Page 84 of The Dragon's Gambit

Yeah, Reiya … I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. You haven’t even sealed the deal ... YET.

Chapter 56 War Between Dragons and Fairies

Reiya glared at Reese with hatred. How evil could a person be? She was trying to count to ten and regain hercomposure, but it was hard. She had to force herself not to douse him with her water elemental skills. Though evilly, in her head, she kept replaying how that scene would go down.

“Well? Just do it already.” Reese folded his arms over his head as a cocky grin spread across his face.

Asshole.Reiya looked at him through squinted eyes, not hiding how irritated she was with him. With a shaky hand, she reached her fingers out and brought them closer to him, hesitating there for just a moment.Breathe, Reiya, breathe. You can do this.She locked eyes with Reese, who continued to smirk at her, daring her to continue.Ugh, I never realized how much of an asshole he was until now. He was practically Xander, just in another body.She squeezed her eyes shut and moved her hand the rest of the way forward, seizing one of the small cards in his hand and drawing it back to herself.

She opened her eyes as she flipped the card around. “NOOO!!!!” she yelled as Reese laughed heartily. She got the Old Maid again. How?! How did she lose every single time? This was getting ridiculous. And Reese was such a sore winner. He was now standing up, his hands clamped together over his head, shaking them in victory. She sat there, looking at him with the utmost annoyance.

“Aww, poor little fairy. You want me to let you win a round?” Reese flashed her an evil grin.

Fuse … lit. Reiya grabbed the bowl of fruit on the table and began launching them at Reese. He took off running, laughing and dodging the raining fruit. Reiya sped off after him, determined to at least hit him once. It was the only thing that would make her feel a little bit better at this point.

He grabbed his own bowl of fruit and flipped a rectangular wooden table over to form a shield. “Better run, princess. It‘s counterattack time.”

Pfft, run? Never.Reiya flipped over her own table. The war between dragons and fairies had begun.

“Maybe if you apologize, I’ll go easy on you,” Reese chuckled, trying to provoke her.

Reiya let out a snort. “You need to pray to your deity that I go easy on you.” She launched an assault of grenade apples and oranges. Unfortunately, they all narrowly missed their target. Next, she was under siege. She dodged side to side as the bananas and grapes floated over top of her.

They were getting nowhere like this. It was a stalemate between the two opponents who seemed evenly matched, the barrage of fruit flying all over the place. She was on her last bowl, and ammunition was running low. There comes a time when you know what must be done. An ultimate sacrifice … a dangerous maneuver, but it was her only chance now. She would try to take him by surprise by sprinting at him. She would wait and attack right after his next launch of fruit. She took in a deep breath, knowing she would have to be fast and would only get one shot at victory. It’s in moments like this when you know you have to dig deep and reach the warrior inside. She grabbed her last few pieces of fruit.Fly swiftly and true.She crouched and braced herself for her opportunity.

She waited until he threw his next wave of grenades and went for it, leaping over her table and sprinting toward him. She heard his shocked gasp, but it was too late. She smirked to herself as she torpedoed her fruit toward him. DIRECT HIT! She watched the fruit smash into his side and an apple slam against his cheek. Sweet victory … almost. She didn’t take into account the fruit that littered the ground. Her foot landed on an apple, and her body launched forward. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the hard impact.

“Oooof.”

She landed against something firm and warm. It wasn’t hard and cold like the floor or wall would have been. She opened her scrunched-up eyes to see she was being firmly held.

“Are you okay?”

Reiya looked up to see Dex peering down at her in concern. She gave him a sheepish grin and nodded. “Thanks to you, I am unharmed.” She heard him let out a sigh of relief. He helped her to her feet but still kept his arms around her. He continued to inspect her until he was convinced she was fine, then kept one arm around her protectively.

“What happened here?” Dex raised an eye as he looked at the fruit hurricane in the room.

“Reiya, are you alright?” Reese walked up to her with a worried, guilty expression.

She giggled and nodded. “We had a fruit fight,” she answered Dex, then continued to giggle at Reese. “You should see your face. It has the imprint of an apple on the side.”

Reese reached up and chuckled as he wiped his cheek.

Dex laughed as he looked around the room. “Dang, I joined the wrong party. This looks like a lot more fun.”

“It was probably best that you didn’t. After all, it would look pretty bad to be bested by a girl, like Reese was.” She grinned triumphantly and watched a side smirk grow on Dex’s face.

“Sweetheart, beating Reese here is one thing. Beating me would be something entirely different.”

“Sorry, this isn’t a ‘political talk and fancy drink’ category. This isn’t something you would excel at. Best to know your limits,” Reiya teased her new friend.

Dex looked down at her with amusement. “Are you provoking me, little fairy bug?”

“Umm … bug? And there is nothing to provoke.” Reiya glanced around the war zone. “We ran out of ammunition.” She looked up at Dex and saw his continued amusement. “What’s so funny?”

“You really think you can beat me, don’t you?” He had a cocky grin on his face, just like Reese had before.

“You dragons are just too adorable. You all think you’re impervious to losing. It makes it all the better when you do lose.” Reiya liked provoking the dragons, what with their arrogant nature.