Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Justin’s heart raced as he roared across Val Luminara. All he wanted was to go faster, faster! Whenever he started to accelerate further, though, Lena would pull back on his antlers to slow him down. Lucas and Willow were flying alongside him, and while they were both skilled fliers, they lacked Justin’s sheer speed and would get left behind if he wasn’t careful.

Still, they were going faster than Justin would have thought possible a month ago. They had only been flying for a couple of minutes, but they were already only a mile outside of Laetitia. The tree was like a skyscraper, dominating his view no matter where he looked. The rest of Vixen’s unit spread out on either side of him, like they were geese migrating in the world’s biggest V-formation. At the tip of the V was Tornado, charging forward with the bold, confident stature of a born leader.

But they weren’t alone. To their left and right, Justin could see four other units closing in fast, making a beeline for the giant jar and its golden bells. Though he couldn’t see past the tree, he assumed the same must be happening on the other side as well.

“What’s the plan?” he yelled.

“We’re carriers,” Willow shouted back. “It’s our job to grab a bell and keep it safe until we find a ring to put it in!”

As soon as she said that, about half of the squads broke off from the main unit and flew away.

“Those are the scouts and defenders,” Lucas explained. “Scouts find rings and lead the other squads to them. The defenders guard those rings from the other units until we can get there to score.”

Justin thought back. On the flight here, he had spotted a handful of rings, both high up in the air and hidden down in the forest.

“Be ready for some action,” Lucas warned him. “We’re about to fly straight into the opening melee!”

“What’s the opening melee?”

Lucas didn’t answer, and Justin realized he didn’t need one. As they streaked closer to the bell jar, he saw that three other units had already gotten there before them. He immediately recognized Dancer’s orange jackets, Comet’s blue ones, and Blitzen’s white. The reindeer buzzed around the massive jar like it was a glass of lemonade that three different hornet colonies had happened upon at the same time. Blitzen’s fliers were the most aggressive, darting in between the other units to try and grab bells. Sometimes they would succeed and blast off before it could be stolen. More often, they would be forced back when a tidal wave of antlered cannonballs crashed into them.

Then, even as Justin watched, Cupid’s pink jackets joined the fray. Without saying a word, they formed a temporary alliance with Blitzen’s units, and both began relentlessly divebombing the bell jar until the Dancer and Comet’s line of defense broke, and at least four golden bells were whisked away into the sky.

Justin’s palms began to sweat as Vixen’s unit rushed in to join the chaos.

“Justin,” Willow shouted to him. “You’re the fastest, so you get the bell! Lucas and I will keep the others off of you!”

“Don’t be afraid,” Lena said, though he wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or herself. Her hands were shaking just the slightest bit as they grasped his antlers. “We can do this!”

What seemed like a wall of reindeer rose up to block their way, and Vixen’s unit crashed into them at full speed. Lena spotted a gap between the defenders and guided Justin toward it, but one of Cupid’s fliers zipped forward to close the hole before he could get there. Justin didn’t slow down, instead turning to ram his shoulder into the other reindeer’s chest. The deer grunted in pain, Justin’s momentum forcing him backwards. As soon as Justin was clear of the defensive line, he spun to the right, leaving the other reindeer behind.

“Justin, go!” Lucas yelled.

With every cell in his body alight with excitement, Justin swooped downward to make a go at the bell jar. The bells sparkled invitingly in the morning sunlight, and Justin itched with an almost goblin-ish need to wrap his fingers around one. Before he could get within twenty feet of it, though, another reindeer appeared, wrapping his arms around Justin and pushing him away. Justin pushed back, but the attacker’s momentum was strong. Justin knew by the time he’d worked up enough speed to contest him, he would be well clear of the jar and have to make his approach all over—

Lucas slammed into the other reindeer like a kamikaze. His grip broke, and Justin was free again.

“Go, go, go!” Lena yelled, thrusting his antlers forward.

So Justin went, went, went, shooting back towards the bell jar as fast as he could. Another defender, this time from Dasher’s unit, tried to block him, but Willow appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him by his antlers, using the same move she had used against Justin the day before.

“She is good,” he muttered, watching as she towed the unfortunate reindeer a block away.

“Focus, Justin!” Lena yelled. “Eyes forward!”

They reached the bell jar without further incident. Several bells had already been grabbed, but the jar was still filled almost to the brim with more, so Justin barely had to dip down to snag one for himself.

As soon as he picked it up, though, the bell released a beautiful jingle, and no fewer than six reindeer spun around in midair to see him.

“Crap,” Justin muttered.

Lena jerked his antlers upwards, and he shot straight up into the air as the other squads attacked. None of them managed to get a hold of him, but one clipped his hooves as he rose, sending Justin somersaulting through the air. Luckily, there was nothing for him to run into this high in the air except for other reindeer, so he was able to slow himself down and find his balance without trouble. Then, clutching the bell to his chest, he frantically scanned the scene.

“There!” Lena yelled, pushing his antlers in the way she wanted him to go. He followed her command, quickly accelerating away from the bell jar. Willow came in from his left to fly alongside him a few seconds later.

“Where’s Lucas?” he asked.

“I don’t—look out!”

Justin looked up just as another deer came rocketing towards them, his eyes on the bell in Justin’s arms. Willow threw herself forward to intercept him, but before the attacker could get anywhere near them, a dark brown and red blur crashed into him from the side. The reindeer screamed as he was sent cartwheeling wildly off course.

“Present and accounted for!” Lucas said, performing a sharp turn to fly on Justin’s right. “Now let’s get out of here before we lose that bell!”

In less than a minute, they had left Laetitia behind, and were flying over the ocean of trees once again.

“Where do we go now?” Justin asked. He couldn’t remember the exact location of any of the rings he’d seen on his way in, and they weren’t going in that direction anyway.

“Just keep your eyes open,” Willow said. “Either we’ll find one, or a scout will find us.”

Justin spun in a full circle while continuing to fly forward. He couldn’t see any rings nearby, but he did notice something he hadn’t seen before. The bell jar wasn’t the only new structure in Laetitia. Eight wooden pillars, about half as tall as the tree, had been erected around Laetitia’s perimeter. Each of them burned with a fire of a different color: green, orange, yellow, red, blue, pink, purple, and white. Justin didn’t have to be told that each pillar must represent one of the eight units, but there was something about the fires themselves that struck him as odd. They weren’t burning normally. It was almost like the flames were making shapes. Big, round ovals—

The sound of trumpets blared through the city, and the green flames changed from an oval to a vertical line.

They’re keeping score! Justin realized in amazement. As he watched, more music played, and the red, blue, and white fires changed to match the green one. Dasher, Vixen, Comet, and Blitzen’s units were all tied with one point each.

More trumpets, and Comet’s score went up to two.

“Maybe we should hurry,” Justin said.

“We’re going as fast as we…” Lucas paused, and then started waving frantically. “Hey! Hey, over here!”

Before Justin could ask what he was doing, another trio of Vixen’s fliers came streaking toward them.

“There’s an unguarded ring about a mile southwest of…” the one in the lead began. Then he paused, eyes narrowing, when he saw who was holding the bell. “You know what? Find it yourself.”

“What the—” Willow exclaimed as the scouts flew away. “Get back here!”

“We’re on your side, you idiots!” Lucas yelled after them.

Justin sighed, his ears drooping. “You should have done what Vixen said and—”

“He said it was a mile southwest of here,” Willow interrupted him.

“Right,” Lucas agreed. “That won’t be too hard to find on our own. Let’s go!”

So the squad turned and launched themselves in that direction. At Willow's suggestion, they descended until they were just above the treetops, hoping they would serve as at least a little bit of camouflage in case any other units were nearby. Minutes passed, and Justin’s heart sank a little lower every time the trumpets blasted from Laetitia. What would happen if they just flew in circles for the entire game, never scoring a single point? It was obvious that this was a huge event for the entire city. It wouldn’t take much, he suspected, to convince them that the lightless one was deliberately trying to sabotage the Reindeer Games. Then he would never—

“There!” Lucas suddenly said, pointing into the distance.

At first Justin couldn’t see what he was pointing at—but then he saw the glint of silver in the sunlight.

“Good eye!” Willow exclaimed.

Whether it was the one the scouts had told them about, or if they had stumbled upon another one entirely, they had found a ring. It was below the treeline, thirty feet above the ground. Together, the squad dove beneath the branches, weaving smoothly between the trees as they picked up speed.

“We’ve got trouble,” Willow said a few seconds later.

Sure enough, six defenders in yellow jackets were surrounding the ring. As soon as they saw Justin’s squad incoming, they leaped into motion.

“They outnumber us two to one,” Justin protested. “Shouldn’t we go find an unguarded ring?”

“Too late! If we leave now, they’ll chase us down and steal the bell,” Lena said.

Lucas moved so that he was flying a little ways in front of Justin. “You’ll have to trust us. It’s our job to keep them off of you!”

“Just focus on getting the bell to the ring!” Willow agreed, taking position beside Lucas.

The two of them crashed into the defenders, and Lena swerved Justin to the right half a second before three of the others could dogpile him. Justin didn’t slow down as he made a wide arc around the ring. He knew what Lena was trying to do. The fight was happening on one side of the ring. If she could get him to the other side, they could approach without conflict.

Unfortunately, the other squad had figured out her plan and had sent two of their members to intercept him.

“Corkscrew left!” Lena shouted, jerking his antlers to the side.

Justin veered left, curling himself into a series of cartwheels just before the defenders reached him. They missed, coming so close that the tip of Justin’s ear clipped one of their outstretched hands. It was difficult to keep his bearings doing this move, but he trusted Lena to keep him safe and on track. As soon as she stopped leaning on his elbows, he straightened out and found himself less than twenty feet away from the ring. It hovered there in midair, lazily flipping and spinning just like it had the day before.

“Behind us!” Lena warned him.

Justin flung himself upwards into a sharp loop, once again narrowly avoiding one of the defenders as they careened past below him. Only one, though. Where was the—

The second defender crashed into Justin while he was still upside down. The impact felt like being hit by a truck in midair—his mind suddenly flashed back to the Sammy-Truck that had gotten him into this mess—and even though the defender didn’t manage to get his arms around him, Justin was still sent spiraling out of control until he crashed into a nearby tree.

The bell slipped from his fingers.

“NO!” he and Lena shouted in unison.

He didn’t bother chasing it. It was obvious he wouldn’t be able to get to it fast enough. While he had been busy crashing, the defender had positioned himself perfectly to snatch the bell when Justin inevitably dropped it. Sure enough, with a cheerful jangle, the bell fell directly into the defender's outstretched arms.

He felt Lena pull on his antlers, and he obeyed, swerving off course as the defender flew toward the ring to score. “Wait, shouldn’t I attack him?”

“I’ve got a better idea,” his Rider promised.

She flew Justin about ten yards away from the ring, and then had him make a sharp turn and go streaking back the way they’d come. Up ahead, he could see the defender making his approach to the ring, bell clasped tightly in his hands.

“How brave do you feel today?” Lena suddenly asked.

“What are you talking about?” he shot back.

“You aren’t going to like this. Will you trust me?”

A chill went down Justin’s spine as he realized what she must be talking about. He desperately wanted to say no, but that would mean letting Comet’s unit score a point—a point that he had practically gift wrapped and delivered right to them.

“Fine!” he forced himself to say. “What are we doing?”

“Just follow my directions!”

With that, she pulled back, sending Justin rocketing skywards. She waited until he was just above the treetops, and then thrust forward. Justin couldn’t see the ring from up here, so he just flew straight ahead until…

Just like he’d feared, Lena commanded him downwards.

Gritting his teeth, fighting every instinct in his body, Justin pitched forward and plunged straight down. Vertigo immediately filled his brain as he saw the ground rushing up to meet him. Panic rose inside him.

Gonna die, gonna die, gonna die, gonna die, gonna—

“Now, Justin! Do it!”

Lena pulled up on his antlers, and Justin—more out of trained instinct than conscious thought—abruptly stopped his descent. There was a bright silver ring behind him, and a shiny yellow ball flying straight toward him. His body moved on its own, his leg thrusting out. His hoof struck the bell, sending it flying back the way it had come. The defender tried to catch it, but it flew between his arms—and straight into Willow’s.

Four defenders came for her at the same time. There was no way she could evade all of them and get to the ring. So instead, she hurled the ball with all her strength to the left. At first Justin thought she had done that out of desperation, because nobody was there to catch it. It would fall to the ground and be sent back to the bell jar, making this entire battle pointless.

But then Lucas appeared as if out of nowhere, snatching the bell out of midair.

“Yes!” Justin yelled as his friend shot up into the air like a basketball player making a slam dunk, and hurled the bell into the ring.

From somewhere to their northeast, trumpets blared.

“Yeeaaaah!” Lucas crowed, pointing at the other squad as both the ring and the bell vanished. “How about you put that in your troughs and freaking graze on it!”

Having no reason to stick around, the defenders flew away to find another ring to protect, muttering under their breath. As soon as they were gone, Lucas flew over and gave Justin a high five.

“That was amazing!” he said, eyes bright with excitement. “You had the bell away from him before he even knew you were there!”

“How did you know I would be there to catch it, though?” Willow asked, coming to join them.

“I didn’t,” Justin admitted, sheepishly pointing at Lena. “I was just doing what she told me.”

“I didn’t know either,” said Lena. “But trusting your teammates is what these games are supposed to teach us, so that’s what I did.”

Three more trumpets sounded from Laetitia, and the squad shared a look.

“We can’t just stay here,” Willow said. “But Justin, if you keep flying the way you just did…”

“We’ll win this game for sure!” Lucas said with a grin.