Chapter 298: Under His Feet

Chapter 298: Under His Feet

Arena Three’s packed-earth bed had been restored overnight. Jin watched an official check its depth while another inspected the raised boundary around the fighting area. The reinforced base lay beneath enough earth for a burrowing beast to use its abilities without reaching anything outside the arena.

Soon he would have to stand on it while Spade moved underneath.

He made himself look away.

Glitch had passed the morning checks and settled beside his chair. Flicker’s carrier occupied a secure shelf behind the team area, where she could watch the people passing. Jin checked her water, then returned to find Nessa heading toward the gate.

She glanced back once. He lifted a hand, and she gave him a small, tight smile before facing the floor.

Her grasslands runner wasted very little movement.

Jin noticed the difference before the first minute ended. When Ashfell’s beast threatened a broad sweep, Nessa sent her runner just beyond its reach instead of circling halfway across the arena. It recovered its position while the opponent was still turning.

She had lost ground against Cassel and spent too much energy against Verdance. This morning, she kept something in reserve.

The opening came when the opposing beast drove forward beside the boundary. Her runner slipped past its shoulder, turned close, and struck from the side before it could plant again. Two feet crossed the raised edge, followed by the rest of its weight.

"Ring-out!" the referee called.

Nessa came back smiling so hard she seemed embarrassed by it. She crouched to check her beast before accepting Corin’s outstretched hand.

[Meridian 1 — Ashfell 0]

Dray faced Ilse Danner and a Spinecaster porcupine called Thorn.

Argent could punish it badly if he stayed close. Getting there cost him. Danner kept Thorn moving, firing quills into each approach and withdrawing whenever Dray threatened a sustained hold.

Twice Argent reached its side. Once he forced it nearly to the boundary, and Jin rose halfway out of his chair before Thorn slipped clear. On the fourth crossing, Argent’s rear stride shortened. Dray saw it and yielded before another volley landed.

Jin sat down again. He’d been hoping for one more attack. Seeing Dray kneel beside the quills in her beast’s flank made him glad she hadn’t tried it.

[Meridian 1 — Ashfell 1]

Marris stopped beside Jin. "Don’t chase the turns. Choose a line you can finish."

He nodded and stood. His notes stayed on the chair.

Tomas Yerrin greeted him with a quiet nod at the marks. Spade stood low beside him, digging claws pressed into the earth.

Nine-Star. Peak Silver. The same as Glitch, with far more experience fighting this way.

Jin checked the clear space behind the badger, then the boundary behind himself. He would need to move inward before considering a Rush.

"Begin."

He sent Glitch toward the center at an ordinary pace. Spade advanced too, dropped his head, and dug. Earth sprayed behind the badger’s shoulders. Within moments he was gone.

Glitch felt him moving through the upper bed, beneath the visible surface. Jin followed the disturbance through the bond: across, then curving toward their left.

"Left," he called.

Glitch turned. The disturbance changed again, and Jin hurried him another step around.

Then it stopped.

He stared at the earth. He knew better than this. He had written himself a note about this.

Movement resumed near Glitch’s rear quarter. Jin caught the approach too late; the surface broke and Spade lunged out, claws scraping across the seam above Glitch’s hind leg.

"Turn!"

Glitch swung his body around. Spade dropped back through the opening before the counterstrike reached him.

A hot flicker of pain came through the bond, followed by Glitch’s irritation. Two shallow cuts marked the seam. His leg still carried him evenly.

Jin swallowed and brought him clear of the hole.

You practiced not doing that yesterday.

Across the arena, Yerrin hadn’t raised his voice once.

"Hold," Jin said.

Glitch settled on firm ground near the center. The badger moved again, passed to their right, then changed direction. Jin followed the disturbance without turning his beast after it.

He wanted to move every time it stopped.

Instead, he watched Yerrin and the surrounding surface. Glitch made small adjustments when necessary, keeping his hindquarters away from the nearest open tunnel. Neither of them could cover every angle, but they could stop making the badger’s work easier.

Yerrin shifted further along the boundary. Spade remained underground.

Yerrin had barely moved since the first hit. Jin glanced from him to the boundary and realized he’d been treating the man as another spectator. His match with Talren should have taught him better. There were two targets on the floor.

Waiting alone wouldn’t produce the approach Jin needed. He guided Glitch forward, toward the tamer, keeping the pace slow enough to change direction.

Yerrin retreated diagonally. Underground, Spade turned back toward them.

Jin felt the response and checked Glitch’s advance. A low patch of earth lifted off to the side, but the movement beneath it stayed lateral. He let it pass.

The next approach took them closer to Yerrin’s quarter of the arena. This time the tamer moved sooner, bringing Spade across Glitch’s path before they could threaten him directly.

Jin withdrew a few steps onto undisturbed earth.

Yerrin was watching him carefully now. He had understood the pressure on his position and was keeping enough space to retreat. Jin couldn’t simply march him into a corner.

But he could make Spade cross back to protect him.

On the next advance, the badger angled toward Glitch’s exposed side. Jin turned his beast before the ascent began, then slowed, leaving Yerrin room to believe the approach had stalled.

The disturbance rose.

Glitch was facing it. The ground beyond was clear, with ample distance before the boundary. Jin held the command while a final sideways scrape passed beneath the surface.

Come on.

About three meters ahead, the earth split along a short ridge. Spade’s snout pushed through as his shoulders drove upward behind it.

"Rush!"

Glitch launched along the line Jin had chosen.

Spade was still hauling his body clear when the burst struck across his shoulder. The impact tipped him sideways out of the opening, scattering earth across the floor. Glitch continued past him, claws cutting braking furrows into the clear bed beyond.

Jin stayed with the movement instead of calling for an impossible turn.

"Brake. Back."

Glitch finished stopping and pivoted. Spade rolled onto his belly, one forelimb reaching beneath him to dig.

"Shoulders!"

Glitch reached him before he could plant both claws. A forepaw forced the nearer shoulder down while Glitch drove across him, turning the badger onto his side again. His chest bore against Spade’s upper body; his hindfeet braced on firm earth clear of the collapsed hole.

Spade kicked and tried to twist. His forelimbs scraped outward instead of pulling beneath his chest, unable to make the digging stroke he needed.

Glitch shifted his weight to follow the struggle. Jin felt the effort through the bond and kept the command steady. This was a hold, not a position he could maintain carelessly against an equal beast.

Yerrin took two steps forward, watching Spade’s trapped shoulders. The badger heaved again and gained no purchase.

"Yield," Yerrin called. "I yield."

"Match!" the referee answered.

"Off, Glitch."

Glitch released immediately and backed away. Spade rolled upright, shaking dirt from his head as his tamer came to him.

[Meridian 2 — Ashfell 1]

Jin heard his teammates before he dared look toward them.

The medical staff examined Spade’s shoulder while Yerrin crouched beside him. Jin waited with Glitch until the referee waved them toward the exit.

"You stopped following him," Yerrin said as Jin passed.

"Eventually."

"That first turn usually buys me another attack." Yerrin rubbed the badger’s neck. "Good catch at the end."

"Thanks. Is he all right?"

"They’re checking. He’s already trying to dig out from under them."

Spade pawed at the ground beneath the medic’s hand. Jin smiled, relieved, and led Glitch back for his own examination.

His fingers shook as he reached for the care sheet. He took it with both hands and pretended he needed to read the first line carefully.

At the gate, Renn was waiting beside Sledge.

"Nice work," he said. "Leave the rest to us."

Jin nodded and returned to his seat. They were ahead, but they hadn’t qualified yet.

This time he had to watch.