CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE #2
It vanished behind us. We skidded on the stone. Gottyk’s talons sent sparks flying as he spun around to a full stop.
I started counting down, searching the faraway treeline for movement. Blissful silence rolled over me until I reached six.
Five. Ellas Ruan rushed forward, almost camouflaged in Victrolia green.
Four. Purple burst out behind him – Theo.
Three. My visor started to pick out the golden light of the Victrolia armour shining against the green scales of Ellas’s dragon.
Two. Quinn emerged from the forest.
One …
Ellas landed.
Noise exploded in my ears. The comms were open, the cheering from the Kiestral crew flooded into my helmet.
Orange uniforms filled the plateau, rushing at us.
Then they were surrounding me. I slipped from Gottyk’s back, keeping one hand on him to steady myself.
My legs trembled as my feet crunched against the ground.
Every bit of adrenaline that had kept me going during the race drained away.
Not that I needed to hold myself much longer – the Kiestral crew swept me up.
As I was lifted on to their shoulders I watched the same thing happen in green and purple, either side of me, as the Victrolia and Ballenir teams welcomed their riders and dragons back to the finish line.
I’d won. Everything I’d done had been worth it. Everything Josie had done had been worth it. Trusting Theo had actually helped. Bach Lotiere had made sure I was ready. After the doubt, the frustration, the anger … it had all turned out okay.
I hauled off my helmet, sucked in the fresh air and looked at Gottyk. His warm brown eyes watched me over the heads of our team.
‘We did it.’ I whispered it, but I knew he could hear me. In that moment it felt like I could be thrown across the continent and my dragon would still be by my side.
‘That was the most reckless, chaotic, out-of-order flying I’ve ever seen in my life.’
The jostling of the crew stopped as they froze collectively. I was lowered down to the ground. The crew parted to make way for Bach. His face was as stoic as ever, his thick blond brows straight, the piercing blue eyes looking into my soul.
He walked to me, making the Kiestral crew back off, and placed a hand on my shoulder.
‘Which makes it a very effective argument for this to be the greatest year of racing.’ He cracked a smile.
The wind was knocked out of me as the colours of the other teams blended with ours. Theo barrelled into me, throwing his arms around my shoulders and pulling me into a hug. I could only glimpse Colly as he bounced into view with Quinn lifted up on to his shoulders.
The rest of the dragons must have landed, because the cast crews swarmed around us, sending the celebration across the continents.
‘Congratulations,’ Theo whispered into my ear, hardly audible over the crowd. ‘I totally let you overtake me. You know that, right?’
I pulled away enough to see his face and thump a fist on his chest. ‘You’re a dickhead, you know that, right?’
He gave me the full Vaspre smile experience. The eyes, the dimples, the teeth … and it was genuine. Both of us would be on the podium for the last race of the season. It had taken five long years, but finally I could celebrate with him, like I’d always wanted.
I looked around for the person I needed to see the most. Josie hadn’t come to see me, maybe lost in the sea of people.
It threw me off. Suddenly the celebration felt false.
I needed to throw my strategist in the air while she complained.
I needed to crush my best friend’s ribs and tell her how happy I was to have her … but she wasn’t there.
Something was wrong.
As the crew celebrated, showering Gottyk with attention, I pulled myself away from the crush.
I pushed through, feeling the heavy pats on my back from everyone I passed until the crowd thinned.
Only the casting crews followed me, getting ready to ask me inane questions before I reached the podium to get the trophy.
I couldn’t do that without Josie.
‘Josie?’ I lifted my helmet back up and spoke into the comms, unsure whether she was still on the other end.
‘Yeah, I’m here.’ She was quiet. I could barely hear her over the din of everyone else.
Something was very, very wrong.
‘Lena, they gave you a penalty,’ she said.
I pushed my helmet up a little, getting the comms closer for her to hear me. ‘Yeah, I know. I counted before Ellas landed. He was over ten seconds behind.’ I turned around, looking for her.
I shouldered a pushy caster aside and saw her, standing alone. One hand was to her ear for the comms, the other was nearly breaking a pencil in half. I rushed over, gripping on to her arms.
‘We won.’
She shook her head.
‘We won,’ I insisted.
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes.
‘They gave you—’ Her voice was hoarse. ‘They gave you more. Lena, the Volitant team have the whole rule book out. They’re not letting it happen.’
‘But we won.’ I felt so weak, my arms trembled as I felt my grip on her arms lessen.
‘They took it away, Lena.’
The gravity of the situation started to sink in. ‘How many more?’
There was silence between us for a long, horrible moment.
‘Five,’ she said.
‘Another five seconds.’ I scrambled to do the calculations in my head. My heart sank. ‘Second, then. Maybe third.’
It wasn’t what I wanted. It wasn’t what I needed. Hough had said she wanted a winner. I was still on the podium in the top three, but that wasn’t in the contract.
‘No,’ she said. ‘Five more penalties.’
Something inside me snapped.
‘For what?’ I whipped around, searching the crowd for the right person to yell at. I spotted him. ‘This isn’t over, Josie. Let’s go.’
I shouldered my way through the crowd, going toward the Victrolia team where Abel Gallin, Chair of Volitant Chroma, was congratulating Ellas.
‘Hey!’ I yelled at him. He kept his back turned, even as the crowd offered me pats on the back, more tentative now they saw the thunder rolling on my face. ‘Gallin!’
Ellas saw me first, a frown already on his face. Gallin glanced over his shoulder then turned back to the champion. He wasn’t interested.
‘Five more penalties? Really? Does that put me where you want me? Out of your way?’ I was right behind him now, my eyes barely level with his shoulders.
‘If you want to appeal Volitant’s decision, Miss Paldon, you can do so via your team liaison.’ He barely acknowledged me as he spoke, but it caught the attention of Ellas.
‘You got another penalty?’ Post-race was the only time his perfect image was disturbed. His hair was at odds with itself, not knowing which direction to pick. Still, it didn’t lessen the intimidating effect of his steady eyes as he asked me the question.
‘Five more. Throwing me off the podium entirely.’ My chest heaved up and down. My body was preparing for another post-race fight, but I couldn’t do that here. No one would hire me if I punched Abel Gallin.
The casting crews around us clamoured for answers. The density of people grew tighter. I reached out behind me, Josie was still there. She gave my arm a squeeze.
‘Lena didn’t break any rules. Using the gap isn’t restricted. There are no rules against it in the book and there isn’t anything else she’s done to warrant that kind of penalty.’ I set my jaw, more determined now Josie had found her voice.
Gallin raised his hands, palms out towards us.
My anger heightened. ‘Girls, please. If you have an issue with the decisions made by the Volitant ruling body, make an appeal. I know this is your first race, so I will forgive your inappropriate insistence, but this is what the process is for. Take it to your team liaison.’
I could feel it happening again. The fire that kept me going, the one that fuelled my racing and my will to fight … it was burning out. I’d thrown everything into the race and they were smothering what was left of me afterwards.
‘We can appeal. They can’t do this.’ Josie whispered into my ear, but I could hear her faltering too.
The crowd shifted as the winning riders went to the podium.
The short stage had been erected by the finish line, with three red-carpeted steps for the winners to stand on.
Ellas put a hand on Theo’s shoulder, speaking to him as they went up.
Quinn was being shepherded forward, his dark red brows knitted together in confusion.
Theo looked out towards me. I ducked my head down. I didn’t want him to see me withering. I didn’t even want to watch the celebrations, but I couldn’t move. Josie was still reeling rule adjustments and regulations for appeals, stuck in a loop of outrage.
The music began, drawing the crowd in and letting the fans at home know the awards were starting.
‘Welcome to the final podium of the season!’ Cooke strode on to the dais, arms wide with his mic tucked into the flower on his lapel. ‘Please join me in celebrating our Sky Pillar race winners.’
‘I have to get out of here,’ I said to Josie. Emotion was threatening to overwhelm me and I could see the casters and media crews starting to search for someone – me.
We ducked out of the crowd, avoiding the stairs up and heading to the base of the Sky Pillar. I could feel eyes following us as we did. It wouldn’t be long before I became the centre of attention again. For all the wrong reasons … again.
The cool dim of the interior of the pillar wrapped around me as we entered. A moment of reprieve from the circus outside. The crumbling walls cast warped shadows as they blocked the windows. We could make our way up to Kiestral headquarters through here and stay away from the media.
I put my arm around Josie, giving her a half-hug that didn’t come close to fixing our problems.
‘Are you happy now?’
Our peace was short-lived, because waiting for us in the darkness was Thorne.