22. TWENTY

twenty

When the world finally stopped revolving, Kira became aware of the fact she was crouched on a flat floor covered in a fine-grained substance very similar to sand. Unlike sand, it was firm under her feet as she rose to standing.

A roar assaulted her ears.

Next to her, Raider pressed a hand to his head, his snarl a touch murderous. “Have I told you today how much I HATE Tuann technology?”

Kira made a preoccupied sound as she took in their surroundings.

They stood on the floor of an arena, stands full of cheering Tuann rising in a sharp slope around them. The colors of the five major Houses dominated but the smaller Houses were also represented. Their numbers, if taken together, almost equaled that of the major five.

The swath of midnight blue caught Kira’s attention as she located the box holding the higher-ranking members of her House.

Harlow and Wren looked down on her.

There was an amused cant to Harlow’s mouth that said he found Kira’s reaction to the exploding tree and her subsequent teleportation amusing.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure it’s hilarious,” she muttered.

Movement beside Wren showed Elena peeking over the side of Roake’s railing.

Her niece’s face lit up as she waved, saying something to the person beside her.

Being smaller than Elena, Ziva had to resort to grabbing the railing to hoist herself up so she could see those on the floor.

“That’s interesting,” Jin observed, spotting the two. “I would have thought they would keep Elena out of sight.”

“Sometimes the best place to hide someone is in plain view,” Kira told him.

Around her, the initiates waved at the crowd. Some performing minor tricks as they laughed up at their audience.

Kira took a moment to locate Luatha’s section of the stands, finding the box where Liara sat on a throne-like chair.

Her cousin from her mother’s side had her hands clasped in her lap, her only attendant an oshota by the name of Roderick. The Overlord of House Luatha’s expression was hard to read from this far as she gazed down at the initiates.

Kira followed the line of her eyes, spotting the three from Luatha clumped together not far from where Joule and Devon stood next to each other.

Like Joule and Devon, they seemed wary of those around them. Not participating in the antics of the rest. Unlike Joule and Devon, two of the three didn’t look like they knew which end of a blade to hold. In another life, Kira would have called them civilians.

As Kira studied the rest of the initiates, she found several groups behaving with the same level of caution.

Those were the ones who’d probably been warned by their Houses about the gauntlet the adva ka could become.

They were the real threats once the rest had been weeded out.

But first—they had to protect themselves from those intent on preying on the rest, Kira noted as she saw a group talking among themselves before glancing in Joule and Devon’s direction.

Surprise, surprise, Renata and Notus were among their numbers.

“I’ve got them,” Raider said, noticing where her attention had gone.

“Be careful,” Kira warned.

“Don’t worry, Grandma. I know the drill.”

“If that was the case, I wouldn’t have had to bail you out of the brig so many times.”

“You’re forgetting half the time you were in the cell right next to me.”

Kira’s mouth clicked closed as Raider used her insulted silence as an opportunity to saunter toward Joule and Devon.

“I should have let Bayside and Walker beat him up more often,” Kira muttered, referencing two Curs who’d died in the battle at Rothchild.

“Agreed,” Jin said as Kira turned away from the three to find Graydon watching her with a veiled gaze that gave her no hint as to what he was thinking. “Maybe he’d be less arrogant.”

Kira started toward Graydon as the rest of the initiates spread out, investigating the arena floor.

“You should be careful to keep your eyes in your skull,” Kira warned Graydon.

She was a little surprised to find he and his two oshota hadn’t already departed now that they’d been delivered to their newest stage.

“Why?” Graydon challenged with a rugged grin. “When they’ve found something worthy of their regard.”

Kira’s snort held amusement as she looked beyond him to the stands, locating the emperor’s box easily.

For one thing, it dwarfed the boxes of the Overlords. Its size alone made it hard to look past. To say nothing of the fancy throne Torvald reclined against.

“This is going to be bad, isn’t it?”

Graydon’s mouth quirked. “I have faith you’ll find your way.”

Someone was feeling a little overconfident in her.

Graydon leaned forward. “You’re far too paranoid to fall for the obvious tricks of those around you.”

Kira stilled, picking up his warning.

“How unexpected,” she said, staring at the side of his face. “And here I thought you liked to play by the rules.”

Graydon pulled back a tiny bit. “You’re the one who said rules are made to be broken.”

“As if you didn’t have that habit before you met me.”

Graydon’s chuckle did delicious things to her insides. “I’m looking forward to what’s coming. I have a feeling it will be something for the history books.”

Kira eyed him as he straightened. “Of course.”

She was the Phoenix, after all. The person Himoto compared to a wrecking ball.

A mad smile formed on Kira’s face. It went perfectly with the fierce glint in Graydon’s gaze that dared her to do her worst.

“You really need to stop smiling like that,” Jin muttered through their comms as Kira moved past Graydon.

A rush of air at her back announced Graydon and his oshotas’ departure, leaving Kira and the rest of the initiates to whatever fate now awaited them.

“You’ll terrify the rest if you don’t,” Jin added.

“Yes, that would be terrible.”

How would they get the courage to make things interesting if they were too scared to make a move in her direction?

Kira knelt, more interested in the mystery behind the sand than finding out what her fellow initiates were up to. She brushed away the surface particles to find more of the same below. Even poking a finger as deep as it would go couldn’t help her find the bottom of the particles.

As she withdrew her finger, she watched the hole she’d made fill in with grains. Almost like water welling up from the bottom. It seemed there was some type of memory function in the particles, allowing them to restore their original shape after a disturbance.

“Could they be nanites?” Kira mumbled to herself.

“Something like that,” Alexander said from over her head as his shoes entered her field of view.

Kira wiped her hands against each other as she looked up to find Alexander and Selene standing over her.

Someone nearby snickered.

“How pitiful to be impressed by such a small thing,” someone sneered. “You really did grow up in a technologically backward society.”

Kira and Alexander looked in the person’s direction, neither bothering with a response.

Selene was equally silent as she stared at the person and their companions. Many of whom were from the same group as Renata and the rest.

There was a watchful look in Kira’s eye as she rose.

“It’s a tragedy what growing up in such conditions did to you,” the person who’d spoken said with fake sympathy.

Kira looked up at Alexander before pointing at the idiot in front of them. “Is he talking to me or you?”

It was important to know in order to allocate the appropriate energy needed to deal with them.

If Alexander was their intended target, he could bear the brunt of the effort.

“You.”

“I don’t think so.” Kira shook her head before waving her hand at his body. “Your overall vibe is way more tragic than mine.”

Alexander faced Kira more fully, squaring off with her.

A sigh came from Selene before she made a gesture.

The man and his companion shot into the air with a shrill scream. A second ki shield crashed into their sides, knocking them into the stands.

Selene’s hand dropped as her shields dissolved. “Are you two done?”

Kira nodded as Alexander did the same.

“You two are no better than children,” Selene scolded.

“She means you, right?” Kira asked Alexander.

He glared. “No, it’s you. It’s always you.”

Alexander stomped away, the sound of his passage making it seem he was much larger—and heavier—than he appeared.

Selene paused at Kira’s side. “You’ve evolved.”

Kira frowned at her in question.

Selene nodded at Raider, Joule, and Devon as they squared off against their own group of nuisances. “There was a time you would not have been able to act as a bystander. You would have already stepped forth to solve their problems. It shows you’ve grown.”

Alexander’s snort came from in front of them. “Barely.”

“Growth is still growth,” Selene returned.

Kira’s shoulders shook at the pinched look on Alexander’s face that said he was dying to argue but didn’t dare. It seemed even the grumpiest and stodgiest of the forty-three had someone he didn’t dare cross.

“Nixxy, I’m picking up multiple energy signatures that suggest this arena isn’t as harmless as it appears,” Jin interjected.

Kira’s gaze jumped to the tall walls surrounding the arena, the stands above them.

“Not there. In the sands.” Jin sounded grim. “One at your three o’clock. Five meters out. A second to your five o’clock seven meters out.”

A part of Kira balked in remembered dread of the last encounter she’d had with those little bastards.

Tuann drones packed a mean punch. Like much of Tuann technology, they were highly advanced, able to achieve almost perfect camouflage.

Otherwise, Kira wouldn’t have needed Jin to inform her of their presence.

From what Kira had seen, they were primarily used for training purposes and lacked the intelligence or reasoning capability of a drone designed by the Consortium.

Even an outdated model like the J1N could perform more analytical activities and functions than any of these.

The Tuann drones acted much like mines—if that mine was capable of jumping up and chasing you for a while before shooting you with lasers that felt disconcertingly real.

Just thinking about the last time she’d tangled with them made her molars hurt. She’d been lucky to walk out of that forest on her own two feet.

“Devon isn’t going to like this,” she said in a low voice.

Not that she blamed him. Drones much like these had sent his primus into unconsciousness before shooting up his defenseless body when he changed back to his Tuann form.

“Why did it have to be them?”

Anything else would have been preferable.

“Just think—if I wasn’t here, you wouldn’t have known they were there until they were lighting your ass up,” Jin gloated.

Kira’s lip curled as she eyed her wrist with an expression of dislike. No way was she confirming that—even if it was a bit true.

The stands quieted as Torvald stepped into sight, wearing the same fancy synth armor and cape he’d worn when he’d intervened with Jarek.

“Is that a fur-lined cape?”

Kira’s lips curved. “It is.”

“What is the purpose behind those protrusions on his shoulders and arms? Is he hoping to impale his enemies with them? He looks like a porcupine. So embarrassing.”

A strangled giggle escaped Kira. Jin’s reaction was every bit as awesome as she’d expected.

Torvald gave the crowd a regal nod.

The Tuann in the stands stomped their feet to show their approval at the appearance of their ruler. The rhythm of the sound was slow at first but growing in intensity until critical mass was reached and it turned into a thunderous roar.

Torvald lifted his hand, silencing the barrage as effectively as if he’d hit a button.

Those in the stands watched him with an alertness that was almost intimidating.

Chills moved up Kira’s back as the arena’s mood blanketed her and the rest of the initiates.

It was easy to get swept up into the excitement and fervor, making you feel like you were part of something bigger than yourself.

It was connection. Strong and unyielding. A history shared with the countless people who had come before. All of whom would have stood in this spot, looking up at the emperor.

Kira’s hands clenched as her feelings threatened to overwhelm her reason.

“It’s something, isn’t it?” Jin whispered as Graydon appeared next to Torvald’s shoulder.

The emperor nodded at his Face before making his way toward the throne stationed in his box.

“A little dramatic though,” Jin finished.

Kira grinned. As expected, Jin’s reputation as a mood killer continued unbroken.

Graydon stepped to the front of the box, his eyes seeming to find Kira before sweeping over the rest of the initiates. All of whom had their faces tilted toward the emperor and his Face.

“For you to be here, it means you were called to this place and time. The Tuann have been blessed by the Mea’Ave, but those blessings come at a price. Our history is littered with those who’ve abused that which was given. That is why the adva ka exists.“ Graydon paused, his gaze landing on Kira as if his next words were meant for her alone. “Prove you are worthy. Prove you can survive.”

A roar greeted the end of Graydon’s speech as a buzz filled the arena and the sand shifted.

Transparent circles appeared on the periphery of the arena floor.

Kira counted. Ten. Each with a symbol above them.

“What do they mean?”

“So now I can poke my head out of your sleeve?”

The sand to her five o’clock started to shift. Kira dodged to the left as a flash of laser fire missed her arm by millimeters. The blast close enough that she felt the charge in the air.

“Don’t test me right now,” Kira snapped. “Can’t you see I’m a little busy trying to survive?”

Oh. So that was why Graydon had chosen the words he had. Very clever.

Kira felt the lu-ong/snake bracelet loosen as Jin peeked his head out from under her sleeve.

Kira dodged a second blast of laser fire, this one originating from the drone at her three o’clock.

The drone dug itself out of the ground, crawling upwards with dozens of tiny legs. Its body was segmented and long. Like a centipede—only covered in a silvery metal with blue dots running along its back.

The first drone was still half buried, only the blinking blue lights on its shell warning Kira that it still targeted her.

“They’re numbers,” Jin called. “A different one for each circle. The three closest to us say two, ten, and twenty respectively.”

As he spoke, Kira spotted a Tuann darting toward the circle with the number ten.

He charged the wall, bouncing off it with enough force to send him staggering backward before falling on his ass.

Kira didn’t have time to figure out the reason for his failure as a shift in the air around her announced danger.

Kira reached for the blade at her waist, a split-second’s distraction nearly costing her. Only instinct and training saved her as she spun out of the way, the woman’s sword cleaving the air she’d just vacated.

Putting distance between herself and the woman, Kira frowned down at the blade in her hand. She didn’t know what this blade was, but it didn’t belong to her.

Oh, it looked like hers, certainly. An exact replica of the one Harlow had gifted her after she’d passed the uhva na. Its weight the same. The look and feel. The way it fit her hand.

All a match except for the fact it wasn’t hers.

Kira’s weapons were an extension of her own body. Another limb as familiar to her as her hand or arm.

Which was why she knew it wasn’t hers.

She took a second to examine it closely, reaching out with her senses to find that what she held wasn’t an actual physical object at all.

She’d call the force holding it together ki but the flavor was different. Similar but worlds apart.

The source was the same though, making Kira think that her weapon along with everyone else’s had been replaced when they’d been transported to this arena.

She didn’t have time to ponder further as the woman sliced her blade at Kira’s head.

Kira shied away. “If you wanted to play, you only needed to ask.”

There was a thought running through her head at the reasons her blade might have been replaced. The woman in front of her was as good a person to test her theory out on as any.

Ki built up around the stranger’s blade.

“Behind you,” Jin warned at the same time Kira’s instincts twinged.

She stepped to the side as the woman unleashed a small sheet of ki Kira knew would have caused internal injuries.

The drone that had taken advantage of Kira’s blind spot fired at the same time.

The woman yelped as the drone’s laser hit her chest. At the same time, the sheet of ki sliced the drone in half.

Kira whistled. “One stone; two birds.”

Not bad, if she did say so herself. Though her opponent’s elimination meant she’d have to wait to verify her hypothesis.

By now, the other initiate’s body had shattered into a thousand shards in a manner similar to the way they’d arrived. Kira was guessing there was some type of teleportation happening, and that when an initiate received a mortal blow, they were evicted from the arena.

She was betting that’s why their weapons had been replaced with replica’s. The Tuann had already proven their mastery of sensory feedback loops with their drones. Why not something similar for the adva ka?

It would certainly cut down on unnecessary deaths. Maybe not eliminate them entirely but it would up the survival rate.

She plunged the tip of the blade into the sand beside her, withdrawing it from a destroyed drone in the next second.

Kira stared down at her blade. “This is going to be fun.”

Jin’s sigh gusted in her ears. “I’ve told you before not to smile like that.”

“I can’t help it. The Tuann have handed us the perfect hunting grounds.”

And Kira intended to take full advantage.

“Don’t you want to see what I can do without the inhibitor to slow me down?”

Kira stopped in the middle of the arena as the sand stirred under her feet.

To her right, Joule threw up a ki shield right as an arrow from a zuipi impacted the air directly in front of his nose.

His face showed no fear as he stared at the person responsible, his hands already moving to create another shield. This time to protect Devon’s flank as he sliced the long sword he held across the attacker’s neck.

The person dropped, his body disappearing before he hit the sand.

Devon straightened to glare at the person’s companion.

The Tuann woman’s eyes widened as she back pedaled, shooting zuipi arrows at Devon that glanced harmlessly off the shield Joule was quick to create.

Devon’s pace was steady as he advanced, lifting his sword and stabbing it into the other’s torso before she could do anything.

Like the other Tuann, she disappeared into dozens of light motes that faded in seconds.

Raider’s face was almost bored as he watched from the side.

He waited until both Tuann had been taken care of before sauntering in the direction of the clump of initiates who had been talking to Renata and Notus earlier.

The Tuann smirked, the idiots probably assuming Raider would be easy prey.

Raider’s head tilted as he closed the distance, not even bothering to draw his blade as the first ran toward him.

Dumbass.

The Tuann would have been better served attacking Raider from a distance.

Sure enough, there was a scream as Raider knocked the man’s sword away before latching onto his arm.

It took seconds for Raider to maneuver the other into an arm bar.

“Tap out or I break it,” Raider informed him.

Kira shook her head at the man’s snarled obscenity. Wrong answer.

Raider shrugged. “Your choice.”

A scream came from the man as Raider pressed up on the man’s elbow.

The man crumpled to his knees, cradling the injured arm.

Raider pushed him away as Kira approached.

“Having fun?” Kira asked.

“A little.” Raider looked past Kira to Alexander and Selene.

The two progressed across the sands at an even pace, only stopping long enough for Alexander to deal with those who strayed into their path.

His movements were economical as he knocked his opponents out. Almost as if his foes were no more of a nuisance than a pesky mosquito.

The delay cost them only a few seconds before they were on their way again.

Alexander turned his head, saying something to Selene that made her smile.

Amusement still lingered on her lips as she murmured something to Alexander before changing course and heading in Kira’s direction.

Alexander’s reluctance was almost comical as he trudged after Selene.

“Problem?” Kira asked, picking up on the subtle aura of animosity coming off Raider.

“No problem.”

Kira had a hard time believing that with the way Raider continued to eye Alexander.

Alexander’s manner was almost dismissive toward the other. “The human is not worth the time or effort it would take to become a problem.”

Aggression rolled off Raider.

Kira moved between them. “That’s good because I have no intention of being either of your babysitters.”

She meant it too.

“Does anyone have an idea of what we’re supposed to do?” Kira asked, hoping the question would make them focus on the task at hand.

Joule raised his hand tentatively. “I think I do.”

Joule fought not to shrink in on himself as he became the focus of attention. In the end, he stood his ground admirably. No easy feat given Alexander’s and Raider’s glares.

Kira beckoned for him to continue. “Go ahead.”

“It’s a puzzle.”

None of the transparent circles had been breached yet. After the first few attempts failed, the initiates seemed reluctant to waste any more time on them. Particularly since the drones’ avenue of attack was focused on the immediate area surrounding the circles.

“What does it mean?” Selene asked.

Joule shook his head. “There’s a piece still missing. Until it reveals itself, I don’t think anyone is getting inside one of them.”

“Lovely,” Raider muttered.

“You don’t have to be here,” Alexander pointed out.

Raider’s response died as the ground shifted. The sandy particles piled one on top of another, erecting a stone-looking wall. A pair of drones affixed to the top.

Kira grabbed Raider’s collar, dragging him back as Joule and Selene stepped forward to erect shields in front of them.

“Thanks,” Raider said as Kira let him go.

Above them, a set of symbols appeared.

“What do you want to bet that’s our missing piece?” Raider said, his eyes on the symbols.

“I don’t need to.” Kira was certain it was.

“It’s a timer,” Joule exclaimed.

Kira squinted as the numbers changed. The same symbol that was on one of the circles flashing.

A Tuann broke toward the circle, racing across the sand as drones converged on his position as if trying to keep him away.

He dodged, reaching the circle by some miracle. Strain showed as he forced his way forward, one slow step at a time.

Finally, he breached the perimeter, collapsing into a heap seconds later.

“The timer tells us which circle is open,” Raider said.

“The number went down by one.” Devon nodded at the symbol above the circle. “Once occupancy is reached, they won’t allow any others through.”

Selene’s eyes closed as a look of concentration formed. “The higher numbers have a denser barrier. They will require a higher level of ki to penetrate.”

Which meant those circles with a lower number would be quicker to fill up.

Throw in the walls rising from the ground throughout the arena, each equipped with several drones, and this was no easy task ahead of them.

A group of Tuann stopped not far from them, their leader’s gaze on Alexander.

The man was around the same height as Alexander but bulkier and with a slightly more feral edge that Alexander lacked.

At least nowadays.

The present Alexander masked his aura of savagery through a neat, scholarly appearance.

“You have the look of Asanth,” the leader told Alexander. “Come with us. We can watch out for you.”

“No, thank you,” Alexander told the man. “I will watch out for myself.”

“Cadel, let’s go. He’s already said no,” someone urged the man when he hesitated.

“Should you change your mind, Asanth will welcome you home,” Cadel said before loping away to rejoin his companions.

“I’m surprised.” Kira joined Alexander. “That offer was downright respectful.”

Nothing like the one she’d gotten which was more along the lines of “you have no choice but to come with us.”

“Asanth has always respected independence. Their members are more likely to become wanderers than any other,” Alexander explained. “They also have the highest acceptance rate of those who return from wandering.”

Kira stared after Cadel and his companions. “That’s almost admirable.”

“They also fight each other for sport.”

“Oh no. Not that,” Kira said in a deadpan voice as the rest of them turned back to their group.

This time Kira caught the faint twitch of Alexander’s lips that hinted at the presence of a smile. One quickly hidden as they tuned into the conversation taking place around them.

“It’s pointless to make a plan without knowing the lay of the land,” Raider was saying.

“That’s easily solved,” Kira said with a glance in Selene’s direction. “Care to give me a lift?”

“Happy to.”

The consistency of the ground under Kira’s feet gained a slight buoyancy that required her to bend her knees and brace.

A transparent box lifted her into the air.

This was a risk. A higher vantage allowed her a bird’s eye view of what was happening below, but it also made her a target.

She’d have to be quick.

With that in mind, Kira scanned her surroundings.

The sand had turned the field of battle into a mine field strewn maze, leaving most of the initiates scattered over a large area. Though a few had gotten lucky enough to be standing next to a circle when it opened.

The rest were left to the uncertain fate of finding a circle to target and praying it would open before time ran out. It was going to be mass chaos with the circles containing a lower threshold for passage drawing the most competition.

They needed a happy medium. One where the number was on the lower side but not so low the members of their party couldn’t pass through.

Selene, Alexander, and Kira would probably be fine targeting any of the circles.

The real question lay with Devon, Joule, and Raider.

Without having tested any of the circles herself, she couldn’t determine how difficult they would be to breach.

It left Kira having to guess. Kira hated guessing.

She wanted certainty. A sure bet.

Unfortunately, as with most things in life, such things were nothing but a dream.

Instead, she was forced to rely on instinct and experience. All while knowing that she had moments before dozens of drones locked onto her position and lit her world on fire.

“If you have any advice, I’m all ears,” Kira said.

“Give me a moment,” Jin responded, sounding harried.

“Take your time.” Kira looked up as the shadows above their head stirred. “It’s not like we’re in an exposed position or anything.”

Spots of blue shown in the dark against the starry night sky that she now realized was an illusion rather than the actual sky.

Several drones dropped from where they’d been clinging to their perches.

“Crap,” Kira breathed as the drones rotated to face her, the lights that lit up their insect-like shapes reminding her of eyes.

“I don’t have it,” Jin blurted. “I tried but I can’t find a pattern.”

Kira felt herself calm, her mind emptying of extraneous concerns as she focused on figuring out their current problem. It was a skill cultivated through countless experiences on the battlefield where panic would result in loss of life.

The more chaotic the situation, the calmer and more focused she needed to be. It was the only way she’d survive.

Graydon and Torvald wouldn’t have left the adva ka up to chance. The very thought went against the purpose of a rite of passage in the first place.

While luck could also be considered a skill, it was one that couldn’t be controlled.

They’d want Tuann who possessed both talent and luck—which meant there was a solution to this riddle.

Kira let her thoughts wander, not worrying about the dozen or so drones bearing down on her position.

“You have forty seconds before the first wave of drones reach you,” Jin pointed out, sounding nervous.

Plenty of time.

The world grew distant as Kira sank into an almost meditative state as her mind puzzled through the problem.

The quiet stillness allowed her to pick up on something she’d missed before.

A niggle on the edge of her senses. Easy to miss with all the external stimuli.

Threads of ki radiated from the timer, waving through the air as if searching for something to connect to.

Kira mapped them in her mind’s eye, noting their destination and the thread already connected to the currently open circle.

As she investigated, one of those tethers attached to a circle on the other end of the arena.

Ki pumped through it, strengthening the line as the other attached thread started to weaken.

“Kira,” Jin urged. “You need to move. Inbound strike in ten seconds.”

Kira looked up, the atmosphere of the arena shifting as the timer changed. The symbol it projected matched the circle the thread had just attached too.

Gotcha.

“Move, Phoenix!”

Kira dropped.