“ALL BEAR WITNESS!” he roared, drowning out all other sound. As kids stopped in their tracks, he raised both arms above his head. “I CHALLENGE CONLETH TO A TEST OF HONOR!”
The kids erupted in whoops, cheers, roars, and barks. They abandoned their game, the ones who were in animal form scrambling for their clothes.
“You are so screwed,” Buck murmured as campers converged on them.
“Is that right, Conleth?” Estelle asked eagerly. “Are you really gonna fight Ragvald?”
Conleth did his best to look like this had all been his idea. “Apparently.”
“Like an alpha challenge?” asked one of the younger campers.
Ragvald let out his booming laugh. “Of course not, hatchling! This is a friendly competition between warriors.”
“I don’t think Conleth is feeling very friendly right now,” Buck said under his breath.
“Three desserts on Ragvald!” yelled a short, stocky girl from another pack. She turned to Conleth’s own campers. “Who’ll make a wager with me? Come on, one of you must be willing to bet on your counselor.”
Ignatius turned an arctic stare on her. “Do Ilooklike an idiot?”
“You’re on, Flora,” Beth said loyally. “Uncle Conleth will easily beat Ragvald.”
At the moment, Conleth was indeed restraining a desire to beat Ragvald. Perhaps, if he moved fast enough, he could knock the man out and still manage to look plausibly concerned about his sudden, inexplicable collapse.
Unfortunately, the heaviest blunt implement to hand was Buck, which would only be swapping one problem for another. There didn’t seem to be any way to get out of this asinine challenge.
We don’t need to get out of it.In his head, his pegasus stamped a hoof.We will defeat any male who dares to challenge us!Our mate will see our strength and speed!
His animal might actually have a point. Ragvald knew he was fast, but perhaps nothowfast. If the wyrm thought he’d be an easy punching bag, he was about to be surprised. And a little medieval one-on-one combat, while ridiculous,wasjust the sort of thing that might have a chance of getting Archie to see him in a new light. And possibly Paige, too.
“Stake a whole week’s worth of desserts, Beth,” he said loudly. He drew himself up, giving in to some of his stallion’s urging to preen in front of their mate. “We have a saying in this land, Ragvald. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Allow me to teach you the meaning of it.”
“Ooooooooo,” chorused most of the kids.
Ragvald, for his part, seemed delighted by the trash talk. His toothy grin widened as he held out a hand. When Conleth gingerly took it, Ragvald flexed his arm, pulling him in closer.
“Now you are getting into the spirit of things,” the wyrm muttered in his ear. Giving him another bone-shaking slap on the back, Ragvald released him. “Come, friend Conleth! For a true test of might, we will need much space!”
Wondering just what he’d gotten himself into, Conleth followed the wyrm onto the field. The kids streamed after them in a giggling, excited mass. Conleth caught a glimpse of Paige, trying to keep their pack together in the crush. She was the only person in the crowd who seemed more concerned than thrilled. Catching his eye, she mouthed:Are you sure about this?
Conleth’s confidence in this plan was diminishing at an increasing rate, but he flashed her an assured smile. He could hardly back down now, after all.
Ragvald led the entire motley parade to the center of the playing field. Having had a horde of kids in a variety of forms stampeding back and forth across it all morning, the earth had been churned up into thick, slippery mud. Ragvald scuffed a booted foot thoughtfully across the slick surface and nodded in evident satisfaction.
“Perfect,” he announced. He shooed campers back as they attempted to crowd around him. “No, younglings, form a wider circle than that. It is not safe to stand too close when warriors clash. We do not want any of you getting hurt.”
He had not, Conleth noted, said anything about either ofthemnot getting hurt.
Evidently he wasn’t the only one to have had this thought. Moira pushed her way through the crowd of kids, looking rather tense.
“Ragvald,” she said. “Before this goes any further, we should clarify exactly what sort of challenge you have in mind.”
“Is it not obvious?” Ragvald flung his arms wide, beaming. “Toga honk!”
There was a moment of profound silence.
“Toga…” Ignatius sounded like he couldn’t believe the words coming out of his own mouth. “Honk?”
“Yes!” Ragvald’s brow furrowed. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”
