Nysa stands up and gives her usual speech, thanking us for our hard work and saying each of us is a star in our own way. “Those who are selected tonight will be given an all-expenses-paid trip to the capital, Olona City, for the last round of competition. We hope you can all join us for the grand conclusion!”
The crowd screams, even though most of them could never afford a trip to the floating capital city.
I just want this to be over with.
Rinari grips my hand. There’s no denying that she deserves this. She’s worked hard.
Nysa lifts her sheet of paper and looks over the waiting contestants. She lists each name slowly, and the crowd cheers as each finalist step forward. The first three are all boys. Then she pauses before the last two names.
“I want to emphasize, again, how hard this decision was for all of us,” Nysa says, indicating her fellow judges. “But this is more than just a popularity contest. The judging panel doesn’t choose based on who we like the most, but who we think embodies the star quality we look for on Star Search. And remember, all of our decisions are final.”
I look over who’s left. Aloraal hasn’t been called, and I know her vocal fan group is here again tonight. They’re holding up signs with her name. Besides her, I’m not sure who is more popular with the crowd. Rinari is good. Maybe it will be both of them.
Nysa turns toward Rinari. “We didn’t want to split the two of you up, so Rinari and Amena, you’re our final two.”
I stand in shocked silence, staring at the judge. There’s no way I heard right.
Rinari squeals and yanks me forward to the front of the stage. “We did it!” she screams, right in my ear. “Amena, we made it to the finals!”
I blink for a moment and plaster a smile on my face. “I can’t believe it!” I turn and grab her arms, and we both jump up and down. “We’re going to the finals together?”
The crowd explodes to their feet. And for the moment, I don’t mind sharing the spotlight.
Round Three
I’m exhausted after the competition, but Uqra wakes me up after only a few hours of sleep. She insists we need to train harder now we’re going to the capital.
She waits for me by the window while I get dressed. “We have to be ready for anything.”
I grumble as I adjust my goggles over my face. “Can you tell me what we’re looking for? Like the person we were following the other night. How did you even know about them? And why did they have magic?”
Uqra looks back at me. “There are many gods. Your people number them five hundred, but there are countless divine beings, and they have many agendas. Most of them don’t work with humans, but some do.”
“Like Qachmy chose me.” My eyes widen. “So does that mean someone else is working for a different god? One who doesn’t agree with whatever Qachmy is planning?” I’ve heard of disagreements between the gods before, but this isn’t a legend—it’s my life.
Uqra turns her head away. “I can’t say much right now. I will reveal more when you’re ready.”
More dodging. I hold back for a moment. Getting caught up in an argument between two powerful, divine beings sounds like a good way for a mortal like me to end up dead. But so far, I haven’t had to do anything risky, and the rewards are clear. I’ve made it too far in Star Search to give up my dream now.
I climb up into the window and scan the area. “Alright, let’s go.”
Uqra hops onto my shoulder and points a wing toward a building across the street. “Good timing. Our target is on the move again.”
I whip my head around. She’s right, that shadowy figure is out there again, jumping across the roofs with obvious magic. How did Uqra know they’d be out there? But I don’t have time to question the quetzal bird. I scramble to catch up.
It would be easier to drop to the ground and run across the street, but that would get me spotted for sure. I make my way around the square on top of the buildings, trying to keep my eyes on my target. They’re heading in a new direction this time, south, toward the edge of the city.
The shadowy figure is moving slower this time, with a lot more caution in their movements, so I’m able to make up the distance. When I get closer, I can see the reason—they’re carrying something heavy. The same box they took from the ammunitions factory? Or something else? Is there a magical way to tell what they’re carrying? But if I can sense their magic, I’m afraid they can do the same. Just keep up without breaking my cover.
I haven’t been out this way before in Serynda, but I recognize the huge, arched buildings as we approach them. Airship hangars, larger than the ones in Pisan, and far more of them. Most ships in Pisan stop at the aerial docks long enough to load up and fly away. I know hangars protect airships from the elements when they’re not in use, but I’ve never been up close to see how one works.
My main problem right now is these buildings are not only large, there’s a lot of space between them so the airships can maneuver in and out of the doors. There’s not a lot of cover on the open field. It’s too far to jump, even with my magically enhanced strength.
I wait on top of the last building outside of the airfield. My target drops to the ground and creeps across, looking all around them as they go, so there’s no way I can follow. I swear, at one point when they’re halfway across, they turn back and look straight at me. I duck back behind the edge of the roof, but I don’t know if I was fast enough. My heart is pounding in my chest. They could have seen me.
When I dare to peek back around my hiding spot, the field is deserted.
I push up my goggles for a better look. “Where’d they go?”
Uqra’s head swivels back and forth. “They must have run for it. You need to find them.”
I curse under my breath. She would say that. “I don’t suppose there’s some way of disguising myself as a shadow or turning invisible with magic?” I mutter.
“No. Just go, before we lose them for good.”
I drop from the roof and make a final check of my surroundings. I’d never take this kind of risk in a heist I was planning. But like everything else in my life, I don’t get to make the call. I take a deep breath and run, bent over, as fast as I can toward where I last saw the target.
My heart beats faster and I’m panting harder than one of Bymonten’s breathing exercises. I make it across the field hearing no alarms. If there are guards around the airfield at night, I haven’t seen them. I lean against the hangar in the shadows to catch my breath. If you got me here by your blessing, Qachmy, I owe you a very large offering at your shrine.
The front doors of the hangar are huge with no way of opening without bringing attention, but I turn a corner and find a side door that’s more person-sized. I touch the lock, but there’s no tingle of magic.
“I don’t think they came this way,” I whisper to Uqra.
“Then you’ll just have to check all the others until you find them.”
I stifle a groan. It will take hours to go to each building, and every time I have to cross between them, I risk being seen again. “You sensed them coming out here somehow. Can’t you use some magic to see where they are now?”
Uqra sighs and flaps her wings. “It’s not magic. I just watched until I saw something suspicious. If you need the help, I’ll fly up for a better look, but keep moving down here.” She takes off from my shoulder.
I watch her glide up into the darkness, then head for the next hangar. If I keep to the shadows cast by the building, I can minimize my visibility for at least part of the way, but I’m still nervous. What happens if the target sees me? Will they just run away, or would they attack me for following them?
I check three more hangars, circling around each one to be sure I’ve found all the entrances. There’s nothing, and time is ticking.
I’m about to run to the next building when I see Uqra heading for me. I hold out my arm for her to land.
“It’s no good,” she says, shaking her head. “I just saw the target heading back into
town. Whatever they came out here to do, it’s done.”
I slump against the hangar wall. “So we came all the way out here for nothing?”
“You’ll just have to move faster next time.”
I wish a doorway could open up and take me straight back to my hotel room, but I know Qachmy won’t throw around that kind of magic, so I don’t even bother to ask. “If there’s a next time. We’re leaving the mainland tomorrow and I won’t be able to track the target anymore.”
Uqra looks up at the hangar. “I suspect our target might come to the capital with us. One of these airships will carry you tomorrow.”
The hair rises on the back of my neck. That would be an enormous coincidence, but that’s just how my luck’s going. Instead of complaining, I push myself up to my feet and look for the safest route to head back. Better get some sleep in the few hours I have left.
The day after the concert, the final five contestants are busy packing up to leave. For the last round of the competition, we’re all going to an even bigger arena—the concert hall in Olona. Yes, we’re taking an airship to one of the famous floating cities in the sky, to perform for an elite audience. I’ve got my chance to go up to a capital. I didn’t even have to get through Choosing Day. Mama must be proud.
I have little to pack, just the outfits that Bymonten picked out for me. He’s added more to my wardrobe, clothes styled in the latest city fashions so I’ll fit right in. It’s like a dream come true.
Uqra watches me fill my traveling trunk in the hotel room. “This is it, your big chance. Don’t forget your part of the bargain.”
I’m tempted to wad up the dress I’m holding and throw it at the bird’s head, but I place it in the trunk. “Like I could forget, with you hovering over me all the time,” I grumble.
“Now’s not the time to act ungrateful,” Uqra says, ruffling her wing feathers.
I slam the trunk lid closed and flop onto the bed. “I’m not ungrateful, I’m just tired of everyone demanding so much from me. You want me to sing about Qachmy, Deryt wants me to promote the rebellion—when do I ever get the chance to choose my own songs?”
“When you’ve fulfilled your obligations.”
I hold up a poster that Bymonten gave me, announcing a showcase for the finalists a few days before the last round of Star Search. “We’ll perform in the city, without being rated by the judges, singing the songs we’ve already done in competition. So I’ll do ‘Goddess of Love’ in front of a whole new audience. Will that be enough for her?”
Uqra looks at the poster and then back at me, tilting her head to one side. “It’s a good opportunity. But what about the final round? That will have the most people listening. Wouldn’t that be the best opportunity to dedicate a song to your goddess?”
“No, because I have to do some kind of emotional ballad, and Bymonten already told me that anything religious won’t cut it.” I flip open my notebook, where I’ve been trying to brainstorm song ideas. Qachmy and “freedom,” my code word for the rebellion, are already crossed off the list.
I need something fresh, something I haven’t already used in a song, or I’ll get called out by all the judges. Then I might as well kiss the competition goodbye. I didn’t think I would make it this far, but now I’m here, I want to know I did everything I could. I don’t have to win—we’ve heard that record companies are already eyeing up the final five, so I have a good shot at a contract. I have to show I can be popular in the big cities.
“Emotionally vulnerable” is the key phrase that Bymonten gave me for this song. He says he could find me many ballads I could use as a last resort if I can’t come up with something in time. But since my songwriting has gotten me this far, praised by Nysa, I should stick with that. It has to be different from the independent attitude from “Road to Freedom.” I need to show a softer side, one that appeals to traditional men like Osev. The thought of pleasing that old guy turns my stomach, but this is the game I’ve got to play.
Someone knocks on the door, interrupting my thoughts. I sit up in bed and wave for Uqra to fly out the window. One last check to make sure I haven’t left out anything secret. I say, “Come in.”
Rinari bounces in and looks around. “Is someone else in here? I thought I heard voices.”
I hold up my notebook. “Um, no, just talking to myself. Trying to come up with a new song.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that! We’ve got to go.” She looks at my trunk. “Are you packed and ready? Our airship leaves in less than an hour!”
I stand up and secure the latches on the trunk. “All done. I just need to take this downstairs.”
Rinari laughs. “Oh, don’t worry, a porter will collect our luggage.” She grabs my hand and pulls me to the door. “Let’s go find the others. I think they’re in the lobby.”
I slip my notebook into my satchel and let Nysa lead me away. We meet with the others in the lobby, and then our guide from Star Search takes us to the airship hangars on a horse-drawn trolley. Rinari is squealing and babbling about everything we see, and I can’t help but get caught up in the excitement. I’ve never flown before.
The sky is gray blue with puffy white clouds. I look up but I can’t see Olona above us. Smog makes it hard to see long distances.
Our airship looks brand new, its polished metal gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the open roof of the hangar. The gondola underneath is polished brass and steel, with a huge glass-windowed viewing deck at the front. The balloon which lifts the airship is rigid with white fabric stretched over a metal frame. It towers overhead, so high I can’t see the top. Huge propellers stick out on the back and sides.
Our guide stops at the stairs below the door and turns to us. “You have two choices for where you would like to spend the journey,” she says. “If you wish to see Olona City as we approach, you may go to the viewing deck. Or, if you get airsick or dizzy around heights, we have cabins prepared for you on board.”
Rinari looks over at me. “Where do you want to go? Viewing deck?” Her eyes sparkle.
I squeeze her hand and grin. “The viewing deck! I want to see everything!”
One boy asks for a cabin, but the other two join us in the viewing deck. The guide tells us to remain there for the duration of the journey so we don’t get in the way of the airship’s crew.
Being inside the airship makes me appreciate even more just how large this thing is. The viewing deck has a wrap-around window of the front and both sides, giving us a one hundred and eighty degree view, with clear glass soaring over two stories above our heads. There’re plush chairs and couches for us to lounge on while we wait, and servers circulate the room with drinks and fresh fruit.
Several other officials from Star Search are in the viewing deck, including Bymonten and the other assistants. The deck feels like it could hold a crowd three times our size. We’re getting the special treatment for this trip.
Rinari rushes up to the window and presses both of her hands against the glass. “The balloon is in the way of the view above us,” she says, craning her neck all around. “I’m sure we’ll get a good view of Olona when we’re in the air, though. Have you ever seen the capital from the ground before?”
I shake my head. “Pisan’s so far away. Can you see the floating city from here?”
“On a clear day, you can catch a glimpse in the distance.” Rinari drops into a chair. “You can only see the bottom. None of the buildings or anything interesting.”
I sit next to her and we both watch for our departure. The ship rumbles, a low thrumming through the floor as the engines start, but otherwise I can’t feel a thing as the ground drops away from us and we float up into the sky.
The air grows clearer as we rise. The smog clings to the ground, even on a high mountain peak like Serynda’s, so it thins out the higher you go.
Soon we can see the hangar roof, then the whole airship field, and then the entire city of Serynda stretches out below us. The buildings shrink until they look like toys scat
tered on the ground. I never got the chance to see most of Serynda, but I’m getting an eyeful now. The smog hangs like a thick blanket of gray over everything. Beyond the city, the farmland spreads like patchwork, all the different colors of crops in their neat little rows.
My eyes are still fixed on the ground when Rinari gasps and nudges me. “Look up,” she whispers.
The first glimpse of the capital appears through the clouds. It looks like a mountain, except upside-down, with the peak pointed at us. The base is all jagged rock. Birds have built nests in every available crevice, and flocks are swooping and diving between them.
There’s no hint of the magic that keeps the city in the air. I don’t know what I’m looking for—in my limited experience with magic, it seems like other people can’t see when I’m using it, so maybe none of us can see this spell. But it seems strange that such a huge phenomenon, to have an entire city defy gravity, could manage not to leave any trace. It looks like it’s resting on the smog, but that’s impossible.
The airship continues to rise as it gets closer to the city. Now the walls are coming into view, made of immense blocks of stone fit so close together that I can’t make out the seams between them. The thick walls circle around the entire city of Olona so it feels like a fortress.
“They can’t see down,” I say with a sudden jolt of realization. “The walls block any view.”
Rinari glances over at me. “What does that mean?”
I clear my throat. “Uh, I heard somebody say once that the people in the cities are looking down on us, like they’re flaunting their superiority up here in the clouds. But they can’t see the mainland at all.”
“Huh, I guess not.” Rinari cranes her neck to look at the ground, so far away from us I can only make out the shape of mountains and valleys. “They’re so high up they couldn’t see us, anyway. But it seems a shame to waste a good view.”
“Do you think people go up on the walls to look?”
Bymonten looms up behind me. “The walls are for safety,” he says. “There are strong winds near the edge, and it’s a long fall.”
Amena’s Rise to Stardom: Divine Warriors #0 Page 7
