Sylas

SYLAS

T he cage door slams in my face. The restraints slither from my neck and I drip innards silently onto the floor.

I smell like one of Klynn's armpits. The vrexing ziggurag was particularly gooey.

"I need to bathe," I call after the guards. "Can't fight if my feathers are like this."

One of them looks back and barks a laugh.

The other opens the sluice and a wall of brown water flows through the cage. I open my wings and beat them hard.

At least bathing, even in this unorthodox manner, takes my mind off my still aching cocks. I've had a hard on since I saw my female and even dealing with a ziggurag hasn't eased it off. I'd take care of myself, but the last thing I want to do is attempt to handle what will likely go off instantly, like an untried warrior.

"For vrex's sake, ." Maxym looms out of the darkness. "Why did you have to get yourself put in the hole this early in the games?"

"Because it's what I do," I retort. "And you're risking your own time down here if you're found."

"They're off chasing Klynn and Blayn again. Vrexers got loose after the last bout. Captain's doing his nut." Maxym laughs. "Rych is doing a good job of keeping them all at bay, so I thought you deserved a visitation."

He places a parcel through the bars, and it smells of roast meat.

"Thanks, I think." I rouse my feathers, shaking off as much water as I can. Maxym growls at me.

"What?" I stare at him, hands palm outwards. "I'd have thought you'd remember that old trick."

"You forget, I wasn't at the farm with you, . I was…elsewhere," Maxym replies, his eyes dark and brooding.

"We are warriors, Maxym, no matter how much they tried to deny it." I close my eyes against the screams.

"You did what you thought was right, ."

"What I did was get everyone killed."

"I'm not arguing with you over this again. One day, we will get to the truth. The Sarkarnii have promised to help you, haven't they?"

"Those shifting reptilian vrexers have their own problems." I run my claws through my feathers, separating them out to get them clean. "We can only ever help ourselves."

Maxym has gone silent, and I see he's looking at the patch on the floor where my female disappeared.

"Don't," I growl.

"Don't what?" He drops down to trace over the covering.

"Mine," I snarl out through gritted teeth.

"You'll never get through there, , even if escape was something worth doing."

"Female, mine." I can't seem to stop myself.

His head swivels towards me.

" Eregri ?"

I slam against the cage, desire, lust, and rage pouring through my veins.

"She is mine, Maxym. MINE ," I roar.

He backs up, dark eyes studying me.

"I thought there was something different about you," he says carefully as he backs away from the trap door, not taking his eyes from me.

"And what more could you possibly know about us than I do?"

Maxym laughs. "While you were contemplating violence, I was gaining intel. I still am."

"What, that the Gryn are more than just farmed slaves? I knew that. We all did."

"We were never farmed." Maxym grabs the bars and pushes his face close to mine. "We were stolen."

My stomach clenches, as if for half a nova-second, I'm somewhere else. It makes me want to tear this place apart.

"It doesn't matter." I take a pace back. "We're here for the foreseeable. Both of us." I shake my head.

"We are not meant for this place, . We are being held on false pretenses," Maxym growls.

"And what if we are? I'm in the hole and you're…most likely destined for nightly activities again."

His face sours. "We've spent so much time concentrating on staying alive, we've failed to live. If you have found your mate, then it is time we did what we should have done a nova-year ago."

"There will be no uprising. Not this time, Maxym." I walk to the back of the cage, away from him. "I'm done."

He releases his grip on the bars, head turning in the direction of the main door, the lock scraping back.

"You are never done, of the Gryn. I know you. There is unfinished business here," he adds, disappearing back into the shadows.

His words shouldn't resonate, but they do. All the time I was on the farm, put through the harshest of training regimens, told we were going to be sold as a private warrior clan to the highest bidder, any dissent punished severely, it did nothing to dim my spirit.

Which is when I made the mistake of thinking about rebellion.

It's not a mistake I will ever make again.

"Gryn." The guards approach the cage. "On your knees until you are secured. The procurator wishes to see you."