Page 33 of Chained

“Bogarok!” one of the challengers growls.

“It’s an invasion!” another says, throwing his weapons to the floor and racing away in the direction of the dome’s exit.

He’s followed by many of the others, all dropping their means of protection.

“Bogarok?” I look over at Klynn.

“Big, multiple legs, jaws.” He spins his sword and widens his stance.

“How do you know?”

“There’s one right behind you.”

I’m in the air before I can blink. The huge multi-limbed creature snaps its massive jaws at the space where I was. I flip over and drive my sword through the back of its neck. It screeches and thrashes.

“In the abdomen,” Klynn grinds out, having inexplicably killed at least three of the creatures already and covered himself in their remains.

I yank my sword out of the creature’s head and plunge it into the abdomen. The thing slumps to the floor with a soggy groan and stays still.

Only there are more coming for us. Those challengers who were left are all dead, leaving Klynn and me.

If I thought for a nova-second this was some sort of performance put on by the dome for the paying public, the sound of their screams, the holes rent in the forcefield keeping them from us, and the bodies dropping to the arena floor disabuse me instantly.

“Cleo.” Her name is on my lips as I slam my sword through a set of legs and finish the creature off.

I only have a vague feeling of where she is through the strange thought which entered my head. I left the arrangements for her safety to the captain, and I am regretting it. I have to find her. Now.

“Get the Gryn gladiators.” A staccato voice drops into my mind like a set of rocks.

I look over at Klynn. He has his hands pressed to the sides of his head, unable to move as five Bogarok advance on him. I can feel a buzzing in mine, but with a shake, the feeling leaves me, and I fire myself into the air, dealing with his assailants and dragging him away from where they are all pouring in.

“Klynn!” I shake him. He moans something about the pain.

He’s not usually bothered by injury, and despite being covered in Bogarok guts, he seems like he has no major damage. But even so, he’s limp against me, his wings drooping and his head bowed as if all the fight has gone out of him.

I back us to one of the many trap doors in the floor of the arena, stamping my feet until I hear it ring hollow. What the captain and the others don’t know is all of us, over the years, have developed exit strategies in case they tried to kill us more than usual. For me, it’s the use of the subterranean passages used to deliver the beasts to the dome.

Beasts I can handle.

I use the point of my sword to lever the trap open and shove Klynn inside. He slides in like a sack of meat.

I’m about to follow him in when I hear her voice. Cleo is calling my name and, while going underground would be the sensible option, I lose all sense.

No one touches my mate. Anyone who does will die.

With a beat, I’m in the air and flying for her. Because Cleo belongs to me, and I will not be stopped.

CLEO

Until the horrible spider creatures started dropping from the ceiling of the dome, I was pretty much bracing myself for a bloodbath. For several long minutes, I’m not sure if what is happening far below my small hospitality pod is part of the games. Then the forcefields protecting the banking filled with the crowd fail, and the creatures leap inside. Bodies fall to the arena floor, some missing limbs and heads.

I race to the door of the pod only to find it locked. I pull out my personal dagger and slam it into the locking mechanism. The thing makes a strangled mechanical whine, but the door remains stubbornly shut.

I slam my fists against it, calling out as I hear feet in the passage outside, but no one responds.

The vid-screen in the pod which was showing the parade of gladiators and challengers has changed. I turn up the sound, and an accented voice orders me to evacuate due to an invasion. The message is on repeat, clearly a recording. I fiddle uselessly with the settings, but I’m unable to do anything other than mute the screen.

Heading back to the viewing window, I can’t see Maxym or Klynn because the place is filled with the dark, multi-leggedthings crawling everywhere. My heart leaps into my mouth. Can Maxym be alive down there?

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