The War God's Favorite

The six Princes

Among the terrified crowd, Cassandra was the only one to remain completely calm and silent. Everyone else around her was shaking with fear, trying to avoid the enormous Dragons' gazes. The sixth beasts surrounding them were obviously intrigued by the large group, and two were furiously growling already.

It was a common entertainment. Under the name of an "Offering", the public was eager to see the gruesome spectacle of six Dragons killing living people. None of them were given any weapon to defend themselves because the beasts were as sacred as their masters. No, they were here solely to die for the entertainment of the Fire Empire's finest subjects.

They all knew it. Some had tried to escape and were killed on the spot. Those who remained where terrified, yet they had no choice. How could they hope to survive this? The Arena was totally closed and the lowest stairs still stood about thirty meters above them. In a while, six flying monsters would hunt them down when one would have been enough to wipe them all out already.

Someone from the Palace was presenting the coming entertainment, showering the Imperial Princes and their beasts with praises, pausing from time to time to let the crowd applaud and cheer loudly.

Yet Cassandra could not hear a word of his. Too many people around her were crying, or muttering prayers. Most had their eyes on the Dragons, wondering if they had any chance to escape. Some girls were even eyeing in the Princes' direction, hoping one would be enticed by their looks and save them.

On the contrary, Cassandra was looking toward the vast sky. It was a sunny morning, with a few clouds, but it was extremely cold. All she wore was an old shredded dress, and chains claiming 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 a few meters away, looking at them with six pairs of hungry eyes. All she hoped was for this masquerade to end quickly.

Years of servitude had made her lose all hope.

The Minister was a cruel and violent man, and yet she had seen much worse before. Cassandra had been a slave for most of her life, witnessing the suffering, the hardships, and many, many deaths. Even now, the tight cuffs around her wrists made her suffer. She envied the dead, who were free of all pain. And soon she should be, too.

Her eyes came down to contemplate one of the beasts. The large, unchained Dragon was the calmest of all. As she was not scared, Cassandra couldn't help but think it was a truly beautiful creature. This one had completely jet black scales, shining like mirrors, and crimson-colored eyes. Unlike his restless peers, the beast stood still, mindlessly looking around. It did not care the scared humans next to him or the loud public. The magnificent Dragon might have felt her stare, because he turned its huge head towards the group, and his eyes wandered until they found hers.

They both calmly stared at each other, mesmerized by one another. Her, a weak human, and the powerful beast that was to kill her.

Someone else noticed this exchange too. From his seat, the third Prince took a while to find what his Dragon was observing so intensely. After a few minutes, he finally found the skinny figure among the crowd, and observed her too, intrigued. The young woman appeared to be very frail, pale and scrawny. She wore a ragged dress, had her long hair in a mess and chains were binding her neck and wrists.

His fingers started slowly caressing the pommel of his sword. There was something intriguing about this woman, that made him unable to take his eyes off her, though he couldn't name it. But it was foolish. That slave was about to die anyway. So he averted his eyes and let go of any thought of that woman.

Soon, the speech came to an end and the speaker left the arena. Some of the slaves started screaming in fear as the guards left them too. The Dragon's cages were opened, though three of them were still chained and their movements restrained. Hell unleashed in the Arena, and the crowd went wild.