Chapter Twenty-Five – Lust City Stadium

  When he got home, again, Rynn jumped on him, and again, they had sex. Her need was intense, and he knew it was because he’d been with Settie. It was not unwelcome, though it did make him wonder.

  When he collapsed and was allowed to sleep, he found himself back at the place of water and stars. There was laughter again coming from the shack, and he expected to see Ames out front, but no, there was no one there on the island.

  Like always, he started walking toward it but then the pain started…not in his feet, but in his hands both where he’d grabbed the knife and from where Settie had stabbed him with the needle.

  He had to sigh. “It can’t rain all the time.”

  Oma’s warm laughter erupted around him. “But that wasn’t what Ames said. She said that life is more than just the pain. You have seven weeks until the start of the Soulshred. It will be a long week, the longest of your life, but you will be ready.”

  He had to stop walking toward the shack. His hands were screaming. He knelt and pushed them into the water and immediately, he watched as the blood turned to clouds in the water. Down below, just at the very edge of his sight, he saw eyes glittering there, and somehow, he knew they were demons.

  “I’m not sure which disturb me more,” he said to Oma. “The faces of the dead or the fact that there are demons down there. I’m not just seeing things, right? Those are demons.”

  “There are many things in the waters of the world just as every day has its joys as well as its heartbreaks. Do your hands feel better?”

  “Yes.” He took his hands out of the water, and the pain returned.

  He winced. “What are you trying to tell me?”

  “Your life will be pain for a time, and those around you will suffer. But you, and those children of Envy and Kindness, have the wisdom and fortitude to find your way. Like she said, life is more than the pain of it.”

  He thrust his hands back into the water. “And it can’t rain all the time.”

  The pain was gone, but whatever swam in the depths of that impossible ocean was rising up to get him. He was in a bind. If he pulled his hands from the water, the pain would return, but if he kept them there, these demons just might bite them off.

  Ames appeared beside him. She pushed him onto his back and then clambered on top of him. Her auburn eyes were shining with lust, and yes, his hand started to hurt for a second, until she intertwined her slim fingers into him. Then, he felt the healing, only this healing felt like heaven. It felt so good.

  He felt his core open as mana rushed inside.

  Ames’s hair famed his face. In the darkness, he probably shouldn’t have been able to see, but her skin was glowing dusky purple, which made her eyes twinkle. She was straddling him, and he couldn’t help but press his stiff need up against her center.

  She smiled and the leaned down to kiss him.

  He couldn’t kiss her though. That would be a betrayal, and he wasn’t going to hurt Rynn, ever.

  But it was just a dream, wasn’t it?

  The minute he felt her soft lips on his, he was awake.

  Rynn slept, and he was glad, but outside, he could hear the rain. He couldn’t help but take it as warning.”

  A week later, he and his squad left for Lust City and their first real game of Chaotica. Along with it came more pain and more rain as well.

  * * *

  They took a carriage, pulled by horses, to get to Lust City. The five of them were inside the plush interior. The elven women—Oma had referred to them as the children of Envy and Kindness—weren’t too impressed by the gold and velvet. Tomi kept snorting and shaking her head, laughing at all the elegance. Midj just kept opening and closing her mouth like a fish. She’d look out the window, and then fidget with the lamps, which were turned off, and then hold Gray’s hand.

  Every so often she’d squeeze and gasp, “Can you believe it? Mother’s oven, can you? Not a cart. Not our own feetsteps. But a carriage, an honest-to-goodness carriage. Four horses? Not good enough for the likes of us. We have six horses.

  And they did.

  They rumbled through the market, and Gray caught sight of Softie’s store. He’d spoken with the Widow Stone before they left for Lust City, and she had the dwarven smiths working on the brands. All they needed was the mana from the demon—and he had to be the one to harvest it.

  After Settie’s attempts to fix his meridians in the Pleasure Market had failed, and after she flatly refused to even consider talking with the Widow Stone, Gray had made up his mind. He was going to get himself fixed even if he had to risk his life by poaching to do it.

  He was thinking about that, and not about the expense of the carriage, as they approached the gate into Lust City. Settie was riding up top, out in the rain, though she had her hat and a heavy cloak to keep her dry.

  The fae guarding the gateway into Lust city had the same long faces and sharp features. These fairies had bright steel armor and long spears that glowed with mana. They interrogated Settie for a long time before letting them pass into Lust City. Even then, they forced Gray and the rest of his squad mates out of the carriage and had them stand in front of a full-length mirror. It was to check if they had any demon mana on them, which would mark them as poachers. The public execution would follow.

  Since they were innocent, they soon passed inspection, and the carriage continued to rumble down far smoother streets with far richer buildings. It was clear that Lust City had far more wealth than Pit City by the buildings, which were all painted in various bright colors. It was pretty and stylish without being gaudy. Unlike Pit City, most of the denizens of Lust City were the fae folk, and Gray saw all ages, shapes, and sizes. There were some humans and dwarves in the mix, but no orcs or goblins that he could see.

  They went through a series of palaces—the day was gloomy enough that the red lights above the doorways and in the windows were visible. It was another Pleasure Market, but this place had far better buildings and sumptuous parks.

  That made sense, since the fae were the children of lust and chastity.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  For being the literal sex people, though, the fae didn’t seem all that happy. He didn’t see any of Midj’s joy in them. Most walked with purpose, faces grim, and even when he saw groups of women talking, there were very few smiles.

  Why were they so dour? Could it have something to do with his core oath business?

  They were going to go to their inn after they watched the Chaotica game in the Briarblood Collective’s coliseum. Settie paid the carriage company extra to deliver their trunks to where they would be staying for the next week or so. Settie had found a field where they could practice, and she was trying to line up scrimmages with her contacts in the fae community but so far, she hadn’t been successful.

  They still had an hour before the game started, and so Gray led his squad out of the carriage and into the rain. Hoods up, they walked to the entryway, where once again, Settie escorted them through after slipping the guards watching over the coliseum a note and little bag of shekels.

  Gray was almost ready to give up on the fae when an older woman, wrinkles around her eyes, smiled at him.

  He smiled back and felt the mana in the air. Her core, a pretty pink color, blazed with energy, as did his.

  Rynn flashed him a smile. “She liked you.”

  “Jealous?”

  She leaned in close. “I’m choosing lust over envy. It’s a much more fun sin to embrace.”

  That made him laugh, and he kissed her.

  Settie, walking like fae, all serious and unamused, led them to their seats. Like always, she had her hat, mask, and cane, and looked rather fearsome. She got looks, but then, they were kind of out of their element. Midj might have been the only goblin in Lust City at that point.

  They were early, so the seats were mostly empty, but in the vendor hall, there were people selling food and beverages—vats of mulled wine, kegs of beer, and various flavors of coya, the sweet bubbly drink that Midj liked so much. They had butterbangs but Midj was eyeing more of the fae dishes that they couldn’t find in Pit City. She decided on a bag of fried peppers stuffed with cheese and a smooth root coya.

  Settie told them to find their seats and that she would join them shortly. She marched off, probably to talk with her fae contacts.

  They made their way through the tunnels of the stadium and found their section underneath an awning which kept the rain off them. Gray sat down in his seat with Rynn on side and Midj on the other. She thrust the bag of peppers into his face. “You have to try these! Gotta warn you, though, they are spicy! Super spicy!”

  Tomi didn’t say anything sarcastic because she was sleeping. That girl could sleep through anything.

  Gray was too excited. They’d been practicing a game they’d never seen.

  They were above the midfield line, the chalk line that divided the field. There were the main fields on either side –big rectangles of green grass called base fields—on for each team. The kill strips on either side—the ten yards that separated the end zone from the main field were painted a bright red. Or was the grass red? Either way, it certainly added some color to the field. The colors were especially bright because of misty rain sprinkling down.

  Midj shook the bag in front of him. “Hey, Gray, you have to try these!”

  He laughed. “I suppose I do.” He took the fried pepper and bit down. The breading flaked off into his mouth, he bit through the flesh of the pepper and was rewarded with a mouthful of gooey cheese. It took a second for the spice to hit him.

  He blinked. “Ow!”

  Midj kept on eating them. “Fae food is really good, but it’s also really spicy.”

  Good thing Gray had gotten a beer, which he sipped from a big mana-infused cup. The beer and the peppers complimented each other perfectly.

  Rynn sipped her wine. “Can I have one Midj?”

  The goblin eyed her. “It’s like to put some gold back int your hair.”

  She rolled her eyes, took one, and ate it. She winced. “Not gold in my hair. Fire in my belly.”

  Ames took one, eyed it, and then put it back in the bag.

  Midj laughed. “Impolite, not very sanitary, but understandable.”

  Ames gave Gray a shy look. “There is enough pain in the world without seeking it out.”

  “Ah spicy pain is the only pain worth anything,” Midj said. “Gives you’re a tongue a little kick in the butt.”

  Tomi snorted. “Now that is an anatomy lesson I could get behind.” She chuckled at her bad joke and then went back to sleep.

  Rynn put her hand on Gray’s arm. “Look. Down below and to the right.”

  Gray did and found a very unhappy Pamalee Thornpinch staring up at him. Her eyes narrowed.

  Gray laughed and waved.

  Pinch lifted a hand and then realized what she was doing. She turned around and talked with Duskdrop, who craned his neck to look back at them. He only smiled.

  It wasn’t long before Pinch glanced back ag Gray, only this time, there was some other kind of expression on her face.

  Settie stormed and sat down holding a big tray of dough pockets wrapped in paper. “Here. String beef samosas. Eat them. They are delicious. I have to warn you…they do have a bit of a kick.”

  “At least we won’t get hungry.” Gray took one of the pockets, unwrapped the paper, and took a bit. The dough was flakey, the meat flavorful and crispy, which was kind of a surprise. But the crispy meat and the dough were a good combination.

  It was about twenty minutes later that the two teams took the field. The rain had stopped but even if it had been pouring, the two teams still would’ve played each other. According to Settie, they were two of the more promising squads from The Briarblood Collective, and they hated each other. This wasn’t the first time that they were facing off.

  One team was the Royals, and they had red and gold, while the other were called the Upstarts, and their colors were green and brown. Gray had to wonder if Squad 23 would need to have specific colors when they competed against other teams. He didn’t care either way, but he knew Rynn would have an opinion.

  The Royals won the coin toss and got the ball first.

  Like at First Field, there were flaming numbers hanging in the air, counting down from an hour. It wouldn’t stop unless there was a death or if something happened to the ball. However, there were large nets holding other balls attached to the bottom wall of the stadium near doors at each team’s end zone and at the midfield line. That was where the demons would be unleashed.

  Both teams were in their end zones—the Royals to the left and the Upstarts to the right. Both teams had the bloodless blades.

  A whistle blast echoed through the stadium and the crowd roared.

  Eight fae—four on each side of the field—flew with wings whirring. They were dressed in black leather with white leather hats. They were the referees.

  One flew to the middle of the field and called out, his throat glowing gold as he used mana to broadcast his voice. “This game of Chaotica is being played with Pubis Port rules. For that last three quarters, the team with the least amount of points will have their Demon Doors flung open at some point during that quarter.”

  Again, the crowd roared.

  Gay felt hate in his heart. Once again, he was in the middle of the blood-thirsty crowd. The gods, if there were any left, certainly had a sense of humor.

  Then the game began with the Royals running down the field, with one Fae running faster than the others. There was a no flying rule in Chaotica.

  The Upstarts had faster runners and reached the midfield line first. However, they were following the rules so three defenders were left behind—one in the kill strip and two in their base field.

  The other four shot forward and then the clashes started. The buzz of the blades echoed across the stadium as they were filled with mana, and a phalanx of the royals engaged them. When the blades struck each other, they were showers of sparks filling the air.

  The runner sped forward, filled his legs with mana, and tore across the midfield line—he didn’t have anyone there to protect him at that point, but he managed to speed by the two defenders in the Upstart’s base field.

  There was only the one woman left behind in the killing strip, and she did her job well. The Royal runner had the ball tucked away under his left arm, and he had his sword in his right.

  She managed to bash his sword away and then struck him in the face with the pommel of her weapon. He went down, clearly unconscious, and then she had the ball.

  By that time, one of the other base defenders fell back to man the kill strip while she sped forward with her team mate.

  Other members of the Upstarts had raced back to their base field, and so, she had an escort as they took the ball across the midfield line and into the enemy territory.

  They eventually scored with five minutes left in the quarter.

  If the Royals didn’t score, then the door next to their end zone and demons would come spilling out.

  As he watched the game, all he could think of was that he needed to fix his meridians.

  Chaotica was brutal even without the demons.

  With the demons, it was chaos. Pure chaos.

  At least they got the name of the game right.

  It was during the last fifteen minutes that Gray left to use the toilet and to clear his head of what he’d seen. One of the Royals had been ripped to pieces by what Settie called a wrath cat.

  He was in the corridor, sipping his second beer, when Pinch found him.

  She scowled at him. “What are you doing here?”