Page 111 of Tailwind

‘Why are you surprised? They started scouting from the Wyvern Cup in our last year – this is an extension of the same thing.’

‘Thanks for the reminder.’ It’s not like I could forget the one chance I’d had to get into Volitant.

‘Theo!’ A very enthusiastic man came speed-walking towards us, brandishing lanyards.

‘Be nice,’ Theo muttered under his breath, holding on to my elbow like I was about to launch myself at the stranger.

It was an overreaction, I wasn’t feral. Sure, I had to constantly temper my urge to hit Theo, but he was a special case.

‘Ben! How are you, man?’ Theo greeted the very smiley Ben with a firm handshake, returning the smile with added dimples.

‘So good, especially now you’re both here.’ He looped the coloured cords over our heads, letting the cards on the end dangle.

Mine had my name on, along with the track logo – all in Ballenir purple. It was odd to be in another team’s colours. I looked to my side and saw Theo’s version. It was odd to be matching with him again too.

‘We’ve got a group. They’re all about eight to twelve, and they’re here for a track day. So be as inspiring as possible and please, please, no swearing.’ As fast as he’d arrived, Ben shuffled away.

Theo nudged me into following.

As we walked down to the track proper, I looked around for anyone other than the staff, kids and guardians. ‘How will anyone even know I’m here. Doesn’t it kind of defeat the point?’

Theo shook his head. ‘Don’t worry about it, word will get out.’

‘How?’

He grinned. ‘You’re about to see.’

A gaggle of children dressed in tiny race suits spotted us. Exclamations burst from them as they ran at us. In an instant I was surrounded. Some of them only came up to my shoulder, others nearly matched my height. They talked at top speed over one another.

I was instantly taken back to that age – me and Theo arguing over the last pastry at dinner, both of us excitedly explaining the race to Pops from our own perspectives, Cam looking completely wiped out after being our escort for the day.

‘Nice to meet you all.’ I couldn’t tell if they heard me over their own chattering.

I thought it odd that Theo expected word of this to spread via the power of a dozen children, but then I saw their parents.

They dripped with accessories, their hair was slicked or quaffed to perfection and their clothes were all brandless, like my new ones. Part of me, the little girl inside, wanted to recoil. They were dressed in more modern clothes, but they were the same as they always had been – the kinds of parents that had complained about me being there on track. My heart picked up pace as they fussed after their children.

‘Remember to smile,’ Theo whispered to me as he was pulled in two directions by competing young racers.

My natural instinct to being told to smile was to do the opposite. Then I saw the light catch in the hands of the adults – I switched up my expression as fast as I could.

‘Oh, darling, stand next to them and look over here!’ One of them raised an actual casting orb and pointed it right at me. The kid next to me waved to them while he pulled a face, then went right back to buzzing around.

‘Is that—?’

Theo replied over the tops of the kids’ heads. ‘Yep, same as the journos have. Not just still casts anymore, they can record too.’

Cam had taken plenty of stills once she’d got her hands on a second-hand augment, but casting orbs in the hands of parents? These were some of the richest people from the continents, here to make the dreams of their kids come true. From the accents of the kids, there were families from not just the Crescent, but the north and south continents too. It had been the same when I was a kid – it was how I’d met Theo in the first place.

‘Okay, gang!’ Ben clapped his hands together. ‘Let’s get started!’

I expected to be abandoned as the young riders rushed to the stables for their drakes, but instead I felt a tug on my hand. One of the smaller kids was pulling on my arm.

‘Those look like my grandma’s clothes.’ A little girl whose head only just came up to my elbow looked up at me with all the genuine earnestness of a child. Despite the innocent look of big blue eyes and wispy blonde hair she’d managed to tell me I dressed like an old woman.

‘Your race suit looks like mine shrank in the wash.’ Trading fashion insults with a kid didn’t make me proud, but it was better than nothing.

Luckily, she giggled. ‘Come on. You can help me beat the boys.’