Chapter Fifteen
On the twenty viewer bubbles that showed the field of the Stadium, Carmaz saw all of the Hollech Bracket challengers emerge from doors with a stylized horse-man on them. The bubbles displayed the competitors as clearly as if they were right there in front of him, even though they were probably several hundred feet below the box.
It didn't take long for Carmaz to spot Raya. She stepped out of the door, looking around somewhat uncertainly at her surroundings. She then went rigid when she spotted something off-screen, causing the bubble to blink and then show what looked like the biggest horse that Carmaz had ever seen in his life standing at the other end of the small enclosure in which Raya stood.
The horse was not merely big, but it also had a red mane that looked like flame and had sharp, angry-looking eyes that made even Carmaz feel unsafe around it, despite being nowhere near it. The horse—one of Hollech's Steeds—pawed the ground and sniffed the air, but it wasn't that it had not noticed Raya. Rather, Carmaz was under the impression that the horse simply did not think Raya worth its attention at the moment.
Wonder how she's dealing with that, Carmaz thought, trying not to smirk.
As if in answer to his thoughts, Raya seemed to have come to the same conclusion as him about the Steed's nature. As Carmaz predicted, she looked rather offended, but she still didn't approach it. She seemed deathly afraid of the horse, though whether it was because of its large size and its unfriendly appearance or because she was actually afraid of horses, he didn't know.
If she doesn't get over her paralysis soon, she'll end up losing before anyone else, Carmaz thought.
Then he noticed Yoji, whose bubble was directly above Raya's. Yoji had confidently approached his Steed, which had a silver mane and metallic eyes. He seemed to be having slightly more luck with his Steed than Raya was having with hers, although the Steed kept prancing just outside of his reach, eying him with distrust.
The rest of the participants weren't having much better luck, from what Carmaz could tell. The Steeds seemed to distrust the participants greatly, which was somewhat amusing to watch at first, but then it became boring after a while and Carmaz started to worry that this challenge would take all day.
Just as he thought that, however, he heard a clanging bell that caused him to look to the front of the seats. Alira was holding a bell in her hands and pointing at one of the bubbles, saying, “We have our first winner, Yoji Nama! He has successfully tamed Beluchi the Third Steed!”
Skeptical, Carmaz looked at Yoji's bubble and saw that Alira was correct. The Steed—Beluchi—was standing still by Yoji, who was stroking its mane and saying something to it in a low voice. He was even feeding it some kind of treats, though they were too small for Carmaz to see even on the viewer bubble.
“Yoji will move onto the Hollech Bracket Challenge,” said Alira, who sounded very excited about it. “His opponent will be shipped back to his home island after the rest of the participants have finished taming their Steeds.”
Yoji's bubble then vanished, as did the bubble to its right, which had featured Yoji's rival, although Carmaz didn't remember who that was. He just sat there, stunned at how quickly Yoji had won, while most of the other godlings began muttering among themselves, most of them marveling at how quickly Yoji managed to tame his Steed.
“Damn,” said Braim, who sounded genuinely impressed. “That kid really knows his stuff, huh?”
“That he does,” said Tashir, nodding. “I suppose all of his early bragging wasn't just empty air. He's a force to be reckoned with, all right. I'm just glad that I am not going in the Hollech Bracket. I don't think I'd stand a chance against him in a straight competition.”
“Think Raya will win?” said Saia, who was leaning forward in his seat, his eyes locked on Raya's bubble. “Because she seems to be having a lot of trouble with her Steed.”
“I guess it's possible,” said Carmaz with a shrug. “But truthfully, I don't see her winning. I think she'll probably lose. And if she does win, then it will be by some kind of divine miracle.”
“Can't say I'm enthusiastic about her chances of success, either,” said Braim. “Not that she's not trying, but she clearly doesn't know the first thing about horses at all.”
“She needs the luck of Goda if she is going to win,” said Tashir flatly. “But to be fair, the others are also having trouble their Steeds. I doubt that she's the only one who doesn't know much about horses. Although if she can't get over her apparent fear of horses, then it seems to me that she is destined to fail.”
As usual, there was a lot of truth in Tashir's words. Raya did manage to take one step toward the Steed, but she didn't move any further than that. She looked more like she wanted to be anywhere else but here, even though she had nowhere to run to.
I wonder if she's going to throw the match so she doesn't have to compete, Carmaz thought. She wasn't very happy about being put in the Hollech Bracket, after all. It might be less that she is afraid and more that she just doesn't want to compete at all.
Then—quite without warning—the bubbles flickered and vanished, showing the same blank stone wall from before.
Immediately, the rest of the godlings went into an uproar, shouting and asking what was going on and why had Alira turned off the bubbles. Alira silenced them, however, by ringing her bell loudly, so loudly that it drowned out their collective shouts of anger and confusion, forcing them all to become quiet and listen to her.
“I do not know why this happened or what caused this,” said Alira in her most authoritative voice, although Braim caught a hint of fear under her authoritative tone. “I did not turn off the bubbles, but I do not know who did.”
“Can you turn them back on?” asked one of the godlings sitting in the front. “I want to see how the others are doing.”
“We will get to see them all again very shortly,” said Alira. “But please remain seated. I will have this figured out soon enough.”
The godlings did remain seated, but there was a lot of grumbling and murmuring among them, like some of them didn't believe Alira when she said that she wasn't responsible for this sudden turn of events.
Braim looked at the others sitting on either side of him and said, “What do you guys think happened?”
“I have no idea,” said Tashir. “Perhaps someone wrest control of the bubbles from Alira and forced them off?”
“But why would someone do that?” asked Saia, rubbing his hands together anxiously. “Is this some sort of dumb prank?”
“Probably not,” said Carmaz. “This seems too well-planned to be a mere prank. I think that someone is trying to disrupt the Tournament.”
Saia gulped. “You don't think that that 'someone' is the assassin from earlier, do you?”
“Maybe,” said Carmaz. “Or maybe it's a friend or ally of that assassin. Of course, it could also just as easily be something less sinister.”
“I don't know about that,” said Braim, rubbing the back of his neck. “Alira is acting like it's something bad, so I figure it has to be something really bad if it's freaking her out like this.”
Alira was facing the wall that the viewer bubbles had been in front of mere moments ago, frantically waving her arms at it like she was trying to cast a spell without really knowing how. Yet the viewer bubbles did not reappear, despite her best efforts to make them appear again.
Carmaz wished there was something he could to help, but unfortunately, he was not a mage and knew about as much about magic as a newt. He wondered if Raya and the other participants in the Hollech Bracket were still all right or if they were now at risk due to the fact that Alira couldn't see them anymore.
If I was an assassin, I'd take this opportunity to kill as many godlings as I could, Carmaz thought. They're all alone, all separated, with nothing to help them except the Steeds, which are hardly a threat when you consider how untamed they are.
While Carmaz still didn't like Raya all that much, he disliked the idea of her getting murdered eve
n more. He had to figure out a way to ensure that she and the others were all right, but he wasn't sure how. He considered leaving the box and entering the Stadium's field through the door that the Hollech Bracket godlings had, but then he doubted that Alira would let him leave.
If that assassin really is somewhere nearby, then it makes sense for us all to stay in one place where Alira can keep an eye on us, Carmaz thought. But that still leaves Raya and the others at risk. What if the assassin is killing them off one by one even as we sit here worrying?
Carmaz couldn't take it. He hated leaving innocent lives at risk like this.
He stood up and looked down at Saia. “Coming with me?”
“Where?” said Saia, who looked bewildered by Carmaz's sudden movement.
“To the Stadium field, of course,” said Carmaz. “We have to head down there to make sure that Raya and the others are all right.”
“Hold on, Carmaz,” said Braim. He grabbed Carmaz by the arm and, with surprising strength, pulled him back down into his seat. “You can't go down there. Alira told us to remain seated. She'll handle this on her own. She's the Judge. This is part of her job.”
“I know, but the fact is, while Alira tries to figure out what happened here, Raya and the others are all at risk of being killed by that assassin,” Carmaz argued, pulling his arm out of Braim's hand. “If I were an assassin trying to kill some godlings, I'd pick this opportunity to do so, when no one can see or stop me.”
“And you think you can stop the assassin on your own, after it almost killed you?” said Braim. “I'm not convinced that there's much you can do to stop it even if it's here, frankly.”
“I agree with Braim,” said Tashir. “While it is possible that this sudden turn of events is due to the actions of that assassin from yesterday, it would be wiser to stay here until Alira is able to get the viewer bubbles working again.”
Carmaz listened to Braim and Tashir, but he didn't agree with a single word that they said. He stood up again and said, “I'm going down there, whether you want me to or not.”
With that, Carmaz climbed over the back of his seat and then ran down the steps leading to the door below. Saia followed, much to Carmaz's surprise, but he was glad that he had his best friend at his side anyway.
The two of them reached the exit quickly enough, but when Carmaz laid one hand on the doorknob to grab it, he had to yank his hand back. The knob had felt like it was on fire, even though there was no visible clues to hint at its heat.
“Carmaz, Saia,” said Alira behind them, causing Carmaz and Saia to turn to see her glaring at them from behind her glasses. “Where do you two think you're going? I did not give either of you permission to leave.”
“We know, Judge, but we think that the sudden and unexplained disappearance of the viewer bubbles is the responsibility of the assassin who tried to kill us yesterday,” Carmaz said. “So we were going to go down to the Stadium floor to check on Raya and the others to confirm that the assassin isn't down there.”
Alira rolled her eyes. “What a silly excuse. Of course they are fine. I would know if they weren't.”
“But how?” said Carmaz. “If no one can see them right now, then how could you possibly know that they are fine?”
“Because I am the Judge and I know all that goes on within the Stadium,” said Alira. She pointed at their now-vacant seats next to Braim at the back row. “Now return to your seats. I am perfectly capable of figuring out this issue on my own, without your unasked for help.”
Carmaz wanted to continue arguing, but it now seemed utterly pointless, as Alira was clearly not going to let him or Saia go, no matter how persuasive their arguments might be. Still, he couldn't help but worry about Raya and the others anyway, so he wracked his brain for any possible argument he could use to convince Alira to let him and Saia go.
“I just want to help them, that's all,” said Carmaz, even though he was aware that this wasn't much of an argument at all.
“I know, Carmaz, but the fact of the matter is, you are in no position to help anyone at the moment, especially if that mysterious assassin from yesterday is here,” said Alira. “Now return to your seats or I will send you back to your apartment where you cannot view the events of the Tournament.”
Carmaz's shoulders slumped. He wished that he was a mage, because then he might have been able to use magic to get out of here, but now it was pretty clear that he would just have to wait here and hope for the best.
So Carmaz nodded, albeit grudgingly, and was about to go climbing up the stairs back to his seat when the floor subtly shook under his feet.
The tremor was so subtle that Carmaz at first thought that it might have been his imagination at work, making him feel things that weren't there. Then the floor shook again. Still not hard enough to scare him, but enough that he was now certain that it was as real as anything and that he was not imagining it.
The other godlings must have felt it as well, because they were all looking around in fear, while Alira said, “Remain calm, everyone. I do not know what may be causing these tremors, but—”
She did not get to finish her sentence, because without warning, a portal popped into existence behind Braim. Braim looked over his shoulder just in time to see two large hands appear out of nowhere, grab his shoulders, and drag him directly into the portal before anyone else could react.
A second later, the portal closed, but the tremors didn't stop. If anything, they grew even worse, making Carmaz wonder if the entire Stadium was going to fall apart on top of them.
But Carmaz had little time to think about it, because soon a loud, shrieking noise assaulted his hearing, forcing him to his knees as he fell to the floor. Saia fell as well, while the other godlings slammed their hands over their ears to protect their hearing. Alira was shouting something, but it was impossible to tell what she was shouting because of the loud shrieking that seemed to come from everywhere at once.
Then Carmaz saw a crack in the floor, one that he hadn't noticed before. And it was grower wider.
***