Down on the street, Draco's unconscious body was now surrounded by a group of what looked like elite guards, wearing full armor that set itself apart from the armor of the other guards by its color and also by the fact that it had an emblem depicting a dragon on its breastplate. One of them had a red feather on his helmet, probably their leader, for while most of the guards, even these elite ones, were armed with either swords or spears paired with shields, he had two daggers at his sides and a giant blade, almost as tall as he was, on his back.

  Another guard who had gone to fetch the camp's healer returned, followed by a petite woman of about 160cm dressed in dirty rags that looked like they had once been a beautiful white dress suitable for a noblewoman, and bound by chains with faintly glowing symbols engraved all over them around her hands, feet, and neck, the guard dragged her along by a leash attached to the metal collar around her neck to where the severely injured Draco still lay unconscious. What made Lily pause and raise an eyebrow were the woman's ears and her hair, her hair was long, almost down to her waist, and every strand looked like it was made of pure gold, and her ears were long and pointed, the woman was an elf. Judging by her appearance, a pure-blooded noble.

  While the guard escorting the healer spoke to his fellow guards to announce the arrival of the healer, Lily's thoughts were interrupted by Luna's voice, "Mistress...I think he is starting to wake up." Hearing this, Lily turned her attention back to Draco and noticed that he was indeed starting to regain consciousness; seeing this, Lily decided that it was time for their entertainment to begin. Amplifying her voice with magic, Lily addressed the entire camp,

  "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, old and young, free and bound, it gives me great pleasure to announce that you have all been chosen to entertain me and my partner this fine evening. The rules are simple: Soon a monster will awaken in your midst and begin to slaughter all of you, if you survive until sunrise you will be free to go. To keep things interesting and give everyone an equal chance, I will free all the slaves currently held in this camp from their shackles and cages. Now, let the fun begin! Struggle, cry, scream, despair, and most importantly: ENTERTAIN US!"

  POV ELLEN

  When the guard came to pick me up today for the daily healing of the wounded bandits I was forced to do, I knew immediately that something was different, the streets were almost empty and the guards seemed to be on high alert. Another sign that something was very wrong was that instead of being led to the tents where the wounded bandits were resting, I was led to the house where that bastard Draco, the leader of these sick assholes, resides. When we arrived at the scene, I saw something I could only ever dream about until now, Draco, surrounded by his personal guards, lying on the street, badly injured and unconscious.

  While the guard who had escorted me here was talking to his colleagues, I couldn't suppress my grin anymore and prayed to whoever did this that the damned motherfucker would finally rot in hell. Suddenly, a loud voice was heard throughout the camp, sending shivers down my spine,

  "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, old and young, free and bound, it gives me great pleasure to announce that you have all been chosen to entertain me and my partner this fine evening. The rules are simple: Soon a monster will awaken in your midst and begin to slaughter all of you, if you survive until sunrise you will be free to go. To keep things interesting and give everyone an equal chance, I will free all the slaves currently held in this camp from their shackles and cages. Now, let the fun begin! Struggle, cry, scream, despair, and most importantly: ENTERTAIN US!"

  When I turned in the direction the voice came from, I saw her, a woman so beautiful that she could only be described as a goddess, her long silver hair shining like the moonlight itself, the elegant kimono that hugged her body like living, wavering shadows, and her cold silver eyes that looked as if they could freeze your very soul were all captivating, but to me the most stunning thing about her was how she proudly displayed her ears and tails for everyone to see, not caring at all what mere mortals thought.

  She sat on her throne like everything and everyone was beneath her and she was born to rule over everything. On her lap sat a woman who, though not quite on the same level, was still very beautiful and also proudly displayed her Beastkin features. She had short, fiery red hair, wore black leather armor that hugged her curves in a very flattering way, and her eyes told of a predator that loves to see her prey suffer.

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  While it was easy to identify the second woman as a wolfkin, she had no idea what tribe the other woman belonged to, but one thing was for sure, they were very powerful if they could just walk into this camp, severely injure Draco and start some kind of game with the people here just for their morbid entertainment. While I was still processing everything that was happening around me, my eyes met those of the nine-tailed woman, she smiled at me and in the next moment all my shackles and chains fell to the ground, I was finally free.

  In my euphoria I forgot one crucial point until I heard a sound that sent waves of dread through my body, a roar that sounded like pure madness, followed by a series of wet thuds and some kind of liquid hitting my back.

  When I looked in the direction the sound came from, I was greeted by the bloody scene of a massacre, Draco, his head now sporting horns, his hands turned into claws and with scales all over his skin, was wielding a bloody blade that radiated pure madness. All around him, the corpses of the guards who had protected his unconscious form only moments before now lay bisected at the waist. Blood spurted from their remains, painting everything in the vicinity red, while the once-proud bandit leader began to laugh like a madman.

  Understanding what the woman meant when she said "monster," I made a split-second decision.

  What very few people know is that there are two types of magic that can be used to heal someone: the "natural" kind, whose sole purpose is to heal and can't be used for anything else, and the "unnatural" kind, which can be achieved through a very high mastery of blood magic.

  This fact is largely unknown, as bloodmages are considered a threat by most races and are killed as soon as they are found, since once they reach a certain level of mastery over their affinity, they become almost immortal. They can survive almost anything as long as there is enough blood, can control and even stop their aging, and can even control the blood of most living things around them.

  Luckily for me, my kind of healing magic belongs to the second type, so I used my blood magic to reverse the blood flow of the guard standing next to me, destroying all his organs and making him bleed from every possible orifice. I collected the blood from the dead guard's body before shaping it into two blood arrows and launching them at two more guards, piercing their heads and killing them instantly before I turned my eyes to the camp's main exit.

  Many people, especially the non-combatants, seemed to have the same idea, but as soon as the first ones reached the exit, the mysterious woman spoke again, her voice full of mock hurt, "You want to leave before the show is over? After all the effort I put into making this evening as enjoyable as possible? You hurt my feelings." In the next moment, a dome of pure darkness settled over the entire camp, plunging everything into an abyssal darkness before a cold silver light restored my ability to see.

  Looking up, I thought I had lost my mind, but there it was, a moon, hovering at the highest point of the dome. "Rule number two for our little game: Get too close to one of the exits and you will share the fate of these poor souls," the woman sitting on the throne said as she played with the fluffy tail of the wolfkin woman sitting on her lap, pointing to the main exit of the camp, "and as punishment for interrupting our entertainment, you will not only have to survive, but also kill five of your comrades, slaves will have to kill five slaves, guards will have to kill five guards, civilians will have to kill their own children, and children will have to kill their parents."

  In a state of shock after hearing her words, I looked towards the main gate and what I saw there made me realize just how hopeless the situation truly was, either we followed her rules and had a chance, however minimal, to survive or we would die a gruesome death at the hands of a being whose true power I couldn't even begin to imagine.

  The scene at the main gate was one of nightmares, the women were impaled by stone spears that rose from the ground, those who died instantly were the lucky ones as the stone spears began to emit a very intense heat that cooked the woman who survived the initial impalement alive.

  The man seemed to melt from the inside out until they turned into puddles on the ground, screaming in pure agony but unable to lose consciousness or die.

  The elderly were seized by invisible hands and their bones crushed before they were folded like clean clothes.

  The children were assaulted by ferocious winds that stripped away layer after layer of their skin until only their skeletons remained.

  Unable to look away, I was certain of one thing: if I wanted to survive this game, I would have to do whatever it takes, no matter the cost.

  This was going to be a very long night, and it had only just begun.