Chapter 86

My mind reeled. What in the name of the Oracle was going on? I thought they were gone, their chance at the Griidsuit stripped away, their dreams ended. And yet, here they were, suited up once more, marching toward me.

Mario had spoken of a mercy, a final chance to feel the power of the Griidsuit, but I hadn’t understood until now. The Fall... It wasn't just about those of us still in the Choosing. It was about them too—the fallen, the eliminated. They had been given a chance to return, to fight once more.

Mario's voice boomed over the speakers. "In our day-to-day lives, the Fall is a tremendous occasion of anxiety, victory, defeat, hope, and despair. Our armies march forth, our Griidlords streak into the wilds to do battle—but never alone. The Griidlords battle together, with The Sword as their leader. The Sword, the one among them that can enhance the power of another Griidlord in the heat of battle."

The crowd was more silent than usual. They paid closer attention to him. They were as puzzled as I by the appearance of the others and wanted their own answers.

Marion could see he had their attention. His chest swelled. He boomed, "How can we measure the potential of these young contestants without giving them the opportunity to lead a team, to lead their own Griidlords into battle?"

"And so," Mario's voice kept blowing over us. "The vanquished enter the arena, nine lost souls to add to our three contestants. We shall witness three teams of four do battle in the field."

It clicked into place. Twelve of us. There would be twelve once more. That made for three teams of four, with each team lead by own of the three surviving contestants.

As he spoke, the figures continued to approach us. I looked at them as they came. A chance to lead? My trainers may have known this was a possible challenge I would face. I had been left so stupidly ignorant of so much of the world, so many of the nuances of the knowledge of the suit, and the world beyond. Father was ruthlessly efficient. He would have instructed my trainers to only invest time in skills and knowledge that could help me win. But time had been spared to instruct me in understanding the other suits that existed. In understanding the personal strengths and personalities that would pair with each suit. Their strengths and weaknesses.

Mario's didn't stop. I felt disgusted as I watched him wallowing in the attention of the thousands before him. "Our valiant hopefuls: Lance, Gideon, and Tiberius..."

He practically spat my name, unable to mask his contempt for me and my common blood.

"...Will pick from this roster of redeemed souls, assigning them Axe, Shield, or Arrow suits."

I looked on the vanquished and my eyes settled on Katya and Lauren. They were so much better than the others. Any team that contained either of them would be massively advantaged. The first two of us to pick would have be disproportionately powerful. But there was no need for me to worry about that. I had become jaded enough to know how the game would be rigged. I was certain that I would be picking third.

Mario continued. "We will pick in the ancient tradition of the Snake. The last to pick in the first round of selections will be the first to pick in the next."

That was something maybe. I might be last to pick, but I would pick twice, and then not again until the very end.

"Drawn by lots, Lance will pick first, then Gideon, and finally Tiberius."

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I snorted in disbelief. "By lots, my ass," I muttered under my breath. The voice in my ear seemed to share my skepticism, quipping, "They chose by lots the way I choose by cup size."

A bitter smirk crossed my face.

There was a mercy in this. I wouldn't have wanted to be the first to choose, to have to select between Lauren and Katya. Whatever fragile friendship existed between us had already been strained to its limits. Picking one and rejecting the other would only make things worse. Besides, it would have been an agonizing choice. Lauren was fierce, strong, dominant, and forceful—an Axe in every sense of the word. Katya, on the other hand, was lithe, fast, and quick—an Arrow, sharp and precise. The comparison made me pause and think.

The Griid-suits were highly specialized. The Sword was the most generalized, but each suit type had its own strengths and weaknesses, like the classic game of stone, cloth, knife. An Axe was death to a Sword, but a Shield was the undoing of an Axe. And yet, there was an affinity to different types, a natural alignment that went beyond the superficial.

The Choosing had been selecting candidates for the role of the Sword, identifying those most suited to lead and wield the generalist's power. But what stood before me now were the nine most gifted potential Griidlords the city could offer—each suited to different roles, with different strengths. Lauren and Katya were undoubtedly the best prospects for the Sword, but were they the best options for a Shield or an Axe?

The notion started to bloom in my mind. Three choices, two in succession. Lauren and Katya might the obvious choices, but what about the other things I understood. What about the compatibilities of the wearer and the type.

I thought of Magneblade. Any time I had seen him he had been a ball of barely contained rage. The countless stories I had spent my bed-ridden days stereotyped the different suits. Axes were battle-mad warriors, who thirsted for violence. Shields were physically imposing types, normally huge of stature, and solemn in disposition... There was more to this than just picking those who had been the best in the Sword suit.

Mario's kept talking. I wondered if he would ever stop while the crowd attended his words so intently.

"Those who help the contestants that survive until the next round will earn their houses a full Flow!"

The crowd gasped. I felt my own breath catch in my throat. A Flow! What a House could do with such a fortune... A Flow could be sold, invested. A house could use that Flow to elevate the Order of their lands for periods at harvest, or for construction projects, enabling them to access machinery they could never use otherwise. A Flow was a substantial unit of Order on the scale of the city. On the scale of the lands of a single noble, a Flow might last years and boost their fortunes tremendously.

Until moment I had harbored a vague hope that Lauren and Katya might be my agents in this fight. They disdained Lance. There was some friendship between us. I had hoped they wouldn't give their all against me. But to win a Flow? What wouldn't they do to bring such a prize home to their houses?

Mario's turned to Lance. "Lance, make your first choice."

Lance barely hesitated. He could never have chosen any but Lauren. She was the best of the nobility. She, with Katya, had been the most recently ejected. She was a perfect example of the noble blood that he considered better.

"I choose Lauren as my Arrow!"

I smiled thinly. It was pleasing to finally see Lance make an error. Lauren was certainly no Arrow. Lance was assigning her the role of speed and grace based on her gender, not by her natural affinity. Arrows were the sleekest and fastest of the suits, vulnerable but deadly. Lauren was a sentinel, like Lance, or I. She would not do well in the Arrow suit.

Mario's turned to Gideon. "Gideon, your choice."

Gideon, too, wasted no time. Katya was the next most valuable piece on the board to those who valued ranking and hierarchy. "I choose Katya, to be my Arrow."

I nodded to myself. That was a good choice. Whether by luck or logic, he had found the right role for Katya. Katya was all quickness and motion. I could imagine her doing well in the Arrow suit.

Then Mario turned to me. He disliked addressing me, I could plainly see it. He said, "Tiberius, who do you choose?"

I looked at the remaining seven and tried not to smile. I might be better at this than the other two.

I would value these people for who they were, for their own personal strengths and assets, not for the order in which they dropped from the tourney.