by Katie Pottle
“That was smooth,” Sun said.
Lep was in second place with the girl now two angel-lengths in front of him. Freddy and the second blue Aura angel gained on Lep as they entered the tunnel.
“Go, Lep!” Sun shouted. The racers emerged from the tunnel—and both blue Aura racers were now in front of Lep. Freddy had fallen behind with the other racers and appeared winded.
The contenders arced beautifully with the curve of the Flyway leading to the home-stretch. Even with Lep so far away, Cadin recognized the determined hardness of his expression.
“He’s got this,” Cadin said as he watched Lep pump his wings. Lep passed the first blue Aura in front of him and was gaining on the girl who had maintained the lead the entire time after her diving start. They approached the finish line quickly and ended so close to each other that Cadin didn’t know who won.
Cadin, Sun and Bart ran up as the racers scattered across the landing zone below the Flyway.
Judy, the Flyway director in the red vest, flew down to them with a handheld machine. “That was a close one!” She grinned as she approached Lep and the blue Aura girl. Judy turned to the girl first. “Congratulations on winning first place!”
“Oh, man!” Lep said. “I thought I had you!” He smiled at the girl and shook her hand. “Good race.”
“Thanks, you too. I’m exhausted.” The blue Aura winner ran over to her friends after retrieving her I.D. from Judy.
“And stick your card in the slot to receive half a credit for placing second,” Judy said to Lep.
Freddy wandered over and Cadin patted him on the back.
“Rematch?” Lep asked.
“Maybe later,” Freddy answered. “I want to check out more of the games and some of the vendors. But first, let’s see your I.D.”
“What, oh right!” Lep pulled the lanyard over his head and handed over the card.
Cadin stepped to the side of Freddy to take a look. One bright white light glowed at the bottom of one of the vertical strips.
“Nice,” Freddy said as he handed it back. “But watch out next time, I’ve got a plan.”
As they wandered, their group grew and shrunk as people would recognize them and join them for a bit while others would find something interesting and head off to investigate.
“Do you know where Sun went off to?” Lep asked the remainders.
Bart shook his head, mouth too full of something green to answer.
“I think she went to go check out more venders,” Cadin said. “Over there I think.” He squinted against the afternoon sunlight.
“Let’s go and find her before we head back.”
Cadin was tempted to stop by a few more vendors as they entered the outer circle of the Competitors’ Village as he had yet to spend any of his money; however, Lep kept pulling him towards any yellow Aura around.
“Found ya!” Lep exclaimed as he spun a girl by her shoulder who turned out not to be Sun. “Oh, shoot! Sorry!” Lep said, backing away from the girl who was reaching towards her bow.
Cadin spotted the Blue Arch in the distance as they hurried around the corner, away from the offended girl.
“Mom?” Cadin approached a large tent with several tables.
Sara looked up and smiled. “Oh, hi, Cadin! Help me display this batch, will you?”
“Oh, what are you doing here?”
His mom looked up at him with a sparkle in her brown eyes. “I’m selling buka cakes, of course. Your father let me use a table in his stall. I figured since we already paid for a tent for the summer for your dad’s armor, I should take advantage of the opportunity.”
“Makes sense,” Bart said from behind him.
“Yes, I guess it does.” Cadin looked around the rest of the tent and recognized Tal’s armor on display. “Why didn’t you ask for my help setting up?” He grabbed some of the small boxes of buka cakes from his mom and set them neatly on the table.
She brushed her dark hair out of her eyes. “Oh, we wanted you to enjoy the full experience of entering the Competitors’ Village for the first time. Just because your parents signed up as chaperones doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have the complete Calvarian Games experience.”
Cadin laughed as his mom winked.
“Wow, look at this breastplate!” Bart exclaimed from the other side of the tent. “It has some sort of shock-absorption padding on the inside.”
“Brand new innovation this year,” Tal said as he slipped past a tent flap in the back. “Hi, guys. Glad you finally found us.”
“In all the excitement, I kinda forgot you were going to be selling your armor,” Cadin confessed.
“No problem.” Tal hugged Sara from behind and snatched one of the buka cake samples that Cadin had just laid out.
“Hey!” Sara said.
“Don’t forget your sub-lease clause,” Tal chuckled. “Unlimited supply of buka cakes!”
“Yes, but not from the ones all set up to sell!” Sara reached down from under her table and pulled out a plate of very sad buka bits. Some were burnt, some too oily, and others were squished or crumbling apart.”
Tal’s face dropped. “I only get the rejects?”
“I like to think of them as the failed experiments.” She smiled and kissed him on the cheek before turning her attention to an incoming customer.
Tal turned to Cadin, Bart and Lep and held up the plate. “Buka cake, anyone?”
“No, thanks.”
“I’m good.”
Cadin was about to refuse when Gur zipped down his arm and helped himself to two clawfulls.
“Eh, thanks I guess.”
“Sure, Cadin.” His dad set down the reject cakes and looked back at Cadin. “Also, I would like to sponsor your team with some type of armor.”
“Wow, really?”
“Sure. Just get together sometime this week and let me know what each of you is in the most need of and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Sun!” Lep shouted far too close to Cadin’s ear.
Cadin turned as Sun trotted towards them. As she neared, a bright light on the front of her I.D. card gleamed.
“What have you been up to?” Cadin asked.
“I competed in a three-round speed Cloud-Chess tournament and won!” Her Aura pulsed brilliantly.
“You what?” Lep grabbed her I.D. card and then looked up at her. “But you’ve only been away from us for twenty minutes.”
“It’s been well over an hour,” Sun said. “And I’m starting to get hungry.”
“Me too,” Bart said, rubbing his stomach.
“Right! Let’s head back to the roshi ball stand!” Lep said.
“No, you are going to spend all of your money in one day!” Cadin said.
“Yeah, and dinner with the Glade group is included in our trip. Let’s head back,” Sun said. “Besides, we have to look at the dinner duty chart to see if any of us has to help cook tonight.”
“What?” Lep’s mouth had dropped open.
Sun rolled her eyes and then smiled. “Surely you remember Instructor Kade mentioning that we all have to help on rotation.”
Lep shook his head.
Cadin didn’t remember either, but he wasn’t about to say anything.
“Our stall has to stay open until five,” Tal said. “I will head up after I close.” He turned to Sara. “You can go back now with them if you want. I can man the buka cakes for you.”
“Oh, that means they will all be gone in a matter of minutes!”
“No, really.” Tal grabbed Sara’s hands. “I promise to be good. We’ve had a long day here and you deserve to relax a little. I’ll meet you soon.”
“Well, okay then.” She took off her apron and placed it over Tal’s head.
“Ha, now I’m official!”
“Don’t let it go to your head,” Sara said. She linked arms with Cadin. “Let’s get going.”
As soon as they made it through the Blue Arch, they spread out to open their wings.
“Wanna race?
” Lep asked from beside him.
“You’re on!” Cadin said.
“Me too.” Sun jumped up beside them. They all turned around to Bart and Sara.
“Yep, I’m in.” Bart stepped up.
“Mom?”
Sara stretched out her arms. “Do you want me to ref or race?”
Cadin shrugged his wings. “Your choice.”
“Then, I’ll race.”
“Nice! Go ahead and call it.”
Sara raised her arm. “On your marks, get set, go!”
They all shot into the air. Cadin had to work to steady his wings as the wind had picked up considerably since morning. He flapped a few times and tried to rise above the bumpy air and driving wind. Bart was in front of him and Sun was off to one side. Gur zipped by him and lowered his head into the oncoming gust.
Cadin flapped hard a couple more times, attempting to power through the gale and perhaps win the race, but Bart was still in front of him and he was beginning to tire.
Both Sun and Lep passed him as he flapped to reach a higher altitude in hopes of better conditions. Instead he started to get pelted by hard rain that whipped around him.
“Forget it!” Cadin shouted as he dove down. He was about to land, but found that flying only a few feet above the ground was the easiest. Far ahead of him at the same low altitude was his mom with her blue Aura, leading the rest of the racers.
Cadin touched down in last place, soaked and windswept.
Lep walked over and ruffled his wet hair. “What happened to you? Gave up and went for a swim?”
Cadin shook his hair out in front of the very dry Lep. “No, I tried to fly higher to avoid the wind and got caught up in a rain cloud.”
“You should have stayed low like your mom. She kicked all of our butts!”
“Lesson learned.” Cadin took a seat on one of the benches along the large patio that connected to their rooms. “So, what’s for dinner?”
“Spiced pigeon breast on wild rice—a Carpathian specialty,” Instructor Kade walked through the courtyard gate wearing an apron and ridiculously tall chef’s hat.
“Are you…cooking…sir?” Sun said between giggles.
“Just sous chef this evening. The Condor Events Committee was gracious enough to hire private chefs for the teams four nights a week. Alberta is cooking for us tonight, and I took my rotation to help.” He nodded to Sun. “Tomorrow, it is your turn.”
“Yes…sir,” she said, still laughing.
Instructor Kade turned to head back to the common patio that housed the kitchen. “Dinner in thirty minutes.”
“Let’s all go wash up,” Sara said, ushering them to their rooms.
Gur jumped over to his succulent plant the moment Cadin cleared the entrance. The dragon circled twice and curled up.
“Good idea.” Cadin dropped onto his bed, snuggling the soft pillow. He wondered what they stuffed the pillows with to make them so cloud-like.
“Cadin, I thought you’d want the shower first with your...rain cloud encounter,” Bart said.
“Nah.”
“Okay, I’ll jump in.”
Cadin heard a scuffle—probably between Bart and Lep for the bathroom. He was about to drift off when someone stomped through the door.
“Pathetic,” Gregor said, throwing something on Cadin. “Can’t even make it through a day before needing a break, eh, pip-squeak?”
Cadin sat up, knowing he would not get any rest with Gregor in the room.
“And how was your day, Gregor?”
“Let’s just say that we,” he nodded towards his teammates shuffling in, “are ahead of the game.” He pulled is I.D. over his head and shoved it in front of Cadin’s face.
Cadin leaned back to focus on the five glowing circles. Three of the five were in the first column. Gregor pulled it away too quickly for Cadin to read the categories, but he could guess. Gregor was far more brawn than brain.
Cadin realized that Gregor was glaring at him still, perhaps waiting for a response. However, his eyes flicked down to Cadin’s empty I.D. still around his neck and his sneer grew.
“No credits, and I bet you still have every aro tucked away.” Gregor’s voice rose in volume enough to include his cronies. “Why even bother coming here?”
“Hey, cut it out, Gregor!” Lep said as he walked up, unwashed. Bart must have won the race to the bathroom.
“I’m just saying. Everyone knows that your team isn’t going to amount to much in the Games—but at the very least you should be able to conquer the Competitors’ Village.” Gregor kicked the bottom of Cadin’s bed before retreating to his own bunk at the far end of the long room.
“Man, that guy really needs to lighten up,” Lep said, plopping down next to Cadin. “Maybe if he had a girlfrie…” Lep stopped short.
“So, you’re saying he’s this nasty to us because Susan broke up with him and it’s my fault?” Cadin worked hard to keep a straight face. It seemed to be working, because the color had drained from Lep’s cheeks.
“No…ah…it’s just…”
“Hey, I’m messing with you, man.” Cadin nudged Lep’s shoulder. “He probably does still hold that particular grudge. Oh, well. Not much I can do about it now, right?”
Lep smiled. “Unless you can help find him a hot Condor girl that he falls madly in love with and moves across the System to be with her.”
“Yes, I’ll definitely work on that this summer!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Unexpected Visitor
The brisk morning air swept through Cadin’s dark hair and ruffled his feathers. He was laying out on his favorite section of wall at the end of the courtyard, waiting for Condor to wake. The sun peaked above the horizon—muffled by the cloud’s fuzzy edge, and basked his bronze skin in warm rays. Gur sneezed next to him and attempted to cuddle up by Cadin’s head.
“Eh—too early for dragon butt in the face, Gur,” Cadin said as he picked the squirming dragon up and placed him on his chest. “How’s that?”
Gur circled a couple of times before settling down.
Cadin took several deep breaths and focused on his Aura. He let it pulse from green to blue before letting it fully merge to its true mixed color. He exhaled and embraced the moment of feeling complete. Master Emilio had come up with the exercise before Cadin left for Condor. He recalled his mentor’s wrinkled face and intelligent light blue eyes piercing into his soul.
“It will be entirely up to you which color of your Aura you choose to express on your journey,” Master Emilio had said as they landed atop a rolling cumulus cloud. “With the Calvarian Games, security will be better on Condor than anywhere else in the System. Master Sanjen and myself both feel confident you will have nothing to fear from the Tlalocs once you arrive.” Master Emilio had swept his hands and instantly created a beautiful cloud-chair. His blue eyes met Cadin’s golden brown ones as Cadin attempted to copy his mentor’s cloud-shifting.
As they sat on their creations—Master Emilio on the elegant throne, and Cadin on what resembled a cross between a bean bag and a lounge chair—Master Emilio had continued. “You will want to express only one color of your Aura while traveling. Most likely green to fit in with your companions. You should allow your true Aura to shine through most of the time, however, there may be other times you will want to only express one color throughout your summer; whether it be to not draw attention to yourself or even as part of your strategy for the Games. That is why I developed a new drill for you to help keep you centered and balanced during Aura suppression.”
“But I’m already pretty good at suppressing my Aura. I mean, I’ve done it for most of the year,” Cadin had said.
“But it drained you beyond what it should have. We are both in new territory here with trying to figure out what works best, not only for a mixed Aura but for you, Cadin. I thought Aura suppression would be a useful tool for you…but, I feel that I may have failed you there.” Master Emilio’s brow had furrowed deeply.
“I think i
t is a good skill for me to know, but maybe just not use all of the time.”
“Exactly. That is why I think this new drill will benefit you. It will allow you to re-center your Aura every day before you choose what color you want to express. That is the second key. We have been going about it through suppression rather than expression. I think if you focus more on the color you want to show rather than the one you want to hide, you will have a healthier outcome.”
“Great! Let’s do this, old man!”
“Old man?” The clouds had swirled quickly at Master Emilio’s feet as he stood from his cloud-chair.
The next part of the lesson had been about respecting your elders.
Gur sneezed again on his chest and readjusted so the sun was no longer in his eyes.
Cadin closed his eyes and cycled through his Aura drill one more time before grabbing Gur and sitting up. To his surprise, his mom was sitting at a table in the courtyard watching him.
“Oh, ah, good morning, mom.” He walked over and took the chair next to her.
“Good morning, Cadin.”
Sara appeared serene and contemplative as a small smile was offset by a slightly unfocused gaze.
“Are you doing okay?”
Her smile dropped by a fraction before her eyes truly focused on her son. “I was just…well watching you and wondering what your future holds.”
“Oh.” He shifted in his seat.
“I’m happy to be here with you.” Sara tilted her head slightly and the sunlight caught the golden flecks in her eyes.
In truth, Cadin was livid when his parents had told him they both signed on as chaperones for his trip. It felt like they were not giving him a chance to grow up. However, as the trip unfolded, Cadin realized they were trying to both be there for him, but also give him his space.
