Antique would be laughably underselling the style of clothes Javan could choose from. From plated armor to what his history professor would call Hawaiian Mumuus to grass skirts and loincloths, he was at a loss. His clothes selection was larger than usual but far odder. In the end, he wore a brown loincloth that covered his chest and groin but left his legs open. The clothing did not look as valuable as the four silver coins Estreia tossed to the store owner. He was embarrassed to go outside. Stheno had to shove him out the door. He kept his Nike shoes, which Stheno found extremely odd.
“How are you able to connect to the Earth like that?”
“What do you mean? I’d rather keep my feet protected. I can’t shape-shift as you guys do.”
“Regardless, everyone gets their strength from the Earth. Just by staying grounded, a warrior's strength is amplified. See, look at the power in my feet.`` She lifted her swollen feet and shook them in front of Javan.
“I can tell.” Stheno slammed her foot back down.
“You look good though your prior clothes were rather exotic. You could have been a model if you were a lot taller, more muscular, had a deeper voice...”
“I get it. I get it.” They walked down the alley from the clothing store. The buildings here were basic squares only about five meters apart and a story tall. Some had roofs, but many didn’t. Javan smelled freshly cooked cockroaches from the restaurants, saw frescos hung from the art shops, and heard the clash of cymbals matched with a soprano voice that blared from the outskirts.
“Where to go next?” asked Stheno. Her green marble earrings swung back and forward as she racked her brain for ideas.
“Hey, Stelly!” Stheno and Javan turned to a curly-haired lad running towards them. He looked like an Olympic turtle with a brown burlap bag that caved his back in. He sounded exacerbated and yet full of life. As soon as he got near, Stheno turned her face.
‘You gotta be kidding me with this nonsense, Stelly.” He reached out to her, but she dodged every approach as if they were the thrust of a spear.
“You're so obstinate now, aren’t you? I guess living it up really has changed you.” The comment made Stheno pause. In that moment of uncertainty, the merchant guy reached her. His fingers grazed those green olives.
“I guess that’s the difference between us now. I always wanted to feel it, ya know--that separation.” He let go of the earrings and stepped back to a comfortable distance.. Stheno gave him an annoyed look.
“Keso, I don’t have time for this anymore.”
“I thought so too. When I saw you with that kid, I thought you had finally learned independence. I guess your Empress’s muddy toes were just too enticing to leave, eh.”
“I’ll leave your toes more than muddy if you insult my Empress again.” Stheno dug her toes into the ground. Keso's eyes twitched as she stepped forward, but he stood his ground.
“Wait a moment. Stheno. How about we not cause a commotion here?” A crowd of people had slowly formed around them. Stheno sighed.
“My bad. She released the weight on her feet. She walked away, not even waiting for Javan to catch up.
“Wait, Stelly.” She kept on walking. Keso didn’t move from his spot. I guess even he knew he was saved by the bell.
“Stelly, I…” His voice cracked. His shoulders sank into nothingness. Then, as if struck by lightning, he bounced to his feet, his voice reinvigorated.
“I just came to tell you that I’m the best Lampre rider in all of Volcanian now.” She kept on walking.
“I’ve grown quite the audience recently. Never lost a single race since you’ve been gone. In fact…” He paused for emphasis. Stheno’s pace slowed. His arms tensed, daring the man to continue.
“In fact, with your lack of training, there’s no way you could beat me. Sorry, but I win.”
As if Keso had pulled back a rubber band, Stheno sprung right at him. Her eyes were wild and animalistic. Keso nearly fell to the floor at her response.
“No way, now how. You know I’m the best Lampre rider in this place, no question.”
“Tough act for someone with no results recently. Looks to me that you’re all hiss and no bite.”
“We’ll see about that. You. Me. The Oritorian. Right now.”
“You’re on.”
The Oritorian was an oval racetrack with giant smelly lizards instead of gas-guzzling vehicles. Stheno and Keso stood on their rides, impressive reptilian mounts that were only a bit shorter than the ones the Serpentines used. The track beneath the lizard's feet was a dark turquoise. The wreckage of a stadium wrapped around the track, white marble pillars torn to rocky bits, and seating areas rendered to isolated cubes strung haphazardly on the dirt.. Javan wondered why such a thing hadn’t been rebuilt by now given that magical circles created structures out of the Earth with such ease.
Sitting in that wreckage were two friends of Keso, one taller and one shorter than Javan. The taller one was named Tulu and the shorter one was named Tongo. They looked out at the racetrack, their feet tapping the white-colored remains with increasing speed as the two riders readied their reigns.
Keso tried to jump on the Lampre, but missed spectacularly as his head rammed into the creature's side, causing him to fall right on his back. However, he jumped right back up and, with one large leap, got on top of the massive steed. Stheno gave her steed a kiss with her elongated tongue before climbing on it, her tongue shrinking as she left the ground and got into riding position.
Another one of Keso’s friends, who introduced himself to Javan as Moore, stood just outside the racetrack. Smothered in one of his hands was a glowing mushroom. In the other hand, he held a candle. He lifted the balloon over the fire and, like a firework; the balloon flew into the air, flashing yellow and blue sparks.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
At the sight of the flare, the two riders flung into action, causing a dust cloud to form from the initial launch. The lampres shot across the field, their legs swinging from side to side. Javan could feel the Earth shake. This was nothing like horseback riding. This was a dinosaur race.
Stheno had pulled in front. Her green earrings buckled under the speed. Her hair scattered widely behind her, which contrasted with her eyes, which never looked away from the finish line.
The guys in the back kept their eyes glued to Keso, cheering him on as he neared Stheno. The lampres were boisterous. They cawed as they bent their horned heads forward to charge and made a high cooing noise with their beaks as they turned. Both riders screamed on with their steeds. The excitement in the air was palpable.
“What’s the matter? Can’t keep up.” Stheno taunted Keso as the gap between them solidified. No matter how fast Keso seemed to push, Stheno kept a meter’s distance from him.
“I see ya haven’t lost your strut, princess. I guess even the palace halls couldn’t change that about you.” Keso pulled back on the reins, causing his lampre to slow down. Stheno continued charging.
“Given up already?” said Stheno. Keso strummed his fingers through his curly hair.
“You're good, Stelly. I’ll give ya that. But there’s one thing that I’ve got now that you’ve lost.”
“And what could that be?”
“Home court advantage.”
Suddenly, a jagged pillar of marble formed right in front of Stheno. Stheno pulled hard right on the lampre’s reins. The creature turned, scraping its side against the pillar, but continuing onwards at the same pace. Stheno's shoulders tensed.
“That was close.”
“I’d say so.” Keso was now right beside her. The distance that once seemed insurmountable was now eliminated.
“The Oritorian never had such traps when I raced here. So this was your plan? No, only an architect could create such traps. What’s going on here?”
“I’ll tell you after I win.” Keso pulled to the side. He took a deep breath before closing his eyes. “Good luck.”
The ground erupted into a field of dust from which merged many more shards of stone and marble. Accompanying these hazards were rectangular holes that littered the track. Keso moved through the obstacles with ease. He moved faster blind than he did with his eyes opened, turning at the perfect spot, slowing down right before falling into the ditch and speeding up around it. He might as well have been the highest-level CPU driver in a racing game.
Stheno struggled to stay in the same ballpark as Keso. Her eyes darted in all directions, barely dodging the earthen spikes. She glanced forwards. Keso had out-distanced her by about seven meters. His relaxed demeanor and his closed eyes mocked her. Never had she lost a lampre race before. This would not be her first.
Stheno brought her fingers to her mouth and blew a shrill, ear-piercing sound. As if charged by a battery, the lampre, who showed hesitancy in the beginning, went full throttle into the death traps. The two swished and squirmed through the spikes and holes. To Javan, it looked like they were dancing—to partners perfectly in sync.
“How is she moving like that?” asked Tulu.
“That’s impossible. It took Keso months to learn how to navigate that.”
“Look carefully.” Tulo and Tongo turned to Moore, who instead of viewing the two races like everyone else, was staring straight beneath him.
“Her hair—her hair is touching the ground.”
“How can you see that from there?” Javan asked.
“No, he’s right. Dang, she’s good.” He kicked at a piece of rock that caused him to fall to the floor, rolling in pain.
Javan stretched his vision o the max. Stheno wasn’t properly sitting on the lampre. She hung sideways, leaning just enough for the tip of her hair to touch the ground.
“She’s sensing where the traps are with her hair,” said Keso. He gave an amused grin. “Normally, those with her gifts only focus on the transformation aspect. It's rare to see the ability applied to its core properties. Talk about respecting the fundamentals.”
Javan was more amazed at how Stheno stayed on the lampre. The speed at which they were moving should have been enough to send her flying off into one of the holes. And yet, the two seemed inseparable.
Stheno made up the distance at an alarming rate. Keso looked behind in shock as the person who had barely hung with him was now neck-to-neck with him near the race’s finale.
“Nice try, Keso, but those little tricks aren’t enough.”
Keso bit his tongue. He opened his eyes to a sight he thought impossible.
“You’ve always been too much.”
“I know.”
The end was just a couple of lizard feet away. The riders were so close to each other. They might as well have been inseparable. Stheno’s focus was unreal. She stared at the finish line as if it was a pool in the middle of the Sarah desert. She bent her entire body into her ride, her head sticking out like a turtle from its shell.
They made one last burst, dust flying off the sides of their charge. Keso too lunged at these final moments. If Stheno moved like a bullet, he moved like lightning.
Both riders crossed the line at the same time. No person could be able to tell who was first. No one would contest that it was a tie.
“She did it,” said Moore. There was no uncertainty in his voice.
“Her earring crossed the line first. The momentum carried it forward just a bit past her face.”
Javan couldn’t believe that Moore would be able to know that. Not only were they too far away, but during the entire race, Moore had kept his eyes glued to the floor. Tongo and Tulo took his words like gospel.
“Unbelievable. Talk about good fate,” said Tulo.
“So it is true that Quintents in the army are twice as blessed as those in the streets,” said Tongo.
Stheno’s face was cherry red as she got off her lampre. She was washed in sweat, her long hair muddy and torn from her race-winning play. And yet the most prominent thing about her appearance was her smile. A mischievous, proud grin that would turn any opponent of hers into stone.
Keso looked less confident. Like Moore, he stared at the ground. Stheno approached him, extending her hand. Keso still looked away. He whispered something to himself before delivering a punch to his left shoulder.
“Congrats.” He raised his head and shook the winner’s hand. He gripped her hand loosely, pulling away as she tried to tighten her hold.
“Sorry, I…” He glanced at the floor again. The happiness Stheno received from winning the race disappeared. She approached him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
“There’s no need to keep your head down around me.”
Keso pushed her back.
“What are you…,” Stheno was about to say before Keso erupted.
“Don’t lie to me, Stheno. We’re not the same anymore.” Stheno stepped back, her arms guarded. Her lampre hissed at him. Despite being antagonized first, Javan felt more worried for Keso.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell like that. I just got a little heated, that’s all.”
Stheno lowered her guard. The lampre hissed once more and then bent down next to Stheno like a cat waiting to be petted.
“It’s just a race,” said Stheno.
Keso’ hands shook. His voice quivered with every syllable that crashed out of his mouth.
“This was a chance. A chance to make the choice I should have made three years ago.” He knelt on the floor. Stheno looked at him with astonishment.
“Please, I ask if I may court you.”