Chapter 6
Chapter Six
The male that sat atop a natural quartz throne that sprouted from the ground was resplendent.
As he stood, each of his steps toward the box’s railing thrummed with energy and sent pulses of his magic reverberating throughout the arena.
Tarek, Prime Apparent of House Taurus, shined like a newborn star burning with untapped power.
Tala, his twin sister and Adjacent, had been right, as usual, by insisting that he wear what wrapped his imposing frame.
The crisp white suit he wore with angular cuts stressed his already broad shoulders and hugged the rest of his warrior trained physique before draping dramatically behind him in a seamless design.
The stark contrast between his cool-toned ebony skin and the white suit made him easy to identify.
Tarek slid a hand along his close-cropped black hair.
With thick golden horns that curled upon his shoulders and matching cuffs at his wrists, he was the physical embodiment of the Bull: a strong, steady leader and the perfect soon-to-be Primary Star for his constellation. As he was destined to be.
The cacophony quieted in response to his upraised arms to begin his address. For a moment, Tarek basked in the crowd’s anticipation before beginning his speech.
“Welcome to The Games!” he bellowed, his voice amplified across the large oval arena.
The unblemished sand floor of the pit had been expertly raked to resemble the Taurus constellation.
Quartz pillars fashioned in the likeness of each prominent star of his Asterism jutted up from the sand to complement the concept.
Gates that held the competitors ran along the perimeter of the sandpit.
“This cycle, we have the esteemed honor of hosting The Games in Avarice.” Every time the grand city was mentioned in a public address, a deafening cheer rang out and brought a smile to Tarek’s face.
“A grand city it is, yes! Avarice!” Tarek yelled back to his House’s roar and swept his arms out wide.
The crowd chanted, “Avarice, Avarice, Avarice!”
He let the theatrics build before he slowly brought his arms down to quiet them.
“We’ll get to the excitement in a moment, I assure you,” his deep voice rumbled.
“However, we have important guests in attendance for The Games. May I present,” a gesture to his left with a dramatic sweep of his arm revealed a stunning female who strode up beside him. “Proxima, Heir of House Sagittarius!”
The crowd cheered for Proxima as her left arm sailed up and out in a graceful arc before she brought her fist to her chest. Her pink hair was shaved on one side of her head, pin-straight and cut bluntly to just above her shoulders.
The new style suited her and was a nod to her adventurous personality.
Even though Tarek knew a grand appearance was necessary today, envy wound its way around his neck at the sight of Proxima’s more practical tactical suit and the selenite crystal lining the inside.
But The Games were a special occasion. And by the Unrested, he did look good.
Tarek couldn’t help but wonder if Proxima chose not to wear more formal garb on purpose—if her tactical suit was a carefully packaged message, a threat from her father and Primary, Kaus, that he would wage war if anything happened to her. Peace be damned.
Tarek had recently received news that the Senate had denied his request to bond with the female. Tarek clicked his tongue in agitation.
Pity. She is a powerful star.
“Also in attendance this year is my sister.” The crowd didn’t wait for Tala’s full title as second in command of their House before they erupted with a cheer that rivaled his own. “Your Adjacent, Tala!”
A light, sandy cloud swirled at his right side as Tala materialized from the dust, not one curl out of place.
Her attire complemented his own in every way, though more feminine.
The wide gold cuffs at her wrists and thick torc at her throat connected to the white cape behind her, the shimmering dove fabric billowing as she waved.
Tala lifted her chin at the crowd’s obvious adoration.
Tarek smiled contentedly at his sister. Their deep reddish-brown garnet eyes locked briefly as they shared a rare moment.
He imagined the burdens and responsibilities of his station melting away with the cheers of their House and tried to savor everything that they had done to get where they were.
Tala returned his soft smile, suggesting she shared the sentiments.
Tarek turned his attention from the females on either side of him back to the stars gathered in raised seating around the arena.
“If you’ve had the privilege of witnessing The Games before, we shall honor the Gods the way we do best, with our blood.
For those of you who have never witnessed such a spectacle, prepare yourselves.
Though The Games of old demanded participants from each House, those days are long past.” A brief somber silence blanketed the crowd.
“It is with a heavy heart that we remember our treachery this day. But fear not!” Tarek smiled darkly.
“I have procured a treat for you today. Our House has the honor of testing our might against a Lion.” The coliseum howled.
“You sure do know how to work them into a frenzy,” Proxima said. Tarek glanced at her with a devious smirk.
“I’m just getting started.”
He quieted the crowd once more and continued his address. “Let the Gods hear us this day, however far they are from us, as we pay homage where it is due. A select few have been chosen to battle for your entertainment. To the victor go the spoils!”
The crowd cheered again, and the energy in the arena shifted into feverish anticipation, as if the citizens would begin turning on each other to satisfy their bloodlust if the main event didn’t start soon. The unmarred sand waited.
“There is one small adjustment to this year’s Games,” he said, smiling more to himself than the crowd.
The silence at his words was almost instantaneous as they waited with bated breath.
“At the end of The Games, the winners, if deemed worthy, will be selected for the Taureon Line.” A shock rippled through the stadium and the celestials seated behind him.
Tala shifted imperceptibly closer to him and murmured under her breath so only he could hear, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Tarek.”
Without warning or further preamble, Tarek thrust his arms forward and dredged up his earth element to manipulate the stone columns that dotted the sandpit.
Fine motes of quartz drifted away from the Aster pillars as Tarek’s magic took hold.
Tarek then leaped out of the balcony box.
The crowd took a collective gasp as a narrow bridge network appeared from the haze of quartz, connecting the tops of the columns just as Tarek slammed onto the longest bridge, his white cloak fluttering behind him.
With a wave of his hand, the quartz smoothed over beneath his feet from where his landing had cracked the newly formed stone.
The bridge network he had made connected the constellation pattern of columns below in an interconnected web.
Delight lit the faces of the stars in attendance. Tarek made a show of looking around the coliseum, gesturing for louder applause as he strode to the center of the pit atop the narrow bridges.
“BEGIN!” he shouted before dashing back the way he came in a flurry of white.
The gates for the first competitors creaked open, accompanied by a thousand thunderous voices. In a series of strategic jumping steps up the stadium wall, Tarek gracefully settled back behind the balcony box between Tala and Proxima.
“Fancy choreography, Tarek,” the Sagittarian Heir quipped.
Only their longstanding history gave her the leeway to address him in such a manner, in addition to wanting to remain on amicable terms with a fire element House. If she were anyone else, he’d have tossed her into the pit.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” he said breathlessly, though not from exertion but from the palpable energy.
His bloodlust thrashed inside him as his baser nature begged to defile the pristine sand of the arena floor. The stars of Avarice were near feral as they shouted and taunted at the onset of the barbaric display.
Gates at the ground level of the pit fully opened, revealing the first combatants.
Settling back onto his throne, Tarek smiled to himself.
Tarek was not a fool. He knew there was no entering the God’s good graces again, no matter how much blood he spilled in their name.
No amount of pious prayers to Taureal would bring her or the other Gods back to the realm they had left behind.
There was no reaching them. Wherever they had gone, they had left their prized creations to rot away and die a slow, inevitable death.
The path of the Zodiac Houses was set. All he could do as the soon-to-be Primary of his House was protect what was his in whatever way he could. No matter the cost.
Intended to honor and replicate the brutality of the Gods themselves, The Games were simple in nature: consume the power of your opponent or burn out trying. There was no in-between. No yielding. Each fight ended with a fractured star and a victor with newly acquired power.
The realm was a savage place where only the strongest survived. Ever since the Senate came together in peace at the end of the War Before, there hadn’t been nearly enough blood spilled in Tarek’s opinion. There weren’t enough opportunities to test his strengths.
Legend claimed that the Gods’ nature trickled down as they created their celestial Lines.
Forever locked in a competition against their brethren, the Gods sought to edge each other out for superiority.
It was conceivable that their same depraved nature and desire for power was passed down like the small magic and elemental power they granted to each of the Houses born from them.