Chapter 11

Eleven

Lust

“ F uck,” I curse when I roll onto my side and see that I’m in a cage. The Elven games have started. I look around, hoping Moon is with me, but I should have known better.

Instead, the Elven Prince, son of the cruel king, is here with me, along with another person I don’t recognize.

I sit up, watching as the prince gets to his feet, assessing his surroundings, and spots me watching him. His magenta eyes remind me of Echo. His features harden, and I wonder if maybe he was putting on a show back at the banquet when he was acting like a drunken ass.

I close my eyes, take a breath, and just hope Moon makes it long enough for me to catch up to her.

I’ve been looking out for her, protecting her, since we were both kids. If I fail now? I can’t even think of that.

I didn’t stumble into her life by accident, I was put there. My kind are so rare that no one talks about us anymore. No one talks about the fact that Phoenix’s are meant to be guardians. Protectors. That our main purpose is to serve.

It’s not exactly something I advertise since I’ve been protecting the same person since I was ten. Not that she knew. We didn’t even meet until she was twelve.

“Tristan?” the other man I don’t recognize, asks. The Elven heir just glares, not speaking a word.

From the life of the party to dead silent. This will be a fun first trial.

Moon

I groan, rolling over onto my side and coughing into the dirt. Fuck. Where am I? I lift my aching head from the ground and look around as my vision clears. I pop up, because holy shit, I’m in the Games. That’s the only explanation that isn’t much worse, like I’ve been kidnapped, and someone’s about to make me their dinner.

And I’m in a cage. I look around quickly, needing a weapon or something… The Games aren’t meant to kill you. And you’re not required to kill. But I’m not stupid enough to think that every person here is going to have the same morals as I do. So, I search for a rock or something sharp…

That’s when I see it. A massive dragon. His head is as wide as a car, and his body is longer than a school bus, maybe two. I freeze and watch it. It’s asleep, head resting in the dirt like mine was. He smells like smoke, even from over here.

There’s a rumble beside me, and I look over to see a fucking Cyclops. It’s- no- he’s watching me with his one eye, and it’s rather unnerving. I notice he’s wearing this sack thing around his waist. At least it covers his bits.

I’m still wearing my banquet dress. Awesome. Sexy, revealing, and completely impractical. Fuckers could have warned us. I kick my heels off, gripping one in each hand. At least I have these. They’re slightly sharp.

“Can for sure use these to kill if I have to,” I warn since the Cyclops is still staring at me.

A loud, thunderous voice fills the entire area beyond the cage. I look around, seeing nothing but hedges. Stones… There’s only one direction to go. Straight into what is clearly a maze. Fuck nuggets.

“For the purposes of this round, you’ll be playing in teams of three,” the voice bellows, stirring the Dragon. “This will change, so don’t get too attached. After all, they’re still your competition. Each team must make it from their cage to the end of the maze, alive, obviously. Beware the shadows, and do not let your guard down,” the voice cuts off, and the silence is so loud I flinch. Until the beast beside me moves.

“I thought…” I murmur. “Aren’t Cyclops, uh, a bit… childlike?” I ask, unsure how to word it without being rude. I’ve just heard that they’re rather gentle and kind. Their size makes them clumsy, and they only fight if provoked. Still, as the jumbo-sized being stares at me with its one eye, I nibble my lip. Apparently, these two are on my team. The dragon’s eyes blink open, and I stand, stepping backward. “Are your teammates allowed to eat you? Because I feel like you’re looking at me like I’m dinner.”

I back up against the cage bars and hold my hands up.

“I’m not tasty. I smell like… feet?” I don’t know what dragons find gross, but feet usually do it for the rest of us… Unless of course the dragon has a dirty foot fetish… I might sound even tastier now.

In a swift move that makes me scream bloody murder, the monstrous Cyclops lifts me and plops me on his shoulders. I wrap my legs around his neck, attempting to strangle him, but it’s no use. Dude’s neck is thick. He lifts a massive hand and waggles one finger in front of my face.

“Are you… scolding me?” I yelp, holding on for dear life. He’s got short dark brown hair, and I imagine as far as his kind is concerned, he’s an attractive guy.

Lean and strong, just you know, one eye right there in the middle, and a very innocent demeanor.

I look down and watch as the Dragon transforms into a humanoid man. “Oh shit, tell this guy to put me down!” I yelp, now that I’m not scared I’m dragon boy's next meal. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the big guy means me harm, but this is… super awkward.

“I thought you were worried I’d eat you?” is his only low tone but snarky response, as he observes me with reptilian eyes.

“Wow. How unhelpful. Can you blame me?! You were staring at me…” I hiss, as the cage walls fall, and a gong sounds through the game grounds.

“You were staring at me, too,” he says, and my mouth falls open, and I have no response. I could point out that he was the one with the pointy teeth, but he doesn’t seem interested in arguing. “Just, hang on tight, and don’t scream again. His ears are sensitive,” the Dragon says, and I nod.

“I’m Moon, by the way,” I say, waving as he turns back to me again, looking up.

“Cato.”

Moon

“So, did you want to maybe cover up?” I ask the very naked Cato.

Once the immediate threat of being eaten passed, I realized he was butt-ass naked. I’m holding onto the giant’s hair like you’d hold a horse’s reins. I tug one side or the other every so often, getting a good look around. He seems content to follow my direction and to trail behind the danger lizard.

Cato’s ass cheeks flex with every step, and it’s honestly distracting. I’m trying so hard not to look, that all I can think about is looking. This leads to me glancing down… You get it.

We’ve been walking for maybe two hours, and Cato hasn’t even tried to make himself a leafy cover.

“No,” is his only response, and the jumbo-sized mountain between my thighs grunts. It shakes my entire body and feels a little like being in a car on a gravel road. Only bumpier.

“He’s awfully grumpy, isn’t he?” I whisper, patting my new buddy’s head. He huffs, and Cato glares over his shoulder.

“I also have sensitive hearing,” he snaps, and I pull my lips between my teeth, biting them shut. Well, this has been awkward from the first moment.

“Think they would have put me in with my Heart bonded,” I huff. Better the devil you know. Not that Arlo is a devil.

I was warming up to the idea of Arlo being my Bonded, but then I’ve spent thirty seconds with him since I learned about it.

The giant gets a bit stiff and jerky under me when I say that, and the dragon… Did he just?

“Was that smoke that just puffed out of your nose?” I ask, but Cato ignores me. Apparently, I’ve annoyed him into silence. Lovely.

“Can you say your name, big guy?” I ask, patting the big guy’s head after a few minutes of silence, and then cling to his hair for dear life when he shakes his head no. “No more big movements please unless you’re trying to fling me off,” I chuckle.

“There’s a pond up ahead. There’s something in the pond, maybe just fish, but if I had to guess, this is where we gather supplies for the next few days,” Cato says, and I sigh with relief. Once the Games start, you don’t leave until there’s only one player standing. This is just level one. Almost all contestants will make it past this level. They always make the first trial more about getting supplies and making sure anyone dumb enough to eat the berries is taken out quickly.

“You think someone is watching me ride you right now, and is thinking about how lucky I am that I got paired with you two for this trial?” I ask my giant quietly. He shrugs his shoulders ever so slightly, shaking me violently. “Sheesh, maybe you should let me down?” I ask, but he waggles his finger at me again.

“There’s no reasoning with him. He won’t really listen if he doesn’t want to,” Cato says, and I rest my chin on the big guy’s head, sighing.

“Fair.”

We make it to the pond pretty quickly, and after Cato shifts into his Dragon and looks around a bit, he shifts back and heads for the supplies.

That’s when the giant sets me down, rather gently, too. He points to the clothes as Cato fills a backpack full of stuff now that he’s finally dressed.

“It’ll get dark here soon. We need to stay here for the night.” Cato nods to the tree furthest from the pond, and the giant Cyclops stomps over, plopping down on his butt. “He’ll take first watch.”

“How do you know?” I ask because nothing the Cyclops has done suggests that was his intention.

“Just do.” He grabs a sleeping bag and hands it to me, before getting started on our campsite for the night. He digs a hole for the fire, and I help him gather sticks. I didn’t see him do it, but I suspect he used his fire-breathing skills to start the fire.

I frown as I watch him gather pebbles from the pond’s edge and then bring them back to his sleeping bag. I guess Dragons really do hoard everything.

I was able to pull on a long sleeve black shirt and a multi-pocket pair of pants. Tight-fitting, but handy for sure.

And, the best part, a pair of black boots. I use my dress to wipe some sweat off my face. But I don’t fully get into the pond. Maybe if the other two do it first, I will. Cato said it was safe, but what if the fish are just waiting for me to step in so they can snack on me?

Despite being carried the whole day, I’m exhausted, so after scarfing down a granola bar and an entire bottle of water, I lie down in my sleeping bag, snuggling in. Of course, that’s when I feel the urge to pee, so I reluctantly crawl out of my warm cocoon and head for the bushes on the other side of the pond. Cato appears to be asleep, but the big guy just keeps his eye on me. Unnerving.

I do my business quickly behind a bush, but then have to air dry. No way am I using a leaf, and I also don’t have toilet paper. So, I just squat here for a few moments before I pull my pants up and stumble in my loose boots back to the wonderful little sleeping bag.

It’s beautiful out here tonight. The stars we see are formed by the universe of this realm, and dance in a way they don’t back in the Witching Realm. The grass is soft to the touch, like moss, and the ground is warm, despite the cool night air. I take a deep breath because it smells so good. I spent a lot of time camping to prepare myself for being out here, so I feel right at home.

Kicking my boots off, I’m about to lift the top of my sleeping bag when I see three pebbles. I frown, looking around. Cato is out cold, and the big guy is scanning the trees around us. I think I would have felt it if the big guy moved even an inch.

“Psst.” I try to whisper, but if they hear me, they both ignore me. I look back down, picking up the three pebbles and examining them by the light of the small fire. “Ooooh,” I breathe, holding one up as the fire reflects through it, almost looking like a ruby. The next one is a foggy green with little cracks of blue. And the third is purple. Freaking purple, like my hair. I nibble my lip and resist the urge to caress my new pet pebbles.

Looking over to the pond’s edge, I can’t see the pebbles’ colors, but that has to be where these came from.

“Who gave me the pebbles?” I ask, suspecting the danger lizard, but he’s out cold.

I bet he’d strangle me if he could hear me refer to him as a danger lizard. Heh. Definitely thinking of him as such from now on. Cato the Danger Lizard.

Since I’m a practical gal, I stash the pebbles in my bra and pat it several times. I even do a little chest jiggle, double-checking. Yep. Secure.

“Thank you, mysterious pebble fairy,” I whisper, and the Cyclops smirks, making me think maybe it was him… “If it was you, you know you’re not getting into my pants, right? Your dick is probably the same size as my entire body,” I hiss, and this time the big guy chuckles. It shakes the ground, and I drop my eyes to his minimal coverage.

“Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but I can tell you right now, it would not fit,” I say, and then cringe when the big guy blushes and lifts one knee like he’s trying to hide his body from my eyes. “Oh shit, I’m a goblin’s ass,” I stand, not caring that I’m barefoot, and take a few steps toward him. “Sometimes stuff just comes out of my mouth. But I want you to know, I know you’re not going to hurt me. That you wouldn’t… I just meant, our anatomy isn’t made to fit together… as in, don’t start crushing on me, because… well… you know. I suppose I could kiss you. And there’s other stuff?—"

“For the love of all things in this universe, please shut up, Moon. He’s not going to try to fuck you or develop a crush or whatever the fuck you’re rambling about. Lie down and go to sleep. And for fuck's sake, leave him alone,” Cato snaps from his sleeping bag, making my cheeks burn red, especially because I have no doubt that will be televised. Across all the realms. Awful. I just hope Grams doesn’t see that…

“I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me. I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable.” I bow my head to him because I don’t know how else to say sorry that doesn’t involve a hug that he’s too large for when I’m snatched up off my feet by jumbo hands.

He holds me up in front of him, tipping his head to me. He just holds himself there, and I freeze. Do I scratch his head? What should I do?

“Kiss his head, pat his hair, I don’t care, just hurry up. I can’t sleep with your ruckus,” Cato growls, and I turn and stick my tongue out at him. Annoying danger lizard.

I go with a simple head pat, and the big guy sets me down, giving me the smallest push with his finger toward my sleeping bag. I pat the pebbles in my bra, making sure they’re still there, and then climb into bed.

“Thank you both. I know having me as a teammate hasn’t been beneficial for you. But I promise not to die before we make it to the end,” I whisper, and as I snuggle into my inflatable pillow, I find it easy to drift off with the big guy watching over me.

Odas

I watch as she pats her chest where she hid her pebbles, and I smile. She’s cute. Even more so out here than at the banquet. She seems to think this is my only form though, which has been fairly entertaining, even with all the dirty looks Cato shoots my way.

I had seen Cato stashing a few pebbles in his bag before he climbed into bed, but he never got near Moon’s sleeping bag. I would have noticed. But I haven’t seen anyone else out here, so whoever placed the pebbles is either powerful enough to hide from my superior vision or very small. Or Cato tossed them when my head was turned.

I’ll have to shift back tomorrow. But for now, I’ll watch as these two sleep, and attempt not to chuckle as Moon snores like a train. Cato doesn’t even notice.