The Dragon Games

Aftermath II

Gordo ducked, and her fist struck Elio's nose. He reeled back, his gangly arms windmilling in the air, blood streaming down his chin.

"Are you mad, woman?" Gordo shrieked. Then he whipped to Elio and me, his eyes wide as plates. "Did you see that? Bianca just tried to kill me!"

"And I wish I did it sooner!" 

Bianca made another lunge for Gordo, and this time Elio managed to skirt out of the way. As the two wrestled, shouting and cursing each other out, Elio and I slumped on opposite ends of the couch. 

Perhaps I should help Bianca, but after turning down Tristan's offer to skip the mountain for the sake of my parlay, I wasn't about to risk it for a petty chamber fight.

"Should we do something?" Elio said.

"Probably," I mumbled.

Neither of us moved. Well, that's not entirely true. Elio pinched his nose and craned his head up to slow the blood flow. I moved my arm to shield my eyes with the crook of my elbow.

"Hey!" We whipped around to find Cassian standing in the doorway. "What is going on here?"

Gordo and Bianca sprang apart like shrapnel. My stomach dropped. I didn't care if I got kicked out of the group, but it wasn't a good look, especially on the heels of the mountain episode.

"It's my fault," I said quickly, before anyone else could speak. "By drawing the wrath of Balthasar, I've made myself a liability in the arena. We've decided, as a group, it's best for everyone if I work alone."

I glanced at Gordo, and an unspoken agreement passed between us. So long as I left the group, I could frame myself as the noble sacrifice instead of the problematic reject.

"Well, that just goes to show why pledges are not in charge of selecting their own groups," Cassian snorted. "You fail to see that having Black in your group is not a punishment; it's a blessing. You should be thanking the gods above that I put her with you."

Elio and Gordo made faces as if Cassian had just climbed on his desk, dropped his pants, and shat upon the arena map.

"Her divine will draw far stronger dragons than you could dream of getting by yourselves," Cassian continued. "You have seen but a fraction of what she is capable of."

Gordo crossed his arms over his chest. "I know she is powerful, but–"

"She is not just powerful. This is Raven Black." Cassian said my name like it was supposed to send them into hysterics, but Elio, Gordo, and Bianca just frowned back at him, unimpressed.

"Okay?" Bianca said.

"We know her name," Gordo said. "We've lived with her for months."

"Also known as Crenshaw's pet," Cassian said. 

That got the reaction he was fishing for. Obviously Elio was unsurprised, but the look on Gordo and Bianca's faces was comical.

"She's what?" Gordo echoed, eyes wide.

"You're Crenshaw's Pet?" Bianca burst out at the same time.

"Some called me that," I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest. 

The attention caught me a little off guard. Before Drax took over, I never took the raiders seriously. It was strange to think of the reputation I cultivated when the jobs felt like games and the divine was just a party trick to amuse my friends. I almost forgot that during the height of the raiders, there was a bigger bounty on my neck than Drax's.

"Is it true that you knocked down a building with the divine?" Gordo said.

"Not just one building," Cassian said. "Five." Then he shot me a look as if I was supposed to add that I did it with one hand behind my back or something.