Part Two: Qualifying
The first round of qualifying is here...
Hi and welcome!
Qualifying is about to get started!
Here’s a link to the previous part in Hanna’s story:
And here’s a link to part one:
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There was chatter and chaos among the young dragons during the nervous last minutes before the first qualifying event began.
Hanna and Michael were still next to each other.
Hanna's mind was racing with anxious self-talk about qualifying. Michael meanwhile was trying to tie two pieces of grass together.
"Where are you from anyway?" he asked suddenly.
It took Hanna a second to get out of her own head and back into the real world.
“What?” she said.
“Where are you from?” he asked again.
He was so calm it was jarring.
"I'm from Courage Town," said Hanna.
"Where's that?" he asked.
The question was strangely confronting to Hanna, despite the absolute casualness and innocence with which Michael had asked it. It felt so wrong to her to have to explain where Courage Town was to someone. It was Courage Town! How could anyone not know where Courage Town was?
“Far away from here,” she said finally, annoyed.
“Did I say something wrong?” Michael asked.
“I guess they don’t teach geography here in Scale City,” she said.
Michael was about to reply but the head dragon interrupted.
"It's time to begin," she said through her megaphone.
All of the young dragons got to their feet and were gathered into a big group in the middle of the field where they were told to stay behind a length of rope across the ground.
Fifty feet in front of them there was a golden bell the size of a child. The bell was attached to a simple little rig of bracing that held it a little bit off the ground.
The megaphone dragon stood in front of everyone.
"This first round is a test of range and power," she said. "To get through you must use fire to ring the bell from behind the rope on the ground. Going off the results of last year, only a fraction of you will make it through. You can save your disappointment for the waiting area over there. Once you’re all done, the dragons who failed to ring the bell will be escorted back to Scale City. Any questions?"
No one said a word.
"Then form a line," she said simply.
The chaos was instant, just like in school when the teacher lets their students pick their own groups. Hanna and Michael didn't move for a moment as rushing dragons bumped and barged past them. Hanna was hit with a sudden feeling of panic.
"Follow me," said Michael.
In all of the chaos, the surprising calmness in Michael's voice made her trust him.
As all of the young dragons fought to be at the front, Michael led Hanna to the vacant part of the line just behind the rush.
"Hold steady and the rest of the line will form around us," said Michael. "It's not as good as being at the front of the line, but it sure beats being at the back."
The two young dragons stood and waited as the fight for the front of the line played out. Gradually, defeated young dragons began to make their way behind Hanna and Michael and the line behind them got longer and longer.
After a while, the line had sorted itself out and the head dragon called for the first contender to step forward. That was when the biggest dragon in the whole line stepped up.
"That's George,” said Michael. “He won the division last year.”
The young dragon walked confidently up to the rope on the ground and puffed out his chest as he took in one last breath of air. Just like that, he let out a roar of fire that flew through the air like a punch and smashed into the bell. The clatter of the bell's chime rang out across the field.
The line went silent as many of the young dragons simultaneously rethought their chances. Hanna felt her shoulders drop. All of her confidence disappeared in an instant.
The true difficulty of the task became apparent as the round of qualifying went on…
The area for eliminated competitors was rapidly filling up. Barely anyone was making it through the round. Some couldn’t reach the bell; some couldn’t hit the bell with enough force to ring it.
Hanna was in a daze of nerves as the line marched mercilessly forward. Beside Hanna, Michael just looked bored, like he was waiting in line at the bakery for some bread.
Eventually, there was no one left in front of them.
Michael was up first. He stepped forward and took a calm breath in. It was all so casual, like he was just simply lighting a candle. He rang the bell with ease.
Michael smiled at Hanna as he turned to leave.
"You've got this," he said.
He then walked over to the other dragons that had passed the round.
Now it was time for Hanna to be centre stage...
She stepped forward to the rope line.
Hanna felt a sudden rush of urgency. She felt herself wanting to hurry through everything. But then she caught herself.
Stop, she told herself. Breathe.
In, two, three, four...
Hold, two, three, four...
Out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...
In, two, three, four...
Hold, two, three, four...
Out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...
The other young dragons in line were wondering what she was up to, but Hanna wasn't worried about them. Her attention was completely and entirely focused on her process.
She breathed in deeply one last time…
She fired a molten flurrying ball of flames that whizzed through the air and crashed into the bell, sending it ringing.
The head dragon gestured for Hanna to make her way over to join the other dragons that had made it through.
“Nicely done,” said the head dragon quietly to her.
Hanna walked over and was met by Michael.
“I’m very impressed,” he said with a big smile.
Hanna sat down and waited patiently for her nerves to settle.
The round went on until every dragon had had their go.
Only a dozen or so had made it through.
It was time for the next event…
Thank you kindly for reading!
Have a delightful week!