Chimera Ryder

Chapter 15 - A Familiar Sound

Ryder's tail whips around the checkpoint! They are already on their final lap! All of the riders funnel into the valley behind Ryder and Groy's colchis bull. The warm mountain breeze pulls all the racing beasts forward, making this a much easier race. If the race is happening at night, the wind would be cooler, but it would also be blowing against the tracks, making it much more difficult for them to run on.

Jessa veers Ryder towards the outer track, hugging the mountainside. They avoid the windmills planted by the locals and are safe in second place.

Groy's colchis bull is in first place, running on the inner track of the valley. No one dares to take the middle lane. All the riders behind know that the strong valley wind is only going to add fuel the Fire Pistons' "fire wall."

Of course, none of them know that Ryder is still struggling with her fire; the colchis bull's fire cannot possibly cover the whole middle lane. They are only bluffing the wall right now.

This is Jessa's first time racing with Groy. She can already tell that her rapport with him is much better than with Ladis; Groy doesn't talk as much. Jessa doesn't like to talk while she's racing. She prefers to keep her mouth shut, so she doesn't get anymore thirsty than she already is. But she does talk to Ryder all the time.

"Let's go for it!"

Ryder hears Jessa's command. She picks up her pace and bolts behind Groy's bull! The Fire Pistons are coming in for another strong finish.

The team should be celebrating their win, but they had a hard time popping open that cider's cork. Jessa was still unable to access the zone, and Ryder was still struggling with her fire.

Jessa wanted Rand to teach her how to control Ryder's fire, but Rand refused. For one, Rand was not a fire rider himself, and two, he wanted Jessa to focus on her own training, and not her beast's. To him, a beast was just an instrument and nothing more.

"We need to get her to breathe fire!" said Ladis. "We can't keep bluffing with an invisible 'wall!' "

"We have a little bit of a cushion with the three wins right now," said Barbera. "But Ladis is right. We need to figure something out soon."

"I didn't say we need to figure something out!" said Ladis. "I said she needs to breathe fire!"

Jessa was used to them arguing in the front of the ship by now. She preferred to be in the back with Ryder and the two bulls. Rand's peryton wasn't there. His servant picked it up back on the mid plane. Rand didn't look too confident handing his airship over to his servant. He was right to be worried because that was not the first time his servant left some dents on his ship.

The Fire Pistons' steamship was much larger than Rand's. It had all the basic utilities of a house. Jessa shared a room with Mrs. Folly upstairs. There was only one bed, but Jessa was fine sleeping on the floor.

The twins had a room downstairs near the engine room. They offered it to Rand, but Rand declined. Rand preferred to be in the control room. He didn't trust the autopilot too much. This room was where they spent most of their time. They would eat breakfast and discuss strategies here. Most of their conversations ended with Ladis yelling at Groy about Jessa not able to access the fire. Jessa would then pick up her plate and move to the back to give Ryder her unfinished eggs.

Jessa was tired of Ladis's constant complaints, but she also knew he was right. If the team wanted to go to the finals, she had to get Ryder to unlearn her "good behavior" and start breathing fire again.

Today was Jessa's rest day. Mrs. Folly scheduled all the riders to have a rest day after every two races. Rest day also meant chore day for the resting rider. Mrs. Folly trusted Jessa more than the twins, so Jessa tended to have more work than the twins. If Mrs. Folly could have her way, she would probably have an all female crew.