The whistle blew and the tamers ripped through the air on the back of their flying Minakai. Skrow and Windjinn, carrying Aurin and Luna, respectively, were near the head of the pack, but Aurin deliberately chose not to stay in first. The route they’d been given was not short and he wanted to save Skrow’s energy for the second half of the race.

  “Too slow,” giggled Luna, poking him in the side before Windjinn tore ahead, carrying his tamer into third place.

  Aurin smiled after her, knowing that his strategy would pay off. In a foot race, keeping an earlier lead would be to his advantage, but not in the sky, and certainly not with Minakai. As long as he could maintain his hold around Skrow’s neck, the undead bird could outsprint any of his competitors without question. All he needed was to harness his air element. Any non-air elemental was at a significant disadvantage in this event, and some of them would soon find out just how disadvantaged they were.

  The group of racers flew over the town, making a beeline for Harmony Tower. Once they had circled it, they had to circle the clocktower by the river, and only then could they make for the finish line. There were several watches hovering at various points throughout the course, all keeping a careful eye on the competitors to assure there was no skipping the milestones.

  “Keep it steady,” Aurin said to Skrow. The bird monster said nothing, keeping his entire focus on the race. He was feeling light and breezy, but he knew he would need the rest of his strength once he rounded the tower.

  No more than two minutes after the race began, the first of the fliers reached Harmony Tower. In succession, they curved around it, some taking it in a wide arc, and others daring a sharp turn. Aurin was the seventh to round it, and he was feeling good about his chances. He could see Luna up ahead in third place, but she was picking up the pace.

  “I think we’ve warmed up enough,” Aurin said to Skrow and the bird stormed ahead, conjuring a heavy gust behind him that propelled him forward faster than any of the other Minakai were going.

  There came a scream and Aurin saw a figure falling from the back of a Fyrvern. Someone had fallen and was plummeting rapidly.

  “Catch her!” Aurin called to Skrow, leaping from the back of his Minakai and holding his tamer glove high. He felt his heart rising as he too fell, but Quetzel spawned beneath him and he landed on her back. Relieved that it had worked, he watched Skrow with bated breath. He saw the black bird swoop low and catch the back of her jacket in his beak. He decelerated as he approached the ground and landed safely on the path at the edge of town.

  Aurin flew down with Quetzel to meet Skrow, who was standing over the unconscious girl. She was fair skinned with red hair that was a little less intense than Luna’s shade. She had no freckles to speak of, but she was cute. Likely no older than Aurin himself. She continually clenched her eyes shut for half a minute before slowly opening them.

  “Good job, Skrow,” Aurin said. He ordered Quetzel to alert the nearest watcher by Harmony Tower. He then turned to the girl who looked groggy. “Are you alright?”

  “I… I think so,” she said, groaning as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. “What happened?”

  “All I saw is you falling from your Fyrvern,” said Aurin, looking up. “I don’t see it anywhere.”

  The girl clenched her fist and summoned Fyrvern to her side. The red wyvern let out a wild roar and then nuzzled at her affectionately.

  “What’s your name?” asked Aurin.

  “Ruby,” said the girl, smiling weakly at him. “And you’re Aurin, aren’t you?”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Yeah, that’s me alright.”

  “How did you catch me in time?” asked Ruby, looking up at him in disbelief.

  “Skrow did that. I jumped from him so he could go at his maximum speed. I summoned in Quetzel to catch me.”

  Ruby unsteadily climbed to her feet. “You could have died!” she said, a look of guilt washing over her. “You shouldn’t have done that for someone you don’t even know.”

  “You could have died too,” said Aurin with a shrug. “And here we are, both still alive.”

  There came the beating of wings above as a watcher descended on a Rainbird alongside Aurin’s Quetzel. “Is anybody hurt?” asked the watcher.

  “No, everything is okay,” said Ruby. “I’m just a little embarrassed, that’s all.”

  As the watcher checked Ruby over for any injuries, Aurin stood by. He wondered whether she had simply fallen or there was an act of sabotage. It wouldn’t be the first time another competitor caused trouble in Tamer Day, but he had hoped things would be a bit more closely monitored this time.

  He dreaded to think what would have happened had he not saved Ruby. Friends robbed of a friend, a family robbed of a daughter or a sibling. It made him glad that he trained so hard that he could save her, but he was also relieved he had employed his race strategy that kept him behind her.

  If he had been at the front of the crowd, Ruby would likely be dead or dying. He knew that Skrow and Quetzel would certainly be eating their favourite meals tonight. He would dive into the river and catch the fish personally if he had to.

  *

  “This is why I’m growing increasingly opposed to these grand spectacles,” sighed Knot, shaking his head in exasperation. “When I became Chief, I was hoping to keep things in quiet order. We sorely need that around these parts.”

  “Do you really think someone attacked Ruby over a stupid race?” asked Gardner.

  “Remember the street race last year?” asked Aurin.

  “Yeah… yeah, that’s true,” sighed Gardner.

  Knot scowled. “Her Minakai’s side was bruised, but the stupid wyvern can’t tell us what happened, and Ruby herself doesn’t remember anything after circling Harmony Tower until she woke up. And my goodness, it isn’t even lunchtime yet. I’m in half a mind to shut Tamer Day down.”

  “You can’t do that over what may well have been an accident!” cried Jimmy.

  “Do you know it was an accident?” asked Knot. “Hmm? Because we can’t say for certain.”

  “It doesn’t seem like much of a grand conspiracy,” said Luna. “I know that’s what we often lean into after Zodiac made us all paranoid to death, but sometimes these things just happen. At the very least, Ruby is alright.”

  “Did anybody else see who was racing close to her?” asked Emily.

  “Nope,” said Luna, shaking her head.

  “Well, of course not, you charged on ahead and won. I meant anybody on the ground.”

  Knot scratched his chin. “There’ll be somebody who got it on video, even if it’s from a distance. I’ll ask around and see what I can find out.”

  “Isn’t that the work of a detective and not the chief?” asked Kyle.

  “Sitting back and doing nothing isn’t in my wheelhouse, Kyle. You should know that by now. I’ll get to the bottom of this eventually.”

  Knot departed, leaving the others in the town square where the festivities continued in full swing. Precious few people knew about Ruby’s fall, and even fewer cared once they found out she was alright. As the afternoon settled in, there were four more events to follow, but Aurin wasn’t in the mood to participate in his next one.

  When he informed Shamtile of this, the masked lizard began slapping him on the legs, desperately trying to change his mind. It was only when Aurin finally grew annoyed enough that he relented. He did, however, dismiss Tuptup back to the ranch and summon Dolissile in his place. The stoic cybernetic dolphin was the perfect monster to keep an eye on things, for he was not easily distracted.

  “Where is the dexterity contest?” asked Luna, eager to cheer Aurin on. She had competed in all of her events already, finishing second in the pageant, first in the water race, and first in the aerial race.

  “At the front of the church,” said Gardner, gesturing ahead. “Shall we?”

  “Graww!” screeched Shamtile, bouncing high. He threw his fists up with each successive bounce, making no secret of his glee.

  “After all this fuss, you had better win,” said Aurin, smiling at his Minakai.

  Although he was smiling, he could not help but think about the possibility that someone had knocked Ruby from her Minakai on purpose. Gardner said she grew up here, moved away a few years back, and only returned a few weeks ago.

  It struck Aurin as odd that she would be targeted randomly and he had a suspicion that her attack was not due to seeking victory in the race. Attacking someone on the ground was one thing, but a Minakai while its tamer was riding it fifty feet above the ground? Who would be insane enough to kill over a race. Something wasn’t adding up and, like Knot, Aurin was overcome with the desire to get to the bottom of it.

  right here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: