Ablee and Zeph marched out of Row side by side in lock-step, both refusing to give up the lead. A chill wind rolled over them as heavy gray clouds pooled on the horizon, blocking out the sun. Trailing behind the pair, Rhody pulled her cloak tight against the biting air. Her gaze locked on the jagged path snaking down from the Long Fang Mountains, barely wider than the breadth of a wagon's wheels. It twisted and coiled like a serpent's spine, its sharp edges promising a quick end to anyone who slipped. Far below, valleys lie shrouded in shadow, their depths swallowing the fading light. The only reprieve from the gloom came from the distant glow of their destination, the plateau city of Mango Port.
It towered far in the distance above the valley floor, a monolith crowned with a lattice of ley-line energy. Its rocky flanks glistened with blue-lit frost. The glowing currents of the surrounding Ley-Lines disappeared into the looming darkness like the threads of a vast, celestial loom. Rhody’s eyes lingered too long on the sight, and a loose stone shifted under her boot. She staggered, her arms flailing for balance.
“Careful there,” Zeph said, catching her by the arm. Her voice carried a wry lilt as though the drop below was no more concerning than a puddle.
Rhody swallowed, staring at the yawning abyss below. “I've seen plates of spaghetti with less twists and turns. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow. Climbing up it with the sun's light was one thing; I really don't want to try navigating this in the dark."
Ablee laughed, sharp and full of challenge. She planted her hands on her hips and fixed Rhody with a mischievous grin. “We'll be in the valley well before night!”
Rhody raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? We've got an hour, maybe two...”
“Relax,” Ablee said, jerking her head toward a weathered storage shack on the side of the road. Its frame leaned, waiting for a sharp breeze to pull it into the chasm below. “I’ve got a better way down.”
Zeph followed Ablee’s gesture and raised an eyebrow. “What’s in there?”
“Oh, I've been dreaming of this moment,” Ablee replied. She strode toward the shed, boots crunching the dusty ground. The rusted hinges buckled as she kicked open the door, revealing three small rickety carts lined up in the gloom like discarded memories, one black, one yellow, one blue.
“Soap-box racers,” Ablee declared, her grin stretching wider. “My step-brothers built them. They came back from their trip to Cacio obsessed with these things. Course, they wouldn’t let me or Cline anywhere near 'em. They just sat in these things, laughing their heads off while we watched from the sidelines.” Her fingers curled into fists.
Her expression shifted as quickly as it darkened, her grin snapping back into place. “But they’re not here now, are they? So I’m calling the shots. We're racing to the bottom!”
Rhody’s mouth opened, but no words came out. She gestured at the carts, their wood warped and fixtures rusted under the shed's leaky roof. “These things are falling apart, there’s no way they still work.”
“Oh, they’ll work,” Ablee shot back "I'd bet my life on it."
Rhody's jaw dropped further, "You are doing that, literally! Zeph, there's no way we're doing this, right?!"
Zeph crouched by the black cart, giving one of its squeaky wheels a spin. “I'm not racing you in this death trap unless there are proper stakes, Ablee. Winner is Captain of the Liner we steal.”
“Deal!” Ablee agreed, her tone brooking no argument, “I've already got a name picked out for the ship.”
Rhody stepped back, shaking her head. “No, no way. You’re both mentally ill. Can't you see how dangerous this is?”
Ablee gave her an exaggerated eye roll. “No, it's simple; you just need to know when to brake. You'll be behind me, so just slow down when I do.”
“And if the brakes decide not to work?!"
Zeph traced the word "STRUT" with her finger across the cart's dusty side and smirked. “If Ablee's willing to bet her Captain status on these things, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. Besides,” she adds with a pointed glance at Ablee, “I can't turn down the chance to put you in your place.”
Ablee’s grin turned razor-sharp. “Big words," she said. Before Rhody could protest further, Ablee grabbed her by the arm and tugged her into the shed. “Don’t overthink it,” she said, her voice teasing. “Just lean into the turns; you’ll do fine.”
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Rhody whimpered as Ablee corraled her into the nearest racer.
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Seated in her cart, Ablee was beaming, her nose scrunched.
The warped wooden frames of the vehicles creaked with every shift as leaves of peeling paint fell from their sides. To Rhody, they looked like disasters waiting to happen. To Ablee, they were a reckoning.
Ablee slapped the side of her cart. “Ready to see what these beauties can do?” Her voice rolled down the mountain like a dare.
Zeph tipped her hat, her gaze narrow as she inspected Ablee's yellow racer. “You’ll be lucky to make it halfway, those wheels are not secure.”
Rhody hunched in the blue cart, her knuckles pale, clamping the steering rope. The vehicle's brakes groaned as gravity pulled the weight of her pack into them. Her gaze flicked to Ablee, then Zeph, and finally to the hungrily waiting void flanking the edges of their course. “I’m going to die. This is how I die.”
Ablee drummed her hands along her racer's lemon-yellow hood. “You two better not make me wait long at the finish line."
Zeph huffed and raised Applause, “Ready... Set..." BANG!
Loosing her brakes, Ablee’s racer shot forward, its warped wheels popping against the uneven ground. Zeph followed immediately, her movements smooth and deliberate as her cart leaned into the first turn. Rhody hesitated, watching the two grow smaller down the darkening trail.
“Come on, Rhody!” Zeph called back, her voice laced with encouragement, “Try to keep up!”
Rhody finally mustered the courage. Her foot pulled back from the brake pedal, and her cart jolted into motion, wobbling dangerously as it joined the others accelerating down the incline.
They barreled down the mountain, each turn sharper than the last. Ablee leaned hard into the curves, her back wheels catching air. She pushed a hand down through her floorboard, turning it to paint, and grabbed the path's ledge, wrenching her cart's wheels back onto it. Zeph took advantage; hugging the trail's inner lip, she pulled ahead, her golden hair whipping like a streamer behind her.
“Oh, real smooth!” Ablee shouted, leaning forward, willing herself to close the distance between them, "Good luck trying to hold that lead!"
"Ha!" Exclaimed Zeph, not looking back. She veered from side to side along the course's width, expertly closing any passing gaps, “Talk less, drive better!”
A pile of stacked stone loomed ahead. Drifting around it, Zeph pulled her revolver. BANG! A single shot cracked the air, scattering the smaller stones and sending the larger ones tumbling into Ablee's path.
Rhody’s voice rang out from behind. “King of Wands!" She screamed, "Isn't this dangerous enough?!"
Zeph holstered her weapon, "Hurry it up, Rhody, you don't want to come in last!" Her keen eyes were already set on the next stretch of trail.
Ablee's cart slipped along Zeph's impromptu hazard. She threw her wheels, reversing the direction of her wild skid, "Ahaaa!"
"Ablee!" Rhody hollered as she watched the girl careen over the inner lip of the curve. Ablee sank into the shadows.
Rhody's eyes widen, aghast. Zeph killed her.
Then, Ablee's cart crested over the opposite ledge, bouncing and sliding, spitting a plume of dust in Zeph's face. “Shortcut!” Ablee shouted, her laughter cutting through the rush of wind.
The racers hurtled forward, the trail narrowing as the incline grew steeper. Ablee’s laughter echoed down the mountainside, her yellow cart bouncing wildly with each uneven dip in the path. Zeph pulled ahead once more, her black racer gliding with a precision that seemed almost effortless. Rhody lagged far behind, gripping the steering rope so tight her knuckles burned, her cart lurching and groaning under unsteady control.
“I told you to lean into the turns, Rhody!” Ablee shouted over her shoulder, "You're making us all look bad!"
“Making us look bad?” Rhody’s voice broke as her cart slammed into a rut, the wheels shuddering. “I’m trying not to die!”
Ahead, the jagged path rounded a sheer cliff face, a drop of hundreds of feet yawning to their left. Zeph swerved around the sharp turn, her focus unshaken, but Ablee’s cart wobbled as she took the corner too fast.
Zeph called out, “No more off-roading; you're gonna get yourself killed,” a smirk audible in her voice.
Ablee smiled, her teeth flashing in the dim light. “Oh, don’t you worry about me! Worry about what’s up ahead.”
Zeph squinted through the cloud of dust in Ablee's wake. “What do you mean 'what’s up ahead'?”
Ablee didn't answer, her gaze fixed on a dark mass looming further down the path. Shadows flickered in the haze, indistinct at first, but then resolved into a hulking, long-snouted form. It moved slowly. Its eyes were set on the approaching carts, reflecting the Ley-Light from Mango Port in the distance.
The smirk faded from Zeph's face. “Rhody,” she shouted, her voice clipped. “Stop your cart!”
“What?” Rhody responded, panic rising in her voice. “Wha- What is that?!"
Ablee’s cart jerked around the next bend, barreling toward the creature. It let out a low, guttural hiss that reverberated through the stone beneath them.