Caged Warrior

That scream. Instant recognition. Then gone.

“And I’m Dr. Aster. A pleasure to meet you, Ny

Her fingers were tight around the hilt of her sword. Tight enough to clear the blood from her knuckles. Bone white. “Thank you, sir.”

“I’m impressed, Leto. Few would’ve thought this one possible to tame.”

“She’s not tamed, sir. She’s trained.” If Ny

“Exactly. I’m glad you haven’t taken it personally. You know now what had to be done.”

“All I know is what you’ll see in the Cage.”

“I look forward to it. Come along,” he said to the woman at his feet.

The Pet didn’t leave right away. She glided toward them as if she floated rather than walked. Again she wore a bodysuit of skintight black leather. A spiked collar circled her neck, but Leto couldn’t tell if it had damping properties, or if it was just a jagged bauble to decorate a strange, beautiful creature.

She stopped within inches of Ny

Leto frowned and was glad to see when Ny

“Fight well, Ny

Only when the woman departed did Ny

“No time for that,” Leto said roughly. There was no time for patience. “We fight. Now.”

She opened her eyes and blinked back what looked like tears. But her gaze was clear, strong, energized. “Good.”

He led Ny

Ny

“You’re taking to this rather well.”

“Careful, Leto. That almost sounded like a joke.”

He stilled. Chills shivered beneath his armor. The hair atop his head itched with a sudden prickle of sensation. She had used his given name before, but now they had the promise of victory between them. All that could entail. He would hear her gasp his name when he entered her.

Another weakness. And another reason to win.

“The Pendray woman, Weil,” he said. “And Urman, sent by the Townsends.”

“What’s his clan? I can’t recall.”

“Tigony.”

“Too bad for him. No trickster gets by another.” She walked an appreciative glance down his body, then back up to his face. A deep pulse of awareness radiated out from her smile, into him. “Let’s do this.”

♦   ♦   ♦

Ny

The crowd surrounding a real combat Cage was thick. Loud. Eager. Men in suits and women in evening gowns. Bodyguards and strange shadowy figures. Possibly even other Dragon Kings, if their distinctive bronzed skin and larger-than-life auras were any indication. That they would associate so freely among humans struck her as peculiar. She couldn’t make sense of it.

There was a lot she couldn’t make sense of lately.

Like why seeing that doctor had propelled hand to hilt. She’d been ready to take off his head. She’d envisioned it. The spray of blood. The strike of metal against flesh, then deeper into bone. And then deeper still, into a place of satisfaction. Even justice.

Those images were the remnants of some dream. Leto had done her a favor by intervening. Her opponents were in the Cages, not among the Asters.

There was no mistaking the grandeur of where she would do battle. Leto had described it perfectly. Larger. Brighter. An ominous pall of significance made it far more than a place to spar and learn. This was a place where futures were determined.

Probably a thousand people circled the Cage—a complete circle of spectators around the familiar octagonal framework. Lights shone with the brightness of day. Only then did she realize that each corridor since the one they’d entered upon arriving was slightly brighter. A slow means of acclimating them to what would shine down like another enemy.

She kept her eyes on Leto’s boots. Better to ignore the crowd. Better to focus. She wore armor, carried a weapon and a shield, and climbed up eight webbed wrought iron stairs behind one of the greatest warriors among the Dragon Kings. Their names were a

A Cage warrior. The stuff of legend and nightmares. Ny

Despite countless distractions, she waited for the moment she’d come to relish: when Leto stepped into the Cage. He tipped his head to the ceiling. His expression became as animated as any she’d ever seen. He was in his element and reveling in it. Holding his mace and shield, he lifted his arms as if to encompass the arena, then turned to stake his claim over the entire building. He roared back at the crowd.

Part man. Part animal.

Ny

Two opponents entered the Cage. Weil was a short woman, as were most Pendray. She had wild red hair that stood out from her head as if zapped with electricity. But the one who truly commanded electricity was the Townsend warrior, Urman. Ny

Only when an official entered the Cage did she catch a shift in Leto’s posture. He stood straighter, chest out. Posturing. But bristling with something close to confusion.

The official carried two manacles co

“What in the name of the Dragon is this?” he asked.

With a triumphant sort of smile, the human official nodded toward where the Old Man sat with that doctor and the strange girl in black. “You knew the Asters wanted to make these matches interesting.”

“And fighting with a partner isn’t interesting enough?”

“When the Old Man meant partners, he meant it. You’ll be chained together.”

“Fuck that. We fight as we were meant to, not chained like dogs.”

The small man—small compared to Leto, as most were—grabbed Ny

“And our opponents?” Ny

The official sneered. “Do you see another chain here, neophyte?”

Ny

She lifted her chin and found Leto’s gaze. Their gazes locked. Without the damping properties of their collars, they produced a burst of gold and even green and blue—right there in the five feet between their bodies. The crowd gasped. She almost felt the light on her skin. It was like staring down the length of a kaleidoscope. Colors didn’t wait for her at its end. Just Leto’s dark eyes. Her awareness narrowed. Centered. Focused.

Only him.