by Kit Downes
“Ah, off for a last-minute training flight, are they?” said Professor Maltho. “So they fixed the Rainbow Carpet? I knew Zara could do it. Your daughter has the potential to become a very fine high magician one day, Arna.”
“Great potential is also the way I would describe your son’s swordsmanship,” said Mistress Shen to Augur. “Assuming he learns to use his brain before it gets him killed, that is.”
“A training flight? Oh, that must be where Miles is,” said Paradim. “He’s been really distracted for the last three days. So tell me, just how fast is one of these rainbow carpets?”
“Ummm…”
“Dad! Mr Aura!”
“ZAL!”
Spectators and Royal Protectors jumped out of the way as the Rainbow Carpet came through the crowd with Zal, Zara, Rip, Sari and the tigers onboard. Augur and Arna ran to meet them. Zal sighed with relief to see the Royal Pavilion was empty. The race could not start without the Empress.
“Where have you two been?” said Augur. “Do you know how worried we were?”
“Yes, it was like the night before the Great Race all over again!” said Arna. “I was almost expecting to hear you’d been found hurt! Or dead! What have you been doing?”
“I’m sorry,” said Zal. “We don’t have time to explain.”
“Oh, also like last time?” said Arna.
“Who is this?” said Augur, pointing at Sari and the tigers.
“This is Sari. She’s a friend.”
“Hello,” said Sari.
“Zal! Where have you been hiding?” cried Paradim, arriving behind their fathers. “And Zara! We finally get to meet!”
“Thank you, Mr Nocturne. It’s an honour to meet you,” said Zara, shaking his hand. “Sorry, Dad. It’s a long story.”
“Yes, very long. Is Miles here yet?” said Zal.
“No, we thought he was coming with you,” said Paradim.
“No, he … he said he was going on ahead,” said Zal.
“Oh, maybe he stopped to feed Fluffy,” said Paradim. “But still! Here we all are at last!”
“We are?” said Zara.
“I always knew this day would come,” said Paradim. “Zal was born to be a racer, and anyone who can enchant the perfect flying carpet must be too. I knew I’d have to fly against you both eventually. And I can’t think of a better day for it.”
At that moment, several trumpets sounded. Clapping echoed across the courtyard as the Empress – wearing a dress made of pure-white swan feathers – arrived on the Royal Pavilion with her ministers. A bell rang and a race official shouted for all the Champions to make their way to the starting line.
“Right! This is it!” said Paradim, rubbing his hands together. “I’ll see you all at the finishing line. Hopefully, right behind me.”
He strode off and disappeared through the gates into the contestants’ area.
“Let’s go,” said Sari.
“You’re coming with us?” said Zara.
“I already said I was. I can’t settle things with my ex-client from here,” said Sari.
“OK, but they’re going to have to stay here,” said Zal, nodding to Sheertooth, Cloudclaw and Jeweltail.
“What?” said Sari. Sheer, Cloud and Jewel pressed up against her. “No way! Not a chance.”
“The rules are that Champions can only have one passenger with them,” said Zara. “We can take you or one of them, but not all four. Then how do you get even with Miles?”
“You’re bringing Rip.”
“He’s one of the Champions of Azamed,” said Zal. The Caliph had officially given Rip the title as well for all the times he had helped Zal and Zara during the Great Race.
Sari hesitated. Then she sighed. She knelt down and put her arms around the tigers’ heads, pulling them close to her face. She whispered to them for a moment, and Jeweltail whimpered with surprise. Cloudclaw whined, but Sheertooth growled deep and short. All three tigers nodded.
“They’ll stay,” said Sari, standing up. “But you have to keep an eye on them,” she said to Augur and Arna. “Don’t let them run off or eat too much.”
“Us?” said Augur.
“Keep an eye on them?” said Arna, stepping back.
“You’ll be fine,” said Zara, as the race official gave the final call. “Come on. Let’s go!”
Inside the contestants’ area, the Champions of the Seventeen Kingdoms were assembled together for the first time. All the means of flight in the Great Desert were lined up side by side and excitement filled the air.
At the head of the crowd was Prince Neeaj, Champion of Pursolon, sitting in his flying throne. It was an enormous, solid wood chair, decorated with gold leaf and carved with pictures of Pursolon’s heroes. Magic glowed in the runes carved into its legs and across its base as the throne floated a foot above the ground, bobbing gently in the air. Next to him, and scowling at him, was his great rival, Elsai Wavewind, the Champion of Caldyn, sitting on the neck of her roc. Like Paradim, she had raised the giant, brown-feathered bird of prey since it had hatched. Before the Champions’ Race, she had ridden her bird against Prince Neeaj in many local races, where they had always drawn. Each of them was hoping that, this time, they could beat the other.
Beside them, Mara Hazela, Champion of Skandia, was brushing the twigs of her broomstick. It was made from wood from the evergreen forests of her northern kingdom and Mara had enchanted it herself. She wore the distinctive black pointed hat of a Skandian witch that she had enchanted so it wouldn’t blow off in the wind once she was flying. Next to her sat a giant, green-scaled Heaven Steppe dragon, coiling its tail on the ground and blowing smoke from its nostrils. The Champions of the Heaven Steppe – a three-man family team from the Rock Slope Clan, were adjusting their harnesses and feeding the dragon last-minute energy-boosting snacks. Beside them, the Champions of the Silk Lands – a four-man family team – had just finished assembling their large and beautiful silk box-kite. It was made of orange silk and though it flew mostly by wind magic, they had deliberately chosen the spot beside the dragon to use the hot air it breathed to give them an extra push over the starting line.
On the other side of them were the Heaven Steppe team’s great rivals, the Champions of Frostbite, another three-man team, preparing their giant, white-scaled snow dragon, which breathed icy mist where the other breathed smoke. The race organizers had made sure to put the Silk Lands team in between them to keep them from fighting before the race even started.
Next to them were a line of individual Champions. Jula Rua, the Champion of Endsali, was sitting on his large, grey-feathered gryphon, chatting to Akaha Naktep, the Champion of Hothath, who was riding his lamassu, a magnificent winged lion with a golden mane and silver wings. Beside them was Laya Ursula, the Champion of Xalam, grooming the gleaming wings of her white pegasus, and then the Champions of Katrasca – a seven-man family team – who were sitting on a giant floating plate that was rotating slowly in the air on the starting line. They were determined to break their record of being the Champions who crashed every single year.
Beside them was a giant glass water tank, holding two huge, silver-scaled flying fish. The Champions of the Emerald Archipelago, the dark-haired twin sisters, Fan and Lan Xuan, were swimming like fish in the tank with them. Hoto Hibari, the Champion of Yamaroto was beside them, using a large umbrella to keep any splashes away from his elegant origami crane. Folded from a single giant sheet of paper, the model bird was large enough to ride on and Hoto had folded and enchanted it himself. Next to him were Max Rafatar, the Champion of Tabaras, riding a giant phoenix with rainbow tail feathers, and the Champions of Quakajak, a huge nine-man family team from the Gemstone tribe, positioned along the length of the long green body of their giant-winged jungle serpent. Beside them the Champions of Gothopar, a five-man family team, were preparing the rigging on their vimana, a small, elegant sailing ship, which was tethered to the ground by a large anchor, its hull and sails enchanted with flying magic. Finally, in the very middle, was Paradim Noc
turne, the Champion of Shirazar, sitting astride his giant stork Celeste, who stretched her wings, wider than both the dragons, and cawed at the golden sun.
Zal stared at the other Champions as he, Zara, Rip and Sari hurried to the last remaining space. This was not like racing at home at all. The Rainbow Carpet was tiny compared to the other means of flight. The other contestants just glanced at them as they glided up to the starting line. Many of them had flown in the Champions’ Race for years and had only been beaten by Paradim Nocturne.
“Can you see Miles?” whispered Zara.
“No,” said Zal.
“He won’t be here,” said Sari, pulling off the scarf she had tied over her hair and around the sides of her face to hide her scars in case the Royal Protector at the gates recognized her. She nodded through the arch towards the desert. “He’ll be out there waiting for us, using the Mirror Curtain as an invisibility cloak. That’s what I’d do.”
“Oh, great,” said Zal. “Now how do we stop him?”
“We’ll just have to find a way,” said Zara.
The bell rang again, signalling to the Champions that it was time. Everyone inched forward, right up to the starting line. Applause flowed across the courtyard as the Empress stood up on the Royal Pavilion and drew out a red silk handkerchief, the same one Emperor Clearju had used to start the first Champions’ Race five hundred years ago. He had only meant to blow his nose, but a gust of wind had blown the handkerchief out of his hand across the starting line and everyone thought it was the signal. Silence fell as the Empress held the handkerchief up and then released it. The crowds and the contestants breathed out as they watched it fall and land softly on the courtyard stones. With a roar of cheering, the Champions leapt across the starting line.
Eleven
The Katrascan team crashed straight into the top of the Arch of Champions, breaking the nose off a carving of Emperor Clearju.
“Every single year,” said the Empress, shaking her head, as the other Champions dodged the falling shards of crockery and burst out through the arch and over the desert.
The ground fell away beneath the contestants as they passed over the edge of the plateau. Instantly they were high in the air, hundreds of metres above the sands. Zal, Zara and Sari held on tight as wind buffeted the carpet from all directions. Zal held Rip under one arm and gripped the carpet with the other. Around them, the other contestants were all flying at least as fast as the Rainbow Carpet. Now he understood why Azamed hadn’t won the Champions’ Race in two hundred years!
The first stage of the race was simple. They followed a long curve, marked by red flags on the dunes, to take the Champions clear of the city and allow them to warm up. As Shirazar fell behind them, the flying became easier. The Champions spread out through the open air, finding space to fly properly. The Rainbow Carpet steadied and Zal set Rip down behind Zara.
“Any sign of Miles?” called Zara, over the wind.
“Of course not! He’ll be invisible!” shouted Sari. “But he’ll be here somewhere!”
Zal scanned the desert around them. The Rainbow Carpet was in the middle of the field, with the other Champions flapping and soaring and gliding all around them. Paradim was close to the front on Celeste, but Akaha Naktep on his lamassu was in the lead.
Zara’s neck prickled. She felt the magic inside her core stirring as she sensed magic being formed close by. The red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet shades were all moving and mixing, combining in blazing, glaring, pure white magic.
“Something’s happening!”
“Where?”
“ROOOOAAAARRRR!”
The lamassu roared with pain. It bucked in the air, almost throwing Akaha off, as a white flash like a small, thin shooting star flew out of nowhere and cut it across its front leg. The winged lion slowed, trying to lick its injured paw and fly at the same time. Akaha leant forwards to see the wound and then sat up in his saddle. He held out both arms, crossed them across his chest and threw them out again. He was withdrawing to treat his lamassu’s injury.
Paradim pressed forward on Celeste to take the lead. But Jula Rua was right behind him, and his Endsali cliff-gryphon was young and strong. Zal watched as the distance between them closed fast.
“CAAAAWWWW!”
The gryphon suddenly dropped from the air. Another white flash had streaked across the sky, cutting through its left wing. Jula Rua held on, shouting encouragement to his gryphon as it descended, flapping hard and made an awkward, tumbling landing in the sand dunes.
“What’s happening?” said Zal.
“It’s Miles!” said Sari. “He’s using the Moon Bow!”
“The fourth thing you stole for him?”
“Yes. It shoots arrows made of moonlight!”
That was why they couldn’t see them. Moonlight was invisible in daylight. Zara had learnt years ago how, even though it looked white or silver or both, the light of the moon contained all seven shades of magic, mixed together more perfectly than any magician could ever hope to achieve. Rip yelped as another white flash shot past the carpet. The other Champions had realized something was going on. They slowed down, looking around, and more white flashes streaked around them.
“What do we do?”
“Hang on,” said Sari, feeling in her belt pouches. “I can deal with this.”
She pulled out a large, jagged crystal which was as clear to look through as glass and started rubbing it against her sleeve.
“Is that a sun crystal?” said Zara, looking over her shoulder.
“Don’t look straight at it!” said Sari.
Zara quickly turned to face forwards again. The sun crystal glowed behind her, growing into a burning white blaze. Zal shielded his eyes. Rip flopped his ears over his. The other Champions around them tried to look at it, but it was so bright that they quickly had to look away. Sari held the crystal up above her head, letting its light shine out all around them.
“There they are!”
Zara cautiously squinted. The light made the gold and blue of the desert and the sky clearer and brighter than before, and now she could see the arrows, cutting silver lines as they streaked through the air. Of course! Moonlight was invisible during the day, but it was made of all seven colours mixed together. Sari’s sun crystal contained enough yellow and orange magic that it acted like a magnet; pulling the yellow and orange shades out of the arrows, breaking up the moonlight mixture and making the arrows visible.
“Yes!” shouted Zal. “Oh, Stork! Look out!”
The Champions veered left and right to avoid the arrows. The Heaven Steppe dragon and the Quakajak serpent tried to bite several of them. Sari and Zal held on as Zara wove the carpet through the silver streaks. The Champions were looking around, trying to see who was holding the bow. Zara glimpsed expressions changing as they realized what was happening. Someone else had been shooting at them.
The arrows stopped. The air was clear again as the Champions reached the end of the starting curve and began the first long leg over the desert around the city. Paradim was still in the lead.
“Why’s Miles stopped?” said Zal.
“He doesn’t want to give himself away,” said Sari. “We could work out where he is by following where the arrows are coming from.”
“Following where the…?” said Zal. “Wait. I’ve got an idea. Zara! Take us higher.”
“Why?”
“Just do it!”
Zara leaned backwards and the carpet rose. They climbed high into the air, well above the other Champions. Zal peered over the carpet’s edge. The midday sun was shining brightly and the flying Champions’ shadows were cast clearly on the dunes below. Zal counted the lizard wings of the dragons, the bird wings of Celeste and the roc, the rippling ribbon of the Quakajak serpent and all the others, including the small black rectangle of the Rainbow Carpet. And there, up ahead and to the left, was the small shadow of another flying carpet.
“Over there!”
The Mirror Curtain co
uld make Miles’ carpet invisible, but it couldn’t hide its shadow. Miles was out in front of them, probably flying backwards to keep pace with the race and have a good view of everything.
“Oh, well done!” said Zara, as she saw the shadow.
Zal stared at the shadows on the sands and then at the positions of the Champions in the air. His swordsman’s brain quickly calculated the angles and distances, figuring out where Miles had to be.
“There! He’s over there!”
Zara turned the carpet in the direction Zal was pointing. Zal kept one eye on the shadow in case Miles tried to move. Sari picked up her spear and Rip growled as the two shadows on the sand grew closer together.
A tiny flame suddenly appeared in the air ahead of them. Orange and red fire burned in thin air around the space where Miles’ carpet was. Zal blinked as they flew straight towards it. The other Champions stared too. Suddenly, the flame roared and blazed like an angry beast and stretched out sideways, forming a gigantic sword blade made entirely out of fire.
“HOLY STORK!”
Rip barked with astonishment. Zal and Sari threw themselves flat on the carpet and Zara ducked as the giant blade, four metres wide and almost a mile long, swept over their heads. The sun was blocked out by the orange flames, mixed with blazing red magic, like a swordsmith’s forge. The skin on the back of their necks burned and the air turned hotter than an oven as it passed them.
“It’s the Fire Scimitar!” gasped Sari. “He actually got it to work! It’s meant to be broken!”
“He’s always been good with swords!” said Zal.
The fire blade swept out horizontally above the sand dunes, as if it had been drawn from a giant invisible scabbard in a horizontal-draw-cut. It was so huge that Miles couldn’t change its direction quickly and most of the Champions flew up over the top or zipped under it, but two of them were not fast enough. The Silk Lands’ spinning box-kite flew too close to the blade and one of its sides burst into flames from the heat. Hoto Hibari steered his origami crane up and over the fire blade, but the paper singed and crumpled. The box-kite started to fall and the origami bird went after it.