Chapter 14 : The Equineox race (I- Equineox 'ace)

Equineox training started three days a week and the game happened to be nothing like the others had described. During the try-outs, Gale had merely made Diana fly in some complicated patterns across the sky without explaining the game. On the first Equineox practice, he led them to the race course built on the Realta Ban grounds carrying a small crate. It was larger than a football field with a track round the circumference wide enough for two full grown pegasi to fly side by side. There were raised stands all around it as high as twenty feet in the air which Diana puzzled over till Gale went to a podium in the middle of the course and pressed a button on it. Immediately, thick transparent walls over fifty feet high arose circumventing the track. He pressed another button and black rods crisscrossed across the glass walls every few feet leaving just enough room for a pegasus to fly. He opened the crate to reveal several thick, bright red batons with grooves across its surface.

"This is called a Mast." He held up the baton twirling it in his hands. "Unlike normal racing sports, an Equineox race cannot be won by an individual." Diana could tell that he was explaining for only her benefit. Aletheia had said that Silvanus had been on the team last year. Selena, the tall bushy haired girl, and Coretin, the redhead with fly-away hair were almost as old as Gale and had been on the team for several years. "The first Jockey begins the race from the starting position either on the red platform or the blue platform." He pointed to a starting position where a portion of the glass wall divided into two parts, the top was blue and the bottom was red. "The first Blocker from the opposing team would be present somewhere within the first half of the circumference of the course; he would try to block you or make you drop the Mast in order to slow you down. If you get past him, he will tail you and you will meet the second Blocker on the remaining circumference of the course. You need to get past both of them and hand over the Mast to the next jockey. One Jockey would always be tailing the Jockey inside the track from above for the blue side and from below for the red side. In case you get cornered, you can throw the Mast to the tailing Jockey and exchange places with him. Meanwhile, the opposing team would also be racing but on the other portion of the track. The first team to finish five laps with the Mast still in hand wins. Questions?"

"Uh Gale, are those black rods made of wood?"

"No, the Snares are a more brittle material than wood but yes, they will hurt if you hurl into them." He said, answering her unspoken question. "Equineox is a race so of course, speed is important. But there is something more important than that. And that is strategy. You need to be able to confuse the Blockers, you need to be highly alert and you need to use your intelligence. Annui have not won the Equineox Championship since the last three years but all of that changes TODAY!" He had a manic glint in his eye and his voice shivered with excitement. Diana squashed her nervousness and gave Gale a faint smile hoping that her misgivings didn't show on her face.

But once she had mounted Beauty, all her misgivings were left on the ground as she soared high into the air. The wind whipped her hair as she maneuvered Beauty smoothly through the black rods.

The only issue with Equineox practices was the necessary collaboration with a certain green-eyed elf who still stared at her with fragile hope after they were done discussing tactics. He'd not tried to make her talk to him any more than what the practice-related subject required but he still hung around, expecting her to talk to him. And the proximity was definitely affecting her mind; the sporadic bouts of mind-reading were becoming more frequent and his voice was becoming clearer in those occasions. Diana often wondered why this did not bother him.

Perhaps because he didn't go around jinxing little children in the past, commented her annoying conscience. She turned her focus back to Gale's feinting tactics.

What with Equineox practices thrice a week, learning the lines for the play by-heart, working through the enormous amounts of home-work that the teachers kept loading on them, Diana was working flat out to keep up with everything. This was good as it left very little idle time for her brain to wander into his mind unknowingly.

The first Equineox match between Annui and Haradren was mid-October, the day before the Lux festival. Diana awoke with a nervous weight in the pit of her stomach. One of the Blockers in Haradren was Adriano and he would be sure to try something funny in today's match. At breakfast, Bella flashed her a wicked smile and leaned in to whisper something to Adriano gesturing towards her.

"What's the bet that she's asking him to throw me off my pegasus?" Diana's voice was high, tight.

"Oh please. You can take him on blind-folded. We've seen you fly." Aletheia was spooning honey into Diana's cornflakes. Gale urged them all to eat and then ushered them out of the Dining Hall before anyone else to inspect the weather. It was a clear, cloudless day with a cool breeze - perfect conditions. As spectators started making their way out of the palace, Gale led them into the pegasi stables attached to the stands. Beauty gave a happy neigh as Diana walked through the doors, saddle in hand.

"N-ith cin! N-ith cin!" Diana looked around wondering where the voice was coming from when a white ball of feathers descended from the beams of stable and flew to Silvanus's shoulder. Zula had flown in to wish him good luck. The she turned to Diana and repeated, "N-ith cin! N-ith cin!"

"Awww 'han cin Zula," Diana thanked her.

N-ith cin. Zula's person said through the mind-link. Don't worry. You'll do great.

Diana took in a deep breath. 'han cin.

With their pegasi saddled and ready, Gale turned to them like a commander sending his soldiers into battle. "I know that we are the best team in this school! But they don't know that yet." He gestured to the cacophony of noises coming from the stands. "It's time to let them know that there's a new champions team! We'll show them today that ANNUI. ARE. THE. BEST!" He held his palm out; four hands slapped on his upturned palm in succession. "Annui!" he yelled. "Annui!" his team echoed, thoroughly energized.

They walked onto the middle of the course to cheers from the solid green section of the stands and polite applause from the others. The ochre portion filled with Haradren made their boos and hisses heard as well. The toss was won by the Gale and the Haradren team Captain, a heavy-set elf with a gangster-like appearance, cracked his knuckles menacingly. Gale picked the blue side and the Captains shook hands. Selena and Coretin flew to their places on the track as did the Blockers in the Haradren team. On a raised stand near the starting position, all the teachers, the Queen, the Prime Minister and several of the courtiers were seated alongside Gale's best friend, Simon, who would be commentating.

Herdir Faun opened the crate of the Mast and handed one to the Haradren Captain and the other to Gale. All six Jockeys, three in red and three in blue, waited on their pegasi as Herdir Faun flew up on his pegasus with a banger in hand.

"On your mark!"

"Get set!"

He pulled the end of the banger and a loud crack like a pistol rent the air.

"Aaaaaaaaaaand they're off! Gale, Captain of the Annui team with the Mast. Jockey Silvanus tailing as substitute. Jockey Raiden of Haradren, dodging the Snares, Jockey Molan tailing as substitute. Gale coming up to the first Blocker. Ooooooo great feint. Looks like he's going to pass through. And he did! My bro, Gale has left the first Blocker in the dust." Cheers erupted from the Annui section. As Gale reached the other end of the course, it was becoming difficult to see what was happening and Diana relied on Simon's commentary as he peered through his enhanced glasses. Thankfully, Diana had learnt enough Elvish to understand him by now.

"Jockey Raiden getting cornered by Selena in the red platform and yes, he's dropped the Mast. Molan of Haradren in possession. Gale coming onto the second Blocker on the blue platform. Conk him on the head with the Mast, Gale! Sorry Herdir," said Simon as Herdir Faun shot him a withering look. "And he's passed Adriano! Kid seems to have knocked his head on a Snare." Simon laughed. "Gale has completed the first lap. Mast passed to Silvanus." The Annui stand shouted like a many headed entity. "Molan finishes first lap as well. Mast passed to Barak."

The game progressed with more difficulty as time went by. The Blockers were trying their best moves to dislodge the Mast from the hands of the Jockeys. But often the Mast was not the only thing to get dislodged. Adriano pulled a shocking turn in front of Silvanus, which threw Silvanus off his pegasus, Ember. He barely managed to cling onto his saddle with one hand while flinging the Mast to Gale who flew over Adriano overtaking him. Diana exhaled in relief as Silvanus pulled himself back onto his saddle and resumed the game as substitute. In the fourth lap, Gale handed the Mast to Diana and they were off.

"Fourth lap running and the teams are still neck to neck. Gale's new find, Diana, tearing over the track dodging Snares. Great Goddess! She can fly!" Diana whooshed through the Snares while the first Blocker Adad flew forward to tackle her. "In the red platform, Raiden has moved past Selena. Selena right at the tail of Raiden, catching up to him and ohhhh that must have hurt." Raiden had gotten himself herded and the left wing of his pegasus grazed the wall. "He drops the Mast but Barak's caught it and he's off ahead of Selena."

Diana zig-zagged through the Snares trying to confuse Adad and whizzed past his right side as he fell for her feint to the left. But Adriano was flying forward at great speed, his lip curling menacingly. Diana was going to get boxed in.

Silvanus! she screamed in her head and threw the Mast high in the air. Silvanus caught the Mast and surged ahead, Ember flying almost side-ways to fit between two Snares. Diana escaped a collision with inches to spare as the Blockers rounded on Silvanus. Diversionary tactics, Rosa! Silvanus yelled in her mind. My name is Diana, Silvanus. She rolled her eyes and urged Beauty forward to catch up with him. They began a kind of passing the parcel, substituting each other every few feet till the Blockers were thoroughly confused. The fourth lap had ended but Gale shouted for Diana to remain on the track. Silvanus passed the Mast to Diana and they were off again, weaving through the Snares, dodging the first Blocker. Below them, the game was getting ugly.

Raiden, enraged at getting cornered by both the Blockers halfway through the last lap, had thrown the Mast to Molan and dangerously grazed past Selena, making her slip off her saddle. "Foul!" yelled Simon. "Deliberate attempt to collide while having relinquished the Mast." Herdir Faun restrained Raiden off the track but the damage was done. Molan was tearing across the track with Coretin trailing yards behind him, desperately trying to catch-up.

Silvanus was going to reach Adriano while Adad flew on top of him preventing a pass. Silvanus took careful aim and threw the Mast diagonally below, Diana, in split second of realization, dove sharply. Simon was shouting something, there was a hush in the crowd. Diana caught the Mast and instead of rising again, flattened herself against Beauty urging her at top speed. As they crossed the finish line, the stands erupted!

Diana landed and turned back to find Molan still yards behind the finish line, face screwed up in anger. Gale bounded forward and lifted her off Beauty, engulfing her in a bear hug while her feet dangled inches off the ground. The entire Equineox team surrounded her, hugging each other, thumping each other on the back. Thoughtlessly, Diana threw her arms around Silvanus. But as her thoughts caught up with her actions, she pulled away smiling at him rather sheepishly. He answered with a brilliant smile.

The crowd of spectators, led by the Annui, ran forward to congratulate them in droves and Diana finally, finally said to herself.........

This is where I belong.