Chapter 301: The Linked Pair

Tarin moved along the shallows while Vesper waited behind the fold.

When the holder turned its plates toward the dry bank, Tarin threatened the side it exposed. The first thrust glanced off a turning plate. On the next, the holder kept its stance and let the spear strike its protected front, then drove forward before Tarin could recover the weapon.

Tarin withdrew into deeper water. The holder stopped inside its boundary, with its feet planted and the marker behind it.

Ren watched Tarin work back toward the shallows. It could make the holder turn, but getting close enough to threaten the exposed body also brought it within reach of that short advance. Each attempt cost ground before Tarin could approach again.

Vesper stepped out of cover on the dry side.

At west, both strikers broke away from the bank and started up the branch toward the junction. Wake remained beside the entrance with Bolt in the shallows, and Keep stayed mounted above the water.

Ren pressed the plate.

"Both strikers off west, returning through the junction."

— • —

Vesper stopped near the landing’s open approach, where the holder could see her. Its plated front swung toward her, and Tarin advanced along the water as Mistwhisker slipped out of the fold.

The cat went wide on the dry side. Eira followed Vesper, keeping behind her rather than joining the flank.

The holder stepped into Vesper’s approach before she could gain the space beside it. She gave ground, and it followed just far enough to keep her in front of the plates. Behind its shoulder, Mistwhisker continued toward its unprotected side.

The holder turned to meet the cat.

Tarin came forward from the shallows, crossing into the water portion of the objective. Its spear caught the exposed flank before the plates came around.

The holder rocked under the strike but stayed on its feet. It drove toward the water, forcing Tarin to pull the spear free and retreat along the shallows. Tarin remained inside the boundary, and the display changed east from Mara’s to contested.

That left each squad holding one objective uncontested. Mara’s accumulated time was still ahead, so simply keeping Tarin inside east would not be enough. The holder could win by staying where it was until the signal. Ren watched Vesper approach its side as Tarin recovered the spear.

Vesper advanced again while the holder faced the water. It turned back and took two heavy steps toward her, taking away the ground she had just gained.

Eira caught Vesper’s sleeve and pulled as the plated shoulder swung across her path. Vesper moved with her, clearing it before the holder could press them together against the bank.

Mistwhisker darted toward its rear leg. The holder stepped across the cat’s approach, but turning to follow would expose the wounded flank to Tarin again. It checked its movement and brought its plates back toward the shallows.

Tarin kept the spear ready without rushing in.

Vesper separated from Eira enough to approach the dry side again, while Mistwhisker moved beyond the holder’s shoulder. Eira stayed behind Vesper, close enough to help her withdraw if the plates came around again.

The holder still occupied east. Ren watched it adjust its feet between the two approaches, then looked up the rise for the returning strikers.

— • —

They had reached the junction.

The upper holder stayed inside its boundary while the pair passed beside it and turned onto the eastern branch. One led through the narrow section, with the second close behind. They were returning without a holder to screen them, but nothing of Ren’s stood in their path.

He checked the remaining distance against the landing. Vesper had his warning; another message would not bring her attack forward any faster. The leading striker was already descending, but the bend farther down still hid the landing from it. Its partner followed in the same track, keeping close instead of trying to pass on the narrow ground.

At east, the holder planted itself and drove Tarin back once more. Mistwhisker used the turn to pass farther around its dry side, and Vesper moved into the space beside the plates before they could come back toward her.

The holder stepped diagonally toward the central passage, keeping its front between Vesper and Tarin. The retreat gave it more room to turn and took Mistwhisker out of position behind it.

Tarin followed through the shallows. Its spear came toward the wounded side again, making the holder bring its plates around as Vesper advanced from the bank.

The holder gave another step. It remained facing them, with the route toward its support open behind it.

Ren watched its feet approach the boundary.

Vesper and Mistwhisker were inside now, with Eira just behind them. Tarin held the water side. The defender checked their advance with another movement of its plated front, but it could no longer push one approach back without leaving the other beside its flank.

Tarin feinted toward the wound. As the plates shifted, Vesper moved closer on the dry side and Mistwhisker darted toward the space behind them.

The holder backed clear rather than let the cat pass its rear leg.

Its last step crossed the line.

East changed to Ren’s.

— • —

Two objectives to one.

Ren’s occupation time began increasing for east as well as west. Mara’s continued for upper alone. The tiebreak counters still mattered if the holdings changed again, but Ren now had the two objectives he needed at the signal.

Vesper stopped inside the line instead of pursuing the retreat. Eira stayed beside her, and Mistwhisker returned toward her feet. Tarin moved along the water edge to keep its spear facing the displaced holder.

The defender had withdrawn only a short distance up the approach. It turned its plates squarely toward the boundary and started forward again.

Tarin brought the spear toward its exposed side. Vesper shifted on the dry bank, making the holder adjust before it could commit to the same short rush it had used earlier. It stopped outside the line, still facing them.

Farther up the branch, the strikers cleared the bend.

Ren looked from the pair to the round’s elapsed time. They had the open approach left to cross, with their holder between them and the landing. If any one of the three entered east, it would become contested again.

At west, Wake remained beside the narrow entrance. Bolt moved within the shallows, facing the path the strikers had left, and Keep rode the cradle above the pool. All three stayed inside their objective.

The east holder advanced another step. Tarin edged along the shallows while Mistwhisker moved toward the dry side, and the holder checked before putting a foot across the boundary.

The strikers reached the bottom of the branch.

The signal sounded while they were still on the approach.

Ren was watching east’s line. The holder stood outside it, with neither striker close enough to count. Upper still held Mara’s other defender; west remained occupied by Wake, Bolt and Keep.

The display confirmed two uncontested objectives to one.

In the east shallows, Tarin lowered its spear.

— • —

Ren stayed in his section until the result was confirmed and the viewing surface stopped showing active play. Then he gathered his map and went down toward the replay screens.

Mara was already at one of them. The recording showed the western entrance as her strikers disengaged, then advanced to the east landing and the holder’s backward step across the boundary.

She returned to the first movement and watched through to the second. Ren passed far enough behind her to see the pair’s progress through the junction on the screen. She finished the sequence, closed her copy of the terrain sheet and left.

An attendant was bringing the other semifinal result to the boards when Ren reached them.

Wen Shuli. Three objectives to none.

He read the result beside her declaration: fourteen entrants, none assessed above two points. The match had used the same three objectives and the same final signal. She had finished with every boundary occupied by her squad and none contested by her opponent.

The sheet could tell him where her entrants had ended. It gave him no account of how she had kept all three positions clear at once, or whether she had taken the last of them just before the signal.

Ren turned to the attendant.

"Shuli’s semifinal. From the first signal."