A violent wash of fear crashed over me, my skin flashing cold.Next to me, Nilli was absolutely silent, her eyes wide, her face drained to a matte white.
What if he actually died in there?What then?What would happen to Creche Thiel?
"Comeon," I said, breathy and desperate."Araxis, she'sthere."
Tree Lily sat her weight back on her right foot, her arm coiling into position.She took a deep breath, the cameras on screen splitting the views between them.
And then Araxis half-turned his head, his back still a wide open target, and said, his voice low, "You should yield."
She launched the dagger, and one of his swords flicked up to parry it away, looking no more difficultthan brushing aside an errant thought.And then, in a powerful surge of motion, he was on her.He closed the distance before the parried blade had even landed on the ground, while Tree Lily scrambled to haul out another one of her knives.Araxis knocked her to the ground, and Tree Lily went skidding back, a spray of gravel kicking up behind her.Dust roiled around her body.Araxis prowled forward, one iridescent sword pointed toward her chest.
"Your choice?"he asked mildly, as he towered above her.Tree Lily was sprawled beneath him, panting and staring up at him with wide yellow eyes.
"You're arrogant," she hissed."You could have made a strong alliance with someone who might have been here at the end.Your human was a mistake, prince."
And then Zey'flen launched out of a nearby thorn bush and hurled himself at Araxis.
I gasped, but the brin wasonhim.His muscular shoulder slammed into Araxis, who had to take several steps back to regain his footing.Zey'flen had two blades as well; we'd known he had some experience in voltaari sword arts, which was why we had him flagged as apotential danger.He drew both blades in a flash of movement, and then charged at Araxis.
The crowd was going wild on the screen, screaming with delight.A commentator in one corner was playing an interview clip in which Araxis explained that he was participating in the Tournament in order to restore his creche to its rightful place; his creche-mates believed in him and put their lives on the line, trusting he would be victorious.Death was not an option, he said plainly.
And now it seemed possible, and the crowd sounded furious and exultant all at once.
Zey'flen slashed forward in a series of strikes that I recognized immediately as a bastardized version of the third sequence.It was the one we'd practiced the most, and I could see Araxis struggling to find his footing, parrying as quickly as he could while avoiding being driven back into the thorn bushes that curved around the back half of the hillside.
Tree Lily surged upwards as well, hauling at her daggers and darting sideways to try and find a good angle.The commentators were cutting in footage now of Tree Lily and Zey'flen having whispered conversations late into the lead-up.They hadn't made any firm declarations, but had both voiced their dislike of the abayan prince.Apparently, that had been sufficient for an impromptu alliance.
I stood up, staring at the screen in horror.Zey'flen used his swords like they were clubs, throwing all his power behind the awkward blows.
Araxis was better.He wasbetterthat that.He just needed to put himself back in sequence, to settle into the rhythm; he could deflect the blows and dodge them.If he could sink into the sequence properly, he'd have Zey'flen in only a few moves.
"Third sequence," I barked."You've done it amilliontimes!"
Tree Lily launched a blade.Araxis caught it with the hilt of one sword, which then spun frantically out of his grip.
"Oh fuck," I said, turning away.I couldn't look.I couldn't.My hands shot up to cover my face.I was going to be sick; my stomachchurned, hot and sour."Nilli, I can't – Can you –"
"The ketaari has thrown another dagger," said Nilli, her voice high and breathy."It has hityourAraxis in the shoulder.The brin is moving to strike.He is closing in."
Tears welled up, hot and sharp, in my eyes, and I squeezed them shut, heaving in tight lungfuls of air, gasping for it.I couldn't breathe.I couldn't –
"Araxis has – Oh!He has struck back.He has run the brin through with his blade.He – He hit the brin's face with his elbow, and now he has one of the brin's swords and –"
I turned just in time to see Araxis, bleeding from one shoulder, using Zey'flen's own blade to remove his head from his body in one viciousandviolent arc.Araxis's stare landed then on Tree Lily across the plateau, his teeth bared, silver blood flowing down his arm in a rivulet, pattering the ground below him.He was panting, and he was furious.
I scrubbed at my eyes, sucking in shuddering breaths.
Tree Lily stared at him.Her hand went for a dagger, but it was shaking, and Araxis was moving toward her –his stride certain and steady, the same unstoppable drumbeat I’d heard when he had come for Andiri.He rotated his wrists, the blades gleaming in his hands."DidI make a mistake?"he growled.
She drew out a blade and sank into a ready stance, grimacing.
"Sashen of Creche Thiel taught me that sequence.He couldneverbe amistake," he snarled, continuing to pace toward her.Tree Lily stumbled back, her eyes frantically darting from side to side."Tell me: do you regretyouralliance now?"
Clearly, she was doing desperate calculations in her head and she came up with a clear answer.Tree Lily dropped her dagger in the dust between them."I yield," she said, sinking to one knee and tipping her head forward."I yield, please."
Araxis kicked her last dagger away and came to stand above her, blinking down at the back of her head."That is a fine choice," he said after a long moment.Tree Lily shifted just slightly, as if to lift her head to look up at him."Although made too late."And then, in a swift movement, he ran his blade through the centre of her chest, and she let out a shocked, wet gasp.The cameras focused on the muscles of his forearm as he twisted the blade, iridescent and bright where it emerged through the centre of her back, and then he withdrew it in one slick motion.Her corpse thudded down into the gray dirt, and it was over.
Araxis dropped his blades and raised one hand up to the cut still dripping blood, pressing his palm there hard.He winced, and the victory song started blaring from the speakers overhead, and all around the arena the crowd screamed in delight.
