Chapter 312: A Point Each

The camera above the tunnel turned as Jin walked underneath it.

He knew it was following the team. He still had to resist checking whether there was something on his face.

Arena 1 had filled three sides of its seating, and the commentators were already introducing the academies. Somewhere back in Shelter 7, Elsa would be leaning too close to a screen while his mother told her to move.

Jin hoped they wouldn’t show him sitting on the bench every time Meridian lost a point. He had no idea what an encouraging expression was supposed to look like when he was nervous himself.

Glitch brushed against his leg. Jin steadied him with a hand on the shoulder and followed Nessa into the team area.

The morning medical check had cleared Glitch, but check-in required another inspection and contract verification. Jin waited while a steward confirmed the eligible names with Marris.

Renn and Dray stood behind her in team jackets. Their beasts remained unavailable; neither appeared on the fighting roster. Having them there still made Jin feel considerably better.

The steward reviewed the continuation and nomination provisions before both coaches signed.

"They really don’t want an argument afterward," Corin muttered.

"Then don’t give them one," Dray said. She straightened the twisted strap on his wrist guard and let go before he could complain.

Nessa stood at the rail, watching the opposite entrance.

Ada Voss emerged with Mire.

The marsh strider’s long forelimbs carried its shoulders high above the grit. Jin remembered how often Nessa’s runner had reached for a gap only to meet a sweeping limb instead.

Nessa breathed out and turned to Marris.

"Same one," she said.

"You’ve prepared," Marris answered. "Make her respond to you this time."

For the first few exchanges, she did.

Nessa sent her runner low toward Mire’s standing leg, then called it away before the forelimb could sweep down. The next approach came from a different angle. Mire had to step rather than simply reach, and Voss began moving along her own side to maintain a clear view.

Jin leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

"She’s making it lift the near leg," Corin said.

Dray nodded. "Watch the next entry."

The runner slipped under the lifted limb and struck the hock before springing clear. Nessa’s shout carried over the crowd, and Jin found himself on his feet with everyone else.

Voss gave two sharp commands. Mire widened its stance, then began retreating along a curve instead of straight back.

Nessa adjusted her angle, but now the strider’s retreat drew her runner across the reach of the other forelimb. She pulled it out in time once. On the next approach, she had to abandon the attack entirely.

The clock passed six minutes.

"She needs to reset," Renn said quietly.

Nessa tried. Her runner moved inward, making room between itself and the boundary, and Mire followed far enough to deny an easy fresh approach.

For another two minutes, neither beast landed cleanly. Then the runner ducked beneath a high sweep, and Mire folded the same limb downward rather than completing the arc. It caught the runner across the shoulder and rolled it onto its side.

"Yield!" Nessa called before Mire could follow.

The referee stopped the bout. Nessa went directly to her beast, crouching beside it while the medic checked the shoulder.

[Meridian 0 — Sablecourt 1]

Jin sat down slowly. The new entry had worked. Voss had still found an answer.

Voss passed inspection and chose to continue.

"Faile," Marris said.

Jin looked toward her before he could stop himself.

"You’re waiting," she told him. "Mire’s had eight minutes of work. Corin has prepared for this matchup, and I want our point before I spend Glitch’s energy."

Corin was already standing.

"Spar. Come on."

His crested lizard lifted its head and followed him to the gate. Dray caught Corin’s sleeve long enough to say something quietly, and he nodded.

Jin watched them go with an uncomfortable rush of relief. If Marris had called his name, he would have gone. He wasn’t sure he could have suggested waiting with all those people watching.

Good thing she doesn’t need me to be brave about the bench.

Nessa returned as Corin entered the arena. Her runner had gone with the care staff for a fuller examination.

"Shoulder’s bruised," she said when Renn asked. "They’re checking the joint."

Jin moved his bag so she could sit. She thanked him without looking away from Spar.

Corin made Mire advance.

He brought Spar just inside the strider’s comfortable reach, then withdrew before the sweep. Spar settled low after each retreat, hind legs ready beneath him. His explosive lunge was shorter than Mire’s reach, but it was quick enough to punish a forward step.

Voss recognized it. She kept Mire’s steps short and used the near forelimb to prod at Spar’s guard.

Twice, Corin called an entry that never became safe. Both times he pulled Spar away. Jin could almost hear Dray telling him not to mistake movement for commitment.

Then Voss changed the pressure. Mire stepped diagonally, bringing a sweep toward Corin’s side of the ring. Spar had to move across to screen him, and the strider followed.

Corin retreated with his beast instead of letting them separate.

"Good," Dray said under her breath.

By the seventh minute, Mire was taking longer to settle its near foreleg. Spar had a scrape along his crest and was breathing through an open mouth. Corin wiped his palm on his trousers without lowering his gaze.

He offered the same retreat again.

This time, Mire stepped farther to keep him moving. Its weight came onto the foreleg before Voss called the turn.

"Now!" Corin shouted.

Spar drove forward beneath the rising sweep. His shoulder caught Mire high in the chest. The strider’s head dropped into Spar’s rising crest just as its other forelimb struck the side of the lizard’s skull.

The impacts came together. Both beasts collapsed.

The whistle sounded immediately.

Corin and Voss ran onto the floor, calling for medics. Spar lay still. Mire’s long legs had folded awkwardly beneath its body, and Jin couldn’t see its breathing from the bench.

He gripped the rail until a medic raised her hand and called that it was breathing.

[Simultaneous knockout — both entrants retire]

[One point awarded to each academy]

[Meridian 1 — Sablecourt 2]

Spar stirred as the medics secured him for transport. Mire needed a splint and closer observation, but the staff confirmed that both beasts were stable before taking them away.

Corin returned with shaking hands.

"Did it count?" he asked. "I heard something, but—"

"It counted," Dray said, settling him into a chair. "You got the point and took their opener out."

"He tried to get off the board." Corin laughed unsteadily. "Idiot."

"You can tell him that when they let you in," she replied.

Jin paused beside him. "You gave us a chance."

Corin looked up, then nodded toward the gate. "Use it."

Marris met Jin there.

"One bout first," she said. "We’ll discuss staying on if you win. If I call you off, you come."

"Yes, Coach."

The cheers rose as he entered, louder than he had expected. He kept his hand near Glitch’s shoulder, grateful for something familiar to look at.

[Bout 3 — Sablecourt nomination]

[Vesna Dahl — Redoubt, Shieldback Scorpion]

[Rank 1 Novice, 9-Star — Quality: Silver (Peak)]

Dahl walked to her mark. Redoubt lowered its armored front and lifted its tail over the shell.

Jin recognized the guard from Renn’s recordings. Getting past it would take work, and the tiger’s tamer was still waiting behind the gate.