Chapter 300: The Passage

The first striker reached the west approach while Ren was checking the distance behind it.

It came down the last stretch of the western branch and planted a foot near the water. Bolt’s jet struck before its weight settled. The striker caught itself, drew back from the edge and tried a step farther inland.

Wake moved forward within the pool, bringing its head and shoulder alongside the narrow entrance. The striker had less room to pass without coming within reach of the whale.

The second arrived behind it and moved toward the drier edge. Bolt turned to meet that approach, and the first striker immediately stepped back toward the water. Wake shifted to face it while Bolt checked the other.

The pair withdrew a few paces, then came forward together. This time the nearer striker reached over Wake’s shoulder toward the bank beyond. Wake turned beneath the extended limb, forcing it to recover its balance, while Bolt drove another jet across the second striker’s footing.

Neither crossed the marked boundary. West remained Ren’s, with Keep upright on the cradle above Wake’s back.

The strikers had room to regroup outside the entrance. Even without taking the pool, their repeated approaches kept Wake facing the bank instead of entering the loop.

— • —

Ren looked across the whole surface.

One holder occupied the upper marker. The other stood alone at east, where it had advanced under the strikers’ protection. Both strikers were now at west, some distance below the junction they would need to cross to return.

He compared those positions with the descent he had misjudged.

Coming down east, the holder had screened the strikers through the narrow passage. They had changed places as the footing widened, keeping their advance moving. Now that group was separated, with the holder at one end of the route and its two partners down the other branch.

Ren followed the route on his map: up from west, through the junction, then down to the landing. The strikers could move without waiting for a holder, but they still had to cover that distance before they could protect the one at east again.

Mara’s upper holder was closer. Sending it down would reinforce east sooner, though it would leave the upper objective empty. Ren kept that shorter route in mind as he checked the time remaining.

He found Vesper and Eira on the outside path, with Tarin in the water below them. From there, they could approach the landing along its outer side while Tarin followed the loop. Mara had nobody between them and the east shallows.

Ren pressed the plate.

"Vesper, take Eira around toward east. Keep Tarin beside you until you reach the approach. Wake and Bolt hold west."

— • —

Vesper turned along the path with Eira beside her and Mistwhisker ahead. Tarin followed the bank below them, staying close enough for her to call down before their routes separated.

The outside path bent around the shoulder of the rise. Ren followed their progress against the contours on his sheet, watching them disappear behind one fold and emerge farther along. They could not cut across the upper ground without approaching its holder, and the bank gave them no straight walk to the landing.

Mara’s occupation counter continued increasing for two objectives. Ren’s advanced for west alone. The advantage he had gained by occupying all three early was being spent while his land group worked around the rise.

If the final holdings were equal, those accumulated times would decide the match. For now, Mara had enough objectives to win outright.

Wake could reach east through the loop and put its body beside Tarin’s at the landing, but both strikers were still at the western entrance. Without the whale, Bolt would have to cover the bank alone. Even if it stayed inside the boundary, the strikers could enter and contest west while Ren tried to recover east.

He left Wake in place.

At the pool, one striker stepped toward the water and drew back as Bolt faced it. The second tried to pass on the drier side, then checked when Wake turned its head toward that edge. The pair adjusted their spacing and approached again.

Bolt stayed where Wake could see it. When the jetmaw moved across the entrance to check one striker, the whale turned toward the other. Ren watched the turn, then looked back to the outside path.

Vesper had reached the last stretch where she could stand above Tarin’s water route. Beyond it, the bank curved away and her path climbed toward the cover beside the landing.

The strikers were coming forward together at west. Mara’s two holders remained on their separate markers.

Ren pressed the plate for the second time.

"Both strikers are engaged at west. Tarin through the loop. Take east together."

Vesper stepped to the bank and called down. Ren could see her mouth moving as she pointed toward the bend, but he could not hear her instructions. Tarin turned toward her, then lowered into its Lawfire and moved out along the water.

Vesper waited until it was under way before returning to Eira.

— • —

Ren followed the blue flame around the loop.

It passed through the deeper middle section, keeping clear of the shallows along the inner bank. At the long bend, the water carried it away from Vesper’s route and toward the landing where it had covered their withdrawal.

He checked west while Tarin swam. Wake still faced the entrance, and Bolt drove a striker back from the water’s edge. At upper, the holder remained inside its boundary.

Across the hall, Mara sat with her plate beneath her hand. Ren could not tell what she was saying or which part of the arena she was watching. Tarin’s approach was visible on the surface; he had no reason to expect it would go unnoticed.

He looked back to the upper holder. If it started down, Vesper would need to know before she committed to the landing.

It stayed where it was.

Tarin rounded the bend and slowed before the east shallows. The objective extended from the water onto dry ground, with the marker set back from the bank. Its holder waited inside the line, plates angled toward the open approach.

Rather than rush into reach, Tarin stopped where the bottom began to rise. Its body gathered above the blue Lawfire, spear held ready as it faced the landing from outside the boundary.

The holder adjusted its footing toward the water. East remained Mara’s; Tarin had yet to enter, and the defender had not moved beyond its line.

— • —

Vesper stopped before the exposed turn on the outside path.

Eira came up beside her, and Mistwhisker waited low against the ground. A bare stretch separated them from the last fold beside the landing. From its current position, the holder could watch either that approach or the shallows by turning its plated front. ℴ

Ren watched Vesper look toward the water. His second instruction had sent them to east together, but Tarin had reached its approach first. She kept the land group under cover while it drew the holder’s attention.

The occupation counter continued running for Mara.

Tarin brought its spear forward, still outside the boundary. The holder shifted another step toward the shallows, putting its plates squarely between the spear and its body.

Vesper moved.

Mistwhisker crossed first, low along the edge of the bare ground. Vesper led Eira across behind it, keeping close enough that neither was left alone at the turn. Halfway over, she glanced back and shortened her next steps until Eira was beside her again.

Ren watched them reach the cover without touching the plate. The holder had begun adjusting toward their movement, and Tarin edged along the water outside its reach, drawing its front back toward the shallows.

The holder turned its plates toward Tarin as Vesper reached the final fold beside the landing.