by Kobe Bryant
Pretia sprinted after her, bulky and awkward in the enormous coat. Her adrenaline was surging. She didn’t have the heart to tell Vera she was mad at Rovi. Right now, Rovi was her best option to hide. Even if she strongly suspected that his swift feet were responsible for the reason her parents wanted to whisk her away.
20
ROVI
A FAVOR
Rovi stood in the back of a crowd of Dreamers at the Crescent Stadium, watching Vera as she prepared to make her final attempt in the high jump. If she cleared the bar, she’d make the podium and surpass Julius’s medal count. The kids from House Somni chanted her name. Their cheers were echoed by the Dreamers in the stands. Rovi lent his voice but kept at a slight distance from his teammates.
He was nervy. Was it him or were there more Phoenician guards than usual? Each time he saw one of the telltale red hats, his heart stopped. News had traveled quickly that someone had robbed the temple. How long before he was discovered? He knew he’d been close enough for them to tell that the thief was a kid. Were they looking for him even now? He had escaped the guards, but his getaway hadn’t been entirely clean. He’d left the Memory Master behind. The thought of it sitting in the Temple of Arsama terrified him. If the guards knew the key was missing, then they had been in those hidden tunnels and might have chanced on his headband. The key was in his pocket. He couldn’t risk leaving it in his room. Although he knew touching someone’s Grana Book was off-limits, he worried that given the circumstances, an exception would be made if they searched his room. It felt safer—although not that comforting—to have the key on his body. Worst-case, he could toss it if the guards were closing in on him.
But he knew he had to get rid of the key as soon as possible. Every moment that passed was another moment he could be caught red-handed.
“VE-RA! VE-RA!” The crowd stomped their feet as she stepped up to the line. The stands were filled with people holding signs with GO, VERA, GO painted on them.
Rovi cupped his hands over his mouth, calling her name along with his fellow Dreamers.
How many guards were patrolling this event? Fifty? Sixty?
Vera began her approach to the bar. She leaped, arching her back, lifting her legs, rising up and over the bar without touching it.
She crashed onto the mat, then bounced up to her feet, her arms raised in ecstatic victory.
All the Dreamers in the stands leaped to their feet at once. The Crescent Stadium was rocked by thunderous applause louder than anything Rovi had heard before. He cheered along with the crowd.
Vera had broken her brother’s medal haul! She now had nine Junior Epic Medals. Rovi watched as a group of Dreamers lifted Vera onto their shoulders and began to parade her around the Crescent Stadium.
Rovi nearly leaped out of his skin at a touch on his shoulder, but it was only Satis.
“Are you okay?” the Visualization Trainer asked.
“Yeah,” Rovi replied, struggling to control his nerves. “I was just anxious . . . for Vera.”
Satis gave Rovi a curious glance. “Vera is the last person I’m ever anxious about.” He beckoned Rovi a little way off from the crowd. “I need to ask you something in confidence.”
Rovi’s heart was pounding.
“A very important relic has been stolen from the Temple of Arsama,” Satis said.
“What does that have to do with me?” Rovi asked. He was sure the Trainer could hear his heart thumping through his chest.
“The guards know that it was a Star Stealer who took it.”
“How do they know that?” Rovi asked. His knew his voice sounded strained.
“The thief led them on a chase toward an old Star Stealer camp under the Draman Bridge,” Satis said seriously. “Rovi, I know that’s where your gang slept.”
Rovi didn’t trust himself to speak. He just nodded. He curled his hand around the key in his pocket. He wanted to kick himself. He hadn’t been caught, but he had pointed the blame directly at the Star Stealers, which was almost as bad.
“If you are contacted by any of your old friends, you must immediately report it. This is a serious matter. Do you understand?”
Rovi could barely speak. He felt as if his throat were closing. “I do,” he squeaked.
“I know how much you love Issa and your old friends,” Satis said. “But what they have done is a danger to the Junior Epic tradition and to Phoenis. It will not be tolerated. And it would be a great loss to the Dreamers, Ecrof, and your future if you got caught up in anything they are doing.” The Visualization Trainer sighed. “Rovi Myrios,” he said kindly but firmly, “you have distinguished yourself for House Somni. Focus on that. This is your only duty in Phoenis.”
“I understand,” Rovi said.
“Now go celebrate Vera’s historic win. Join your teammates and friends.”
Rovi managed a genuine smile. The group carrying Vera had rounded the track and was approaching. Rovi raised both arms in the air. “Here’s to dreams that never die!” he shouted.
Vera was paraded around the stadium on the shoulders of two burly Dreamers until the medal ceremony began. Fans showered her with streamers and hurled plush renditions of the Dreamer Pegasus.
Over the megahorn, the announcer kept repeating: “Vera Renovo has set the record for most Junior Epic Medals! We have a new record holder: Vera Renovo! History has been made.”
But it was all a blur. The only thing that mattered to Rovi was getting rid of the key as soon as he could.
Rovi scanned the crowds. So many guards. But it was their job to keep Star Stealers and other unwanted people out, not to keep athletes in. He just needed to look confident, like he was on official business.
He approached three guards blocking the athletes’ entrance to the stadium. His heart pounded so hard and quickly, he worried they could see and hear it. “Excuse me,” he said. “I need to get a box of muscle bands from one of the vans for my teammate.”
The guards looked at him. Rovi smoothed his tracksuit jacket, making sure they saw the Ecrof insignia.
“Hurry,” a guard said.
“Of course,” Rovi said.
He darted to the vans. The guards didn’t check where he was going. He took off his jacket and turned it inside out in case any Junior Epic officials saw him. Now he was a Sandlander Dreamer out in the Upper City. Not an athlete. Not a Star Stealer.
He hurried away from the stadium through the wide, genteel streets of the Upper City. He crossed the Alexandrine Market, where you were usually guaranteed to see a few Star Stealers plying their trade. Now that it was a market for the Junior Epic Games, he knew he stood little chance of seeing an old friend or a member of a rival gang.
He kept his hand clenched around the key as if it might fly out of his pocket. He fought the urge to check over his shoulder at every turn.
At the far edge of the market, he descended a flight of stairs to the Lower City. Rovi relaxed a little. It was easier to hide here, and he felt less conspicuous. But still he needed to be careful.
He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, so he overshot his old camp on the river Durna and passed a few different bridges until he came to the far reaches of the Lower City. Only then did he allow himself to descend to the path at the water’s edge. From there it was a mile back to the tunnel entrance.
Rovi jumped down into the tunnels carved out by the River of Sand and, just as before, he shuddered. The idea of this massive space flooded with quicksand, as it once had been, terrified him. He took a deep breath and continued on into the darkness. He didn’t have the Memory Master anymore, but his feet remembered the path to the alcove hideout.
Issa, always vigilant, knew Rovi was there before Rovi had announced himself. In an instant, his old friend had pulled him into the cozy chamber. “Where have you been, Swiftfoot? We’ve been waiting for you.”
“The guards cha
sed me from the temple,” Rovi said. “I had to run all over the city before I lost them. It wasn’t safe to come directly here.”
“But you have the key?” Issa asked.
“Yes.” Rovi reached into his pocket, desperate to hand the thing over and be done with it.
Issa sighed, his entire body sagging with relief.
“Issa, here.” Rovi held out the key. But Issa had already turned his back and ducked into the alcove.
Only a few days had passed, but the assembled group of Star Stealers looked significantly more ragged than before. A few crusts of bread and some bruised fruit lay on a tattered blanket on the floor.
“Our Swiftfoot has succeeded!” Issa announced, his black eyes sparkling.
The remaining Star Stealers cheered quietly.
“Sit, brother,” Issa said. “I’m afraid we have little to offer you.”
“I’m good,” Rovi said, thinking guiltily about all the food he could have back in the Dreamer Village. Once more he offered Issa the key. Issa reached out but, instead of taking the key, closed Rovi’s fingers around it.
“Hold on to that for the moment,” he said.
“I don’t want it,” Rovi said. Before he could say any more, a shadow was cast across the entrance to the alcove. Rovi looked up and saw Fortunus’s compact figure in the doorway.
“Our hero,” Fortunus thundered, his voice echoing through the chamber.
Despite himself, Rovi blushed.
“I heard you led the guards on quite a chase,” Fortunus said.
“I almost led them to you accidentally,” Rovi admitted. “I had to take the key to the village. Here it is.” This time he held it out to Fortunus.
“Let’s have a chat, Swiftfoot,” Fortunus said. “Or shall I call you by your real name, Rovi Myrios of House Somni?”
“Either,” Rovi replied. “They’re both . . . me.”
“You have done well, Rovi Myrios, very, very well. I’m not sure there’s another kid—another person—in all of Epoca who could have done what you did. I am impressed.” He put a hand on Rovi’s shoulder. “Without you, the captured Star Stealers would remain locked up in Hafara Prison, possibly forever. But now they have a chance to escape with the rest of us.”
“Where are you going?” Rovi asked.
“We will travel to the outlands of Epoca,” Issa said, “perhaps even as far as the Winterlands, where Epocan Rule cannot touch us. But we must leave soon, while people are still distracted by the games.”
“Which is why the imprisoned Star Stealers need your help,” Fortunus said.
Rovi looked from Fortunus to Issa and back again. “I already helped. I stole the key. Here.” He offered it again.
“Ah.” Fortunus squeezed his shoulder. “But now you need to use it. Why don’t we sit and talk about it.” He sat on the rough-hewn bench and beckoned Rovi to sit next to him.
“You mean they need me to open the prison?” Rovi asked.
“Exactly,” Fortunus said.
“Wh-why me?” Rovi sputtered.
“Because,” Issa said, sitting down next to him, “just as you said: You are both our Swiftfoot and Rovi Myrios, Junior Epic Champion from House Somni and the famed Ecrof Academy. You can do things none of us can.”
“What kind of things?” Rovi said uneasily.
Issa shook his head sadly. “You see how we live now, Rovi. We can’t be seen by anyone without running the risk of being locked away. Once they manage to get rid of the Star Stealers, the Orphic People in other cities don’t stand a chance. But even if you got caught, they’d be more lenient with you. You’re the pride of the Sandlands and no longer a Star Stealer. You wouldn’t be sent to Hafara.”
“The prison is underground,” Rovi said. “Can’t you just take the tunnels? You wouldn’t have to risk being seen.”
“There are places, especially near the prison, where the tunnels are guarded,” Fortunus explained. “We wouldn’t be able to pass. But there is a way to get into the prison from the Upper City.”
“Rovi,” Issa said, “you know what Hafara is, right?”
“A prison,” Rovi replied. “Everyone knows that.”
“It’s not just a prison. It’s an arena,” Fortunus explained. “A blood sports arena from ancient times.”
“The prison is a games pit?” Rovi asked.
“It was a games pit,” Fortunus continued. “A secret place for those who wanted to witness deadly spectacles between prisoners of Phoenis. What’s most important, though, is where it is, not what it is. It was located exactly where people in Phoenis go to watch sports today.”
“What do you mean?” Rovi asked slowly.
“Hafara is directly below the Crescent Stadium,” Issa explained.
Rovi’s mouth opened, but it took a moment for the words to emerge. “You mean I’ve been competing on top of my fellow Star Stealers?”
“Exactly,” Fortunus said.
This revelation turned Rovi’s stomach. He slumped forward. “I knew there had been a place for blood sports. My friend Vera and I even talked about how it was below the stadium. But I didn’t know that place was Hafara.”
“In the time of Hurell,” Fortunus explained, “they built a replica of the Crescent Stadium underground for that purpose. Hafara is the mirror image of Crescent, except that at its center, instead of a grassy patch for field events, there is a sunken pit for blood sports. When they turned it into a prison to hold Hurell’s followers at the start of the Age of Grana, the ancient Phoenicians redirected the deadly River of Sand so that it would surround the pit at its center.”
“I can’t believe this,” Rovi said. “While I’ve been celebrating in the open air, my friends have been suffering under my feet.”
“Precisely,” Issa said softly. “That’s why we need you to free them. While it is possible to access the prison through the tunnels, the risk of running into guards is too great. But you can get there easily, through the stadium.”
Rovi looked from Issa to Fortunus. “You knew this all along, that I’d have to open the prison—didn’t you?”
“We weren’t sure,” Issa said. “A week or so ago, I could have gone myself. But now it’s too risky. If I were caught with the key, everything would be over. Also . . .” He trailed off.
“What?” Rovi asked.
“The last months have been hard,” Issa said. “I’m not as strong as I used to be. I don’t have the stamina to do what needs to be done.”
“Opening the prison?”
“That,” Issa said. “But also crossing the River of Sand.”
“Oh, no,” Rovi said. “No way. Even if I did do this, wouldn’t the authorities release the river to chase down the escapees?”
“The warning siren should give you time,” Issa said.
Fortunus placed a hand on Rovi’s shoulder. “It has to be you, Swiftfoot. You are the only friend to Star Stealers who is both strong enough and able to access the prison through the stadium.”
“What about you?” Rovi said. “Why can’t you go to the stadium?”
“I’m afraid that would be impossible,” Fortunus said.
“Why?” Rovi demanded.
“None of us are allowed in the stadium,” Issa cut in. “But you will be right there—you won’t even have to sneak in.”
Rovi winced at the thought. How could he have been enjoying victories in the stadium when there was such suffering below him?
“And you will be perfectly positioned to save them,” Fortunus added. “There is a stairwell on the bottom level of the stadium that leads down to the prison. If you follow the tunnel at the base of the stairs, you’ll reach the quicksand moat.”
“The River of Sand,” Rovi said.
“Yes,” Fortunus said. “That will be difficult. But remember, you are a hero. A Junior Epic Champion.”<
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“I thought it was so powerful only the gods could control it. How do I cross it?” Rovi demanded.
Fortunus looked concerned. “I have to admit that I don’t know. I would be lying if I told you I had a solution. But I seem to remember that with visualization, nearly anything is possible. And from what I’ve heard, your father was a leader in the field.”
“You know how to visualize? Were you an athlete?”
“I have had many lives, Rovi Myrios.” Fortunus stared into his eyes. “For someone of your talents,” he said, “this will be a piece of cake.”
“I don’t know,” Rovi said.
“The river is an advantage for us, Rovi. It’s so powerful that it makes it unnecessary for the guards to remain at the prison all day. They cross it once in the morning to feed the prisoners using a bridge that only they can lower, and then they leave. If you time it right, they will be gone.”
“I don’t know,” Rovi said. He’d taken too many risks already. He couldn’t sneak out again. Not after his conversation with Satis, who had so much faith in him. He had taken this final risk, but he couldn’t take any more. Pretia was right. He owed it to House Somni to obey Epic Code. He couldn’t lose his medal. “I can’t,” Rovi said.
“If you can’t,” Issa pleaded, “no one will.”
Rovi hung his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. He held out the key. “Please take it. It will only cause me trouble.”
Fortunus took the key. “We understand,” he said. “It is too much to ask.”
There were tears in Issa’s eyes. Rovi tried to overlook them.
He hugged Issa and Fortunus. He didn’t want to say goodbye to them, but he knew, after the way he’d just disappointed them, he couldn’t stay. Without another word, he ducked into the tunnel. His heart was heavy as he wound his way back to the river and then through the Lower and Upper Cities, heading back to the stadium.
