Zaria's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Zaria started down from the cloud stairway with the eastern hall fixed in her head. Two days of open ground stood between her and the door. No shelter. No water. She would arrive at the broken ridge with nothing left in her legs, and her rival would arrive fresh. She knew it the way she knew a lie. A walk that long would empty her before the fight even began. She found Diana Maple below, in a high-roofed hall where a vast ring of cloud stone caught the torchlight. Diana wrestled in red wool that should have cooked her. Zaria had seen her climb the ranked ladder the hard way, with no favors. She trusted that. Trust came rare for Zaria. "The eastern hall is two days off," Zaria said. "I'll walk in drained. He won't." Diana wiped her brow. "Then don't walk." "There's no other way across." "There's a way. It isn't walking." Diana nodded toward the far wall. Wu Tianlong stood there, arms crossed. Zaria had heard of her. The Empress who claimed the sport's first hold as her blood right. Diana had beaten her, then learned from her. Now they stood on the same side. Beside Wu Tianlong, an ox the size of a wagon chewed at nothing. Its coat shifted purple and green, stars scattered through the hide like coals. "The beast carries weight," Wu Tianlong said. "It crosses open ground in half a day. I do not lend it." "Then set a price," Zaria said. Wu Tianlong studied her. "You read feet. Oracle said so. Prove it." She stepped onto the cloud stone ring. "Throw me. One fall. I keep the ox if you cannot." Zaria climbed into the ring. The crowd that gathered at the rail was all Greek robes and bared teeth, shouting, spilling drink. She shut them out. She watched Wu Tianlong's feet. They locked. Wu Tianlong drove forward, heavy and sure. Zaria gave ground. The Empress leaned into the push. Her back heel lifted a hair's width before she committed her weight. There. The tell. When the heel rose again, Zaria had already moved. She dropped low, hooked the planted ankle, and pulled the loaded leg out from under. Wu Tianlong hit the cloud stone flat. The crowd roared and flung popcorn over the rail. Wu Tianlong lay still a moment. Then she stood. "You read the heel." She almost smiled. "Take the ox." Zaria set her hand on the beast's warm flank. Half a day now, not two. She would reach the ridge with her legs under her. "One thing," Wu Tianlong said. "The ox is known. Your rival will see it cross. He will know exactly which door you ride for." Zaria swung up onto the broad back. She had traded a slow, empty arrival for a fast one that announced itself. The race was on, and now he knew the finish line.