"I won't let you chain him again!" I yelled at him, grabbing at his arm and trying to pull the chains from his grip.
"These aren't to hold it." He began throwing the chains across the dragon's neck, just behind its head crest where the scales were thickest. "These are for you to hold onto."
"What? No, I can't-"
The dragon's head shifted slightly, bringing one golden eye level with me again. In its depths, I saw something I hadn't expected - not just freedom, but purpose. It inched closer, nearly nudging me off my feet.
"He's chosen you," Tarshi said, moving behind me. "You're the only one who ever showed him kindness."
"But I-" My protests were cut short as Tarshi's hands gripped my waist. Before I could react, he lifted me as easily as a child and set me astride the dragon's neck. The scales were smooth beneath my legs, and radiating heat that penetrated even through my armor.
Around us, the other gladiators had given up any pretense of fighting each other. They worked together now, using fallen weapons and debris to try and break through the heavy doors that led to the ludus. If they could get through, there might be a chance to escape through the underground passages. But the ancient wood held firm against their desperate efforts.
"I can't leave them," I said, though my hands had already found their way to the chains. "Marcus, the others… Octavia… I need to find Tavi!"
"Octavia got out through the stands, I saw her go. And the others will find their own way out," Tarshi said. "But you?" He looked up at the burning sky, where more dark shapes were gathering. "You have a different path."
The dragon's muscles tensed beneath me. I could feel its eagerness to be airborne, to taste true freedom after so many years bound to the earth. More sections of the arena were catching fire now, and the smoke was becoming unbearable.
"Go," Tarshi said, stepping back. "Before it's too late. And Livia?" He met my eyes one last time. "Make them pay. Make them all pay."
"Come with me!" The words burst from my lips before I could stop them. I couldn't leave him here, not after everything. I just prayed my reptile friend would allow another to ride him.
Tarshi's eyes widened in surprise, then darted to the arena walls where the imperial soldiers were slaughtering the townsfolk in a desperate attempt to reach the gates. I struggledto feel pity for those who had cheered and laughed while my friends, my family, died for their entertainment. I looked back down at Tarshi.
"Come with me," I said again.
For a heartbeat, I thought he would refuse. Then a fierce grin split his face.
"Why not? I always wanted to die spectacularly."
He gripped the chains and swung himself up behind me with the fluid grace that marked him as something more than human. The dragon shifted beneath us, adjusting to the new weight, and I felt its muscles bunch as it prepared to launch skyward.
Then I saw him - Septimus, still standing by the last broken column, hammer dangling from nerveless fingers as he stared at the destruction around him. Blood ran from a gash on his shoulder, and his armor was black with soot, but he was alive.
"Septimus!" I screamed over the growing roar of the fires. "Come on!"
He looked up, and I saw the moment his mind tried to reject what his eyes were seeing - me, the arena's most notorious prisoner, astride the dragon we'd just freed. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
The dragon had begun to move, its claws leaving deep furrows in the sand as it sought space to spread its wings. We were running out of time.
"Trust me!" I reached toward him, but we were already too far. "Please!"
Tarshi leaned out, extending his arm. The dragon's movement had brought us closer to Septimus, but we were still passing him by. If he hesitated even a moment longer...
I saw the war in his eyes - years of imperial conditioning against a race of people that even now threatened our home fighting with the survival instinct that screamed to take any chance, any escape. Behind him, another section of the standscollapsed in a shower of burning timber, and Septimus leapt out of the way as the debris crashed towards him. Tarshi lunged forward, hanging down, one hand gripping the chains, the other wrapping viselike around Septimus's wrist, pulling him clear. The half-breed's inhuman strength made it look easy as he swung the larger man up behind him.
"One more?" I whispered, pressing my palm against its scales. A rumble of assent vibrated through its entire body. My eyes found Marcus among the group of gladiators still hammering at the ludus doors, his sword now being used as a makeshift pry bar.
"Marcus!" My voice cracked with desperation as we lumbered closer. The dragon's claws left deep furrows in the sand, its wings half-spread and ready for flight. "Come with us!"
He turned, and I saw the same shock cross his face that I'd seen on Septimus - disbelief warring with wonder. The sword slipped from his fingers as he stumbled toward us, ash and blood streaking his face.
"Livia?" His eyes darted from me to the dragon, then to the burning sky above where dark shapes wheeled and dove through the smoke. "What are you doing?"
"Escaping. Come on!" I reached down, offering my hand. "We can all be free!"
But Marcus didn't move. His expression shifted, and I recognized the look he got before matches - calculating, strategic, always thinking three moves ahead. "If we run now," he said, voice tight with regret, "Drusus will never stop hunting us. You know what he's like. He'll track us across the empire if he has to."
