Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 76: Battle Begins

There was no time for those Elders present to respond. The words of Challenge had been given. The response to his challenge was immediate.

A glow began to emanate from Blayney once those final words left his lips. A presence, not unfamiliar to the Wild Magic that reached out responding by tethering his life force in the energies required to create the challenge arena.

The gift of voice was a unique talent, not solely the bivouac of Kelpie, but they were perhaps the most well versed in its use. Words possessed a power, a gravity, that could shape reality. Innuendo, gossip, slights, and slanted truths have begun wars, fostered discrimination, and motivated accusations. But the power of words has also brought peace and fostered hope.

Blayney's use of voice stirred the sleeping mind of Belisama. It called forth those ritual precepts that she had established to allow wrongs to be righted. And it allowed the environment to conform to the politesse for established chivalry and doctrine.

The waters of the lake began boiling. Currents and tide set in motion as vast amounts of water leaped to obey Belisama's will. Her Domain and those precepts that had been established when the challenge rules was crafted warped the weave and fabric of reality. The changes were awe-inspiring. Water began gathering, just a puddle to begin, but more and more of those waters that had once been passive, gentle waves of the lake water lapping at the nearby shoreline coalesced and grew. The water joining together, taking form and separating from the lake.

A trickle at first that grew until an arena of water had formed. Crystal clear, spherical, the waters flowed above the lake, shaped to allow Kelpie to surround, to gather, and to give witness to the battle that was soon to be joined.

Two appendages were created and grew, snaking out until they had enough substance to grow and seek. The tentacle hesitated as it reached Blayney and entered the Elders' building. The one I could see must have been waiting for something inside the croft, because it began moving again, wrapping around Blayney and attaching to his stomach. A metaphysical umbilical cord that firmed once connected and began to retract, drawing Blayney and whom I assumed was Herd Lord Haygan out of the building and into the watery arena.

Both men transformed when they had been enfolded within the globe, Lord Haygan into his full water-serpent form, while Blayney seemed to merge his horse and serpent form. The contrast in forms was jarring. Lord Haygan's transition was seamless his form graceful and complete. Blayney's form, on the other hand, seemed half-formed, as if he had gotten stuck between the two shapes.

His form drew hushed comments and whispers from those that would stand testament to the outcome of this battle. What I thought was a poor adaption, a failed attempt for a water form, was, in fact, something much rarer. Few Kelpie were able to transition and adapt the bonuses and strengths of their unique shapes into a cohesive whole. His form that looked like an amalgam, bits and pieces of all of his shapes was capable of mixing the stat bonuses and skills of all of his forms.

That Blayney was capable of this feat, spoke to motive. Lord Haygan, for all his power, and years as Herd Lord had never been able to create an amalgam of shape and function. Blayney had demonstrated before the entire Kelpie community that his shifting ability out-stripped that of the Herd Lord.

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The whispers grew louder as indignation and anger spread across those gathered. Understanding blossomed as Kelpie that had served faithfully began discussing themes of betrayal and treachery. Blayney had been one of them. The Herd had celebrated and feted his decision to split off and develop new lands and waters. As time had passed with no word, people that he had befriended, associates and childhood comrades had eventually concluded that Blayney had abandoned them.

And Herd Lord Haygan fostered that belief. Announcing that trade would not be expanded.

Condemning Blayney for establishing and developing new markets with an infusion of fresh products and trade routes with richer, more influential Kelpie.

Blayney had been branded a traitor. Ungrateful. His actions branding him an outcast. His friends tarnished with the taint of that betrayal. It seemed strange to me that Lord Haygan did not try to rebuke Blayney's accusation when the challenge had been made. Neither he nor the Elders had yet to utter a word in defense or denial. Perhaps this demonstration of shifting ability was why.

No matter. Challenge had been given, and it seemed that was all that was required. It was possible that in some manner, the challenged was proscribed from using voice to answer. This limitation negating the natural mediation talents contained in 'voice' that Belisama had gifted the Kelpie when she first created the species.

Blayney had set the terms, he demanded battle, the only recourse was to fight and win. I wasn't certain that the challenged even had the option to surrender and admit defeat until after the fight commenced.

The sphere of water that had become the battleground remodeled once the tethers had drawn both participants inside. Their placement was strategic, one near the top of the globe, one near the bottom, positioned so that the waterfall that spawned and flowed over them changed the conditions of the environment. They were soon forced to contend with the torrential flow of water and pressure as the bottom opened up and a cascade of water began draining out of the sphere.

The lake became active, immense waves and waterspouts battered at the globe, replenishing and maintaining the volume of water. But the currents and eddies that the constant release and refill made traversing and maneuvering problematic for any but the most adept swimmer.

Herd Lord Haygan appeared to have an advantage once the water currents began to impact the environment. His sleek serpent form was specially designed for this trial. Fins and tail allowing for smooth navigation, while the frill and mane allowed him to interpret the minute changes in displacement and progression. He was a sleek hydrodynamical predator. No wasted movements were allowed. Adjusting instinctively and immediately to current and circumstance.

Blayney's form seemed clunky and inelegant in comparison. Still, he managed to adjust to the water's movement easily. Small twitches of muscle movement or flicks of tail easily compensating for the lack of fins. An economy of motion that allowed him to conserve energy, while refusing to move even a fraction from the position the tendrils had deposited him.

"Una, what's happening?" I asked after a few moments of watching the two appear to be doing nothing but staring at each other.

"There are four stages to ritual combat," she answered.

"In the first stage, the challenger and challenged must first prove their abilities to control their form and that they are worthy of battle.

"The water then tests. Flow and current, eddies and whirlpools. Belisama's waters weed out the weak. If those that would contend with each other cannot transverse the test of water, then the challenge has been decided by the one that prevails and combat is disallowed.

"Belisama learned well the lesson the Sidhe taught when they slaughtered and enslaved the first Kelpie," Una explained. "She requires the strength of form and the ability to adapt from those that would lead.

"The challenge sphere forces those that would contend to first prove that they have gained enough control over their water form to withstand the currents that can pummel and kill those not suited.

"If they cannot maintain position, if the current washes them out of the sphere, then they have lost the trial.

"Belisama created the first Kelpie to be peace-brokers, the original challenge arena did not contain the trial of battle. She thought by gifting multiple shapes, we would be uniquely suited to understanding the differences the Sidhe exhibited. When Sidhe destroyed those illusions, She allowed trial by combat to become part of her test of trials.

"Her challenge trial initially created and invested as an instrument of her divine will was established as a vehicle to test the resolve and to solve issues without bloodshed. It became more. It was only after Her disillusionment with the rest of Sidhe, after She, in Her anger, adapted Kelpie and empowered them with the tools to make war, that She transformed the Challenge sphere and allowed it to evolve.

"What was once an instrument of benevolence and compassion has become an instrument of anger and vengeance," she said.

"The first trial has concluded," Irvin pointed out, his worry evident. I knew he was an adult by System standards and had Ascended, but in this instance, he was still a young colt, afraid that his father might not survive.

The water that had been cascading out of and forming a waterfall slowed until the sphere was once more uniform. The lake calmed, waves diminishing until nothing remained but small ripples responding to a gentle breeze. Waterspouts collapsed with one last explosion of fury and splendor before their destructive potential was spent.

"How many trials are there?" I asked Una.

"Four," she said, reminding me that she'd already mentioned this.

"Control. Endurance. Ability. Battle.

"Each progressively more difficult and dangerous."