How did this happen? Tarik woke in a cage, gagged and bound. He snarled and pulled at his restraints. He was careless, got cocky. And now his sister was dead and he had been captured.
Poachers. What else could they be? They had seen what he was and were now going to get a big payday. For when was the last time someone had seen a gryphon?
He jerked on the chains again. Stupid. He was so stupid.
Tarik squatted down in the tiny cage and roughly pressed his forehead against the bars. Hay shifted under his feet. The chain, secured in the middle of the room kept him from fully resting against the walls.
As soon as he got his strength back he'd shift. His wings would easily tear apart this place. He kicked at the brick walls, the bars. He couldn't sense any magic in them.
Before he could study the cuffs there was a commotion in the hall.
"Bring her in. Same cell as always."
A man in a simple uniform opened the cell. He looked young and scared. Two men, one at the shoulder the other at the feet, carried in a young woman. She wore a simple dirty shift. Black hair wild. Her skin beautiful and dark.
He took in a big whiff but couldn't smell anything but blood, not what she was. They tossed her in and locked the cage.
She huffed at the impact and rolled over on her side, back to him. He watched the rise and fall of her ribcage.
Tarik wondered why a woman had been locked up. Just what was this place?
YOU ARE READING
The Arena (Complete)
FantasyCaptured and forced to fight for their survival. Two unlikely creatures find companionship in one another. A gryphon haunted by his guilt and a panther who had forgotten what it was like to be human. Somehow they would find a way to freedom and thei...
