“You’re not going to lose me.” I shook my head and leaned back in my chair. “I’m fine. Really. A couple of good night’s rest, and I’ll be back to normal. Hauling me off to South America for treatment will cost us the Gauntlet. I don’t know about you, but nothing I’ve heard about the dragons convinces me they’ll be our friends when they have control of the Grand Design back in their claws. The Yzlanti team is already down a member. We’re the best chance humanity has of winning this thing. And you need me to do that.”
My friends didn’t look pleased by my logic. It was true, though. If I dropped out of the competition to seek treatment, they’d never be able to replace me. And, despite how I’d hurt myself, it was my ability that had turned the tide in the first challenge. I needed to stay in this thing to get my core healed, and everyone else needed me to stick it out because there was no one else who could lead the human teams to victory.
“We have to do something,” Clem said. “If you won’t look for outside help, then we have to figure out another way to protect your core.”
“Hahen is working on something,” I said. “He and I are looking at any possible cure for what’s happening to me. And I’ll be careful in the next challenge. I promise.”
“You’d better be.” Clem threw a halfhearted punch into my shoulder. “I mean it.”
A loud chime sounded in the room before I could respond, and a small box appeared on the table in front of me.
“Congratulations, team.” Elushinithoc’s explosive announcement made all of us wince. “The School of Swords and Serpents finished in third place in the challenge with a score of two points and a time of twelve minutes and thirty-five seconds. The Indomitable Dragons of Light finished in first place with three points and a time of seven minutes and twenty-two seconds. The Yzlanti Empire finished in second place, with three points at the time of nine minutes and forty-three seconds.
“The Battle Hall of Atlantis, Bright Lodge of Frostmir, and Dojo of Opal Radiance finished in fourth, fifth, and sixth place, with one point each. This concludes the first challenge of the Empyrean Gauntlet.”
“Oh, prizes,” Eric said. “Open the box while I order food. Anyone else want pizza?”
“Pizza sounds awesome. Pepperoni, bacon, sausage, and any other meat that’s on the menu.” I examined the box for obvious traps and found none. The red lacquered sides were inlaid with a complex set of scrivenings that I instinctively knew represented the Grand Design, or at least a little slice of it. Before I could touch it, the box’s black lid slid open of its own accord, and a rich golden glow poured out.
“What’s in the box?” Clem stood up to peer inside the small container.
“Probably a consolation prize for coming in third,” Hagar said, chuckling.
“Let’s see what we’ve got.” I fished an ovoid stone from the box. “I have no idea what this is supposed to be.”
“May I?” Clem took the stone from my hand and turned it over and over to examine it more closely. “Oh, I see!”
Clem pressed her finger against one end of the object and channeled a thread of jinsei into it. Lines of light crawled over the stone’s surface, unveiling its true shape. The ovoid stone became a quite detailed eyeball, complete with veins and capillaries carved into its surface.
“Put it back in the box,” Hagar said sharply. “Could be sent to spy on us.”
“I don’t think so.” Clem shrugged. “There are no other scrivenings. Check it yourself.”
She tossed the eyeball to Hagar, who caught it gingerly as if afraid it might break.
Or bite her.
My clanmate examined the object closely, then nodded.
“Clem’s right. It’s just a rock, now.” She turned it over idly. “I’ve got no idea what to do with this thing.”
“Can I look?” Abi asked. Hagar tossed it across the table, and he caught it and studied it intently.
“Did you notice the pupil?” Clem asked. “It’s slit. Like a snake’s.”
“Or a dragon’s,” Abi said.
“There is a dragon statue in the courtyard,” Eric mused. “Pizza’s on its way. I got a meatsplosion and a vegetaripocalypse. A coffee for you, Hagar.”
“Thank you very much,” she said. “That statue isn’t missing an eye, though.”
“And this one seems kind of small for the dragon, anyway,” I added.
“We’ll figure it out,” Hagar said. “What’s still glowing in that box?”
The bottom of the box held a small jewelry stand. I lifted it out by the simple silver handle that rose from its center. The handle was surrounded by five slots, and a ring rested in each of them. The auras surrounding the golden bands were studded with armor aspects.
“Looks like a ring for each of us.” I lifted one band from its slot, then set the tray down on the table so the others could choose their own rings. “Some kind of protection thing.”
The rings were a much more lavish reward than I’d expected for third place. They were forged from actual gold, which would’ve made them valuable even without the powerful armor aspects embedded in their auras. I slipped mine over my right ring finger and a powerful sensation rippled through my aura. The ring had imbued my aura with its armor aspects.
Interesting.
“These must be for the next challenge.” Clem admired the ring she’d slipped onto her finger. “We just did swords, so that leaves auras and cores.”
“It’ll be nice to have an edge.” A sharp twinge from my core forced a wince out of me.
Clem and Hagar both looked at me with real concern, and I braced for another argument over whether to seek help for my wounded core.
Fortunately, the pizza arrived and our hunger distracted us. For the next
