I’ll be updating the character page at some point during the day and you might even see new buttons on the right hand menu (which I’ve been meaning to do but lacked the motivation). Hope you enjoy.

He moved toward her, hearing Kyanosa as he passed by.

“So you’re Dirk’s boss? You’re really tall. How come you don’t have scales?”

“I can break you with my pinky.”

Alexis smiled again as Canopus stopped at the edge of the group aligned with her. She stepped toward him, offering her hand. “I’m pleased to meet you, Canopus. I’ve heard great things about you.”

He took it and shook it while nodding once. From what he could tell, she looked and acted like a normal human. He wondered what it would be like fighting one of the Nine. Alexis’ hand tightened on his enough to be almost painful for a moment.

“You’ll get to fight plenty,” she smiled before turning back to the rest of the group.

The opening ceremony was a standard flashy array that usually accompanied things like this. A huge stone arena was surrounded by risers that held thousands of screaming fans. Each Dragon led out their group of fighters before showing off their powers a bit. Alexis made it snow bits of ice that tasted like candy on the tongue.

Checking out his future opponents did no good in a setting like this. He could tell most all of them held themselves well, but that was normal for a fighter of the level that would gather here.

“Now I wait another day…” Canopus grumbled when the group had met up after the ceremony was over.

“Aww, it’s not so bad Canopus,” Kaye said.

He kept grumbling, but now it was quieter.

Dirk almost smiled. “So that’s the deal. Sometime tomorrow each one of us fights some random opponent, unless we end up with each other. Spend tonight however you want to, but I suggest sleeping in your rooms so you don’t miss the entrance cutoff. I’m spending tonight with some music in my soundproof room and getting up tomorrow at eight for breakfast. Besides that, whatever. Have fun. Just don’t lose.”

Kyanosa shook a finger at Dirk. “That’s all good and well, but if we do get paired up against each other, it’ll be hard for us all not to lose.”

“That’s the problem.”

“No use worrying about that now,” Kaye aid.

Kyanosa nudged Josh. “So who are you staying with?”

“Search me. Some guy with a huge sword and a little kid. House 2 if you want to visit though.” The punk grinned.

“We’re in House 8,” Kyanosa informed him.

“How about we take a tour around the village?” Kaye asked.

Kyanosa and Josh quickly agreed. Canopus and Dirk admitted to other plans and the group went their separate ways until the next morning.

But then I started paying more attention to the things I do around the barn and how many of them could be done with some handy magnetic powers.

All of the doors in the barn could be unlatched and slid open or closed  allowing me to do so from across the barn in order to let horses out or keep them in their stalls for turn-in and turn-out.

As said before, all of the gates to the paddocks and pastures could be opened and closed. Little tugs on the horses’ halters could have them come in and go out without them actually having to be led.

Fences could be repaired and maintained with a bit of metal bending, perhaps even removing rust. (Dunno if Magneto could do that, doubt the all powerful mutant would ever bother.)

Some halters with metal in the proper places could actually go out and put themselves on horses’ heads, allowing me to bring in the horses I needed for lessons without having to go into the field.

Finding thrown horseshoes in the pasture would be trivial.

Picking up leftover scraps from the farrier would be likewise.

The tractor is entirely metal and so I could run that with the spreader or water the arena with no need to actually be on it.

After thinking about it, the power would be much more useful than I would’ve thought.

A man had walked up to where David was standing. He was an avian anthro, with dark maroon feathers touched by gray. He bowed to the crowd.

“Nextly is the lovely Paula Jasperson who will delight you with her soft touch, both physically and mentally as the team’s foremost mental health expert.”

The woman who came up had rich brown skin and her hair was done up in dozens of braids that fell all around her head. She lifted her fingers to her lips and blew a kiss to the crowd.

“Other nextly is Jaspel Godwin. You know that achy, tired feeling you get after an exhaustive healing session? Jaspel here is an expert in energy manipulation that will keep such healing side effects to a minimum.”

Jaspel was a man in his mid-thirties who had two antennae coming out of his brown hair. He had a mustache and smiled dazzlingly at the crowd.

“And now lastly, but of course not least is Melanie Griffin. Isn’t she adorable folks? Don’t let her countenance and age fool you. She was talented enough to catch Madison’s eye at such a young age and excels at detail-oriented vein and nerve work.”

Melanie was clearly the youngest of the group, she appeared to only be in her mid teens with waist length powder-blue hair and eyes that remained firmly on the floor.

“These four will be tasked with keeping you in tip top condition. They can be found at the clinic that is positioned conveniently just behind the arena, but of course at least one will always be around for any and all scheduled fights.”

“And now we’re getting close to the start of the opening ceremony, so I’ll introduce you to this tournament’s benefactors. You may all worship them, but you may not know what they look like. Now, in alphabetical order to avoid trouble: Alexis, the Glacier Dragon and Goddess of Protection.” David pointed to the back of the room.

A spotlight beamed down onto a short young woman with purple hair who looked like she was dressed for much colder weather. Alexis grinned widely and waved at everyone.

“Elyssa, the Ocean Dragon and Goddess of Law.”

The spotlight winked out and then back on over another of the figures standing in the back of the room. This time the woman had bright blue hair complemented by a elegant blue dress. She clasped her hands in front of her and bowed politely, eyes closed.

“Ethan, the Lightning Dragon and God of Knowledge.”

This time the light pointed out a man with thick glasses and a smart suit. He looked up, apparently surprised that everyone was looking at him then smiled and waved slightly.

“Luther, the Tempest Dragon and God of Trickery.”

A young man with slicked back hair who looked like he walked right out of Hot Topic winked at various female members of the crowd. He caught Kaye’s eye for a moment and she found herself smiling.

“Madison, the Holy Dragon and Goddess of Healing.”

Madison was dressed casually with sunny-colored hair. Her smile lit up the room as she nodded once toward David.

“Riley, the Akasha Dragon and Goddess of Balance.”

Riley was an attractive woman, dressed flatteringly but not scantily. She took a step forward, turned once in place and stepped back.

“Savannah, the Earth Dragon and Goddess of Strength.”

She was very tall, dressed like some sort of jungle warrior. Savannah waved her hand dismissively at David.

“Sukizo, the Necrotic Dragon and God of Death.”

Sukizo was intimidatingly tall and looked a few years older than the rest. He stood with arms crossed, unblinking, until David spoke again.

“Tristan, the Inferno Dragon and God of Chaos.”

The spotlight pointed down on a blank piece of floor. A second later the wall exploded inward and a man appeared, shouting and pointing enthusiastically at the fighters.

“Let’s hear a round of applause for the pantheon!” David announced.

The crowd began cheering, some with more enthusiasm than others. Riley, appearing out of nowhere, took the microphone from David before addressing the room. He backed away.

“Good afternoon everyone. And as has been said, welcome to the God Warriors’ tournament. Shortly we will be moving to the arena for the opening ceremony, but before that we will need all of the fighters to join up with their represented Dragon. You will be going into the arena together.” She turned off the microphone.

“That’s our cue,” Dirk said standing.

Chairs scraped back as people stood.