Page 61 of Of Flame and Fury

Familiarity sparked through her. She’d seen these before… their colored lights had been painted on postcards and hovering inside glass columns.

“Coup… the lights are moving, right? They’re not fixed in place?” Kel asked breathlessly.

Coup inhaled. “Yeah, they’re moving. Not much, but they’re floating about a little.”

Coup didn’t have time to focus on the lights around him, but if he did, Kel was sure he’d recognize them. “They’re…sprites?”

The impossibility of it made Kel’s words escape as a question. Rahn gasped and Dira cursed. Bekn remained silent, staring out at Coup, unblinking.

Kel’s mind whirled. The sprites had been a pretty sight at the sanctuary, but she knew little about them. They had subspecies, just like phoenixes, that could amplify the rain, the sun, the air itself. But even the dozens of clustered sprites in the sanctuary hadn’t been capable of anything more than slowly ambling about. To create winds strong enough to impact phoenixes meant that there were likely thousands scattered throughout the sky.

Another two phoenixes at Coup’s sides whirled through the sky. Their wings battled the winds around them. Though they managed to avoid colliding with the ground, they dropped to the back of the race, bumping Coup and Savita to fifth place.

“Oh,Alchemists!” Dira gasped. “CAPR must’ve arranged them in the sky somehow. The sprites are creating air pockets that mess with the phoenixes’ flight patterns! Like turbulence on an airship.”

“Turbulence is created by hot and cold air, right?” Coup panted. “That’s why it’s causing the flames.”

Shit.Shit.

Some phoenixes glided ahead, speeding up and then tumbling through the air. Others flew slower, more cautiously, avoiding the air pockets.

Kel swallowed a lump in her throat. Coup had two choices. One: slow down to avoid the clustered sprites, and risk not placing. Two: speed ahead, and risk an air pocket sending him and Savita to the ground.

Without voicing the choice, Kel knew which option Coup would pick. Even if he hadn’t been riding the high off their last victory, even if the heated winds wouldn’t risk his life, he’d always choose the second; the more dangerous option.

Bekn’s past warnings echoed through her mind.

Coup reached up and adjusted his goggles. He lowered himself against Savita’s saddle and instructed her to pin her wings. The movement drove them forward like a tapered rocket. Phoenixes plummeted around them, flaming comets and falling stars. Savita narrowly swerved around a cluster of emerald sprites, close enough that the pocket’s heat caused dark flames to encircle Coup’s arms.

The faster Coup soared, the higher Savita’s flames climbed. Another two phoenixes ahead barreled into air pockets and plummeted downward in dizzying spirals. The two collided as they spun, lashing out with confused talons and sending blood whipping through the air.

Coup and Savita quickly claimed third place.

Seconds later, Coup barreled into another air pocket. Winds screeched and attacked Savita’s wings. They narrowly avoided nose-diving to the ground.

Shrouded in darkening flames, Coup and Sav were still ahead of the other cautious riders. Only two phoenixes, through sheer luck, glided ahead of Coup. They soared far enough ahead that it wouldbe near-impossible for Coup to catch up, even if he didn’t need to navigate invisible air pockets.

Through the dark sky, the Howlers watched flames lick higher against Savita’s feathers, climbing up Coup’s back.

Dira pressed a finger to her comm. “All right, stay steady for another minute and we’ll place third. Any faster and you’ll risk burning alive. Pull back.”

No response. Then, through the comms, “I can win this.”

The Howlers exchanged frowns. Coup’s words were stiff, said through gritted teeth.

A chill skittered down Kel’s spine. How hot were Savita’s flames already? Hot enough to melt his leathers?

“Placing third will impress Cristo,” Bekn said, voice unsteady. He turned to Kel. “Tell him. Make himstop.”

Mouth dry, Kel said, “Ease up. Whatever you’re trying to do—it’s not worth it.”

There was another long moment before Coup replied, “I think Savita can sense where the air pockets are. Shewantsto go faster. I need to let her.”

Rahn made a strange, uncertain sound in the back of her throat. “These leathers are sturdier than your old ones, but they’re not infallible. I have no idea how the turbulence will affect Savita’s heat.”

Coup was quiet as Savita pulled closer to the leading phoenixes, her flames climbing higher in steady, hungry tendrils. These were no longer anxious, unsettled patches of heat. As Savita avoided air pockets and skirted sprites, her blaze grew until she was more fire than bird.

“What did he say?” Bekn said breathlessly, as if he already knew the answer.

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