Renegade Dragons

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A message flashed up on my screen saying there was five minutes until the first break. Damn, the first two hours had sped by. I was doing decently as far as I could tell, though I wouldn’t know for sure until the leader board flashed up at the start of the break. Apparently, they were keeping us in the dark to add to the tension.

It made sense. There was definitely some of that about. The gaming area of the bar had been silent since the word GO had shown up on our screens.

My character was in a safe place, so I took the opportunity to take a drink. I didn’t know if it was part of the tournament, or if I really had just made a crazy good impression on Martin, but my table hadn’t been without a drink since the game started.

“Eurgh.” I spat the red liquid out and pulled a face. Damn, Rachel must have arrived. Only she would take the time to make a disgusting kale smoothie and colour it red. I’d have to get another one when the break started. She was just lucky the game shut off in those fifteen minutes, or I’d have been using the time to get ahead of my competition.

Getting lost in the game for the last five minutes was easy. The quest for this was crazy long and part of me doubted it was even possible within the five hour limit we’d been given. Not that I planned on failing. I was going to win this damned tournament even if it killed me.

GAME PAUSED.

I leaned back in my chair, my shoulders sagging as the tension within them released. Blood was coursing through my veins. I was going to grab myself a drink, then do a practice level. I was sure some of the other avid gamers here would want to as well. There was a great level I’d just found with the Goblin King boss.

“Here you go,” Zara said, putting down a glass. “Your friend told me what she did.” Her lips quirked into a smile.

“Is Rachel okay?” I felt kind of bad for ignoring my best friend, but she knew what this tournament meant to me and I had told her not to come.

“She’s fine,” Zara assured me. “She’s talking about eating plans with one of our boxers.”

I glanced over my shoulder and sure enough, there was Rachel sat at one of the tables and talking animatedly with a pretty blonde woman. She must have been the boxer then. That answered some of the questions I had about the boxing ring but raised others.

Zara left me to it and I pulled up the entry to the Goblin King level, sending invites to all eight players next to me. To my surprise, five of them accepted instantly. Three versus three would make a good game. Hopefully I’d be able to pick up on some of their individual skills then too. That way, I would be able to adapt my own game style for the next round of the tournament.

After about ten minutes the Game Won sign came up and I smiled to myself, satisfied with my team’s victory. They’d all played well, which wasn’t good news for me.

A loud cough sounded behind me and I swivelled around to fix my eyes on the man now standing behind me. He was medium height, wearing a slightly too tight t-shirt and with the just short of too muscled physique.

“Can I have a word?” he asked in a slightly accented voice while tapping the ID badge stating he was a judge and not a player. s**t.

Without saying anything, I rose from my seat and followed him as he took me to a small interview room. Once we’d entered, he oddly stopped to tap on the mirror thing. Maybe it was one of those two-way things. But then, who could possibly be behind it?

He motioned for me to take a seat and reluctantly, I complied, feeling a little like I was in one of those police dramas and about to be interviewed. The gym bunny wasn’t going to have much luck with that. I knew nothing about anything.

“I was watching you play,” he started.

“I’m not a cheater.” I crossed my arms and glared at him, insulted he was even suggesting it.

“I’m not saying that. On the contrary,” he defended instantly.

I c****d an eyebrow. “So what do you want?”

He pulled out the chair opposite me and took a seat. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“Lola.” I didn’t even consider lying.

“Do you recognise me?”

Erm…what? Why would I recognise him? He wasn’t anything special. Though there was a current of something in the room, but I was just going to put that down to the tension surrounding being interviewed in the first place. “Ummm…”

“My name is Hector, I’m hosting this tournament with my friends.”

“Good for you.” I tried to infuse my words with as much boredom as possible, but in reality, my feelings were quite the contrary. If he was hosting with his friends, did that mean he knew Martin? And if he did, did that mean he was a fire dragon too? And if he was a fire dragon…Smoke and sparks. I was screwed. “Can I go back and play? I got a tournament to win,” I said, trying my best not to freak out about the direction my thoughts were taking.

“Actually…” He banged his hand down on the table, a little card underneath his fingers. He pulled his hand away and I studied it. I wasn’t completely surprised to realise it was a Realms&Rebels squad card.

“Wait…Hector…Hec? The FlameGod? From the Renegade Rebels, the best team on the East Server?” Well colour me impressed. He was almost a legend in gaming circles. Not that he had anything on me. I could take him.

“The one and only.” He smirked, as if knowing I’d recognise his gaming handle above all else.

I leaned back in my chair and stretched out my arms, fully aware of what I was doing and how it pushed up my somewhat small breasts.

“Eyes up here, please.” I tutted, but inwardly was smiling. He’d done exactly what I wanted him to.

Hector ripped his eyes back up to my face and swallowed loudly. I was a little smug about that. And about the appreciation in his eyes. This man wanted me and I was going to get everything I could out of that.

“So, what do you want?” I asked.

He pointed at a screen that I hadn’t noticed before which was replaying parts of my game play. “You don’t have a regular squad, do you?” he asked.

“So?” I shrugged. “Nowhere did it state I had to have one to sign up.”

He chuckled. “Do you know what the prize is for winning this tournament?”

“I’m not here to win for the money,” I replied. Though the money would be good, I was much more interested in the prestige.

“The Renegades are gearing up to enter the International Tournament. When we win, we’ll get to sit together with the creators and consult for them.”

I crossed my arms again, and his gaze slipped back to my breasts. Typical man.

He held out his hand to me. “We need one more member. You in?”