“I’m fine. I think.” I close my eyes and focus my Ha’i toward the aching area, rolling my shoulder backward and forward. “I’m okay.”

Bram is awarded a point for his hit, and I get nada because I didn’t even come close to hitting anything. But everyone expected that strike to down me, so the fact that he’s walking away with only one point feels like a win all around. And now I know what to expect from him and can strategize my next move accordingly.

I can’t guarantee I’ll stay aloft with another hit like that last one, and I won’t be able to strike if I’m entirely on the defensive. My only option is to get to Bram before he builds enough momentum to have much force behind his strike. Which means going really, really fast. The kind of fast that is highly discouraged during hoverjousts because most players can’t keep their balance at such speeds. But staying balanced while going fast on a hoverboard is maybe the one thing on this island that I truly excel at.

It’s a good strategy, and it works.

I go fast enough that by the time I approach Bram, he’s still far from the center. He hasn’t built much momentum, but I have plenty.

Our lances crash against shields. This time Bram’s strike is barely a glancing blow. And I hit him too. Hard. Yeah, baby!

We’re each awarded a point. I can see how upset Bram is even from all the way across the pit. According to my team, he came really close to going down from my hit.

“You need to watch out this round,” Miriam warns me. “Bram feels humiliated that the new girl is showing him up. Someone like him becomes unpredictable when he’s angry.”

I shouldn’t try the same trick twice because now Bram will be ready for it. This time I’m going to adjust my stance to make it harder for him to aim at my shield. A hit anywhere else won’t count for points.

I stand sideways, which wreaks havoc on my balance since I can’t hold my lance the way I’ve trained, but if I can pull this off, I’ll be able to hit Bram’s shield a full body length before he can even attempt to reach mine, and hopefully, by then, my strike will be enough to diminish his aim and striking force.

But as soon as we’re heading toward each other, I can tell something is wrong. The angle of Bram’s lance is all off; he’s aiming too high. He knows he’s at a disadvantage if he aims for my shield, so he’s not aiming for it at all. The slimeball is aiming at my head.