by Peach, Hanna
Alyx turned back to him. She mimicked his crossed arms and tilted posture although her face and her voice remained soft. “That’s fine. Piki isn’t a gift anymore. He’s a free bird and he does what he wants. And he wants to hang around here for a while.”
Sparrow didn’t say anything. He knew he was being a sod but he couldn’t bring himself to loosen his stance or relax his face. He stood there tight-lipped.
“I’ll come back soon to visit, okay?”
Sparrow didn’t answer, but he felt a kind of panic growing in his belly. He wanted to do something for her. Something so that she would know that part of him was grateful. Otherwise, she mightn’t come back. And he wanted her to come back.
Alyx started to turn.
“They’re looking for you,” Sparrow blurted out.
She looked back to him. “Who is?”
“A demon-guy and his demon-guards.” Sparrow felt his face screw up when he remembered their faces. “Ugly dudes. Creepy. I didn’t like them at all.” He shuddered. “I was looking for something out the back of the RaceKeeper’s tent. No one knew I was there. I heard some of what they were saying.”
“What did you hear?”
“The demon guy asked if you had come back to race again. If the RaceKeeper knew where you were.”
“What did the RaceKeeper say?”
“The RaceKeeper didn’t tell him. He said ‘that information is outside the original deal’. Made him go away and get more gold if he wanted more information.”
Sparrow could see Alyx frowning. “What was the original deal?”
“He was asking about some rock. Something called Black Stone and where the pieces of it were.”
“Did the RaceKeeper give the demon the information about Black Stone?”
“I didn’t hear that bit.”
“Did you catch the demon’s name?”
Sparrow scrunched up his nose trying to recall. “Samrah or something like that.” He looked up at her. She was frowning. That name must have meant something to her.
“Could it have been Samyara?” she asked.
“Yeah, that sounds like it. Samyara. Did I... did I help at all?”
Alyx smiled at him and his heart did a little clench. She had the nicest smile. He decided that he liked making her smile.
“You did. I’ve got to go do something. I’m going to leave you here with Piki.” Alyx started to float off.
“Where are you going?” called Sparrow.
“To see the RaceKeeper.”
* * *
The RaceKeeper was sitting in his cushioned spot when Alyx barged into his smoky tent. The RaceKeeper waved off his guards when he saw that it was her.
“I hear you’ve been a busy girl.” This was a statement – there seemed to be no trace of surprise in his voice. “I’ve missed you, my little bullet.”
Alyx rolled her eyes. “I highly doubt it.”
“To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I need information.”
“On your parents again? My dear, I’ve told you everything I know.”
“No. I want to know everything you know about Black Stone.”
She heard him draw in a breath, then cough as if trying to hide his shock. “And what would the reason be for wanting to know this?”
Alyx shook her head. “I’m the one asking the questions. If I am paying for the information, then I don’t have to tell you that.”
The RaceKeeper grunted. “Alright then. How much gold have you got for me?”
Alyx cleared her throat. “I don’t have gold on me at the moment—”
“My dear, I don’t run a charity. No gold, no info.”
“I know. Which is why I’m going to race for you. I will trade you all my race winnings for the information.”
The RaceKeeper took a toke from his shisha pipe. “You certainly put forward a tempting offer. I know some of my spectators would love to see you race again. But...”
But?
“...but, you see, I already have two participants for tonight’s race, Phoenix and Pegasus, and I don’t think either of them will want to pull out.”
Alyx started to chew on her bottom lip. What now? She had been so sure that the RaceKeeper would accept her offer.
“But... you are always a crowd favorite. Perhaps…” the RaceKeeper said. “I could bend the rules slightly, just for tonight, just for you?” Alyx caught the twinkle in his eyes.
He was playing with her. He wanted her to race.
“Would you? I would be ever so grateful,” Alyx said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. She needed to play nice with the RaceKeeper, even though all her senses urged her to give him a good smack right in his oversized belly.
“Of course, my magic bullet. Now I suggest you rest up and prepare yourself for the race. It is starting soon.”
“Who am I racing against, Phoenix or Pegasus?”
The RaceKeeper’s lips smacked as he pulled the pipe from his mouth. “Why my dear, you’re racing against both of them.”
Chapter 21
Tonight’s night-race course ran along part of the Great Ocean Road cliffs, which ran for several hundred kilometers along the belly of a vast country the mortals called Australia. At this time of night, only the occasional set of headlights marked out the road that soared and dipped along the edge of this southern country.
Alyx eyed the waves that slammed the pitted cliffs. The moonlight on the spray looked like the sea was throwing diamonds into the air. The starting line was on a small slit of coarse sand. She could barely hear the crowd huddled around the starting line over the sound of the ocean. Some of the spectators had taken higher perches further along the tops of the cliffs. Other braver, or perhaps more reckless, had taken perches on ledges and nooks further down the rocks closer to the angry waves. And the waves did seem angry. They wouldn’t need WaterBearers to set water traps here. It was dangerous enough.
Alyx’s competitors, Phoenix and Pegasus, whispered together some meters away from her. Alyx had raced Phoenix before. She wasn’t as fast as Alyx, but she was mean as hell on a bad day with a peculiar taste for weaponry. Alyx knew she had to be careful if she didn’t want to end up on the business end of the grapple hook that Phoenix secured like a claw to her right arm with a heavy forearm bracelet.
Alyx studied Pegasus, the slim pale male seraph with hair so blond it was almost white. She had never raced him before. He must be a new competitor. This “not knowing” made Alyx more nervous than the possibility of ending up wriggling on Phoenix’s talon.
Alyx shook her limbs to disperse her nervous energy. The announcer lifted her hand up in the air. Alyx froze. For a second she thought she saw a familiar face in the crowd. Elijah? But it was gone before she could be sure. Alyx shook her head. It couldn’t have been Elijah. He was dead. She saw his body burn and fall to ashes. Alyx craned her neck to try to look over the heads in the crowd.
The starting gun went off and Alyx faltered for a split second, still distracted, giving Pegasus and Phoenix a slight lead off the starting line.
Head in the game, Alyx. Not the time to be chasing ghosts. Alyx took off into the air behind Phoenix and Pegasus.
As they neared the first bend in the cliffs, her two competitors were creating a kind of blockade with their bodies. They disappeared for a second behind the cliff face until Alyx herself rounded the bend. She could see Pegasus snatching the first marker hanging low off the cliff. Alyx followed suit, tucking the first marker securely into her belt. But where was Phoenix?
A growl from above answered that question. Alyx rolled aside, seeing the belly of Phoenix as she leapt off the top of the cliff spread-eagle like a pouncing animal. Alyx wasn’t fast enough. Phoenix collided with Alyx in the air, knocking the breath from her. Phoenix wrapped her legs around Alyx, keeping her from getting away and raising her claw to strike. Alyx snatched a dagger from her side and countered Phoenix’s attack.
Alyx couldn’t see where they were going as the two fought in clos
e to each other, hurtling along the cliffs, the muted orange and browns of the rocks blurring past in Alyx’s periphery. Alyx swiveled in the air and pushed back. They bounced off when Phoenix caught part of her shoulder on the cliff.
“Bitch,” Phoenix hissed as blood oozed from her shoulder.
“You started it.”
They continued to struggle with each other through the air, their weapons frozen between them in a tense impasse.
Alyx chanced a glance forward. Up ahead was a section of cliff that had been separated from the mainland. A tower of rock rising up from the ocean. At the base of this rock, Alyx could see an arch appearing and disappearing as the waves rose up to kiss the roof of the arch. The second marker hung from under the top of the arch.
Alyx and Phoenix hurtled low towards it. They hit the water as it rose up to consume them. The knock of the waves jolted them slightly apart. Alyx managed to get a knee between them. She kicked out at Phoenix just before they went through the arch. A flurry of bubbles left Phoenix’s mouth as she broke away from Alyx. Then she hit against the rock above as Alyx went through the arch, grabbing the marker as she went. Phoenix didn’t follow her.
Alyx broke through the waves to the air on the other side. She wiped the water from her face just in time to see Pegasus dive into the water near the base of the cliffs up ahead. An arrow pointing down, drawn in purple chalk on the cliff, told her why. The third marker was underwater. Alyx dove into the water where Pegasus had disappeared.
Once she got under the first few meters of swirling, messy, frothy waves, the ocean became calmer, although a fast-moving current swept along the cliff face. Alyx could see Pegasus disappearing into a dark abyss, an underwater cave. Alyx frowned. No biggie. Just like the underwater maze in Michaelea, she reassured herself. Regardless, she unsheathed her sword. With her steel providing the extra courage she needed, Alyx swam in after Pegasus.
The cave would have been inky black after only a few meters if it not for the globes marking the walls, a ghostly light emanating from around each one.
Alyx could see that the tunnel came to an end up ahead. Pegasus was feeling around the crags of the wall. There didn’t seem to be any markers that Alyx could see. Pegasus spun around, slashing out with his long blade. It nicked at Alyx as he waved it in an obvious command for her to back off. A wisp of blood colored the water before Alyx’s body sealed up the cut.
Alyx kicked back, raising her hand up, trying to calm the situation. She glanced around looking desperately for the third marker. If she could get it out without having to fight again, she would.
A dark movement below caught her eye. A shark was emerging up out of a large hole below them that she hadn’t noticed until now. It had been so dark down there she had just assumed there was nothing but a deep crease in the rocks.
As the shark moved out of the darkness, Alyx gulped at how huge this thing was. About twice the length of her body with a thick, powerful tail that was propelling it and all of its jagged teeth towards her.
Relax Alyx, she told herself as her heartbeat started to increase. Sharks don’t attack unless provoked, right?
Tell the shark that.
Alyx thrust her blade at the shark before it could clamp its teeth around her. The shark flinched in the water and swam aside. Alyx caught a glimpse of silver around the shark’s fins. A ring? Was that an Animale bracelet?
Alyx was able to get a better look as the shark turned and prepared to come at her again from another angle. It was an Animale bracelet. This shark must have been ordered to attack them as part of the course. Goodie.
The shark made a second attack at her. She slapped her blade out, blunt-side out, managing to hit the shark on its nose before it turned away.
The shark, appearing to decide that Alyx was just too difficult to deal with, turned to Pegasus, who had pressed himself along the roof of the cavern and was frantically pulling himself along towards the cave’s exit. With a beat of its powerful tail, the shark was speeding towards the unsuspecting seraph. With his attention forward, Pegasus wouldn’t see the shark coming.
As the shark sailed over her, Alyx could see a purple X marking his pale belly. Seriously? The third marker was in there?
The shark was almost at Pegasus’s feet. Alyx drew upon the hidden WaterBearer bloodink at her ribs and shot a burst of Water back out from her palms, rocketing her towards the shark.
At that moment, Pegasus turned his head. His mouth and eyes rounded in horror when he saw the approaching shark. He curled up his legs in a fetal position as the shark’s mouth began to snap at him. He wasn’t even going to fight?
Alyx slammed into the shark, knocking it out of Pegasus’ way, clinging onto it with both legs wrapping around where its tail and belly met. The shark began to snap at her. But he couldn’t get his mouth on her.
Alyx pulled back her dagger, aiming for where she thought the heart would be. Using a little of the Animale bloodink, she spoke. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to do this but...”
She heard the shark moan as if in pain. His wiggling became less intense. Belly. Ache. Eat bad fish.
Poor shark. He was just a pawn in this stupid race.
Alyx had an idea. “I can help. Hold still.”
Want to hold still. Can’t. Must. Attack. Must...
The Animale bracelet. She had to get it off. Alyx grabbed for the shark’s fin as he continued to thrash.
“I’m sorry. This is might hurt a little.”
Grabbing the silver ring, she cut a small slit in his fin so she could slip the ring out. The instant the ring was clear of his fin, the shark stopped snapping at Alyx.
The shark moaned again and rolled over as if it were a dog looking for a belly rub. Alyx pressed along the stomach, but she couldn’t feel anything out of place. Then again, what did she know about shark anatomy?
Alyx swam up to the mouth of the shark. It moaned and seemed to plead with his beady black eyes. Alyx felt her heart melt. Poor misunderstood creature. And the RaceKeeper wanted them to rip into its body – for what? A race? Alyx felt a sliver of disgust and threw the ring out into the water. For a moment, Alyx watched it sink into the gloom below.
Turning back to the shark she spoke, “I want you to open your mouth. I’m going to stick my hand in and try to pull out the bad fish, okay?”
Yes. Please. Get bad fish out.
“But you have to promise not to bite my arm off.”
Promise.
The shark’s mouth yawned open in front of her like a cavern edged in teeth that were as long as Alyx’s fingers. Holy hell. She could fit her whole frickin’ torso in there. Alyx bit her lip. Jesus, was that flesh stuck between two of his teeth? Was she goddamned crazy? The shark made a noise like a whimper.
“Okay. I’m going in.”
Slowly Alyx slipped her left hand into the shark’s mouth. Her fingers reached the flesh at the back of the mouth.
“Okay, going down the throat now. This may be uncomfortable.”
She felt her whole hand encased in warm, soft flesh as she pushed her arm in as far as it would stretch. But she still couldn’t feel the markers. She would have to go in deeper.
Alyx said a silent prayer and tucked her head in past the row of teeth as she pushed her arm in further.
There. At the ends of her fingers, she felt the wisp of what felt like fabric.
“Almost there.”
She stretched as far as she could and... she had them. Alyx pinched the markers tightly and slowly extracted herself from within the shark. The shark let out a contented type of groan and rubbed its head against Alyx’s side in gratitude.
Alyx tucked one of the markers into her belt then looked around. Pegasus was nowhere to be seen in the gloom of the tunnel. She squinted in the dark. It didn’t mean that he wasn’t out there somewhere. She let the other marker go and it began to drift to the cave floor.
Seeing the shark may do wonders in deterring Pegasus from a sneak attack, at least while they were in the water.<
br />
“Will you swim out with me to the water’s surface?”
Anything. The shark nudged Alyx with its side. Hold on to me.
Alyx grabbed onto his fin, and the shark pushed powerfully through the water. They passed through the gloom of the cave into the deeper water. Alyx kept an eye out for Pegasus, but she couldn’t see him.
At the surface, the shark gave Alyx another soft nudge with his head, then turned and swam away.
Alyx pulled her body out of the water, out into the cool night air and began to fly along the cliffs again. One more marker to go.
Alyx kept one eye out for Pegasus as she flew along the cliffs, the other eye open for the last markers. The cliffs began to jut out from the land in a spit, light flashing from a tall white lighthouse at the end, circling its long white arm out to sea.
Wait. Alyx squinted. Something looked odd about the light that was being thrown out to the ocean. She waited for the light to flash around again. There. There was a rectangular gap in the light, a break, something hanging in the way.
The last markers. Alyx grinned and put on a burst of speed.
Alyx reached the lighthouse, a white pillar standing alone on this spit. She hung just under the level of the light’s rotation and made sure she didn’t look directly at the light when it came around. When it was clear, she looked up to the glass surrounding the top. There it was. A single purple flag. The last marker. She would have to time her fly up the final part of the lighthouse to avoid getting blinded.
Ready and go. Just as Alyx grabbed the last marker she realized something. A single purple marker. Pegasus must have taken the other marker. But he would need the third marker to finish. Her marker.
Alyx threw herself sideways into the air from the lighthouse just as a dark figure launched itself off the point. Alyx twisted so that her back was to the light coming around and unsheathed a dagger.
Pegasus missed her. He caught himself in the air and flew up to attack her again. In the distance, the light shining out to the sea showed two desperate shadows performing their bladed dance.
