Gathering of the Chosen (22 page)

“Great,” said Braim. “Heard anything about
that assassin from last night?”

“No,” said Tashir, shaking his head. “I
stayed up all night listening for it, but it did not come after me,
so I managed to get a few hours of sleep before breakfast.”

“You mean you aren't tired at all?” said
Braim.

“Of course not,” said Tashir. “I have
trained my body to require the absolute minimum amount of sleep in
order to function at its maximum. I sleep no more or less than I
need to, and as a result, I am rarely tired.”

Saia, who sat on the other end of the
seats away from Braim, leaned forward and pointed at Tashir's
sword. “What's up with your sword? It was glowing last night. I've
never seen a glowing sword before.”

Tashir rested his hand on the handle of
his blade. “I am a practitioner of the magical style that you
humans call makhimancy. In essence, sword magic.”

“So you're a mage?” said Saia, who seemed
very interested in Tashir's abilities. “But where's your wand?”

“My sword acts as my wand,” said Tashir.
“My sword is made out of a special type of metal that is capable of
handling the magical energy I channel through it.”

“I think we offer makhimancy classes at
North Academy,” said Braim, stroking his chin, “though I've heard
it's one of the toughest magical disciplines to learn.”

“It is,” said Tashir, nodding. “The art of
makhaimancy requires its user to be both physically and mentally
fit, whereas most ordinary magic simply requires mental fitness
from its users. Makhimancers must master swordplay and magic, which
is a much tougher combination to learn than you might think.”

“Is Malya a makhimancer as well?” said
Saia, glancing down at the other godlings in the seating rows below
them. “I saw that she had two swords that glowed like yours.”

Tashir folded his arms over his chest and
scowled. “I suppose she is, but her form of makhimancy is nowhere
near as efficient as mine. It is the dual sword style, which is far
less effective than my single sword style. Though that doesn't
surprise me, seeing as I've noticed that you humans tend to go for
style over substance in many areas of your lives.”

Braim was pretty sure he should be
offended by Tashir's generalization about humans, but he was
frankly too distracted by the darkness settling in his mind to
care. Carmaz, on the other hand, did look rather offended, while
Saia said, “So there is one-sword style makhaimancy and dual sword
style. Is there a three-sword style version of makhaimancy?”

“Three-sword style?” Tashir repeated
incredulously. “How would you hold the third sword? Between your
teeth, perhaps? How ridiculous.”

“Just checking,” said Saia. “Anyway, where
do you come from? Are you from the Undersea?”

“Considering that I am an aquarian, yes,”
said Tashir. “I come from the country of East Yudra. Have any of
you heard of it?”

Braim, Carmaz, and Saia shook their
heads.

“Well, it is a beautiful country, set in
the middle of a vast coral reef that is famed throughout the
Undersea for its sheer beauty,” said Tashir. “It is in that country
that I was born and raised, though I learned makhaimancy after I
went to the Surface.”

“Can you fight well on both the Surface
and the Undersea?” said Braim.

“Yes,” said Tashir, nodding. “I have spent
years training in both environments. I prefer to fight underwater,
but I can fight just as well on land.”

“Interesting,” said Braim. “Changing the
subject, does anyone know what is supposed to happen next?”

“In the Tournament?” said Tashir. “Well,
Alira explained that we will be able to watch the other godlings
below as they participate in the Hollech Sub-Bracket Challenge,
which should be starting any minute now.”

“So what's the Sub-Bracket Challenge,
then?” said Braim.

“She didn't say,” said Tashir with a
shrug. “I imagine it must have something to do with deception,
thieves, or horses, though I don't know for sure.”

“I hope Raya wins against her opponent,”
said Saia, folding his hands behind his head and resting his feet
on the back of the chair before him, causing the godling sitting
there to glare at him, though Saia apparently didn't notice. “I
think she'd make a great goddess.”

“Why?” said Tashir. “She certainly doesn't
seem very special to me. She may be royalty, but she stomped off
after she was assigned to a bracket that she doesn't like and
almost got herself killed as a result. She seems like a very
foolish girl to me.”

“What about Yoji?” said Carmaz. “You know,
the kid mage? Anyone know anything about him?”

“I spoke with him because he showed
interest in my sword,” said Tashir. “He told me that he's a child
prodigy and student of the Thief's Way. Hollech was his favorite
god, so of course he was ecstatic after learning which bracket he
was put into.”

“Didn't he mention being in the Itrija
School of Magic?” said Carmaz. “I've never heard of that
school.”

“I have,” said Braim. “They're known as
the second best human magical school in the world. They don't
really like North Academy all that much, mostly because they've
been trying to take our position as best human magical school in
the world for decades, with little luck.”

“Wonder how well he will do,” said Carmaz,
scratching his chin. “If he's a mage, that gives him a pretty large
advantage over Raya, seeing as she doesn't know any magic at all. I
wonder if they will have to compete in the same challenge at some
point.”

“Always a possibility,” said Tashir. “I,
personally, would like Yoji to be the winner. He is a bright and
eager young lad who seems less spoiled than Raya.”

“The idea of making a kid like that into a
god, though, kind of scares me no matter whether they're a 'child
prodigy' or not,” said Braim with a shudder. “I've seen some of the
kids his age at North Academy. While they're not stupid by any
means, they're still kids, with all of the positives and negatives
that that entails.”

“How is Yoji a 'child prodigy,' anyway?”
said Saia. “Sounds suspicious to me.”

“Yoji told me that Skimif visited his
mother when she was pregnant with him and blessed him prior to his
birth,” Tashir said. “That's what he thinks gave him his natural
magical talent. I have no idea if that is true or not, but he does
seem to have an advanced understanding of magic for a kid his age,
considering how he briefly discussed with me the Five Principles of
Elemental Magic and how humans and aquarians apply said principles
differently.”

“So he's smart and magically-inclined,
then,” said Carmaz. “Clearly, that gives him an edge over
Raya.”

“Raya will probably do well,” said Saia.
“I don't know how, but I'm sure that she will.”

“Anyone know anything about the other
participants in the Hollech Bracket?” said Braim, because he saw
that Carmaz was going to voice his disagreement over how well Raya
would do and he didn't want these two arguing about the matter with
the first challenge about to start.

“Nay,” said Tashir, shaking his head. “I
have tended to avoid that group, aside from Raya and Yoji, because
they have struck me as an untrustworthy group of individuals.”

“Gee, you think that a group of beings who
are competing for the position of God of Deception and Thieves
might be
untrustworthy
?” said Carmaz, the sarcasm dripping
from his words. “Wow, I would never have guessed that.”

Tashir looked more than a little irritated
by Carmaz's sarcasm, but before he could talk, Alira appeared at
the front of the seats where everyone could see her. She clapped
her hands, causing all conversation among the spectators to die off
immediately as everyone looked at her.

“The Hollech Sub-Bracket Challenge is
about to begin,” said Alira. She gestured at the blank stone wall
behind her. “From this place you will be able to see all of the
participants in the Challenge as they attempt to conquer it.”

“But Judge, how will we be able to see
them with that wall in the way?” asked one of the godlings sitting
in the front rows. “It's not like we can see through solid stone,
after all.”

“A good point that I was just about to
address,” said Alira. She waved behind her. “This is how you will
be able to see how everyone is progressing.”

As Alira waved her hands, ten shimmery
bubble-like squares came into existence behind her until they
filled up the entire wall. Each bubble-like square showed nothing
on their surfaces, which made Braim wonder what those were supposed
to do.

“These are your viewer bubbles,” said
Alira. “Each bubble will focus on two challengers at once, so you
can view whichever individual pairing you want without having to
strain your eyesight. As each challenge is completed, the bubbles
will vanish, until the entire Sub-Bracket Challenge is over.”

That's convenient,
Braim thought,
reclining in his chair as his eyes darted from bubble to bubble,
wondering which one would show Raya and which one would show
Yoji.

“But the challengers will not be able to
hear you through the bubbles,” Alira continued. “You can talk all
you want, but they won't hear a word you say. They will not even be
aware that you are watching them. They will behave as if they are
entirely alone within the Stadium.”

“I have never heard about this kind of
magic before,” Tashir muttered to Braim. “How about you?”

Braim shook his head. “Me neither. Maybe
it's exclusive to Alira?”

Tashir shrugged as Alira continued
speaking.

“The gods are also viewing this match from
the Temple,” said Alira, “and I, of course, will also be watching
the bubbles so that I can intervene in the unlikely event that any
godlings attempt to cheat.”

Alira waved her hand to the side and a
throne that looked much like the thrones that the gods sat on back
in the Temple materialized to the left of the seats. “And so,
without further ado, let the first challenge of the Tournament of
the Gods begin.”

***

A
lthough Raya was still angry at
Carmaz for rejecting her every advance, she hadn't yet given up
him. He reminded her of a story that she had once read, in which a
handsome prince repeatedly rejected the advances of the equally
beautiful princess who had fallen in love with him. The princess
had chased the prince for years until he finally gave in, at which
point the two were married, had ten children, and went down in
history as the most loving married couple that had ever walked the
face of Martir. Their relationship was even said to have been
blessed by Yashira, the Goddess of Love herself.

Now Raya sincerely doubted that that story
had ever happened, but she liked its overall message: Never give up
on your dream man, even if he doesn't know that he wants you at
first.

Even so, Raya had spent the trip from her
apartment to the Stadium without speaking a word to Carmaz. She had
no problem with admitting—to herself, at least—that she was upset
at Carmaz's constant rejections of her advances, but even when she
was stewing in her anger, a part of her was busy figuring out a way
to woo him anyway. She knew there had to be some way to do it.
Carmaz might have
thought
that he was not interested in her
or in romance, but she knew better.

But upon arriving at the Stadium, Raya had
to put her plans on hold, because Alira told her to get in line
with the other nineteen participants in the Hollech Sub-Bracket
Challenge. Thus, Raya found herself standing in line with Yoji, the
young mage from yesterday who had helped save her, Carmaz, and Saia
from the assassin.

Yoji, for reasons known only to himself,
took this opportunity to brag about how he was the smartest student
in his school, how he was even better than some of the teachers,
and how he had originally been intending on graduating this year
before he had learned about his destiny as a godling. Raya at first
thought that Yoji might be attracted to her (a horrifying thought)
and was trying to impress her with his accomplishments, but the
more she listened to Yoji's endless bragging, the more she realized
that he just liked to talk about himself and how awesome he was. He
barely complimented her on her beauty or said anything else to even
hint that he might find her attractive.

Thus, Raya felt safe in ignoring most of
his bragging, especially when it became clear that Yoji didn't even
notice that she wasn't listening. She had a feeling that she could
walk away for a few hours and then come back to find Yoji still
bragging about his accomplishments to empty air.

As as result, Raya had plenty of time to
think about the Tournament. She still didn't want to be here
anymore, now that she was no longer in the running for the position
of Goddess of Martir, but during the night she had come to a change
of heart. She had originally planned to intentionally throw this
first challenge so she could go back to Carnag, but when she awoke
this morning, it was like her subconscious had devised a
counterargument to that idea that had convinced her to give it her
all.

Think about it, Raya,
she had told
herself earlier.
Maybe you won't become the Goddess of Martir,
even though you obviously deserve that position more than anyone
else—especially more than Braim Kotogs—but if you give up now, then
you won't ever become a goddess at all. If you try to win the
Hollech Bracket, then you have an opportunity to rise higher still.
You never know. Maybe down the line you will get an opportunity to
become the Goddess of Martir.

Of course, Raya didn't know for sure if
she would ever get an opportunity to become the Goddess of Martir.
But she figured that it was the gods themselves who had a higher
chance of ascending to that position than anyone else. So—while she
still found the position of Goddess of Deception, Thieves, and
Horses to be horribly unfit for royalty such as herself—she decided
that she would 'work her way up,' as some of her lower class
servants put it, even if it took her a long time.