The Realm's Champion, part IV

My salamander was on fire.

The boy moved to his rosion. “Dire, get up!” His voice was firm, though the hand he stretched out to the creature shook.

The rosion's eyes rustled open like brittle leaves. It looked at the boy, and gave a soft huff before its eyes closed.

The boy stroked the rosion's left ear, then turned to me. “We yield.”

I stared at him, and the boy shifted and glanced at his injured champion. “The victory is yours.” He said, and I shook my head.

“Um, right. I accept, the battle's done.” I'd never won, never had to end the battle. Usually, I hoped that the victor would be satisfied with simply beating my champion.

Unfortunately, most kept the battle going until the spotted carp was ready to cook.

The boy relaxed, shoulders loosening as he turned back to his rosion and pulled out a medical kit.

I turned and found a scorched trail through the grass. Looking down, Mervyn sat in a smoldering pile near my feet.

“Thanks for not climbing onto my shoe.” I said, crouching down to look at him. Heat poured off of him, and a ribbon of flame danced between the brown spots on his back. He tilted his head, and gave me a look that could almost be a smile. Smiling back, I lowered my voice. “And thanks for not dying.”

Straightening, I walked over to the boy and his rosion.

The boy was quick, and already had the rosion's burns neatly bandaged. When he saw me, the boy straightened.

“What will you claim?” He asked, pulling out a map. As he unrolled it, the features became three dimensional. Forests covered a vast mainland, and a chain of islands curled around a squat volcano and its needle sharp twin. The rest of the realm appeared to be a vast garden.

This was new, seeing someone else's realm and getting to choose a piece to add to mine.

Pulling out my own map, I opened it. My relatively bare mainland and tiny training island were almost laughable. Anything from his realm would be an improvement to mine.

Glancing back to where I'd last seen Mervyn, I thought about the smoldering grass.

“I'd like that.” I pointed at the squat volcano. The boy nodded, and plucked it off his map. Holding it out between two fingers, he offered it to me.

Taking it, I was surprised by the warmth that it gave off. Studying my map, I selected a spot a good distance from my training island and set the volcano in the sea.

The ground beneath us trembled slightly, then settled.

Rolling up his map, the boy rubbed his shoulder and shook his head. “I underestimated your salamander.”

“He surprised me too.” I said, putting away my map. I held out a hand. “I hope your rosion heals well.”

The boy gave a half smile, and took my hand. “And hopefully your salamander continues to surprise.”