H E Y , W A T C H T H I S !
one week later...
"Yes, of course. But it was your idea."
'Ornamee nodded. "True, very true. And Keljev has created a Race that fulfills the criteria I set. And... There he is. Let's go sign up for it."
Keljev was busy marking down four raptors' names when they approached, but it was not long before he finished and looked up.
"Fireclaw! And 'Ornamee! Good to see you. What can I do for you?"
'Ornamee said, "We'd like to enter your Race."
"I expected as much. Word's gone around, you know. There's quite a few people interested in seeing how you fare in this - and a bunch who'd like to beat you."
"I don't suppose I know who told them.", he said, somewhat sarcastically.
Fireclaw said, "Speaking of which, is 'Fulsamee down for the Race?"
"He is. Came to see me last night, right after Fennark announced it."
"Thanks. When is the Race, anyways?"
"You didn't sign on any too soon - it's in an hour."
"Wonderful. We'll be there." He looked at 'Ornamee. "Any chance you'd want to go find 'Fulsamee?"
"Let's go."
A short search brought them near the Council Ring, where 'Fulsamee was deep in conversation with an older raptor 'Ornamee hadn't met.
"...certainly. I've signed up for Keljev's Race today, but I can drop in after that. Probably after lunch, too."
"Good. I'll be waiting." The raptor left.
Unnoticed by 'Fulsamee, 'Ornamee silently crept behind him, got close, and then leapt on his back. The two went down with a crash.
"Ha! Gotcha!"
Struggling to get a grip on the smaller human, 'Fulsamee managed to dump 'Ornamee off his back, stand up, and trap one thin, fleshy leg under a clawed foot.
"That you did. Lack of vigilance on my part. What brings you my way?", he said, as if nothing had happened.
In place of 'Ornamee, who was still attempting to free himself, Fireclaw answered, "Not much. Thought we'd grab you for the Race in an hour. And we had nothing better to do."
'Ornamee managed to extricate his leg, and got up.
"Oh. And I thought you had something important to tell me. Now, 'Ornamee, remind me why you think you can succeed at this?"
"I don't, actually. But don't tell anyone. I just wasn't going to let Fireclaw get away with a comment like he made. Though I might do halfway decently."
"I see... It is true that an honorable defeat is preferable to dishonor from lack of trying."
"Exactly."
The trio began walking towards the start of the racetrack, along with several other raptors making similar journeys. As they made it to the track, Keljev waved his arms in the air for attention. He yelled, "Hello everybody!" A silence fell. "Good. Okay, we're almost ready to run this Race! First, though, I want to tell you all that I have six-teen competitors today! This is great! The Race will be seven laps around the normal course, which means you'll be running ten and a half miles. Should be fun. now, let's get our racers up to the line. Ready? Antark, Colfir, Darktooth, Eridas, Fireclaw, 'Fulsamee, Ingie, Linglin, 'Ornamee, Redback, Riftor, Sessel, Silverclaw, Sohan, AAAANND Tyrol!" He looked around to be sure that everyone had followed his directions. The sixteen had neatly arrayed themselves behind the starting line, so Keljev had only a few things to tell them.
"Right. This is really a long Race, so small walking breaks are perfectly in order. I would expect and encourage everyone to take at least one - running ten miles straight out is insane. Having said that, good luck to you all and..." He turned back towards the waiting crowd. "Here we go! On my mark! FOUR..." Several raptors counted with him. "THREE... TWO... ONE... MARK!"
The sixteen went from neatly ordered rank and file to a mess of bodies in a matter of seconds as everyone tried to get ahead. 'Fulsamee managed to dash out and bump a couple raptors out of his way, and in doing so positioned himself behind Fireclaw, Linglin, and Tyrol. The rest of the racers lagged only a few dozen feet behind.
'Ornamee was a part of this slower bunch, and was finding it difficult to keep up with the raptors. They really were better built for running than he was. Realizing that he had enough to do without thinking, 'Ornamee put more energy into getting ahead, and succeeded in moving up in the now more spread out pack.
Silverclaw found himself behind 'Ornamee, and spent a few seconds wondering what had happened. It just wasn't right. He, pack leader, in the middle of the slower bunch? Unacceptable. However, he didn't find it too hard to run a little faster and move up behind 'Fulsamee, leaving the rest behind.
It was halfway through the first lap that he made this advance, and he wasn't alone in such a maneuver. All over the stretch of track they were in, racers were exchanging places and doing their best to stay ahead. One raptor began to fall behind the larger whole even as they rounded the final bend of the first lap and completed one and half out of ten miles.
From his vantage point, Keljev watched as the racers flew past him, and he did his best to commentate on the standings. "And it's Fireclaw in first! No, sorry, now it's Tyrol!" The raptors changed places gain, and he was forced to call out, "Okay, and that's 'Fulsamee out front!" And they moved again. "Sorry, all, this is tough! Silverclaw has taken the lead!"
Sixteen blurs moved into the forest section of Lap Two, and it wasn't too long before the first few started on their third. By then the once tightly grouped raptors had diffused across an eighth mile of track, and 'Ornamee was near the back. He was out of breath, and ready to quit. As he ran, he was only dimly aware of his feet hitting the ground, and fuzzy, colored shapes swam in his vision. It was time for a break. At that point, only two raptors had to fly past him as he walked through the rest of his third lap, regained his composure, and started out again.
Keljev watched as 'Ornamee slowed, then slowly jogged a quarter mile. It was then that Fennark came to see him.
"I've been absent for most of this, Keljev - mind updating me?"
He jumped. "Fennark! What an unexpected surprise! Um... I'm not really sure how the standings look right now, they have this bad habit of moving around. But last I knew, Fireclaw, Linglin, 'Fulsamee, and Silverclaw were the front four."
"Thank you. Is... is that who I think it is? Jogging?"
"What, 'Ornamee?"
"Yes. I can't believe he entered this. I know that he can do almost everything we can, but this is a bit much for his type, wouldn't you agree?"
"I would have to. I was told that 'Ornamee challenged Fireclaw to a Race, and it seems he chose this one to use for that purpose. Why he put one of ours to the test, I don't know. And why Fireclaw, of all people, I'm even less sure."
"That's interesting. Well, I know it's a bad idea to try and predict the future, but I would have to say that Fireclaw has this one. Easily."
"Yeah... I'm thinking the same thing."
The sixteen racers were at that point spread so far across the track that Silverclaw actually ran by Eridas, in last place. Not far behind him were Fireclaw and 'Fulsamee. Tyrol had dropped back a ways, though, as Fireclaw had demonstrated, that didn't necessarily mean anything.
'Ornamee and two raptors were a quarter-mile behind them, and by then he had settled into a comfortable pace, and wasn't completely out of breath anymore. "Perhaps", he thought, "I might still have a chance at the top ten."
Keljev fared much better announcing the standings as the raptors completed their fifth lap. There was much less switching around. "Okay, in first place, we have Fireclaw, closely followed by Silverclaw and behind him 'Fulsamee! Fourth place, Tyrol, and from there, Riftor, Colfir, Sohan, Antark... Redback, Sessel, Linglin, 'Ornamee, Darktooth, Ingie, Sifre, and..." He had to wait as the final racer came into view. "Eridas!"
For 'Fulsamee, most of the race had been fairly consistent. He and the other two foremost raptors had been just messing around, trading places only to keep things from getting dull. The real competition would begin in the seventh and final lap. Until then, all he had to do was keep up. "You never know", he said to himself, "I might get lucky and someone will drop back." 'Fulsamee didn't really see it happening though, it was merely wishful thinking. His musings were brushed aside, though, as he heard the rhythm of another raptors' footfalls. He risked a glance back, and to his surprise, Riftor had left Tyrol behind and was closing in on the top three. Being in third place, 'Fulsamee threw in a small burst of speed to keep Riftor where he was.
Riftor watched as 'Fulsamee pulled ahead of him, enough that attempting to dash by him would be very difficult. But he also knew that they were on lap six, and very close to crossing the line into seven. And then things would get interesting.
From Keljev's point of view, things got interesting fast. Midway through the seventh lap, with around three quarters of a mile to go, the leading four raptors sped up, knowing how little distance was left to get in front. Fireclaw and 'Fulsamee dashed ahead of Silverclaw and Riftor, though the separation was not large. Then Riftor managed to get in second, and from then it was a furious rush to the finish line.
Behind the leaders, gains were being made as well. Sifre had come from near the back to sixth behind Linglin, who had also pulled forward. 'Ornamee was trying to keep as many of the rest behind as possible. He was doing well, too, in ninth. Something had clicked inside 'Ornamee, and he now found himself propelled down the track at speeds he hadn't known he could run.
Keljev watched as Silverclaw, momentarily out front, blasted down the final five hundred feet. The three behind him were clearly giving it all they had, but he wasn't sure if that would be enough. Silverclaw had just that much space between him and the others that he might have the win. At two hundred feet, no less than Riftor was dead even with Silverclaw. It would be close. One hundred feet, and Fireclaw and 'Fulsamee were hot on their tails. Fifty feet. Twenty five. Fifteen. The crowd bugled wildly as Silverclaw broke the thin wire signaling the end of the Race. Tenths of seconds behind him followed the other three.
Keljev had perhaps half a minute before twelve more raptors would cross the line, and he used it to yell, "WE HAVE A WINNER! SILVERCLAW FOR FIRST PLACE!" As the rest bore down on his position, he called off their names. "Second place, Riftor! Third, 'Fulsamee, and fourth Fireclaw! Behind them, in fifth place, Sifre!" The assembled raptors had quieted enough for him to continue then at a lesser volume. "Then it's Linglin, 'Ornamee... Colfir, Tyrol, Antark, Sohan... Darktooth, Redback, Ingie, Sessel... and finishing last, Eridas!"
The pack's reaction was overwhelming. Keljev hadn't seen them this excited in a long time. Which made it that much more difficult for him to squeeze his way through the tightly packed raptors to get at the completely exhausted racers.
"Well! Excellent job, everyone! You have all done very well to complete this course, no matter where you finished. As for prizes... first, second, and third place... you have won only the respect of your competitors."
Silverclaw raised his left claw, balled into a fist, and said, "That is all the reward I could wish for." Riftor and 'Fulsamee nodded in agreement.
As the pack filtered off to do other things, 'Fulsamee caught a whiff of a marvelous scent. It spoke of freshness and of tasty fruits and of several things he hadn't run into before, but were very nice anyway. He called to Fireclaw, who was making his way off the field, "Fireclaw! Got a minute?"
Fireclaw walked back and said, "Possibly. What's the matter?"
"Nothing much. Do you smell that?"
"What?" He sniffed the air. "Oh. You haven't been there yet?"
"Where?"
"The kitchens, where else can you find something that good?"
"No, I haven't. Why don't you show me them?"
"I can do that."