Chapter 91

We hesitated. All of us—my team, Lance's team, Gideon's team—each trying to calculate the next best move in the split second before committing. The arena had suddenly become a game of easy pickings, or so it seemed. Four orbs had emerged, one close to each fort and one in the center, and my mind raced through the possibilities.

Gideon was already at 15 points, and I knew I couldn’t afford to let him reach 50 too easily. But the orb nearest Lance was my bet for the highest value, and his team was already closing in on it. The temptation to split my team and try to score two of the orbs called to me. I could push forward with the high-risk strategy that had paid off so far, or play it safe and ensure that we secured just enough points to stay in the game. My goal was 50. I kept reminding myself of that.

You might be wondering about the voice at this point. Rest assured, it was there, babbling away in the back of my mind, taunting me for my momentary indecision and making the task no easier. But I wasn’t opening myself to it. After Danefer's and Joel's warnings, I had grown uneasy about the voice, and I had started to shut it out. In that moment, where split-second decisions mattered, the nattering in the background was more of an irking distraction than an asset.

Four orbs, one close to each fort, one central. Lance's team was nearly on the orb nearest his fort already, swarming around it, not bothering to spread out. Did he know his part of the arena was set to receive higher-value orbs? Balthazar had fed me information, was there any reason to think the collusion to help Lance wouldn’t extend to sharing information? Gideon's team had split up: two of them settling on the central orb, while Gideon and Emilia broke off to claim another one. That was pure Gideon—aggressive, daring. I couldn’t let him pull ahead without a fight.

The numbers danced in my mind. Lance's team, nearly secure on what I suspected was the highest value orb; Gideon, spreading out to grab two at once; and me, already at 30 points. I calculated quickly: if Gideon's first orb had been worth 15, then there was every chance that was the average value. I only needed 20 more points to reach my target. I just had to stay focused.

I bellowed, "Zara, Leona, claim the orb nearest our base! Olaf, cover them. I'll harass the others." There was no hesitation from my team; they moved with certainty. I darted forward, taking cover behind another hillock, and peeked to see what the others were doing.

Lance's team was still concentrated around their orb, no attempt to spread out. They were betting heavily on it. Meanwhile, Gideon's split force was a problem. Two of them were claiming the central orb, while Gideon and Emilia moved toward the next one. It made sense; Gideon was gambling on grabbing as much as he could as quickly as possible.

I couldn’t allow that. I darted back down the hillock, shouting to Olaf in a low voice, hoping the sound wouldn’t carry to the other teams. "Gideon’s team has split. I’m going to try and interrupt them at the orb nearest their fort. When you're done here, join me."

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

And then I ran.

There was an emotional tax from all these choices. There were so many variables it was impossible to be sure if the next decision would bare fruit or cost us greatly. Still, so far, things had played well for us.

As I darted through the cover, I gambled I could go unnoticed as a single figure. I raced brazenly towards the orb. I tried to stay low, tired to stay unseen. Surprise was the entire point of this gambit, and I hoped Emilia and Gideon would fail to guess what I intended.

I skidded to a halt behind a steel barricade, just a few feet from the orb. The noise from the crowd was so intense that it was difficult, even with HEARING, to detect any sounds of movement beyond me.

I waited, heart pounding. I was hoping Gideon would be ambitious. I was hoping he would try and accelerate his scoring by having both himself and Emilia attach to the orb.

My thoughts went back to Lance's team. They were all still clustered around the orb on their side. If there were three of them drawing Flows at the same time then they could finish quickly, deposit quickly. Then they would be back in the field and it would be difficult to predict their next moves.

I decided to count to five, then take my chances.

When I moved, I moved fast. I rounded the side of the sphere hoping to see at least one, if not two, vulnerable forms drawing Flows. Instead, I found nothing at all. That reality set my heart racing.

What happened to being conservative? I thought. My team only needed 20 more Flows to hit 50, if the orb they were drawing from held 15 then we were almost there. This aggression was unnecessary, reckless even. But that logic did nothing to slow my steps as I rounded the orb, sword held high—only to find no one.

Of course, it had been a trap. I had gone from timid mouse to foolishly overconfident.

I pulsed SHIELD as Gideon swung at me with CUT. He had the advantage of surprise, but I don't think he could have anticipated how strong my SHIELD was. I turned my surprise to rage and responded to them both like a tiger.

For all my power, it was two against one. And, for all I had grown, Gideon was still a potent enemy.

We fought hard. I was forced to concede ground. I started thinking about a strategy to escape the battle.

Then, suddenly, the rest of my team appeared. The raced down a hillock to join me.

How? They shouldn't have been here so fast. The orb should have taken longer than that.

Olaf stepped between me and my opponents. As his huge form absorbed their attacks, I had a moment to gather myself.

I looked to the banners.

Our score was only 35.

Of course, the bastards had stacked high-value orbs near Lance, so it made sense mine would have been low-value. I had expected as much, but I hadn't guessed they would tip the scales quite so much.

But maybe this could still be to our advantage. The five points had been scored almost for free. My whole team was assembled and in position to score another orb.

We just needed fifteen more points.