by Zara Stark
We made it to the final staircase that led upwards and we turned around to face the dragon.
"Can you unfreeze it at this distance?" I asked Nevada.
He scoffed. "Of course, just because I don't advertise my range like Raiden and Azar can doesn't mean I can't," Nevada explained.
"I've always wondered about your elements. It's a type of energy, a phase of matter rather than an actual material like Cobalt’s," I went on. "It's more kinetic like Azar and Raiden's."
"The opposite and yet very similar," Nevada agreed, raising a hand up toward the Kyōrinrin.
With the cracking sound of ice, the Kyōrinrin began to defrost. The pages that composed its gigantic body going from cyan to off-white.
It started to move again and let out a deafening roar.
Chapter 4
"I thought they couldn't make noise!" I screamed over the terrible guttural sound.
"Me too," Nevada growled. "We need to get the hell out of here!"
Nevada spun me around with our joined hands and locked on arm under my arms and hooked the other under my knees and pulled me up into a bridal carry. We heard the sound of leather sandals pounding against the stone in the distance.
"Sorry but we can't waste any more time," Nevada yelled and turned to take us up the staircase but the narrow stairwell was full of Concilium members.
Nevada scrambled to the side to avoid them making it onto our level. It wouldn't be good if they passed through us and made Nevada throw up again.
"Fuck," Nevada mouthed soundlessly.
"Fuck indeed," I mouthed back.
The group of Warlocks stepped over to the Kyōrinrin, clearing a path to the stairwell. Nevada padded softly over to the exit, another group of Concilium members was making their way down the stairwell.
We were screwed.
One of the warlocks made it over to Nevada's vomit and looked at it, speaking to another warlock in another language and gestured at the mess.
"What are they going to do? DNA test it? They don't know who did that!" I read from Nevada's lips.
I rolled my eyes. I mouthed back to him. "CSI: Atrium Libertatis edition."
Nevada shook his head.
We could wait, that was one strategy. Wait until this level was completely full of Concilium warlocks and then sneak up the stairs. There were almost an innumerable amount of variables working against us though. The room could fill up too fast and someone would inevitably run into us. Or they could cast a spell to find us or reveal us. Or the Kyōrinrin would find Nevada as the one who damaged his precious scrolls. What the hell were we going to do?
Our eyes met and together we looked to the staircase, another five warlocks had joined the group on our level and the staircase was clear. Could we make it? We had to try. I nodded to Nevada and he stepped as quickly as he could up the stairs.
The staircase was still a pitch black, we wouldn't even be able to see if someone was coming down. At least I wouldn't, Nevada could. Another wave of leather slapping against stone made me draw in a sharp breath. Warlocks were coming down the stairs.
I clenched Nevada's shirt hard.
We were surrounded.
The Warlocks passed through our ghostly forms and I could feel the strain in Nevada's body. His body tensed and I heard the sound of his teeth gnashing together.
An almost imperceptible grunt escaped Nevada and the two of us froze, not even daring to breathe.
The steps stopped and quiet murmurs in a language I didn't understand filled the narrow stairway.
"WHO DARES TO ENTER THE ATRIUM LIBERTATIS?" The collective voice of the Concilium filled the stairway, shaking the limestone walls and steps.
Neither of us spoke. Nevada turned and started to run up the stairs with me in his arms. They still couldn't see us, my Alpha of Shields was still holding strong. They had heard Nevada grunt but a single grunt from a man wasn't enough to know his identity. I could practically hear Nevada's thoughts echoing in my head because they were the same as my own, we could still escape.
I could see a small tint of greenish light up ahead, we were close to the top of the staircase, so close to freedom.
I held Nevada tightly. His grip on me didn't even falter a little, his breathing still even despite running at a breakneck speed up the stairs with a full-grown woman in his arms.
We were so close, I watched the light that led to freedom get closer and closer until another dozen warlocks blocked it.
"OBSIDIO LAPIS CALCARIUS," The combined voice of all the warlocks spoke again, coming from both the group down at the bottom of the stairs and the group blocking our path to freedom.
The limestone around us rumbled and the portion in front of us grew before our eyes, grains of stone spreading little by little until we were trapped in a makeshift stone coffin.
"Fuck, Tavia, I'm out of ideas, I don't know what to do," Nevada told me in a breathless whisper, I had never heard him so hopeless before. Nevada always knew what to do, he was the smart one. If his genius brain couldn't come up with a solution, then we were really screwed.
"Forget Hobbits and Tolkien, we're in the Star Wars universe now, in our very own trash compactor," I chuckled nervously.
"Not the time, Taves," Nevada sighed.
"My brain seems to know that and goes with the least appropriate thoughts to have during the said situation," I sighed. "Any protocol droids around to help?"
"No," Nevada said in a stern voice but when my hand touched his face I could feel a soft smile on his handsome features. "We're about to die and I can't even see you."
"We aren't about to die, I have an idea, it's a bad one," I told him. "Probably going to hurt."
"I'll take hurt over dead," Nevada answered.
"You say that now," I warned.
The limestone walls were shutting in on us further and further until Nevada and I couldn't even put our arms out even more.
"For the first time in my life, I wish I had my Red Joker," I laughed nervously. "Or my Black Balatros."
"So what's the plan," Nevada asked as he was forced to hunch over me further, the ceiling and the stairs themselves were crushing us even further down. "Any minute now, for once in your life don't doubt yourself. Don't think, just go for it!"
Spurred on my Nevada's words, my moved my good hand into my hip holster and passed over my deck to the dice sitting at the bottom of it. I clenched my eyes shut and willed the die I needed to come to my hand, praying the die would follow my command like the cards did.
My hand closed around a cube and I pulled it from my holster.
"Brace yourself," I warned, to Nevada or myself or both I wasn't sure. I activated the magic.
My palm holding the die began to glow bright red and a weightless feeling overcame me. The weird feeling in the pit of your stomach as you left the ground. I got it sometimes on roller coasters or driving down a steep hill.
"Oh no," Nevada managed to say before covering me with his body and holding me tightly. My number two die glowed even brighter as we slammed into the ceiling, sending stone everywhere. We passed through a few feet of stone, the slamming pressure making my teeth rattle in my jaw. Nevada clenching me tight.
"Vada, are you okay?" I asked, not much further I hoped. We were almost through, I knew it.
"Yes," Nevada said through clenched teeth. With one last slam, we shot through the ceiling of the Atrium Liberatatis and into the sky over Rome.
It was early evening but the sunlight was far too bright, my eyes burned from being in the dark with only green light for so long.
"Ouch, the light hurts," Nevada grunted, he held onto me tightly. I wasn't sure if he let go he would fall but I sure didn't want to test it out.
I reached my casted arm up to cover his eyes. "Your eyes hurt? What about your back?"
"Well, it's been better but I don't think anything is broken," Nevada chuckled. "Quick thinking."
We floated in the air for a moment, getting our bearings, we rose a few feet higher but we s
eemed to stop. Maybe holding more than one person up was too taxing for my new die? I wondered.
I had been right to guess that we had been far underground, far away from the main Atrium Libertatis building. We hovered over the Tiber River, the wide waterway that snaked around Rome.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"Well we stayed invisible the whole time, we did nothing that would help them to identify us," Nevada explained. "I'm sure they will chalk this invasion up to one of their many enemies. They think dragons are stupid and incapable of such duplicity."
"They have enemies?" I asked.
"After all of the mythical creatures from all over the world you have seen in the arena, you don't think that the Concilium have garnered enemies from those other cultures and species?" Nevada asked. "Only their bond with the Roman Gods keeps the Concilium safe, without the Gods supporting them another faction would surely take them out."
"Why do I not mind the sound of that?" I laughed, staring out over Rome. The view was beautiful from way up above the city.
"Many wait for the Roman Gods to turn their back on the Concilium but that's why the Dragon Gladiator Games are in this time period, while the Roman Gods are still at their highest power," Nevada explained and everything started to click into place.
"Raiden would have to explain it better, I'm not one for magical politics," Nevada shrugged. "Now about our predicament, I think our only chance is dropping into the river."
"From this height?" I shrieked. "We'll die!"
"At its greatest depth, it's about twenty feet down," Nevada told me.
"If I just release it, we'll free fall from what are we? A little over two hundred feet in the air? Coming down at the speed of gravity, hitting the water would be like hitting glass. I don't know about a dragon but a human could die from that for sure," I argued/
Nevada gritted his teeth and shook his head. "We don't have a lot of options here, your dice are new to you, I don't know how long you can keep your die and the Alpha of Shields activated, your shield is more important, we need to stay invisible until we get back to the castelli but we can't get back to the castelli hovering in place over Rome, we have to take that chance," Nevada sighed in defeat.
"I know," I mumbled. "Is there any you could slow us down?"
"What do you mean?" Nevada sounded interested.
"By freezing the air as we fall, the molecules are more densely pack in cold air than warmer air, theoretically it might slow us down enough to survive," I explained, making it up as I went along. It sounded like it made sense but I wasn't sure if the science behind it was correct.
"Huh, it might work but I would have to be careful not to freeze the water, slamming into ice would kill us for sure," Nevada laughed. "It would require a lot of precision on my part."
"I thought precision was your middle name," I winked at him, laughing nervously. The sun was beginning to set. I hoped the other guys weren't worried. Three frantic dragons tearing through Ancient Rome looking for their missing teammates the same day the Concilium library was broken into was beyond suspicious.
"The way my brother's tell it, my middle name is Frosty," Nevada rolled his eyes. "We don't have any other good ideas, we might as well roll with it."
"Okay, ready?" I asked, clenching the die in my palm.
"As I'll ever be," Nevada shifted me in his arms, clenching me tightly around the waist from behind me with one arm and wrapped his long legs around me. He pointed his palm down toward the water.
"Release," I said at the same time I let the magic in my number two die slip. The effect was immediate, we fell through the air. The air grew progressively colder as we fell further and further toward the Earth. Cold air rushed around us, howling in my eyes.
Nevada clenched me tighter with his arm and legs. I squeezed my eyes, waiting for impact. I drew in a deep breath and pursed my lips.
"Brace yourself!" Nevada yelled and a moment later we hit the water with a loud splash. The impact separated us.
We plunged deep into the Tiber River and I opened my mouth to scream but river water filled my mouth. I sputtered and clawed at the water, trying to pull myself to the surface. A sharp pain shot through my broken arm and I wanted to cry but my lungs burned for oxygen and I kept trying to swim upward.
I broke the surface of the water and gasped for air. A muscled arm clasped around me and pulled through the water.
A large hand clapped on my back, helping me cough up the water.
"You okay, Taves?" Nevada whispered, his own voice hoarse like he had swallowed river water as well. I blinked the water out of my eyes.
"Yeah," I said between gulps of air. "We're alive. How about that?"
"I'm surprised as you are," Nevada chuckled before his face grew serious and drifted over my shoulder. He grabbed me with both arms and swam us through the water until we were underneath a stone bridge. The sound of frantic voices drifted over to us.
"What? We're still invisible," I coughed.
"We're invisible but the displacement of the water isn't, neither was the sound of the splash," Nevada explained. Pressing me against the wall of the bridge.
I don't know how it had started but all of a sudden Nevada's mouth was on mine, pressing a hard, angry kiss to my lips. I returned it with equal fervor, whimpering against his lips. Nevada's lips were soft but cold, his tongue darted out of his mouth. He traced my bottom lip with his oddly cold but delectable feeling tongue. I parted my lips and gave him entrance. I pressed my body closer to his, feeling my nipples rub against my wet leather armor, the painful sensation added another level to the pleasure I was feeling.
One of Nevada's arms snaked around my waist and twirled me in the water, pressing me against the stone of the bridge. The water sloshed around my shoulders as I moved my legs up to wrap them around Nevada's waist. His other armor arm went right into my hair, twining his fingers through my messy waves. He yanked my hair back and I hissed from the pleasure. He broke our kiss and his lips trailed down m jawline to my neck, teasing me with rough kisses and little bites. I moaned, letting myself drown in the sensation.
I squeezed my legs tighter around his waist. I needed to feel more of him, I needed him as close to me as he could possibly be. Nevada's arm tightened around me as an animalistic groan escaped from his lips. He grounded his hard cock into me and continued to kiss my neck.
Forgotten were our pursuers, forgotten was the fact that we were in public. At that moment, all that existed were Octavia and Nevada and the raging desire between us.
My broken arm trailed gently up the firm muscles of his back. Nevada bit a sensitive part of my neck and I hissed in pleasure, scratching down his back with my broken arm.
"Fuck," Nevada stopped kissing my neck and pressed his forehead to mine, his eyes clenched shut as if he was in pain. "I want you so fucking bad, couldn't be a worse time."
"I need you, Vada," I told him breathlessly. "We're invisible it will be fine.”
I rubbed his back with my hands in a soothing gesture.
"If you're sure, I can't stop, I need you," Nevada moaned and I pressed my body against him harder.
His hand left my hair and dipped under the water and went between us. Freeing his erection from his armor, he pressed it against me.
My good hand went to his hair and I rubbed circles into his scalp with my nails. "You feel so good."
Nevada rocked against me harder, sloshing the water around us. "You like this?"
"Yes!" I met each of his thrusts with one of my own, sinking into a perfect rhythm with him.
"You want this? Out in public? Where anyone could hear us?" Nevada groaned into my hair. "You want my cock inside of you?"
"Yes!" I shouted again.
"You asked for it!" Nevada growled, guiding himself with his hand, pushing the leather straps of my armor up and yanking my soaked panties down. He rubbed his length up and down my folds before entering me in one rough stroke, stretching me and filling me up.
Nevada fill
ed me with one rough thrust and I came apart around him. Maybe it was the strange but enticing feeling of his icy skin or the rough stone of the bridge scratching my back or the naughtiness of being in public. But all of them combined sent me spiraling up into a mind shattering orgasm.
Nevada captured my cries with a kiss as he began a sensual cadence of thrusts as I fluttered around him.
"Tavia," He growled against my lips, pressing a rough kiss to my lips as he continued to grind inside of me. In and out, in and out. I clenched his back tightly with my broken arm, my nails digging into his hard muscles. My other hand twisted into his midnight curls, tugging on them as I returned his thrusts with my own. The cold river water lapped at our bodies as we kept our punishing, fast pace.
