Chapter 425: Seconds

Heat crept into his face. He made himself look at Maddox instead of the stands.

"Flicker, up. Let it come to you."

She rose. The kestrel moved to contest her height, keeping below the marked cords.

Glitch took two steps out from the wall and stopped. This time Jin moved with him. The monitor approached low, ready to turn its shoulder into the drake again.

Jin waited until its forefeet carried it forward, then sent Flicker down across the kestrel’s approach. Her Crosswind Turn bent the dive sideways. The kestrel had to climb sharply to avoid the crossing, briefly leaving Jin a clear route.

He moved toward Maddox’s sword side.

Maddox turned with him. The awareness talent might have helped, but there was nothing slow about his parry either. Jin’s first thrust went aside, and the sword slid along his shaft toward his hands.

He pulled back and changed the angle. Glitch held the monitor’s attention for another breath. Jin got one more attempt before the kestrel returned, and this time Maddox took half a step back.

Jin withdrew with the spear still covering him.

It was a very small gain. He was absurdly pleased with it.

The next exchange was worse. The kestrel ignored Flicker’s approach and came straight for Jin. He stepped behind Glitch, losing the angle he wanted, while the monitor swept its tail low across the drake’s forelegs.

Glitch stumbled against the block. Jin felt the jolt through the bond and called the advance off.

They tried again after resetting. Flicker drew the kestrel lower, then curved toward the monitor without firing. It checked her approach. Glitch used that hesitation to move beside it, and Jin reached Maddox before the bird could return.

Three quick weapon exchanges left Jin’s forearm aching. Maddox yielded a pace, then recovered it when Jin withdrew.

At least they were making him work now.

Jin brought Flicker down for a short rest behind Glitch while he watched the opposite partnership. The sharp turns were costing her. Her climbs had shortened, and she shook her wings before folding them.

"A moment," he murmured. "You don’t have to chase it every time."

Maddox shifted toward the western block. Jin moved with Glitch to keep him from getting around their side. The monitor approached as before, head low, and Jin prepared to stagger their next attack.

Then it went wider.

Its tail made Glitch turn, and its shoulder drove into his flank before he could square himself. The drake Hardened, but the monitor pressed him against the western block at an angle that gave him little room to push.

The kestrel came directly at Jin.

Flicker rose from behind Glitch, but the bird broke across her approach and forced her to turn. Maddox followed beneath it, close enough that Jin couldn’t stop to work out the whole arrangement.

The first sword cut struck his shaft. The next drove him another pace east, away from Glitch.

Jin tried to circle inward. The kestrel crossed that route, and Maddox stepped across behind it. Jin retreated again, seeing the eastern block pass on his left.

Everything was coming at him now. Glitch strained against the monitor, Flicker was climbing to try another interception, and Maddox kept advancing without giving him a useful opening.

Jin glanced back.

Four metres of sand remained before the white line.

Jin caught the next cut on the spear shaft and yielded another half-step. Sand dragged under his heel.

He could surrender. The thought came plainly, without shame, and stayed while he looked toward Glitch.

The drake was still responsive. He had his feet under him, but the monitor’s shoulder held him against the western block. Every attempt to turn gave the longer beast a better angle to press.

A brief increase in force could break that position. It wouldn’t win the fight. It might give them room to make another choice.

Jin sent the instruction through the bond: the combination, one push, then stop and come to him. Glitch’s answer was an urgent readiness that made Jin tighten his grip.

"Flicker. Across its next pass. Give us room."

She climbed and turned toward the kestrel. Jin moved inward as it broke away to meet her, drawing Maddox with him instead of retreating nearer the line.

Across the arena, Draconic Dread rolled from Glitch. His focus held through it as Draconic Will joined the exertion, the two familiar abilities gathering into Imitation Draconic Heart.

The monitor hesitated under the sudden pressure, but kept its shoulder braced.

Glitch drove upward and sideways.

This time its stance shifted. The monitor’s nearer forefoot slid, and Glitch turned into the space he had gained. A short Faultline Rush drove it a few paces away from the block, far enough that it had to plant its feet and recover instead of immediately trapping him again.

"Off," Jin called. "Now. Come back."

The combination ended. Glitch turned toward him, leaving the monitor upright and already trying to follow.

Flicker crossed above its approach. Her restrained Ember Shot struck the exposed foreleg, making it check long enough for Glitch to clear the western block. Jin retreated behind the eastern one, keeping stone between himself and Maddox until the drake reached him.

The burst had lasted only a few seconds.

Glitch’s breathing came hard. He planted his feet carefully, reluctant to turn his sore flank, and through the bond Jin felt a deep fatigue spreading beneath the effort of staying ready.

"No more rushing," he told him. "Stay close."

The monitor came around the block’s southern end. Glitch met it at the gap beside the timber wall, Hardened shoulder forward. He stopped its first check, but his feet shifted under the second.

Jin pulsed Gravity Press beneath the monitor’s advancing forefoot, clear of Glitch. The stride shortened. He released the pressure and brought Glitch back before the heavier beast could settle against him.

Maddox rounded the northern end with his sword ready. Jin met him there, using the spear’s reach to keep him from coming freely around the corner.

He couldn’t watch both ends at once.

"Flicker, the monitor. One pass."

She threatened its exposed side, drawing its head around while Glitch withdrew behind the block. The kestrel followed her. Jin broke contact with Maddox and moved south, bringing the team together beside the wall before either approach could close.

Glitch got several breaths without an enemy against him. Jin watched his feet. They were steady when planted; it was moving quickly between positions that was becoming costly.

Maddox saw it too. He sent the monitor around the outer end of the wall, seeking a broad approach, while he and the kestrel kept Jin near the block.

Jin had to make them change direction again. He couldn’t hold here until Glitch recovered. Nothing in the bond suggested that would happen soon.

Flicker rose to intercept the kestrel. Jin advanced toward Maddox while the monitor was still rounding the wall. The sword caught his spear aside, then came back toward his forearm.

He withdrew just enough and reset the point. Maddox had to check his advance. Behind Jin, Glitch walked the short distance back to the gap, where the wall would limit the monitor’s next turn.

It was enough for now. Jin stopped asking for more.