We raced through the muddy streets, Daegon taunting me every so often as I let him get ahead. He was going to blow out his entire store of energy like this, and while the pragmatist in me wanted to remind him to save his strength for when he may need it, the brother in me knew to stifle it. He was a just a boy playing with his brother. These moments were too few and precious to bog them down with a scolding. I would just have to buy him something to eat when we got to Pi-Ki to make up for it.

We passed the town center and turned down the road toward Se-hun’s house. When I saw it through the trees, I noticed Daegon put on an extra burst of speed.

“Oh, no you don’t!” I yelled, infusing my muscles with zo for the first time during the race. I pumped my arms and legs, leaving a spray of mud in my wake. I caught up to Daegon, he only pushed himself faster.

He yelled in frustration as more zo surged through his skinny legs. “You have to let me win! I’m your little bro!”

“You have to earn it!” I yelled back at him, staying just a few steps ahead as he pushed faster and faster.

We turned down Se-hun’s path and I skidded to a halt, pushing a wave of mud out from my feet. Daegon did the same, aiming his mud-spray for me. I swirled my fingers with en munje and directed the sludge attack around me with a slice of my hand through the air.

Daegon panted and put his hands on his hips as his mud-splattered cape fluttered behind him. “I almost beat you.”

I patted his shoulder. “Next time.”

“Uh, little help here?” Se-hun’s familiar voice said through what sounded like a face full of mud.

I turned to see a defeated Se-hun a few meters away with a spray of brown running straight down his body from head to toe. Daegon burst into laughter and I cringed as I swirled another bout of en munje. I lifted the grime from his body and slapped it back down onto the road, but there was still residue clinging to his hair and clothes.

I grimaced. “Sorry, friend.”

He pulled on his short messy locks, then shrugged. “I couldn’t do better.” Then his face shifted to pure excitement. “Come on, I’ve got the motorbikes in the bushes!”

Daegon gasped. “Machina?”

“Aera does know we’re taking them, right,” I asked with a scowl as I followed Se-hun to the tall tree line.

“Yeah, of course,” Se-hun said with discomfort. “You think I stole from my sister?”

I crossed my arms and Daegon mimicked me. “You have a habit of borrowing without asking.”

Se-hun pulled the cover off the motorbikes with a flourish. I held my breath as I gazed down at the wondrous machina. They were a bit rusty, sure, and had some mismatched plating like Tuko, but otherwise, they were gorgeous.

The frames were narrow and tall, most certainly made for adults. The seats were plush wool wrapped in rain resistant leather—expensive. The ma reservoir sat directly under the driver’s seat, and there were receptacle tubes running the length from the handlebars to the tank. The wheels were lined with rubber, another rare and expensive product that had to be imported from the kingdoms far south west of Busa-nan: Sainam.

There were only two options for getting to between the kingdoms; risking the treacherous, razorfin waters for seven days, working the paddlers around the clock, or carving a path through war-torn Chi-ganya, where powerful machina and towering beasts of unfathomable violence roamed. Both options had their strategies that could get the travelers through, but neither were safe.

“These are so, so, SO cool!” Daegon exclaimed as he moved to touch the motorbike.

Se-hun smacked the back of his hand. “You’ll be riding with Jiyong. Don’t touch anything.”

Daegon stuck out his tongue. “How’m I supposed to not touch anything if my butt’s gotta be on it?”

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I shook my head and pushed up the kickstand, then rolled the bike out to the muddy street. I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep breath, then visualized my core. I aligned the first, inner band to have the ma munje block positioned above the crystal. With a thought, I twisted the second band until the well-built en block situated directly over the ma one. I pulled energy into the outer band and then pushed it through the en block, down into the ma block, then to the crystal.

A sickly looking brown munje came out the bottom of my crystal and I let some of it down my arm. I touched the tire of the motorbike and imagined the spell I wanted to cast: a water-resistant shield that would be self-perpetuated at the turning of the wheels. The brownish gold munje dripped from the tip of my finger and poofed into smoke when it made contact with the tire.

“I don’t think that worked,” Mae remarked and I shrugged. They can’t all be winners.

“Come on, let’s go already,” Se-hun taunted as he pushed down hard on the igniter. The little engine revved to life, and used ma munje puttered out the back end of the tailpipe.

I kicked my leg over the bike and sat down, feeling the weight before bringing it to life. I let the store or my ma munje drift down the tubes and into the reservoir, then pushed it all through the bike. I could feel every weld, bump, crease, and component. I didn’t have to use the igniter once my munje had slipped into every part, and the bike roared to life at my command as I used my remote connection.

“Getting pretty good at that,” Mae remarked and I beamed.

Daegon hopped onto the back and grabbed my shoulders for support.

“Please be careful, Jiyong. These can be dangerous.” Mae warned and I gave her a mental nod.

“Let’s tear it up!” Se-hun declared, then howled as he spun his tire in the mud. I eased the clutch out as I accelerated, and the bike took off like an arrow. The wind blew past the scarred side of my head and whipped my hair over my forehead. The buzzing roar of the engine drown out most other sound, except Daegon’s whoop of excitement.

“This isn’t careful!” Mae yelled in my head and I eased back on the speed after I caught up to Se-hun.

I looked at my best friend. “This is awesome!”

“I know, right?” He said with a devilish grin, then leaned forward.

We sped through the back streets to Pi-Ki. The deflection spell had not worked as intended, and so by the time we reached the edge of the outer-city, we had to stop to pull the mud out of our clothes. Yuri’s cleaning spell worked like a charm, as usual, and we walked our bikes onto the paved streets, relatively clean.

Pi-Ki had it all, for an outer-city. Buildings five stories tall with flashy neon signs; popup shacks with tarp roofs selling spices and other imported items; junkies sprawled out between lean-tos and under bridges; and far too many young ladies in too little clothing advertising friendship. Se-hun gave a wink and a winning grin to every girl we passed, who then of course offered us companionship for the day.

“Hey sweetheart, I don’t mind that scar,” an older girl with too much face paint cooed as she wrapped an arm over my shoulder.

I scowled and scratched that side of my head, feeling the heat of self-consciousness in my gut before shrugging her off with a, “No, thank you.”

There was a shop not too far into town with rice at six guli a kilo, not too bad. I mentioned it to Se-hun and we agreed to stop there on the way out. We brought our bikes to a small corral near the center of the hub where all manner of transportation waited for its owners’ return.

Daegon was dragging his feet by the time we’d made it to the first shop, and so I took him down the street for a quick bowl of noodles. He perked up in an instant, and I held him back from exploding out of the shop and back onto the streets.

I leaned forward to get eye to eye with him. “Excessive use of munje will drain your energy. You need that energy for your mind and body, too. You need to be more mindful of your munje use. Okay?”

He nodded, shame forcing his gaze downward.

“Let’s get to shopping,” I said and patted him on the back.

We perused shop after shop, ogling the most recent fighter bots for far too long. Daegon had a gleam in his eye that I knew all too well. It was the same gleam I was sure had lit up my face when father had taken me to my first fight. I would have to keep my eyes on him.

We followed Se-hun to the clinic to pick up his father’s herbs and Mae directed me toward a salve that would help with my mother’s headaches. It was nearly shoulder to shoulder traffic when we reached the transport corral, and the smell had intensified three-fold. We grabbed our bikes and pushed our way past the animals with haste, keeping our eyes squinted and noses wrinkled from the foul scent of burning donkey droppings.

We pulled up to the grocer with the cheap rice, and I left Daegon with the bike. “Do not touch anything but the seat with your butt. Understand?” I asked him with a stern gaze.

He nodded, smiling broadly.

I pointed my finger, leaning in and whispering, “If anything happens, you will remember the pain of your punishment when you’re old and gray.”

His face shifted from feigned innocence to understanding, and he nodded again more vigorously.

Se-hun had stopped a little farther back and was chatting up one of the pretty painted girls. I stepped up to him, knocking his arm with my elbow. “How much do you need?”

“Ten kilos,” he said as he passed me some guli and his empty burlap rice sack without taking his eyes off the giggling woman.

I looked back at Daegon one more time as I walked to the shop and pointed firmly. He nodded affirmation again and put his hands under his butt. I moved through the few patrons to the dry goods section and pulled out our satchels, filling them each with ten kilos. I stood in line behind the others waiting to pay for their goods when I heard a shrill scream, followed by the rev of a motorbike.