They needed a happy medium. One where the number was on the lower side but not so low the members of their party couldn’t pass through.
Selene, Alexander, and Kira would probably be fine targeting any of the circles.
The real question lay with Devon, Joule, and Raider.
Without having tested any of the circles herself, she couldn’t determine how difficult they would be to breach.
It left Kira having to guess. Kira hated guessing.
She wanted certainty. A sure bet.
Unfortunately, as with most things in life, such things were nothing but a dream.
Instead, she was forced to rely on instinct and experience. All while knowing that she had moments before dozens of drones locked onto her position and lit her world on fire.
“If you have any advice, I’m all ears,” Kira said.
“Give me a moment,” Jin responded, sounding harried.
“Take your time.” Kira looked up as the shadows above their head stirred. “It’s not like we’re in an exposed position or anything.”
Spots of blue shown in the dark against the starry night sky that she now realized was an illusion rather than the actual sky.
Several drones dropped from where they’d been clinging to their perches.
“Crap,” Kira breathed as the drones rotated to face her, the lights that lit up their insect-like shapes reminding her of eyes.
“I don’t have it,” Jin blurted. “I tried but I can’t find a pattern.”
Kira felt herself calm, her mind emptying of extraneous concerns as she focused on figuring out their current problem. It was a skill cultivated through countless experiences on the battlefield where panic would result in loss of life.
The more chaotic the situation, the calmer and more focused she needed to be. It was the only way she’d survive.
Graydon and Torvald wouldn’t have left the adva ka up to chance. The very thought went against the purpose of a rite of passage in the first place.
While luck could also be considered a skill, it was one that couldn’t be controlled.
They’d want Tuann who possessed both talent and luck—which meant there was a solution to this riddle.
Kira let her thoughts wander, not worrying about the dozen or so drones bearing down on her position.
“You have forty seconds before the first wave of drones reach you,” Jin pointed out, sounding nervous.
Plenty of time.
The world grew distant as Kira sank into an almost meditative state as her mind puzzled through the problem.
The quiet stillness allowed her to pick up on something she’d missed before.
A niggle on the edge of her senses. Easy to miss with all the external stimuli.
Threads of ki radiated from the timer, waving through the air as if searching for something to connect to.
Kira mapped them in her mind’s eye, noting their destination and the thread already connected to the currently open circle.
As she investigated, one of those tethers attached to a circle on the other end of the arena.
Ki pumped through it, strengthening the line as the other attached thread started to weaken.
