An uncomfortable silence followed the two Inspectors as Kint led the way back to the 11th Inkhold District. The entire Tube ride from the 13th, not a word was spoken between them. Elsha kept glancing at him ominously as they rode, calculating. It was obvious to Kint that she had her own decisions to make. It eased his mind a bit to know that she'd already made the most important one. To follow him.
As they stepped off Tube and moved up out of the Root System, it was easy for them to determine which direction to go in the monochrome gray neighborhood. The Sun was slightly past its zenith at this point, which meant all the residents of the Cattle District would be at work in the factories, and anyone coming into the District at this hour would be heading toward the only location of interest, the Arena. So they simply followed the small group of degenerate gamblers as they shuffled toward the games like mules.
Kint was starting to grow slightly uncomfortable with his partners unusually timid demeanor after a good five minutes of walking. He'd hoped that as they'd moved, she'd realize that even he hadn't known what he'd do in the Crematorium. He'd felt at the start of the day that there might be an opening for this sort of action, but he hadn't been sure. He'd simply sent Nessa with Kaycee as a precaution, but he had no idea how insensed he would feel in that moment, standing over the body of the Urchin.
The silence continued, and it got to where Kint was now the one glancing over apprehensively toward his troubled partner. The distant sounds of a raucous crowd were dancing in Kint's ears by the time she finally spoke up.
"Kint?" She started, trying to catch his already hyper-focused attention.
"Yes?" He replied, much too quickly.
"Back at HQ..." She paused, looking up at him, golden hair floating away from her furrowed brow. "What was all that about dreams?"
"Why?" He grunted, breaking her gaze. "Have you been having bad ones?"
"No." She replied, continuing to press the issue. "You just seemed to perk up a bit when that young man was talking about them. Is there something I should know?"
He could feel her gaze locked on his profile, as he continued to stare down the gray corridor of cobblestones ahead of them. It was unsettling, the intensity of her stare now that it was fully focused on him.
"I don't know yet." He admitted, "I see the tired eyes of the men in Kelseen Square and it worries me. Doesn't seem natural." He muttered, losing confidence in his words at the end.
"Not natural?" She questioned, confused.
"Like I said, I don't know." He repeated, irritated by her pressure. "I know as much as you do at this point. Seemed like that Crier might know more."
She stared at him with those piercing dark eyes for a long moment, before nodding slightly, seeming to accept his answer. Kint felt an immediate pang of guilt at the small lie he'd told to curb the conversation.
It get's easier and easier doesn't. He thought to himself, recognizing how many lies he'd had to tell just in the last few hours. It had been so much easier to be honest when they'd been slacking off together. Although they'd rarely ever talked about anything of substance.
Honesty comes at a premium when the stakes are so high. He mused.
Still, Kint felt he couldn't be fully open with her yet about this issue. He could see that while she had chosen to follow him to this point, she had him on scales now in the most serious of ways. Her loyalty in the future was not assured.
Kint felt blessed not to have to ponder the issue much further as the living spires of the Arena came into view.
The Arena in the 11th Inkhold district, was made from a single Mage Grown Tree that encompassed an entire block. Like many of the cheaper Event halls in the lower districts, the stadium had been grown from an Enfolding Tree, shaped to look like two godlike hands encircling each other to create a half sphere. From his schooling Kint knew that Enfolding Trees would grow into a shape much like a sphere in the wild, able to create whole new ecosystems and separate climates within their enclosed canopy. But the Life Mages had ways of halting that process, so that the living treasure could serve as a house of entertainment for the masses to revel in death.
The two inspectors turned onto a large thuroughfare and got a much better look at the structure as they stared down it's entrance. The base of the mega-flora was made of a single dark brown root upon which extended the spiraling mass of branches that intertwined to create a goblet to contain the sadistic masses. There were three entrances burrowed into this enormous basal root, one massive arch in the center, which presumably led to the lower echelons of seats, and two smaller gates on each side leading to the preferred seating, where their target, Lord Echrus would be.
As the crowd of Kadenite addicts and drunkards entered through the large center entrance, Kint and Elsha veered right and made their way to the gated entrance for preffered seating. There were two Acolytes dressed in the black and yellow colors of House Inkhold, standing guard at the arched gate. Both men wore criss crossing robes that were thick as curtains, causing them to keep a deep v-neck open at the front. The one on the left was a short bald man, who carried a stern face, tight belt, and a domination stick simlar to Elsha's on his waist. The other was drunk. His greasy unkempt hair spilling over his sweaty forhead and eyes, Kint caught him stuffing a flask back in his pocket as they approached.
"Hold up there." The bold Acolyte said with a raise hand. His partner straightening up a bit from where he leaned against the wall of the entryway. "This is Lord Echrus' section, only those of his court and invited guests are allowed entry."
"His Court." Elsha mocked, derisively. Causing the dark haired Acolyte to perk up a bit disapproving of her tone.
Kint could not help but see the stories of these two men played out in just what he'd noticed so far. The shorter one on the left was obviously from a distant offshoot of some secondary branch of the Inkhold family. His accent marked him out as from rural country, and the seriousness with which he took such a demeaning post, made clear to the Inspector that this was a man for whom such a lowly position in Kaden City was a high honor. The drunkard on the right was the opposite. A man who clearly knew the impotency of his position and had likely embarrassed his high born family more than enough to deserve the posting.
Kint reached in to his pocket, pulling out the Black Seal Sidgel. "We're here on Orders from Lord Crecius, under the Black Seal." He said, holding the golden symbol in front of shorter man.
The Acolyte observed sidgil with earnest intent, before unfurrowing his brows. "Looks real enough." He relented, gesturing to his partner. "Go on Crishy, let 'em through."
The taller man pushed himself up from his leaning position against the wall, "Hold on a ssecond." He slurred, shuffling slightly to regain his balance. "How would you know if that's the real thing?" The drunk questioned, eyes following the shining seal as Kint slid it into his pocket. "Have you ever even seen one before?" The sweaty man raised a condescending eyebrow at his partner.
"Why would anyone want to fake a Black Seal?" The bald man replied skeptically.
"I dun know." Crishy mumbled, swaying as he spoke. "But I don' like the look of these two." He pointed a wobbly finger between Kint and Elsha, squinting his bloodshot eyes.
"Oh Shut up, ya Bastard." The bald one ended up saying, grabbing the black steel gate and swinging it open. "Go ahead through you two." The man gestured through the dark archway, "Just don't interrupt the Lord during a match. He does not like it." he cautioned.
Both Kint and Elsha knew not to argue, as they shuffled through the open gate. He was just happy that Elsha had chosen not to make a stink of the whole thing besides her first poorly placed words.
Kint could hear the Acolytes arguing behind them as they made their way down the dark hallway.
"What?!" The drunkard complained, "I was just doin' my job."
"Right." Kint heard balding man snort as they arrived at a steep set of stairs, leading to a bright sunny sky.
The Inspectors shielded their eyes as they summited into the low hum of the shuffling crowd. Kint had to blink aggressively to adjust his eyes to the bright light, but when they finally found their level, he could not help but be impressed by what he saw.
While on the outside, the Enfolding Tree had looked like two interlocking hands, from his current vantage, Kint felt like he was standing inside of a giant eye. The large extending branches creeping out of the tops of the unfinished enclosure looked like eyelashes ready to blink. The bustling stands around them were the whites of the eye, and the black soil of the killing grounds was the iris. From where they'd entered, the two Inspectors were several stories above the iris, where the action would take place. Whips of the shrouds mist were streaking lightly across the stadium in front of them, but it was not nearly as condensed as outside of the venue.
"Echrus is keeping the Shroud at bay." Elsha commented, answering his unspoken question.
"They can do that?" Kint asked, amazed.
"If you're a master Mage you can." She replied, eyes searching the edges of he Elliptical structure.
Kint snorted in derision. What a joke. He thought, looking up at the sun again, now more appalled than amazed. To have such power and only use it for sport.
"Look." Elsha stated, pointing hand across the Arena to their right. "That's where he'll be."
They'd entered in the middle of one length of the Elipsis, now Kint followed his partners raised finger toward where the two lengths pinched together. A large box encased in flowing curtains of black and yellow silks sat in that section, where the tear duct of the Arena's eye might be.
Kint nodded in recognition, turning and making his way around the Arena toward their target. Above them on their right, hundreds of brightly colored merchants and Blessed ones sat muttering to each other in regulated tones, fanning themselves with their programs as sweat drew furrows through their makeup.
To their left, the cacophonous noise of thousands of unruly Kadenites rumbled up from below. In Cattle Districts there were no entrance fees for Kadenites at the Arena, no cost for food and drink either. It was an easy way for Lords to keep the uncorking masses distracted, while Factories were left unrented.
As they approached the Lord's viewing area, two large men in robes of black and gold stepped in to meet them.
Kint held up the golden Sidgel, hoping to avoid their issues at the entrance, but a thick hairy hand raised to push against his chest.
"Hold on." The dark haired, man on the right commanded. Pointing across to the other corner of the Arena where an extremely tall man in a black and gold suit stepped out onto a viewing platform in the location that mirrored their own. The mans gold gloved hands resting on a cane planted in front of him. As the crowd began to notice him, the Arena quieted. With all the attention wrapped around him, the blond Ringmaster raised his black cane, golden handle glinting in the sunlight, and slammed it down to the stone platform. The blow sounded across the stadium like a blacksmith's hammer and as it's echo's ricocheted off the walls the frictional sound of stone rubbing against stone began to over take it. The sharply dressed Acolyte, and his platform, were moving.
"How 'bout you have a seat." The burly man suggested. Kint grimaced as he smelled liquor on the man's breath. The Acolyte gestured to two open seats near the Lord's box. Elsha had other ideas however, giving the Acolyte a disgusted look and motioning for Kint to follow her. They took a place to the side of the Lord's box, leaning up against the guardrail that separated them from the Kadenites beneath.
The Platform continued extending out, moving toward the very edge of the bleeding ground. The thunderous sound continued, the showman not moving a muscle as he extended through the wisps of waning shroud to the inner edge of the stands, where he finally came to stop.
The silence of the crowd remained, and Kint saw a thick hand reach out from behind the yellow curtains beside him. The hand stretched as if to grab the man on the platform, the crowd looked on, and with a dramatic shudder, the final stray slivers of mist evaporated and the view to the center of the Arena was completely clear.
The crowd cheered, the Ringmaster on the platform raising his hands in praise and applause for the power of their Lord. The sun shown down on the towering Acolyte. The blond man smiled taking in the power of the moment, before raising a hand and letting the crowd go silent again.
"Welcome Patrons!" Spoke the man, voice carrying like a song across the enthusiastic crowd. "Today we have witnessed many passionate bouts of terrific violence with sword and spear..." The man trailed off, feeling the weight of the peoples attention in his ears. "But now it is time... for the main event." Another pause, an anticipatory whisper rippled through the crowd. "The Trials of Anjir!" He cried.
Thunderous roars raged through the Kadenites. Kint could feel the energy of the people as it vibrated through his feet.
"Three Trials will be had today to celebrate the Prophet's Final Blessing." The applause of the crowd rose again at the news there would be three bouts. "A thousand years have passed since the Prophet finally showed his fist to the Anjiri, after decades of open hands. On that day, Halvash Ignus, in a flash of heat and suffering, turned the living city of Alveerion to blasted lands of crimson sand. With one hand, he stained the earth with our enemies blood, sending the hated Anjiri back to their old ways of liqour and spices. With the other, he blessed his Apostles with the power of Wave Energy." The Acolyte held up both hands in a flourish, to punctuate his point. "And that is what we will give to you my good people. Blood and Power!" Another roar ripped through the crowd, as a self-satisfied smile split the face of the Acolyte.
The raucous cheering continued, and the blond man did not wait for it to die down before continuing, "From below me," The man said, pointing to the arched gate beneath his platform, "Will come our first Challenger." A chorus of boo's and jeers began to sing across the crowd at the mention of a challenger. "An Earth Shattering Mage known across the Noveriat. The Thunderous Crafter, Kalashoon Haze!" The boos grew to a crescendo as the gate below the theatrical Acolyte rose slowly, revealing a muscular bald man in white flowing robes with cutoff sleaves. The imposing man stepped confidently into the Arena of Descending boo's, each stride landing with purpose, each step gripping the earth like cactus needles. As he neared the center of the black soiled bleeding grounds, he looked up in their direction and bowed to the Lord.
Now that he was close enough to see, Kint spotted a cocky, mocking smile on the mans face.
"And fighting in our Blessed Arena for the 6th time." The excitement of the crowd began to rise. "One of our Lord's favorite champions." Another rumble as the applause pitched higher. "The miracle Shaper from Kadenite Stock. The Ice Walker herself, Tenveer Alatash!" The crowd exploded in rapturous echoes of cheering. People grabbed each other in excitement and pointed as the gate below Lord Echrus drew back. A stern looking girl in dirtied laborers clothes stepped into the arena. She was short of stature, walking with careful steps, steps that were equally as confident as the Challengers, but in a more subdued way. She glided across the ground, her dark boots blending with the ink black soil.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Prophet... Sixth Challenger?" Elsha muttered through the cheers of crowd. "No wonder they've had to go outside the city for this guy."
"Have you heard of him?" Kint asked, glancing at this partner.
"Never." She smiled, "But Echrus wouldn't be able to afford anyone I'd know."
Kint grunted in reply, turning back to the center of the arena where the two Trial takers were now standing about thirty paces from each other.
"Still, " Elsha continued, "A Crafter going against a shaper? She doesn't stand a chance. The power gap has to be rediculous."
Kint would usually agree with her, but something told him things might be different here. Six wins in a row. He thought... and in the heat of the moment, he quietly lifted himself above his emotions, entering the Silent State.
Six wins in a row. He pondered again, fixing in his mind the goal of evaluating the abilities of the two fighters. First three were probably home grown, but the last two... likely inner city talents on the lower end of decent.
So how did she beat them?
He looked at her cloths, the tattered sleeveless shirt. It was more like a repurposed sack than an item of clothing. The shorts were much the same. The only weapon she had was a small curved knife hung on the belt at her waist. But the boots...
"Fighters!" Cried the Acolyte from his perch.
She's playing it up for the crowd! He thought excitedly. The boots were of too good a cut, too new, too expensive. The rest of the outfit must be for the people. There's no way six fights doesn't pay well. Even in a place like this.
But that doesn't really tell me what I want to know.
"Are you ready?" Ask the showman. The two fighters nodded.
Kint made a split second decision, he looked within himself. Reaching down into his chest, he tapped into that forbidden, secret, sumptuous power and felt the dark energy flood his body. He cupped his hands over his eyes as he pushed that noxious, dangerous, lovely power into his eyes, turning them a deep purple.
The whole world became more colorful immediately. The dark walls of the Arena glowed with a heavy green, the platform upon which the Acolyte stood shone with a subtle white glow, the very air in the Stadium had a bluish tinge to it as it was thick with the power of the Lord.
He had to calm his breathing and focus. The intensity of his dowsing powers was overwhelming in places like these. He honed in on the two Trial takers. His eyes immediately alighting on the Challenger, as an earthy gray aura erupted around him, the power of a Crafter on full display. Does Elsha have this much energy? Kint pondered, never having seen her in the light of his dowsing.
He shifted his gaze to the girl, and could immediately see what had been obvious to his partner. It's pitiful... He thought, analyzing the power of a Shaper and finding it wanting... Her Azure blue aura flowed smoothly around her body, hugging tight to her skin, while the Challenger's aura engulfed him like uncontrollable flame. It was a mismatch of such epic proportions that Kint could feel the Malice in it's making.
And yet...
"She's gonna win." Kint mutter, drawing a skeptical look from Elsha.
He quickly let go of his grip on his well of energy, but kept the Silent State around him like a warm cloak.
"Why do you say that?" She asked. But he just gestured toward the Killing grounds as the games were about to begin.
"Fighters, you are to begin the Match on the word of our Lord." The crowd looked in their direction, focusing in on the Lord in the box beside them.
"Begin." Came the heavy voice of the Blessed on inside.
There was a rumble in the stadium... Kint looked back to the Killing grounds and saw that the Challenger, Kalashoon Haze, had instantly thrown his hands to the ground, flatening his palms across its dark surface at the Lords word. The shaking continued, and about ten feet in font of the smiling Challenger, the earth began to crack and shift. Then it crumbled and broke, and a giant black stone hand burst from the jet black soil. An arm followed the hand, and it bent at it's earthen elbow seeming to leverage itself out of the ground. Limb by limb, the massive black Golem uncovered itself, finally rising to almost fifteen feet tall at its full height. It was like a giant black puppet made of stone. Each appendage was made of massive single stone pieces. Even without his Dowsing eyes, Kint could tell it was all being strung together and controlled by strings of Earth Energy.
The Challenger looked across the Arena, between the legs of enormous golem before him, at the childlike girl of a champion. He gave that same mocking grin he'd worn before. If Kint could truly feel feelings right now, anxiety would be among the most prevalent. The Golem master Haze raised his fists in the air to a fighting position. The heavy puppet followed his movements. He pantomimed two punches and the stone simulacrum did the same, giant fists extending with impressive force.
From within the Silent State, Kint observed the Challenger. With every movement he made, that was subsequently mimicked by the Golem, Kint could see that there was an added weight to the man's movements. Like the cost of wielding such a powerful too, besides the massive amounts of energy it sapped, was that the Puppeteer had to bare some significant amount of the weight of each action.
The Challenger took another warm up swing and the Inspector confirmed it. He watched muscles and sinews tighten, strain obvious in the powerful man's neck, his stance wide to sustain the weight of his motions.
The girl took a few skips back, her movements fluid and light as a feather. She's trying to judge his range. Kint realized.
Haze took a solid step forward, his golem doing the same but covering three times the distance. The Ice Walker skipped back again, keeping the distance.
The Challenger took a longer step, lunging this time and throwing a fist toward the ground, the Golem followed with a punch aimed right for where the girl stood. As the strike was about to impact, Tanveer jumped backward, flipping over her hands and springing back to her feet as the earth exploded in front of her. The Puppet's fist retracted and the girl gave a mocking cough as a she tried to brush away the cloud of dust that had sprung up in front of her face. The crowd laughed at the flippant response and a smile tugged at Kint's face. She's a bit of a showman. He thought, his confidence in his assessment of her growing.
The hulking challenger took another step and threw another punch, this one coming faster than the first. The girl jumped to the side to dodge the incoming fist at the last moment, as another cloud of dirt and rubble exploded where she'd been. While she'd cut it closer this time, the champion still managed to turn her dive into a tuck and roll, springing up like an acrobat to stick the landing.
The crowd lit up as they saw their champion smile bright and raise her hands in mocking celebration.
But the Challenger was smiling as well. This time, when he threw his weighty punch, he did not step forward, simply throwing the strike in place, and as the golems massive arm reached the zenith of it's extension, it's boulderous fist detached and flew toward the unsuspecting Ice Walker.
This time her dive was not so graceful, she fell to her knees on the ground, barely avoiding the projectile as it missed her by inches, careening into the stadium wall behind her. Before she could fully catch her feet, another boulder shot toward her and she had to jump forward this time, laying flat on the ground as the stone of death passed above her.
The girl looked at her hands and knees, bloodied from the hard pebbles of the black stadium floor. But she didn't have time to take stock of her injuries. Glancing at her opponent, the girl saw that his puppet had thrown it's fistless forearms back into the earth. She saw what was coming next and began scrambling, slipping, and clutching at the black dirt to get moving.
With a mighty heave, the Golem ripped it's buried stumps from the ground and pulled two new fists out with them, like nothing had ever happened. Kalashoon smiled, as he saw the girl scampering to her feet, beginning to run as fast as her feet could carry her. He reared back to launch another set of boulders at the girl, but as he made his preparations, the Champion began to move in an odd way.
She began sway side to side, taking large leaping lunges. While the movements looked awkward, with each launch she began to pick up speed, each step taking her farther and farther. The Golem threw it's right fist, but the trajectory was way off, landing several steps behind the leaping girl.
Eventually Kint picked up on what the slender girl was doing. With every step of her shiny new boots, her feet were skating across a freshly laid track of glistening ice. Ice Walker indeed. He chuckled.
With every leaping lunge she took, the girl was gaining greater momentum, skating around the track as the Golem threw one stone fist after another in her direction. None of the boulders had a chance however, as she circled the massive stadium to the point where the two fighters were on opposite sides of where they'd started.
Kint couldn't help but be in awe of this girl. By laying down these thin strips of ice, only where here feet would be, and only for the exact amount of distance she wanted to travel free of friction, she was able to conserve enough energy and still be able to fight with such a tremendous power imbalance. Each movement was graceful and precise, each step perfectly on balance and right where it needed to be. She was a beautiful creature, but even with here extremely efficient use of limited resources, there was no way she could keep this up for very long. Kint had seen the size of her Aura. If things continued as they were she'd run out of Wave Energy.
As if she'd heard his thoughts, the girl shifted her strategy. She took a sharp turn beneath the Ringmasters platform. She leaned into the sliding turn, conserving as much of her speed and momentum as she could. Shifting her direction so she was sprinting straight at her foe.
The Challengers eyes widened at the speed of her turn, and how quickly she was approaching. While she had been circling him, the Puppet Master had continued throwing boulders, his golem's torso spinning upon it's hips like a top so that it could face whatever direction the girl was racing. Unfortunately, while spinning and staying in place was a good strategy for launching projectiles, it was less helpful now that the Ice Walker was heading directly at the Earth Mage. And with their positions flipped, his massive puppet was almost ten paces behind him. So there was no barrier between him and Tanveer's oncoming assault.
Kalashoon's face hardened, he widened his weighty stance and put his fists up ready to launch. She was a hundred paces away and closing. He squinted his eyes, adjusted for the distance, the speed, and threw a heavy fist at where he thought she'd be headed, the boulder detached, launching right in front of the girl, but she hopped to her left, landing gracefully on one foot and continuing her rampant pace. 50 paces now. Sweat beaded on the Challengers face as he stared her down with deadly focus. He threw his second fist, timing it for when she was stepping from right to left to cut her off in stride. The Ice Walker simply shifted right, crossing one leg over the other like a dancer and continuing her onslaught. 20 paces now. The girl drew out curved knife from its place on her belt. 15 paces. She quickened her steps, building one last jolt of speed. 7 paces. She took a gathering step. 5 paces, she leapt, raising her gleaming knife in the air with both hands.
The Challenger smiled... and with a shudder, something changed. The Golem went limp... The girl descended, blade heading for Kalashoon's head. But, where before his blocking movement had been slow and methodical, unable to match the speed of the girls strike, it's speed instantly doubled. Like a massive weight had lifted from the powerful man's body. He'd cut the strings on the puppet.
Seeing what was happening, the girl quickened her strike, but it was not enough. Haze leaned away from her attack, slapping the blade aside as she careened past him, only managing to leave a gash on his arm. Her momentum continued to carry her several paces beyond her opponent, his slap throwing her off balance. She hit the ground and bounced. As she rolled over, the girls eyes widened as she saw the descending strike of the Golem's forearm moving straight toward her. She activated her power, and massive sheet of ice extended in the direction she was rolling. Landing on it, she retained just enough momentum to slide past the Golems strike as it thundered behind her. Flowing right between the Puppet's legs.
She knew she had not time to waste. The girl pushed herself back to her feet as the mountainous Golem spun on the axis of it's hips to face her again. She scrambled, moving as quickly as she could. The puppet threw another strike down toward her. The girl pushed off, trying to lunge out of the way, and slipped. Foot losing purchase on the icy path she'd just made. Her eyes widened in fear as the fistless forearm of the Golem descended on her.
An explosion of rock and dust shook the arena as the strike hit. The crowd took in a sharp breath of collective pain. The golem removed it's forearm from the ground leaving a massive dusty crater in its wake.
The girl was gone.
Kint let out the breath he'd been holding. Saddened to see his champion lose. But it had been a long shot from the beginning. The crowd mirrored his mood. A sullen silence overtaking the Arena as the Challenger, now champion... raised his fist in the air, the Golem still following his movements.
No one cheered for the crowning of the new champion. The Crowd was silent as the bleeding Earth mage gave his mocking smile, shaking his victorious fist.
A gasp broke the silence. Then another... "Look!" came a voice from the crowd.
The whole stadium turned, trying to find what this person was seeing... There! Kint spotted it.
As the dust cleared from the Golems Giant raised arm, there appeared the figure of diminutive girl in laborers cloths. Holding onto the Earthen beasts appendage for dear life. Blood dripped from the side of her head.
The crowd rumbled. Gasps of surprise rose as everyone began to realize what was going on. The only one who couldn't quite get it was the Challenger, who was looking around in confusion.
Seeing her moment, Tanveer released her hold on the Golems arm. Using her power to grease her descent, she slid down to the Puppets back, feet landing on its shoulder. She squatted down and leapt off the stone beast. Her curved blade glistened in the afternoon sun as she raised it behind her head. Kalashoon turned around, this time it was his eyes that widened in fear as the relentless Ice Mage descended toward him. He threw his arms up in a final attempt to protect himself.
The knife landed, hitting with a thunk of pierced flesh and bone.
But it did not kill. It had split through one of the mans arms, and half of the other, but hadn't hit anything vital. The girl let go of the knife, leaving it in the muscular challengers arms as she dropped to the ground and scampered away. Kalashoon Haze ripped one forearm free from the blades edge and flailed it at her, but she was well away from him by then. He looked at the diminutive girl with hate in his eyes and let out a baleful scream.
The crowd erupted at the sight. Cheering and yelling for more.
"This is amazing." Kint heard Elsha say, as she applauded with the rest of them. "What is this girl?"
A small grin perked up on Kints face, but he could not be completely elated like the rest. He could feel that that final exchange might have been the best chance the girl had had to win.
The crowd continued to cheer and yell in their excitement, but it began to die down slowly as the people got a look at their champions physical state.
She stood at the edge of the arena, directly below the Ringmaster's speaking platform. She had her hands on her knees and she was breathing in large heaves and gasps.
The Challenger looked at her, seeing her sorry state. He calmed himself. Grabbing the curved blade with one hand, he extracted it slowly from his forearm. The outsiders hateful grimace locked on Tanveer the whole time.
As the applause finally died to the rustles of murmering concern, people began to see just how bad things might be.
"Come on Tanveer!" Cried a young man from the stands.
"You can do this Ice Walker!" Came a female voice.
"Ice Walker! Ice Walker! Ice Walker!" The chant began throughout the Arena, the crowd trying to will her back to health.
"I guess it's over then." His partner sighed. Grimacing at the sight of the haggered girl. "She's got to be out of Energy by now."
The Challenger dropped the bloodied knife to the black soil below. He lowered himself back into a fighting stance, and with smooth purposeful steps, he moved his Golem back in front of him, so it stood between the two fighters. He seemed determined not to underestimate the girl again. The man lifted his fists into that ready position, the Golem following suit.
"Ice Walker! Ice Walker! Ice Walker!"
The Shaper girl continued her deep breathing, until finally, she lifted her head and saw that her Trial partner was ready...
She gave a solemn nod. Taking in one final lungful of air, she put her hands on her knees and heaved herself up to her full height.
Insignificant as it was, the crowd loved it. The cheers rose and the chant grew louder.
"Ice Walker! Ice Walker! Ice Walker!"
She waved to the Kadenite's, acknowledging their efforts, and they cheered again in kind. Kint couldn't help but see the gesture as a wave goodbye. But hope was not lost yet.
Kint knew what she was, he'd seen her reserves. She would be very low on Wave Energy... but not totally empty.
Which left only one choice.
The girl repositioned her feet, crouching down, taking a sprinters stance. The crowd quieted, The challenger readjusting his stance as well.
Silence... Then...
Tanveer exploded forward, heading straight toward the Puppetmaster. It took her seven paces to build up momentum before she began lunging into her icy strides to picking up even greater speed.
The Challenger smiled, seeing his moment had come. No more dodging, no more acrobatic tricks, he would sweep her away in this moment.
She was 50 paces away, speed still gaining. The Challenger did not move. 40 paces, Kalashoon haze was still, his eyes singularly focused on the approaching girl, as blood dripped from his flexing arms. 30 paces, she was at top speed now. Kint knew she was on her last bits of energy. 20 paces. The Challenger smiled, He cocked his right side back.
Something was off... this was not the same movement he'd made before.
He took a step forward. The golem followed. He took a gathering step. The Puppet did the same. 15 paces.
Slowly, like he was pulling the weight of the sun against his body, the Challenger took a large gathering step and swung his right leg out across his body. A move that was meant to trip an opponent in hand to hand combat, but as the Golem followed it's master path, everyone could see how it would connect with Tanveer.
10 paces. It was too late. There was too much momentum. She couldn't dodge.
As the mountainous leg swept like an enormous scythe across the earth, Tanveer saw it, and did not slow. She continued gliding as the headsman's axe came to meet her, pushing off one more time as the giant earthen leg was only feet away and her final step was about to land, the last one she'd ever place... but it did not land... instead the slender girl continued falling, legs curling under her, knees touching on icy ground. Her shins hit glistening earth and she rotated, flexing backward so her whole body was leaning back against the ground, the bun of her hair touching salty black soil below... as the stone black leg of the golem grazed over her with a rush of wind and power.
It missed!
She continued sliding, all that momentum she'd built up from those final powerful strides now dragging her frictionless body across the barren landscape and directly into the unalterable path of Haze, the Challenger, just as he was finishing his overcommitted leg sweep.
The girl raised a gentle arm as she continued to slide, a sheen of glittering ice alighted at the edges of her fingertips as a paper-thin blade extended from her hand. She swept the blade across hulking challengers body, completing the scythe-like motion and finally skidding to an abrupt stop as her energy ran out.
Her lungs heaved, the raggedy shirt that had once been a potato sack now stuck wet to her sweaty chest. The girl was exhausted, she'd spent every ounce of her energy, both physical and magical. But the show isn't over. Kint thought, knowing deep within the Silent State what she would do next.
And like he'd called her to it with his mind, the Ice Walker stood up and raised a fist to the air... as the body of Kalashoon Haze fell dead behind her... split completely in half.
The crowd Exploded.