Page 142 of Tailwind

‘No! Lena, don’t you dare!’ She understood now, but it was too late for her to argue.

The gap was there. I focused on it. The place where three columns met, leaving an accidental tunnel between them. Big enough for one small dragon and one small rider. Going for that gap – that was the difference between flying and racing.

I nudged Gottyk, placing a hand on his shoulder to ensure he understood.

He did. Using the space we’d created he ducked, twisting into the tunnel. One flap of his wings was all we had time for before we were plummeting down. The arcanite walls got closer. They pinned his wings in. Time stretched out as we held position, an arrow piercing through the air, while an inch in the wrong direction would destroy us.

The comms were silent. Josie knew better than to make me flinch in here. It was only me and Gottyk. I tried to let confidence flow out of me, hoping my dragon could feel it. I flexed my hand on his shoulder to help, but my knuckles sparked as they caught the arcanite. A split second of contact and the armour plate on my hand was nearly gone.

My eyes started to lose focus as panic shot through me. It wasn’t just me in here – I’d put Gottyk in danger. My hand trembled as I flattened it as close to him as I could.

Gottyk rumbled. I could feel it everywhere – through my hand, the reins and in my calves where I clamped down on his sides. He was soothing me. My dragon was plummeting to the ground, through giant arcanite so powerful it made my bones cry … and he was comforting me.

I closed my eyes, feeling the rush.

‘Thank you, buddy.’

Light dimmed.

I opened my eyes. The visor did its job, adjusting the world around me. The arcanite was gone – we were out of the cave and into open air. We’d made it!

‘Ten-second penalty!’ Josie was harried for the first time.

So they’d finally decided to punish Thorne for his dangerous flying. Good. I directed us upwards, turning on to the island once again.

‘It should be twenty for what he did!’ I unhooked the hilt from my back, lighting up my axe as we shot into the Monument Yard.

‘To clarify,’ Josie continued, her voice pitching, ‘you have a ten-second penalty for the Writter move. You need to hurry now.’

‘Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!’ I let out a stream of expletives that would have to be censored on the race cast. I sent an arcan to the ground in two pieces.

‘Lena,’ Josie yelled through the comms. ‘Shut up and fly! You’re in first place!’

My whole body stuttered.

Gottyk dodged around the base of an ancient dragon statue. We were nearly out of the Monument Yard.

‘What?’ I asked, but I hadn’t tapped into comms. I blinked, waking up from the news. I was in first place. That was incredible – but I had a ten-second penalty. It would be added to my time, forcing my position back behind everyone who finished within ten seconds of me.

Now I understood why Josie was panicking.

Volitant didn’t want me to win this race. Just like Thorne, they didn’t like it when I showed them up. They clearly didn’t know me very well. If they had been paying attention they would have known their plan wouldn’t work. Because if there was one thing that spurred me on … it was proving people wrong.

Under my visor I was grinning like never before. My hands gripped the reins, my head ducked low and my dragon fought to take us over the finish line. I stowed my axe and made myself as small as possible, tucking down behind Gottyk’s spikes.

We shot out of the forest and on to the plateau. I could see the finish line. My visor let me track it, rapidly getting closer.

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.