Joule bit his lip hard, pain filling his face.
The stage two stopped in front of Raider.
The weapon Raider held glowed blue as he pointed it at the other. “I guess we’re doing this.”
“Dad! Daddy!” Elena continued to hit the shield, not stopping until Ziva grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
Kira’s niece was crying as Ziva tugged her toward Joule, positioning her behind Joule before turning to put her back to the two and facing the initiates in a mirror of the same position Elena had taken earlier.
Ziva lifted the dagger she’d picked up from somewhere, her gaze steady as she stared at the rest of the initiates with a vigilant expression.
“Go,” Kira ordered.
Raider attacked. Alexander and Finn shot forward at the same time.
Kira hung back, waiting for her moment. Her calculations said they’d only get one chance at this.
The stage two lifted a negligent hand, blocking Raider’s attack with no effort.
“Pathetic,” the stage two sneered.
Raider grinned. “Checkmate.”
The weapon hummed as Raider let go, jumping backward at the same time. The weapon exploded, a boom rocking the arena.
The stage two examined the torn flesh of his hand with a dispassionate gaze before shifting his attention to Raider. “Is that all?”
Raider’s eyes widened, his body already moving as the stage two flicked his hand.
A whip of ki arced in his direction, white-hot plasma that would cut Raider in half if it touched him.
Alexander was there in the next moment, grabbing the stage two’s head and slamming him face first into the ground.
Finn swung his sword a second later aiming at one of the stage two’s arms.
Before he could complete the swing, the stage two exploded upward. All three men were forced to dodge as whips of ki shot outward.
Finn, Alexander, and Raider engaged as Kira slowly walked forward, the akieri at her side.
She stopped a short distance away, holding the akieri in front of her as she concentrated on the feel of ki.
Not just what lay in her or this sword, but in everything around her.
Coursing under her feet. Flowing in the air of the arena. Existing in every molecule on this plane.
All of it.
And when she felt she had a handle on it, she pulled it toward her. Slowly at first and then with growing speed until it whirled in a funnel around her body, lifting her hair from her shoulders as she fought to keep her blade steady.
All the while, she waited for her moment. A tiny window where the stage two was vulnerable.
But as time passed, Kira started to fear that moment wouldn’t come.
The three were losing ground. One of Raider’s arms was broken, and Finn’s right leg was struggling to support his weight.
Alexander was marginally better but his torso was covered in blood and his berserker fading with every second that passed.
Her grip on the blade tightened, her front foot digging into the sand as she started to push off.
