"I'm still trying to decide," Kira said as the lenacht slipped off Pallas's shoulders and into his lap where it curled up to sleep.
Pallas finally looked at her. "Well when you do, be sure to let me know."
Kira read the hard look on his face that seemed to warn her away from this avenue of questioning.
"I'll be sure to do that," she said before taking her leave.
Graydon waited until they were off the bridge to shoot her a look. "What was that about?"
Kira shook her head. "I'm not sure."
The only thing she knew was that the forty three were up to something. And the lenacht was involved in their schemes somehow.
Elena - Tsavitee Planet
Elena and the rest of the children marched into a mammoth room that seemed to run throughout the heart of the spire. She craned her head back, looking up and up to the ceiling far, far above.
Wide stairs on the opposite end of the structure waited, leading to a platform several hundred feet up.
Unerringly, Kai headed toward them.
No one said anything as they reached the stairs and ascended as a unit.
Elena counted—there were a hundred steps to the first landing. Then seven more landings after that.
Overlooking them was a tall window the height of the space. Its immense weight supported by the ornate buttresses that intersected in the center. Light splayed over the steps, tinging everything with an orange glow from the stained glass.
"Eyes down," Ajix ordered.
Elena obeyed, trusting him to know the best way for her to blend in.
They reached the last landing, stepping onto a wide circular platform covered in the same sand found in the crèche's rock garden. Off to the side, there were several elevated private boxes above, like those you might see in a theater.
Elena cast a furtive look in their direction. The privacy barrier they had in place made it impossible to catch a glimpse of those sitting inside. Though they were definitely occupied. That much she could tell.
Kai stopped in the center of the platform, facing the children. "Today, you will prove your skills. Who is first?"
The children exchanged glances before looking as one in Elena's direction.
Evidently, they’d decided to target the outsider. After all, this was why they'd ostracized her for the past few days. For this moment. So they wouldn't feel guilty when they threw her to the wolves.
Kai beckoned her. "Front and center."
Elena pushed her way through the formation, making her way to Kai's side.
"Do I have a challenger?" Kai asked as Elena faced the rest.
Fyr stepped forward, meeting Elena's gaze with a flat one of his own. "I'll do it."
As expected.
The question was whether he would try to knock her unconscious or incapacitate her in some way. A broken arm? Maybe a leg? Either would take her out of the running and drop her to the back of the pack.
As Kai had said—any weaklings would be cast aside.
They probably thought it was better for that to happen to her rather than one of them.
Elena kept her gaze trained on Fyr as he made his way over to her.
Don't get injured. Don't stand out too much. And don't make it obvious you threw the fight.
So many rules. The fight hadn't even started and she was already exhausted.
"Our exalted ones have let me know this will be a special ranking battle," Kai declared as Fyr faced off with Elena. "They plan to choose an offering from among you. A lucky someone whose contribution to our gods' work will further the Tsavitee's dominance on this universe. I wish you well. Remember—the horde has no place for trash."
Offering? Wow. What a nice word for sacrifice.
Fyr's grip tightened on his staff as his gaze turned unfriendly.
A hush fell over the children. The silence stifling.
Normal children wouldn't be this quiet before a fight. The children Elena knew would be heckling the fighters and placing bets on the winner. Maybe yelling an encouragement or two. Not watching like soulless robots.
"Begin," Kai ordered before Elena finished moving into a defensive crouch.
Fyr struck, lunging forward without warning.
Elena barely whipped her staff up to protect her head in time. An ache immediately rose in her wrist and hands as the force behind the blow transferred through the staff.
"Someone's eager," Elena snarled.
If that blow had connected, it would have damaged her skull. Forget something as cute and minor as a concussion. Her face would have needed re-constructive surgery.
Elena parried, shoving him back a step to create a little space.
Fyr circled her. She moved with him, determined not to let him catch her off guard again.
He feinted with his staff, trying to draw Elena out to assess her abilities.
Elena didn't fall for it, hunkering down in an attempt to give away as little as possible. She analyzed her opponent, doing the same thing he was. Trying to find a weakness she could exploit.
The problem was that he was good. As fast as Tommy but lacking Aunt Kira's cunning and power.
Fyr attacked again, going from absolute stillness to lethal motion in a split second.
Elena fell for his trap, moving to block his strike to her head only for him to change target at the last second and aim for her leg. She deflected just a beat too slow, redirecting some of the force away to reduce the blow from bone breaking to something a little less painful.
Not by much though, she thought with a grimace as her leg threatened to buckle.
Elena limped backward out of reach, the muscle protesting in a way Elena knew meant it was already bruising.
Careless, El, Elena scolded. Auntie would have made you do extra training for being so reckless.
"What's the matter, new girl?" Fyr rumbled, speaking for the first time since the fight had begun. "No longer think this is a game?"
Elena gave him her crazy smile. The one she'd practiced in the mirror after seeing it on Aunt Kira's face a time or two. Usually directly before Auntie did something that left the people around her shaking their heads in disbelief.
"The joke is on you. The moment this is no longer fun is the instant you lose."
And that time was fast approaching.
Elena blocked Fyr's next attack. And the one after that.
Fyr re-doubled his attacks until the sound of their staffs banging against each other reverberated through the room.
The arrogance on Fyr's face pissed Elena off. The assumption that he'd automatically win.
All the frustration and fear she'd buried since her arrival bled into the fight, giving her strength as she returned his blows with decisive ones of her own.
Satisfaction filled her when one of her strikes snuck under his guard.
Take that. Who is the easy mark now?
Elena blocked his next head strike. He followed it up with a blow to her torso. Also blocked.
She leaned back almost parallel to the floor to avoid his staff to her face.
She recovered her balance a second later. "You asshole. Were you trying to disfigure me?"
Wreck the adorable features that had convinced Auntie to go against her better judgment on more than one occasion?