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Chapter One
I quickly pulled an old wooden comb through my unruly tangles, trying to smooth them out before I was caught out of the room at such an early hour- early for Maryx at least. They were still damp from my bath, and were being more obstinate than they usually were- or maybe that was because I was more rushed than usual. I growled and gave up; yanking them back into the bun that I usually kept them in before slipping into the gown Maryx preferred I wore. The other option was more appealing to me, but I would prefer to have Maryx in a good mood than be comfortable.
I looked in the mirror that hung in the bathroom, making certain that everything was exactly how Maryx preferred it, and then my eyes caught sight of my fresh tattoo. I paused, finally looking at it for the first time- and leaned forward to examine it. I allowed myself one moment to look at it, memorize it, and then I would return to refusing to look in a mirror for very long. The numbers were tattooed on the underside of my jaw, right over top of my pulse, and were neatly written. Clean and small, they had a touch of femininity that I didnt' favor, but it was better than the other options that had been available. I found it amazing that four numbers were the only things I was supposed to be known by here.
The compound was like the letters- neatly organized and simple, yet defined. The housing was encircling a large arena and was numbered and organized by the tattoos that everyone here sported. Mine was on my neck; Maryx’s was on his left forearm. The girl who shared a room with me had one on the back of her hand, and in the last day I had seen them all over. One man had it on his shoulder, another on his cheek. Someone had even had it tattooed on their foot.
Slowly, I pulled away from the mirror, still looking at the unfamiliar numbers on my neck until I couldn't anymore. 4856. That was my new identity. Here, instead of being Reva Airdronac, I was 4856.
Master, Kitty’s feline voice called in my head, the familiar bond between Shadow and Master stirring in my being.
Yes Kitty? I asked politely, scooping up the sweat soaked clothing I had been wearing before my bath and opening the door. She was standing outside of it in her human form, looking down the small courtyard that our room was situated on. There were three other rooms for sleeping in and one other bathing room, then a hall that led to the rest of the compound.
She turned to me, her black eyebrows raised. Her long, white blonde hair was loose and fell down her back in a sleek, straight cascade, and her golden eyes gleamed. “Shadow, Max just entered your room.”
I gave her a withering look, ignoring the smile she gave me in return. His name is Maryx, you already know that. And your fangs stick out when you do that. I told her, indicating to the elongated canine teeth that she sported in both her human form and her full form.
Her laughter rang through the bond between our minds, and so did a little bit of her concern. I pulled away from the bond, closing her partially out of my mind. As a Shadow Master team we were able to see and feel things through the other's eyes, we could reach outside our own minds and into the other's. The idea behind bonding two magical beings together like that was to have potentially unstable people stabalized. The Master's, my race, had powerful magic that was constantly building up inside of us, often elemental in nature. The only problem was, so much power was able to corrupt our minds easily and often drove us to insanity. To combat the growing problem of crazed Masters who were killing people, we began bonding with a less powerful being, one that had always been in our shadow. Hence their title. By bonding the two together, the Master was able to share their magic with a Shadow, stabalizing their minds and preventing insanity.
Kitty shrugged, giving me a sheepish smile. She already knew that I hated feeling her concern for me. She transformed into her weapon form- a form that she preferred over her human form.
Each Shadow had the ability to change their appearance- to shape shift in a way. They had a weapon form, a weapon that fit their personality and a Master could learn to use. Then they had a human form, which was a form similar to that of a human's, although their personalities did have an effect on their features. And finally they had a full form. The full forms were as different as each Shadow, there were some that were small birds, the occasional bat, dogs and cats. I had even seen a Shadow in the form of a centaur before. It was their most powerful form, the one that they were best able to use their powers in.
Her weapon form was a long staff- taller than me and carved with ancient runes. She was tipped with iron to strengthen the wood, and her form fitted my hand perfectly. It was the form I preferred her to be in, because Maryx didn’t tolerate her other forms. I wasn’t entirely sure he even knew that she had a human form, but that wasn’t something I was going to bother explaining to him.
And then he burst out of my room- looking furious.
“Where have you been Reva?” Maryx demanded, grabbing me by my shoulders and shaking me. “I’ve been looking for you!”
I waited until he was finished manhandling me before I backed away a little bit. “Calm down Maryx, it isn’t that big of a deal.” I told him slowly, using my most controlled voice so that he would listen and come out of his rage. “I was only bathing so that I could be clean when you awoke, I didn’t expect you out and about so soon.”
The redness receded from his average looking face and he nodded. “This isn’t any country estate Reva, I’m here to win.
Don’t be stupid,” He told me, and I took his gruff tone of voice. It was better than being yelled at. Nodding and obeying was better than fighting him on every little issue. It wasn’t like it really mattered anyway.
I nodded and put on what I thought would look like a winning smile, but was really just the turning of my lips. One thing I had learned in the past years with Maryx was that he preferred smaller displays from me. He didn’t like me smiling too much, didn’t like it when I got angry, or sad or tired. I was stronger when I wasn’t showing what I was feeling, and he was right. Emotions only opened the gates to weakness. If an opponent was able to get under your skin they controlled you through your emotions. The moment the fight reached into your emotions, you lost.
His return smile wasn’t what I expected. His brown eyes darkened and he leaned closer, his hands landing on my hips as he dragged me closer. “You’re beautiful sometimes, you know that?”
“Thank you,” I responded, pushing away from him. I didn’t want this part; I hated this part of our relationship. I could handle when he was angry and hit me, I could handle his insults as he picked apart everything I did and everything I wore. I could not handle the way he insisted on forcing himself on me. I understood that it was accepted, that he was well within his bounds to kiss me, and have his way. But I loathed it.
He pulled me closer to him, his hands biting into my hips as he did so. I held back a wince as he did so, and then his lips covered mine.
They were rough, demanding, and hungry. He pressed them over mine, taking what he wanted and dominating me as he did so. There was nothing I could do to stop him, so I let him have his way. Eventually he would stop; I would just have to wait it out.
Once he was finished, he pulled away and smiled at me, leaving me feeling dirty and cheap.
He smiled. “If only you didn’t have a roommate,” He murmured huskily, and I lowered my eyes to the ground, hating that he was able to do what he wanted to me. I should have been free to do as I wished; I should have been able to shove him away. But if I did that everything I had been planning would be ruined.
His rough hand brushed my cheek, almost scraping it in his attempt to be tender. “You’re so beautiful sometimes,” he murmured again, and tilted my chin up so that I had to look at his lust darkened face.
“All contestants report to the Arena. I repeat, all contestants report to the arena,” A voice boomed through the area, making me jump back in shock. To my relief Maryx let me jerk back, releasing his hold on my hips. They ached where he had been grasping them- he probably bruised them.
Maryx sighed and swooped in, swiping his lips across mine once more, and then turning on his heel and sweeping out of the courtyard.
I scrubbed at my lips with the back of my hand, and my other hand tightened on Kitty’s staff.
"You should have bitten him," Kitty whispered mutinously.
That would have gone over well, I responded sarcastically, schooling my face into a blank expression.
“He’s handsome, but rather domineering, don’t you think?” A soft voice asked to my left.
I looked over and saw the girl who had been assigned to be my roommate standing there, leaning against the wall with her arms folded over her chest. She was a good six inches taller than me, and thin as a willow branch. Her long red hair fell down her back, half of it pulled into a braid and the rest left flowing. She had a pale, freckled face and hair that was straighter than mine, with large green eyes. She wore a tunic that was tailored to her body, and a short skirt that was functional with a pair of matching leather boots. At her hip was strapped a thin sword- probably her Shadow.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Saw that?”
She pushed off the wall, and came towards me. “Honey, everyone saw that. That man practically attacked you with his lips, and you did nothing about it- didn’t even enjoy it.”
I straightened my shoulders at her disapproving tone of voice. “Point being…?”
She smiled. “I like you.” She stuck out her hand for me to take, “I’m Charlotte, Earth Master. My Shadow is Dilandau, Water Shadow.”
I nodded; it wasn’t all that uncommon for a woman to bond with a male Shadow, or the other way around. Just like it wasn’t uncommon for Shadow and Master to have different powers. The powers always complemented each other, even when it seemed that they didn’t. “Reva, light Master. Kitty, healing Shadow.” I told her, shaking her hand.
She blinked in shock. “Light Master? Do those even exist anymore?”
I raised my eyebrow at her, clearly. “Do you think I’m lying?”
She smiled even wider. “Well come on Miss Light Shadow, we had better get down to the arena.”
I nodded, trying to figure out what it was that was driving her. Why did she bother speaking to me? I clearly wasn’t going to help her out in the games; I clearly wasn’t going to even listen to her unless it helped me reach my goals in some way.
“We- you and I- are going to be friends,” Charlotte told me, leading the way. “You look like you could use a friend.”
I ignored her. I wasn’t going to make friends with some girl just because she talked to me when not even my future husband would do that. I didn’t need friends. I had had friends before- I stopped that thought before it trailed into a realm that was too painful for me and my hand tightened on Kitty again.
“Master, you have to let that go.” Kitty whispered, her tone that of worry. “He did what he did, and it has been five years. Let it go.”
I hardened my heart and shook off the melancholy. Of course, you’re right. I responded, and went off to the arena, my head held high. I had different goals now, and I couldn’t let something like emotions get in the way of achieving them.
The arena was exactly as it had been only an hour ago when I was in there training, it was just a large field that didn’t even have grass growing in it, surrounded by thousands of seats for all of the contestants. While it had been empty while I trained, it was now full. Every seat was taken it seemed, and I realized just how many people were competing. My heart dropped. There was only one winner in the games, which was one of the few bits of information that had been released. How would people be weeded out?
I hoped my suspicions about the games were wrong.
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