140 Preliminaries (2)

Colin, too, wondered if he'd ever get to the Tournament. These tunnels seemed endless. Colin half suspected that by the time he emerged from them, he'd find himself on the other side of the mountain altogether.

"Eclipse, can you scout on ahead?" Colin requested as he and the rest of his Comrades huddled together atop Kirin. "I just want to know how far these tunnels go."

Eclipse gave him a short nod and sped down the tunnels. She was out of sight in moments.

Kirin wasn't going very fast down here, Colin noted. Faster than he'd be on foot, for sure, but it seemed the Tailwind technique wasn't helping very much now, if at all. Whatever these tunnels were, they most certainly weren't well-traveled recently.

For a while, he waited for Eclipse to return as a sign that the end was not far off. But when ten minutes passed and Eclipse still didn't come back, things started to look pretty grim.

"I'm going to miss the Tournament completely, aren't I?" Colin sighed. "At this rate…"

[The Mountain has patience. You do not. Who are you?]

Colin froze. "Huh? What…? Wait. Isn't that…?"

[So. It's you.] the thought-stream recognized him.

He recognized her too. [Casiphia. The Mountain Princess. You must be nearby… wherever 'this' is.]

[This is Skycrown Mountain.] Casiphia mused. [Are you lost? How did you ever get here?]

Colin sighed. [I know this is Skycrown. I came here to see the Tournament… well, actually, I thought I might join it.]

[Join it?!] Casiphia sounded startled. Well and truly startled. [Colin, no! You can't!]

[Why not? It's Open, right? Anybody can join, you said!]

[That's… true…] Casiphia subsided. [Yet the risks…]

[I've come this far. Though I don't know whether I can actually make it.] Colin mourned. [I'm really lost here. I'm down in some white tunnels and have no clue where I'm going.]

[White tunnels? How did you get in there?]

[Walked through a mist-fall.]

There was a short silence, and then, [Colin, a Shadow Hawk just entered the Heart of the Mountain. If you're really in the Inner Tunnels, then I'm guessing it's yours. I don't think a Shadow Hawk would be here otherwise.]

[Really? Then I'm not far away from… wherever I'm going.] Colin mused. [I've been in here so long I was afraid I'd never get out.]

Casiphia sent a thought-burst filled with humor.

Kirin shot out into a large hall not long after that. Colin found himself thinking of Crystal Cove when he saw it, except that all the crystals here were shades of pristine white. He glanced up to see where all the light was coming from and was startled to realize he could see the very sky beyond a slightly tinted crystal roof.

"Where are we?" Colin asked, turning to Casiphia, who sat on… {wait. Is that a Stormcat?! A full grown Stormcat like Raiki is going to become one day?!}

"We are at the Heart of Skycrown Mountain. You're looking at Skycrown Peak itself." Casiphia told him. "The Heart of Skycrown is not some hidden chamber deep in the center of the Mountain. It's the highest point in all of Nakama World."

"The top of the mountain…" Colin said, impressed. "And I can see the sky right through it."

"Yes, you can." Casiphia barked a laugh.

Casiphia, Colin felt, was friendlier now that she'd been the last time they met. True, the last time, they met over a battlefield with all sorts of dignitaries about, but looking at her now, in her Home Base, Colin felt that she was really a lot nicer than he first thought of her.

But then, just as he thought that, she began to have a distant look in her eyes. Then, she said, "Colin, are you sure you want to take part in the Tournament?"

"It's going to be dangerous, I'm guessing. But it's also going to be fun. I don't think I'm actually going to win the title, but it could be good training for my Comrades."

"I… see." Casiphia hesitated. "Very well. I think it's about time to get things started."

She led him down another corridor to a pair of heavy, wide doors. At her touch, the doors swung open as if they didn't weigh a thing. And Colin stared.

They were on a small raised platform at the head of a gargantuan arena. Colin had seen arenas in towns before, but none of them could hold a candle to this immense stadium. {I had no idea something this big could fit on top of a mountain…}

"The throne at the top of the world is a throne of strength." The Mountain Princess told him. She patted an ornate chair that was the center of this raised platform, and said, "the heights respect strength, demands it. That's why we're having a Tournament to decide the next Mountain Prince."

"What happened to the last one?" Colin asked, curious.

"He is no longer with us." Casiphia said.

Colin felt a chill even though he was fairly certain she meant he'd finished his Journey and left Nakama World. The way she said it though, sounded like he'd died or something.

"You can fly your bird directly to the ground from here." Casiphia suggested. "Competitors are supposed to go through a light screening before entering the arena, but you can skip that. The preliminaries are only just getting started."

"I'll be going then." Colin waved.

"Wait. Set your Temporary Respawn Point to here, in case you get killed."

Colin did that, and then waved goodbye to Casiphia.

"Have fun, Colin." Casiphia wished.

Colin gave her a polite nod, and told Kirin, "Let's go."

***

"Is that… {Colin}?!" Alicia blurted upon seeing him as she headed to the arena's audience seating.

"Huh? Colin? Where?" a familiar voice asked.

Alicia turned around and saw Katrin standing off to her right, apparently about to head out. "Katrin?"

"Alicia!" Katrin waved.

A clear voice made an announcement over the speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, would you kindly take your seats. The Preliminaries are about to begin."

"This way." Katrin told Alicia. "We're all over here!"

Alicia saw familiar faces where she pointed. Rita, at least, she recognized at once.

Another familiar face came by. It was Henry. He and a lot of other guys were beginning to flood into the audience.

"What happened?" Rita asked when Henry got back. "I thought you were joining the Tournament."

"They asked a bunch of questions. Like five or six of them. I think I got the fifth one wrong." Henry winced. "They kicked me out on the spot."

"Well, I guess there had to be {some} qualifying round. After all, if they let everybody compete, we're going to be here for a month." Rita figured.

"Welcome to the Mountain's Tournament of Ascension." A cool, steady voice announced. Alicia's eye went back to that raised platform where Colin had flown from, and the figure with silvery hair sitting on that oversized seat atop it. {Is that… the Mountain Princess? What was Colin doing entering the arena with the Mountain Princess? How did he even get there?}

The voice went on. "It is no ordinary Tournament that we hold here today, and I believe you all understand something of what is at stake. The title of the Mountain Prince is not to be taken lightly. There are huge responsibilities involved, great power, incredible rewards, and heavy expectations. The title is more than a prize; it is a duty and a role to be played. A role that {must} be played."

Here, she paused briefly. Then, she said in a softer voice. "The time has come. Tonight, we will crown a Mountain Prince."

Katrin nudged Alicia. "Do you think they'll make it? I mean… in one night? There seem to be quite a lot of guys still down there."

Casiphia seemed to know what everyone was wondering, and she addressed that very issue. "At present, we seem to have ninety-three competitors who qualify. These will be required to prove their strength."

The figure leapt from the platform. Alicia heard hundreds of voices gasp in unison as she dropped half a hundred meters to the ground below, but she didn't splatter on the floor or anything. She just seemed to land lightly, as if on her toes. A lot of murmuring started up at that point, in tones that said people were impressed.

{Who are we kidding? That's the Mountain Princess. Why should we even be surprised that she can fly? Show-off.}

The silvery figure flickered. Alicia blinked before she realized that Casiphia now stood at the very center of the arena. {How did she-? Flying is one thing, but how did she ever get there so FAST?!}

Wilds started appearing around her. Huge, incredibly powerful versions of the Wilds they'd faced coming up this mountain and more… oversized, overpowered versions of the Wilds of other mountains.

"Would the tournament participants kindly move to the north side of the arena?" Casiphia requested in a tone that said it was no request. Her summoned Wilds began to spread out. In minutes, they had formed a line straight down the center between the north and south sides, with all the participants on the north side. Casiphia herself moved to the south side and went on to give instructions. "All you have to do is reach the wall of the south side. There are no restrictions as to how you do it."

One moment. That was all it took before a bunch of hasty guys tried to make a run for it on the spot. {No restrictions. No need to wait for a signal to start.}

But they never made it. Alicia barely saw the attacks that killed them.

"So fast…" Katrin gasped.

As it that had been a signal in itself, the super-Wilds started blasting away at the participants indiscriminately. Guys below were yelling, warping in Comrades, raising barriers or dodging or flat out running.

"Think of it as an all-out war zone." Casiphia advised, as she hopped back to her throne in a single bound. "Retreat is permitted, but leaving the tournament grounds is considered quitting."

The super-Wilds started doing something impossible then. Alicia couldn't believe her eyes, but there was no doubt it was happening and it was happening right now.

They were warping other Wilds in.

***

{Cripes, this can't be good… she's summoned the Lords of the Mountain Wilds…}

Colin withdrew to a considerable distance as the Lords began to warp in their clans. Running around with the Lords of the Forest Wilds on his side was fun, but being on the other side was a whole different matter. {Cass wants us to get through THAT?!}

"Attack! Before they warp in too many!" about a third of the participants yelled.

"RUN!" an equal amount yelped.

Full battle and full retreat were taking place at either end of the northern side, but Colin waited, watching. {This is some sort of test, isn't it? The heights respect strength, Cass said. But the kind of wild charge going on over there doesn't seem like the strength she was talking about. What else did she say? "The mountain has patience."}

Colin thought back to the earliest attacks when the Lords of the Wilds were blasting away into the massed participants. He didn't remember seeing anyone vanish. {In other words, they weren't aiming at us. They were just trying to incite panic.}

And they were wildly successful. Or perhaps it was better to say, Wildly successful. {Enough with the puns. Think. What's the test? How do we pass it? Better yet, how do we ace it?}

{Patience. Strength.} Colin thought. {Fortitude.}

Of the ninety-three, about thirty fled, about thirty charged, and about thirty watched and waited. Those who fled were out. Those who charged were killed.

The remaining thirty spread out, summoning their Comrades, organizing their forces. Deals were made, alliances struck. In a concerted effort, nine participants advanced in a wedge formation, aiming to fight their way through as a unit.

The Lords of the Wilds replied in kind. They, too, joined up and formed an army, and theirs was ten times stronger. The participants' alliance was not so much crushed as squished.

{So. The mountain prince has to have the strength to stand alone. Wind and storm and fury may pass, but he relies on no one but his own.}

Colin grimaced. By that same idea, he himself was already half-disqualified. He glanced over his Comrades, considering them. There was Kirin, Sonia, Eclipse, Foxie, Cour… wait a minute. Where was Raiki?!

Colin spun around in disbelief. {Don't tell me she got hit by a stray shot and killed back to base? But that can't be. The Lords aren't that careless. They'd only fight those who attack them, respond in kind to whatever we do. That's the test. So then… where's Raiki? For that matter, where's Shiro?!}

He stretched out his senses, searching for them with his mind. He found Raiki quickly enough. She was at Casiphia's throne. {What is Raiki doing there…?}

An image came to his mind. His little stormcat cub on top of Casiphia's big stormcat. Literally sitting on his head. {Papa.}

Colin almost fell over. {Raiki's dad is Cass' stormcat?!}

Shiro was farther away. He was very busy, but he seemed to be busy with far more severe matters. Something like the Mountain's Tournament of Ascension was a trifle he really didn't want to be bothered with.

{Great.} Colin half-groaned to himself. {I'm going to have to do this without my two strongest Comrades.}

Power wasn't going to win this. Casiphia said 'strength', but brute force wasn't the only kind of 'strength' that existed. Colin thought about it. Thought about the Lords of the Wilds responding in kind to whatever the contestants did.

And then he got it.

"Sonia, Eclipse, you two are sitting this one out." Colin instructed. "Cour… go find somewhere warm. You're starting to shiver in this cold."

Left with Kirin and Foxie, Colin sat on his Storm Swan and waited. He felt sure his response was the correct one, but before he moved, he'd like a little more confirmation.

Some of the other guys were trying their own ideas. Two were attempting to outmaneuver the Lords of the Wilds, or outfly them. Another guy was actually trying to dig into the arena grounds. {Is he trying to dig under the Wilds?!}

But the rest of them seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion that Colin did.

"There's really no other answer that makes sense to this question." A familiar voice said somewhere to his right.

Colin turned and found Sora and Satrox smack dab in the middle of the remaining participants, both of them with their Comrades out, and both observing the Lords of the Wilds thoughtfully.

"Formal duels." Satrox voiced the very idea all of them had to be thinking right about now. "This is supposed to be a Tournament, after all."

Sora made the first challenge. He approached the Lord of the Rockatauri with five of his eagles and a really big condor. The Lord of the Rockatauri stepped forward in reply with five of his clan.

{I was right.} Colin nodded. He glanced at Kirin and Foxie, and stepped towards the Lord of the Pterodactons just as Satrox faced off with the Lord of the Burrlizards.

The Pterodacton Lord considered Colin, appeared perplexed, but he responded as Colin hoped he would. He stepped forward with just two of his kind, the largest he had, and the smallest he had.

{He's responding in kind. I brought my biggest and my smallest, so he's doing the same thing.}

His smallest, though, was about twice Foxie's size, and his biggest was thrice Kirin's. The Lord himself sat there and watched Colin, waiting for him to make the next move.

Colin smiled. "Kirin will challenge in speed. Foxie will challenge in wit."

The Lord blinked at Colin, looking even more uncertain, but Colin had a pretty good idea what his instructions were now. {They're supposed to respond to us the way we approach them. It's us who set the rules. The Mountain does not move with the wind. The wind must move around it.}

"Here we go." Colin said.

***

Satrox had his three strongest out against the biggest, baddest Burrlizard he'd ever faced. {Well, big guy? What are you going to do?}

The Burrlizard snarled, and from the group of smaller Burrlizards at his back came an orange one, a red one, and a blue one. The big fellow just stood there, and the three smaller ones came forward.

Satrox smiled. There was his Frostwind Owl Frost facing a red Burrlizard, his Command Albatross, Dynast, in front of a blue Burrlizard, and Noble his Pegasus confronted the orange one. Satrox himself stood quite still, and the Big Burrlizard did not move either. {We guessed right. The big ones are acting as commanders, not as fighters. That's good… I think.}

"So that's how you want to match up?" Satrox mused, observing the pairs. "Long-range attacker against long-range attacker, one using fire, one using ice. Tank against tank, both using wind and water. Front line physical against front line physical."

It was a direct, strength-for-strength challenge. A fair fight no matter how you looked at it. "I accept. Noble, Frost, Dynast, all-out attack!"

{I think Colin understood this.} Satrox thought, as his Comrades and the summoned Wilds faced off. Colin's Kirin and the Pterodacton's biggest took to the air in a race that Kirin had an overwhelming advantage in. A flying reptile was no match for a supersonic-capable Storm Swan at any time or day. And Foxie had the smallest Pterodacton laughing and pawing the ground in mirth within seconds.

Sora, on the other hand, went at the Rockatauri Lord with more and more Comrades. He was throwing his full strength against it, and the Rockatauri Lord was replying with his entire clan in turn. Satrox wondered about Sora's chances in that, but it appeared he was enjoying himself thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Frost and the red blasted away full force at each other. Dynast and the blue charged. Noble took a more agile approach, maneuvering around his opponent, who did likewise, each vying for an opening for attack.

"Dynast! Dodge! Evade!" Satrox called. "Frost! Flank and outmaneuver! Use rapid-fire attacks! Don't confront directly!"

He didn't order Noble to change tactics. The winged horse already seemed to understand the best way to win this. {In a direct power-for-power struggle, our odds might be even, or we could be at a disadvantage. These lizards are big, tough… but they're not that fast.}

Sora, it seemed, understood that too. Like Satrox, he relied on speed and agility to fight the bigger, heavier Wilds, except he was doing in on a full scale assault.

Meanwhile, the other participants saw the three of them and how the Lords of the Wilds responded. Almost at once, all decided to take the same route Colin did.

Noble's neigh drew Satrox attention back to his Comrades' duels. The Pegasus had scored quite a few hits on the orange Burrlizard, quite a few of them were heavy ones, but the Burrlizard had finally scored a hit back, and that attack had hit hard.

{Time to change tactics.} Satrox mused and switched his Comrades' targets around. "Noble, trample the red! Frost, blast the orange one! Dynast, hold off the blue!"

There was one major advantage his Comrades had over the Burrlizards. His Comrades could {fly}. That gave them the overwhelming upper hand in terms of evading attacks and scoring hits. The red long-range attacker Burrlizard couldn't escape Noble no matter how it tried to dodge or fend him off with fire. The orange front-line melee fighter couldn't escape Frost's icebolts either, and most definitely couldn't hit a target staying high in the air out of its reach.

It was over in moments. Noble literally trampled all over the red Burrlizard and down it went. Frost was still raining ice shards on the orange one from afar, safely out of its reach. "Noble, help Dynast."

Satrox eyed the Big Burrlizard as his Comrades moved in for the kills. The big thing watched silently, doing nothing, making no sound. It seemed that Satrox's decision to turn three one-on-one duels into one three-on-three fight was acceptable to it. {Looks like I get through. That wasn't so hard. It wasn't as easy as Colin's…}

But one glance that way showed Satrox that the Lords of the Wilds weren't about to let Colin through so easily. Kirin won the race and Foxie won the battle of wits with absolute ease, but when the Big Pterodacton let them pass, the Big Crystal Golem sent his largest and smallest to challenge them in turn. Satrox looked ahead and found an entire line of paired challengers, one big, one small, all waiting to test Colin's duo for themselves.

Some of the participants saw it and understood. About half of them shifted tactics, switching to normal duels like Satrox.

Satrox himself wasn't getting through so easily either, it seemed. The Big Burrlizard looked about ready to concede as Noble and Dynast took down the blue, leaving the orange one still trying in vain to hit Frost, who steered well clear of its reach. Yet already, behind the Big Burrlizard, Satrox could see the Big Highvine waiting with three representatives of his own.

"This isn't going to be easy." Satrox said. "This isn't going to be easy at all."