Chapter 31: KYRA


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    Somehow, I was forced into the Jingozi arena by an Amazon named Princess Kyra.


    Name: Princess Kyra [Doctrine Dealer]


    Tier: I [Iron] Rank 3


    Faction: Amazon [Daughter]


    Her skin glowed with a warm, sun-kissed hue, her hair braided into neat cornrows cascading down her back. Light blue fabric draped and tied around her body in patterns, leaving her midriff bare. The skirt, frayed at the edges, revealed her slender, toned legs. Her feet were clad in leather sandals, laced up her calves with thin, braided straps intertwined with tiny sapphire beads.


    She held a spear taller than her with a two-foot-long blade. The shaft was carved from dark wood and decorated with sapphires glimmering like ocean droplets. She wore a necklace of shells and beads with a diamond-shaped pendant for the Amazon faction.


    A Jingozi card floated horizontally in front of me. It was mine, except I didn’t know which card.


    “Who are you?” I said. “How''d you do that?”


    “I’m Kyra. Don’t you know what a Jingozi duel is?” Her accent sounded South African, with an enchanting twist.


    “I’m kinda new at this.”


    “It’s simple,” she scoffed. “You draw the first card off the top of your deck, spin it, and then reveal it to see the winner. If I win, I get double the Zii. You get the regular reward if you win.”


    Cragmarr owes me another tutorial because he didn''t mention this either.


    “You’re a Jingozi dealer?” I asked.


    “Would we even be here if I wasn’t?”


    “Alright, Miss Princess. Pretty sassy for—what are you, sixteen?”


    “And what are you? My mother?” she laughed. “Are we going to do this or not?”


    Wait. Did she just call me old?


    I spun the card multiple times and confirmed. Kyra did the same.


    JINGOZI DUEL


    Princess Kyra: [5/4]


    Ember: [Warp I] Discarded


    I guess spells didn’t count. My [Warp I] card disintegrated. Another card appeared, and I repeated the process.


    JINGOZI DUEL


    Princess Kyra: [5/4]


    Ember: [3/7]


    Kyra spun into the air before driving her spear into my shoulder. The blade struck my collarbone. Zii exploded from the wound. A scream tore from my throat as the impact dropped me to my knees.


    JINGOZI DUEL


    Winner: Princess Kyra [5/4]


    Reward: 8 Zii


    YOU HAVE LOST 1 RANK


    Tier: II [Bronze] Rank 10


    We reappeared inside the supply tent, and I collapsed in a heap as searing pain shot from my neck down to my arm. Kyra loomed over me, her spear lifting my chin with unsettling calm, her face a mask of indifference.


    I spun past her, releasing a card that cut through the air in a wide arc. It sliced the ropes holding the tent’s awning, sending the canvas crashing around us. From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Cragmarr, allowing me to blink away.


    Reappearing on the hill, I unleashed a storm of flaming cards on the camp below. Flames erupted in every direction, engulfing everything in their path. As the firestorm swept across the camp, we dashed down the hill toward the woods. Behind us, the supply tent lit up into a roaring ball of fire. We didn’t stop until we were deep enough into the forest.


    FEAT COMPLETE: JINGOZI DUEL


    Compete in your first Jingozi duel.


    MISSION COMPLETE: THE AMAZON SIEGE


    Disrupt and delay the Amazon siege enough for Monk reinforcements to arrive.


    LEVEL UPDATE


    Name: Ember [Doctrine Dealer]Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Tier: II [Citrine] Rank 9


    “My notifications say we’re all good,” I said, catching my breath. “I didn’t want them tracking us, so I dumped the faction tokens I looted.”


    “Well done,” Cragmarr said. “Let us push further and hide our movements. They have other ways of tracking us.”


    While I took to the trees, blinking ahead to stay out of sight, he made no effort to cover his tracks. Instead, he trudged backward through the forest, letting his heavy footsteps create deep, unmistakable prints. The Amazons would never suspect a Golem of launching such an attack. I periodically used the Jingozi arena to scan for danger.


    We reached the river and turned north up the bank.


    “Let’s stop by Li Wei’s farm,” I said.


    “It is a risk.”


    “We have something that belongs to them, and they deserve to hear about their son.”


    NEW MISSION: LEI WEI


    Find Li Wei’s family farm and deliver his pack.


    * * *


    “Alright, Crag, tutorial time,” I said as we walked along the river bank. "What the heck is a Jingozi duel?"


    “That is a special card that forces an opponent into a random one-card match that only the Jingozi can bestow,” Cragmarr turned to me with concern. “What happened?”


    “You didn’t see it? Some Gen Z Amazon hit me with it while in the camp.”


    “Gen Z?”


    “It’s a generational term in my world. Anyway, she clobbered me good.”


    “Then what happened?”


    “I don’t know. She had the jump on me but didn’t go for the kill.”


    “She was a Jingozi dealer, yet not on the front lines. Someone like her would have been a significant advantage for the Amazon’s siege.”


    “No idea. But do you think that’s how the Emperor took out the Shogun?”


    “No. A Jingozi duel lasts one hand, and the damage is impermanent. The Shogun would have recovered. They fought a complete match to the death.”


    “Why take that risk? They would have been evenly matched.


    “It is possible the Emperor possessed the mental advantage. The Shogun was under immense pressure.


    “Okay, let''s park that theory for now." I fiddled with my Jingozi deck. "Here''s another question—”


    “Ember,” he stopped and loaded his hand.


    Name: Princess Kyra [Doctrine Dealer]


    Tier: I [Ruby] Rank 1


    Faction: Amazon [Daughter]


    Kyra stepped out from the treeline onto the bank. Based on her status, she had ranked up twice by beating me in the Jingozi duel. Beside her crouched a gigantic black, snarling, dire wolf the size of a horse. I loaded my cards, and Cragmarr entered a fighting stance.


    She raised a hand and shouldered her spear. With a whisper and a flick of her fingers, the dire wolf shimmered and vanished, its form swirling into the pearl on her ring.


    “I don’t want to fight,” Kyra said. “I want to come with you.”


    Cragmarr and I exchanged a wary glance, neither lowering our guard.


    “Why?” I asked. “And how did you find us?”


    Kyra took a step closer, both hands now raised.


    “My pet, Ebon. He tracked your Zii trail after the duel. Please take me north to see my family. My brother lives with my father.”


    “Your father is Emperor faction,” Cragmarr said.


    “Yes.”


    “No way I’m gonna trust you after that Jingozi stunt,” I said. “What stops you from calling some Amazons to put a few arrows into us while we sleep?”


    “I could’ve killed you back at the camp. But I didn’t because I need your help.”


    “At tier 1 rank 5? I highly doubt it,” I scoffed, regretting how dumb I sounded immediately. But I wasn''t going to take it back.


    “How’s your shoulder?" she asked with a smirk.


    “Whatever.”


    “How do you know my level?”


    “Wouldn’t you like to know, princess?” I scoffed again. “But hang on, how does that work? Your mother is an Amazon, and your father and brother are Emperor faction?”


    “The Amazons have an arrangement with the Emperors,” Cragmarr answered. “They sire children for each other. The sons stay with the Emperors while the daughters go with the Amazons.”


    “That changes nothing,” I said. “The answer is still a big fat no.”


    I glanced at Cragmarr, expecting him to agree.


    “You are Kyra,” he said. “Your mother is Queen Zenobia.”


    “Yes, that’s me.”


    “If you want to be with your family so bad,” I pointed, “why are you with the Amazons now?”


    Kyra sighed, glancing down at her ring.


    “I don’t have a choice. My mother’s the queen. I became a Jingozi apprentice to find a way to see my brother. And when the Amazons left to attack the Monks, I hid in the supplies, hoping to find a way north.”


    Cragmarr crossed his arms. I hoped he wasn’t falling for this bullshit.


    “What will stop you from turning on us when we get to Emperor territory?” he said.


    Kyra met his gaze evenly.


    “I have no reason to. I only want to see my family. I will pay you.”


    “Em, she might be helpful,” Cragmarr said, though hesitant. “We may require assistance to navigate Emperor territory.”


    “How helpful could she be? She’s just some dumb kid, Crag.”


    “I’m seventeen,” Kyra interjected.


    “Hey, princess,” I said. “You’re not helping your cause here.”


    I turned back to Cragmarr.


    “What do you propose we do?” Cragmarr whispered. “She knows our location and could warn the Amazons. We take her or kill her.”


    “Crag! Who said anything about killing?”


    “Those two appear to be the only options.”


    “Dammit, Crag,” I knew he was right. Kyra had me between a literal rock Golem and a hard place. Everything about this felt like a horrible idea.


    Bah, what the hell.


    “Okay, princess,” I sighed. “But if you’re playing us, I swear to God…”


    Krya bounced up and down, clapping her hands.


    “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she squealed. “Maybe I’ll teach you more about Jingozi on our way!”


    Yup, and I’m already regretting this.


    NEW MISSION: THE AMAZON PRINCESS


    Escort Kyra to her brother.


    * * *


    As we set up camp, Hiro weighed heavy on my mind.


    Kyra was yammering about something, but I tuned her out a while ago. The difference between her and Hiro was I actually liked Hiro. Kyra was a total brat with absolutely no social skills—the stereotypical homeschooled kid.


    “Hey, Kyra,” I said. “How does that ring work?”


    “Oh, this?” She lifted her hand to show four rings. “They’re called familiar rings. You use them to store pets and animal companions. I have four. Ebon, my dire wolf, you already saw. And a terragrym named Runelore, an abyssaray named Azzurish, and Quillara, my zephyrwing.


    “I have no idea what any of that means,” I muttered.


    “Want to see them?”


    “Um, no thanks. Maybe some other time.”


    “A terragrym is a type of magical turtle,” Cragmarr explained. “An abyssaray is a flat sea creature with wings and a long tail, and a zephyrwing is a large predatory bird.


    “Gotcha. And would one of those rings work for Kitty?”


    Cragmarr gave me a nod as he lit the fire.


    “Where are you from, Ember?” Kyra asked.


    “Not a local, if that’s what you mean.”


    “Is that why you talk funny?”


    “Whatever.”


    “Then I have a question,” Krya said with a mouth full of ration. “Why did you stop us from crushing the Monks? They are the enemies of all factions and deserve to be destroyed. I would kill them all.”


    “Woah, pump the hate breaks, princess. It doesn’t work that way. The Monks aren’t like that. You’ve been listening to a smidge too much Amazon propaganda.”


    “Mother says that neutrality is an act of hostility.”


    “Well, your mother is wrong. The real bad guys are the Jingozi.”


    “No. The Jingozi set us free and brought prosperity to our world.”


    I shot Cragmarr an incredulous and questioning look.


    “The Amazon faction values Jingozi resources and wealth,” Cragmarr explained. “When the Jingozi arrived, their technology gave the Amazons the power to emancipate themselves from the Emperors to establish an independent faction.”


    “How do the two factions get along now?” I asked.


    “The Amazons have carefully cultivated a lineage of powerful warriors and mages. They send their daughters to the sons of the Emperor faction to bear magically gifted children. In return, they keep the strongest girl from each family to be raised as an Amazon. Only the wealthiest Emperors can afford such an arrangement. The mixing of bloodlines forms a tenuous alliance between the factions.”


    “But doesn’t that system create, you know, inbreeding of some sort? Aren’t they all like mutant cousins eventually?”


    “It is not without its problems. Some Amazons seek unions with other factions because of it.”


    “They taint our genetic legacy,” Kyra said, “and must be purged.”


    “Is that what your mother, the queen, says?” I snapped.


    “Yes, and it’s the truth.”