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We were their entertainment.
A round, half-droid being floated above us, his dark eye panel filled with flashing lights.
“Welcome, my friends, to the Galaxy Games,” he crowed.
The crowd went wild, waving their limbs and shrieking.
“Today, we meet our upcoming contestants,” the round being cried. “They will be matched with four females captured on a planet far from here called Eeerth! One pair will compete in each event and if they win, they will be set free. Lose,” his mouth hole widened in a gruesome smile, “and they will die.”
A roar erupted from the audience, many calling out for our immediate death, the rest quickly placing bets on the outcome.
“Don’t spend all your deenairs yet,” the round being said. “Allow me to show you what these males have to offer first.”
A barred gate opened on one end of the arena, and a two-headed mastadoon galloped through the opening, its clawed hands lifted and its feet stomping. It tipped its head back and roared out a challenge, its sharp tusks gnashing. Thick thigh muscles bunched as it reeled around and raced toward us.
My brothers and I spread out.
I unfurled my wings, the deadly spiked tips the length of my hand gleaming in the sunlight. My arms spread, I ran toward the beast, determined to eliminate the threat before it could come near my brothers. My scales tightened, the tips going erect to reveal sharp points. Lord Vunne had found me a complete disappointment, and he purposefully used dull blades in later years to ensure I was aware of his anger. So few of his experiments on me had taken.
As far as he was concerned, my wings could not bear my weight for more than a short distance, and my scales did not secrete poison. They could inject something, but only if I willed it to happen. I’d refused to share this with Lord Vunne.
As I passed him, Bahros’s snake-like skin rippled, and the fins on his arms, legs, and neck lifted, stiffening to form daggers.
The mastadoon bellowed and slashed its tusks. Per my plan, it attacked me, but I flew up before it could make impact. As I hit the ground squarely, I raked my right thumb claw down the beast’s spine. I leaped to the side and rolled, coming up to a crouch, watching the mastadoon shriek and writhe with pain.
Giving up on me, it attacked my brothers, but each was able to evade a lethal blow.
When it was hamstrung, it tumbled forward.
The round being flew between us and sent the mastadoon from the ring. “Thank you, my friends. Thank you!” The announcer glided above us. “Now, let the betting begin!”
A quick glance showed my brothers were uninjured, and my heartrate slowed to a more normal rhythm. I wouldn’t be able to protect them during the Games, but I would stand at their sides for as long as our sacred demes permitted.
The clink of coins rang out as the crowd feverishly placed their bets.
“Today, our first contestant will be transported to his respective terrain,” the round being zipped in front of the audience, “where he will compete in a carefully prepared Galaxy Game. The rest will be placed in suspension until it is their turn.”
The audience roared, arms lifted, tails slapping the stands.
“Before we do so, however, shall we introduce the Eerthers?”
A different gate opened, and four females unlike any I’d seen before in my life were dragged into the middle of the arena. They’d been bound at their ankles and wrists, and truly, they were pitiful things. We were each expected to compete with one of them?
Except . . .
Despite my concern, I couldn’t drag my gaze away from her. Tiny, the top of her head would barely come to my mid-chest, and I suspected my fingers could encircle her waist. Her long golden hair drifting in the breeze.
When her gaze met mine, I felt something shift inside my chest. Energy poured through me. I didn’t know what it meant or why this was happening, but I did know one thing.
This female was destined to be mine.
