Space Knights: The Arrival by Gregory Samuelson (buy e reader .TXT) 📕

again didn’t last very long. Suddenly there was a tap on his shoulder, “May I cut in?” It was Rex, and he didn’t look happy at all. In fact he had been trying to control his temper all night. He had been angry and jealous of Trance all year long for two reasons. One, Trance kept beating him in competition and taking a lot of focus away from him, and two for being with Corena. And now he saw red when he saw Trance dancing very close to Pelleena.

Trance immediately turned and faced his nemesis. Instantly he could see the jealousy on Rex’s face and the anger toward him. He also noticed the room around them get very quiet. Out of the corners of his eye he could see Rex’s teammates move behind him and Trance knew that his team was behind him. One other glance showed that King Maximus and some of the Golden Griffins were heading toward them. With a bit of daring and a bit of cheek he answered, “No,” and pulled Corena back into his arms and swept her back onto the dance floor and across the room.

“That’s it!” screamed Rex in a rage. “I’ll squash you and your team tomorrow Trance! Just wait and see. You’ll regret this!” And Rex turned and stormed away back to where his team was sitting.

“Just try, and I already regret this,” Trance replied already on the other side of the large ballroom.

“What was that all about?” asked Hamon and Amanda when they swung by during the next dance. They had been at the back of the crowd and hadn’t heard all that went on between Trance and Rex.

“Rex is pissed off because Corena dumped him and then started going out with me,” explained Trance.

“If I were you I would watch out for Rex in the next few days, especially if we find ourselves competing against the White Knights. I passed a couple of Rex’s teammates and they were whispering about how Rex is going to go out of his way to humiliate you in the tournament,” said Zam as he and Masey danced up to them.

“Yeah, Rex’ll have everything he has at his disposal aimed at you. I think we better prepare for his team special, in case he really tries to hurt you,” said Gracer who danced up with Catrina.

“Well, we’ll just have to avoid that from happening won’t we,” Trance said as he narrowed his eyes and focused on Rex. “I’ll need to be careful and keep my eyes open. Well, here we go Lord, help us get through this tournament safe and sound,” Trance thought.

Chapter 21

Shields

The following morning was bright, warm, and promised to be a great day for the tournaments. Trance struggled to get up early and get dressed. He had been up very late at the dance and had come back with Corena and her family.

When he got in to his family’s room he was still reliving the dance in his mind. After waking and quickly dressing he stepped into the living room with his duffle bag, which held his armor and weapons, and yawned. He set the bag down just as his mother came out of her bedroom. She came over and hugged him and offered to make him a quick breakfast. Since he had a few minutes he agreed. She fixed him a bowl of what resembled oatmeal as he went back into his room for his shield.

As Trance ate, Kyle woke up and came in and sat next to him. Kyle gave Trance some advice to help him stay calm and focused. His best bit of advice was to sit quiet, clear his mind, let himself relax, and then say a small prayer to help him focus, as he was about to face his opponents.

There was a gentle knock on the door. Trance opened the door and greeted Corena. “Hey sweetheart,” he kissed her quickly. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yep, I’m all set,” she replied, before trying to hide a yawn. “Good morning Mrs. Sonderson, good morning Kyle,” she said as she noticed them approach and greet her.

“Where’s your stuff?” Trance asked as he noticed that her duffle bag wasn’t at her feet.

“They have it,” Corena indicated that Zak and Bear were a few feet away from her, both yawning themselves. Trance greeted his friends from the Golden Griffins and saw that Bear had Corena’s bag hung on his shoulder. Zak was holding Corena’s shield.

“Hey Zak, what are you two guys doing?” asked Kyle as he peeked out and saw his friend.

“We volunteered to be the princess’ guard today. We’re to escort her to the stadium and protect her when she’s not on the field competing,” replied Zak.

“We’ll guard her team’s locker room and make sure that she’s safe and secure between competitions,” Bear said rather importantly.

Trance hugged his mother and shook Kyle’s hand before grabbing his bag and shield. He followed Corena and her guard to the elevator. Down in the lobby they made their way to meet their teams and coaches ready to go to the stadium. Neklon and Sorvana stepped up to check their lists making sure that everyone was there before leading their students out to the large coach to take them to the stadium.

The trip to the stadium was pleasant. Trance tried to relax and calm his mind on the way. He patted Corena’s hand before standing up and getting off the coach. Everyone collected their bags from the coach’s storage units that were in the base of the coach under the floor. Neklon and Sorvana led them to the participants’ entrance where they showed their tournament identification badges and led the way to the locker rooms. Neklon settled the boys down and instructed them to put their armor and weapons in a locker and sit down for a few minutes while they waited to get their official schedule for the start of the tournaments.

Trance, Gracer, Zam, and Mandor took lockers near the