Gregory stepped onto the sands of the arena with the afternoon sun sliding toward the horizon behind him. He was smiling because Yukiko had finished her fights with just the one loss to him. Her hardest fight had been against another of Nick’s friends, Jamie. He had used a fire necklace, but Yukiko dodged the flame entirely. Jamie was still a better fighter than Michelle had been, so the fight took longer. When she finally stood victorious, she had a black eye, a split lip, and a badly broken nose. That victory gave her a good shot to be in the final eight.
Clement and Hayworth’s friend, Skippy, came out of the other tunnel onto the sands, a confident swagger to his walk. Gregory had seen Skippy’s earlier fights and knew that he was going to be a challenge, since he had only lost a single fight.
It’s curious that I’ve ended up in the main arena all three days, Gregory thought, but pushed the distraction aside.
“Novices, approach me,” Magus Paul commanded.
“I’m going to give you a loss and maybe keep you from the final eight,” Skippy sneered.
“Silence,” Paul commanded. “Taunt each other once the fight starts. Now, face the box and bow.”
The pair of novices bowed to the box, Paul, and then finally, each other. Neither of them charged the other, both settling into defensive postures.
“You rarely attack,” Skippy said, grinning. “Hayworth noticed it and told me. That works for me, though.”
Gregory frowned, wondering why Skippy seemed so relaxed, when a clump of hard-packed sand hit him in the back of the head. He staggered forward and glanced back to see another ball of sand shoot toward him. He jerked sideways, dodging the mass of sand, but he was now off-balance and had taken his eyes off Skippy.
A hard blow to his neck made Gregory’s eyes water and he fell to his knees. Though his head was swimming, Gregory still had enough presence of mind to turn his head and tuck his chin as the arm wrapped around his neck.
Skippy laughed, not realizing his opponent had managed to shift enough to still breathe, although with difficulty. “Goodnight. Don’t worry, I’ll have fun with your bitch in the finals.”
Anger flared and his aether responded, using the channels he had been building to infuse his body. His head cleared instantly as the aether helped steady him. With a grunt of effort, Gregory forced himself to his feet, dragging Skippy with him.
“What? No, you’re supposed to—”
Gregory snapped his head back and felt Skippy’s nose crunch at the impact. The arm around his neck loosened and Gregory used the moment, grabbing Skippy’s arm and snapping himself forward. Skippy flew over his head, hitting the sand with an audible thump.
Skippy’s watery eyes were wide and he made a flinging motion with his hand. Gregory jumped aside as another hard-packed dirt ball went whizzing by his face. That delay gave Skippy enough time to scramble to his feet.
“Fine. I wanted to save it for the finals, but fuck you,” Skippy growled.
Gregory did not wait to find out what Skippy was planning, but rushed at him. The novice retreated with a sneer on his lips. Just as Gregory was about to reach him, he saw thin lines of blue energy going from Skippy’s ring finger to a spot behind him. On instinct, he threw himself to the side in a roll. A ragged scream came from Skippy as he finished the roll and came back to his feet, turning to see what had made him scream.
“Healer!” Paul shouted, running toward the other novice.
Gregory stood there, stunned at what he saw. A shiver walked down his spine as he realized that it could have been him instead of Skippy if he had not followed his instinct.
A thick spine of hardened earth had come out of the ground, piercing through Skippy’s body at chest height. The novice was slumped over it, unmoving. Blood coated the shaft and the ground around the dead man’s feet.
Gregory turned to the box and bowed. Turning back to Paul and the healer, he could see them frowning as they inspected Skippy. He bowed to them and the dead man before heading to the exit.
Heading to the waiting area, Gregory stopped in the hall, breathing deeply as he imagined that same spike piercing him from behind. Fucker tried to kill me. The thought stuck in his mind. Yukiko… That thought got him moving again. He was jogging by the time he reached the waiting area.
When he exited the waiting area, Yukiko rushed to him. They stopped two feet from each other, aware of the others passing nearby.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Yuki. I—”
“Where is he!? Where is the person who killed my son!?” a booming voice echoed in the hallway. The crowd parted, revealing Yukiko and Gregory to a richly-dressed man, who was striding toward them with hatred etched on his face. “You!”
Gregory swept Yukiko behind him and faced the man, “I did nothing but dodge. Your son killed himself.”
“Liar!” the man snarled as he drew a knife from his belt.
“There is no violence allowed outside of challenges,” a calm voice said as an ancient man in a midnight blue kimono appeared before the enraged father, “and non-magi are almost never allowed to challenge. Your son used this ring,” the old man held out a jeweled ring to the father, “which summoned the earth spike. That magic is beyond a novice, and is normally not seen until initiate or adept tiers. If you find the owner of this ring, you’ll find the man who helped your son die.”
The grieving father came to a stop, the calm air around the magi helping mollify his mind. “Grandmaster, are you certain?” the man asked as tears began to fall from his eyes.
“We have examined it. It is so. Please do not trouble the novice who only avoided death.”
The nobleman took the ring, closed his eyes, and nodded at the magi. “I’m sorry. Forgive me, I need to take my leave.”
“The academy is willing to assist, if you so wish,” the magi replied. “May Mortum welcome his soul.”
Turning on his heel, the noble sheathed his blade and walked away, head bowed. Everyone else nearby was staring at the Grandmaster. Gregory was shocked when the magi turned to him, and he bowed on reflex.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Gregory Pettit, you are lucky to have survived that attack. You are one of only four undefeated novices. I shall look forward to seeing how you do in the finals.”
Mouth dry, Gregory bowed again, the presence of the Grandmaster making it hard to breathe. “I will do my best, sir.”
The magi smiled at him, then vanished. A light breeze fluttered down the hall. Everyone looked around, but the Grandmaster was gone as suddenly as he had appeared.
“Are you okay?” Hao asked, coming down the hall with Yoo-jin and Lin in tow.
“Yes?” Gregory said uncertainly.
“We can explain on the way, Father,” Yukiko said, aware of all the eyes on them.
“Yes,” Hao said, feeling the curiosity of everyone in the hall. “We have prior plans. Let us go.”
Yoo-jin frowned as they walked through the academy toward the stables. “How do we find out if Yu made it to the final eight?”
“They told us that the keeper would be informed and notify us,” Yukiko explained. “We can ask her to send one of the staff to Stabled Hunger with a yes or no.”
“Probably for the best,” Hao agreed. “Lin, take care of that, please.”
“As you wish, sir,” Lin said, breaking off from the group.
“How did you know to dodge when you did?” Hao asked as they continued their walk.
“Intuition,” Gregory replied. “I knew he would have a trick up his sleeve and he wasn’t afraid of me closing the distance to him. I had no idea it would be as lethal as it was.”
“Listening to your instinct can always help,” Hao nodded. “Most of my best deals have come from a gut feeling.”
Yukiko’s brow furrowed as they walked; she was thinking about Gregory’s battle with Gin and how he had managed to strike the older man before the end. She stayed quiet the rest of the way to the stables, giving careful consideration to Gregory’s intuition.
Lin rejoined them at the stables, “Keeper Dia will make sure we are informed once she knows.”
“Good. Now to the auction house,” Hao said. “My fingers are tingling, and a deal is waiting to be made.”
~*~*~
The auction was almost over, and again, Yoo-jin had not won a single item. Gregory had become numb to the amount of vela being thrown around by the various clan representatives as well as the private buyers.
“Our last item of the night,” the auctioneer boomed with enthusiasm, “comes from a ruin to the far north, said to predate even the eurtik kingdom.”
Everyone leaned forward, eager to see what was going to be unveiled. Gregory’s vision blurred and he knew it would be a black jade box carved to show various animals with ryuite gems for eyes.
“Buy it, please,” Gregory said as the vision faded.
Yoo-jin raised an eyebrow at him, “Its price is likely to exceed yesterday’s finale, and we don’t even know what it is yet.”
“Sadly, there is a drawback to this item. It is an ancestor-locked container, and we haven’t been able to open it.” With that, the auctioneer removed the indigo silk cloth that had covered the box. “The craftsmanship, age, and rarity of this item…”
“Mother, please,” Yukiko said softly. “My heart has asked. Something I figured he would never do.”
“It is hard to resist them, isn’t it?” Yoo-jin gave her a fond smile.
“We shall start the bidding at—”
“A million vela,” Yoo-jin said loudly, cutting him off as she held up her paddle.
The auctioneer blinked, head turning to find her, “A million vela it is, from Warlin Mercantile. Do I hear one and a half?” The auctioneer looked around the hall for the next bid.
Everyone looked from the box to Yoo-jin, curious why she bid before the auctioneer had even announced what the starting bid would be. A paddle went up from a box across the auction floor from them.
“Grandmaster Shun has bid one and a half,” the auction smiled, “do I hear two million?”
“Why do you want this and nothing else we have seen?” Yoo-jin asked, not raising her paddle.
“It feels right,” Gregory said, looking from her to Hao, suddenly worried that they would let the box be sold to someone else.
“Will no one bid against the Grandmaster?” the auctioneer asked.
Hao took the paddle from Yoo-jin, kissing her cheek. “This is mine, dear one.”
“Very well,” Yoo-jin said and settled back in her seat.
Hao stood up and all eyes went to him. “Grandmaster Shun, it is an honor to bid against you. Thank you for honoring my family by treating us as equals in this moment.”
The watching audience turned their attention to the magi in the midnight blue kimono with the Eternal Flame emblem embroidered on its sleeves. Shun took a long moment to reply, “Warlin, this box interests me. I ask you to step out of this.”
“Normally, I would thank the Grandmaster and do as requested. However, my family has asked this of me,” Hao said inclining his head deeply. Turning to the auctioneer, he spoke calmly, “Three million vela.”
The auction house was silent as all eyes went back to Shun, who was glaring at Hao as if he were some particularly odious insect. “You would stand against me for a prize I have declared that I want?”
Hao did not blink or turn from the pressure that rolled off Shun, though the audience between the men started to hunch up in fear. Gregory gripped the arms of his chair tightly, feeling the presence emanating from the Grandmaster. “For my family, I would bid against the emperor himself,” Hao said simply. “The bid is yours.”
“Four—” Shun began before he was cut off.
“Five million,” Hao said.
Shun shot to his feet, grabbing the railing. The metal squealed in protest as it bent under the strain of his hands. “You would—”
“I would,” Hao said, not flinching. “I faced down your contemporary in the Han clan to start my own trading house. I was sure you would know that.”
“I’ll make sure you regret this,” Shun snarled. “Your daughter is barred from the Eternal Flame.”
Hao shrugged as if the threat was little more than hot air. “Are you going to bid again, or can some of us go enjoy dinner?”
The railing snapped into pieces as Shun jerked backward, looking like he had been slapped. Without speaking, he left the box. Pieces of the broken railing fell into the crowd below.
Hao sighed, “It is so hard to find someone who can be civil during a lively auction bid. I believe the last bid was five million vela, auctioneer.”
The auctioneer wiped his head with a silk handkerchief, “Yes, honorable Warlin. Yes, five million was the last contested bid. Does anyone else wish to bid? Going once… twice… sold.”
The rap of the auctioneer’s gavel broke the tension in the room. People all over began to talk excitedly while others were quick to leave.
Hao turned back to his family and gave them a small bow before taking his seat. “There, it is done. I do hope it is worth the cost in both vela and trouble, Gregory.”
“As do I, sir,” Gregory murmured, staring at Hao with deep respect.
“Excuse me, sir,” the receptionist said. “We need to settle the debt.”
“Of course,” Hao smiled as he pulled out a bond. “Five million vela, and you’ll refund the deposit from earlier.”
“Yes, honorable sir.”
