Accept it! Yami hissed to himself as he gripped his knees so hard, he almost drew blood.

When he slowly unclenched, there were 10 half-moon marks indented across his skin atop his knees in a neat row, tinted pink.

How many people were in a province?
And somehow by a 'random luck' draw, he managed to be the unluckiest one?

One out of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people? A million?!

Human tributes never returned after being sent to the cave where a clan of powerful dragons were protecting them from the Demon Lord.

Well, he wasn't the son or daughter of a wealthy and corrupt magistrate, so as a regular civilian, he had just as much of a chance at being the dragon's bride as everyone else…

Bride was synonymous with food.

But my city has thousands of people! Yami wailed, taking a deep breath and glaring at the plain four walls of the giant room he was being kept in.

He could break out, but that would only reflect badly on his family.

And speaking of his family….

His twin brother Yugi was being escorted into the room by two armed guards.

The door slid open, and Yugi was shoved inside with a rough hand, causing him to almost trip over the bevel. His eyes watered, hearing the guard growl behind him, "Two hours. Say your goodbyes."

Then the door slid shut behind him with an ominous clack!

Yami smiled and tried to put on a brave face for his brother, but his smile wavered when Yugi threw himself forward to hug him, blubbering incoherently about how two hours wasn't enough time to say goodbye, and how he ought to find a way to escape, because this wasn't fair!

Anything was better than dying a painful death at the mouth of an evil dragon.

He hadn't seen the world yet or gone on any memorable adventures!

25 was way too young to be sent up to die in a hole up in a mountain!

Did they want to run away now, together?!

They could pack their bags and bring Grandpa!

Lowering his hands to give Yugi's adorable face a squish between his palms, Yami held Yugi's gaze after a long silence and finally spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Grandpa is too old to run. You need to take care of him…for us."

And he bit his tongue about how Yugi was more frail than himself as a fully grown man. Their genetics did not bless them with height and strength.
They were small, frail humans.
That was the truth.
They probably made great snacks for the dragons.

He wouldn't say that either to save Yugi the heartbreak.

"I'll try to send you a letter," Yami said desperately, thinking he'd heard of some tributes managing to send letters down before. "If there's a way, I'll find it. I won't disappear, Yugi."

His heart clenched harder when Yugi merely burst into tears and hung onto him even tighter, making his ears ring and the room shift in his vision. He was nauseous.

The selection process was intentionally cruel like this, only giving them hours to say goodbye so they didn't have days to gather resources and plan an escape after being drafted.

A knock sounded at the door, and Yugi twisted around with a pained expression, looking like he was about to yell, but the guard was merely depositing their grandfather at the front steps.

The old man was given a push that made him stumble too, and the guards gave the same warning, "1 hour and fifteen minutes."

The door clicked shut, and Yugi dashed forward to help Grandpa up to his feet.

Dusting his knees off with wrinkled hands, Grandpa hobbled up to the bench Yami was sitting on and eased into the spot beside him, giving him a serious look and then a warm hug.

Yami's chin stung when it rubbed against the rough fabric of Grandpa's overalls, and his eyes watered dangerously.

No.

He would not cry.

Not when Yugi was already crying so much.
His own crying would only make it worse.

"Dragons are intelligent creatures," Grandpa was quick to instill wisdom. "In all my years, I've read about human tributes being able to escape down the mountain. The dragons are bored and sometimes don't even notice a human missing. So stay sharp, boy. I love you, and… I'm sorry. If we had enough money for a bribe, I'd pay it right this instant to put someone else in this tent."

Yami swallowed thinly and nodded, feeling Yugi clinging onto him so hard, his lungs couldn't expand anymore when he drew his next breath. He was nauseous and lightheaded now.

This…was…just…. His fate…. As an average…regular…non-gifted, non-rich human.

There were a handful of fates destiny could've possibly dealt him, but this was the one he'd received: Dragon food, at the ripe old age of 25.

The guards knocked once and entered the tent with firm steps, and Yami's head spun even harder when the guards yanked him to his feet while Yugi's hot hands clung onto his arm so hard, it almost ripped from its socket.

"Don't take him! It hasn't been two hours! IT HASN'T BEEN TWO HOURS YET YOU PSYCHOS!" Yugi shrieked, while Grandpa sat helplessly behind him, his eyes shining with tears.

Yami tensed, ready to fight back, but the cold edge of a weapon pressed to the back of his neck, and Yugi fell away, his tearstained face red from all his screaming.

Grandpa had his head lowered so much, his spiky bangs obscured his eyes.

Then Yami found himself being pulled out of the tent, with Yugi's sobs and Grandpa's shouts echoing behind him.

"Don't hurt them…" Yami breathed, but he was stuffed head-first into the back of a horse-drawn wagon and told to shut up by one of the guards.

He grit his teeth and told himself to endure, and accept his horrible fate.

Author's note:

NEXT CHAPTER QUICK HURRY → → →