Chapter Twelve

 

Using a towel, Kuma squeegeed the sweat from his arms and neck. The fight had only lasted ten seconds, but he'd worked up a good lather. The applause had startled him. After a scrap in the shadows, the only thing he usually heard was heavy breathing and the moans of dying waku. His mind equated the physical effort with the strive to stay alive, and adrenaline rocketed through his body.

"That was impressive. Where did you learn that technique?" said a husky voice from behind. He'd heard the woman's approach, but was too busy reviewing the sequence to care. The balanced lightness of her steps suggested she was a warrior.

"On the plains—"

The answer died on his lips when he found himself staring at Camina from three feet away. Her short, dark hair was slicked back and the smudges around her eyes remained the same. He almost blurted out her name until he remembered he was Aman Crownline, body servant of Lady Saha.

Camina sensed his confusion and checked over her shoulder. Her mouth wrinkled.

"Is there something wrong? My apologies for bothering you after your fight. I'm Camina Tanaka, head of the Alliance Academy."

"You...you look like my mother's companion from the Golden Helix. I was startled by the resemblance."

"You mother was a mercenary?"

"She was." Not wanting to get caught up in history which he knew little about, he added, "You had a question?"

Camina startled out of introspection. "Your technique. Part of it was familiar, but the other half was quite foreign. Unexpected. You moved explosively and without regard to the counterattack."

Kuma inhaled slowly, but not because he needed time to formulate his response. Camina had been his friend since he could remember. He knew from the others that she was a member of the Alliance, but he wasn't expecting to come face-to-face. He wanted desperately to reveal himself, but knew that it would be foolish under the circumstances. While she'd passed along information that had helped them with Deacon, no one knew if that had been a trap. As head of the Academy, she'd clearly gained their trust.

"After this round there will be over a hundred competitors. Nearly all will have knowledge of their opponents going forward. There are at least three styles I could have employed that would have been more appropriate for my opponent's grappling techniques, but I found it necessary to win quickly rather than efficiently, to keep others from understanding my capabilities."

Camina's eyes widened with understanding. "That's wise."

"While Lady Saha has taught me fighting techniques and how to harness my inner power, it was the priests of Ghoghali that taught me to always understand the strategic nature of my choices. No fight exists on its own. Success plants the seeds of our future failures. The Brodarians have keen minds, capable of seeing dozens of moves ahead. I'm merely a novice and can only see a handful, but the necessity of my choice for this fight was obvious."

"I see," said Camina, slowly nodding. "I had not thought to the intricacies of a tournament. My history predates the Alliance's control of the Undercity. It was only important to win the scrap you were in, rather than worry about the next one."

Sensing an opportunity, Kuma spoke carefully. "I'm new to this realm and especially the Undercity. What was it like before?"

Camina stared at the wall. "Dangerous. Thrilling. Awful. To be a waku then was to feel like a knife in the dark. Always looking for your enemy, never knowing when the blade was coming for your back. Strangely, I miss it." She stiffened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking so freely, but I feel like I can admit things to you that I shouldn't."

The hope that the old Camina existed burnished his heart, but there were too many lurkers around to speak plainly.

"I am a stranger twice removed, once from the Undercity and then from the realm itself. Perhaps it makes it easier to speak to me."

"Or maybe I'm just looking for anyone to talk to," she said with a sad laugh.

He saw her hollow loneliness, the ache of losing everything from before. Stuck in the Alliance without friends, knowing that everything they'd worked for had been lost. He couldn't imagine. At least outside of the system, Kuma had hope, even if it was ill-conceived, because he was with Pandora during those trying times.

"Would you, and feel free to refuse, especially if Lady Saha would object, but would you join a training session with my students? The Academy has grown quite large and unwieldy. I fear I'm not able to instill the discipline required to make true warriors out of the chaff I've been given. It might help to have an outsider's perspective into the arts of war."

Kuma bent at the waist. "I would be honored. I will have to confirm with Lady Saha, but if you send a way to get in touch to the Night House, I will tender my response."

"Thank you, Aman."

Camina's face screwed up again, making him wonder if he'd messed up.

"Until then."

"May your enemies grow blind and your allies grow bold," he said, offering the traditional Brodarian departure.

Kuma watched the ongoing fights for a few minutes but decided he would rather return and find a meal. He hadn't been able to eat before his match, despite his confidence about winning. The changed nature of the Terreno made him feel like he was in a different place than he'd grown up. Far too many suits and dresses, way fewer uniforms. The Alliance had a smaller presence in the streets, keeping to the outside for security. It was the peace that his father had always strived to achieve. If it weren't for Pandora's insight into her grandfather, he might have decided the best course was to pledge himself to their clan. Niran had wanted to end the senseless killings and blood feuds, but the clans' intertwined histories had made that impossible.

No one was in the suite when he returned. He ordered room service and jumped in the shower, quietly amused by the ease of acquiring food after the struggles of the Eternal City. The others returned not long after he finished his meal, a roast cricket stew with ghost-eye mushrooms and a heavy spice that was unfamiliar.

"Last match just ended," said Tick as he tossed himself on the couch, whistling for Koro, who'd been hiding in the back room. The androgynous disguise made Tick the least recognizable of the group.

"What's wrong?" Kuma asked Pandora when he sensed her tension with his amber.

He'd learned that most maetrie had a resting scowl, and Pandora in her new guise was no different. He couldn't tell if inhabiting the persona had brought out her maetrie side, or if it was a trick of the change.

"I spoke to Deacon."

The casual vibe of the room stiffened like a student snapping to attention when the instructor walked in. A blade appeared in Yara's hand and she stepped towards the door expecting ambush.

"It's okay," said Pandora, holding her hand out flat. "He was curious because I'm a maetrie and he'd spent time in the Eternal City."

"You should have stabbed him in the heart," said Yara, frowning. "I know, I know. We can't blow our covers, but it would have relieved me."

"That's all he wanted?" asked Kuma.

"I know I'm not an amber, but I didn't sense deception. Though when I asked if this introduction was for him or my grandfather, he didn't respond, which is an answer itself."

"He'll come looking for you eventually," said Kuma. "Are you going to be okay with it?"

"I fear this disguise was a mistake," said Pandora, clasping her hands together tight enough to make her knuckles white. "It brings out the maetrie in me. You saw my fight."

"You put a lot of doubt in your future competitors with that result," said Yara. "You can be sure no one will want to be matched with you."

"But if I lose who I am, then this whole exercise was for nothing," said Pandora.

Kuma wanted to put his arms around her. He could see the tension in her furrowed brow. Hylakane might have trained her to be an alloy—the best of both her heritages—but training ended the moment one got punched in the face.

"In the unexpected meetings, add Camina to that list. She came up to me after the fight to ask about techniques."

"We saw," said Tick, stroking the back of Koro's neck.

"She'd like me to join her in training. I'm inclined to agree, but wanted to check with the group first."

Yara shrugged. "No issues here."

Kuma couldn't decide if he was excited or worried about a meeting. He missed his childhood friend, but so much had transpired in the last two years that he feared his emotions might interfere with their plans.

"How goes the scouting?" he asked.

"With over a hundred matches it was hard to watch them all, but I think we caught all the ones that were important," said Yara.

Tick pulled a notebook out of his pocket, licking his fingers and flipping the pages until he came to a stop. "The way we see it there are about twenty competitors that pose any threat of defeating either of you. The rest are chaff that you can easily beat.

"Of those twenty, there's a smaller group that should be your biggest challenges. The first is the most obvious—"

"Noctus Prime," said Kuma.

"Yes," said Tick, nodding. "Besides being seven feet tall and looking like he could punch through a brick wall, he's frighteningly tough and demonstrated as much in the first round. He had a challenging matchup, a grand master from Korea who was known for climbing Everest without gear or oxygen, and spent an hour at the peak doing handstands and other extreme demonstrations of his ability. The first thirty seconds of the fight, Noctus stood there laughing while the grand master threw everything he could at him. Kicks, punches, choke holds. He might as well have been attacking a pillar of steel."

"The Brodarians are known for their resilience," said Pandora. "Raised to fight from infancy, pushed to extremes during a lifetime of training. Like the maetrie, they live longer than humans, giving them the advantage of time."

Tick nodded. "He ended the fight when he grabbed the grand master's pinky. In a matter of seconds, the grand master tapped out. He left the tournament stunned."

"Hopefully we don't get matched against Noctus until the final eight then," said Kuma.

Tick flipped the paper in his notebook. "The next one to worry about is Valor Drux. Ex-military, MMA trained, heard he's a boat captain in Alaska when he's not teaching. From all appearances, he's picked up a stone or two. Topaz for sure, no idea if he has any others. I don't think he'd be an issue, except for the topaz. He made a mockery of his opponent.

"The third to worry about is a woman named Angel Chen. When she fought, half the crowd gravitated to her match. She appears to have supernatural blood. Her opponent was confused half the time, striking at empty air. Then there are the Botez twins, one male and one female though it's hard to tell them apart, who dismantled their opponents with blurring strikes. The assumption is they're Hall mages, but no one knows which ones. Maybe Assassins, or one of the other physical ones."

"Anyone else?" asked Pandora.

"We only watched one round. A few fights were quick like yours, which means we don't have a good idea of what they're capable of, but I can't imagine they're much worse than the five we identified."

"The next round is in three days," said Pandora. "Let us know how your meeting with Camina goes."

"And yours with your grandfather."

Pandora shook her head. "I don't think he'll contact me yet. He's waiting to see how far I progress in the contest. He won't care that I'm a fellow maetrie if I scrub out early."

While she was competing as Lady Saha, the way she spoke about him was as if it were her in the tournament. Before they'd returned, Kuma hadn't been worried about how Pandora was going to react to her blood relations, but now that they had, he saw pitfalls ahead.