On the Verge (A Charmed Life Book 1) (27 page)

Jacob shrugged again, and Tracy let it ride.  They had to focus on the fight now, anyway, as they split up to each go into their separate locker rooms.

“Hey there!” drawled Tyra's voice as Tracy walked into the locker room.

Tracy smiled happily, her face brightening.  “Tyra!” she exclaimed.  “I wondered why you weren't out there!”

Tyra grinned and grabbed Tracy for a strong embrace.  “Just wanted t'give you some last minute tips.  Nick tends t'be a bit wordy.” She grinned and giggled.  “Ah mean, Slate.”

With a shy laugh, Tracy shook her head.  “I'm never gonna live that down, am I?”

“He's already havin' folks call him that who don't even know where it started,” Tyra replied with a big grin.  “He thinks it sounds pretty bad-ass.”  Tracy hid her own grin behind her hand.

Tracy had been warring with herself back and forth as to whether to wear her Aikido outfit or just jeans and a t-shirt in today's fight.  Finally, she decided that the mental boost it would give her - wearing the right clothes for what she was doing - was too important.  Some folks might think she was showing off, but she didn't care about them, she just cared about getting through today.  “So what do you have for me?” she asked Tyra as she set down her sports bag and started to change.

Tyra sat back, her eyes flicking with interest to the clothes Tracy was putting on.  “Basically, darlin', just wanted to assure you Anthony ain't no thing.  Metal likes to think it's all big and bad, like it's better than earth, but it's just tougher.  We're stronger.  It cancels out, and it just comes down to who hits harder without stones.  Anthony ain't smart, he's just tough, an' he relies a lot on his wolf.  Whatcha wanna watch out for is Pax.  He's sneaky.”

Tracy nodded.  “That sums it up in a nutshell,” she agreed, cinching her new black belt around her waist.  A thrill went through her as she did so, a confidence.  She passed her black belt test.  She wasn't Kyu Tracy anymore.  She was Dan Tracy.  She took in a deep breath, and as she exhaled fiercely, she pictured all her worries and fear rushing out along with the breath.

“That all real?” Tyra asked, gesturing to Tracy and her clothes.

With a nod, Tracy grinned at her.  “Right down to the black belt,” she replied.  “Thanks for the help.” Tyra gave her another hug and a wish of luck, then Tracy was by herself again, walking out the far side of the locker room and down the empty hall to the arena proper.

The arena seemed a lot larger down here than it did up there.  Tracy's eyes roved upwards, looking over the windows she couldn't see through from this side, the small cameras everywhere, the giant monitors facing four directions in the center of the ceiling.  Her eyes came downwards to the various geometric shapes scattered around.  She felt like she was stepping into a really fancy light-tag arena.

Jacob was already there, waiting for her.  He was wearing his jeans and a leather jacket, as usual, but his normal sloppy shirt had been replaced by something that looked rather like a SWAT vest, and he was wearing a helmet that wrapped snugly around his head but left his field of view unencumbered save for a clear visor.

“Where'd you get that?” she asked in surprise, tapping the hard, armored chest of the vest.

He looked a little surprised, himself.  “Lord Brin,” he said, a bit of hesitant confusion in his voice.  “It's really light.  Not as bulky or clumsy as it looks.”

Tracy considered a little bit…  “I think,” she said, softly, then paused.  At Jacob's curious expression, she continued, “I think he wants someone to like him.  Not just kiss up to him, not fear him, but like him.”

Jacob let out a soft snort, but looked thoughtful as well.

“Now what?” asked Tracy, standing there nervously.

“Now,” replied Jacob, “Now we wait for the signal to start.  Just stay in the starting zone.”

Tracy looked down.  They were standing inside a chalked-out half-circle in the dirt, so she nodded and sat down cross-legged, resting her hands on her knees.  She knew if she thought too much, or went over the plan too much, she'd go nuts second-guessing herself.  Instead, she went through the exercises to clear her mind and empty it of thought.  She sat there with her eyes closed, focusing on her breathing - slowly in through the nose, slowly out through the mouth.

She wasn't sure how long she waited, but it seemed quite a while before the speakers crackled to life.  “This is a challenge match,” said a voice that might have been Lord Brin's, “The challenger is Lord Pax, with Anthony as his second.  The challenged is Jacob and Tracy.” The speaker went through the conditions of the match, each of their names and what elements they were using as she got to her feet and brushed at the seat of her pants to get rid of the dust and dirt.  She wondered why they didn't use last names.  Heck, 'Pax' probably wasn't even his real first name.

“All combatants are in the arena.  Let no one interfere in the fight.  Begin.”

Jacob grabbed Tracy's hand and sprinted into the maze of geometric shapes, hiding the two of them behind one large block.  Tracy smiled to him, then murmured, “I'm sorry.  We'll need to move again soon, I'm about to do something that might give our location.” Jacob looked a little confused, but nodded.

Tracy cupped her fingers to her mouth and called up some air, the charm disappearing from her bracelet as she used it.  Her breath misted through her fingers as she shaped the air into something similar to Hans' whisperwind.  “Anthony,” she said calmly into her cupped hands, her voice echoing across the entire arena.  “I know you feel your metal body is a strength, that your inability to feel pain is a strength, but against me it is a weakness.  For your own sake, if I get you in a hold, please surrender the fight.  Against me, the pain protects you from serious injury.”

Then she dropped her hands and grabbed Jacob's hand.  They both sprinted across a clear space before diving into cover somewhere else.  They waited a few moments, watching the sky.  Then Tracy grinned to Jacob.  “No fireballs.”

Jacob sighed.  “Why'd you do that?” he asked, but before Tracy could respond, Anthony's voice was sounding across the arena in the same way.  He must still be with Lord Pax, to be able to use Pax's fire/air charm that way.

“Tracy,” said Anthony's voice, “Your warning is noted, but needless.  I don't know what Nicholas told you, but you're outmatched.  For your own safety, I'd suggest you give up now.”

Tracy frowned and fought down the surge of annoyance at that.  A week ago, someone threatening her might have made her feel scared, nervous, and uncertain.  But between Jacob and Tyra's training and Grandmaster Lee's help and advice, now she couldn't help but feel just a little insulted.  She'd tried to give him advice, and he'd turned it into trash-talking.

“I had to warn him,” she told Jacob, answering his question.  “Now whatever happens to him is on his own head.”  He shrugged, obviously not agreeing, but knowing there was nothing he could do now.  “All right, Jacob,” Tracy said firmly, attending to the business at hand.  “Where are they?”

Jacob pulled the mind charm from the base of his knife where it hung from its chain, lifting it to his forehead and closing his eyes.  “They split up,” he said, his voice a bit distant.  “Anthony's over there,” he said, pointing one direction, then slightly altered the angle.  “Pax is over there.”

“Splitting up?” Tracy asked.  “Why?”

“So we can't sneak up on them and jump them at the same time.  Far enough that they can't get caught in the same trick or trap, close enough that they can watch each other's backs.” Jacob's head jerked up.  “Move!” he cried.

Tracy didn't hesitate, leaping to the side.  She felt a warm wash of heat across her feet, nearly stumbling as the rush of flame detonated right behind her, where they'd been standing.  She kept running as two more explosions detonated behind her, barely keeping ahead of it.  It was only a thought to pull enough water out of the air to put out the burning flames crisping her pants at the ankles, noting how easily the rose marble form of her stone body had come to her when she was in danger.  She needed to thank Tyra for her training when this was all said and done.

Tracy looked towards the ceiling and saw another ball of flame arcing past the obstacles.  This was no small, focused attack like Craig's, nor the mild flames surrounding Tyra's hands during training - this one was a huge, roiling ball, ready to detonate on impact.  Two other balls arced out from another location, falling in behind the first and following it towards them.  “Keep moving!” she cried as she fit action to word, but Jacob didn't need the warning – he'd never stopped moving in the first place.

They scrambled just ahead of the explosions, Jacob slightly faster than her.  Fireball after fireball followed them, exploding on their heels.  “How are they finding us?” Tracy cried in frustration.

“Body heat!” Jacob cried as he dodged.  He was more skilled at this, and had managed to avoid getting his clothes set on fire like Tracy had.  “Pax is using the fire token to track us!  Heat-seeking fireballs!”

“And Anthony just follows it in,” Tracy affirmed.  Her pants were more like shorts by this time, ending just slightly above her knees, and she'd lost one sleeve to the elbow.  “Heat seeking, huh?” she grumbled, grabbing the weather charm from her bracelet.  She'd played with weather manipulation a little, and had proceeded well in raising a mist or dropping the temperature - changing temperature was a rather the harder of the two.  If they were providing the heat, though …

Tracy reached out mentally to the small pool at one side of the arena.  A jet of water shot up from the unseen surface to impact with the next incoming fireball, causing it to detonate in an explosion of mist.  The mist struck them like a wall of roiling humidity.  Tracy only felt slightly warmer, her charm protecting her from the worst of environmental conditions, but Jacob recoiled as if slapped.  He let out a soft groan and sagged, wiping at the hair already plastered to his forehead.  “Nice idea,” he complimented her, though the tone of voice suggested he wasn't keen on the new situation.

Tracy grinned proudly back. “Today's forecast,” she said cheerfully, “A balmy 98.6 degrees with 99% humidity.”

Jacob frowned suddenly.  “No, wait,” he said, confused.  “He's not angry - he thinks it's funny.  Look out!”

Jacob was trying to push at her, but he'd forgotten she was made of stone just now.  She grabbed him, twisted away, and guarded him with her own body while she started to run.  An intense heat swept across her back - even through the stone body, that had started to hurt, and it hadn't even been a direct hit.  She worried about her clothes - she didn't want to end up fighting naked!  And her brand new black belt!

Spinning, she saw the other fireballs incoming and pulled upon her will, directing the stream of water from the unseen pool to impact with them, too, sending the zone of sweltering humidity spreading further across the arena from the heat released.

“Lucky us,” Jacob panted.  “We get to tumble around like fools in front of a whole audience.”

Tracy blinked and her eyes brightened.  “Of course!”  She raised her hand towards the pool, focusing a little harder.  Jacob's eyes opened wide as he saw a wall of intensely thick fog rushing towards them, blanketing the entire arena.  The temperature would normally have burned off the fog in moments, but Tracy kept it in place with the strength of her weather token, giving the room an intensely warm humidity.  She could barely see Jacob from a few feet away.

“Oh good lord,” Jacob moaned, “They always say it's not the heat, it's the humidity, but I never realized…  What'd you do?” he murmured quietly.

Tracy, only felt strongly uncomfortable, not outright miserable, but maintaining the thick fog more than made up for it - the strain was fierce, and her head was already starting to throb.  She grabbed his wrist and dragged him away from where they had been standing, where several poorly aimed fireballs were blanketing the area in a raining inferno.  “Well,” she whispered, “there's supposed to be traps, right?  So why haven't any triggered?  I realized he was using the tech charm to watch us through the cameras.”

Jacob slapped his forehead.  “Of course, why didn't I think of that?” He grabbed his shadow token and gestured - as hard as it had been to see through the pea-soup thick fog, it became even harder as he laid a light shadow over the both of them.

“Because you're not an expert in divination like he is?” Tracy pointed out.  “What did you just do?”

“Took care of his third element – air,” Jacob told her.  “He won't be able to detect our breathing now.”

Tracy felt a bit confused.  “I thought you could only cloak one person at a time?” she asked.

Jacob shook his head.  “If I want to cloak from everything, then I can only do one.  From only a single element, I can cloak a small group of people.”

She smiled with appreciation.  “Why didn't you do that to counter the heat-seeking?” Tracy murmured quietly.

A laugh was her answer.  “I was!” he responded, “But then you turned up the temp, and I didn't need to anymore.”

It was hard to determine exactly where they were in the fog, but to their left was a great diffuse light that filled the fog.  “What's that?” Tracy asked in surprise.

Jacob closed his eyes, touching at the mind token hanging from the hilt of his blade.  “He's trying to burn off the fog with his fire token,” Jacob murmured, then his eyes snapped open, lit with an excited gleam.  “Which will give him a huge shadow.”