The Temporal Tournament

The twins were settling into life at Alexandria.

Their lessons were beginning to get more challenging. Leura felt like her Fundamentals of Quantum Relativity class might as well be taught in a foreign language with how little of it she was understanding, and Wentworth was starting to pull far ahead of her. She resolved to work harder, determined to catch up to him.

Their History of Humanity class was covering more complex time periods, but continued to keep them interested. They were now learning all about the colony on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Annoyingly, Quillith kept interrupting the class by blurting out lavish details about what it was like to actually live there, since that’s where she was born.

Mika’s class remained the unanimous favourite among the white robes. They’d covered an interesting few lessons on nanobots, and much to Sol’s delight, Mika had praised Stardust for its clever design and clearly advanced artificial intelligence. Stardust turned itself into a golden medal with “best teacher ever” engraved on it and hung itself around Mika’s neck, making the whole class laugh.

Folding, Theory and Practise with Callimachus turned out to be less exciting than Leura had hoped. It was more theory than practice at this point, and he would often run the classes like an open discussion, asking questions and encouraging debates on anything even remotely related to time travelling. But every now and then, they would be joined by one of the older classes, and get to practise using their timedials and travelling to nearby time periods. Leura’s favourite was when they went to ancient Greece during the golden age of Athens. They each wore a tiny device in their ears that translated every word in real time, and Callimachus introduced them to a strange friend of his called Plato, who entertained them with a raucous speech in the town square.

After classes ended for the day, the twins would make a beeline for the Rec room, where they took advantage of everything the future of entertainment had to offer. Leura was particularly into one VR game where she got to play as an astronaut that was exploring other parts of the milky way galaxy, finding alien life on far off worlds, some of them friendly, and others terrifying monsters. It was a future she knew humans would never achieve, but it was thrilling to pretend it was all real using state of the art virtual reality.

After dinner everyone was always too tired to do much other than shower or soak in the baths, and head to bed. But no matter how tired Leura was, she would also spend an extra hour or two lying awake in bed holding the dice of serendipity, moving them around in her hands, and thinking about her next move.

Both Wentworth and Sol were beginning to get bored whenever Leura wanted to talk about Jotunheim. There were only so many ways they could discuss the same bits of information before it started to feel like a waste of time.

Leura knew she needed to find out more about the prison, and why their mother was sent there, but the only place she could think to find it was in Thoth’s database, and she wasn’t ready to face him again. She wasn’t sure if she ever would be.

Then one day over dinner, Aristar made an announcement that wiped Jotunheim from Leura’s mind for the first time in months.

“It’s my great pleasure to announce that we’ll be joining the annual Temporal Tournament in a few weeks’ time.” The entire room erupted in excited cheers and a good deal of nervous chatter. It seemed to Leura that many of the older students had been waiting for this moment, and most of the Librarians in the room looked excited too, especially Mika, who Leura could see was standing and clapping while he cheered.

“For those who have never witnessed the tournament before, this is a tradition set by the first generation of time travellers,” continued Aristar. “It’s the only time we allow ourselves to - for lack of a better word - show off.” More cheers, even louder this time. “As usual it will be held at the Headquarters of the Board of Chronologers. We’ll be amongst other members of our society from all over time, and I expect nothing but perfect behaviour from anyone representing the Great Library of Alexandria.” She glared at the room, almost daring anyone to have a problem with that. “It goes without saying, but the tournament comes with a certain amount of risk, and while all of you are eligible to compete within your ranks, I urge you to think carefully before doing so, and only step forward if you are truly committed.”

The excitement had died down a little, and everyone was looking a bit more serious, yet determined all the same.

Aristar seemed satisfied. “Very well then, to the tournament!” She raised a glass, and the whole room joined her, erupting back into cheers and then devolving into heated talks amongst the tables.

“Have you been to one before?” Leura asked Sol.

Sol shook her head. “Never, but I’ve heard all about it!”

“So what exactly is it?” asked Wentworth sceptically.

“It’s racing,” said Sol with reverence, “a whole day of it… Hoverboard racing… and the prizes…” she seemed to temporarily lose the ability to speak as the excitement coursed through her tiny frame.

“Is it safe?” asked Wentworth, already pretty sure he knew the answer.

Sol smiled even wider. “Not even a little.”

Leura locked eyes with Sol, mirroring her wide eyes and broad smile. “How do we sign up?” she asked, slamming her hand down onto the table for dramatic effect.

“I think we just show up on the day, ready to rock and roll.”

“Do you even know what rock and roll is? Did they have it on Mars?” asked Wentworth.

“My family are time travellers, I’ve been going on holidays all over time since I was little. I know more about rock and roll than you do.”

As the conversation shifted towards Sol’s many holidays, one of which was apparently a trip back to the Late Cretaceous so her dad could see a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Leura let her mind daydream about the Temporal Tournament. The idea of a dangerous hoverboard race against the other students filled her with excitement, and she pictured herself standing on a podium with a first place trophy in her hands, while all of Alexandria cheered for her.

The next day, Mika had a surprise waiting for them in the Sandbox. It was simulating a racing track littered with obstacles, like flaming barrels and steep ramps for jumping over. Near the entrance was an assortment of different boards. Some were shaped like skateboards or snowboards from the twins’ own time, except they were made from tough looking metal and had blue disks on their undersides. Others looked like large birds of prey, with curved wings and sharp edges. There was even one that was just a small circle with a blue disk beneath, only large enough to stand on with your feet close together.

“Hoverboards!” declared Mika joyously, as the class frantically rushed over to the boards, already bickering about who gets to ride what. “With the Temporal Tournament coming up, we’ll be learning how to ride over the next few weeks so anyone who wants to compete is ready. Grab a board and meet me at the start line!”

A few very chaotic minutes later, that saw Mika having to step in on a number of occasions to stop fights from breaking out (including a rather nasty one between Sol and Stirling), everyone was standing at the start of the track holding their hoverboards.

Leura had ended up getting one that looked like a snowboard, with glossy metal that had streaks of blue through it. Sol’s hoverboard looked like a hawk in mid dive, with steel wings that cut out and down, giving it the impression of great speed. Wentworth on the other hand, had chosen the small circular board, and had a look on his face like he wished it was even smaller.

“Alright then, can anyone tell me how hoverboards work?” Mika asked the class. A number of hands shot in the air, including Sol’s. Mika pointed at a scruffy haired boy near the front.

“It uses electromagnetic fields, like the ones around Earth,” answered the boy.

“Quite right! Powerful electromagnetic fields allow the boards to fly through the air, but only on planets or moons with a strong electromagnetic field themselves. Fortunately it’s one of the first things the Expansionists set up while terraforming, so hoverboards will work pretty much anywhere you can find humans. Of course, Earth’s magnetic field is one of the strongest, so they work particularly well here, which is why I want all of you to take it easy today, going too fast can cause the boards to build up heat.”

Leura didn’t catch most of that, she was too busy thinking about how she was going to ride through each obstacle on the track, making sure to hit every jump along the way. Wentworth seemed to have taken in every word though, and she heard him muttering darkly, “so these things can overheat… and probably explode… great, just great…”

“You’ll be taking off one at a time, and stay spread out along the course okay. Today is not a competition!” Based on the way Cron and his group were sneering at the rest of the class, Leura thought Mika might have been wrong about that. She shared a look with Sol that confirmed silently that this definitely was a competition as far as they were concerned.

Mika gave them some quick instruction on how to make the boards move using the tilt of their feet and position of their legs, but seemed to think the best way for them to learn was by doing. He called the first student forward, powering on their board with a button along its edge. The blue disks along the base immediately began emitting a soft glow and a gentle humming sound and hovered steadily about a foot above the ground. The student clambered on awkwardly, and then took off in jerking movements, rising and falling rapidly but somehow managing to stay on their board.

“Easy now, nice and gentle with that footwork! Alright, who’s next?” Mika began working through the class. Frustratingly, Leura and the others were near the back. They watched with contempt as Cron leapt confidently onto his giant vulture-like board and took off down the track like he’d been born riding a hoverboard.

Finally it was their turn. Sol sprung forward, leapt onto her board and took off with a cackling laugh before Mika could say a word. They watched her shoot down the course, with none of the practised grace they’d seen from Cron, relying instead on a reckless confidence that immediately made her the fastest moving thing on the track.

Leura went next, jumping onto her board and feeling the curious sensation of her feet being suctioned onto it like a magnet on a metal surface. She found she could slide her feet around, but couldn’t actually lift them off.

“When you’re done you just crouch down and hit this button,” said Mika loudly, as the vast room was filled with the excited (and occasionally terrified) shouts of the other students.

Leura nodded, tipped her feet forward and bent her knees slightly. The hoverboard reacted at once, shooting her forwards and raising an extra foot or two above the ground.

Leura couldn’t help herself. She let out a scream of nervous excitement and urged the board even faster towards the first jump. She felt alive in a way she’d never experienced before. The board responded intuitively to her movements, gliding through the air like it defied gravity. Leura felt weightless and powerful all at once. The first jump rushed towards her and she took it at full speed, the hoverboard rising smoothly with the curve, and giving her the unforgettable sensation of flying.

Landing with a gentle bounce about a foot from the ground, Leura took the first corner of the track side-on like she was surfing a wave, then sped off up the next section of the track, determined to catch up to Sol.

The next few minutes were a blur of adrenaline fuelled fun. Leura leapt over jumps, dodged flaming barrels, carved around corners, and overtook a handful of other white robes, many of whom were moving at what felt like a crawl as she streaked past at top speed.

After completing a few laps, she caught sight of Sol’s tiny frame and hawk-like hoverboard disappearing around a corner in front of her. Grinning like a maniac, Leura squeezed every little bit of acceleration out of her board she could get. It seemed to understand what she wanted, and was doing its best to provide. Leura felt a strong sense of affection for her blue-streaked hoverboard, and briefly wondered if she’d get to use the same one every lesson.

A few seconds later, Sol appeared again, only a short distance ahead of her. But Leura’s excitement turned to ice in her veins when she saw what was happening.

Cron, and his huge, vulture-like hoverboard was swooping in on her from the side, while Stirling was blocking her path forward. They were trying to knock her off the track, and at these speeds, Leura didn’t want to think about what would happen to her if they did.

With a roar of outrage, Leura leant forward over her front leg, firing herself like a bullet aimed straight for Cron.

Multiple things happened all at once. Sol launched herself straight up into the air just as the wing of Cron’s hoverboard was about to strike her. Cron overshot and went careening towards the wall of the track, and Leura flew past him, heading straight for the back of a tall, lean boy, moving dangerously slow on his tiny round hoverboard.

Leura didn’t have time to react, she was moving too fast, and he was much too close. Wentworth was looking back over his shoulder with a face masked in abject horror as Leura braced herself for the impact.

Something huge and red swept across Leura’s vision, and suddenly the way in front of her was clear. She dropped her heels and deeply bent her knees, bringing the hoverboard to a forceful stop.

Turning herself around, Leura saw Mika holding Wentworth in his powerful arms, hovering on two separate elliptical boards that were only slightly bigger than the soles of his feet, making it look like he was simply flying on his own. Leura’s relief that he’d saved them from a horrible crash quickly evaporated when she saw the look of fury on his face. It didn’t suit him at all, which only made it more frightening.

“You four,” he barked at Leura, Sol, Stirling, and Cron, “off the boards now, and come with me.”

Giving each other scathing looks, the four of them powered down their hoverboards and carried them over to the wall where Mika stood waiting for them, still hovering on his tiny dual boards.

“I have half a mind to not let any of you near a hoverboard until you’re in black robes!” said Mika with exasperation. “I mean seriously, what were you thinking? You could have all been badly hurt out there, these aren’t toys! - Well, I guess technically they are - but still! I expect a lot more maturity from my students than that. You’re all done for the day, and if I see anything like that again it’ll be the last time you set foot on a hoverboard in my class.” He gave them all a reproaching look, which was slightly ruined by the fact that his face had returned to its default friendliness, before he flew off towards the track, looking like a superhero with his billowing red robe trailing behind him.

Leura and Sol turned to face Cron and Stirling.

“Guess we’ll have to settle this outside of class then,” said Cron with a smug grin. “Unless you chicken out of the tournament that is.”

“Not a chance,” said Sol, her head tilted almost vertically upwards, she was that much shorter than him.

“In that case, why don’t we raise the stakes a little?” said Cron with a malicious smile. “If we beat you, then the traitor’s twins have to leave Alexandria for good.”

Sol looked livid and was just about to start shouting at Cron when Leura jumped in, “and if we beat you, you have to take us to Jotunheim.”

There was a stunned silence for a few moments. Leura was just as surprised as the rest of them at what she’d said. She’d thought about trying to get Cron to take them to Jotunheim before, but she’d never figured out how to convince him to do it. Now it seemed he’d handed her the opportunity on a silver platter. She held his gaze steadily and waited for him to answer.

“It’s not a theme park, my father doesn’t let just anyone come and go as they please,” hissed Cron.

“If you’re too chicken to make the bet just say so,” said Leura, crossing her arms smugly.

Cron’s face hardened, “Oh I’ll make the bet. Someone has to get you out of Alexandria before you betray us too, just like your mother.” He grasped Leura’s hand in a vice-like grip, sealing the deal. “Shame you won’t get any more practice today, you’re going to need every second you can get.” Laughing with Stirling, he walked off to the far corner of the room.

Leura and Sol spent the rest of the lesson sitting as far away from Cron as possible, and watching enviously as the rest of the class had the time of their lives riding around the track with growing confidence. Wentworth quickly decided he’d had enough for the day, so came over to join them, although Leura got the impression this was mostly so he had plenty of time to complain loudly about how she’d nearly killed him. They didn’t tell Wentworth about the bet they’d made. They didn’t need to say it out loud, but they both knew it would be up to them to beat Cron and Stirling. The best thing Wentworth could do was stay out of the way.

Over the next few weeks, there was an undercurrent of excitement amongst the students of Alexandria. Although neither Leura’s group nor Cron’s openly started trouble with the other, there was a growing enmity between them that played out in snide remarks and hateful stares. By the time the day came for them to travel to the site of the tournament, Leura wasn’t thinking about Jotunheim. The only thing she cared about was wiping that smug look off Cron’s face for good. And she knew she’d do whatever it takes to do it.

The morning of the Temporal Tournament, Leura woke early. She tossed and turned for a while, wondering if it was worth trying to get a little more sleep, before resorting to playing with the dice of serendipity instead.

Most days, she simply tumbled them around in her hands, never asking something of them, but today was different. She sat up straight in bed and rolled the dice on her mattress, asking silently, should I compete in the tournament? She’d done it just to see the flaming green 100’s she was sure would surface, but instead, blood red flames erupted from the darkness and blazed the number 3 across the top-facing sides of the dice.

Leura watched as the flames receded and the dice fell into darkness once more. The confidence boost she’d hoped to gain had turned into a sickening fear. Clearly the dice thought it was a bad idea. Not quite a zero, but very close. Did this mean she was about to lose the bet? Was this really going to be her last day at Alexandria?

Suddenly all that was at stake came rushing back with so much force it left her reeling with nausea… She’d let her hatred for Cron blind her. Let it redirect her focus away from what actually mattered. How could she be so stupid? Being forced to leave Alexandria would mean leaving her mother behind… abandoning her to that frozen hell forever…

Leura didn’t eat much breakfast, or speak very much to anyone as they got ready and made their way towards the atrium with the other students. She was vaguely aware they were being split into groups to travel to the tournament, and felt a faint sense of comfort when she noticed that Callimachus was leading their group, and that the blue robed student, Jason, was also part of it. This feeling did not last long though, and she spent the rest of the journey lost in unpleasant thoughts, the blood red flames of the dice refusing to fade from the forefront of her mind.

“Welcome, to Titan,” said the flawless voice.

Leura opened her eyes. Their craft had just arrived at the Titan skyport. She took a brief moment to appreciate the fact that this was the furthest away from Earth she’d ever been. Out here on one of Saturn’s moons, even the asteroid belt felt far away, and much closer to home.

They made their way as a group through the busy skyport. It was sleekly designed, and everything was made from some sort of cloudy crystal, making it feel almost like an ice cavern rather than a man made building. They reached the main entrance, and Callimachus led them confidently out into the Titanian city.

The first thing Leura noticed was the giant thing floating in the sky.

It was three times the size of Earth’s moon, swirling with a blend of yellow, red, and brown colours. Around it was a beautiful ring that seemed to shine like moonlight.

“Never gets old, that,” said Jason, grinning at the stunned looks on their faces.

“I can’t believe I’m looking at Saturn,” whispered Wentworth, staring transfixed at the planet above.

Jason chuckled. “The one and only, but you really should look around you as well. Titan’s a beautiful place, the finest colony ever built, some say.”

Leura forced her eyes away from Saturn and looked at the city around her.

The skyport was surrounded by a small park, with enormous trees that grew symmetrically in a way that didn’t quite feel natural, but their leaves were rich shades of violet and magenta, making them feel more like blooming flowers than actual trees. Beyond the park, Leura could see what looked like impossibly large crystals sticking up out of the ground, as thick and tall as skyscrapers. They were all different sizes, and they glinted in the light reflecting down from Saturn.

“When they terraformed this place they were experimenting with new carbon recapture technology,” Jason explained. “They wanted to repurpose it, so they built the entire city out of mostly graphene and diamond. Now it’s one of the Expansionists’ crowning jewels, quite literally.”

Leura looked around her at the glistening city. “A world made of diamonds,” she said in wonder and to no one in particular.

“Let’s get a move on then,” roared Callimachus, “the next group will be right behind us.” And he marched them off towards the heart of the city.

Leura had seen many beautiful places since she first started time travelling, but nothing came close to this. The city seemed to be sculpted rather than built. Everything was purposeful, and it was clear that practicality and beauty had equal weight to the people who designed it.

The streets were filled with people of all different shapes and sizes. Titan has lighter gravity even than Mars, so everyone bounced rather than walked, and enormously tall and thin people moved with ease. There were also many people that looked like they came from Earth, though they wore decorative clothing that showcased the great deal of wealth the people of Titan clearly had. Here and there Leura noticed the short and stocky frames of those she’d seen in the asteroid belt, though they seemed older and far better dressed than the people she’d seen doing the actual mining.

Now that she was up close to the crystal shaped buildings, Leura could see that their outer shell was made with clear diamond, revealing an intricate lattice of floors, rooms, and walkways within. Again, it felt as if people had simply carved out the insides of these giant crystals, shaping them into something fit for humans to live and work in.

Callimachus led them to a building that spanned an entire city block, with one large crystal tower rising up at the centre, and increasingly smaller ones spread out around it, making it look like it grew as a single structure.

The sliding doors opened as they approached. Like the outer walls, they were crystal clear, but inside things were built with much cloudier material so that it was easier to make out the floors and walls. Looking upwards Leura could see the crystal tower above them was criss-crossed with walkways connecting the upper floors. Refracted light from Saturn bounced around the entire space, lighting it up with hundreds of mini rainbows. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful building Leura had ever been in.

The vast space was also crowded with people.

It was easy to spot the groups that had also come from Alexandria, thanks to their coloured robes, but the rest of the crowd was made up of the most diverse collection of people imaginable. Some looked like they came from the even more distant future, wearing suits so advanced Leura couldn’t even guess at what they were capable of. Others looked like they came from a much earlier time than she did, as a group walked past wearing gold trimmed tunics and jewel encrusted crowns on their heads. Everywhere she turned seemed to reveal a new and bizarre looking group of people. Although many were lingering near the entrance as if waiting for others to arrive, most were heading deeper into the structure.

Leura’s group joined up with the others from Alexandria, and after waiting for the remaining groups to arrive, they walked as one away from the entrance, following the expansive hall to its very end, where two great slabs created a door fifty feet high that looked more ancient than anything Leura had seen at Alexandria. It was made from a dark material that seemed badly burnt, and every inch of it was covered in engravings. Leura recognised them as the same glyphs from their timedials. Although they had started learning how to set their timedials, they were yet to learn what these strange glyphs were, or where they came from.

“The Rozetta Doors,” said Jason in awe. “Found drifting in the outer system. Older than the Earth they say.”

“How can they be older than the Earth? Who made them then?” asked Leura bluntly, as they drew nearer.

“Not even the Board of Chronologers knows that, and they know just about everything there is.”

Wentworth was staring at them with an almost hungry look in his eyes. “There are only two explanations. They were either built by time travellers, or by something much older than humans. Something alien.”

“You’re not the first to think so,” said Jason with a nod, “but there’s never been any proof, no contact whatsoever. I think they must be a relic left behind from the first generation of travellers. They would’ve wanted to test their limits… see how far back they could go.”

The colossal doors stood ajar, and time travellers were flooding through them, into the dim space beyond. Leura and the others shuffled through, tightly packed together, and getting a close look at the mysterious doors. Once they’d passed through, they found themselves in a dark tunnel, silent except for the excited mutterings from the crowd as they made their way towards the brightness a short distance ahead of them. When they finally reached the end and stepped out into the light, Leura got her first look at the site of the Temporal Tournament.

It was a colossal stadium. Leura struggled to grasp just how big the space was, but it felt like you could’ve fit the entire town of Alexandria in it three times over. The tunnel had brought them to a viewing platform in the stands, a few levels higher than the stadium floor, but the stands themselves continued upwards all around them like a symmetrical mountain range. Instead of a ceiling, the largest crystal tower rose hundreds of metres above them, giving them a clear view of Saturn suspended in the sky directly overhead. But it was the stadium floor that truly captivated Leura’s attention. It was covered from end to end by a hovertrack that made Leura’s legs feel like jelly and her heart thunder beneath her chest.

Every edge, corner, and jump was intimidatingly steep. There were deadly obstacles littered throughout, parts where walls of steel would spring up at random to block the track, or turrets of water would burst from the edges like an enormous firehose to knock riders off their boards as they passed. The simulated track they’d been practising on in the Sandbox was laughable in comparison. There was even a row of sinister looking cages near the starting line that, despite the distance, Leura could see were trembling like something inside was desperately trying to break its way out.

Projections hung in the air all over the place, just like in a skyport. Leura’s group made their way a few levels higher up the stands and further around it until they came to a larger seating area with vibrant blue letters projected high above it spelling out ALEXANDRIA. From here they had a good view of the hovertrack.

As the stands all around them began to fill, Leura realised just how many time travellers were spread throughout history. Tens of thousands of them already filled the stands, and more kept flooding in with each passing minute. The energy in the stadium was electric. People chatting, laughing, cheering, and arguing with one another, their voices echoing around the enclosed space. Drones filled the air, zooming around to offer people all kinds of different food and drinks. Leura and the others helped themselves to a large piece of grupple while they waited for the tournament to begin.

As the flow of new arrivals turned into a light trickle, a lone figure flew out onto the stadium floor, riding hover skates like the ones Mika used during class.

He was short and slim, with mousy brown hair, and a friendly face. He wore simple clothes that seemed a little too big for him. Projections appeared all around the stadium, showing a close up view as he came to a stop near the starting line of the hovertrack. He spoke with a squeaky, high-pitched voice, but it carried around the stadium like he was using a microphone, though Leura couldn’t see one.

“Welcome to the Temporal Tournament!”

The ground shook, and Leura’s ears hurt with the amount of noise the audience made.

“As Chairman of the Board of Chronologers, it is my great privilege to host you all today, in our humble home, out here on the edge of the solar system.” More cheers made him pause. By the sound of it, Leura got the impression that this man was greatly loved by the people. “Although we call it a tournament, it is much more than that. It is a celebration. A way for us to come together and to honour the incredible gift of time that we’ve all been given.” An eruption of noise again, and Leura cheered loudly along with everyone else.

“Before we begin, it is my duty to remind you all that there has never been a single death in this stadium.” The noise of the crowd died down for the first time since they’d arrived. “Today is not the day we break that record. But the races are dangerous. Injuries are inevitable. So I ask you to only step foot on this floor if you are truly committed to it.” Leura let her gaze sweep across the other students around her, and locked eyes with Cron, who had turned all the way around just to smirk at her. Then the moment passed, and Leura looked back at the figure far below them, who raised his arms to the crowd and declared in a loud voice, “Let the tournament begin!”

The crowd roared its approval, and the projections all around the stadium suddenly displayed a schedule of events. With a great pang of fear, Leura saw that the first hoverboard race of the day was for the white robe rank. And it was starting in a few minutes.

“Alright, white robes, follow me please!” came Mika’s booming voice from the front of their section, and about half of Leura’s class rushed forward. Leura shouted a quick goodbye to Wentworth, who was looking thoroughly pleased with his decision, and dashed off with Sol towards Mika.

As they made their way down towards the stadium floor, Leura noticed they weren’t the only group of students wearing white doing so. Dozens of young kids were making their way down to the starting line.

“But, we’re the only white robes at Alexandria, aren’t we?” Leura asked aloud.

Mika glanced back over his shoulder at her, “well of course, but Alexandria’s not the only place in history where we train new travellers, there’s far too many of us for a single library. You’ll be competing against the others, and make sure you win! Alexandria has a reputation to uphold.” Leura felt her stomach clench sickeningly. On top of everything else, she was now also worried about disappointing Mika.

Mika led them to the start of the track, where Leura was pleasantly surprised to see their hoverboards from Alexandria lined up waiting for them. She dashed to her blue streaked board and gave it a tight hug. She felt better knowing she’d be racing with it, like having an old friend by her side.

When the last of the other white robes had arrived and collected their hoverboards, the racers were arranged at the starting line. Leura hopped on her powered-on board, with Sol beside her, and they shared a nervous smile, giving each other a thumbs up.

Leura had not told Sol about the warning the dice gave her. She knew Sol’s strength came from her abundance of confidence, and she didn’t want to do anything to shake it. But she was struggling to find any confidence in herself. Then something happened that extinguished any hope she had of finding some.

One of the jostling cages on the edge of the starting line had been opened. And from the darkness within, came three monstrous creatures.

They hovered about a metre above the ground. Their bodies were the dull grey of metal that turned dark along their stomachs. Their eyes were large, black, and lifeless. Their jaws filled with rows upon rows of triangular teeth. They looked like someone had covered a Great White Shark in a flexible layer of metal and given it the ability to swim through the air.

“What are those things?” asked Leura, the sick feeling in her stomach growing.

“No way,” answered Sol as she watched the sharks swimming through the air ahead of them, disappearing into the hovertrack, “those are Crater Sharks! They were built for the war in the asteroid belt.”

“Are they alive?” asked Leura, horrified.

“They’re machines. Just a weapon really. But they’re a nightmare, they released hundreds of them onto asteroids during war and just let them hunt.” Sol almost sounded happy that they’d just released three of those nightmares into the track. Leura imagined being back on that asteroid at the refugee camp, only this time there were hundreds of Crater Sharks roaming around, hunting. Their dull grey colour would have made them hard to spot amongst all the rocks and tunnels. She shivered and hugged herself instinctively.

“What happens if one catches us?” Leura asked with the steadiest voice she could manage.

“I’m sure these ones aren’t programmed to kill us or anything… they’ll probably just be trying to knock us off our boards, or something like that,” answered Sol, with far less certainty than Leura would’ve liked.

Without warning, a huge yellow projection appeared in front of them, emblazoning the number 5 for the whole stadium to see. Leura felt sick as it changed to 4, then 3 - I’m going to lose - 2, 1 - I can’t lose - and then finally, a giant green GO.

Leura reacted instinctively. She tipped her feet forward and shot off like a bullet, dodging a slow moving rider in front of her and joining the small pack that had already taken the lead. Behind her she heard a cacophony of crashes and screams, and chanced a split second look over her shoulder to see that about a dozen riders already had a group collision, leaving a pile of injured students and broken hoverboards only a short distance from the starting line. Snapping her attention back to the race, Leura crouched a little and urged her trusty board onwards, her eyes locked on a large vulture-ish board that was currently in the lead.

Now that they’d started, Leura’s doubts vanished. Hoverboard racing demanded her full attention, there was no room for anything else. She landed the first jump smoothly, but almost got hit by a torrent of water that fired across the track like a concrete pillar, knocking the two riders that had been close behind her clean off their boards. She took the first turn by carving along the corner, riding her board sideways like surfing a huge wave. As soon as she could see the next stretch of track in front of her, she let out an involuntary shriek of fear.

A Crater Shark was hurtling through the air towards a group of riders just ahead of her.

It moved like a grey blur. It was a few metres above the ground and rushing downwards at the riders. There was something about the way it was attacking that made it seem smart. Not quite like a living creature, but like an artificial intelligence, designed to do one thing and one thing only. To hunt its prey.

The group of riders scattered in every direction, obviously panicking at the sight of the terrifying monster rushing towards them, but the shark reacted perfectly, homing in on the rider with the slowest reaction time, like its artificial mind had calculated who would be the easiest prey. Within a few seconds, the shark had rushed in on the screaming rider with its jaws wide open, and Leura had a front row seat as the shark bit down over their entire upper body. She was so sure she was about to see blood erupting from the shark’s jaws that for a split second she thought she really did see a crimson red wave wash over her vision. But there was no blood. Instead, electricity sparked all over the place and the shark threw the rider ten feet across the track, where they landed unconscious but in one piece.

Feeling a tiny sliver of comfort knowing that the sharks really were programmed not to kill them, just to take them out of the race, Leura spurred her board forward, taking a sweeping route to the opposite side of the track, away from the Crater Shark that was currently chasing another rider. She looked ahead and saw the tiny figure of Sol taking a jump not much further along the track, and she sped off after her.

Leura made it over two more jumps and four different obstacles, including a circular tunnel where gravity kept reversing so she had to ride through it upside down, before her next encounter with a Crater Shark. This time, it had decided she was the prey.

It rushed out of the sky like a true shark rushes up from the ocean depths. Leura was forced to veer to her right, avoiding the gaping jaws by inches as it levelled out behind her and gave chase. There were just a few riders in front of her now, but the only ones she recognised were Sol and Cron. Leura continued veering to the right, because that was the side of the track Cron was on. If the Crater Shark took her out, she wanted to make sure Cron would be its next victim, not Sol.

Then Leura felt her heart sink deep into her stomach and lodge itself there.

Another Crater Shark had just launched itself at Sol, who was careening across the track towards Leura, desperately trying to evade the snapping jaws that were much, much too close.

For the briefest of moments, Leura saw the smirking look on Cron’s face as he glanced over his shoulder at the pair of them. Rage tore through her like a bolt of lightning. She veered sharply to the left, heading right for Sol. She made eye contact with her and over the deafening noise of the crowd, she screamed a single word, desperately hoping Sol would hear and understand.

“UP!”

They were less than a second away from crashing. With a look of furious determination, Sol jumped and her hoverboard responded by shooting her directly upwards and over the top of Leura’s head. The two pursuing Crater Sharks bumped into each other roughly, but quickly recovered, and they were now side by side chasing Leura.

Leura didn’t dare look around to see where Sol had ended up. All her concentration was on keeping the sharks from reaching her. She angled her body forward and willed her board to move faster, angling herself towards Cron once again.

Leura took a turn into a new stretch of track, the sound of the snapping jaws right behind her. She saw Cron up ahead going over a jump, and there, looming towards them, was the finish line.

Leura took the jump with a bellowing roar, soaring through the air, lighter and smaller than Cron, she covered more distance and landed with a bounce right behind him. Cron took one startled look backwards right as the Crater Sharks landed behind Leura. Then a look of triumph washed over his face and he started to slow down, the back of his board bumping into the front of Leura’s and forcing her ever closer to the gaping jaws of the sharks.

Leura tried to jump upwards as Sol had done, but Cron was too quick. He reached back and grabbed her by the scruff of her robe. Leura struggled to break free, but he was far bigger and stronger, and with a look of malicious delight he shoved her backwards. She felt a great weight crash into her, saw the blinding light of electricity, and the world went dark as a single thought echoed in her mind.

I lost.