“That’s… that’s better,” Lianshi said. “I didn’t know she could do that.”
“Neither did Jova,” said Leonis, and Scorio saw it was true. The woman had faltered, only to resume running a second before Ravenna flicked her fingers and sent the huge rock flying at Jova.
Like the others, it started flying slowly and picked up speed as it went, but Jova was now close enough that it couldn’t quite build up that lethal velocity the other rocks had enjoyed. But it didn’t need to. It hit Jova like a landslide, lifting her off her feet and blasting her back. Jova flew a good fifteen feet before hitting the ground bonelessly. She pushed herself upright, shook her head as if cleaning it, then turned to glare at Ravenna, eyes narrowing.
“She’s not trying to kill her,” breathed Lianshi as Ravenna tore another huge boulder out of the ground. “She’s going to knock her right out of the ring.”
Jova had realized the same. Problem was, being that far from Ravenna allowed her boulders to pick up ever more speed, negating any benefit that being at a distance might give her.
Jova climbed to her feet, hesitated, and then leaped to the side as Ravenna launched her boulder.
It clipped Jova and sent her spinning backward. She hit the stone ground hard enough to bounce and immediately rose to her feet, furious, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, but otherwise not visibly wounded any further.
“Impossible,” said Scorio. “How can she simply stop taking damage?”
“She doesn’t,” said Lianshi. “Don’t fool yourself. It just takes ever more to hurt her.”
“Same thing,” said Scorio.
“It really isn’t. Especially at higher levels of power. A Dread Blaze could crush her.”
But they both went quiet as Ravenna hurled a third boulder at Jova, then a fourth. Each was going so quickly by the time it reached Jova that she couldn’t dodge in time; twice more she was hurled back, the last one bringing her right to the edge of the arena.
“By the ten hells,” said Leonis. “Accardi’s going to do it.”
The effort was taking a toll on her; just like Massamach, Scorio saw, drawing on her power took ever more physical effort. Her jaw-length black hair was now in disarray, her eyes wide and staring, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly as she gasped for breath. But Scorio could see a gleam in her eyes, a predatory hunger.
Ravenna could obviously taste just how close she was to doing the impossible.
Jova rose to her feet and stood, inches from the arena’s edge. At that distance, the boulder would hit her like a bolt of lightning. Run! Scorio shouted silently at her. Juke left and right! Close the distance!
Instead, Jova took a deep and measured breath, then sat down.
“What is she doing?” Leonis sounded outraged. “That’s not how you dodge boulders!”
Ravenna clawed at the air, and a huge chunk of rock, raw and sharply edged tore itself free of the ground. Easily six or seven feet wide, it was the largest she’d drawn thus far, and the effort caused blood to burst from one nostril.
A deep breath, and then she hurled it at where Jova sat cross-legged.
Heart in his throat, Scorio stared. The rock would pulverize Jova, send her flying into oblivion. The fight was over. She wasn’t even trying to dodge. Had she conceded? Acknowledged the inevitable?
The rock took off slowly, picked up speed, raced across the center of the circle, then blurred as it closed on Jova.
Scorio blinked and thought he’d missed it. “What happened?” The huge boulder had sailed through the spot in which Jova had sat, out into the darkness beyond, which had consumed it utterly.
Of Jova there was no sign.
“Where did she go?” He searched the darkness beyond the circle. Nothing. Ravenna was staring, wide-eyed, so winded she could barely stand.
“She disappeared,” said Lianshi, tone awed. “The rock went right through her.”
“Can she do that?” Leonis sounded outraged. “She can’t do that. Can she do that?”
Scorio waited. All it would take was for Helminth to call the fight for Ravenna, but the instructor stayed silent.
Ravenna, for her part, fought to catch her breath. Wiping the blood from her upper lip, she began to draw back, looking all around her as if expecting to be attacked at any moment.
“Somebody please explain what just happened,” said Leonis, tone plaintive. “Someone? Anyone?”
“No,” said Lianshi, but not to Leonis. More to the world at large, a single expression of disbelief.
“What?” asked Scorio. He kept searching, kept failing to find Jova. “What is it, Lianshi?”
“I… it can’t be. Just… wait. If I’m right…”
Scorio blinked, relinquished the magnified view, and turned to observe the other fights. Had Jova somehow leaped into another circle?
Half the fights were over, and over the course of the next few minutes, they all ended, one by one. Victors raised their fists as Helminth made her announcements, until at last, only Ravenna remained, wary, uncertain, growing ever more furious as she continued to stab looks in every direction.
“What is going on?” muttered Leonis.
Around them, the crowd was stirring, restive. Scorio focused on Ravenna again, saw the frustration breaking through her otherwise impenetrable mask.
And then her expression changed. Her eyes widened, her jaw went slack, and she took a step back.
Scorio blinked, pulled his vision back out so that he wasn’t solely focused on her face, and saw that Jova had appeared.
She stood in the same spot as before, head bowed, hands clenched into fists by her side. Though her clothing was torn, her wounds had disappeared altogether.
“What the…?” whispered Scorio, then heard a collective gasp torn from the lips of nearly a thousand onlookers as Ravenna let out an animal-like cry of panic or fear and tore a rock from the ground.
Spellbound, Scorio could only watch as Ravenna gestured and sent the rock flying—but it flew wide of where Jova stood, missed her by a yard at least.
As if awoken by this attack, Jova raised her head and began marching toward her opponent.
Who continued to back toward the far end of the sparring circle, her brow suddenly beaded with sweat, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly. Again she tore a rock free from the ground, and again she hurled it at Jova.
And again she missed, the rock flying a good three feet over Jova’s head.
“Is she… has Jova taken over her powers?” asked Leonis.
“Can’t be,” said Lianshi, though she sounded anything but certain. “I’ve never heard of anyone being able to do that.”
Jova marched straight toward Ravenna, who labored to throw ever more rocks at her. Most missed; one or two flew right at her and simply bounced off an invisible force, not even causing Jova to stumble.
Ravenna was now right against the edge of the circle. She looked desperate, her mouth hanging open, her back hunched. She glanced to her left and right, as if seeking an escape, and then let out a scream and tore a huge chunk of rock free, five or six feet wide, and with a second cry hurled it at Jova.
And missed.
“What is going on?” asked Leonis again. “Why’s she acting terrified?”
Lianshi’s scorn was evident. “Wouldn’t you be if you were fighting a Tomb Spark?”
Tomb Spark.
“No,” said Scorio, the word escaping his lips before he could control himself. “That can’t be.”
Ravenna let out an anguished cry and threw a smaller rock, this one the size of her fist. It was a wild hurl, but more by luck it seemed to fly right at Jova; it detonated a foot from her as if it had been thrown right at a stone wall.