The Orcus Games: Blood Moon (The Orcus Games Novella Trilogy #1)

by Louise Herman

  Casting a deadly silence, I was left alone with my thoughts of Victoria, wondering whether my plan would succeed, and of my family, hoping they were still alive and happy.

  ******

  “YOU! GET TO THE DOOR NOW!” the multi-armed guard shouted as he pointed to me. I cautiously made my way out of the cell and down the poorly lit corridor. Exiting to piercing screams and fearful smells, the midnight air hit me like a fresh winter’s morning. I admired the starlit sky for a second before being thrown into a black stagecoach with three other prisoners and warned of the consequences if I made any attempt to escape. Bolting the doors tight, the two guards sat outside the carriage, controlling the macabre stallions as they weaved through obstructions.

  Stuck in the blacked-out carriage, we all made small talk, whispering in an attempt to calm our nerves and guessed at what would happen when we got to the games.

  After hours of travelling through winding, bumpy roads, we came to an abrupt halt.

  “GET OUT!” one of the guards shouted as, one by one, he dragged us out and stood us in front of an old oak tree. “Chain them up,” he ordered to the other warden.

  The second man obliged and we were now bound to each other by the chains on our feet. Then, the main guard bit his hand (and his partner’s), smeared their blood together and slammed the mixture onto the tree bark.

  The bark smoked and sizzled and the bloody outline of a door appeared. They pushed it in, and as it opened and we were thrown inside the pitch black hole. The door slammed shut and the guards pushed us forward, blind to any obstacles in our path.

  We walked until our feet developed sores. Our arms scraped against the sharp branches that stuck out from the earthy walls until; finally, our eyes were jolted back to life with a wave of intense heat and bright, fiery lights.

  “WAIT HERE!” the main guard bellowed as he walked down the cave’s tight, uneven path. He went down a flight of stairs to speak to the administration ogre who regarded him with delight.

  I peeked round the corner to get a view of what I would be facing. As I looked up I could see the twisting brick paths swirling up towards the sky, soaring beyond an acceptable height.

  Getting dizzy trying to find the top, I looked down to find each of these lethal walkways connected to each floor, with some, deadlier than others, leading down to a central section where ten steel doors surrounded a large table. A unique creature manned the doorway.

  As we were escorted down towards this distinctive beast, we could see strange crossbred creatures running, with weapons, paperwork and dismembered body parts in wheelbarrows. They ignored our presence and rushed past, ensuring they met their deadlines.

  The heat was suffocating as we reached the bottom. The guards grunted in a foreign tongue to this huge, lethal overworked monster. Known as The Censeo, this creature was imposing in size and mass. It was clear why he was chosen to be the guardian of the doors.

  Sat in front of a large desk, his chair held his heavy frame using a combination of woven pieces of wood and bones, with human and animal skin combined together for extra support and comfort.

  I tried not to stare at this beast, but he was fascinating - I wanted to see more.

  “Who sent you?” he bellowed. His voice rocked the cave walls.

  The guards replied in a language it seemed to understand, and it scratched its red, scaly head, stared at us intently and it started to lick its sharp, lethal daggers in its mouth. It began looking through its paperwork, before standing up and towering over us, permitting me to see every inch of it.

  It was, to me, a cross between a bull and a dragon. Its imposing, oversized, black horns took pride of place on top of its head like a crown of torture, warding off anything stupid enough to get in this animal’s way. Eyes that glowed yellow with deadly determination commanded total control of its surroundings; its sight was sharp enough to catch even the smallest of intruders. And, finishing off this purpose-built killing machine was its red, scaly body which, like a coat of armour, appeared solid and indestructible.

  It slammed a file down on the table and started flicking through it.

  “That one goes through that door,” he ordered. One of the guards grabbed one of the prisoners and threw him in front of the correct door.

  The beast continued his instructions, which the guards duly followed by placing the prisoners at the correct doorways.

  Then it was my turn. It looked at me like I was its appetizer.

  Studying the fear that was oozing from my dead pores, it laughed in delight at its intimidation.

  “I think we’ll have fun watching you run. That door - there!” he roared. The cave came alive with cheering, mocking and sneering from the shadows.

  I was thrown in front of a blood-stained wooden door which shook and rocked, showing the intensity from behind it. Although all the doors were unyielding and impenetrable, they taunted us, allowing faint noises to slip through the cracks, tormenting our already fragile minds.

  I wasn’t ready to face the torture that was waiting for me behind this barrier but the time was up and I had no more time to escape. The monster threw each prisoner into the darkness behind his respective door. All that remained was the fear they left behind.

  I didn’t scream - I didn’t have chance - as I was thrown down a long, black, winding hole, knocked unconscious at the first bend.

  Back with the memories of the happier times I’d had in the past with Eva and Ki, before we were turned, I prayed I would never wake up to face this inhuman and potentially fatal confinement.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  WITCH BOUND

  ~ THE CRAFT ~

  Feeling The Censeo breathe on my face froze my blood. He licked the sweat from my forehead, tasting my fear.

  Phoenix jumped in front of me, thinking he could protect me from this oversized devil, but he was no match; the monster merely laughed at his feeble attempts and flicked him to one side. He hit the wall and crashed to the floor in a heap.

  I tried to run over to him but the guards held me back.

  “PHOENIX!” I shrieked as he tried to drag himself off the floor, dazed, with a gash on his head and confused.

  “ENOUGH!” the beast shouted as he was beginning to tire of the cat and mouse game.

  “TAKE THEM TO THAT DOOR!” it ordered. The guards grabbed us and opened the groaning door. They threw us in and we stepped once more into the darkness.

  With our sight impaired, we had to rely on our other senses to guide us in this tunnel of gloom.

  “Wait…” I whispered. I felt around in front of me and felt nothing. I tried not to move, fearing the unknown and unseen, but Phoenix slipped on the damp ground beneath our feet, launched forward and we both went tumbling down a narrow, soggy tunnel.

  Curling up into a ball, we bounced and scraped our way down the burrow, until we eventually hit the ground with a bump. Scrambling to get off the haystack which had luckily broken our fall, we were met with inquisitive glances from the shadows of the musty cell.

  Dusting myself off and investigating Phoenix’s wound, I was about to cast a healing spell when a faint voice from the corner interrupted.

  “Don’t do that here,” she warned as I lowered my glowing green hand from his head and slowly walked towards the scared woman. She leaned forward, allowing the torch outside the cell to highlight the features of her face. She was pale, wrinkled and tired with equally distraught grey, wiry hair. I sat in front of her, using the pieces of straw to provide a little comfort.

  She held her hand out and I cautiously gave her mine, which she duly inspected.

  “You’re a powerful one - you don’t realise what you have,” she riddled as Phoenix joined us, more than a little apprehensive about this woman’s friendliness. She ignored his presence and continued to whisper.

  “You’ve left two little ones, haven’t you?” she asked, knowing the answer.

  Without speaking, I waited to see what else she could see before letting my guard
down.

  “They’re different to the rest, but I can’t see what it is. Something is clouding the truth. It is brewing but it won’t show itself yet…” Her demeanour shifted.

  Phoenix chuckled with scepticism as I moved my hand away from her, no longer wanting to entertain this cryptic conversation about my life.

  “Thank you for your assessment, but as soon as we get out of here, we’ll all be fine, so no need to worry,” I retorted, feeling uncomfortable due to her weird energy.

  Unaffected by my coldness, she leaned forward and looked deep into me with her one strong eye and concluded,

  “I think you know what it is - I would be just as scared as you if it got out…” With that she slowly retreated back into her shadowy corner, leaving Phoenix looking at me for answers. The only one I could provide was that I needed to get out of here. I wasn’t going to listen to this crazy woman any longer. My children needed their parents and I would do anything to get to them.

  I ran over to the cell door and looked around to see if anyone was within close range.

  I could hear grunting and cackling in the distance, so I put my hand over the large, rusty padlock and began to whisper a melting spell:

  “Taken away from all I hold dear, Mother Earth please relieve my fears. Unlock this bolt on my prison and help me escape this awful vision.”

  The stench of burning metal began to circle the cell. The other inmates gasped in fear.

  “Stop!” the old woman begged, but I continued until the padlock began to melt.

  Surprised that the spell was working, I turned to find Phoenix stood behind me, ready to escape as soon as the cell door opened.

  “You’re nearly there!” he said as he silently clapped for joy. I turned to give him a hug and saw the other prisoners come forward for a closer inspection.

  I closed my eyes, too scared to see if it had broken, then - with a clank and a click - I opened one eye.

  “Has it worked?” I asked, scared to look.

  Phoenix inspected the door. He didn’t answer.

  Slowly opening my other eye, I turned around and bent down to observe the phenomenon of the lock, still fully intact.

  “B-but it was melting…” I looked at the unaffected bolt in amazement.

  The old woman chuckled from her corner.

  “Did you think it would be that easy? They have put anti-magic spells all over these cells! Just be grateful the guards didn’t catch you. The last wizard that tried to escape was killed in front of us. I think the brutal display was to give us a warning. It worked; it certainly stopped anyone else thinking of escaping…” The others nodded and groaned in agreement.

  We sat down feeling dejected and helpless, knowing that all we could do was to wait to be hauled away by these deadly animals. Thoughts of our happy past, foreboding present and undetermined future clattered around our heads, leaving us feeling sick with despair.

  ******

  Waking up to blazing heat with twenty other witches and wizards in a tiny cell made for an interesting morning.

  Fighting for straw to lie on, trying to stay out of each other’s way and avoiding conflict was the routine of the five days we spent imprisoned in this tiny cage. We tried not to think about our children or listen to the daily prophecies from the strange old woman.

  Our hearts stopped every time a guard opened the cell door.

  “YOU - HERE NOW!” was the order of the day; the beast would drag one or two individuals out of the cell at a time, never to be seen or heard again.

  Hearing the cries of doomed inmates was a welcome distraction from the memories of our girls which haunted my mind every second of the depressing days.

  “We will see them again. Don’t worry,” Phoenix would say when I was at my darkest point. But after days of hearing the constant screams, eating the slop they would put into one tiny bowl and then throw into the cell for us to fight over, it all became too much for my husband. On the last day, he broke down.

  “What if we don’t leave here alive?” he cried as yet another prisoner was dragged kicking and screaming from the cell.

  I had to use all of my energy, thoughts of my girls and my love for my family to muster the optimistic courage that helped me reply:

  “We have no choice. We have to get out of here. We have the girls to think about!” With that, we were torn apart from each other mid-embrace, by two slimy claws on each of our shoulders, and dragged from the cell.

  However, there was no kicking and wailing, just sheer determination to escape this hellish domain and return to our beautiful daughters.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  NO TURNING BACK

  Thrown into small metal cages like animals, I was lucky I had Phoenix with me as I shrieked at the sight of a bloody carcass. It appeared to be an uncooperative Wood Nymph from a previous game.

  “Don’t look at it, Heather…” Phoenix whispered as he held my head in his chest. I gasped for fresh air, away from the rotting body.

  They slammed the metal lid down and we were locked in. Looking through the bars, we could see we were on a truck with other beings, separated only by the walls of our cages.

  Whilst beings from different circles clashed and lashed out, trying to get to one another, we were fortunate to be near some calmer individuals. As we were thrown around by the wild driving of the new guards, we were able to see our neighbours. Known as the Ganteons, these wild beasts were known for their deadly determination and lack of control when they smelled blood; we made an extra effort not to get injured.

  Trying to avoid the sharp, jagged rocks that invaded our cages as we took each bend, we tried to get to know our neighbours to help take our minds off our final destination.

  To the left of us sat a thoughtful, pale man staring at his shoes, with an air of pain and loss.

  “What are you here for?” Phoenix asked as the man held his head up, allowing the fiery exterior of the cave to reflect against the ferocious flames of his red eyes. He was a vampire, but there was something about him that separated him from his kind.

  I studied his aura as Phoenix spoke to him, and although he had the typical black hues swirling around him, there were faint tinges of muddied, deep reds, indicating both anger and a strong desire for survival. I’d never seen this in another vampire before; their need for blood made them too volatile to care about such a minor detail as survival.

  He spoke with intelligence and a composed nature as he introduced himself and told us how he came to be here.

  “I don’t blame you for what you did,” he whispered as the guard looked over, unsure if he could hear what we were talking about.

  “But he was one of your kind,” Phoenix replied.

  The vampire snorted and said,

  “None of them are my kind. They murdered my family and turned us into these animals! I have no loyalty to them!”

  I was shocked at his confession but before it got too heated, I decided to interrupt.

  “We haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Heather; this is my husband, Phoenix. I hope you make it through the games to get back to your family -” I stuttered as the cage to our right crashed into us yet again.

  I screamed at an eyeball which was now dangling in my face. It belonged to the corpse which had been launched onto me through the crash. Phoenix threw it off and inspected me for injuries.

  “Is she okay?” the concerned vampire asked. Phoenix nodded and held me close as our new acquaintance added, “Well, I hope you make it out too and if we’re lucky enough to cross paths in the games, I think we should try to help each other. I’m Ardan, by the way.”

  There was a sinister chuckle from the cage to the right and we all stopped talking to investigate this new creature. We could not see anything; we could only hear heavy breathing from the half-covered cage. Phoenix moved closer to get a better view,

  “Guess you don’t need to pay me now…” the shadowy figure growled.

  That voice sent chills down my s
pine. Its accent sounded very familiar. Phoenix looked back at me, wondering if I recognized the threatening tone. I tried to pull him back but, ignoring my requests, he put his hand on the bars. The animal jumped out of the shadows and attempted to grab him.

  Phoenix retreated rapidly - just in time, as the creature’s sharp paws brushed over his arms.

  “YOU!” I shrieked as he held me back. We huddled at the far end of the crate, making sure the beast couldn’t reach us through the bars.

  “Didn’t think you’d see me again, did you? I bet it was you who put that vampire onto me, wasn’t it?” he snarled as he sat back down, glaring into our cage. It was the Lycan who had tried to blackmail us; clearly, his plan to come to the coven to collect his money had failed.