We walked with the crowd to the back of the castle. On our way, many kids and young people ran through us to stay as close as possible to the fence, everyone wanted to see the start. The entire village was there. I almost came out of my skin when I felt a hot breath coming from above, it was a yellow seahorse, nine-feet high, passing by us. He was wearing a blinder and had a halter, he moved through us with such an elegance, being conducted by a player until the third base, making the runners chart complete and in position.
“I don’t get it. Do those seahorses fly? And they quite big.”
“Yes, milady! They live in the sea but can live outside it too. They’re harmless animals, we put the blinders on so they don’t get distracted along the run. Each one has a responsible player. Now do you understand the fish smell?” Nefarious laughed out loud, looking the movement.
“GO CATITO!”
Someone was in a cheerful mood with this race. That yell was too close to my ears, even for Nefarious who is more than six feet. It was the same boy from last time, Zyba ‘Something.’
“Zyba, come over! Lola, this is Zybagron Frey, one of our students in the Keeper’s first level course at Valkyrie.”
“Ow! Hello, welcome back Lola! You came in at a good time, the race is about to start. Catito is the Keepers’ mascot, and, without modesty, is the best of all! We rescued him a while ago, since he was hurt by the jackals.”
“We also rescued a puppy which was left in front of our house, his name is Koda.”
Nefarious frowned his long forehead, surprised I think.
“What you mean by was ‘left’?” Zyba asked.
“He was left there to die from coldness and hunger, you know? That old woman, his ex-owner, didn’t want him anymore and left him there like he was garbage.”
“Hybridus have the courage to do such a thing? I’m sorry, I don’t want to offend…”
“It’s all right. You have no idea what some human being are capable of.”
“ATTENTION, ALL ON PLACES!!” We were interrupted by the announcement from the speaker being followed by a trumpet, advising us about the race start.
“Good Afternoon Prism ladies and Prism gentlemen!!! Welcome to the Spring Ocean Turf Eliminatory!!! Today we will know which competitor will represent Lumen at the great Kingdom’s Spring Championship! When we hear the peep of a seagull, players and horses must complete the trajectory in the shortest time possible, surpassing all the obstacles. The winner will be at the bigger final which happens at Neverland in December!”
After so many surprised faces I’ve made, Nefarious didn’t even expect me to ask anything anymore, he started explaining it all on his own. He told me that there are uncountable Kingdoms and worlds spread by all the dimensions, Lumen was one of those, ‘Neverland’ too. He asked me if I ever thought where the fairytales came from. It made sense.
The race was going to start, by the craziness it looked like a World Cup final game. The fans were in the bleachers sectioned by competitor, there were students, parents, and supporters. Each one of the five horses had a noble appearance, a very different type of scale, they each wore a cape covering their backs blazoned with the competitor illustration. Everyone was focused on a smart firefly which held itself close to them (it even looked professional). On the tiny tail, they put a nice quantity of plankton, it seemed like the bait. A seagull came out stumbling from the wood fence close to the speaker. It went on until it found a little moody crab on the way, when it reached to give the crab a sniff it got a bad pinch on its foot. “OUCH!”
This was the sign for the race to start, the firefly flew like it was on the run followed by all the horses and their proper players. The draft made by them passing by messed up everyone’s hair, it made my bangs a bit worse. The route of the race was around the castle and kept going into the Pantanal Forest until its end, came back by the creek, and finished back in the polo field. Another firefly was the overhead projector to the images captured by another one running with the horses, a live transmission for the audience at the field on a widescreen. All those fireflies made a high-quality delivery on their job, they were clever and very qualified.
All the people seemed to be following the race without even blinking, the bug camera showed each inch of the seahorses run. Two of them tied for first place, including Zyba’s Catito, the other three were a bit behind. Each crowd screamed for their seahorse, competing for the most animated group. The doctors were the noisiest crowd, they were even doing a funny dance that made us pay attention to them. The farmers were doing a loud, strong, and coordinated chorus. The Keepers beat their stake on the ground while making their howl! Advisers made some cheer signs with messages like “Devour the Plankton!” and “We only need second place to be champion!” At least the Masters were singing animatedly, exploding some colored fireworks (they have the key to the potion room, it was easy for them to make some).
All the enthusiasm almost made me forget why I was there, almost. The bitter taste of danger came back to my mouth while still in the middle of the race. No one knew what was going to happen next.
Chapter Seven
Nice To Meet You, Your Majesty
The two last seahorses flew nose to nose into the Pantanal Forest, close to the pine tree wall that protects the area. They were looking for the passage, which was a shortcut to Aratama, where the other runners had passed already. Almost no prisms had gone so far away from the Village. That side of the forest was a risky place.
The bug camera showed that the weather was foggy over there. I noticed Nefarious pressed his eyebrows together, something was wrong. When I looked back to the screen, the image showed a strong wind coming from the forest which shook the pines, putting down the last player. His seahorse rolled far away and went to the ground bringing up a cloud of dust, on land that seems hadn’t seen rain for a while. At that place there wasn’t grass nor trees, he was at the Leike’s Land perimeters.
We could hear his puffy breath by the transmission because of the silence the crowd made, they looked paralyzed. The seahorse tried to recover when thick black mist pulled it into a spiral. It screamed as if someone was ripping off its scales, tossing and turning while it was sucked into the mist. It disappeared and the audience was astonished. The player ran away to the forest. The bug camera turned to the dark desert, catching the image of an animal getting closer. It was Cinamomo Misty, Elof’s right-arm vulture. It landed close to where the seahorse vanished, leaving a message.
“This will happen to all of you if Lola doesn’t surrender to her destiny. Deliver her to me and you will be safe! This is the first and last warning.”
I could barely believe my ears when I heard the vulture speaking as if it was a person. Cinamomo flew away, the mist dissolved, and the bug camera cut the transmission. All the crowd, even animals like Wiky, turned in my direction. My face twisted as my stomach did.
I didn’t cry only because I was ashamed in the crowd. I searched for help in Nefarious’s eyes, who landed a hand on my shoulder. I gave a step back, using himself as a shield. Zyba shrunk his shoulders, he didn’t have a word of solace. The people who had welcomed me with curiosity and smiles now looked at me with pity and blame. By the way, their feelings are not that noble.