in Castles?"
Graydon lifted an eyebrow. "Why can't we do both?"
Kira hesitated, feeling torn.
It had been a long time since she’d played.
Calling her competitive was kind. She’d never been good at turning the other cheek and Graydon was one of those rare individuals who could give her a real challenge.
The unmistakable provocation in his expression made resisting even more difficult.
“Unless you're afraid,” Graydon taunted.
He was just asking to have the arrogance wiped off his face. Kira had time in her schedule.
Kira was careful not to let herself appear too eager. "Fine. One match."
Solal and Amila exchanged a look as if they knew something Kira didn't. Finn, on the other hand, seemed worried as Kira and Graydon stepped onto the stage.
"Do you have a preference?" Graydon asked, raising his hand.
The act triggered the menu screen. Several Haldeel icons in the midst of various actions appeared in front of him.
"This was your idea. Your choice."
It made no difference to Kira. She'd played most of them at one point or another.
He gave her a considering look before selecting the icon of a crouched Haldeel, sword held defensively across their body. "Let's try a practice round first."
Kira shrugged to show she didn't care. Practice or not, it was the same to her.
The stratagem Graydon chose was called Barrage. It was a bastardized, simpler version of Castles. Whereas in Castles, you had to take over enemy territory while dealing with the obstacles the puzzle master embedded in the game, with Barrage you only had to defend.
There were two ways to earn points. For every laser beam you destroyed cleanly, you got two points. If you only managed to deflect or damage it, you got a point.
The crux, however, came when you dodged.
A rebounded laser picked up points every time it hit the wall. If it hit the wall once and was destroyed, it brought the gamer four points. Two times and it was six points.
The only catch was every time it hit, it also picked up speed and would change direction, making it a potentially dangerous wild card—especially in the latter half of the game when the number of lasers increased.
Because the game would end when one opponent was struck, most chose to cleanly destroy the lasers so as not to risk ending the game early.
While it was more straight forward than Castles, it wasn't without its dangers.
A transparent blade stretched from Kira's hand, sending a tingle through her palm.
Reflexively, Kira squeezed the hilt, feeling like she was holding an actual sword. As always, she couldn't help but be impressed by the level of sensory feedback. If the sword hadn't been nearly translucent, she would have believed it real.
Thousands of small shapes unfolded from the stage, rising into the air. No bigger than the tip of a pen, they arranged themselves in two fifteen by fifteen squares around Kira and Graydon.
The mini drones shimmered, their colors changing until a box formed around them, their appearance giving the illusion of falling water.
Graydon smirked at Kira through the nearly transparent wall separating them. "Are you ready?"
In answer, Kira fell into a stance similar to the Haldeel's stance of beginning. Her right leg slid forward, the knee bent as she brought her sword diagonal across her body, the tip pointed to the ground with her elbow to the sky.
In his square, Graydon widened his stance, his sword held at his side.
Color bloomed in the water. Beams shot toward them, all three from the front.
Kira dealt with them in three clean moves, Graydon doing the same on his side.
Finished, Graydon took the time to study Kira. "Well, well. Someone is a little more familiar with this game than they led me to believe."
Kira lifted a shoulder. "I never said I was a novice."
It wasn't her fault if that was how he chose to take her words.
Graydon's eyes held a feral gleam that said he was looking forward to this. "This is going to be fun."
Kira hoped so.
Before she could say anything, she caught movement in the audience that had begun to gather along the edge of their stage.
The Tuann who’d taunted Elena earlier stood out from the crowd, the skin around one eye discolored and red with the faintest swelling. He also had a split lip. Other than that, he looked remarkably unharmed after the beating Raider had given him.
Kira supposed there were some perks to being Tuann. Fast healing among them.
He sneered when he spotted Kira.
Walk away; pretend you didn't see me, she told him silently.
He'd already come up