“No way…” I whispered under my breath, my body shaking with excitement. Little by little the glow around the cuffs faded, Red’s magic successfully breaking the spell!
I couldn't believe it…
“It is temporary, but it should last in the arena,” he reassured me, and I tackled him with a hug.
“Thank you…” I choked up, trying to keep myself together. My strength was already coming back to me. After being so weak for so long, I felt like I could take on the world again. And just in time, too. We were being summoned by the guards, and it was our turn in the Blood Games.
While I was still chained, I could manage in a fight. I was resourceful, just as long as I had strength by my side. Two burly men in metal masks and executioner hoods approached our cell, one of them snapping the bars open with something wrapped around his hand. It looked like a magical artifact with how the runes around the piece of metal glowed, and if I had to make a wild guess, I’d say those were the fae equivalent of holding cell keys.
Again, dragons using fae magic for gain.
I eyed the one who came inside the cell to detach my chains from the wall from the corner of my vision, my face twisted at him with disgust. He was caked with layers of blood, new and old, the metallic scent riding up my nose. I snapped my eyes shut to those dark things I did here, my time spent in the lair something that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I vowed to repent, and while nothing I could do would bring back those people I killed, I’d do right by them by getting out of here and freeing their people…
“Jezz, are you all right?” Red asked me, noticing the single tear streaming down my cheek as I fought them back.
Taking my wrist to my cheek I wiped it away, giving Red a fake smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“What is this?!” One of the guards growled as he snatched the same wrist. His name was Wek, the tank who was almost as big as Lucyna’s titan slave. “What happened?!”
“Get your hands off of me!” I growled back.
“What’s wrong?” Hedge, the other guard asked, turning his head over his shoulder before he made the connection. “The spell… is gone? But, how?”
“That fae reassured our princess that it would last,” Wek retorted. “We need to have one of the arcane prisoners make us another!”
“We don’t have time for that,” he hissed. “Don’t you hear the crowd? They are waiting for a fight!”
By the time they noticed I was curse free, Red had already used the leftover gravel to cover the crevices on the ground, hiding his spell work. Those two knuckleheads were oblivious, trying to decide whether or not to delay the fight.
But since they valued their heads, they had to bring me to the ring as I was…
Perfect.
Struggling for an escape now would be stupid. They’d bring in reinforcements, and I was just now getting my mana. It was slow, at 1pt right now, and my teleport needed much more than that. So the guards shoved the both of us out of the cell, and after a very short and dark walk through the corridors, we were welcomed with two giant steel doors, with bright lights falling in between them as they opened like show curtains.
What an uproar of noise. The crowd was so intense I could barely hear my own thoughts! The arena was massive, rows stretched up and high in a circle while the sandy ring below was blinded by a harsh sunlight.
As my eyes scanned, I saw how the benches were filled with all sorts of creatures, from merchants to guards, old and young alike. Their eyes shone in anticipation for a juicy fight, some of them who recognized me tossing crap my way already. I snatched a bottle of red juice that was halfway done and chugged the rest, then thankfully bowed to the grumpy old man who offered it to me.
That was nice of him. My throat was drier than the Codapan desert.
The air was loaded with all kinds of noises, people shouting, some laughing, others cheering while their sammies clashed each time someone made a bet. I heard folks betting against Red and I, exchanging coins among the few who were for us. Actually, I was kinda shocked some of them were for team fae, seeing as I had a reputation for slaughtering their kind for stealing my Senterrians.
The atmosphere electrified as the guards stopped us on one side of the ring. When they left, a transparent barrier enveloped the sandy circle, preventing us from escaping. The craftsmanship on the barrier wasn’t anything I recognized, but I knew for a fact that it was arcane fae magic. Because dragons were thieves. All they knew how to do was steal and enslave.
“Ladies and gentlemen! I hope you’re ready for this next match, because it’s gonna be a bloodbath!” The announcer’s voice boomed through the arena, sending shivers down my spine. “Who is up for another juicy fight?! Come on, make some noise!”
“Death match! Death match! Death match! Death match!” the crowd demanded.
“Help me welcome our undefeated champion, the brute orc himself, Gorro the Bone Breaker!” The crowd erupted as the massive figure of Gorro emerged from the other heavy double doors across the ring. The darkness gave little details to his features as he stood there with those red piercing eyes glaring at Red and I, my team mate unmoving as he waited to see who this unbeatable orc was. But I could tell by just looking at his eyes—he was huge, probably towering over 10 feet tall. When he finally stepped out of the shadows, he gave a big beefy champion cry, swinging his fists in the air, one of them holding a spiked club tinted red with blood. He was a green orc, his features fierce and intimidating. Bone Breaker had sharp tusks protruding from beneath his upper lip and two long horns curving backwards from atop his head. I rarely saw orcs with horns on their head, the one on the right chipped from the tip.
His presence made me feel small - not just because of his size but because of his aura, an intimidating mix of arrogance and danger that filled every inch of space around him. Gorro was deadly; there was no question about it. The spiked club he carried could easily crush any man’s skull if given the chance, and I didn’t want to give him that chance.
Normally I wouldn’t have been so on edge, but I was handicapped. Not only because I was low on mana, but also because my movement was severely limited. Talk about catching a break.
As Gorro continued to pace with his cocky strut down the sand, I saw how the cheering crowd continued to fuel his ego. His bright yellow teeth flashed the crowd and his long black ponytail swung over his shoulders. He was basking in the appreciation of his sworn enemies, the dummy not understanding that they only liked him for his entertainment. The knucklehead was pumping the crowd up, flexing his muscles and roaring like a beast.
I rolled my eyes.
Show-off.
“That’s right! Call my name! Gorro, the Bone Breaker! Here to seal another easy fight!”
“Ohh, he thinks he’s got it in the bag, folks! We’ll just have to see how many pieces he’ll be plucking off the sand this time, am I right?!”
“Gorro, Gorro, Gorro!” The crowd raved.
“For this special occasion, we’ll host a stacked match, where our guests will fight one opponent after the other, until three matches are met! That’s right! We are spicing up things tonight, ladies and gentlemen! So let’s hear it for Gorro’s opponents! I’m sure you can tell that we have a very special guest tonight! Banished from the courts of Mavriel, we have the accursed fae, Jezz the ice wolf!”
The feedback was what one would expect in an arena filled with idiotic dragons.
Of course they knew my name. Some may not have known whatI looked like, but my reputation was known in all parts of Thalian. Good, I wanted them to see me, the girl who took out dragon men with her ice breath, and shattered their bones with flying ice spears and crushed them with towering ice pillars. Heck, I even used my teeth when I had to, ripping them bit by bit. But they never seemed to get the message—step into my land and mess with my people and get paid with pain.
“Look at that! Fresh from the depths of our prison cells, and she still has a glimmer of hope in her eyes! Nothing can break her spirit, huh?!” the white-suited announcer taunted me, scanning the crowd as they shouted out names and continued to boo me.
Egh, I didn’t care. I was used to the hate. In fact, I stepped forward, raising my arms in mock triumph as the crowd jeered and roared.
The announcer didn’t appreciate that! I laughed as he glared at me, Red choking up as he gave me that deadly look.
