Chapter Fifty-Four

 

The kick probably broke a rib. Pandora spat blood on the platform and rolled away from the next, catching a grazing blow. The world was distant. Her limbs felt like she'd slept on them. Pandora used a Push to climb to her feet, then another to throw herself out of the way. The stones were the only thing reliably working.

The crowd was on its feet, anticipating the end of the fight was near. Valor was taking his time. He had multiple chances to knock her out, but let her escape each time, drawing it out for the cheers. They were chanting his name. She sensed he would take her down soon and she wasn't sure she could stop him.

Her grandfather stood at the railing, watching passively. He didn’t care about the fight. It wasn't part of his plan, only a means to an end. Yet she felt some deep-seated need to please him. Prove to him that she wasn't the failure that he'd sent back from the Eternal City.

Pandora used her sapphire to interfere with Valor's approach, but he waded through the Pushes as the stone seemed to work best on herself with the poison coursing through her veins. She wondered what the crowd thought as she jerked around the platform, using the sapphire to move her body like a marionette when her limbs wouldn't cooperate.

A missed block nearly took her head off. His foot connected with her shoulder, spinning her to the edge of the platform. Pandora wiped the blood from her lips, climbing unsteadily to her feet. The poison had wrecked her. It made the idea of losing to Valor even worse. She was a quarter maetrie, not him. She should have been the one looking for unfair advantage. Hylakane had admonished her inability to utilize that part of herself. Be an alloy. It sounded good in theory.

She dodged out of the way, backing across the empty space in a full retreat. Valor didn't bother chasing. He sauntered her direction with the arrogance of a lion. If I could just get rid of this poison. She held her fists up drunkenly, which brought laughter from Valor. Get rid of poison. Get rid of poison? As Valor approached, she burned her opal, turning her body into a furnace in hopes of burning away the toxins. Sweat dripped from her forehead. The agony of her muscles on fire made her debilitatingly weak. She kept moving away in slow steps, her limbs revolting from the abuse, and then the fever broke. Pandora was left panting, covered in sticky sweat.

Not wanting to give away the change, Pandora kept her head down and moved jerkily. She feigned dizziness as she stumbled across the platform. The corner of his lips curled upward in expectation of final victory.

Valor set his feet, looking like a kicker addressing the ball. He came flying towards her, arm cocked back in a leaping punch.

Time slowed down. The entire crowd was in a frenzy of anticipation.

As his fist hurled towards her jaw, Pandora snapped upward, throwing herself past his blow. Surprise registered on his face, but it came too late, as she used his momentum against him. Knuckles caught him cleanly under the jaw, aided by a Push that helped her explode upward. She flew in a high arc, spinning and landing in ready pose, but it was unnecessary.

Valor Drux collapsed onto the platform unconscious. The thud rang through the arena, which had grown silent. Not only had she fooled her opponent, but the entire crowd.

The small group of supporters dressed like her cheered raucously, breaking the rest from their stupor to applauded mutedly, or give half-hearted jeers.

As she stood over her unconscious opponent, waiting for the judge to declare her the winner, she couldn't help but bask in the self-satisfied smirk from her grandfather. He stood at the railing, a slow smile growing at the turn of events. She hated herself for caring what he thought.

When the judge approached, she lifted her chin defiantly.

"The winner of the grand tournament is Lady Saha!"

He handed her a huge silver cup. The trophy was symbolic as she, like her fellow competitors, was more interested in the bloodstones and black diamond as prizes. But she lifted the cup, allowing herself an awkward smile. The crowd applauded more enthusiastically than she would have expected. It'd been a good match, even if the ending had been a surprise.

Under normal circumstances, she might have basked in the attention, but the unsavory task that awaited left her stomach in knots. How can I kill him? Don't get cold feet now.

Exhausted from purging the poison from her veins, she made her way to the competitor area while trying not to vomit. The others congratulated her and gave her private, if unbelievable, assurances that they'd been rooting for her the entire time. A few minutes later, Valor stumbled back, his eyes unfocused with his chin tucked to his chest.

The crowd filtered out of the arena while the competitors milled around, chatting about their favorite moments from the tournament, all while clearly anticipating the gift of the bloodstones. Pandora used a wet rag to clean the toxins from her skin, using the moment to covertly slip her blade into the sleeve of her uniform. Then she attached the bag that held the wraithhawk mask to her hip.

When there were no spectators in the arena, the eight competitors were ushered onto the platform and situated in a straight line at the center point. They stood at attention and Pandora couldn't help but feel like she was back at the Academy, waiting for the acknowledgement of the instructor.

Dominion climbed onto the platform surrounded by his private guards. Pandora eyed the stoic Navos wondering if Kuma had reached him before the event. She checked around the arena, catching sight of Camina and Adrenalynne, standing guard near the platform.

Pandora's heart thrummed with anticipation. Her grandfather was only twenty steps away with Selena at his side.

Be an alloy. Don't let him hurt your friends any more.

"Congratulations, competitors," said Dominion, applauding softly. "This was a tournament for the ages and that final fight, I don't think anyone expected such a brutal reversal. But such is the way of war and conflict. Sometimes when you think you've won, you find everything you thought you understood was a lie and you learn that you are not the victor."

Her grandfather gave her a sour smile while inclining his head. You're not the only one who thinks he's won. She returned the gesture.

"Selena, my favorite daughter, would you make the presentation of the bloodstones."

Wearing a silver-and-gold gown that matched her arm and half-skull, Selena approached the far end of the line as a waku carried a tray of eight darkwood boxes. She gave the first box to Angel Chen, who received it with a smile, but did not open it. Pandora's heart thundered in her ears as her mother approached and then before she knew it, Selena was standing before her.

"You made our people proud today," said Selena as she handed over the box.

"I do not fight for pride," said Pandora reflexively, adding a ghoulish smile afterwards.

Her grandfather had a glass of champagne in his hand. He lifted it high.

"To the victors. May your reign be long!"

As he drank his champagne, they opened their boxes. Pandora was the last to open hers. The stone surprised her with its beauty. Crimson and black striations glinted. She grabbed the bloodstone between forefinger and thumb, holding it up against the light as her fellow competitors attached the stones to their flesh.

One last step...

Pandora pulled back her jacket from her chest and stabbed the catch into her skin, anticipating that the true victory was about to arrive.