The Carnelian Fox Read online

  I resisted the urge to look towards Eli for support, this was my battle and I would win it. Just think, Sam.

  Ugh, it was a hippo. Bloody massive thing. Candy and water. My heart raced. If I’d held back Finn and Charlotte and that had come out later this could have been a disaster. A quick scan told me it was adolescent too. Think, Sam. I wished the rules would let me have Rica out for the entire thing. She’d have a great strategy.

  I narrowed it down to a single real course of action. If this was one of Lourey’s best, I didn’t want to lose my heavy hitters to it. If it wasn’t, then I wanted to keep back my stronger members for a desperate battle I had to win.

  I summoned Vortex. Sweet little mini V against this monstrosity, Eli must think I was a terrible Prime. Was I doing the right thing?

  It didn’t take much time for the overwhelming bulk of the hippo to take out my inexperienced boy. I threw that match - I didn’t want to leave him in there to take unnecessary punishment. Now I had to make the other rounds count.

  That battle was the turning point for me, where I began to trust my own decisions. It helped that Eli told me later he would have done the same thing with Vortex. Maybe I was naïve for still needing that outer voice to tell me I didn’t suck; I suppose I had a way to go before I was self-reliant. But I was working on it.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Okay, what’s next?” I composed myself, running through my mind that I only had to win four rounds. There was nothing wrong with recalling Vortex. He was here to make up numbers and be a future badass.

  Lourey removed his hippo from play and shuffled his pocket of capsules. Did he have more than six in there? Challenge Masters had different rules to us mere mortals, they had to provide various levels of trials depending on the progress of the Prime. Did that mean it was possible I’d get his weaker Gems? I wasn’t sure if I wanted the win or the satisfaction of passing with honour more. Nah, I wanted the win, honour’s available anytime.

  “Brace yourself,” he said as he pulled out a pink capsule.

  A sheep-sized skunk appeared between us. It had cartoony eyelashes and immaculate, brushed fur. The curved tail swayed with menace - this was a Gem that had battled before.

  I scanned it, whistling under my breath when I saw how high this adolescent’s power was. I needed to use someone who could tank a hit.

  “Okay, Charlotte, you’ve got this,” I called as my draco faced down her opponent. I’d have preferred for her to evolve before this, but Gems based on mythical creatures took a notoriously long time to grow. It helped that they were pretty badass to begin with.

  “Take her down, Rosca,” Lourey said. I wish he put more effort or emotion into his words, I wasn’t that much of an easy pushover, right?

  The skunk’s pink stripes pulsed with a pale glow, coalescing into a focussed beam that trailed Charlotte in a laser as she leapt out of its path. It set the ground smoking like a magnifying glass amplifying sun rays onto an ant’s nest.

  “Light it up!” I commanded. Sometimes she was too reliant on my instruction.

  Charlotte’s scaled ribcage expanded as she drew in a gulping breath, then unleashed a fan of flames towards the skunk. It danced backwards, catching the edge of her wide attack on the tufts of fur at the back of its legs. Rosca circled, darting to flank Charlotte, using the draco’s poor mobility to its advantage.

  “Keep the flames on. You’ll catch it soon,” I said. Again, I wished for Rica’s presence to deliver our tactics without Lourey or Rosca hearing. Not that ‘set the skunk on fire’ was anything complex or sneaky. But if I came up with something it would be nice not to give it away.

  Claws scraped the rough flooring as my draco dug in and launched herself towards the nimble skunk. Continuous billows of flames and smoke poured from her maw, lighting up the dim interior and ruining the manufactured atmosphere. The space had gone from a grotto to a battle site, a red and black flickering slice of claustrophobia.

  Rosca backed off enough to launch another attack of her own, piercing through the flamethrower to blitz Charlotte’s flank and rock her. The roar of pain cut the air and chilled me to the core. It took a lot to hurt that girl, and the agonised cry made me wince, guilt worming beneath my skin.

  She didn’t let up though. The fire only petered out for a split second, then she was back into action. Sweat pooled at my hairline, Charlotte was cooking the entire challenge hall. Not that the skunk seemed to notice. It raced through whatever gaps it found in the blazing torrent to out manoeuvre my draco. But smouldering patches of fur and a wide-eyed glance towards her Prime told me she was struggling to keep up.

  “You’re doing great,” I shouted over the crackling whoosh of attacks.

  Another beam of light ripped from Rosca, flipping Charlotte and catching a stubby wing as she rolled a full rotation, flailing her limbs.

  “Get up!” I yelled. “Before she charges again.”

  Instead, the skunk curled its tail around itself and a golden haze misted up from its body. It was a special candy Gem ability that regenerated her health. She must have taken more damage from the fire than I’d realised.

  “Come on! Get back in there, Charlotte, you’ve got her.” I bounced on my tiptoes. “Don’t let her fully regenerate.”

  Scrabbling for purchase, she forced all her legs beneath herself and pulled her bulk towards the skunk, already breathing in.

  “Haze,” Lourey commanded. That jerk hadn’t broken a sweat at all.

  Dark brown eyes snapped open and the candy-striped tail lifted. Charlotte took a full inhale of whatever glittery, misty crap ejected from that skunk spray. I clasped a hand over my nose until I realised it didn’t stink like Rosca’s natural cousins. Lucy would wear this stuff as a perfume.

  Charlotte sneezed. A snout-twitching, massive achoo. Then she collapsed.

  Was it over already? Two fails and at desperation point?

  But no, the little dragon writhed. Her tail lashed and her wings twitched, skewed at an awkward angle. She was dizzy, disorientated, her gaze not quite resting on her opponent readying another dead-shot light beam.

  “Charlotte, move!”

  She almost crashed over sideways as she followed my voice on pure instinct. My draco barely kept upright.

  The remnants of the skunk’s mist settled, twinkling as it reflected the illumination of the remaining embers. The glitter went up like bonfire sparklers as it drifted into the diminished flames.

  “Go forward.” I had an idea. A stupid, desperate idea, but it could work. “Chase her and get your claws in there, the fire isn’t working.”

  Charlotte shook her head, but she was trying to dislodge the glitter from her nostrils, not mutinying. Sure enough, she charged. The shift startled Rosca, and she abandoned her next laser to flee from the snapping jaws at her rear.

  Just a little closer.

  Charlotte’s mouth opened, her wicked teeth a hair away from the tail tip.

  “Haze!” Lourey shouted.

  “Flame breath, now!” I countered.

  The two attacks detonated, sending both Gems flying apart to crash down at opposite sides of the arena. Glitter crackled and sparked as it continued burning, coating the floor and the combatants.

  Yeah, I’d hoped that would happen, but I still jerked out from my skin at the explosion. My pulse thundered through my veins and I slammed a hand over my chest to stop my heart from leaping out of my body.

  “Bloody…” I didn’t finish my poorly constructed sentence before Lourey recalled his Gem. Charlotte teetered on the edge of consciousness, but this counted as a win, right?

  “You need two more victories,” Lourey said. “But let’s take a five-minute break for drinks while I get my assistant to clear up this mess.”

  “You’re doing well. Really well,” Eli said as we huddled together on a plush sofa in a dainty waiting room. Lourey was off sorting out the state I’d made of his hall. I bet the Challenge Masters were used to this kind of thing, anyway.

&nbs
p; “Thanks.” I took a sip of chilled water, letting it wash away the soot drying the back of my tongue. “Ugh, I wish we’d kept going. All the adrenaline’s draining now. Ninety percent of my ideas come from the stress of a pressure situation.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be just as stressed when you go back in.”

  “Not making me feel better.”

  “You’ve got this,” he said, laying a hand on my arm. His slim fingers trailed down from my shoulder to my elbow. The wave of peace that followed focussed me more than the adrenaline I’d been relying on. I had someone here that believed in me. And I believed in Finn, Sev, and Dew.

  “Maybe I do?” I took his hand into my lap and held onto it, closing my eyes to ground myself and immerse myself in that one touch. His little squeeze in response set my heart racing again, and I felt his weight shift on the cushion as he leaned in. He better not be teasing me again.

  His lips touched me as my eyes fluttered open, soft against my cheek. I melted. How was he this sweet? I always thought I’d attract guys that had failed with their dream girl, dream job, and dream life and were looking to settle. Not someone successful.

  I daren’t move, like I’d scare him off if I didn’t respond in the right way. But the grin on my face let him know I approved. A knock at the door jolted me out of the trance.

  “Ready to go win this thing?” he whispered.

  “Yeah. I kind of feel as if I’ve won already though.” I watched the corner of his eyes crinkle, the sheen of excitement in there lighting up. Whatever happened next, I’d be doing some celebrating later.

  Lourey’s assistant had done an insanely good job within the five minutes we’d been out of the hall. I suspected the work involved other Gems. They’d cleared the floor of debris and the gouges were smooth once again. I couldn’t even smell the residue from the overpowering perfume that his skunk had coated the room in. I guess glitter wasn’t impossible to clean up.

  “Are you prepared for the second half of your test?” I only just realised that Lourey had a costume change. He’d gone from an immaculate suit to a silk shirt and suede trousers. He seemed the type that always came up with an excuse to put on a new outfit in the middle of a challenge. Lucy would love this guy. The shallow cow.

  Putting my irritating travel companion out my mind, I nodded my readiness. I just wanted this done now. To get my full licence on my band and to go find out if Eli wanted to kiss other parts of my body. Oh damn, that was a distracting thought.

  The next Gem materialised. A chimp that disturbed me to the core with its child-like little hands and upright stance. It was pink-furred, of course, and in my fuzzy state I almost didn’t notice the bare skin of its face and paws was a rich lavender colour. Psychic. Damn.

  Okay, so Rica was super intelligent with a dash of maniacal, it didn’t mean every Gem with psychic powers was the same. It could trace my Gem’s thoughts though, even if it wasn’t allowed to steal mine. It made me guilty to realise, but Finn and Sev were the Gems most in sync with me. They knew what I was planning before I did. On the other hand, this was the ideal time to use Dew’s berserk trait. If he wasn’t plotting his attacks, there was no way to counter them.

  I summoned my wolf, his candy pink fur blending with the environment.

  “Ah, so you do know the value of my type beyond their elegance?” The glee on the handsome face of my opponent was obvious. To be fair, there were a load of battle Primes that refused to use candy types because people didn’t take them seriously. Not that they said that, candy Gems just happened to be the lowest percentage used when experts listed a whole year’s worth of competitions.

  “Not everything is about looks,” I said with a shrug. “You ready, Dew?”

  He crouched into a hunting pose; lips twitched into a snarl. The chimp glanced over at Lourey, who drifted into the distant expression of someone concentrating on an internal conversation. I couldn’t let them have the upper hand straight away.

  “Get in there,” I said, pointing at the chimp. “Don’t hold back.”

  Not that he would. In fact, he was at the eye-twitching, heavy breathing stage already. Most of the time it took a decent hit to trigger his rage.

  Dew snarled and rushed his foe, claws leaving gouges in the stone-clad floor. The chimp moved to the side as the wolf continued his mad rush.

  “The wall!” I wasn’t quick enough, and Dew smashed headfirst into the brickwork. What had got into him?

  The chimp didn’t capitalise though, it backed off more, fixated on the form of the wolf skittering and scrambling to his feet. Dew glared around the room, searching for his prey. That bloody thing was using some kind of mind trick! I saw it then, the leak of purple energy surrounding the chimp’s fingertips.

  “It’s tricking you, Dew. Throw out some trackers, straight ahead.”

  He shook his mane, the tiny crystals spilt out and locked on to Lourey’s Gem.

  “Okay, follow the lights, Dew. Get that thing!”

  The chimp screeched and picked at the objects tangled in its fur.

  The second before Dew careened into it, the chimp looked up and thrust both hands forward. A wave of purple energy thundered out, enveloped my wolf, and sent him toppling backwards. The pulse wouldn’t stop, it pushed Dew farther across the room. He dug in and threw back his muzzle into a howl that rooted into my spine. Dew tore at the psychic net with glowing fangs, ripping the energy field to tatters.

  By now the chimp had removed the rest of the trackers. It flashed and a mirror image of him materialised. Another flash and there were four. Then eight. Dew looked my way.

  “I don’t know. Hit them all.” Great strategy, Sam.

  He tried to comply - he really did. Beams shot in every direction from the wolf’s place at the centre of the mob, but he got more het up with each missed attack.

  “On your right, Dew. That one’s glowing!” I shouted. But I’d left it too late, and he was too far into his berserk rage to listen to my commands anymore. My heart sunk. This would be a serious problem if I wanted to take him to professional championships, even if it increased his attack. That wouldn’t help if he ignored me when I told him what to hit.

  A new psychic net dropped from above, sending Dew deeper into a frenzy. He hadn’t got a square strike in yet. This was a joke.

  I pulled him before I made myself look even more incompetent.

  “Are you sure that was a good decision?” Lourey removed his chimp too, guess he wouldn’t be asking me if I wanted a backsies.

  I managed not to say that I’ve never been sure I’ve made a good decision. After this disaster, I didn’t want this Master to have any reason to penalise me. All I could do was wait for the next round. Two left. And I had to win them both. No pressure.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Well then, I hope you have a better time of this against my next Gem.” Lourey said. I don’t think he was being sarcastic either, I know sarcasm.

  He tapped a capsule from his pocket and I couldn’t help but squeak at the absolute cuteness of his giant otter. It would reach my shoulder on tiptoe if it stretched out, I wished it would come over to let me pet it. Stroke those stubby little whiskers and tickle its tummy. Its baby blue tummy. Bloody water type. And the damn thing was mature…

  I summoned Sev, couldn’t really put Finn up against that, but even though Sev had the type advantage, he was two stages behind that beast. He looked like a worm about to fight a dragon. But this was the bravest worm I’d ever met, and he’d fought dragons before.

  My gorgeous mink stepped forward without even glancing at me. Ready for anything. He stayed poised on the tips of his paws, nose twitching.

  “How cute.” Lourey laughed. He bloody laughed at Sev!

  “Yep, he’s cuter and tougher than your otter,” I said. “We’ll see whether you’re laughing at the end of this. You know what to do, Sev.”

  His body had that ripple that certain rodents get when they surge forward, like when a squirrel bounds across the gro
und between trees. He rounded the otter, staying out of its direct reach while sizing it up. It was candy type too, and I know Lourey wasn’t stupid enough to rely on water attacks to fend off a frost type. However, he was the kind of man that underestimated a mink cub.

  “Meesha, light it up, don’t drag this out.” Lourey yawned and waved towards Sev. He didn’t want me to pass!

  I kept quiet. Watched every motion to give Sev a heads-up on any sneak attacks. Not that Lourey thought he needed to be sneaky.

  Meesha opened her mouth and a marble of pink energy formed, she blasted it at Sev. If Lourey had bothered scanning this weak cub, he’d know that Sev’s evasion was almost maxed out. The mink twisted and darted around the projectile, then avoided an entire stream as Meesha continued her tactic. Sev got a step closer with each dodge, and his steps were so tiny neither Meesha nor Lourey noticed. The Master looked on, waiting for the one-shot victory he expected.

  No way.

  Sev threw out a wave of ice mist, slicking the floor under the otter’s feet. One of her hind legs slipped out, and he coated the entire underside of her foot with a layer of frost. Meesha wavered and skidded, fighting to make her way to some stable footing with her leg dragging her down. Sev put out another billow of mist around her, leaving her stranded on the rink.

  “Calm down, Meesh.” Lourey’s patient voice was so soothing. I’d have believed him if he’d told me that massive spider that tried to kill me and Lucy was a misunderstood soul coming over for a tea party.

  The otter dropped to her front. Her previous panic departed as she realised that she could toboggan around on her stomach. Meesha spun herself on the spot and slid herself off towards Sev. As a frost type, he had no problem keeping his footing on ice, if anything it made him faster. The two Gems raced across the room, Meesha back on the offence now she’d overcome her incapacitation.