Chapter 294: Three to Two

Deane moved back as Jin advanced, keeping Bulwark between herself and most of the arena.

She had chosen a sensible escape. Jin wasn’t trying to take it away. He needed her to keep moving along it while Glitch crossed behind the low ridge.

Bulwark finished loosening the patch her tamer had called for. Glitch’s feet were already elsewhere.

"Turn," Deane ordered.

Jin closed another few paces along the firm strip. He could hear the grit under his shoes and the crowd beyond it, but his attention stayed on her hands.

She set her rear foot. A pale sheen spread over her forearms and chest.

He could hurt her if she ignored him; she could hurt him if he got careless. The reinforcement made the second possibility much more immediate.

Jin stepped out diagonally before she could close the distance.

"Keep going," he called to Glitch.

Deane’s eyes flicked back toward her beast. She gave another short command, holding her guard until Jin was safely beyond reach.

He hadn’t landed a blow. He’d made her spend movement, attention, and a brief use of her talent. Now he needed Glitch to make those seconds count.

Bulwark was turning toward the approaching lizard.

Her latest patch lay beyond the opposite end of the ridge. To change the ground under Glitch now, she would have to stop that turn and plant again, exposing the shoulder he was already approaching.

Deane kept her turning. The shell began coming around to cover the seam.

It was going to be enough.

Jin saw the angle closing. Glitch still had several strides to cover, and the tortoise’s foreleg was stepping into the position that would put solid shell between them.

"Dread."

The pressure came from Glitch at close range.

Bulwark’s front foot hesitated. Her head drew back, and the turn faltered for less than a full step.

That was all Glitch needed.

He closed on firm ground, braced through his other legs, and lifted his right foreclaw. Energy gathered along it as the exposed shoulder passed within reach.

"Once."

Rending Dragon Claw struck beneath the shell’s leading edge.

The plate lifted. Blood ran across the softer hide below, and Bulwark’s front leg buckled.

"Yield!" Deane shouted.

"Off," Jin called immediately.

Glitch stopped his forward movement and backed away. The referee raised an arm, confirming the surrender as the medical team came onto the floor.

Jin kept Glitch beside him until the path was clear.

[Meridian 3 — Verdance Hall 2]

He stared at the display for a moment. Then the noise from Meridian’s corner reached him, and he turned to see people standing along the rail.

They had won.

He looked back at Glitch, grinning helplessly, and put his good hand against the lizard’s cheek.

"You did it."

Glitch pressed into him, nearly knocking him off balance.

"Easy. Let me look at you."

The flank cut had stopped bleeding freely. Glitch stood evenly, though he objected when Jin touched the sore plating on his left side. His right foreleg was warm after the claw.

Jin signaled for their medic rather than deciding that standing up meant everything was fine.

Across the floor, Deane knelt beside Bulwark. The tortoise was conscious, her neck extended while a medic worked beneath the lifted plate.

When they had the dressing secured, Jin approached.

"How is she?"

"Bleeding’s controlled," Deane said. "They’re checking the shoulder now." She rested a hand on the shell, then looked up at him. "I knew you might come at me. I thought she’d have enough time to turn."

"She nearly did."

Deane nodded toward Glitch. "The hesitation."

"Yeah."

She exhaled and looked back at Bulwark. "Good match, Astor."

"You too."

He left her with the medics and returned to his beast. He was relieved she wasn’t angry with him, then felt a little childish for needing that. She had her own team to face and an injured beast to care for.

Renn met him at the entrance to the team area. Corin followed, clapping Jin’s uninjured shoulder before remembering to leave space for Glitch.

Nessa stood beside the bench, smiling.

Jin hadn’t realized how much he wanted to see her smile after her bout. He opened his mouth and found he had nothing ready to say.

"We got there," Corin said for him.

Dray handed Jin his water.

"You left yourself a way out," she said. "Good."

"I checked it about six times."

"Keep doing that."

Marris waited until he had taken a drink.

"You stopped offering harmless feints," she said. "Then you made her manage two credible approaches. That’s what changed the exchange."

Jin nodded. "She wasn’t giving me the practice opening."

"She wasn’t obliged to." Marris’s expression softened. "Well done. Get him checked properly before you do anything else."

The examination found a shallow flank wound, bruising along Glitch’s left side, and foreleg strain within the expected limits of the claw. Nothing required a prolonged recovery, but the medic wanted rest and another movement check before hard training.

"The surface should mend quickly," she told Jin. "That doesn’t tell us how comfortable he’ll be under load tomorrow. Check both."

Jin asked her to show him the area she meant and recorded the instructions.

His own hand was checked too. He hadn’t struck anyone or fallen onto it, and the dressing needed only replacing.

He stayed through the observation period, watching Glitch drink and walk a short circuit for the medic. Only after the lizard settled comfortably did Jin finally stop checking the same foreleg every few minutes.

On the ride back to Longstable, he sat beside Flicker’s carrier while Glitch rested in the reinforced compartment. Corin talked through Renn’s last exchange, using his hands until Renn finally corrected him.

Jin listened, smiling at the argument. The hotel came into view before he remembered to check his phone.

The debrief followed beast care and dinner.

Marris credited Dray’s clean opening and Renn’s controlled finish before reviewing the two losses. Corin needed an alternative when an opponent refused to chase. Nessa’s runner had spent too much distance securing brief opportunities; improving the route mattered as much as conditioning.

Then they watched Jin’s final approach.

Marris paused before the Dread.

"The turn still nearly closed it," she said. "Remember how small that margin was when you review the victory."

Jin wrote it down. He remembered it without the recording.

Meridian now had one win and one loss. Ashfell remained, and the lineup would depend on preparation and condition. Nobody promised Jin another place.

He went downstairs afterward with two messages from Elsa waiting on his phone. He sent her the result and a picture of Glitch accepting his recovery feed, then put it aside.

The lizard finished eating and stretched out on clean bedding. Lesser Regeneration had already begun settling the shallow scrape, but Jin kept the movement check on tomorrow’s schedule.

Flicker flew onto his wrist while he opened her small treat packet. Glitch lifted his head at the sound.

"You’ve had dinner," Jin told him.

The head stayed up.

Jin laughed and reached for one of the lizard’s measured feed pieces. He offered it flat on his palm, waited for the careful jaws to take it, and gave Flicker her treat with the other hand.

For once, both beasts were satisfied at the same time. Jin sat between them and let himself enjoy it.