onto the sand of the arena. Draco immediately tightened his grip, to the point where you could hear his muscles tense. The animorph remained motionless for a brief moment, with his arms and head stretched out and immobilised, and then began to thrash chaotically with a dull growl. It looked terrifying. Much worse than the mage could have imagined.
Bleist took his eyes off the struggling pair for a moment and glanced at the other soldiers. Forth stood right next to the barrier, closely following every move of the fighters. Vi leaned against the barrier control panel with a strange mixture of fear and disgust. Ari stood slightly behind, clenching his fists and staring at the scene with hope. Darius returned to watching the clash.
Kei writhed in the dragon's grip. Draco kept him slightly elevated the entire time so that the animorph couldn't properly brace himself against the ground. In addition, he countered the lycanthrope's violent movements with his wings and tail. He seemed to do this with skill backed by long practice. Darius swallowed the curse that was on the tip of his tongue. He knew that the dragon had probably had the opportunity to thoroughly familiarise himself with this technique of controlling his opponent, except that he was in Kei's place. And besides, it wasn't just about immobilising him.
The dragon was doing everything he could to prevent the lycanthrope from breaking free. Kei, deprived of solid support and with his paws locked, struggled violently and tried to bite Draco's arm. The struggle lasted a long time. The soldiers took turns at the console several times, monitoring the energy level in the barrier. When it was Vi's turn for the third time, Kei collapsed, panting, in the reptile's grip. Darius breathed a sigh of relief and was about to tell them to turn off the security system, but the three soldiers were still watching the dragon intently. Bleist turned back just as the lycanthrope lunged one last time, snapping its jaws dangerously close to the arm holding him. The mage clenched his jaws hard, well aware of
