The War God’s Favorite, chapter two

They started arriving, one by one, in the Grand Arena, each Prince was accompanied by his dragon. Three of them came from the sky, flying their magnificent beasts. The remaining Princes entered the arena by foot, their dragons following close behind them.

The sight of the enormous, scaled creatures frightened most of the crowd, yet they could not bear to take their eyes off of them. Each dragon was at least eight times the size of a man, up to twelve or thirteen times for the largest of them. Two of the dragons were brought in cages, while the others were chained or muzzled.

For each of these dragons, three to ten servants came to guard them, but the last dragon was led completely free and unattended. He wore only a chain collar around his neck and he followed his master closely like an obedient dog. Leaving them in the center of the arena, the Princes, one after another, took their seats, all aligned on a broad platform beneath the Emperor’s throne.

As the crowd chatted about the six beautiful creatures displayed in the arena, some of the Emperor’s sons joined the conversations as well. The Fifth Prince was bragging about how he had fallen for a minister’s concubine the previous day, and had eventually beheaded the old man so he could have them all. “How many did you get in the end, brother?” asked the Second Prince with a sneer.

“Seven. But I don’t need that many… I will only take the most beautiful of them!”

“How generous of you…” muttered the Fourth Prince, looking bored.

“How about you leave some beauties for our third brother?” the Second Prince jested.

“He has yet to take any women in.”

“Not all of us need that much company, brother,” grumbled the youngest Prince in defence of his brother.

They all waited to hear their third brother’s response, but were greeted with silence. He was the one who had arrived upon the unrestrained dragon. The enormous beast obediently stood still and the Prince’s obsidian eyes were set on the arena, ignoring his siblings completely.

His brothers stopped chatting and followed his gaze. A hundred feet beneath them, a young man was introducing the upcoming show, the first of the day: an offering to the Imperial Dragons. Behind him, a large group of people were waiting to be sacrificed, surrounded by armed men.

Any time one of them dared to cry out, the guards would lash out and whip them, cutting deep into their flesh. So the group remained silent. They were all condemned to death.

Criminals, war prisoners, and slaves – each of them were condemned to die that day. Some of the slaves present formerly belonged to an old Minister. As their master had died, the people of the Palace had just decided to get rid of them, along with the other slaves that had been offered as tributes.

Among them was the young slave girl with emerald-green eyes. She had just turned seventeen this past winter, but had the manner and charms of a woman. She was a diamond amongst charcoal, beautiful despite the dust and grime covering her.

Under the layer of dirt, she had very pale skin and was so thin that her bones were clearly defined and protruding beneath her dress. Her long, disheveled hair fell from her shoulders to her hips, like a waterfall. Her face was beautiful, diamond-shaped with a small nose and thin cheeks.

Her lips had taken on a light pink shade due to the cold, which had also left her shivering. Her temple was sporting a cut crusted with dried blood and surrounded by fresh bruising. A remnant from a guard who had struck her earlier while pushing them into the arena.

Her name was Cassandra. Amongst the terrified crowd, Cassandra alone remained completely calm and silent. Everyone else around her was trembling with fear, trying to avoid the gazes of the enormous dragons.

The six beasts surrounding them were obviously intrigued by the large group, and two of them were already ferociously growling. It was a common and eagerly anticipated spectacle called “The Offering”.

The public waited enthusiastically to see the gruesome display as the six dragons would maul and kill people. None of them were even given a weapon to defend themselves because the beasts were considered as sacred as their masters. They were here to die in the most horrendous way possible, and solely for the entertainment of the Dragon Empire’s finest subjects.

They all knew it. Some had tried to escape their fate and were killed on the spot. Those who remained were terrified, but they had no choice.

How could they hope to survive this? The arena was fully enclosed and the lowest stairs still stood about thirty feet above them. Any second now, six winged monsters would hunt them down, even though one alone would have been enough to wipe them all out.

Someone from the Palace was announcing the upcoming entertainment, showering the Imperial Princes and their beasts with praise, pausing from time-to-time to let the crowd applaud and cheer loudly. Yet, Cassandra could not hear a word he spoke. Too many people around her were crying or desperately praying.

Most had their eyes on the dragons, wondering if they had any chance of escape. Some girls were even glancing up in the Princes’ direction, hoping one might be enticed by their looks and save them. In contrast to the hopeless despair around her, Cassandra was looking calmly towards the vast sky.

It was a sunny morning with few clouds, but it was extremely cold. All she wore was an old shredded dress and chains showcasing her enslavement, but she didn’t really care. Wasn’t she about to die soon, anyway?

Who would care about comfort or clothes now? Death was standing less than ten feet away, watching with six pairs of hungry eyes. All Cassandra wanted was for this massacre to end quickly.

Years of servitude had left her with no room for hope in her heart. The Minister was a cruel and violent man, and she had seen and suffered much worse before him too. Cassandra had been a slave for half of her life, witnessing more cruelty, hardship, and death than a girl her age should.

Even now, the tight cuffs around her wrists were leaving her in pain. She envied the dead who were free from all the torment and suffering. Thankfully, soon, she would join them.

Her eyes came down to contemplate one of the beasts. The large, unchained dragon was the calmest of them all. As she was not scared, Cassandra couldn’t help but think that it was truly a beautiful creature.

This one had completely jet black scales that shone like diamonds, and crimson-colored eyes. Unlike its restless peers, this beast stood still, nonchalantly looking around. It did not care about the scared humans close by or the loud audience.

The magnificent dragon seemed to sense her gaze, because he turned his huge head towards the group, and his eyes wandered until they found hers.