Page 58 of Tailwind

‘Shit!’ He was likely going to try and outfly the arcans when they flooded the circuit. He definitely had the dragon for it, and the skill. Gottyk and I would be the ones dealing with the full attention of the attack.

The rush of tree trunks either side of us became a wall of red as the forest became more dense, splitting the circuit.

I leaned left, leading Gottyk towards the medium route. Josie was right in her prediction – Jas flew straight ahead to cut through the shortest lane.

My heart leapt. I shook it off. I had to trust Josie for this to work. Just because Victrolia had chosen a different route didn’t mean we were making the wrong choice.

I blew out a breath and focused on weaving Gottyk through the trees, scanning the branches for the arsenal.

‘I’m not seeing anything!’

‘There’s an arsenal on the short route.’ Her voice was flat, clean of emotion. I’d heard that change before when we’d first made our plan on the train. She was holding it all in.

It stirred something inside me, but it wasn’t what I’d expected. Frustration was my go-to for messing up in a race, yet hearing Josie’s voice made me want to do the opposite.

I’d been flying in Volitant for two races now – not much, but that was two more than Josie. Looking back on my first race was nearly impossible, it was a blur of panic and disappointment.

I wouldn’t let Josie’s first race with me end up the same.

‘It’s fine. Plan B, Josie. Where do I go?’ I put as much confidence in my voice as possible. Remembering that Plan A hadn’t been the only option was more than I’d ever done by myself. Plan B was there for a reason and it would help to force Josie into action.

‘Short route might have enough left by the time you go around next, but the long route would be a guarantee. What do you think?’

Questions weren’t good. Not from a strategist. She was meant to have the answers. Josie did have the answers, she just needed to give them to me. Yelling I don’t know over the comms wasn’t going to do either of us any favours though.

‘What do the numbers say, Josie?’ A question I never thought I’d ask.

There was a pause over the comms while I chased down Jas. There was only a whip of the end of the Victrolia green’s tail visible at the corner ahead, but it was enough. I hadn’t fallen too far behind.

‘Probability is a point six versus a one. The lost time would be two seconds versus ten.’

‘Oh, come on. I’m going to need that a bit clearer.’ I ducked under a branch, still catching it with the tip of my helmet’s horns. I knew the long route was longer. What I didn’t know was what the knock-on effects were for the rest of the race.

‘Take the long route.’

My cheeks bunched up inside the helmet as I smiled. ‘Understood.’

Now we had the plan, I just had to get there.

Flashes of bronze caught the sun along the branches of the redwoods. The Victrolia arcans. If it weren’t for the thick-headed confidence Josie liked to tease me for I’d have been terrified. They were huge. They scurried along the interweaving trees, clawing their way up and down the trunks with ease. Modelled on the real-life bats that lived in the forest, except with a three-foot wingspan and made of metal and arcanite.

One of them leapt towards us from the branches above. I sank down, plastering myself against Gottyk’s back, feeling the proximity sensors roll across my back from right to left as it soared over me. I threw myself left for Gottyk to spin into a barrel roll.

He roared as the claws of the arcan scored the membrane of his wing. Once we straightened out I could see the paint of the sponsor logos cut through with red. My blood boiled.

‘How many are there?’

‘Sensors are picking up five along this straight.’

I chanced a glance over my shoulder and saw two more. They dive-bombed the blue, purple and green dragons behind me. Not only had the arcans found me, but so had the other riders.

By the time we’d made it back round four riders had overtaken us, dropping us down to sixth. Not having a weapon, frankly, sucked.

‘Prevere, Ballenir and Victrolia have gone through the short route. You’ve got the other Ballenir on your tail.’

Dark curls flashed in my mind’s eye.

‘Which one?’