A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Gauntlet

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"You don't have to do this," Mira said, "You know how mom would feel if she knew you were racing again."

"No can do, Mir. Hot heads don't light hellfires. And besides, I'm not passing up a chance to show mister perfect what's what."

Her gaze drifted from her brother over to the boy in question as one of his fellow angelites pulled a comb through his feathers. So different from her own, leathery, hellspawn wings. She curled her lip in disgust, satan help her if she somehow lost, she'd never live it down. Which is why defeat was not an option.

Mira rolled his eyes and stepped back. "Stay safe at least okay? Dad will seriously kill me if I let anything happen to you."

"Don't you trust me?" Millie pouted dramatically, 'I could run the Gauntlet in my sleep and you know it."

"Be. Careful," Mira hissed through gritted teeth before pushing her over towards the starting line where Link was already waiting.

Millie grinned, "Ready to lose, Link?"

Link barely spared her a glance, "Not a chance."

Millie scowled, "You know I'm surprised you even agreed to this. You do know flying is my thing, don't you?"

"You've never seen me fly before," Link said with a shrug. "And while I have full confidence in your abilities, respect is earned in people's minds, not their hearts. You don't get to where I am by playing nice." He turned to look at Millie and flashed her a smile that made her skin crawl. His eyes flashed pure gold for just a second and she was pointedly reminded of where their respective ancestors had come from.

She shook off the residual headache and looked forward with a scoff, ready to take off when their ref called the start of the race.

"You know, I don't actually care whether you plan to honor your end of the bargain when you lose," Link said suddenly, readying himself as well.

Millie refused to take the bait, "We made a contract, I don't have much of a choice."

"I'd drop the contract if you asked," Link replied simply. "As class president, all I want is for my fellow classmates to better themselves. And I think you could achieve that simply by having someone knock you down a peg on home turf. Anything else is entirely secondary."

Before Millie even had the chance to process what he'd said, a shrill whistle cut through the air.

"THREE, TWO, ONE. GO!"

The two took off, zipping into the metal spiral that made up the Gauntlet. The moment their wingtips passed the threshold of the first loop, they felt ancient magic stirring around them as the Gauntlet hummed to life. The race had truly begun.

No one at Fallow High really knew what the Gauntlet was originally built and enchanted for. But the old and crumbling magic still clinging to the strange architecture made for an epic obstacle course. Whether you were running it on foot or by wing, one never really knew which traps would have enough juice to activate from one day to the next. And so for decades now, it had tested any student brave or stupid enough to try and run it.

Millie clenched her jaw, Link was keeping up better than she'd anticipated. In fact, it seemed almost as if he was having fun. Each time she looked over at him, he was wearing a smile she didn't recognize on him. A sparkle in his eyes that was just bright enough to avoid being mistaken for sunlight.

She realized as they flew, that he'd never seen him so happy before.

Then, at around the halfway mark, Millie clocked a sudden change in his attitude. Though what he was thinking she couldn't tell. His eyes met hers and with steely determination he streamlined his wings for a sudden burst of speed.

Assuming he was hoping to dodge the projectile she knew might be coming up and pull ahead, she squared her arms and legs instead. There was no way he'd gain enough speed to make it, and she knew this. So as long as she held steady, this could really be her chance to put some distance between them.

But then, a moment too late, she realized what his real plan was.

Right as the cannonball burst out of the ground, Link rolled in the air so that his back was to the ground. Before he could lose too much altitude, he hooked his arms onto Millie's and with a powerful flap of his wings, flipped her forward. Directly into the cannonball's path.

Millie felt the air get knocked out of her as he crashed into the heavy metal ball and the crowd behind them erupted with noise. But she processed none of it as she dropped to the ground, her wings feeling like lead. She was only dimly aware of a scream, and then a flash of light.

When she could see again, Link and her were alone in the middle of a cornfield.

"What happened?" She groaned. "Where are we? What did you do?"

"Please calm down," Link said, panic creeping into his voice. "Settle and let me heal you. Gosh, I got carried away. I'm sorry. This is why I stopped racing. I always took it too far. Are you okay?"

Millie took a couple of deep breaths and analyzed for the first time the throbbing pain spreading across her back, "I've been better." She admitted. "I didn't think you had it in you to pull a stunt like that."

"I'm so sorry," Link groaned as he lowered her gently to the ground and put his hands on her shoulders to begin the healing process.

"Are you kidding?" Millie scoffed, "That was incredible. You should have just gone on to win the race."

Link gave her a weak smile, "I guess my plan worked after all."

Millie thought about this for a moment then burst into laughter, "You are terrible."