Before Xelan heard their carnivorous roar, he smelled the foul rot of Cinder’s great, mutated beasts. As he crested wave after wave, he drew closer to a pod, agitated by the intrusion of their mating grounds. Which unfortunately laid between the Ignis Desert and the distant caves, making up the last leg of the race.

Nox swam like his life depended on it, because it did.

All the whalesharks they’d faced before were males. During this season, the females swam closer to the riptide, and they were an impressive sight.

An impressive, horrifying sight.

Only two females swam among the pod, and it was easy to pick out the ladies—They were the size of Xelan’s stronghold. When one yawned, her gigantic jaws would fit an Icarus the size of Nox whole. The tines of her teeth swirled like a meat grinder. One major distinctive feature—their only saving grace—was the lack of adhesion to their skin. The males were sticky to bring food to their females.

That was it.

“Nox!” Xelan shouted, as a female set her sights on her next meal. The splash behind Xelan let him know Korac was with him as they rushed to their older brother.

By now, the story of Nox’s decimation of a whaleshark barehanded after escaping the adhesion had spread far and wide across the empire. While it invoked the old hero-worship in Xelan, the females required teamwork.

Korac swam up beside Xelan. “You get to Nox. I’ll swim up beside her.”

“Careful around the gills. They can pull you in.”

With a shudder, Korac swam toward the mother beast. Meanwhile, Nox faced her head on, spear at the ready. Xelan reached him before she did, and just as Korac breached her wake.

“Tameka will have my head if you die on my account.” Nox’s admonishing was halfhearted as they faced the gigantic predator.

Xelan waded beside Nox. “That might be so, but Rayne would never let me hear the end of it if you died without me trying.”

The water dipped around them, drawing them into the open maw. Not long now.

C’mon, Korac.

As if Nox had heard Xelan’s thoughts, he asked, “Do you ever doubt him?”

Electricity sparked, and the female yowled in agony before Xelan could say, “Never.”

The smell of cooked, bloated flesh gagged the brothers, as the whaleshark spouted bones and sinew, dying. The male beasts retreated from the residual electricity repelled by the wetsuits. Despite Korac’s obvious defeat of the female, there was no sign of him.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Where is he?” Xelan lingered in the pod’s wake.

They’d return, but…

“Korac!” Nox bellowed across the surf, alarming gulls which had come to feast on the whaleshark’s remains.

The birds weren’t particular about the difference between Icari and animal hide. Xelan batted one off as he shouted, “General, where are—”

“Yo!”

The call came from shore, and Nox cursed before the brothers turned to find Korac scampering onto the beach. He was already halfway out of his wetsuit.

Cocky. Arrogant. Childish—

“He must really want us to spend time together.” Nox’s words sunk home as they surged for shore.

While the sport was worthy of all this spectacle and grandeur, Xelan would use everything in his power to grant their wishes.

Win or lose.

Nox and Xelan reached the shore in time to see Korac fly into the caves. The older brother mused, “He better enjoy his advantage while it lasts,” as he opened his massive wings.

Xelan gave a half-laugh before asking, “How do you plan to break it to Rayne?” When Nox quirked a brow, Xelan continued, “That you ate my dust.”

The little brother rocketed from the beach, stirring up a cloud of sand as he jetted for the caves. No doubt, Korac had once held a greater advantage over the brothers because he’d mapped the maze and set all the traps. But in the spirit of today’s race, they’d installed some new ones. Not even Xelan knew—

A blast of red light zipped by, narrowly missing the Co-Emperor. Laser turrets. A cousin to the automated nacre defenses in Cinder’s old shrine in Enki, these attacked based on movement. They blasted ahead as Korac soared, like his life depended on it. Because it did.

As Nox’s shadow cast over Xelan, flying above his little brother, turrets fired at him—The bigger target.

Xelan kicked it into high gear and angled his wings back for more speed. He easily passed Nox within a few seconds, but the blasters were firing into the maze of black stalactites ahead at Korac. The debris formed a cloud of shattered rock and dust. Xelan navigated it with caution to avoid the razor wire—

“Shit!” Nox wasn’t far behind.

Antithesis to the competition, Xelan asked, “Are you all right?” His question resounded through the rockcicles, louder than he’d intended.

Nox manifested through the dust cloud, and Xelan smelled the blood oozing from his older brother’s pinions. Nox said, “I’ll heal.”

Korac’s voice sounded a respectable distance ahead of them, chagrined. “This shames me to admit, but I can’t find my way out—Fuck!” A blaster went off the same distance ahead. Before Xelan could ask, the General assured, “I’m fine. But…”

How would they get out? They were blind in here.

Four more turrets fired, and Xelan narrowly avoided them. Only their glow gave them away. Why did Nox look so intent?

The older brother hovered, peered behind him, and adjusted—

A shot fired. After Nox evaded it, an explosion tore through the cave.

Korac asked, “What the fuck was that?”

Ah.

“You’re a genius!” Xelan cried, and Nox’s smile in response made the compliment worth it. “Korac, make them fire at each other.”

While under fire, both brothers spotted the red horizontal lights from the distant turrets and positioned themselves in the way. The zipping blasts ended in resounding explosions—

More echoed ahead, where Korac waited in the dust cloud.

One explosion.

Three.

When five erupted, something went wrong.

Nox peered at the cave ceiling, while Xelan calculated the integrity of the ancient cavern—

A stalactite fell, and although the brothers avoided it, more followed. Boulders tumbled down, and a terrifying rumble reverberated throughout the plume.

Characteristically composed, Korac said, “Looks like Nox won the wager,” just before the cave collapsed.