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 . "

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"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 airs.h.i.+p 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 airs.h.i.+ps arrive, it roared at them .

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

[I was going to do that anyway . ] Remian a.s.sured 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 . n.o.body 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 .