CHAPTER SIXTEEN
‘Are you ready for this?’ Josie’s voice was clear and smooth. It was soothing to have her in my ears. Almost as soothing as being on dragonback, perched in the branches of an ancient redwood, counting down the minutes to launch.
Hector was on the regular comms that I had to tap to respond to, but the communication between us had started off terribly and had only gotten worse. My gut still twisted when I gave my terse replies. It wasn’t his fault – it was mine for pretending to be Thorne. So, really, it was Thorne’s fault.
I didn’t mind blaming him. I’d happily take every chance I had.
‘Lena?’
‘Yes! Sorry. I’m too used to ignoring comms.’
Gottyk twitched underneath me, his tail lashing from side to side as we waited in the treetops.
‘Too bad. There will be no ignoring me.’
I smiled. No, there wouldn’t. Josie had run me through the proposed race strategies three times the night before and made me repeat them back to her twice. After the run-in with the other riders over dinner, hanging out with Josie and talking about all things racing had been a breeze in comparison.
‘How are the others looking?’ I asked.
‘Good, unfortunately. Obviously Victrolia will do well here, but those aren’t the ones we’ll be fighting for position. If you come up against them don’t waste your time blocking them. Focus on Ballenir and Mirendi. They’ve all flown here before.’
‘What about Prevere?’ The blue dragons and their riders were talented, with Colly being the only other rookie this season. If there was a chance I could get ahead of one of them, it would be him.
‘If there’s an opportunity, take it. They fly fast, but clean. Low risk.’
I nodded, then remembered Josie’s warning. ‘Okay, got it.’
‘The team will count you in. I’ll see you on the other side of launch.’
True to form, what Josie said came to pass. Hector gave me the thirty-second warning, then the ten.
The start flare erupted above the canopy.
Gottyk sprang from the branch. Splinters sprayed everywhere from the wrenches his claws left behind. Needles rained down on us from the trees as the great redwoods shook from the force. My flight suit emulated the scattering on my shoulders and back.
The first dive was a blur of red and green.
The giant trunks elongated in my peripheral even with the visor lenses trying to keep up.
I tapped Gottyk with my feet to have him spread his wings early.
Launching from halfway up the tree only gave us mediocre height and fighting our way back up from the forest floor would be a waste of the second-place advantage we’d been lucky enough to draw.
Jas Thokan was the sole rider ahead, already blending into the forest on the back of his green Victrolia dragon. Only the flashes of gold light under his armour kept him from disappearing completely. The longer we could stay on their tail the better.
The first lap flew by. The benefit of starting so far forward was incredible.
Everyone else was playing catch-up while we could focus on flying into clean air.
It had been so long since I’d been racing at the front that I’d forgotten the joy it brought.
Not getting into an immediate struggle was blissful.
‘Go for an arsenal as soon as possible.’ Josie’s instruction was clear and simple. Being at the front of the pack meant we’d be facing the arcans first.
‘Where?’
Josie had mapped out all previous arsenal locations on the circuit map, with the frequencies of how often they’d been used, as well as history to indicate any patterns.
‘Best chance is the medium route. Take the first left.’
‘Got it.’
I followed Jas around the last two corners ahead of the route split, shooting behind him on the racing line. Shots of adrenaline danced through me at the thrill of it. Gottyk built up our height, just as the Victrolia green ahead did. It made winning look like a reasonable goal.
‘Jas looks to be going on the short route. He’ll be building up distance rather than strength.’
‘Shit!’ He was likely going to try and outfly the arcans when they flooded the circuit. He definitely had the dragon for it, and the skill. Gottyk and I would be the ones dealing with the full attention of the attack.
The rush of tree trunks either side of us became a wall of red as the forest became more dense, splitting the circuit.
I leaned left, leading Gottyk towards the medium route. Josie was right in her prediction – Jas flew straight ahead to cut through the shortest lane.
My heart leapt. I shook it off. I had to trust Josie for this to work. Just because Victrolia had chosen a different route didn’t mean we were making the wrong choice.
I blew out a breath and focused on weaving Gottyk through the trees, scanning the branches for the arsenal.
‘I’m not seeing anything!’
‘There’s an arsenal on the short route.’ Her voice was flat, clean of emotion. I’d heard that change before when we’d first made our plan on the train. She was holding it all in.
It stirred something inside me, but it wasn’t what I’d expected. Frustration was my go-to for messing up in a race, yet hearing Josie’s voice made me want to do the opposite.
I’d been flying in Volitant for two races now – not much, but that was two more than Josie. Looking back on my first race was nearly impossible, it was a blur of panic and disappointment.
I wouldn’t let Josie’s first race with me end up the same.
‘It’s fine. Plan B, Josie. Where do I go?’ I put as much confidence in my voice as possible. Remembering that Plan A hadn’t been the only option was more than I’d ever done by myself. Plan B was there for a reason and it would help to force Josie into action.
‘Short route might have enough left by the time you go around next, but the long route would be a guarantee. What do you think?’
Questions weren’t good. Not from a strategist. She was meant to have the answers. Josie did have the answers, she just needed to give them to me. Yelling I don’t know over the comms wasn’t going to do either of us any favours though.
‘What do the numbers say, Josie?’ A question I never thought I’d ask.
There was a pause over the comms while I chased down Jas. There was only a whip of the end of the Victrolia green’s tail visible at the corner ahead, but it was enough. I hadn’t fallen too far behind.
‘Probability is a point six versus a one. The lost time would be two seconds versus ten.’
‘Oh, come on. I’m going to need that a bit clearer.’ I ducked under a branch, still catching it with the tip of my helmet’s horns. I knew the long route was longer. What I didn’t know was what the knock-on effects were for the rest of the race.
‘Take the long route.’
My cheeks bunched up inside the helmet as I smiled. ‘Understood.’
Now we had the plan, I just had to get there.
Flashes of bronze caught the sun along the branches of the redwoods.
The Victrolia arcans. If it weren’t for the thick-headed confidence Josie liked to tease me for I’d have been terrified.
They were huge. They scurried along the interweaving trees, clawing their way up and down the trunks with ease.
Modelled on the real-life bats that lived in the forest, except with a three-foot wingspan and made of metal and arcanite.
One of them leapt towards us from the branches above. I sank down, plastering myself against Gottyk’s back, feeling the proximity sensors roll across my back from right to left as it soared over me. I threw myself left for Gottyk to spin into a barrel roll.
He roared as the claws of the arcan scored the membrane of his wing. Once we straightened out I could see the paint of the sponsor logos cut through with red. My blood boiled.
‘How many are there?’
‘Sensors are picking up five along this straight.’
I chanced a glance over my shoulder and saw two more. They dive-bombed the blue, purple and green dragons behind me. Not only had the arcans found me, but so had the other riders.
By the time we’d made it back round four riders had overtaken us, dropping us down to sixth. Not having a weapon, frankly, sucked.
‘Prevere, Ballenir and Victrolia have gone through the short route. You’ve got the other Ballenir on your tail.’
Dark curls flashed in my mind’s eye.
‘Which one?’
‘It doesn’t matter, keep—’
‘It does, Josie! Is it him?’
‘Yes, it’s Vaspre.’
My eyes narrowed, my gut clenched and my hands tightened on the reins.
‘Good.’
Gottyk and I pushed down the long route, aiming for the lofty canopy. An arsenal poked out of the branches, several hilts available. I reached out, ready to grasp at the weapon, when my proximity sensors went wild.
Theo had caught me.
As we arced over the branch, Theo drew up beside us on his dragon, a mirror to us. In tandem we snatched at the weapons and lit them up. My bright orange battleaxe next to his purple longsword.
Our sweat-drenched sparring match barged into my thoughts.
‘For fuck’s sake.’
‘Lena, what’s wrong?’ Josie’s steely resolve was back.
‘Just some intrusive thoughts,’ I replied, ducking low to pick up speed.
‘We can get you some therapy.’ I couldn’t tell if she was serious.
‘I don’t need therapy,’ I said, knocking the haft of the axe on my pauldron. ‘I need to fly.’
The next time the arcans dive-bombed us I was ready.
I smashed into them, slicing and throwing to get them away from Gottyk.
Time and again, lap by lap, we improved.
When the arcans landed on Gottyk I didn’t even have to think.
I used the underside of the axe blade to hook under them and haul them off balance.
Once they staggered they were easy pickings for a follow-up.
Time blurred as I sank into the rhythm of the race.
I ignored the aches and pains from the attack and training.
I ignored the thoughts of how long was left.
Everything that wasn’t me, Gottyk and the circuit ahead fell away.
Josie’s voice became my consciousness – external thoughts that had me reacting before she’d even finished.
We crossed the finish line less than a second behind Theo. So close.