Chapter 296: Keeping Up with the Falcon

Chapter 296: Keeping Up with the Falcon

Glitch passed his load check at eight the next morning. Jin watched him push a padded sled across the yard, then turn and repeat the exercise with his other shoulder leading.

This time there was no hesitation.

The medic compared the readings and felt along the joint again. "Good. The bruising is still tender, but his movement’s even. You can do a short controlled session this afternoon. Stop if his stride changes."

"Rush practice?" Jin asked.

"A few repetitions, with proper recovery. Not an hour of launching him at things." She entered a note on her tablet. "I’ll check him again before I sign tonight."

Glitch nosed the sled, evidently hoping for another turn. Jin led him away before enthusiasm became an argument.

The rest of the morning went to Ashfell’s recordings. At half past one, he left Glitch with a delegation handler in the Longstable’s covered yard and carried Flicker to the supervised care station. She flew from his hand to a perch beside the window without looking back.

Jin stayed long enough to repeat the feeding instructions.

"We have them," the handler assured him. "And your number."

"Right. Thanks."

He checked the time outside and hurried toward the complex. He had been looking forward to this since the notice arrived; somehow leaving his beasts behind still made him feel as though he’d forgotten something.

The west wing had enclosed spectator passages and much heavier barriers than Arena Three. Jin noticed the thick supports between the viewing panels first, then the crowd waiting behind them. He joined a queue that barely moved until an official opened another entrance.

By the time he found a standing place, the arena staff were leaving the floor.

The board displayed Lucian Vale and Aurel Kesk of Ironvale. Both tamers and their competing beasts were matched in Rank and Star. Whatever Lucian’s reputation had done for ticket sales, it hadn’t given him an easier opponent.

Kite entered at Lucian’s side, folded wings reaching high enough to make Jin reconsider his memory of the Thunder Falcon. Forked markings ran along the long outer feathers. Lucian rested a hand against the bird’s neck before taking his mark.

Across the floor, Kesk walked beside a heavy grey boar. Her hands were empty, but she rolled her shoulders and tested her stance as carefully as her beast tested its footing.

Jin remembered Talren coming at him with an ice sword. Tamers could fight at Rank 1; his ribs had already learned that. What interested him here was how readily both competitors prepared to stay involved.

Pressure prickled along his arms before the signal. Lucian’s was familiar from their conversation at Meridian, though the distance softened it. Kesk’s overlapped it, and Jin had to remind himself that the instructors he barely noticed were better at containing theirs.

All right. Watch their feet. That’s something you actually understand.

The referee called the start.

Kesk took the center with her boar and refused Kite an easy dive. When the falcon descended toward its flank, she moved into the approach and raised an arm. A dense shimmer covered her forearms for an instant.

Kite pulled up. The boar lunged beneath him, forcing Lucian to move as well.

Jin leaned against the rail.

Kesk wasn’t just protecting herself while she commanded. She covered the angle her beast couldn’t reach, then moved aside as it threatened Lucian. Neither remained exposed for long enough to offer an easy attack.

Lucian tried to separate them. Kite circled wider while he approached from the opposite side. The first time he accelerated, Jin nearly missed it: a crackle at his legs, a short burst across the floor, and suddenly the boar was turning to meet him.

Kesk had already stepped back. Kite abandoned his dive rather than strike into her guard.

The second burst came later, with Lucian trying to draw the boar away from her. It gained him ground but no opening. When he withdrew, one tusk tore through the edge of his jacket.

Jin’s grip tightened on the rail.

That was close.

Lucian didn’t look at the torn cloth. He kept moving while Kite climbed, making Kesk turn with him instead of allowing her to reset in the center.

In the fifth minute, he tried again.

This time Kite began his descent before Lucian accelerated. The falcon’s angle threatened the boar’s outside shoulder, while Lucian crossed toward Kesk’s exposed side.

She chose the immediate dive, bringing her reinforced guard up beneath Kite’s talons. Lucian arrived beside her and struck at the opening under her raised arm. She twisted enough to avoid taking it cleanly, but had to give ground.

Her boar turned toward him.

That movement carried its shoulder beyond her protection. Kite beat his wings, shifted his descent, and struck before Kesk could recover her position.

The boar stumbled onto its foreknees. Lucian stayed between Kesk and the falcon’s landing, forcing her to account for him while her beast struggled to rise.

"Yield!" she called, raising one hand.

Lucian stopped immediately. Kite lifted clear at his command, and the referee signaled the result while Kesk hurried to her boar.

[Winner: L. Vale — Meridian Academy]

Jin let go of the rail. He had understood what happened, but only after it was over.

He wanted to watch it again.

Lucian found him in the public concourse after the medical checks. He had changed his torn jacket and was holding a drink with both hands.

"You came." He sounded pleased, then glanced toward the arena doors. "Did you see the tusk?"

"Everyone saw the tusk."

"I was hoping it looked further away from up there." Lucian moved aside for a passing group. "Kesk’s good. She made me waste the first two approaches."

Jin followed him to a quieter stretch of wall. "That acceleration. Is it from Kite’s diving skill?"

"Stormstoop. Yes." Lucian made a short forward motion with one hand. "The version I assimilated is registered as Stormstep. Short burst, along the ground. I don’t get wings with it."

"Looked useful without them."

"It is. Getting the timing right is the difficult part." Lucian took a drink. "I can manage about six good bursts when I’m fresh. Fewer if I’m spending too much on everything else. Today I used three, and only the last one got us anywhere."

Jin looked back toward the arena. From the stands, the final exchange had seemed almost effortless once it began. Two failed attempts made that impression less comfortable.

"Can you change it?" he asked. "The skill you took during awakening?"

Lucian shook his head. "That’s my one. I can get better at using it."

One permanent choice. Jin knew the rule, but hearing Lucian say it made him think of Glitch’s abilities differently. He’d have to consider compatibility, what his body could handle, and what he actually needed. Picking whichever looked strongest would be a stupid way to decide something he couldn’t undo.

Lucian watched his expression. "Thinking about yours?"

"A bit." Jin admitted it reluctantly. "Trying not to think about it more than tomorrow."

"Ashfell?"

"Their badger. It keeps changing direction underground."

Lucian grimaced. "Kite would hate that."

"Glitch can feel it moving. The problem’s mostly me deciding what the movement means."

"Then you’re ahead of where I started with this." Lucian lifted the drink. "I could get to the right place and still arrive before Kite was ready. We spent days fixing that."

Jin smiled. "That’s actually reassuring."

"It was very annoying at the time."

He left with enough time to walk back instead of running. The crowd thinned as he reached Tallwalk, and he replayed Lucian’s last approach in his head.

He had seen tamers use combat talents before. What stayed with him now was the coordination: Lucian had remained a threat while Kite changed his attack. Kesk couldn’t simply ignore one of them to deal with the other.

Jin wasn’t ready for that kind of fighting. Tomorrow he needed to give one command at the right moment without being fooled into giving it earlier.

Back at the hotel, Flicker greeted him with a noisy flight to his shoulder. Glitch was asleep beside the handler’s stool, one foreleg stretched into the walkway.

"Enjoy yourself?" the handler asked.

"Yes," Jin said, and meant it. "I’ve got practice in half an hour."

He collected the care sheet, then crouched beside Glitch and rubbed the scales above his eye.

"Come on. Our turn to get the timing wrong."