame that had been tickling her chest was suddenly spewing forth alongside the victorious sound she made. A rattling, echoing sound that verged on a scream. Let her pale opponent top that.