The Carnelian Fox Read online

  “It’s an overpayment.” I shrugged and took a delicious creamy bite of my own, wondering if I should get Finn out to give him some. I didn’t even know Gems like chocolate. “You do this a lot?”

  “I’ve worked on and off in search and rescue. But having a fast flying Gem means I tackle a wider response range than most Primes. And I can get to remote spots with no problems. I’ve put more hours in since finalising my team and bringing them up to strength, you’d feel bad not going if you could, right?” He pushed his hood down and unzipped his top, sitting a little back from the fire.

  “What other Gems do you have?” I had to ask.

  “I specialise in corrosive and shadow. By accident. I’m from the Ardite region and ninety percent of the area’s just mountains filled with those types. So, you’ve met Lyle, Kira, and Veil. Zeke’s my mantis, he was around during the fight, but you would’ve only spotted his after blur. Then I have a centipede and a scorpion, Neive and Tryst. Great teammates, I got lucky with every one of them.”

  I saw how much he loved them, the way his hand drifted to Lyle, how his eyes went distant and dreamy. Even his voice softened when he talked about his Gems. I could only hope I had that depth of a bond with my team going forward.

  “Tell me about yours,” Eli said.

  “They aren’t anywhere close to yours yet,” I mumbled and chomped off another piece of chocolate. The sugar would soothe my poor obliterated nerves.

  “Yeah, yet. But it’s not about how strong they are right now, is it? I’ll always have goals for mine, doesn’t mean I don’t adore them already.”

  “That’s true. I guess it’s that you’re the first proper battle Prime I’ve met since I started and…” I fished for a way to finish.

  “You’re intimidated? Don’t worry, I won’t ask for a fight. I met plenty of jerkwads when I was in the lower ranks who enjoy stomping newbies, there’s no achievement in that.” He frowned into the flames, the light dancing in his narrowed eyes.

  “Yeah, I’m only two challenges in. I’ve got a way to go. How long did it take you to get all your points?” If I had a pro in my camp, I would take him for every bit of information I could drag out of him.

  “I never did. I told you, I’m Ardite, we don’t collect challenge points there. It’s a kind of flawed system, people getting guided around by advanced Primes or hiring stronger Gems to use for passing challenges. We have our own ways to decide if you’re a good enough Prime to take full responsibility of working Gems. There are about twenty points on my account though, you sometimes get them in competitions.”

  That sounded like a better way to do it, whatever they did. I’d always hated seeing people cheat their way to a full licence. Technically, it was against the rules, but there was no way to figure out who was abusing the system and who’d brokered a genuine trade for a Gem they intended to keep.

  “Hey, speaking of competitions…” Eli began.

  “No, I’ve never done one. Never even battled another Prime outside of Challenge Halls. Well, once for fun against… a guy from my class, when we got our first Gems.” If I’d died tonight, Charlotte would have too. I owed Callum better than that.

  “Okay, but not what I was asking.” He grinned into the fire, cogs turning in his mind.

  “What were you asking?”

  “I may need a favour, not that the chocolate isn’t a great perk, but I could use your help.”

  I watched Eli as he picked at threads from the worn sleeve of his hoodie, not looking towards me.

  “Well, you kind of need to tell me what it is before I agree, you know? You haven’t uncovered the extent of my talents yet,” I said.

  “How do you feel about teaming up for a doubles contest? You’d be doing me a huge favour.”

  My cheeks blasted hotter than they should in the dwindling warmth of the campfire. Seriously? This guy wanted my help in a battle? Right.

  “You don’t have to humour me,” I snapped. “I don’t need the confidence boost or whatever, and I don’t need you to carry me in a contest.”

  “Whoa, slow down.” He looked at me then, his eyes huge and shimmering in the ember glow. I’d seen right through his stupid offer, and no way was I going to be this guy’s project. “Chill out, Sam. I meant it. I was heading into town to drum up a partner when I got your SOS. We have to enter because the prize is an enhancement I’ve been after for a while for Neive. Yeah, I’ll be doing most of the heavy lifting, but I can’t enter at all without a partner. You’d get challenge points, credits, and an enhancement too if we win.”

  “And if my Gems get creamed in the first round?”

  “You rest them up for the second, I’ve got this.”

  “You seem very confident about winning this on your own, won’t there be other Primes at your level?” I didn’t see this going anywhere good. I’d look like I was trying to ride his coattails and cheat out challenge points, and I doubt even his powerful Gems could take on two opponents at once.

  “You seem very unconfident about me winning it…” He folded his arms and Lyle grumbled right alongside him.

  “I love my Gems, but they’re just cubs. You’ll be two on one most of the time, much as I despise admitting it. Primes at my level don’t bother with these open competitions, because we know we’d get slaughtered. I’d feel like a fraud.”

  “Please, Sam. I’ve been trawling the prize sites for months and this is the first time the venom enhancer has come up. Who knows when I’ll have another chance. I’ll owe you one. On top of the swooping in to rescue you from getting munched on by a swarm of spiders.”

  “Blackmail. Emotional and other kinds, that’s cheating!” I wasn’t happy with being blagged into this, not at all. But was there actually any way I could say no to someone that had just saved my life?

  “You are awesome! Thanks, you won’t regret it. If anything, you’ll get competition experience, it’ll benefit your Gems too.”

  “You better be right,” I said, wondering how I got myself into so many messes.

  ***

  “Oh, my life, it’s huge.” I stared at the colosseum-style arena. I didn’t even want to guess at how many people it seated. This brought on a whole other dimension to my nerves. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Sure, you can.” Eli laid a hand on my shoulder, as assured as he’d been taking on that gargantuan. It was all right for him, he’d probably done this a billion times. “It won’t be anywhere near full, I promise. They use this stadium for all the big events; regionals, finals. Not that many people are up for spectating opens like this.”

  “Then I should be able to get a great seat to cheer you on,” Lucy said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Make me proud.”

  She was walking better now, with a slight limp and the odd sharp breath, but she kept up with us when we slowed our step. Veil had given her a lift out of the forest, making sure we got back to town in time for the competition that evening.

  “Okay, let’s go sign up, we’ll see you in there, Lucy.” Eli led me to a booth set up around the side of the pale grey building. The awning stretched over three counters where stewards were scanning eBands and typing details down onto their swanky laptops.

  It didn’t take long until we reached the front of the queue, either we were late and missed seeing most of the teams register or there wasn’t a huge amount of interest.

  “EBand, please.” The man sat behind the desk glanced up and scanned my wrist, then Eli’s. “Okay, you’ll receive a prompt to pick your team. Select three Gems. Tapping the star at the bottom brings up the list of prohibited enhancements, attacks, and stages. You have thirty minutes to decide, and you’ll be disqualified if you haven’t finished by then. Got it? Then head into the staging area. Your team is number nine, you’ll hear the call when it’s your turn to fight. Any questions?”

  He beckoned the next pair forward before I even thought about asking anything. Eli rolled his eyes and wandered through the door the man had pointed at.


  “Yeah, like I thought. No elders,” Eli murmured as we huddled together in the corner of a room that was too tiny to give privacy to even the small number of teams packed in. I couldn’t imagine this pathetic space was anything to do with the main contests they held here. Was it a press room the famous Primes walked through to wave at the cameras before reaching their preparation areas?

  “What’s the plan then?” It was quite nice to have someone to defer to. I wish I’d had the chance to do this doubles battle thing with Callum at least once, we’d talked about it so many times.

  “You stick with your idea, only one flame type. We don’t have a clue what we’ll be up against. I’ll take Kira instead of Lyle then, that way I still have a shadow type. Zeke for his speed. Hmm, V or Neive… both corrosive but I’ve got water or plant to pick from.”

  “It’s not all about the typing,” I offered, “How about go for bulk because everyone else is a swift striker? I think I’ll take Finn over Charlotte; he can evade better so should last longer against stronger opponents.”

  “Good thinking. Okay. Got it.”

  Eli was intent on his screen as I finished my selections and had a look at the rest of the teams. I must be the youngest person here, everyone else was at least in their twenties. There was even a wrinkled grey-haired man sat with a grandson or something on a bench running along one wall.

  I wasn’t sure how old Eli was. He hadn’t gone through the same system as me, so he could be younger than a fully trained Prime from around here. But his slight build and delicate features would make him look like a teenager forever. It may make the other teams underestimate us. Well, underestimate him, I was as green as I seemed.

  I didn’t sit still for those thirty minutes before we started. Somehow, I forgot that I’d been dreaming about battling Gems in competitions for my entire life, or maybe it was embarrassing to start so early and show myself up. All I know is that it all went away when we got called and as I walked out into that arena the fear dissipated. I was finally a proper battle Prime.

  Chapter Eleven

  An attendant escorted Eli and me over to one side of the colossal arena. Ropes fenced off a quarter of the seats to accommodate our crowd, all herded down to an end where a rectangle marked out a patch of sandy floor. At the opposite side was our first challenge, two young men with similar enough wavy, walnut-coloured hair to be brothers.

  “Select your first Gems!” A cry echoed from the blaring sound system. “No replacements, once you recall a Gem you may not use it again. Gems must stay within the boundary line or face disqualification. Summon your chosen monster now!”

  I went with Dew to feel out the situation. He was the best all-rounder, plus his candy typing covered some of Eli’s Gem’s weaknesses. Not that I expected to provide much backup, it was just a good practice to get into. Zeke sprung from Eli’s capsule, the first time I got a proper look at him. The mantis’ triangular head came up to my chest, his wicked forelimbs glinting and sparking with electricity between the folded blades. His chitin plates absorbed light with their corrosive dark grey, bound between with flashes of yellow that flickered and hummed with barely restrained power. The eerie alien beauty of that Gem mesmerised me. Like he was an untouchable force of nature rather than a badass pet you could cuddle.

  “Yeah, he’s something else, right?” Eli whispered.

  The two brothers of team four summoned their Gems, a shaggy polar bear, and an overgrown silvery mouse. The little experience I had taught me it was possible the mouse held the bigger threat.

  “Get the bear,” Eli commanded, scanning the mouse. I’d never seen that in contests on TV. “Zeke, after that mouse.”

  “Adolescent, pure frost, no enhancements,” I said.

  Zeke was already mid-strike. The mantis surged rather than ran, a crackling dash of lightning mixed with a flick of wings to appear behind his target.

  “Indie, blow that thing back,” one brother yelled.

  “Ox, help him out,” the other said.

  Zeke’s blades snapped around Indie and filled the little creature with the full force of his voltage. It would have been over in a second if the polar bear hadn’t sprayed a frost mist at the mantis. Zeke flickered and appeared behind the bear. His pace was insane!

  “Dew, finish that mouse!” I said, determined to do something useful. As my wolf loped over, and with the utmost discretion, I scanned Eli’s Gem. Damn, a full natural speed stat along with two enhancement upgrades and he’d learned a secret electric move that made him faster. I so wished I was this far into my journey. One day people would scan my Gems on the sly to find out why they were so epic.

  Dew pounced on the mouse. The poor thing hadn’t stopped twitching from the shock attack, but it let out a miniature tornado from around its body and tipped him nose over tail. My Gem clawed himself back upright and snarled, his berserker trait kicking in to give him a boost.

  Zeke danced between the bear’s attacks, flicking his claws and zapping it through its thick coat. The constant stream of ice clouds chased the mantis’ every step, keeping him moving rather than locked into a finishing blow.

  Eli watched, hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets, as the brothers screamed instructions and encouragement to their Gems. The mouse belted out more huge gusts, pushing Dew back as he strained forward with snapping teeth.

  “Switch.” Eli said.

  Zeke tore over the field, dodging between two mini whirlwinds to slam his claws into Indie and finish it with a bone-jarring shock. Dew glared at the mantis and his hackles shot up, I recalled him before his berserk launched him at the wrong target.

  “What..?” Eli started.

  “We could use some flames,” I replied, summoning Finn.

  My fox looked up at the sparking mantis, blinking.

  “The bear, Finn, melt that thing!”

  He yipped and darted over, Zeke zipping out to flank their foe.

  Then a shadow passed over the field. I squinted up to see an eagle circling, team four’s next Gem. I couldn’t pick out its movements from down here with the glare from the sun, but it must be within the lines to avoid disqualification.

  “Can Zeke get up there?” I turned to Eli as he chewed his lip and ran a finger over his thigh holster.

  “No. His wings are just propulsion, not for flight. We need to finish the bear, then I’ll let Kira in.”

  “Finn’s got this. Sure, you weakened it and did ninety percent of the work, but we’ve got this from here.”

  “Good…” he pointed up as rain fell. Not spatters, or even the deluge like the night on the farm, this was precision, firehose level stuff.

  “Finn, move it!”

  He skirted the bear and smashed it with a spray of lava, a roar echoed from the lumbering thing as it tried to catch the little fox. Finn skipped back as water gushed towards him, cutting off his line of attack. Suddenly it stopped. I craned my head back to see Kira with her hind claws latched into the eagle, her powerful wings blocked out half the sky as she pumped to wrench the eagle off course. I gasped as a rogue spatter of rain sloshed down my back, icy on my spine.

  “Don’t laugh! You’re supposed to be on my team.” I tried to pull the wet material that clung to my back away from my skin while my stupid partner stood there and snickered. “When I get a water Gem, I’m so getting you back.”

  “Hey, I didn’t do anything.” Eli held up his hands. “Blame Kira.”

  “Yeah, like I’m going to mess with her.”

  A huge plume of smoke billowed up from the field, snatching my attention. Finn was burning through the bear’s frost clouds, letting out a smaller version of Charlotte’s flamethrower attack. Then he snapped off the hugest ball of lava I’ve ever seen come from his tiny snout. It smacked the bear square in the jaw, and it crumpled into a steaming pile.

  One brother swore, his profanity echoing around the stands. He recalled the bear and reached for anther capsule.

  But before I checked out what was coming next, a pul
sating glow caught my eye. It was Finn! His entire body flashed with streams of light, like a compact firework show. When it dimmed, it revealed my newly adolescent Gem. Finn was still sleek and a gorgeous reddish orange, there were no signs he’d developed a secondary typing. But he was much larger and reached my waist with his back. His ruff was more mane-like, his fur fluffed out to cut a more imposing silhouette around his shoulders. I couldn’t wait to stroke that, but it didn’t look like I’d be picking him up anymore. Not that I should complain about that. He’d just got so much stronger.

  “Woo, go Finn!” I waved my arms like a madwoman. I caught Eli’s expression from the corner of my eye, expecting him to be shaking his head at my baby level achievement. But I realised from that little smile and nod he knew what I was going through. Understood even such a small step was a big thing to a new Prime.

  “Ready to win this?” he asked.

  “So ready.”

  We finished the brothers off, just with Kira and Finn. The bat was a ferocious death-from-above fighter that dominated the battlefield when team four ran out of flying Gems. Finn gave everything he had too, keen to test his new strength.

  The next couple of rounds were a breeze, people that hadn’t completed their challenges either. Some were years older than me but still only had cubs. I didn’t feel like so much of a failure or a lag-behind anymore. Not now my first Gem had evolved. The others shouldn’t be too far off, I tried to train them all at the same rate.

  When we reached the semi-finals and still powered through with Eli only using two Gems, I believed we had a shot. Yeah, my three had all gone down through the tougher matches, but I just wanted him to win the enhancement he was after now. I was already ecstatic with my results.

  “This is awesome! I can’t believe how well we’re doing,” I gushed as we headed to the back to get ready for the final fight.

  “I can,” he replied, a glitter of mischief in his eye.