Chapter 4

We parted ways. I kept to the shadows and looked for a laundry, or an open room where I could find myself something to wear that wasn't soaked in blood. I needed to tend to my wounds also. They weren't as serious as they looked, but I expected more trouble. I'd taken another sword from the guards we'd killed, but I didn't think it would last very long.

I eventually found my way to a large round room which looked like some kind of arena. There were benches from floor to ceiling, two massive gates, and an elaborate private box with red velvet curtains. The arena itself was filled with water, and from where I stood I could see things swimming in the shadows which made me wonder just how deep that water was.

A group of four men in yellow tabards were sitting together in the empty seats. They watched me as I approached. I was still covered in blood.

"Is there a changing room around here?" I asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Which team are you on?" One of the men asked. Upon closer examination, I guessed the team was from Wavecrest. Some of their heads were shaved, their noses and ears were pierced, and their bodies was covered in tribal tattoos which paid homage to the archipelago's volcano gods.

"A… new team," I replied. "It'll be our first night." I was a terrible liar. Bluffing was Sapphire's preserve. She could fabricate her entire life story with a smile on her face, and usually I preferred to just stand quietly behind her.

"I'd heard there was a new blue team," another of the Wavecrest men remarked. "What happened to you?"

Blue team. I filed that away.

"Training accident. It's less serious than it looks," I told him. That, at least, was the truth.

The Wavecrest team members all nodded, and one of them pointed to the gate on the far side of the arena. "The blue team locker room is over there," he said.

"Thanks," I nodded.

I followed the directions I'd been given. I didn't know how long it would be until members of the real blue team showed up. Possibly, I could convince them that I would be a good addition, but I didn't know what the game we were playing actually was.

In the locker room, it was loud and very warm. I could hear some sort of mechanical racket coming from inside the walls, and I followed the sound to a cleverly-concealed corner panel. When I removed the panel, there was a burst of steam and I found myself staring at a strange device that seemed equal parts marine life and machine. I quickly covered it back up when it blinked at me with a pair of stalk eyes.

Veritas would know what monster I'd uncovered, I was certain. Bio-mechanical horrors were one of his specialties, along with incredibly irritating constructs and pocket dimensions.

It was frustrating, trying to sort things out on my own. It made me especially aware of my own weaknesses. My Circlemates and I worked much better as a team. I hoped they were doing all right without me. I was especially nervous about Roach. He wasn't a pawn in Himitsu's game, but he was responsible for taking care of all of Nexus while we were away. Playing "The Emissary" was his favorite thing to do, and I worried that he might have a little too much fun.

I found a group of lockers that were marked with blue paint, and opened the one closest to me. There was a clean shirt and a blue tabard inside, along with a note in the most perfect handwriting imaginable.

Congratulations on making it this far without violating the terms of our agreement.

Best of luck in the competition.

Not for the first time, I wondered why Heaven let Himitsu have access to the Loom of Fate. As far as I could tell, he seemed to pull on its threads chiefly for his own amusement.

A team in green tabards came into the locker room. I didn't have to see them to know that they were either demon-worshippers or Lintha. The smell of sulphur was overwhelming. I tried not to show my disgust as they passed me by.

A few minutes later, a second team in red arrived. They looked normal enough, which made me suspect immediately that they were Heaven's agents. One of the men I was certain I'd seen before. His eyes were red, and stars flickered in his pupils.

A Sidereal, Chosen of Battles. Of course.

The man flinched. He reacted as if he'd just been bitten by something. While I didn't hate Sidereals the way Veritas did, it still pleased me to see them get a little Paradox from time to time. Something had to keep Heaven accountable for its actions.

There was a board showing the upcoming matches posted above the door, and I glanced at it. At least two more teams, purple and black, were still unaccounted for, and there was also a "house team". I thought of Maldict's pirate golems and grimaced. The other teams, probably, were sharing the locker room on the opposite side of the arena. I didn't expect to be welcomed in there, which meant that my first opportunity to size up my opponents would be when they entered the arena.

I was a little more concerned about my teammates and the rules of the game, but if Himitsu had already anticipated my entry into the competition, the smartest thing I could do was stay right where I was. The blue team's first match was against a group identified as "black". The second match would put us against a "mystery challenger", and the third against the winners of either "yellow versus green" or "red versus purple".

The final round, assuming we made it that far, would probably be against Maldict's own minions. The symbol on the board was a grinning pirate. It winked at me, and I wished I had something to throw. The possibility of fighting undead, demons, Sidereals, and fae without using Essence was not something I was looking forward to.

Even over the din of the strange, Wyld-tainted machine-monster, I could hear people filing into the arena. A fanfare of trumpets announced the arrival of someone important, probably Maldict himself. I couldn't make heads or tails out of what he was saying, and wished that I dared to use a Charm. There was an audible reaction of shock and awe as he unveiled something, probably the fabulous prize. The sound of a cannon firing announced the start of the matches, and the green team left the locker room to face their opponents.

As the green team headed out past the guards, the Lunar and the thief from earlier slipped in. The girl who'd been with them was gone. Even still, I guessed that I was looking at the ones Fate had chosen to be my teammates.

"What are you doing here?" The thief, Nick, asked.

"Hiding from the guards, mostly," I admitted. "And you?"

"We were going to compete for the prize," Nick admitted. "But we can't find our other teammates." He looked me over, obviously considering whether or not I might be willing to join his team. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to play?"

"What team are you on?" I asked.

"Blue," he said.

Of course.

I pretended to think about his offer.

"All right," I agreed. "But this looks like some sort of water battle, and I should warn you that I'm not a very good sailor. Do you know what the rules are?"

The Lunar stared at me. "We were hoping you knew."

I glanced around the room. The red team was awaiting their turn in the arena, but they were also watching us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white sign. It read "Arena Rules".

1. No weapons.

2. No sorcery.

3. Anything within the arena can be used.

4. Being knocked from your boat earns the opposing team one point.

5. If a boat is crippled, or if all team members are in the water at the same time, victory is

awarded to the opposing team.

I pointed to the sign, and my teammates read it over.

"Sounds simple," Nick said.

"It's not going to be," the Lunar replied. "That's barely any rules at all. Anything in the arena?" She prompted. "That water is pretty deep. What do you think might be down there?"

I nodded solemnly.

A loud buzzer announced the end of the first match. The Lintha team sauntered back into the locker room, smelling even more like sulphur and looking very pleased with themselves. I somewhat suspected that the rules "no weapons" and "no sorcery" were more "guidelines", and that we might expect some fairly cutthroat competition. Obsessed as he was with pirates, I was sure that cheating and gratuitous violence was exactly what Maldict was hoping for.

The second match went a little longer than the first. The red team walked away victorious, although they looked a little worried by the competition they'd faced. Arrogant as agents of Heaven usually were, I was sure they'd expected to walk away unscathed. One of the team members had a nasty burn on his back that looked like he'd been hit with a flaming octopus, and another one's arm was wobbling around, boneless, like a wet noodle.

The arena had something in it all right, and that something was raw Wyld.

I took a deep breath. We were up next.