Chapter 292: Harvest

Tarin crossed into the cove first, moving aside to leave the shallow approach clear.

Eira followed beside Bolt, one hand resting against its back. The jetmaw swam toward the sheltered water near the beach, where Ren waited with Balm. Vesper and Mistwhisker came through behind them, then Pell, Lantern and Riptide carrying Keep.

Orun and Sethe had kept the receiving space empty. Balm rested on a flat stone within Ren’s reach; he lifted the moss into the water and let it spread over Bolt’s flank.

Eira crouched on the other side.

"The bleeding stopped," she said. "It still pulls when it turns."

Ren felt along the cut beneath Balm. The surface had closed, but the injury ran deeper. He worked Life into the damaged flesh, pausing when Bolt moved so he could follow the tightness through the turn.

Eira kept a hand against the fish until it settled. Ren continued until the muscle moved without the same resistance, then eased the working down and had Bolt flex again.

Balm shifted clear of the healed area.

"Turn," Ren said.

Bolt swam a short curve through the sheltered water, then reversed. Both turns were clean. Ren watched it accelerate once before calling it back.

He recorded the wound and treatment on the return form for the event’s recovery staff. Bolt could move properly again, but the next round needed carrying capacity. He left it with Balm while he went up to read the Harvest sheet.

— • —

The new arena was a terraced valley, with the staging areas and collection points along its lowest edge.

A flooded lower terrace held submerged root-clusters and shell specimens. Above it, a shaded fern floor carried spore-bearing growths beneath broad fronds. Mineral crusts formed around springs on the hot upper terrace.

Ren checked the depths and the routes between levels. An eastern channel descended beside the fern floor to the lower water. It was deep enough for Pell to follow in its Lawfire, though Riptide would remain below with Keep. On the west, spring water ran down a separate course. Land ramps connected the terraces, with marked transit paths through the center and along the edges.

Every specimen had a base value. Intact material earned the full amount, damaged material half, and spoiled material nothing. Nothing scored until an attendant accepted it at the squad’s collection point. Anything still being carried at the final signal was uncounted.

The collection beds prohibited attacks, sabotage and obstruction. Interference was allowed on the marked transit routes outside them.

Lords could give route instructions only. Ren could direct Vesper around a blocked approach, but he couldn’t tell Eira what to harvest or help preserve it. Ties were settled by intact-specimen count, then fewer spoiled submissions, then the earliest final scoring hand-in.

The largest fern growth was worth eighty. Smaller growths were worth ten, submerged root-clusters six, and accepted shell specimens and mineral crusts two each. Crusts were less vulnerable to spoilage, but broken pieces could still lose value.

Ren placed his roster beside the sheet.

— • —

Vesper would command, with Eira deciding what they could collect and preserve.

Vesper and Mistwhisker cost three. Eira, Keep and Riptide cost two each, Tarin three, and Pell two. Anvil brought the total to seventeen; Knock filled the final point.

The calf had enough depth on the flooded terrace and would remain there. Its three-note call could signal the water group and anyone close enough to hear. Farther up the valley, the squad would use Keep’s reports and direct calls.

Ren had Anvil test the packed containers on the cove’s bank. Both sat in braced mounts along its back, below the protective rim of its shell. The crab walked, turned and lowered itself while Vesper checked the straps. Internal padding kept the specimens from knocking together; it couldn’t make the load immune to a blow.

Eira checked the space beneath the lids before Anvil made another turn. She left room for packing around the roots and clearance above the specimens.

Pell tested a small closed carrier beside the water. It could manage the shell specimens, keeping them separate from its flame. The living root-clusters would travel in supported trays to the nearby lower collection point, without being sent uphill or subjected to the courier’s fastest bursts.

Keep’s cradle would be set on a dry bank within the lower terrace once the squad reached it. Knock would stay nearby while Riptide worked below the surface. They checked the transfer before Ren submitted the eight-entry declaration.

The gate opened onto secured staging. Vesper sent the water group through first, followed by Anvil and the land entrants. Pell crossed last.

Ren stepped out of his world and returned to the hall. His receiver remained Vesper.

The viewing surface showed the valley beyond the staging boundaries. He found Knock in the lower water and Anvil waiting beside Eira, then checked the neighboring squad labels.

Oskar Lindt’s handlers stood with their carriers near the central ramp. Ren recognized the Lord’s team from its two challenges against Roan in Territory. He had studied their roster again after the round, including the two handler entries.

At the signal, Vesper led the land group toward the eastern ramp.

— • —

Three squads reached the fern floor early.

Eira entered the protected bed with Anvil behind her. Vesper and Mistwhisker watched the approaches while she examined the largest growth. Lindt’s handlers arrived nearby, with Roan’s heavy fighters continuing up the central route toward the springs.

The growth stood above Eira’s head, spore clusters weighing down its outer fronds. She walked around it, supported one frond in her palm and looked back at Anvil’s containers. Then she measured the spread with her hands and spoke to Vesper.

Ren couldn’t hear her. He saw her indicate the hanging heads and the container rim before turning toward a patch of smaller growths. Whatever she had found, she had decided their equipment was better suited to those.

Lindt’s handlers stayed at the large specimen.

One examined the base while the other worked around the outer fronds. They spread a broad sheet beneath it and positioned a carrier before cutting. As the stem came free, two spore heads broke away onto the sheet. The handlers caught the remaining weight, folded the loose material inward and supported the bundle inside their container.

Half of eighty was still forty. Even damaged, that specimen could justify their time and equipment if they delivered it without further loss.

Eira lifted the smaller growths with their roots and surrounding soil. She packed each upright, leaving space around its spore heads, then moistened the soil from the water-skin at her belt.

Ren watched her reject a second patch after examining its roots. She moved farther along the bed and continued there, while Anvil shifted to keep the open container close to her hands.

When five growths were secured, she closed the lids and checked the straps before following Vesper toward the transit path.

— • —

Below, Keep rested on a dry shelf with Knock in the water beside it.

Riptide worked along the submerged beds, loosening mud around a root-cluster before guiding it to the surface. Pell waited near a receiving tray at the bank. The courier steadied it as Riptide brought the cluster alongside, then secured the load for the short journey toward collection.

After checking that transfer, Tarin moved along the lower routes and began inspecting the eastern approach for the returning land group.

Pell had gone to collect a tray when Knock sounded three notes. The courier turned back along the bank toward the waiting water group. The call carried across the flooded terrace; Ren saw no response from the squads working near the upper springs.

The first hand-in appeared beside his name: an intact shell specimen, worth two.

He checked the route from the fern floor again. Roan’s heavies were descending through the center with mineral crusts stacked in their carriers. The handler followed between them, directing where each load went before they returned uphill.

Their movement occupied most of the direct path. A squad waiting above them would either have to let the loads pass or challenge them outside the protected bed.

Vesper stopped at the junction with Anvil behind her.

Ren touched the plate.

"Vesper. Use the eastern edge path. Avoid the center."

She acknowledged and turned toward the longer route. Anvil followed, keeping the containers level as the ground sloped away from the fern bed.

At the west springs, Greave’s crew had divided the work between cutting, packing and carrying. Their loads moved down the western path while another group remained at the crust beds. Ren watched the next hand-in register before returning his attention to Anvil.

— • —

Petra’s runners came from a fold beside the eastern transit path.

Five closed on the carrier. Three went for the containers while two moved ahead to block the descent toward the lower terrace. They had waited beyond the protected collection boundary, where the attack was permitted.

Anvil lowered itself and drew its limbs closer beneath the shell. The mounted containers remained within its protective rim, though the lids were exposed from above. Two runners scrambled onto its back while the third pulled at a fastening from the side.

Vesper caught the nearest runner by the arm and dragged it down. Mistwhisker darted toward the second, forcing it to shift its footing across the lid. It kicked against the bracing as it jumped clear, and one container jolted in its mount.

Tarin reached the lower end of the path from the eastern channel. Its Lawfire remained in the water while it came onto the adjoining bank with its spear. The two runners blocking the descent turned toward it, leaving Vesper room to advance from Anvil’s side.

Petra’s group withdrew into the fold before either could close the gap. Nothing had been taken, but Vesper waited while Mistwhisker checked the path ahead.

Anvil rose carefully. Eira opened the container that had shifted.

One growth leaned against its packing with a crack across the stem. She knelt on the path, lifted it with the root-ball supported in both hands and turned it until she could see the damaged side.

Ren watched her set it back into the container. She took water from her skin, dampened the soil and built the packing up beneath the break until the bent stem rested against it. Then she checked the spore heads and tightened the surrounding material with her fingertips.

Vesper moved down the path while Tarin faced the fold where the runners had disappeared. Eira kept her attention on the growth until the support held. She closed the lid, checked its fastening and stood.

They resumed the descent.

Ren’s hand rested beside the plate. Harvesting advice was forbidden, and Eira had completed the repair without looking for it. When the group reached the lower junction, he gave Vesper one more route instruction.

"Follow the eastern bank straight to collection. The lower crossing is clear."

— • —

The water group delivered its root-clusters in supported trays.

Riptide brought the loads through the flooded terrace while Pell and the attendants handled them at the collection bank. All three were accepted intact. The roots remained submerged or wet through the journey, with the surrounding material still held in place.

Pell’s shell deliveries added another few points. Knock stayed by Keep, and Tarin returned to the eastern approach as Anvil arrived.

Eira opened the first container herself. The attendant checked each growth against the listed specimen, then examined its roots, stem and spore heads before entering the condition.

Intact. Ten.

Four passed at full value. The fifth stayed supported in its packing while the attendant inspected the split stem.

Damaged. Five.

Eira had kept the break from worsening and the heads from collapsing against the lid. Ren watched the half-value enter his total, then checked the receipt for the roots and shell specimens already delivered.

Across the lower terrace, Lindt’s large growth had earned forty. His handlers submitted three smaller ones after it. Two were accepted intact; the third had deteriorated before reaching the point and scored nothing.

Greave’s crust deliveries continued down the west path. Roan’s heavies carried larger loads through the center, but spent longer returning between trips. Petra’s runners arrived with a small collection of material, none of it taken from Anvil.

Vesper kept Ren’s squad near the lower collection point while the remaining time ran down. Pell brought in the last empty tray, and Eira checked that every collected specimen appeared on their receipt. Nothing remained on Anvil’s back when the final signal sounded.

— • —

Ren’s total was sixty-nine.

Lindt finished at sixty, Greave at fifty-six and Roan at fifty. The order remained unchanged when the attendants confirmed the last inspections.

First place gave Ren eight championship points. On the standings sheet brought to his section, his two-round total read fifteen. Greave’s was fourteen.

Ren looked back at the hand-in record. The largest individual prize on Lindt’s list was worth more than any single specimen his own squad had carried. Eira’s smaller intact growths, the lower terrace’s collections and the five points preserved after the raid had added up to more.

The attendant placed another sheet beside the standings.

"Siege. The detailed arena notice follows."

Ren opened it.

The next round had two assignments: hold a marked objective against an organized assault for a set period, then attack an objective. Retreat was permitted, but abandoning the defended position forfeited that assignment. Terrain and scoring would be supplied before selection.

He put the sheet over his folded Territory map.

For the defence, he would need a squad that could hold when the relief route closed.