All Chapters of The Arena: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The cheers of the spectators are deafening, chanting for their favorite. Up there, the air is clean and the smell of food makes my stomach growl. Down here, under the arena, the Underground we call it, we are only fed when we win. You’d think they would want to keep us all healthy and well fed, they brought us here as modern-day gladiators, after all. But that’s not how it works.Here, only the strongest survive, and I am one of the strongest.My name is Tana, and I am one of the last Elemental Dragons in existence. There are only four of us left. One for air, one for water, one for earth and me, the one for fire. My captors do not know what I am, my fate would be far worse if they did. We’re not allowed to shift in the arena anyway. We must fight in our human form, which works to protect my secret.The ones who imprison us do not care of our well-being. Supernaturals are easy to find, if not so easy to capture. There are very few of us who survive the first month of the arena, but th

I have no idea why Cedric is acting like suddenly there is a way for us to get out of here. We’ve tried everything we can possibly think of to escape. We’ve both tried to pull our bars apart, we’ve tried not eating the food in case it was poisoned, we’ve tried climbing the walls to get to windows or air vents. Cedric even tried shifting, but he was unable. I did too, just in case it would work, but it didn’t. Nothing has worked.The only way we’re getting out of here is if someone comes to our rescue. My family is gone, so I know no one is coming for me. Cedric felt very strongly that his pack would come to save him, but they never did. It’s not that I think they left him for dead. Based on what he’s told me, I think that they either were brought here and have died in battle, or they were taken for experimentation. In which case, they are probably dead.I know when I was captured, my family chose death over the possibility of being experimented on. We didn’t even know about the arena.

I don’t know why Cedric is so damned hardheaded. I’ve been marked for death. Nothing that he does will keep me alive. If I was capable of shifting, I would have months ago and gotten everyone out of here.“Did you hear any more about that dragon shifter?” I ask him, wondering why, if they found another dragon, they weren’t in the pits today.“No, maybe it was a misunderstanding, and they were talking about the pride of lions or maybe they knocked the dragon out and they haven’t woken yet.”“Yes, but then, wouldn’t that be the fourth in our fight next weekend?” I ask.“I haven’t smelled a dragon.” Shere Khan says, looking at me meaningfully. Shit, does that mean he knows what I am?“You know what a dragon smells like?” Cedric asks him.“Yes, but unlike other shifters, they don’t share a similar scent based on their breed. It depends on their element.” He replies.“What do you mean, their element?” Cedric asks.“Do you not know anything about dragons?” He asks, looking at me again.Cedr

When they move me, they put me in a space that looks and smells like it is where the toilets are. There is no one here except for me and the smell is so terrible I can barely breathe. There is no air flow, so breathing becomes difficult. It’s not surprising that they only give me poisoned food, not that I could eat in this literal shithole even if it wasn’t poisoned. I realize starting on Thursday that the water they give me is also poisoned. So, basically, before my battle, I can’t breathe, I have no food and no water. If I were a regular shifter, like they think I am, the lack of water would be very problematic. But as a dragon, I can go long periods without water. It’s the tainted air that’s the problem for me. What water I might be able to draw from the air is contaminated. I can’t pull enough oxygen into my lungs because of the putrid scent in the air. On Saturday morning, the keeper comes in and shoots me with some sort of dart. I didn’t expect that it would affect me, but it m

I don’t know what the little kestrel told Ishir, but whatever it was, it nearly cost her life. I’m not surprised by the boos I receive froom the crowd, although, if these guys were smart, they would have played me up so that their odds would have been better. There’s no way they are making money if I die tonight. However, as the four of us take our stance, ready to fight, I know that none of us are dying tonight. But every spectator in this stadium will burn today. All afternoon, I’ve been soaking up the sun. I’ve been breathing in the fresh air and feeling my fire returning and burning in my gut. Unlike the others, I didn’t try to partially shift. If I had, everyone would have realized what I am. I saw Ishir watching me several times today. He knows my strength has returned. I’m not sure I can totally shift, but I can definitely breathe fire and burn these assholes alive. When the doors open, I see Cedric head toward Zaiden as planned. Ishir heads straight toward me and I run at hi