68. Flight

“Not too shabby,” Fable suddenly said from behind him. Isaac frowned at the other Traveler, who had at some point stood up (completely unshaken by the sudden pillar rise, to Isaac’s annoyance) and was now peering over his shoulder as Olzu flew over to the flight competition starting line. His movements were a bit shaky, and he kept drifting left and right, but he hadn’t lost any altitude yet. With slow but steady progress, the demon made his way over to the event starting line.

Isaac could see Sharil turn in the demon’s direction, eyes wide, but Olzu seemed to be avoiding her, or maybe he was so focused that he hadn’t noticed the other demon. Sharil looked hesitant, but she ended up flying to a position on the other end of the starting line, perhaps out of respect for whatever Olzu was doing. Isaac couldn’t tell.

Continuing to scan the growing crowd, Isaac paused as a flash of white caught the corner of his eye. When he turned his head, he saw a glimpse of white feathers. Casimir was hovering near the stands, mostly obscured by his surroundings, and his head was turned towards the event. Frowning, Isaac leaned forward as much as he dared to on the tall pillar. From what he could see, the angel’s expression looked perfectly blank and unreadable, no surprise or any other discernible emotion in sight.

Directing his attention back to the gathered competitors, Isaac noted with relief that Olzu hadn’t seemed to notice the angel’s presence at all. He looked like he was mumbling under his breath, and every now and then he would jerk slightly to one side before righting himself, wobbling midair. Knowing the angel was watching would probably just make him more nervous.

Isaac himself wasn’t sure what to make of Casimir’s presence. Clearly he wasn’t participating, but he hadn’t actually expected the angel to stay and watch the events. Isaac had never known the man to willingly stay still for anything. His suggestion for Olzu to prove him wrong had been more for the demon’s own sake than as a challenge, but it seemed like the words were about to become literal.

Isaac took a few steps back so that he was safely away from the edge of the pillar and comfortably within the bounds of the booth. He ended up bumping into Fable, who shot him a grin that he knew to mean that they’d purposely stood still in order to block his path.

“Lot of participants,” they said cheerily, waving at the growing crowd. Their scarf flared out with the movement. “Competition’ll be real fierce for this one.”

Isaac scowled, but didn’t give the other Traveler a response. Winning wasn’t really the objective here, anyway.

His grip on his tablet tightened as the constant murmuring of the crowd died down slightly. The screen on the other side of the field glowed as its surface dissolved into a swirling pool of golden light. From that gold, individual specs began to gather together before reforming into a countdown for the flying event. Isaac watched with bated breath as the numbers slowly ticked down.

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As soon as they reached zero, the racers surged forward.

A few contestants immediately shot ahead, vanishing into blurs of colors and lingering gusts of wind, but Isaac kept his eyes focused on Olzu. He was around the back of the group, but he’d managed to fly forward when the race began. The demon seemed to be repeating some kind of mantra to himself, and Isaac watched as he made slow progress ahead, his wings flapping in the patterns that he’d practiced for so long the day before.

Thankfully, the total distance for this race wasn’t too long; it seemed to be more of a flying sprint than anything. Olzu was about a fifth of the way there already.

At this point, several competitors had already reached the finish line, but thankfully Olzu seemed to be so focused that he wasn’t paying them any attention, otherwise he might’ve gotten discouraged. Doubly good, considering Isaac could spot more than a few demons, both at the finish line and spectating, watching him.

Sharil crossed the finish line when Olzu was a fourth of the way across the field. “Come on,” Isaac muttered.

Olzu’s speed had slowed down by then, and even from this distance, Isaac could tell that his flying was becoming more rough and jerky. The small demon flashed across one of the screens for a few seconds, and there was visible strain in his wings. He was huffing from exertion, and Isaac could see a slight drooping to his eyelids. He cursed under his breath, and his grip on the tablet tightened. Tiring himself out the night before hadn’t been a good idea at all. He should’ve tried harder to force the demon to sleep, Isaac thought.

Olzu was now a third of the way across, and very few other competitors remained. There was one large Abyss creature that had no visible wings and looked more like a squishy rock steadily drifting across, and on the other side of it was a human who was very slowly levitating themself over with telekinesis. Both of them had already reached the final half of the race field.

Almost halfway there. Isaac vaguely realized that he was leaning outside the booth again. He could feel the crisp air hit his face. Olzu was almost there, he told himself. Just a little further.

The final other contestant crossed the finish line, leaving Olzu the sole participant left in the flying event. The main screen switched to focus on him. Isaac watched, laser focused, as the demon’s wings continued to flap fiercely, forcing himself forward bit by bit. The more exhausted he was, the more the demon seemed intent on pushing ahead, refusing to give up. His stubbornness was on full display.

And then, as Olzu crossed the halfway mark, his wings faltered.

It reminded Isaac of a sputtering engine, the kind that started and stopped and then did it again, oscillating between sharp rumbles and halted coughs until finally dying with a puff of smoke. The brief moment of frenzied action would fade into a resounding silence, and only the lingering heat would give any indication that it had once struggled to function.

Isaac watched, eyes wide, as Olzu’s wings stopped moving and the demon plummeted towards the ground.