Chapter 25: Initiation

Qualin

So this was Galaxy. He was quite a bit larger than Minor, though not quite the largest dragon here. He had a confident and friendly smile. The markings on his head swirled in such a pattern that I understood how he probably got his name.

"How about we see how you rank?"

"How I...rank?" I stared at him for a moment. Everyone else around us was staring at me expectantly. Did he want to fight?

"You don't have to!" Minor's voice called out and I saw him making his way over through the gathering crowd. And the crowd was gathering around us, definitely looking more interested in whatever was happening than playing and wandering about like a few moments ago.

"Come on, he has to eventually." Galaxy commented casually. "If he wants to be involved with us and the things we do." He turned his head to the side like he was asking a question, but the look on his face seemed like he knew the answer. Had he read my mind?

"Alright." I smiled and stood to my feet. "How's this work?"

He smiled as well, then, to me surprise, he started to transform. I watched closely and could see a glowing creature similar to Minor's true form. He smoothly transitioned from four legs to two, deepening my uncertainty on which was more natural to that form. Then the features changed and I knew he was turning into a beastling before the glow even faded.

Now he stood a bit taller than me, with chiseled features and a well toned body. His skin was a bit darker, making the markings on his forehead stand out. And his hair was nearly blue black, though I could still see ebony spots on his ears and tail. I had to admit, he was quite striking and had a rather alluring air, though not exactly my type: he would definitely be a top.

"This should make it a bit more even."

"Are there rules?"

"Yeah. We fight until one of us surrenders, is incapacitated, or dies."

Minor growled and snapped at his brother, but two others seemed to be holding him back.

"Relax, I won't kill him." Galaxy chuckled before turning back to me. "Death is rare in these kinds of matches. And if one of us dies, it'll be fine. Almost everyone here is a healer."

"You can heal death?"

"Yep, that's just one of our many, mythical powers." He showed a charming smile. "There are only two requirements. One: enough energy." He gestured around to everyone watching. "Not an issue. Two: consent. we can bring back just about anyone who dies from injures as long as they are willing and their soul is still present.... maybe that's three requirements...regardless."

"Good to know." Well, I definitely didn't want to die, so that should be fine...

"Besides, I mostly added that so you know not to hold back." He smiled again.

"You want me to kill you?"

"I want you to try." He shrugged and chuckled lightly. "See, some of the guys you messed up in the palace, were really messed up. But none of them died. Some probably would have without help, but most weren't critical. Close, but all vitals were just missed. I've seen enough attacks to know that that wasn't luck. It was skill. That's probably part of the reason you're here."

I wasn't sure if he meant because my punishment would have been more severe, or that Minor's family wouldn't be so willing to accept me, or perhaps that Minor wouldn't have wanted me.

A warm sensation spread through my mind and I heard Minor's voice. 'He's complimenting your skills and character.'

That did feel good. "So, you want to see what I'm capable of, is that right?"

"Exactly, so don't hold back. If you think you see a kill shot, take it."

"Fine with me."

***

Minor

Qualin's hands raked through the air in one swift motion. I saw Galaxy's eyes widen and knew he was a little thrown off by what he was seeing in his new form. Qualin was obviously ready to capitalize on his confusion and dashed towards him without any hesitation. Only when he was nearly within reach did he snap his fingers and cause an explosion to engulf my brother.

Galaxy yelped slightly in surprise and pain. Qualin had managed to draw first blood, and he wasn't backing off. His fingers twisted in the air as he rushed around Galaxy. It didn't appear like he was doing anything, but Galaxy began struggling was if being wrapped in something. Then a chain reaction of explosions began, targeting Galaxy's ears, eyes, and joints.

"How's he doing that?" Swimmer was still next to me. He sounded curious and impressed.

I wanted to see. So I transformed into his race again and immediately saw the threads of energy he was wrapping around Galaxy and tying into knots. Now i could see what my brother was struggling against. He did manage to cut and untangle a few of the threads but it was clear he lacked Qualin's skill. The the threads began to spark, burning like fuses to the knots, which exploded.

"Not bad. Certainly is an interesting ability." Suddenly, all of the threads surrounding Qualin wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his side. Then they whipped through the air before releasing and sending him crashing into the ground. "Huh. Never seen that before."

"You're telekinetic... great. Guess I shouldn't be surprised." Qualin grinned, a slight snarl on his lips, and clawed the air again, igniting the threads leading back to Galaxy. There was no explosion, but it looked like without threads near Qualin, Galaxy's telekinesis couldn't reach him.

Galaxy looked as surprised at the revelation as I was. The threads of energy coming from him reached out to Qualin again, trying to entangle him. Qualin snapped and caused them to flash and burn. He also kept moving, staying away from large concentrations of the threads, while trying to knot and entangle the threads around Galaxy. This seemed to make controlling them more difficult for Galaxy.

"Guess I can't only rely on telekinesis." Galaxy grinned and then snarled, leaping after Qualin. He was faster, and slashed Qualin's arm with his claws. I felt my partner's pain and wanted to go to him, but Swimmer held me back.

They exchanged several blows. Each was now covered in claw marks. Qualin occasionally was able to ignite the threads and do damage. Galaxy occasionally landed a telekinetic blow. A lot of their focus was clearly on defending against those abilities.

A sense of pride began to grow and replace my anxiety as I watched my partner fight with such skill and determination. He was fighting for me. To be a part of my family. But I could also tell that Galaxy was holding back, and as he learned Qualin's strengths and weaknesses, he began to overpower him. I wanted to help him so badly, but Swimmer wouldn't let me go.

'I got you, bro.' Shooter's voice chimed with a mischievous glint and I saw him, now also a beastling, suddenly appear behind Galaxy and kick the back of his head.

***

Qualin

He was obviously playing with me. He wasn't afraid of what I could do and was only half trying to block the blows. That was obvious. But he also seemed surprised by how much damage I was able to do, so I took that as a small win.

It was also strange hearing my opponent's family route for me. They were hooting and hollering and cheering at every blow I landed. several were clearly curious how I was thwarting Galaxy's telekinesis.

Good thing I'd dealt with psychics before. That telepathy crap is hard to deal with, but fighting someone who is physically moving things with their mind is easier to handle when you can see how it's done and can manipulate the energy they use.

However, it was becoming clear that I was going to wear out before him. In a real fight, it would be time to cut and run. Not an option here. I could surrender, but had I proved myself? Would I look weak or cowardly?

As I was trying to decide what I should do while struggling to keep my limbs all attached... could they reattach or regenerate lost limbs? 'Cause I swear he tried to tear my right arm off. Anyways... That was when I saw another beastling, presumably one of Minor's siblings, appear behind Galaxy and land a solid kick, sending him crashing into the ground.

"Hi, I'm Shooter." He smiled brightly with a mischievous look in his eyes. "We usually fight as a team, so about we see how well you play with others?" He gave a wink and pulled us both out of the way in time to avoid Galaxy's claws. Just like I'd seen Minor do against the fiend, his reach was extended by a slashing energy that left gashes in the ground.

"Shooter, what are you doing?" They exchanged a look before my new ally vanished and appeared behind his brother(?) He grappled him, creating an opening I couldn't pass up. I jumped directly in front of him, grabbing a fist full of threads in one and and racking my claws up through them towards Galaxy. Rather than fully igniting them, i just sent an electric wave into his body.

"Ahh!" He called out in pain and then a shockwave of energy burst from him, throwing me and Shooter back. "That's how you wanna play? Well, alright!" to my surprise and relief, he didn't sound angry, but rather like he was excited by the challenge.

The fact that he had been holding back was even clearer now. The sheer force behind his attacks was suddenly much more intense. he also began teleporting, something he hadn't been doing, so predicting where he'd be and how to keep away was nearly impossible now.

Still, we were holding our own. Shooter kept jumping in to block and pull me away, but I didn't feel like a complete dead weight. Whenever he created an opening, I managed to land a blow. And I broke the threads and saved him from a few psychic attacks as well.

Then I slipped, loosing my balance on the slippery rocky near a pool. In the split second it took to correct my footing, Galaxy grabbed me by the throat and lifted me from the ground. I saw Shooter crash into him, trying to pull him off balance, but he stood his ground. I kicked at his stomach but the blow didn't have much impact and I could barely breathe. Then Minor, or I thought it was Minor, appeared in beastling form and bit Galaxy's wrist, forcing him to release me.

I turned to thank him and saw the adorable tail, slender body, and beautiful face that I loved. Then I noticed the star mark high above the left eye, instead of directly over the right.

"Hi, I'm Major, Minor's twin." He smiled brightly. They really were identical and it was tripping me out. "Come on! Shooter and I have never beaten him alone either, but maybe the three of us can?" He laughed and then leapt to the side, pushing me the opposite way just in time to avoid Galaxy's incoming attack.

The three of us actually did pretty well. Galaxy was having a much harder time defending. Though, Shooter sorta jumped right into one of my explosions and took some damage.... and once I crashed into Major, but they kept teleporting all over; it was hard to keep track.

Still, it started to look like we were actually gonna win. Galaxy was covered in blood and breathing hard. We all were, but we managed to get him pinned with his back against a boulder and his strength didn't seem like it could hold against all three of us.

Then an extreme pressure hit us. All of the threads around us came together like a tightly woven net. I tried to break the threads, but my wrists and each finger was bound. I couldn't move. I glanced over and saw that Shooter and Major were bound even more tightly around their cores. Then they were yanked back, landing on the ground at another male's feet.

"Alright, you two have had your fun. This was supposed to be a one-on-one match."

"Sorry, Moonbeam." The two echoed each other, lowering their heads.

Then I noticed Galaxy step towards me. Well, shit. The hold on me suddenly released, but I'm not stupid; I didn't stand a chance on my own. My whole body was beginning to tremble from exhaustion, and despite his wounds, an impressive amount of energy was still emanating from his body.

He also seemed to know this was the end of it. He smiled, looking pleased, then his expression turned to a snarl and i felt a pressure in my mind as well as on my body.

I feel back on my ass. "Yeah, alright! You got me." I raised my hands in defeat. When the pressure didn't let up, I lowered my head the way the other two had.

The pressure instantly lifted and Galaxy grabbed my hand with a chuckle, pulling me to my feet while also filling my body with that warm glow. I felt every wound close, bone mend, and every ache and pain melt away.

"Damn...that is nice, but-" My words were cut off as Minor, and this time I had no doubt it was him, was suddenly wrapping his arms around my neck and nuzzling my cheek. "But," I continued with a smile, "I prefer when you heal me." I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Ha! Sorry, family rule: when we fight, the winner heals the loser, then themselves." Galaxy explained while patting my back. Then I noticed the white glow erasing each of his wounds.

"That was great!" Shooter jumped in, landing between me and Galaxy and hanging with an arm around each of our shoulders.

"Yeah! We totally had you beat!" Major chuckled and jumped to cling on both Galaxy and Minor. "Your partner is pretty strong!"

Minor blushed and giggled, then pressed his forehead against his twin's... Seeing them together was like a cute overload...

"You know, we're not... exactly... alike." Minor looked up at me with a sheepish expression that made me very self-conscious of where my mind might wander.

Fortunately, a distraction came in the form of a very beautiful young beastling girl that dropped out of the air, wrapping her arms around Galaxy's shoulders. " It wasn't very nice, all of you ganging up on Galaxy." She giggled, "But it was a good fight!"

"This is our sister, Stardust." Minor offered. "So now you've met all my litter mates..." he tittered nervously as the whole group swayed under the weight of the three not on the ground. "We're all very close..." he blushed and I could tell how badly he wanted me to like his family.

"I can see that." I smiled down at him as he braced against the weight of his twin, still keeping one arm around my neck.

It was a strange feeling, being surrounded by his family, his siblings smiling and pressing against and literally hanging on me. But it wasn't... unpleasant.