by Zara Stark
“We can let the subject drop for now but I want to know why you’re helping me,” I asked, suspicious.
“I don’t fit into this world, no world really but I think I might have better chances in the modern world. I don’t want to be a slave anymore, nor a prisoner or a science experiment. A part of me wants vengeance but most of me would just be happy getting to live for once,” She looked me in the eyes. “Because as much as I’m a dragon, I’m a faerie. Faeries cannot tell a lie so hear my words Octavia, I will help you get free and help you take down the Concilium.”
I froze in place, letting her words rock through me. I could hear the truth in them, the conviction. I don’t know what came over me. I threw my arms around her and hugged her close. She tensed under me, her arms awkwardly hanging down to her sides. Okay, maybe Mab was not a hugger or a touchy-feely person. “I’ll help you too. We destroy the Concilium and you can stay at my place in Iowa.”
Mab’s hands went up to grab my shoulders firmly, pushing me away. She looked at me intently, like she was trying to dissect me. “You’re serious aren’t you?”
“Yes, I have more space than I know what to do with,” I gave her a small smile and shrugged. The guys would be staying in the master bedroom with me anyways, there were plenty of other rooms in my place.
“But Iowa though?” Mab cringed and I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. “I mean maybe if you hand a penthouse in New York or a beach house in Malibu? The only Midwestern place I would ever want to live is maybe in the Chicago area,” Mab yammered on and I slapped her arm.
“Shut up,” I laughed. “You go ahead and try those out. I’ll keep some sheets on the guest bed for you.”
“I appreciate that,” Mab nodded, a sassy smirk on her face. “But if I’m going to get my own harem one day, I need a home for us. I can’t fit three plus males in a guest room.”
“Where are you going to find a bunch of dudes down with the polyamory in Iowa?” I asked her.
“That’s what I’m saying!” Mab laughed.
We laughed together until tears started streaming down our faces. I forgot this feeling. Having female friends. She led me further into our cell where my eyes immediately fixed on the centaur that rested across the room. A centaur! It had long dark hair like the one my team had battled. But that couldn’t be the same guy right? I narrowed my eyes trying to get a better look at him. Long straight black hair, pale blue eyes, strong brow ridge, and a dimpled chin. That was the same flipping centaur. My eyes went to the other occupants in the room and I froze. Ciardha and Tefra. Tefra wasn’t dead? I thought I had killed him. My heart rate rose, Tar was right. I really did have to worry about my fellow prisoners. And Ciardha, my team had killed his twin. We hadn’t really had a choice, it was to kill or be killed but did he want vengeance?
“So being free after a thousand battles they’re always promising us is stripping our intelligence away and letting us live as mindless monsters? Only further damaging the reputation of dragons
those fucking assholes." Ciardha growled. I could have sworn that he was going to attack me or pit a fight. Instead, he was focusing his anger on the Concilium. Good. The enemy of my enemy is my friend or however it goes.
"Right?" Mab scoffed. "They have the perfect set up. Getting us to battle and then benefiting whether we die in the arena or we win and they unleash us on the world. Reinforcing to the world that we're dangerous."
Ciardha burst into laughter, tossing his wild white-blonde hair back. It probably waved down to his shoulders when it was down but right now it looked like he had been playing with static electricity. It poofed around his head like a lion’s mane.
"Wow, now I'm glad I'm a loser and had to flee for my life, sucks to be an Aurelius right now," Ciardha laughed even harder, wiping at his eyes.
I glared at him. "Watch your mouth, Q-tip, those are my dragons."
"Not really yours anymore, you don't even know where they are, human," Ciardha shrugged at me.
"Do I need to kick your ass again?" I growled, channeling my inner-Cobalt as best as I could.
He laughed at my attempt to be intimidating. "Oh please, I'm sure Tar took your cards, you don't have a leg to stand on."
"He took my stuff just like he put a damper on your power. You're looking kind of scrawny, I think I can take you," I glared at him. Mab laughed behind me.
His mouth dropped open and he flipped his white blonde hair back, looking offended. "Scrawny?"
"Yeah, hasn't anyone told you that heroin chic is so mid-nineties?" I glared at him.
"It is the mid-nineties or it was when I was there. What year are you from?" He glared at me but I could see the shock in his eyes.
"I’m from 2019, my dude, we're all about body positivity," I glared at him. "So you don't have to worry about fitting into unrealistic dragon body standards. Are you a shadow dragon? It's dark as hell in this prison, why aren't you rubbing your stomach in satiated satisfaction right now?"
"And eat all the darkness in here at once? What a waste." He snorted. "Look, Aurelius pet, I don't want to fight with you. I think we all want the same thing."
"And what's that? Sexual gratification? Doesn't everybody?" Mab snorted from behind me, I could hear her pulling her clothes back on.
Ciardha's eyes flickered behind me to Mab for a moment before they fixed back on me. He cleared his throat. "Well maybe at the moment but in the long run we all want to take the Concilium down."
"Do we?" Tefra asked, his smooth voice devoid of any emotion.
"You really want to be locked up in the boring ass place forever with only us for the company?" Ciardha growled at the phoenix.
"I suppose not, I was brought here against my will unlike the rest of you, hiding out here from the Concilium," Tefra shrugged. "I want nothing more than to go back."
They all looked at him like he was crazy.
"If you still want to die so badly, phoenix, why don't you have Seabiscuit kick you in the head a bunch of times," Mab shrugged like it was obvious. Lelras glared at her.
I snorted. Seabiscuit.
"A couple of kicks to the head won't kill me. A terrible migraine and a pissed off attitude maybe but that won't kill me," Tefra sighed.
"My name is Lelras, prince of the Kinnaras Tribe, not whoever Seabiscuit is, you know this dragon female, I don't appreciate you constantly calling me the wrong name, show a little respect for your betters," The half-horse half-man growled. Crossing his arms over
"I have no respect for anyone who joins the games willingly. I seriously don't get it." Mab rolled her eyes at Lelras and walked over to sit down next to me.
"Death wish?" Tefra shrugged, unbothered by her comment.
"Don't speak of things you do not understand," Lelras growled, snarling at Mab.
"How am I supposed to understand what in the name of Pluto your problem is when you won't tell us what life was like back in Equestria," Mab scoffed, smirking at Lelras.
"I'm from Kinnaras," Lelras huffed.
"Where is the land of Equestria?" Tefra asked Ciardha quietly, who choked back a laugh.
I wasn't that strong, letting a loud laugh escape me.
Lelras frowned at her, I could see his square jaw tick.
"As funny as you are Mab, can you not be a bully for a few seconds?" I asked the faerie dragon.
Mab cocked an eyebrow at me. "I don't know if that's possible."
"Can you please try?" I asked. "Dude is half horse, he's got enough going on."
"I'm a centaur prince of the most powerful tribe in the world, I'm not some simple horse," Lelras shrugged.
"And yet, here you are mister powerful prince, sitting with a human, a failed science experiment, a suicidal phoenix and an asshole shadow dragon in a cell in a prison made for the scariest monsters of all time," Mab shrugged.
"Oh so you're jealous that he's royalty," Ciardha pointed out.
"No! Grr! Don't speak of things you know nothing about," Mab snapped at Ciardha.
"Oh, horse prince made a funny, what do you want as a reward? Oats, apples or maybe a carrot?" Mab asked.
I dropped my face into my hands, my body shaking from quiet laughter. Lelras growled again.
"How about your head?!" The centaur asked, rising up on his four legs, his hooves hitting the stone floor loudly as he paced around. Mab got up and I saw a faint green shimmer sparkle all around her body and her usually golden eyes glowed a bright green.
Mab opened her big mouth to respond when I jumped up and stepped between them.
Chapter 2
"Not a smart move to step between an angry centaur and a loose canon science experiment, human, who knows what could happen to you without your little cards and dragons to protect you," Ciardha whistled, grinning up at the three of us, delight shining in his pitch black eyes.
"Shut up peanut gallery," I looked around to the four people-- err creatures locked in the dimly lit cell with me.
"Look, I was about to suggest an alliance. Tartar sauce wouldn't be letting us hide out here if we weren't strong enough to fuel his power. That means between us we got some serious magical mojo. I want us to ally to get the hell out of here and take on the Concilium together," I told them.
They all stared at me in shock.
"You want to destroy the Concilium?" Lelras asked, sounding genuinely confused. His agitated pacing stopped.
"Yes, we've got an unkillable phoenix, a sneaky shadow dragon, a centaur prince and whatever Mab can do, we can do this!" I told them.
"Unkillable yes, untorturable no. There's plenty of ways the Concilium can torture me that don't kill me," Tefra pointed out. "Tying weights to my legs and tossing me into a volcano to choke on lava for eternity or wrap me around an anchor and toss me into the ocean to drown for eternity. Being buried alive is the worst. No air, weakening as the oxygen levels grow lower and lower, frantically clawing at your grave until you have bloody nubs instead of nails. That's not even the worst part. You can't get out but worms and spiders can get in. Being slowly eaten by insects, the burning in your lungs as they scream for air but there's no relief to be had. Regenerating and the bugs feasting on you over and over."
We all stared at him in horror.
"That's not imagination. That's experience," Tefra shrugged. "So besides the possibility of torture and painful death, you forget that the Games aren't just run for sorcerer fun. It was a pact between humans, gods, and dragons. Taking out the magicians isn't enough. There are the patronGodsto contend with."
"What gods?" I asked.
"Minerva, goddess of wisdom and battle, Mars, god of war and strategy, Victoria, goddess of victory and Fortuna, goddess of luck good or bad," Tefra explained. "They were the signers on the original accord. To end the Game you need them all to rescind their support and why would they? They feed off of the games as your dragons feed on their elements."
"We can do it," I told him. "In my time, there aren't any games. My guys were brought back in time to participate. Meaning the games are over and done with by the 21st century."
"Same, I was brought from the nineties," Ciardha and Mab said in unison, looking at each other in surprise.
"So that means they have a time traveler, there are a fewGodsthat can travel through time, usually old and mean as fuck, this is more than an uphill battle. This is a battle up Mount Everest," Tefra summed up, looking pleased with himself. “You better hope that it is not the actual god of time, he’s Titan and we’ll be fucked if we get on his bad side. If he catches you after him, he’ll just travel to the point in time your parents first laid eyes and on each other and rip their throats out before you’re ever conceived. Do not mess with time gods.”
"Hey maybe that old and mean as fuck god can kill you," Mab pointed out to Tefra before looking to me. "Look, human slash possible new best friend, I'm in, no one hates the Concilium more than me alright? But we got to get out of here first and I have no idea how to do that besides seducing Tar," She cracked her knuckled in front of her and stretched her neck to either side. "It'll be a hard job but those are just the kind of jobs I like."
“We won’t hold our breath,” Ciardha told her, discounting her seductive abilities. But I had seen the way Tar had tried so hard not to look at her. I knew she could probably seduce him but it would be more of hate fuck than something tender and loving.
The other three guys in the cell groaned with me.
I looked at the other guys. "Are you guys in?"
Tefra sighed. "I suppose."
"Yes, my reasons are my own," Lelras crossed his arms over his chest and stomped as far from us in the cell as he could get, turning away from us to think.
Mab and I both looked at Ciardha.
"Hell yeah, I'm in, I hate them too," Ciardha grinned. "Always useful to have a stealthy guy on your team."
I cheered, hope filling my chest. This might not be my team but I hadn't lied earlier when I pointed out how good of a team I thought this group could be. All of us reminded me of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. We were all different creature races and classes, all with different strengths and weaknesses. Though I doubt any of them would cop to weaknesses anytime soon. Trust was lacking in my new ragtag team. We were the Bad News Bears of the ancient world. Those kids won in the end right? Dammit, I couldn't remember.
My heart lurched in my chest. They weren't my true team. I knew exactly what my guys were capable of, I knew just how badass all of us could be when we were together. Cobalt would raise the metal in this immortal prison, destroying the foundation. Nevada would draw all the cold from the air and use it to freeze the locks freeing us. Azar and Raiden could burn or shock anyone that dared to block us as we walked out of the front door. I wouldn't have even had to sit in this place for an hour.
While I spaced out, the group seemed to have moved on to a different topic.
"No way is Tar taking your maidenhood. He hates dragons and whimpering, fainting virgins," Tefra crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, lifting one dark eyebrow up at Mab. "There's no way he's taking a dragon's maidenhood."
"Maidenhood is such a horrible word, it grosses me out for some reason," I shook my head, rejoining the conversation. "Why do guys focus so hard on virginity or lack-thereof? I don't get it."
I shrugged at Mab and she shrugged at me back.
"I don't care if he hates women of the dragon persuasion that haven't done the dippity doo da yet, I'll teach that ancient, godly prick some tolerance and I'll have you know I'm hardly a delicate little virgin," Mab crossed her arms. "I'll get us all out of here and Tar will be happy to do it."
"He's going to kick you out for being pushy and annoying," Ciardha laughed. "Dump you right back in the middle of the arena for the warlocks to deal with."
"You think you got the right kind of up-skirt magic to seduce an Underworld god, faerie?" Tefra asked, a slight smirk playing at his lips. This was the most amused and happy I had ever seen him. If I didn't know any better, I would think that he found Mab both funny and charming. I made a note to tell my new friend later, girlfriends stick together. And if she was hard up enough to take on seducing baldy and pretend she was doing it for the team, an emotionally unstable but friendly phoenix seemed like a much better option. At least for one night.
"Faeries always got tricks and dragons have determination," Ciardha laughed. "Mab thinks she's got both in spades."
"Because I do," Mab rolled her eyes at him. "Don't act like you wouldn't jump if I crooked my finger at you right now and gave you a flirty smile right now."
"Of course I would, I'm not stupid," Ciardha admitted, making Mab grin. "But I'm not some fancy, primordial god with a sacred duty and a disdain for reptiles. I'm just a former slave gladiator and a dragon myself. Any willing, female that looks as hot as you would do and back in Rome there were a few that were close."
"Don't sell yourself short, I'm sure the Concilium still co
nsiders you to be one of their slaves," Mab stuck her tongue out at him.
"Why don't you have her do it," Tefra pointed to me. "She's got four virile, male dragons wrapped around her finger. Like you said earlier from what I could hear, they have been obsessed with her for over ten years. That takes some skill."
"Excuse you!" Mab and I both yelled.
"I didn't sleep with any of them until recently, but that's none of your business and I'm not cheating on them, not even to get out of here so forget it!" I yelled.
At the same time, Mab screamed. "Her more seductive than me? The puny, freckled creature?"
"Puny?" I asked. I was average height for a human woman! Thank you very much. I had been losing weight like crazy since I came to Rome, which I had chalked up to a lack of cheese pizza but I was far from puny!