Angels

Flying Free

Tyler thanked the man at the rental desk and carried his hoverboard over to where Castael was waiting. She grinned and pulled a map of the rink out of her pocket. Castael had her own hoverboard, which she had gotten a license to ride around the whole city. However, most other civilians weren't lucky enough to gain ownership of a license and their personal hoverboard, so they came to the hoverboarding rink.

The hoverboarding rink was actually a massive park, spanning over two-hundred and fifty million square miles. There were different habitats to fly around in, complete with which made races really fun. "Ok, so, if it's alright, I mapped out where we're gonna fly for our race." She handed him the map. "Were basically going in a counterclockwise spiral. First one to the Big Ben in Old London wins, gotit?" Tyler nodded, analyzing the map. "Right on, let's suit up!"

It took Tyler over thirty minutes to get into his hoverboard, put on his gear, and learn the basic controls. He was required by law to wear all of the professional gear, so as to avoid injury. Castael had a scuffed leather aviator jacket, combat boots, and fingerless grip gloves. Again, a perk of the license. The test proved her to have a 0.5% chance of consistent crashes, and a 0.9% chance of occasional crashing, so a helmet wasn't required for her.

Once Tyler was situated, she asked him again if he was ready. He nodded nervously, butterflies filling his gut. They kicked off and Castael quickly lost him, a whoop of joy getting caught in the wind. Tyler proceeded shakily, but soon got into a rhythm. He wove in and out of trees through New Yellowstone, spotting Castael flying low with a pack of wolves. He kicked the board into high gear and quickly pulled ahead of Cas. Several hundred miles later however, she popped back up in front of him. She showed off by turning upside down and throwing a few raspberries at him. A handful of raspberries flew out of her hand and exploded in his face. He laughed and wiped the juice out of his eyes and mouth, quickly catching up to Cas. She began weaving expertly in and out of obstacles, while Tyler struggled to keep up. He maneuvered to the left but then overcorrected to the right.

He hit a tree and spun out of control. The emergency procedures didn't kick in, and he was hurtling towards the ground at over eighty miles and hour. Cas didn't notice him flying towards the ground. He heard the rip of metal and fabric as he hit the ground with a bone breaking crunch. He felt warm liquid run down the side of his face and his world promptly went black.