DNN1

"In the year 631, when the Dukes of Merovia, Calabria and Galicia first came to the Imperial Palace to do homage to His Eternal Majesty after the conquest of Occidens, they came riding their dragons. In the pageantry that followed, some of the young princes proposed a race, from the gates of the palace, up here to the Monument of the 52, and back again.

“History tells us that the winner of that race was Rhionne Temisia, riding a solar dragon named Assurgo. According to the Chronicle of the Dusk Pond, the young prince took the lead with a sharp turn around this ancient stone needle – which at that time had already stood for over four centuries – and in the turn, the tip of Assurgo’s wing touched the face of the Monument.

“His Majesty was said to be so infuriated at this transgression that Rhionne and his dragon were required to kneel at the foot of the Monument, on the bare rock, for a full day and a night. The next year, when the Dukes returned and established the tradition of this race, they erected a large wooden ring on a stand, fifty-two feet away from the monument, that the dragons would have to pass through. The Imperial League was born.

“Now, eight hundred years later, we still come here every year to race. I’m Sam Tinbru, for DNN Sport 1, here as always with former IL Team Principal Bob Anmo, to bring you non-stop coverage of what promises to be one of the most exciting season finales we’ve ever seen, right, Bob?”

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen it so tight at the front. Four riders still in the championship hunt, the two leaders both multiple-time world champions with only a point between them, with the two most exciting rookies in years chasing them down.”

“Indeed. We don’t make the rings out of wood anymore, and they hang in the air by magic instead of standing on stands that used to fall over and even injure dragons occasionally, but the magic of the races is just the same. We even have His Majesty in attendance this weekend, along with the Duke Hyperio, just like in ancient times.”

“That’s a stormy situation if ever there was one.”

Stolen story; please report.

“It really is. Official word from House Hyperio is that Duke Pirenne’s second daughter, known to the Imperial League as Phoebe Tenryuu, team owner and sole rider of Tenebrae and a championship contender today – as if you needed any reminder of that – is not disowned by the family, but Hyperio will not give any financial support to his daughter’s team and disavows any formal relationship with her business ventures.”

“Between that and her disaster last time out in Cao Wei, young Phoebe’s had a bad couple of weeks.”

“She has. Indeed, if she’d scored as well last race as she did the two before that, this would be all but over. Instead, she comes here five points behind championship leader Lucia Aelschu, needing to win by at least three places. And despite that, she's agreed to join us here this afternoon – afternoon here at the Winter Palace, of course it's quite a bit earlier if you're watching this back in Occidens, hope you've got your coffee brewed – for a quick chat. Thanks for joining us, Phoebe."

"Happy to be here, Sam."

"To start off with, well, this is a bit of a long list, so bear with me."

"Okay, Sam, go ahead."

"You took your first podium at Quatre Tours after Niki tangled with Lucia on the last lap. Your first win at Aletsch Gorge after Lucia almost killed Feran at the start. You won again at Costa Dei Fiori after getting lucky with the weather, and then your duel with Niki at Circo Caria was cut short by Incandesia's injury. You couldn't beat Lucia in Anatolia, and when you had your chance in Baleara you fell. You couldn't hold off Lucia at Zubrija either, and although you dominated at Sayan Pass on the back of Soot’s strength at altitude, Niki beat you squarely at Guicheng. You've never led the championship, and two weeks ago when you had the chance to, you fell apart."

"What are you trying to say, Sam? Go on, say it."

"People are saying that you can't finish, you're too green, you don't deserve to be where you are now."

"Are you saying that, Sam? Are you 'people'?"

"I'm just reporting opinions that I see around the internet and so on. Do you deserve to be here?"

"What do you mean, 'deserve', Sam? I qualified for the Imperial League, this is an Imperial League race, here I am."

"What about third place in the championship, though?"

"Well, Sam, the way it works is that positions in the championship are based on how many points you have. Lucia's got 92, Feran's got 91 and I've got 87, so I'm third. It's pretty basic maths, really, I thought you'd be familiar with that sort of thing."

"You know what I mean, though. Have you been lucky?"

"I've been lucky since the day I met Soot, Sam. So has every rider in this competition. You remember what it's like."

"Ok, fair enough. Let me turn the question round. Can you really win the championship?"

"I'm gonna try, Sam, I'll do my best. Soot deserves it."