Chapter 24
Calamity
Nashala was truly a sight to behold. Every hit she landed practically resonated through the arena, a hush falling over the raucous crowd each time she took down a creature twice her size.
She dodged bolts of radiant energy and narrowly evaded blows that threatened to level her.
Muscle rippled beneath her speckled green skin as she soared through the air, rolled over the dusty ground, and twisted her body from one strike into the next.
It was like watching a perfectly choreographed dance, and Calamity was mesmerised.
Which was annoying, since she still didn’t trust Nashala. But at least she was fun to watch.
The sabotage had gone surprisingly well once they’d learned of Josse’s initial bets, with more than one fighter looking less than steady on their feet due to some dubious ale they’d all been served the night before at the contenders’ feast. Only one had refused, a tortoise-like creature who hadn’t been drinking at all, but she’d been matched up against Nashala in the first stage, so she went down quickly despite the sobriety.
All eight combats of the first stage took place concurrently – or seven, rather, as one competitor forfeited before the combat could begin – and Josse lost them all.
The party had snuck into a disused animal cage at the edge of the pit, both so that they could see the field without being easily spotted themselves, and to avoid the mages scanning the crowd for the use of magic to influence the matches.
Yorick had linked the group telepathically to Eden in her pigeon form, and Calamity could see through her perspective that Josse was angry about how the first stage had gone, his face so red it looked like it might burst. But he placed his bets, and the party could hear him as he did.
Morgana was on lookout duty, whilst Yorick, Liam, and Calamity did what they could to influence the fights.
Liam cast a spell from where he sat towards the front of the cage, compelling one of the fighters to come after him instead, creating an opening for their opponent to take them down.
Yorick sent a telepathic message to another, making him think the combat was over, just long enough to be taken down by a competitor’s wave of acid.
Calamity tore her gaze away from Nashala to send a spike of psychic energy into the mind of her competitor, who doubled over directly into Nashala’s knee as she brought it to their face.
They let the final pairing play out untampered; Josse was clearly betting on the underdog in an attempt to hit it big, but the favoured contender – a minotaur barbarian – easily dominated their opponent.
When it came to the final four, though, the matches took place one at a time. This meant they needed to be careful with their casting; there weren’t multiple matches to obfuscate their involvement.
Josse hadn’t learned his lesson, betting against the minotaur yet again; and again the party decided to let that one be, which paid off.
Nashala was paired against a similarly lithe monk, and though Calamity was sure Nashala could hold her own, Yorick cast a spell anyway to hold the competitor in place, just for a fraction of a second in a critical moment, so Nashala could finish him off.
This meant the final was Nashala versus the minotaur, and despite Calamity’s awe of Nashala so far, she was less confident in this match-up than any before it. To make matters worse, Yorick’s telepathy spell with Eden had worn off, so they didn’t know which way Josse had gone with his bet.
“He’s been betting against the minotaur so far,” Liam said. “He’s almost certainly bet on Nashala.”
“But if he has, then we’re screwed,” Yorick said. The two of them were literally pacing circles around Calamity, though Liam kept lapping Yorick, given that he was twice the halfling’s size.
“Why?”
“Because, if Nashala doesn’t win, she can’t get the Shadowshard. And if she does, then she still can’t get it, because Josse will get it back.”
“He might not,” Calamity said. “He’s lost all of his other bets; maybe he’s lost the Shadowshard.”
Yorick shook his head. “I’ve seen guys like that. He’d put it all on the final match to try to claw back what he’s lost.”
“She has to win,” Calamity said. “It’s the only way we have a chance.”
“And even then, it’s fifty-fifty.”
Calamity nodded hard. She still didn’t trust Nashala, but she was all they had.
Just then, the final two walked onto the field.
The minotaur stood nearly two full feet taller than Nashala, her curved horns putting Calamity’s own to shame, her broad muscles making Nashala look downright puny in comparison.
Calamity, Yorick, and Liam all held their breath as the fight started, the minotaur opening with a charge that Nashala only just dodged.
For minutes, that was how it unfolded – the minotaur would make a move, and Nashala would narrowly evade it.
She was watching her competitor; learning the strategies they used.
She was so patient and considered, it made Calamity understand how she could have willed her way out of a plane of pure chaos.
The minotaur lunged again, and this time, Nashala didn’t quite make it out of the way, a gash opening across her arm. She caught a punch to the jaw as well, which she shook off easily, but it made Calamity’s breath hitch, her fingers twitching to intervene.
“Not yet,” she told herself. Only if Nashala desperately needed it.
Nashala landed a few hits of her own, but it was clear she was doing less with each hit than the minotaur was.
And maybe Nashala was tired after a few fights, or maybe she had calculated the odds herself and decided she was better off losing so we could try for the Shadowshard later.
But either way, she was, in fact, losing.
A gash matching the one on her arm had appeared on her face, bisecting each lip, and her hand wraps were bloody – from unseen wounds or the wounds she was inflicting, Calamity wasn’t sure.
“Let’s give it everything we’ve got,” Liam said, and the three of them exhaled in unison before starting their casting.
The first thing Calamity did was magically hasten Nashala as the competitors came close to the cage.
It made her harder to hit and faster on her feet, though it did little to dissuade the minotaur.
Hopefully, they’d be trading blows a bit more evenly though.
The gash across her mouth started to heal up as Liam muttered a healing spell, but they moved out of range before it could close up entirely.
Yorick tried several incantations, but he was targeting the minotaur, who was too resilient, keeping the magic at bay.
Calamity struggled to think of a spell she could cast that wouldn’t give them away; a line of fire or a flaming missile would give up their hiding spot pretty quickly. The best she could do was mutter encouragement to Nashala beneath her breath. It wasn’t magical, but it was all she had.
As Yorick finally landed a spell on the minotaur, causing her to cry out in pain, Nashala ran away to catch her breath, passing near the cage as she did. Calamity, Liam, and Yorick pressed themselves into the shadows, but Nashala could see them, and she made eye contact with Calamity.
If Calamity had ever doubted how committed Nashala was to helping them, she didn’t now.
She was bloody and bruised, her breath coming in hard wheezes, her hand on her side as if she had a stitch there.
One eye was swollen almost shut, and Calamity had to stop herself from crying out as the minotaur charged at Nashala from that side.
Nashala saw the charge; of course she did. And it gave Calamity an idea.
Calamity began to whisper as she pointed at Nashala, willing her to stay close enough for the message spell to work, even as the minotaur clobbered her face. Liam was casting more healing spells, but it wasn’t enough.
“In twenty seconds,” she said into Nashala’s mind, noting the way her eyes ever-so-briefly flickered towards the cage in acknowledgement, “throw sand in their eyes.”
But by the time she’d finished speaking, Nashala was out of range. She didn’t know if she’d gotten the message, but all Calamity could do was count.
One, two, three…
On fifteen, she started casting.
On nineteen, Nashala wriggled away from the minotaur’s grasp long enough to grab a couple of fingerfuls of sand.
On twenty, the sand went flying.
On twenty-one, Calamity released her spell.
On twenty-two, the minotaur cried out, spinning around in confusion at her sudden blindness, tripping over something in the dust and falling prone.
And on twenty-four, Nashala’s foot came down on the minotaur’s neck.