Page 14 of Tailwind

Fast and fair.

As much as the words were unbidden they were even more unwelcome. My fingers grazed against the racing number painted on to my helmet. I felt hollow inside as the seconds crept by without the familiar mantra being spoken aloud, even though they had turned out to be a lie.

‘Ten seconds to launch.’

I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. My ankles could feel Gottyk’s chest expand and contract as he did the same. I matched my next breath to his and leaned forward, getting into position. I reopened my eyes and every feeling washed away. Emotions could come back later.

There was no telltale hiss of the flare from beyond the waterfall, but a faint red light trailed upwards all the same. Then it bloomed. A single small pop made it through the sound of crashing water.

Gottyk catapulted us forwards.

My bones shook as my flight suit absorbed as much of the waterfall’s force as it could. I barely avoided slamming my face into Gottyk’s shoulder blades as I was pushed down in the saddle. His wings tucked in tight around my legs, turning him into an arrow of orange scales to pierce the water.

After a split second of chaos the sky opened up around us. If I’d had any breath left it would have been taken away by the view.

All around the lip of the canyon basin were the grandstands full of people. Their bright jewel-coloured clothes pulled the focus of my visor. A new lens seamlessly shifted into place, focusing my vision hundreds of feet away across the basin.

Looking up at them as we plummeted down was my first mistake.

My vision was horrifically blurred when I looked back to the circuit. Flashes of colour from the other dragons merged, leaving me with no idea of who to chase or avoid. The visor shifted again, but it didn’t stop my gut from lurching.

My suit began buzzing to the left of my lower back.

‘Already?’ I muttered to myself.

The light vibrations in the lower back of my suit were letting me know that there was a dragon and rider just behind us to the left. I fought the urge to check. I’d never flown with proximity sensor augments before, but I knew better than to twist my neck while flying at high speed.

I urged Gottyk onwards to the gap in the cliff wall that led to the rest of the circuit. If whoever was behind me kept pace, we’d be fighting for a gap only big enough for one dragon – and not at full wingspan either.

I pulled back on the reins, enough pressure for Gottyk to level out. We’d gained speed from the plummet but we’d need to save some height for the move through the gap. His wings caught the wind and we surged over the air pockets at a far slower speed.

The proximity sensor increased its intensity. Without training in the suit all I knew was that they’d closed the gap. Gottyk pumped his wings and the basin wall approached at a rapid pace. I’d watched this race enough times to know my options.

I crossed each side of the reins over and tugged. Gottyk tilted his head to the side. His neck followed, then his spine and tail. In just a moment we were flying sideways, dramatically reducing our width from forty feet to under eight. I ducked, despite there being more than enough room as we swept through the gap.

Purple flashed underneath us. The proximity sensors in my boots went wild, unsettling my feet from the stirrups. The other dragon had overtaken us while pulling the same sideways move.

Theo. I grunted out my frustration. He’d launched from the zone just behind us and had managed to pick up more speed to this first choke point.

I spewed some foul language in his honour.

‘Drop to P6.’ The comms came through loud and clear. Less than thirty seconds into the race and I’d gone from fifth place to sixth.

Theo’s overtake woke up every nerve in my body. It was like I’d been asleep for years, walking through life slow and stagnant. Not anymore.

Theo may have gone ahead, but there was a whole race in front of us to determine who would win and lose. I had Gottyk push hard as we wove through the first lap. The tall yellow cliffs only had enough space for two dragons to fly side by side at most, making the space above and below seem infinite in comparison.

Before we reached the lake basin again the circuit split into three branches: long, medium and short routes.

Hector chimed in right on time. ‘Arsenal available on the long route.’

What I was trading for time by taking the long route I would gain back later. I lowered Gottyk down to the river on the canyon floor and skimmed the water. Above us the cliff walls narrowed, casting us into gloom and claustrophobia. We wouldn’t be able to pull up for a while.

Luckily what I was looking for wasn’t up, it was down. I let Gottyk determine the pace and manoeuvring while I scanned the edges of the riverbank. The exact location changed every year, but the rules kept the basics the same.

There it was – the first arsenal. A weapon cache stowed away behind a set of boulders, the hilts poking up into the air the only clue to its hidden location.

I loosened the straps holding me to the saddle and leaned to the right, giving myself more and more slack as I drifted as close as I could to Gottyk’s belly.