Chapter 299: The Semifinal

An attendant checked Ren’s plate before the signal, confirmed that Vesper had received the test instruction, and left him in his section.

The viewing surface showed both staging areas and the rise between them. Above the two lower boundaries, the upper marker stood where the central passage divided toward the west pool and east landing.

Ren found Yueying in the public seats beside Yuelan, Lyra and Iris. Cassian’s slate was propped where he could follow the match with them. Halvern sat in the sponsors’ area, and Selene waited at the gallery rail with her notice folded in one hand.

The signal sounded, and Ren turned back to the arena.

— • —

Vesper climbed toward the upper marker with Eira beside her and Mistwhisker running ahead. They crossed the boundary while Mara’s four were still approaching the rise.

At west, Wake entered the pool with Keep mounted above the waterline. Tarin followed into the shallower water near the bank. Bolt reached the east landing, turned within the water portion of its boundary and faced the approach.

The event display marked all three objectives for Ren. Beside the current holdings, a separate counter recorded uncontested occupation time for the tiebreak. Taking them early gave him that advantage, but he still needed more objectives than Mara when the final signal sounded.

He checked the lower positions against the map beside his plate. Wake had room to turn at west, and Tarin waited close to the loop’s entrance. From there it could reinforce Bolt without taking the whale away from the pool.

The swim would take time. Ren had compared it with the descent from the junction and allowed for Tarin to start while the attackers were still above the landing. Vesper’s group could reach east by the outside path as well, provided they left upper early enough.

Mara’s four crossed the open ground at a walk.

A holder led with a striker behind each shoulder and the second holder at the rear. At the foot of the rise they closed together, letting the plated front take the narrow approach first. When the footing widened, the rear holder shifted far enough to cover the striker beside it.

Ren watched the distance between the leading plates and Vesper’s exit. The route was still open, and Mara had committed all four to the climb.

— • —

As the rear holder left the flat ground, Vesper extended her arm toward the outside path.

Eira turned with her. Mistwhisker followed them off the marker and down the slope, keeping to the path through the folds. Ren left the plate alone while they withdrew; they were moving before the lead holder could reach the upper boundary.

His name disappeared from the upper objective. For a short interval it stood empty, then Mara’s first holder crossed the line with the strikers close behind.

The display changed to two objectives for Ren and one for Mara. Her occupation counter began running while his continued for the two lower points.

Tarin moved out of the west shallows and into the loop as Vesper’s group descended toward east. Wake remained at the pool, its head turned toward the narrow bank entrance. Bolt waited at the opposite end of the water route.

So far, everyone was where Ren had intended.

— • —

A fold in the outer path hid Vesper and Eira from the viewing angle. Mistwhisker disappeared after them.

Ren watched the next exposed stretch of path. He knew where they had entered the fold, but the surface could not show him their footing behind it. Keep’s reports were available to the squad inside the arena; they gave him no return channel at his seat.

Above them, Mara’s formation separated.

One holder settled inside the upper boundary. The other turned into the eastern branch of the central passage with both strikers behind it.

Ren pressed the plate.

"Three coming down to east. They’ve left a holder above."

The lead holder descended with its plates facing the landing. Where the path narrowed, one striker drew behind it; as the ground opened again, that striker stepped out beside its partner without making the holder stop.

Ren glanced at Tarin in the loop, then back at the descent.

The group was already clearing the last bend. He had allowed too much time for the change from climbing together to advancing downhill with one holder. The three had made that exchange on the move, and the dry approach to east lay clear ahead of them.

Bolt left its waiting position and jetted toward the bank below the outer path. It turned there, facing back toward the landing just as Vesper emerged from behind the fold.

She looked toward Bolt, then across the landing. Eira came into view behind her, with Mistwhisker farther up the path.

Ren pressed the plate again.

"Leave east. Tarin covers the bank."

Vesper stopped short of the exposed approach and turned toward Eira. Ren could see her speaking and pointing along the bank, though no words came back through the plate. Eira changed direction, and Mistwhisker followed her toward the outside path.

— • —

Tarin reached the east shallows as Mara’s holder crossed the boundary.

Water swept across the low footing beside the bank. The nearest striker lifted a leg to step through it, then checked as Tarin brought its spear across the approach. Bolt stayed in the water beside Tarin, turning with the striker’s reaching forelimb.

The holder lowered itself behind its plates. Tarin’s current washed around its planted feet, but it stayed inside the line and advanced a short step when the water eased.

Behind that cover, the second striker moved onto the dry side of the landing.

Tarin shifted its spear toward it. The first striker immediately reached around the opposite edge of the plates, forcing Tarin back before it could set itself again. Bolt cut across the shallows beside it, keeping the pair together as the available bank narrowed.

Above them, Vesper let Eira and Mistwhisker pass, then followed along the outer path. They had reached the open stretch beside the landing just as Mara came down; staying there would have left them within reach of the strikers with the holder between them and Tarin.

Ren watched until all three cleared that stretch.

Tarin yielded another step, spear still facing the dry bank. Once Vesper was clear, it withdrew into deeper water with Bolt alongside. Neither attempted to pass the holder and reach the marker behind it.

East remained contested while they were inside its boundary. Its occupation time stopped, but the counters continued for Ren at west and Mara above.

Then Bolt cleared the line behind Tarin, leaving all three opposing entrants on the landing.

East changed to Mara’s.

She held two objectives. Ren held west.

— • —

Wake began turning toward the loop.

With Tarin and Bolt withdrawing along the water, the whale could reach east by the same route. Ren followed the turn on the surface, then looked above the landing before sending an instruction.

Mara’s holder stayed in the eastern boundary. Both strikers turned back toward the central passage.

They climbed without the plated body in front of them, passing the bend where their descent had briefly narrowed. The holder above remained at the junction as the pair turned onto the western branch.

Ren traced their route to the pool. It ended at the dry entrance inside the western boundary—the bank Wake had been facing before it started toward the loop.

If the whale left now, the strikers could enter west before anything substantial replaced it. Bolt was coming back, but holding that bank alone against both of them would be a different task from occupying it at the start.

Ren pressed the plate a third time.

"Keep Wake at west. Bring Bolt back to cover the bank."

Vesper was still within sight of the water. She turned toward Tarin and Bolt, pointing back along the loop toward the west pool. Bolt broke away and sped ahead while Tarin stayed near the bank below the land group.

Wake had begun moving toward the loop’s mouth when Bolt reached it. The jetmaw surfaced beside its head, then angled toward the western entrance, where the strikers were now visible on the descent.

The whale checked its movement and turned within the pool.

The straps tightened as its back rolled beneath the cradle. Ren watched the repaired seat remain upright through the turn, with Keep clear of the water. It leveled as Wake settled facing the entrance again.

Bolt took the shallows beside it.

Mara’s two holders remained separated, one above and one at east. Ren looked between those positions and the approaching pair. The water route was still open, but sending Wake through it would expose the only objective his squad held.

The two strikers were coming for the west bank.