**THOOOM! THOOOM! BA-DA BOOOOM!!**

It was just enough for her to catch up with him and ride the wind on his back in his blind spot.

The bronze dragon roared in frustration being forced to fly up and over the mountain tops just skimming the sharp peaks. All the while the gold dragon glided in silence on his tail wind until he finally noticed that his shadow was much much larger than it should be. Rolling in a full one hundred eighty degrees, Lazheros spied Alyson right behind him, "WHAT THE?!"

"Thank you for the lift. It saved me from spending energy to keep up with you." The gold shot forward with such speed it created a sonic boom as they passed the Ancient Oak again. The boom sent the fey scurrying in all directions from the sound. She left him in her wake as she banked around the airship yard and the merchant district passing the lighthouse just ahead of Lazheros.

The bronze dragon resurfaced from under the water again but the combination of the great thunderclaps in the mountains with the sonic boom at the Ancient Oak made his head ring. Enough of being nice with her, he decided to up the ante and summon a storm with rain and lightning.

Alyson stopped midway to the mountains on the final lap, wings beating furiously. Going through that would most likely being suicide. She was immune to fire and resistant to lightning but not immune. Turning slightly, she looked back and saw him bearing towards her position. Her only option was to go above the clouds and over the storm, and that would add more time on her lap and less on his.

Lazheros flew straight through the storm he summoned giving him a much needed boost on his part. The lightning gave him an added bonus of an electrical field repelling any troublesome fey off of him as he flew past the Ancient Oak. He surmised that Alyson was still high in the sky to avoid his tactics. He would save the fog cloud for the last stretch of the race.

The gold dragon finally took a steep breath taking dive in order to catch up with the bronze dragon who she saw veer around the airship yard for the finish. She also knew he submerged rounded that turn and surface at the lighthouse. Alyson banked hard right at the airship yard and the merchant district. Right on que, the bronze dragon broke through the surface of the bay near the lighthouse only to gasp in surprise. The fog cloud spell blanketed the entire bay area and around the lagoon. She could hear the flapping of his wings more than actually keeping him in her line of sight.

The gold dragon flew past the cliffs where everyone was and banked hard left into a one eighty degree arc. The bronze dragon was waiting for her to arrive already as she used the water in the lagoon to slow her approach and came to a full stop.

***********

"GO LADY!!!" Quake cheered.

"Why do you call her, lady?" Caliaphy asked the elemental.

"GO! ALYSON! GO!" Serna cheered aloud.

"As I told Seama, it helps to tell us apart since, I am an aspect of her. Two, it annoys the Chronicler." Quake replied.

"Oh. Okay, I think." The kurori shrugged and started cheering for Alyson to win with Quake.

Madeous watched the dragons intently, "Not bad. Not bad. Celestra was one of the best in this type of race, elegant, graceful, and fiercely competitive."

"The apple does not fall far from the tree," Willow responded evenly.

"It does and does not, Willow. Celestra won...barely. The main difference between Lazheros and both of them is age and centuries of experience. He's had plenty of time to hone his skills and patience for anticipating his opponent's next move. Celestra was too proud to admit that she was almost bested by a older dragon and a bronze dragon at that." Madeous paused briefly to watch the race before continuing, "Alyson's tactics are a cross between mine and Lazheros's. She learned a lot from him in the three summers she spent here as a child. So, we'll just have to wait and see, who truly is the better flyer."

"I agree!" Willow nodded as he continued to watch the race.

Madame Mabel smiled as she watched two people of whom she'd known for awhile race each other around the city of Asylum. "Well I'll be, he actually did it. He just finished ahead of her. Clever he is!" The old courtesan walked to the edge of the cliff and watched the two talk to each other down below.

Seri hugged Neven, "Now that's a dragon race. Alyson did a fine job keeping the Bronze Man on his toes so to speak. So, Neven, are you up for swimming in the lagoon? I am. Quake, would you mind taking us down to the lagoon?"

"Try and stop me," Neven grinned from ear to ear, "That was a heck of a race but I fancy racing you while we are swimming. What do you say?"

The elemental seemed transfixed by all the tactics both of them used. Fancy flying tactics combined with elemental ones. She was impressed but she was glad to stay on the ground. "Sure. Give me a minute to collect my thoughts."

Caliaphy fluttered to and fro. She was so excited at how well Alyson really flew. "She was awesome! She did her very best but had lots of fun too. Serna are you ready to go swimming now?"

"Absolutely!" Serna smiled, "I'm ready when you are Caliaphy."

She looked over at the platinum knight and the ranger, "I can teleport us all down to the lagoon now.

"Yes. Thank you Caliaphy." Madeous walked over the kurori next to the shield maiden.

"Willow, are you coming with us, too?" The kurori noticed the ranger standing off to the side still.

*********

Lazheros remained on the edge of the beach as the gold dragon approached him and bowed before the old dragon out of respect and experience.

In the voice of the spirit and not Alyson, the gold spoke to the bronze, "I am Perthenxio. I am the guardian of the gauntlets of strength. I acknowledge you as the superior *aujir darastrix.* You have bested me in a fair challenge set before you by the elementalist. Hail and farewell!"

In a brilliant beam of gold and blue light that shot skyward, the gold dragon's form now spent from the race returned once more into the gauntlets on the wrists of the elementalist.

Alyson looked up at the bronze dragon, "Yeah...I still have a lot to learn what it means to fly as a dragon. That was fun but a valuable learning experience. I'm spent. I need to recharge."

The bronze dragon chuckled, "You did quite well, Alysiane. I am impressed. Truly I am. You lack the stamina of a true dragon which I'm sure you gain more in your quest to find the other pieces of the Crimson Dragon armor. For now, I shall remain to entertain your friends awhile longer in as my true self. Help Quake polpmorph correctly and maybe an added surprise will come of it."

"That was impressive!" Irzen told no one in particular.

++++++++++

"Eh! You've seen one dragon race--" War Scribe began to say.

"--No, let me guess, you've seen them all!" Irzen concluded her thought, "You REALLY don't like having the attention off of you, don't you, Scribe?"

War Scribe grinned sheepishly, "Well, at least she didn't do a nosedive into a mountain."

Irzen just shook his head sadly and said no more.

**********

Quake gathered her group of humans with her using her earth meld ability they took the elevator down through the hard rock face and emerged on the beach at the edge of the lagoon. "Lady! That was spectacular! You won't ever catch me doing that flying stuff, ever. If it was a race through lava, heck yeah."

Alyson turned around to see Quake, Neven, Seri, and Madame Mabel standing there. "That's all good and fine when you're in your true form, Quake. I wouldn't exactly try that now, you might end up blackened and crusty."

Quake gasped suddenly, "Lady, look out!"

"AHAHAHAHA!" Lazheros had entered the water of the lagoon and flicked his tail in the shallow water next to the elementalist. She was completely drenched again. He flicked his tail once more but this time she had a chance to counter his splashing.

"Lazheros," Alyson whipped up a whirlwind to counter the second incoming wave. It caught the water and sent it right back at him.

"Hmm?" He craned his neck around to see her and got a face full of sea water in his face.

"Right back at ya!" The elementalist waved to the bronze dragon, "Ahahaha!"

Quake and company broke out into laughter, "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Seri took off her shirt, pants, and boots. Revealing a short cloth bodice and skirt for swimming. "Last one in is a rotten egg!"