Dunstor was furious with the smaller Zelnard, but his anger wasn’t loud at first... it was cold and building and it bubbled inside him. Quietly, just behind Zelnard there was a "plop" in the lagoon just meters away. His eyes followed Zelnard’s gaze who had turned toward the sound in the lagoon, and he noticed the faint ripples spreading across the dark water. A slow, ugly smile crept across his face as he spotted the tiny nostrils breaking the surface. “What’s that?” Dunstor sneered, already stooping to scoop up a handful of pebbles. “Another little thing hiding where it doesn’t belong?” Before Zelnard could react, Dunstor flicked a stone toward the water, then another, laughing as they splashed far too close to the teegwin. “Stop!” Zelnard screamed, lunging forward and grabbing Dunstor’s arm with both hands. The contact was a mistake. With a snarl, Dunstor a much stronger boy of amost 13 wrenched free and shoved him hard, backwards towards the stoney lagoon shore. Zelnard hit the sand with a air expelling thud, the breath knocked clean from his chest. Dunstor still seething cast one last large pebble directly at Zelnard though his aim left something to be desired and he laughed as a pebble struck his Zelnard's leg, sharp and unforgiving. Tears burned in his eyes, but he forced himself to look up at Dunstor, voice shaking yet steady as he said, “You don’t have to always hurt people to get their attention.” 

Dunstor said nothing but pushed out his bottom jaw and pursed his thin lips while balancing on one foot and raising his other. With one swift kick the eleven year old kicked Zelnard in the stomach so hard he felt grey and lost his air again. He fell backward into the lagoon with a huge splash. Zelnard hit the water, struggling to catch his breath as the cold liquid filled his mouth and nose. He flailed, trying to find the surface, but the more he struggled, the deeper he seemed to sink. Above him, he could hear Dunstor laughing, his voice cruel and mocking. “You’re gonna go the same way as your waterlogged parents, breathing in water!”

Something snapped inside Zelnard at those words and the residual pain of the water burning his lungs.  A memory was forged in that moment...one of pity for this boy who had been given up by his own family, and a deep, seething hatred for someone who could show such malice with such ease. Zelnard’s eyes, usually filled with sorrow, now burned with energy to keep his head above water..then, steadying his body in the dark water and cactching his breath. But before he could start to reach for the shore, something else caught his attention. Dunstor's face had changed and his eyes were drawn to a spot in the shadows of the lagoon under an arching tree.  The water around the spot rippled, and through the murk, Zelnard who had now turned to try and understand what had refocused Dunstor's attention so quickly, saw the silhouette of something large moving towards him...an adult teegwin, its sleek body gliding through the water like a predator on the hunt. Dunstor, still laughing on the bank, went silent as he realised what was happening. The teegwin was stalking Zelnard, its hidden jaws leading a charge on the flailing boy.

What does this scene reveal about the difference between power and strength in Zelnard and Dunstor? 

E10 Q3 Fire