Chapter 306: The Last Count

Pell reached the loading bank as the second empty carrier stepped onto the shelf.

Tarin left Ward’s fastening and brought the waiting container to the water’s edge. It secured the load in Pell’s carrying arrangement, supported at the surface, then checked the lid before letting go. Inside were the final two tokens from the outer caches, waiting since Pell’s recovery at the bend had delayed its return.

Pell turned into the narrow channel along the near bank. The route led toward the receiving area without crossing the shelf where Shuli’s empty carriers were passing.

Ward remained beside the loading bank.

Ren checked the next group coming along the far side. Two carriers were on the shelf, but those behind them still had a stretch of bank to cover. Once the first pair cleared, Ward would have a gap in which to turn.

Tarin moved to the edge of the bank, where it could see both the shelf and the approaching group. Riptide waited at the tributary mouth. Neither followed Pell down the near-bank channel.

— • —

All four of Shuli’s remaining tokens were now in transit.

Two travelled together along an unchanged tributary on the far side of the delta. The other two were separate single-token loads on the outer route, with a length of bank between them. The leading carrier was already approaching the lower stretch toward her staging area; the last was still coming around the ridge.

Ren had watched that last carrier turn away from the direct crossing while Ward occupied it. By the time the whale could leave, the carrier would be too far along the outer route to gain anything by doubling back. It had chosen a longer, clear approach over another contest with Tarin.

The two caches Tarin had emptied remained bare. Four tokens were still travelling toward Shuli’s pad, while Ren’s remaining eight were divided between Ward and Pell.

Pell reached the near-bank bend and eased its container around without touching the edge. Vesper was waiting when it arrived at the landing. She released the container, brought it inside the receiving area, and took out both tokens before returning it empty.

Ren’s total rose to eighteen.

There was a brief stir in the seats. He looked back toward Ward, where the second empty carrier was stepping off the shelf.

— • —

Tarin moved into the shallows behind the whale, keeping its Lawfire in the water below the bank. It faced the approaching group with its spear across the shelf’s entrance, leaving the deeper water clear for Ward.

Ward began its turn.

The whale eased away from the loading bank, bringing its tail across the shelf as its head swung downstream. Water rose against the bank. Keep’s cradle remained upright, and the pack ahead of it stayed secured beside the smaller container.

Tarin held the edge until Ward’s tail passed, then returned to the water alongside it. Riptide covered the tributary mouth for the last part of the turn before following them into the main channel.

The next empty carrier reached the shelf as the water settled. It paused at the disturbed shallows, then continued up toward the caches. Ward had cleared the crossing before the group could occupy it again.

On the far side of the delta, Shuli’s two-token container was reaching her pad.

— • —

Her receiving group took the load, bringing her count to twenty-two.

Ward was moving down the main channel with Tarin beside it and Riptide following. Ren checked the water ahead. Shuli’s remaining loaded carriers were on the outer route, and her empty group was heading away from the crossing. The channel between Ward and the landing was clear.

Ren trailed by four, with six aboard the whale. Delivering them would give him a lead of two, but Shuli still had two singles travelling toward her pad. If both arrived before the deadline, the match would come down to the delivery times.

He checked the time remaining, then followed Ward around the receiving bend.

Vesper had cleared the landing. Mistwhisker stood back from the handling space as the whale came alongside.

Tarin reached the landing edge and removed the smaller container first. With the fastening beneath it exposed, Vesper released the pack. They brought both loads inside the receiving area and emptied them onto the marked surface.

Ren watched the count increase by six.

Twenty-four to twenty-two.

The sound from the seats rose sharply. At the pad, Vesper folded the loose strap into the empty pack, then looked toward the score.

— • —

Shuli’s next single was on the final approach.

Its carrier came off the outer route and crossed into protected staging. One of the receiving group met it, took the token, and placed it inside the pad.

Twenty-three.

Ren found the last carrier on the far bank. It had cleared the ridge and was continuing toward staging with its container held against its body. The route ahead was open, but a stretch of bank still separated it from the receiving area.

He glanced at the time and back to the carrier. It passed the next bend without stopping.

The signal sounded before it reached staging.

The carrier halted on the far bank, still holding the container.

Ren 24 — Shuli 23.

— • —

The viewing surface held the final count as attendants entered the receiving areas.

They checked the marked tokens against the site lists: twenty-four on Ren’s pad, twenty-three on Shuli’s. Each identifier could be counted only once. The remaining token was recorded with the carrier outside Shuli’s staging area at the signal.

Sixteen of Ren’s tokens had come from the two sites he had first chosen. The other eight came from the outer sites: the pair Tarin intercepted during Ward’s second run, the second pair taken at the crossing, and the four collected afterward. All twenty-four were inside his receiving area before the deadline.

Ren stayed in his section while the attendants completed the check. When the count was confirmed, the event record appeared beneath it.

His name stood first in the Muster’s final placing.

He read the result, gathered his map, and made his way down toward the boards. Above the aisle, Yueying had risen from her seat beside Yuelan. She caught his eye as he passed and lifted a hand.

Shuli was at the replay screens when he reached the lower hall. She had requested her last carrier’s account as well as the recorded approach. An attendant had the timing sheet beside the replay, and she followed the final stretch with a finger resting against the listed arrival.

She asked to see the signal again.

The replay stopped with the carrier still on the far bank. Shuli checked the time on the sheet against the display, then nodded to the attendant. The confirmed count remained unchanged.

Ren continued toward the result board while she finished checking the record.

— • —

An attendant met him there with a printed appointment sheet. After confirming his name, she handed it over.

The vault appointment had a time and a room number beneath the event office heading. Ren read those first, then the item listed below them.

Fire-aspected core nurture medium, one measure.

He took out the folded handling sheet and placed the appointment against it. The item names matched. He read the time once more before folding the papers together, leaving the appointment on the outside.

Below the item was the clerk assigned to the collection.

Living cultivation resources: Tesh Ambry, clerk.