Kaji Warriors: Shifting Strength

by Kelly A Nix

  Sloan jumps up and scans the area for threats before knocking some gunk from his uniform. He stands in the center of a sinkhole under the tree and peers up into the sky between the giant roots and dripping rain. The slick mud will make it hard to climb out, but they can do it. Sloan glances down to find Atae sitting on the ground and clutching her injured leg. He rushes to her and rips open her pant leg to assess the wound.

  “It’s just a bite,” Sloan says. “It’s going to hurt pretty bad for a little while, but it’ll heal quickly. We’ll have to wait until then to climb out of here.”

  “We can’t wait,” Atae says. She motions toward the sounds of fighting above them. “Those things can easily slip through the cracks. They’ll swarm us again, and we’ll have nowhere to go.”

  Atae grimaces as a sharp pain shoots through her leg, and she digs her hands into the mud at her side. With each wave of pain, Beast beats against her confines, spilling her red anger into Atae’s psyche. The blue hybrid struggles to keep her counterpart from activating a shift as two cameras circle above them. When she feels the bite of her claws extending into the thick mud, Atae sighs in resignation.

  “You have to leave me,” Atae whispers, but another burst of white light drowns out her words. Sloan watches the anger and shame twist across her face as the flickering lights streak across the sky. Then the light dissipates, and the shadows hide her expressions from him.

  “What?” Sloan asks.

  “Another horde is coming. You have to leave me here and go help Jeqi and Marqee protect the base.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  Atae blinks at the question. Maybe I am.

  “What?” she says.

  “I said, are you crazy? I’m not leaving you here. We need your flag points. You’re not incapacitated or unconscious. There is no reason to leave you here.”

  “I’m weak and injured. At this point, I’m just a hindrance.”

  Sloan laughs and twists away from Atae in exasperation, and she stares at him in disbelief.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she says. “Why are you being so difficult? I thought you’d jump at a chance to prove once and for all that you’re the better warrior.”

  “I don’t need a chance to prove I’m a better warrior, Atae. It’s obvious every time you pick up a hilt. I just find it hilarious that now you’re worried about being a hindrance.” Sloan throws his hands into the air, and Atae glowers at him. As the pain from her leg ebbs, so does Beast’s rampage, and Atae sighs in relief.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asks.

  “You’ve been a thorn in my side since I started at Sula Academy. I am one of six heirs to the Levia crest. I should be at the top of my class with no competition, especially not from hybrids. Instead, I’m constantly fighting for second place with you and can’t get near Jeqi’s monopoly on first place. Do you know how much flack I get from my family because of you?”

  “So? What do I care about your family issues?”

  Atae growls as another wave of pain pulsates through her leg. This time, Beast doesn’t use the opportunity to press Atae for control. Instead, her red swirl of mist darkens to a solemn purple as she listens to Sloan.

  “Exactly,” he says. “You don’t care. You didn’t even know I was an heir until I threw it in your face. The fact that you are one of the strongest younglings I’ve ever met has been a thorn in my side for seasons.”

  Sloan crouches and snatches Atae’s face in both hands. She wants to stop him, but pulling her hands from the mud would reveal her shift. Instead, she stares as he lowers his gaze to peer into her fuchsia eyes. Rain slips down her face and onto his hands as he snarls at her.

  “But not today. Today, you are on my side. For the duration of this tournament, your knack for besting opponents far above your skill level will actually help me. Today, you are anything but a thorn. So there is no way I am letting you give up that easily.”

  Beast tenses against his proximity to Atae’s vulnerable state. The blue-haired hybrid closes her eyes and clenches against her counterpart’s attempt to shift. Trying with all her might, she cannot stop her forearm blades from slipping free. As they break her skin, Sloan releases her face and grabs her arms, covering the sharp points with his rough hands. He flinches when the blades bite into his palms, but he doesn’t pull away. Surprised, Beast pauses mid-shift.

  “You, Atae,” Sloan says. “You earned the second-place ranking. You broke Marqee’s leg on three separate occasions. You trained with Solum for seasons, and you defeated Solum. You are strong. You are Kaji.”

  Atae watches the grit and drive surging through Sloan’s onyx gaze, and Beast stares into the red eyes of his counterpart. Something from his inner beast persuades Beast to take heed of Sloan’s words. With a sigh, Beast takes a step back from Atae’s mind, and the hybrid breathes easy. The constant pressure from Beast ebbs, and her presence saunters into a corner to watch. Feeling the tips of her blades recede from his palms, Sloan smirks.

  “And on a good day, you can almost defeat me,” he says. Atae snorts and pushes him away with normal hands.

  “On my worst day, I could stomp you into the ground.”

  Atae watches Sloan turn away, then wipe his bloody hands on his uniform.

  What does he know? Atae frowns, eyeing the camera zipping by her head.

  Everything, Beast says.

  Searching for an escape route, Sloan inspects the hole they tumbled down. Atae watches him with renewed eyes. She wonders the truth of Beast’s words until she notices a small arachnid scuttling between the giant tree roots. Atae jumps to her feet, surprised to find her leg mostly healed, and darts forward to impale the intruder with her hilt. Keeping an eye out for more, Atae calls to Sloan.

  “We’re running out of time.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m working on it.”

  Watching the twisting roots for movement, an idea forms in Atae’s mind that makes Beast smile with anticipation. Atae jumps and spears one large root, cutting it free from the crumbling mud and debris. She repeats the process two more times before a section of the ceiling caves.

  “Hey, I found our way out,” Atae says. She stares up into the dim sky and smiles against the onslaught of cold rain.

  “Good, because our way in is now serving the horde. Let’s go,” Sloan says. He rushes past her to climb out of the hole. Atae glances at the mud and leaves that cover their path into the sinkhole, and she frowns at the horde scampering through the cracks and crevices. She grabs Sloan’s outreached hand, and he pulls her up and out.

  “Any idea which direction our base is in?” Atae asks, and Sloan shrugs.

  “Nope.”

  “Great.”

  A giant clamox barrels through the thick mist toward Atae and Sloan. They both dart away in different directions, and Atae takes a leg out on her way. The tall creature stumbles under the loss of a limb as green blood spews, but it stays upright and sprays a large glob of acidic web at her. Beast growls at Atae to dodge it; instead, she smiles and jumps right at the webbing, using her hilt to slice it in half. It falls away, and Atae charges toward the giant arachnid. A few steps before reaching the clamox, another one joins the fray. The second massive creature charges at Atae with its horned head positioned low, but she uses a nearby tree branch to jump over the beast’s dangerous horns. Atae lands on its hairy abdomen and stabs her blade deep into its flesh.

  She hangs on tight as the creature stands tall over the fog and tries to shake her off. Atae uses the opportunity to pinpoint their location in the arena and smiles when she realizes how close they are to home base. When the eggs hidden in the arachnid’s fur crack open, Atae cringes and puts the poor creature down with a yank of her sword. The clamox collapses, and Atae rolls away to avoid the new horde. She finds Sloan waiting next to the corpse of the other giant clamox, and he rushes her along.

  “Let’s go before we’re overrun.”

  “That way.” Atae points toward the base. “It’s not far.”
/>   Using roots and rocks for traction, Sloan follows Atae up the muddy hill. When they reach the energy ramp, Atae scrambles up, and Sloan can’t help but laugh at her flailing arms and legs. At the top of the ramp, a dome glows green, and Jeqi and Marqee guard the edge with ranged hilts. They fire energy blasts at a few small clamox that managed to follow Sloan and Atae to the base.

  “What took you guys so long?” Marqee asks. He surveys the jungle edge for pursuers, but the rolling fog makes it hard to decipher shadows from threats.

  “Oh, we stopped for tea,” Sloan says. He cocks a sarcastic eyebrow at Marqee as he slips his flag into an open slot next to the other two.

  “And we had some lovely biscuits,” Atae says.

  She chuckles, and Sloan smiles at her. Marqee pauses in his perimeter check to glance at Atae in surprise. She shrugs and pulls her flag free of the strap.

  “Well, I’m so glad that you two were having fun while we’ve been busy earning points,” Marqee says.

  “Oh, man. I’m sorry. All we’ve been doing is killing giant, acid-spitting, horned arachnids,” Sloan says.

  “You got one of the big ones? Those are worth fifty points,” Jeqi says. Her tail twitches around her waist with excitement, but she stays on guard for any incoming threats.

  “Four, actually. Because I’m a badass,” Atae says. She slips in next to her packmate with a smug grin. Beast scans the fog for threats, while Atae searches the horizon. Sloan unsheathes his hilt, and it zings to life.

  “Hey, two of those were my kills.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Atae waves him away then points at one of the other glowing bases. “What’s going on over there?”

  Four cameras buzz throughout the group as they watch another pack shoot energy blasts at the small shadows in the dark and one massive clamox beast. The base guards panic when the horde swarms from the dead carcass of their downed prey. When the smaller arachnids cross the dome barrier, it falls.

  “I guess they lose,” Marqee says. “Should we go steal their flags?”

  “No,” Sloan and Atae answer together.

  “Well, I’m convinced. It’s not often that you two actually agree on something,” Marqee says. He glances up when another white explosion lights the dim sky.

  “We need to prepare for the horde,” Atae says. “The big ones are mean, but it’s the little ones that will overrun us.”

  “And when you kill the big ones, their babies go homicidal,” Sloan says.

  “Great, Marqee and I will stay up here and pick off as many as we can from a distance,” Jeqi says. She points at Sloan and Atae. “You two stand at the base of the ramp and kill any that make it through.”

  “Let’s do it,” Atae says.

  She flashes an excited smile, and Beast warns her of the dangers of the horde. She brushes off her counterpart’s anxiety with a shrug and slips down the ramp with ease. She activates her hilt and waits for Sloan to join her. They stand there for a while, waiting for the horde to strike, but the ranged hilts pick off what small clusters break through the fog. Several white explosions spark the sky during their wait, and Marqee announces the demise of each dome he watches grow dim.

  After a dozen bases fall, a couple of giant clamox burst from the mist and charge toward Atae and Sloan. Jeqi takes the first one down with a couple of well-aimed energy blasts, and Marqee manages to take down the second shortly after. Sloan and Atae steel their resolve in preparation for the hordes to come. Sure enough, the smaller arachnids attack in a swarm of hairy legs.

  “Another base down,” Marqee calls as he blasts several hissing arachnids into oblivion.

  “And another,” Jeqi says.

  Atae can barely hear them over the onslaught. She swings her blade at the skittering creatures and kicks at their faces. She stomps on their segmented bodies when they get too close and smiles when the brave ones jump at her. She just flicks her hilt, and the attacking arachnid falls to pieces. For the first time in what seems like forever, Atae savors the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Even when a couple of the bugs scamper past her blade, she laughs and dropkicks the clamox back into the fog.

  Beast watches from her ball of golden anxiety at first, but then she eases into the fray of battle. When a clamox gets too close, Beast presses a gentle orange warning, and Atae reacts. When another aggressive arachnid leaps into the air toward Atae’s face, Beast suggests using her forearm blades but doesn’t fight against Atae’s decision to use the hilt instead. She watches Atae and Sloan fight back to back against the horde as Jeqi and Marqee guard overhead.

  When Jeqi and Marqee take down another two giant clamox, the new hordes collide with the arachnids already swarming. The enormous throng slams into Atae and Sloan and overrun them. Three clamox latch onto Atae’s legs before she can stop them. She scrapes them off with her hilt only to have another scamper up her arm and sink its fangs into her shoulder. She cries out and grabs the small arachnid, ripping it away. Atae keeps swinging and kicking at the bugs as they crawl over her face and body, but after a few more bites, she falls to her knees in pain.

  As they swarm past her, Atae watches her dome fall. Through the haze of pain and incoming darkness, she can see her packmates falling. Marqee manages to shift and tear into a dozen arachnids before succumbing to the horde. Soaked in green slime, Jeqi claws away chunks of a giant clamox that gets too close until a glob of acidic webbing surprises her. She screams in pain when the throng overcomes her, too. Sloan rages at the top of the ramp, killing everything in sight with a swing of his blade. Atae’s attacks are clumsy and basic compared to his elegance and grace. Still on her knees, Atae swings her hilt like a bat and cuts through the clamox as they crawl over her. Beast roars in her mind to keep fighting, and her counterpart’s anger and determination empower Atae to keep moving even as an arachnid latches onto her shoulder.

  Atae screams and throws her back against the ground to crush the offending creature, but the multitude of arachnids surges. When another searing bite tears into her chest, Atae can’t scream due to the weight of the horde on top of her. Through the mass of legs and hairy segments, she glances up to find Sloan faltering. Atae’s last sight before falling into the dark arms of unconsciousness is Sloan stumbling to the ground.

  Chapter 37

  Atae awakens with a sudden jolt. Jeqi places a comforting hand on her shoulder and presses her back against the recovery chair. Atae complies, and Beast’s swirling orange haze calms to a soft blue. With a sigh, the blue hybrid glances at her blonde packmate, who sits in a separate recovery chair to her right. The two females lie in the center of the palace medical wing.

  “How long have I been out?” Atae asks. She checks over her gel-lathered wounds. “These look almost healed.”

  “I just woke up, too.” Jeqi grimaces with her eyes closed as her silver tail sways lazily at her side. “The attendant mentioned that Solum ordered us to be cared for in the palace. I don’t think we’ve been here long.”

  “Where is Father?” Atae glances around for him. Instead, she finds Sloan unconscious in the chair to her left and Marqee on the other side of Jeqi.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him,” Jeqi says.

  “Don’t worry, Blue. He was here to check up on you and make sure his only daughter is treated with the utmost of care,” Prince Truin says. He saunters toward them from the other side of the med wing.

  “My prince, it’s always a pleasure to see you,” Atae says, flashing him a sarcastic smile.

  “Atae,” Jeqi says. “Please excuse her, Your Highness. She obviously suffered some brain damage in the tournament today.”

  “Ha.” Prince Truin sneers at Atae but doesn’t comment. Instead, he grins at Sloan’s unconscious form and strolls up to his friend to yank on his nose.

  “Wakey, wakey.”

  Murmuring curses, Sloan groans into consciousness and slaps at the prince’s hand. He grasps at his bare chest and smears the healing gel slathered across his dark muscles.


  “I hate clamox.”

  “I think they hate you, too,” Prince Truin says.

  “Why are you here?” Atae asks. Jeqi punches her in the arm, and she scowls at the blonde. “Ow. What? Why are you hitting me?”

  “Can you treat the prince and heir to the Kaji Empire with a little respect before he banishes us to the kitchen?”

  “He can’t reprimand us,” Atae says. She glances at Prince Truin with a smug smile. “Queen Sula said so. We’re her protégées, remember?”

  “Ah, but there are so many other ways to punish you,” Truin says.

  “Uh, before this turns into the pissing match of the ages,” Sloan says. “Why are you here, Truin?”

  “I just wanted to be the one to tell you how you guys ranked in this round.” Prince Truin brandishes an evil grin before he activates his visual visor from to read. “Taking down all those giant clamox first earned you guys the most points by far.”

  Jeqi glances at Atae, and she grins back. Beast ignores the excitement with a roll of her eyes, and Sloan eyes his friend.

  “But,” he says.

  “But you worked them into such a frenzy that they targeted your base way before they decided to take down the majority of the bases. Fifteen bases out-survived you guys.”

  “Fifteen? That means we barely qualified for the next round,” Atae says. Jeqi huffs, and her tail taps the ground in disappointment. Sloan glances at the two hybrids and shrugs.

  “But we did qualify, and it sounds like we got a lot of points. Any idea where we rank overall in the tournament?” Sloan says. Prince Truin frowns in concentration as he flicks his wrist and waves his fingers at the hologram.

  “Looks like…oh, not too bad. You guys are third overall.”

  “Yes.” Atae pumps her arm in the air.

  “I wouldn’t get too excited, Blue,” Truin says. “You’re on your own in the next round. No one there to save you this time.”