Page 25 of Xeda

"I mean calm, Xeda."

He breathed in, then huffed. "I'm calm. Are we doing this or not?"

Please, please don't lose control or they will kill you, she prayed silently. She could already see the guards’ fingers were itching on the trigger. "Okay." She backed up and, trying to calm her own nerves, she pressed a button on the remote, unlatching the chains from Xeda's shackles.

She heard the gates being closed on each side of the yard, shutting them in. The only way Xeda was getting out was if he climbed. But the guards were sure to shoot him if he so much as tried. She heard Ivan curse as Xeda marched himself out of his cell and into the daylight.

He was towering. She had noticed that before, but the chains always seemed to weigh him down, making him crouch, or he was forced to bow his head in case his horns hit the ceiling. Now that he was free of the room, he stood tall, his head tilted toward the sky.

She let him take in his surroundings, let him stretch out and appreciate the sun and the heat. When he seemed satisfied enough, he turned to the course.

"This is seriously it?" he said, looking unimpressed.

"Not exactly." Ophilia took up the hand controls and pressed on the center. The cubes lit up and began to move. Some hovered, some moved from side to side or up and down. Some had spikes and blades that appeared and shot out from several ends. And others let out small currents of electricity.

"I can change the course to make the obstacles move in whatever way I like, even while you’re inside. And I can up the level of difficulty. Think you can handle it now?"

He scoffed as he watched the cubes move. "I'm not worried. Though I'm not exactly at my peak without my tail and claws. If I were to have those..."

Ophilia shook her head. "No can do, big guy, sorry. Sal’s orders. You get those back when you prove yourself in the house trials.”

“The what?”

“To prove you’re ready for the games.”

He grunted, as if understanding or just indifferent to the idea. He stepped over to one edge and studied the moving cubes. She could see he was considering his way through the course. After a few minutes, he crouched down, then without hesitation, he launched himself forward.

Even at a disadvantage, Xeda moved with a prowess and strength she had yet to see. Even Tajia would have had trouble keeping up. A little bit of weight lifted from her as she watched him dodge blades and electric currents and use the floating cubes to his advantage to hop over walls. She knew he had to be skilled in some way, and she was happy to see her theory was true. The only critique she had was that he didn't take his time, and she worried he was only getting lucky as the cubes missed him more so than he was actually able to wager when to move. He wasn't thinking it through just using instinct. Which could be his advantage or his downfall.

To test this, Ophilia had him run the course again only this time she set the cubes to move randomly without a set pattern, letting them change at a whim so long as they didn't collide into each other. Like a large flock of birds, the floating cubes swayed and flowed in every direction. Blades sprang out at random, and like a storm, electricity shot through the air from one place to the next.

Xeda took a little longer to assess the course before he launched back in. He was slower this time, trying to find a flow in the chaos. He was able to dodge some of the hits but not all. A few times, he was forced to smash or kick a cube out of his way. He kept low to the ground when he could, even if it didn't keep him from getting zapped. Still, he made it out better than she expected. The third time she had him go, he lost his patience and leaped onto one cube, then using all his power, jumped over half the course, only just barely landing on one cube to jump high again before dropping to the other side. She had to give him credit for finding an easier route, but if he hadn't made that first landing, he would have dropped right in the middle and been in a bad position.

After a few turns through the course, she learned enough of Xeda's style. He was a daredevil. A risk taker. He didn't think so much as act. Taking risks was good, expected even. But sometimes so was playing it safe, taking the time to strategize. And one wasn't always lucky.

She tried to explain this to him after taking a break, but he refused to see her side.

"My instincts are what help me survive. So, I use them. Playing it safe is a fool's way of fighting. One must act first and act quickly. Not hide and cower, lying in wait."

She couldn't argue that, but she still felt he needed to slow down when it mattered. To observe and learn so he could have more than one strategy. The course was easy when it was the only thing a fighter had to focus on. But he would have several dozen other fighters to worry about too in the games.

When she mentioned this to him, she thought he considered her words, but instead, he said, "Tell me who I'm fighting then."

She got quiet, preparing for his response. "In truth, it changes every year. You can probably guess why."

He dipped his head. "Because many die and must be replaced."

She nodded. "You'll go against every kind of otherkin. A lot of corax and grex usually. Lygin too. But the bigger players every year are usually nillium, and fyrien if someone is lucky to find one. And they are skilled killers. I'm willing to bet Tazyn of house Zanis will be fighting again. He won two games back to back a few years ago. And again just last year. The only reason he didn't win others is because he didn't compete the other times. That's usually the case for the other fighters."

Xeda gave her a confused look at first but then seemed to understand. "So, there are those who play for fun then too?"

"Basically," she confirmed. "They're citizens who enjoy the fight. Enjoy killing too. So they volunteer. They won their freedom long ago but choose to continue to participate. To put the slaves down. It's awful, but the houses don't stop it. They're champions, so they are extremely popular."

Xeda tilted his head in a shrug. "I suppose I can't blame them. For enjoying the fight I mean."

"I can see why you feel that way."

He looked down at her, his mismatched eyes sharp and bright. "We fought on my home world too in our own sort of games. Just not like this."

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