Chapter 18:

Summer Games ( I )

PENUMBRA


Noah.

A blurred image of a woman placed a squealing baby into his arms. It was wrapped in a ragged old cloth that looked like it would rip at any moment.

Run as fast as you can, and don’t look back.

The sound of gunshots rippled through the air, drowning out the screams of villagers desperately trying to find cover.

Noah, listen to me!

The woman leaned forward and kissed Noah on the forehead. Her face was still inconspicuous, but her touch and scent felt oddly familiar.

Where am I?

There’s no time. Go! The woman gave Noah a push. He started sprinting as fast as his legs would take him. The sand under his feet crunched with every step he took. The baby in his arms started crying, and he caressed its head gently as he ran.

It’ll be okay.

He turned around to see the woman smiling, with a tear falling down her face. She mouthed a couple of words, but he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

Farewell, Mother.

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Rhea, Year 817 of Avia, Day 226; 16:00

Three years later 

“Shhhh,” Icarum whispered, “don’t wake him up.”

Carla giggled. “I think it’s too late for that.”

“Huh?”

Noah opened one eye, confused and disoriented. Four teenagers stared up at him innocently, trying to hide their smiles. He was laying down on a couch in a cozy lounge.

Right, he remembered. The Games.

Almost everyone in their tribe had flown to Mount Kalim, the rebel headquarters and the site where the Summer Games took place every other year. The mountain itself didn’t look any different than the others, but inside it was an incredibly elaborate cavern system with large oil and water sources.

Not only was it a hidden base covered in mist that Sydurnians wouldn’t be able to navigate, but it was also a great place for the rebels to fuel and build their own airships.

Noah stretched out his legs. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Just a little under an hour,” Khal answered. “But seriously, dude, I don’t understand how you can fall asleep when the Games are literally starting tonight.”

“Don’t underestimate a man who copies homework thirty minutes before class,” Icarum joked. “Noah just doesn’t feel pressure.”

“There’s no way he doesn’t f-feel anything,” Mia stuttered. She was sitting cross-legged in the corner of the room, with her vibrantly colored wings covering her entire body. Her gloomy demeanor greatly contrasted with her radiant feathers.

“We might have another chance in two years,” Carla stated, “but every opportunity counts. I’m going to win this thing and become the captain of my very own airship, just you wait.”

Khal laughed. “You?” Carla’s fiery glare made him rethink his next words.

“I mean, there’s like, what, two or three thousand contestants? If you make it to the one on one rounds, that’s good enough. You’re pretty much guaranteed a spot in someone’s crew if you get that far,” Khal added.

The door slammed open and a small eight-year-old girl ran in, tripping on a deck of cards that was laying on the ground. Before she fell face forward, Icarum stood up and caught her, helping her up to her feet. A black marker fell out of his tunic and rolled across the floor.

“Noelle, you’ve gotta be careful when you run. It doesn’t matter how fast you go if you can’t stay on your feet.”

“Brother! Why do you look like Master Rhozo?”

“I look like who?”

Noelle pointed up at Noah’s face, and everyone in the room burst out in laughter. Noah walked to a nearby mirror and couldn’t help but chuckle. His entire face was drawn on, featuring wrinkles, a mustache, and the start of a beard.

He mockingly punched Icarum in the stomach. “You think you’re so funny, huh?”

“Hey, even you’re laughing.”

“It’s been four years and your brain hasn't matured at all.”

“It’s been four years and your body hasn’t matured at all,” Icarum replied, failing to keep a straight face. While Icarum had grown considerably taller and put on some weight, Noah still looked pretty much the same.

The two of them chased each other around the room, laughing and knocking chairs over. Pigeon put his headphones on and closed his eyes while Carla and Mia enjoyed the drama. Noelle was left in the middle of the room, wondering what was happening.

Noah suddenly stopped. “Oh, right. Did you need something Noelle?”

“Nah. Just wanted to say good luck at the games tonight! I’ll be watching from the left corner of the stadium.”

Noah patted his sister’s head and smiled.

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Rhea, Year 817 of Avia, Day 226; 19:00

“Contestants, please make your way to the waiting rooms. The Eighth Summer Games are about to begin.”

“Did you hear that?” Mia asked.

“It must be some sort of telepathy,” Khal answered. “There aren’t any loudspeakers here or anything.”

“It’s a pretty cool power,” Noah remarked.

The five of them made their way down to the base of the mountain. The first round of the Games was scheduled to take place at eight inside a nearby valley. The rebels had recently constructed a huge stadium there to fit the increasing number of contestants and spectators, which in total numbered around eighty thousand this year.

Not only were the Games a tradition of Rhean society, but one of the only times that the thirteen rebel factions all came together. It was one’s chance at showing their worth to every tribe, not just their own.

“Any idea what the first game will be?” Icarum asked.

“Have you done no research at all?” Carla retorted. Icarum backed away and held his hands up to show that he meant no harm. Carla ignored him.

“She gets pretty aggressive when she’s nervous,” Khal whispered. “So don’t worry too much about it.”

“You didn’t watch the games two years ago, did you?” Noah asked.

Icarum shook his head. “I was on an extended camping trip in the wild.” He laughed. “It probably wasn’t a good idea to miss it, right?”

“It was incredible! Even though it was her first Games, the Swan made it all the way to the top eight. I heard she got crew offers from Captain Xerxes and Captain Rolfe, but she declined them all because she wanted to become a captain herself,” Mia perked up. From the way she spoke and moved her hands, it was clear that Mia idolized Ilina.

“Well, I know that. When I got back to our base, Ilina was the star of the show.”

After reaching the base of the mountain, the group traversed a long, narrow, cavern to reach a large, square dimly lit room surrounded by hard concrete. It was full of contestants preparing themselves: some meditated and rested, some talked amongst themselves to relieve their stress, and others were doing push-ups and curl-ups on the floor.

The second-year competitors sat in one corner of the room, while the first-year competitors sat in the other. There was a stark contrast between the two groups, with the former much more relaxed than the latter.

“Since Captain Xerxes, there haven’t been any captains from our rebel faction. So everyone’s pretty excited that the Swan has such a good shot this year,” Khal added as the group sat down in a row.

A tall boy with dark hair and transparent glasses scooted over to sit in front of Icarum. “She won’t win.”

“Huh?” Icarum was surprised that someone new was actually talking to him. For better or worse, most of the children his age tended to avoid him, since he was the “Vulture” and all. It didn’t help that his only friends called themselves the “castaways” and made no effort to talk to others outside of their group.

“I’m Connor. When the games start, it’ll be helpful to have allies. There are group games, after all.”

Icarum nodded in agreement. “Why won’t Ilina win?”

“The Eagle’s also competing this year. We can try to make it far, but once we get into one-on-one fights, there’s no way we can beat him.” Connor said sternly.

“The Eagle?”

“He’s from another faction. He got second place in his first Games,” Khal answered.

“Then why didn’t he join a crew?”

“Same reason as the Swan, I expect,” Connor replied. “Although he also accidentally killed his opponent during one of his matches, which probably made a lot of captains uneasy about working with him.”

“He killed someone?”

Connor nodded, confirming Khal’s remark.

Noah laughed. “You guys have gone so off-topic. Have you already forgotten Icarum’s original question?”

“Huh?” Khal looked clueless.

“The first game?”

“Oh, that. It’s likely to be some endurance challenge. The exact game changes every two years, though.”

“If we’re in a stadium, I’m going to guess it’s some sort of race,” Connor added.

The telepathic voice returned. “Please change into your jumpsuits. We’ve labeled them with your name in the front of the room.”

A gruff middle-aged man walked inside the room rolling a cart full of white jumpsuits arranged in alphabetical order by last name. Dozens of teenagers sprinted to grab their suits, eager to see how they’d fit.

Icarum stood up to do the same, but Khal stopped him. “Don’t. We can just wait until the chaos ends. No need to waste energy grabbing a jumpsuit in a crowd.”

Most of the second-year competitors also stayed in their seats, waiting patiently. They laughed at the younger kids who leaped at their jumpsuits.

“All that excitement just to lose in the first round,” one of them muttered. “I bet fighting them’s going to be an easy win.”

Khal nudged Icarum on the side. “You hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Khal pointed at another side of the room, where a group of well-built second-years was whispering to each other. One twirled a black knife around his fingers as he spoke.

“You should probably watch out for those three,” Khal warned. “They’re talking about ‘wanting to fight the Vulture’ and ‘putting him in his place.’”

“How are you making so many enemies?”

“He’s been a pretty cocky brat recently in class,” Noah answered. “I don’t know what power’s giving you so much confidence, but be careful.”

Icarum smiled. “If they want to fight me, I’ll welcome it. If I lose, it’ll just mean that I was too weak.”

Now that the crowd near the jumpsuits had emptied out, Icarum and the rest of his group made their way to the front of the room.

There. Icarum tugged at the jumpsuit with his last name, but someone had gotten to it first. He glanced up, annoyed.

“This is mi-”

The person grabbing it turned around. He was a few inches taller than him and looked down at Icarum with a slightly cold gaze.

“I forgot we shared the same last name.”

“Asterum.” Although they’d been living in the same base together, Icarum had barely seen his cousin for the past three years. They’d both been busy with their own training regiments, and ever since their unaffectionate encounter in the library, they haven’t talked to each other since.

“There’s another jumpsuit labeled Nova right here. No worries.” Icarum had no time to fix the awkward situation he was in, much less start a fight. He backed away and returned to his seat.

Without warning, the stone doors that the contestants had entered from started to close. At the very last moment, a girl slipped into the room, panting heavily. Everyone looked up at her, baffled at the idea that someone could be late for such an important event.

The girl looked up and smiled with a fierce look on her face as she reached for her jumpsuit, the only one left on the table.

“Ilina,” a second-year shouted, “late as always, I see.”

“If you become a captain, make sure I’m a part of your crew!”

“Me too, me too!” The last remark was made by Mia, but nobody paid her any attention.

Icarum’s head perked up. Like himself, Ilina had subjected her body to grueling training since her last Games. While Icarum had returned to the rebel base frequently for food and mandatory classes (Master Rhozo had threatened to imprison Icarum within the base if he didn’t take them), rumor had it that Ilina lived in the wilderness by herself, hunting and camping to survive.

Icarum approached her, but a couple of muscular second-years stood up and blocked the way. They glared at him with their wings outstretched, as if to warn him away.

“Can’t you see we’re trying to focus? Don’t be a distraction.”

“Don’t be so harsh just because they’re a little younger than us, Jared.” A skinny boy tapped the other second-years on the shoulders with a smirk on his face.

“Everyone knows how much you’re into Ilina, so it’s natural that you’re so prote-”

“Lucas, you little sh-”

Jared angrily raised a punch, but Lucas calmly backed off. “Chill out, dude. I’m just kidding around.” He turned to Icarum with an apologetic look on his face.

Lucas glanced around the room and noticed that the electric lamps hanging on the walls began to shake slightly.

“Looks like it’s about time.”

Before Icarum could ask what he meant, the ceiling above them slowly split open. Loud voices could be heard from every direction, and the ground itself began to tremble. The stone floor they were standing on began to ascend abruptly, leading many of the first-years to lose their balance and fall to the floor.

Icarum found himself in the center of a valley, with thousands upon thousands of spectators encircling them, screaming from their seats. To the left and right of them, more and more competitors began to appear from the ground, each assumedly from a different rebel faction.

Flying above them was an announcer holding a large microphone. He raised his hand to silence the crowd.

“Welcome to the Eighth Summer Games!” The excited crowd erupted into cheers.

He pointed to the eastern side of the crowd. “Over here are our esteemed captains, with the best seats in the house!”

“As all of you know, this is not just an opportunity for our children to show off their abilities, but for them to prove that they are worthy of joining an airship crew!”

“And as our tradition dictates, the first place winner of today’s tournament will be entrusted with their very own airship and join the ranks of our captains, the highest honor in the Rhean Rebel Military!”

He smiled and turned to the competitors below him.

“Let the games begin!”