Page 141 of Tailwind

We shot into the darkness for the last time. I leaned with Gottyk, following his lead. The bright blue glow from the edges of Theo’s armour dropped into place beside me. I allowed myself the pleasure of gloating. I turned my head, making sure the bright white glow from my visor was facing Theo.

Two blue spots of light returned my gaze. We were nothing but white and blue silhouettes in the darkness, but we didn’t need more to know exactly what the other was thinking.

Especially when I lifted a hand off the reins to salute Theo. My body felt ten times lighter knowing he was fuming at my audacity.

My helmet whirred softly as my visor shifted again. This time to dim my vision as the lights of the arcanite maze flooded my eyes. When I blinked away the dancing spots, there was no one beside me.

I’d overtaken Theo.

‘That’s my boy!’ I clapped Gottyk on the shoulder blade, taking the reins back up again.

My heart swelled. It had been a long time since his first shaky leap into the air and I was so proud of every leap he’d made since.

‘The caves are nearly full.’ Josie’s voice joined us in the dark. ‘You’ll need to lap Thorne and Boll and overtake Ruan and Potts. Take Bach’s route from lap ten in fifty-six.’

I blew out a whistle. That was asking a lot. Volitant regulations made it so those in last place should move out of my way when I came around, but I had no faith in them following the rules for me. I hadn’t exactly endeared myself to Gordi Boll lately and Thorne … he’d suggested that I wouldn’t even be finishing my race.

I directed Gottyk through the first section, mindful of Theo on my tail. The route Josie had mentioned required sticking to the far side of the giant cave, but had fewer obstructions. Once we got there we had a real shot.

‘Thorne is in the path to your left. Watch out when you exit.’

I glanced to the side, my visor working overtime to dull the pink-white arcanite light. Between the gaps in the stones I could see flashes of orange. It was too early to worry about him. Our lanes wouldn’t converge until we reached the other side of the cave.

Fire erupted in front of us. I crouched as we flew through it. My suit went crazy – the cooling augments flooded the system while the proximity sensors on my left made my skin tingle from the intensity.

Thorne was on us. The talons of his dragon scraped across the top of my helmet. Even ducked as I was, there was hardly room for all of us as we banked around towards the rear of the cave.

‘What the actual fuck?’ I roared into comms. ‘Did he just blast through the stones? Is he fucking stupid?’

Josie knew how to translate angry riders. ‘I’ve reported it, Lena. Keep pushing. Ditch the bastard.’

Hearing her swear over comms soothed my own anger – a little. She may still have had her cool tone, but her cold fury balanced my own explosive brand.

My right hand flexed. I itched to defend with my axe, but I’d end up in as much trouble as Thorne if I drew my weapon in the caves. Not to mention I’d be risking his dragon.

He didn’t feel the same way.

Thorne lowered down, forcing Gottyk’s feet to scrape along the column of arcanite beneath us. He hardly had room to flap his wings.

‘He’d better get disqualified for this!’ I channelled my rage away from the fight I so desperately wanted to rise to. ‘I swear, if he doesn’t even get a penalty I’ll punch—’

I bit myself off. Threatening anyone over public comms wasn’t a good idea.

We passed the centre of the cave. The biggest piece of arcanite that hung down for at least a mile was now behind us. Dozens of smaller ones overlapped my path and Thorne blocked my exits by flying close. He’d completely lost his mind.

‘Oh, shit!’ A solution had materialized.

While I remembered everything Bach had done, I also did my best to remember everything he’d said too. I tilted Gottyk up, trying to make as much room below us as possible.

‘Lena, what are you doing? There’s no space to force him up.’

‘I have a plan – lap seventeen, forty-six.’ If Thorne was going to act like an idiot, so was I.

‘Forty-six? Bach didn’t start until fifty-one …’ Josie trailed off. I could hear paper flipping in the background.

If my hero didn’t hold a solution to my problem I would use the next best thing: his hero.

‘The best year for racing, Josie. Last race of the season, Writter took a shortcut.’