I ignored him as Vemar continued to call out above the din. “Think you can survive the night, Govam?”
The demon in front of me looked back as more guards joined him, five in all.
“Who’s the new guy?” Tamara asked, looking my way. “He looks like a dead man. An ugly dead man.”
“Ooh-wee,” Vemar said. “Fresh meat.”
“A new captain, what a treat,” someone else called as metal tinkled within the sounds of boots scuffing and people moving. All the guards were taking their positions, staring into the cells of the dragons they’d be managing.
“There used to be five captains assigned to the dragons, didn’t there, Govam?” another said. “Micah has been bad for the health of your organization.”
The lip of the sallow-skinned demon curled as another guard stepped up to the bars in front of me, holding cuffs.
“Let’s go, dragon,” the guard with cuffs said, the metal tinkling between his hands.
“Strange Lady,” Vemar called out in his classic singsong voice. “Now would be a terrible time to behave. You have a lot of catching up to do if you want to match Micah.”
The squeak of metal hinges announced a cell door opening. Then another. As I turned around to put my hands through the space between the bars, shouts erupted. Another door opened, and then one clanged shut. Over my shoulder, I saw a cluster of guards at the end speed up, some rushing forward and some shoving back. A long arm swung through the air, the fist smashing into a demon’s face. Through the crowd I could briefly see Vemar, his face red with exertion and anger as he fought his way into the demon horde.
Sticks came out, slashing down at him. He laughed as he got his hands around a demon’s neck. He adjusted his hold. I didn’t hear the crack, but I didn’t need to. The demon dropped like a stone as a crowd swarmed Vemar, taking him to the ground.
My wrists were grabbed and yanked through the bars. My shoulders screamed from the rough treatment as my arms slid against metal. I winced, cooperating, waiting for the cuffs to be applied.
“Okay,” the guard said.
My hands were pushed again, and I went to step forward. Before I could, I felt a fist in my hair, yanking my head back. My skull banged off the bars as lips neared my ear between the bars.
“You best be good, dragon, or I will make you regret it,” the sallow-skinned demon whispered. His grip on my hair tightened, and he shook it a little before releasing me.
“Get ’em out and lead ’em up,” Govam yelled over the crowd.
“Back up to us, dragon,” my guard said, three of them waiting on the other side of the door. “Back up—what’s the deal with that sword, captain? Can we leave it here or what?”
“Govam said she’s supposed to keep it—the king’s orders.” The sallow-skinned demon looked at my hip, indecision in his eyes. “She doesn’t know how to use it, I guess. She hasn’t ever reached for it. The demon king isn’t worried about her having it.”
The guard in front of me furrowed his brow in consternation, clearly not convinced. “Since when does one of these dragons not know how to use a sword? I’ve heard most of them are proficient.”
“Come on, let’s go.” The new captain looked toward Govam, who had Micah out of the cell, surrounded by guards. They started him toward the stairs, working around the other guards extracting dragons or still trying to subdue Vemar.
The key turned in the lock and the door swung open before rough hands grabbed me and yanked me backward. I stumbled, nearly falling, before more hands took hold and ripped me around to face the stairs. A shove had me nearly stumbling forward, but then the hands secured me between two demons a bit shorter than me.
Tamara’s deep hazel eyes zipped my way as she was pulled from her cell. She held my gaze for a tense beat, and I could feel the power swirling around her as my guards pushed me near her. She looked downward poignantly, her gaze stopping at my hip. When it came back up, holding mine, I didn’t need to be told what she was after.
I might not know how to use the sword, but she did.
Time to be naughty.
As I passed her, I let my will pulse outward, shoving the guards back. I spun and kicked, getting the new captain in the sternum.
Tamara’s power ballooned, and then she ripped her hands wide and forward, snapping the chains on the cuffs and propelling the guards off their feet.
Holy shit, my dragon thought.
Holy shit was right. Tamara was half starved and out of practice, yet when she had access to her dragon, she had some serious strength and power.
My guards rushed forward to grab me. Tamara got there first.
She grabbed the hilt of the sword, yanked it out, and pushed me out of the way. Then she slashed to the right before lunging forward, her pose absolute perfection. The strength and power wove into an intricate dance. This dragon absolutely did know how to use a sword.
The point of the sword dove into the middle of the new captain. She pulled it free and made quick work of the three guards near him, slashing and stabbing like a motherfucking master.
I have a girl crush, my dragon said.
We were on the same page.
Hands grabbed me from behind. I surged my power in an attempt to break the cuffs like Tamara had, but the blows started to fall, one hitting my head. Black spots appeared in my vision. I speared with my will, digging into a demon as I stepped to the side and turned. I drove my head forward, using my forehead to break a nose. I was already dizzy—what was a little more trauma for a good cause?
An extendable stick cracked down on my shoulder. Another swung from the side at my thigh.
“Give in,” Tamara said, downing another demon as a group of guards tackled her. I could barely hear her voice over the shouting and grunting. “They’ll stop if you do. They won’t if you won’t.”
Two demons piled onto me and shoved me to the ground. My cheek hit stone and their weight knocked the breath out of me.
My dragon’s rage fanned higher, but I stopped struggling. With my hands behind my back, there wasn’t much I could do. I could kill them with will, but more guards would just take their places. I didn’t want to waste the energy that I would surely need later on.
Someone pinned their knee in the center of my back. Others knelt around me, leaning over and bracing their hands on me to keep me still. I lay there, waiting.
“Fucking dragons,” one of them muttered, sitting back. “I wish we could just kill the lot of them.”
“We’d all be better off,” another replied, grabbing one of my upper arms. Another did the same with the other arm, and they dragged me up, their movements coarse.
“Leave that sword behind,” Govam commanded from a quarter of the way up the stairs, looking down. “Leave it in the cell. The sheath, too.”
The guards wasted no time in unstrapping the sheath from around my waist. They wrestled the blade away from Tamara. Without cleaning it, they unceremoniously tossed it into my cell and slammed the door. Rough hands shoved me forward as Tamara was hauled up, her eyes shining with smug excitement.
“Let’s go.” Govam continued up the stairs with Micah, who was looking our way with pride.
The dragons lived for these moments, that was clear. They were stuck in this hell, but they’d figured out how to start a few more fires.