28
Mounted on their dragons and ignoring the stares of passersby, Asta and Felix made their way toward the exercise grounds.
Although Felix had not charged the magic yet, the golden cord that had gotten them in so much trouble the day before was tied between them, one end anchored on Asta’s belt, the other on Felix’s.
Behind them, the vertiginous walls of the raceway loomed. It was almost noon, and the shadows lay tight against the building. The sky above was bright and clear, with white clouds moving swiftly across it. The blustery wind carried snatches of music to them from inside the raceway.
‘They’ll do the drakes first,’ Felix said, adjusting the strap on his helmet. ‘But we better hurry.’
They reached the exercise grounds and showed their badges. The attendant hesitated when he saw Asta’s name, but he looked at Felix’s badge and waved them in.
As soon as they were inside the fence, they headed for the canyon towers. Asta directed Carmine to the ladder on the nearest tower; Essie and Felix climbed behind them.
Carmine pulled himself on to the top of the tower and made space for his sister to join him.
A cheer rang over the Horizons complex. The music, now at its peak, bounced off the housing units and the storage buildings, tumbling over itself in jubilation.
The wind was even stronger up here, and the minute wobble of the tower made Asta a little queasy.
‘Nat’s next,’ Felix said. ‘You ready?’
Asta looked down at the little golden flame on the wrist of her jumpsuit. Maybe there was some power left in this charm yet. ‘I’m ready. Are you sure you can do it?’
‘I’m a magic genius, remember?’
‘I swear, I’m never giving you another compliment,’ Asta said, lowering her visor and tightening the straps on her gloves. ‘It goes straight to your head.’
‘Too late. You can’t take it back.’ Felix gave her a wide grin and then flipped his own visor down.
‘Alright, genius. Do your thing.’ Asta focused intently on the shimmering lines of the containment fence that surrounded the exercise grounds.
Beside her, Felix was speaking the words of his spell and flexing his right hand in a pattern of spasmodic movements.
Suddenly, a hole opened up in the magic net and began to widen, like flame burning through paper.
‘Let’s go!’ Felix called, and he spurred Essie forward.
The black- and-gold dragon pushed off from the side of the tower, her wings already pumping.
Carmine followed without Asta needing to direct him.
Essie passed through the opening, then Carmine.
Asta turned in the saddle and saw the hole in the fence mend itself behind them.
They flew over the grounds of the Horizons complex with rushing wingbeats, fighting the gusts that pushed them back and forth. Below them, the few pedestrians who meandered the sidewalks turned their faces upward to gawk at the sight of loose dragons flying overhead.
Felix and Asta shouted to their dragons to start climbing, their sights set on the top of the raceway.
Right now, Asta figured, Nat was walking up on to the winners’ platform, a temporary stage that had been constructed overnight at the starting line.
The platform would be decked out in the Bruce colors and those of the winning drake team, with giant glittering Silverscale logos hanging in the air above.
But instead of standing there and receiving her prize like a good girl, Nat would be wrestling the microphone away from Flávia right about now, shoving her way in front of the cameras.
‘Move it, Gameiro,’ Asta could imagine her saying. ‘Hey, there, ladies and jackwads. Thanks for being here and all, but I thought you might want to know that I cheated to win this thing.’
And right on cue, the sound coming from the crowds changed from one of celebration to something more troubled and restless.
‘Higher!’ Asta yelled to Carmine over the rushing wind. His vermillion-tipped wings pounded the air. His legs were working, too, as if he thought he could help himself up by clawing through nothingness.
Nat would now be making her accusations.
‘You’re probably wondering, how did this happen?
Well, I’ll tell you how. My uncle, Hummer Bruce – that’s how.
He’s a bully and a criminal.’ Asta could begin to catch her actual words, now, amplified throughout the raceway.
‘Everyone knows the Bruces used to be badass, but he just made us bad. I can prove it, too. Dr. Wang took a swab from my dragon – and guess what she’s going to find.
Hint: it’s not good.’ Involving Yixin had been Felix’s idea.
She had met them at the stables and taken the samples straight to the lab.
Even now, she would be leaking the results to Allie, giving Hummer no time to get ahead of the rumor.
The uneasy rumbling from the crowd was growing louder as Asta and Felix approached the uppermost edge of the raceway.
Felix and Essie pushed ahead, and Asta saw the hole burn into the containment dome and start to grow.
Essie passed through and landed, panting, on the overhang that sheltered the outer walkway of the uppermost tier of seats in the grandstands.
Her talons rang out on the metal roof. Asta and Carmine landed beside them.
‘Hate to break it to you, Gameiro, but you’re going to need another one of those emergency meetings.
There’s more to say, obviously, but I’m going to have to tell you about that later.
Because as we speak, my uncle is probably fixing to shut me up.
As in, permanently. So, if you’ll excuse me, I have to run for my life now.
’ She whistled, and from her ceremonial position behind Nat on the podium, Vulture tipped back her head and let out a bone-shaking roar.
Carmine, not to be outdone, roared back.
All around the track, the eyes that had been riveted on the winners’ platform turned to Asta and Felix.
In a second, the screens changed from Nat’s face to a shot of Felix and Asta perched on their dragons, red and black, on top of the overhang.
The dragons’ iridescent horns shone in the bright sunlight.
It was going to make a great shot for the future textbook chapters that would cover this tournament.
‘Catch me if you can, assholes,’ Nat’s voice said over the loudspeakers. Vulture sprang forward. The sudden movement sent Flávia and the Silverscale staff running. Nat found the stirrup and was in the saddle in a flash. Vulture leapt to the ground, making for the main entrance.
What unfolded next would have astonished Asta if Nat hadn’t already told her that it was going to go exactly this way.
At some unheard signal, four winged dragons – hitched along the homestretch rail with other drakes and westerns ridden to the closing ceremonies – snapped their leads and found their riders in the crowd.
In a moment, they were giving chase to Nat and Vulture.
Two more dragons sprang out from the pits, their riders already mounted.
Another two emerged from the tunnel of the main entrance, with the intention of cutting off Nat’s escape.
Felix charged the cord bound between his waist and Asta’s, and it glowed with power. Their dragons leapt from the edge of the overhang in perfect parallel.
Asta worried, for a moment, that they would not reach Nat in time.
Vulture could not outpace her pursuers, and the ones coming from the gate were almost on her, but the walls of the raceway had dampened the wind, and Essie and Carmine were flying as straight and true as arrows.
Nat looked over her shoulder, spotted them, and took her feet out of the stirrups.
She hoisted herself up on Vulture’s back and stood, balancing as the dragon rocketed forward.
Felix contracted the cord until it was taut.
They descended, closer and closer, over the heads of the pursuing Bruces.
As soon as they reached her, Nat flung herself on to the stretched cord, catching it under her arms. She lifted off Vulture’s back and swung her body to snag the cord with one leg.
Essie and Carmine grazed low over the dragons charging from the main gate and were through the tunnel in a second.
Essie rose in the air, creating a zipline.
Nat slid down the cord and caught hold of Asta, scrambling into the saddle behind her.
Felix released the magic, and the cord burst into a shower of glinting motes in the noon sun.
The Bruces had regrouped and were pouring out of the gate of the raceway one after another like hornets from their nest. There were more of them, now, somehow.
Almost a dozen. At the end of the line was Hummer, mounted on Vulture and shouting his instructions.
Soon they would pick up enough speed to take flight, and the chase would be on.
Essie and Carmine climbed through the air, up and over the iron fence that surrounded the Horizons complex. Below them, traffic was gridlocked. Drivers were getting out of their cars to gape and point. Ahead of them lay the river.
The dragons had already had a long flight, and they needed to touch down.
‘The bridge,’ Nat shouted, and Carmine and Essie raced for the formidable arch spanning the Hallium River. Behind them, Asta could hear the curses of the Bruces hot on their tail.
Essie landed on the upper cord of the bridge and ran up the arch. Carmine followed, but with two riders, he was struggling to keep up.
Asta looked over her shoulder. Michael, leading the pack of Bruce cousins, had already landed on the bridge.
‘He’s going to catch us,’ Asta yelled to Nat and pointed.
‘Well, shit.’ Nat kept her head turned, eyes locked on her cousin. Asta looked down at the river. The water was dark and swift, its surface roughed up by the wind into little whitecaps, as if the river had sprouted teeth.
Michael was almost on top of them. They would have to risk it.