Chapter 2 - Arrival

  The winds of the empty kypeeran deserts whistled through the air in an endless torrent; attempting to uproot the sparse plants that clung for their lives to the loose soil. The moaning of the wind muffled any sound, making the vast open land seem all the more devastatingly lonely. Every so often the wind would soften, and the faint echo of a song could be heard from a shallow depression in the ground.

"Happy birthday… to me. "A young man sat at the edge of the plot of land. His legs bent in front of him as he stared with empty eyes at an abandoned bungalow, that was now nearly engulfed in sand drifts.

Another gust of wind swept through the empty plot of land, carrying away the words of the man's song. A once intact door creaked open, revealing charred remains of wooden furniture that was slowly being buried by sand and dust. The man remained unmoving as he gazed into the space, wet tears carved their way across a dust laden face.

  "Happy birthday… to…" the young man paused to shield himself from another cloud of sand and the finished the remaining word to his song, "me."

He stood up and wiped his forearm across his eyes. The wind was picking up, making it more difficult to see through the haze of sand clouds. He thumbed a small object in the pocket of his tunic, and had to stoop low enough to enter due to the sand rift that was slowly starting to block the entrance. Once inside he removed the object he had been fiddling in his pocket and placed it on an old shelf. He maneuvered the object to his liking and stared at it with a sad grin. A crystal tiger sat staring back at him, glinting in the darkened room. Its features had been carved to perfection over the course of 2 years, and now closely resembled a proud tiger.

   "You watch over this place now Glacier, I don't think I'm coming back".

The man exited the building and briskly made his way back to the edge of the shallow depression and climbed out. Once he was standing at the border of the small land plot, he turned back for one last look.

"You're in good hands now dad… I'll make you proud of me, I'll become the greatest rider this world has ever seen. The legacy you built…" The young man clenched his jaw and stared down at the old house. "I'll become greater, that's a promise".

With that, he turned away and closed his eyes. He mentally reached inside of himself to feel the warmth of the galden that coursed through his blood. The powerful aura was a relieving presence, the warmth that heated his insides like a comforting embrace.

"Valor." A familiar and welcome voice echoed in his mind. The young man opened his eyes and turned around to see a massive gorilla with crystal shards protruding from his back standing just 4 feet from behind. "Valor, its time to go…".

Valor grimly nodded his head, without walking any closer, he smoothly leapt onto his friend's back with ease, neatly situating himself in between shining crystals.

  He patted his friend on the side of the neck. "You gonna say one last goodbye?"

  Diargo remained silent before replying with his deep mental voice "I said my last goodbye 2 years ago, my instincts tell me that my kind don't really focus on the past." The powerful voice rang in Valor's mind, "we focus on survival and victory".

That was enough to clear Valor's mind, the wet blanket of grief that clung damply to his heart was lifted, and he nodded in acknowledgement to his friend's concentration. Diargo was often blunt and lacked empathy. However, his connection with Valor gave him an open window into his mind and his soul. With another pat on his neck Valor showed his appreciation in which the ape grunted in return. Gone were the days of verbal communication, the galden flowed freely through the both of them. Their lifeblood was the same, and it coursed powerfully through their veins. Sensing Valor's intention to head out, Diargo turned away and started to run across the desert landscape. Once he reached a certain speed, he began to propel himself through the air using massive crystal pillars that shot out of the ground at incredible speeds. After years of practice, Diargo was able to perfect his timing, allowing the pillars to connect with his feet, sending him hurtling through the air. This was a technique that Valor and Diargo agreed would be the best possible means of travel during races. It provided the pair with many advantages.

"What time do the qualifiers start?" Diargo asked valor as they were falling through the air.

"The next one is at the start of next quarter, so that's… 3 days?" Valor sensed his friend mentally prepare his legs to absorb the next pillar, a signal that he learned to recognize immediately.

"What do you know about our competition, anyone we should be particularly worried about," Diargo asked.

Valor laughed out loud, "Anyone we should be worried about? Is that a joke."

Diargo barked a laugh at his friends' reaction. The two of them had a level of confidence that made them feel invincible.

  After an hour of travel, a massive mountain range started to materialize on the horizon. Looking through the haze of heat, a structure could be seen jutting out of the mountain rock face. After another twenty minutes, the duo arrived at the foot of the mountain. The structure that could be seen extending out of the mountain was the entrance.

  "Siliaph stadium," Valor breathed in hushed excitement, "Diargo this is it, we're here".

  Diargo rolled his eyes, this was not the first time they had travelled to base of the mountain. Sensing his friend's lack of enthusiasm, Valor leapt off his back and landed facing the monkey.

   "Okay sure, we've been here before, BUT we haven't actually been able to get in".

Not waiting to see his friend's response, Valor turned back to face the entrance to the stadium once more, "I mean, it is just absolute MASSIVE". He started to jog up to the entrance stopping halfway to whirl back to face his friend. "I wonder what it's like inside, how big you think it is?" Ignoring Diargo's nonchalant shrug, Valor continued "It has to be bigger than glen poll right, that stadium is just small time compared to this, I don't even think it has a Rider lounge"

Diargo looked at his companion, the childish excitement that was now causing Valor to spout long ramblings of stadium dimensions was an odd look. It certainly did not fit someone who's seen death, especially not someone who's about to kill. Shrugging it off Diargo walked up to the doorway that was camouflaged into the stone.