⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
The Explorer’s Cloak lasted twenty-three minutes.
Twenty-three.
Ren counted.
“Twenty-four if you include the autograph ambush.”
“It wasn’t an ambush.”
“It was absolutely an ambush.”
“It was a little girl.”
“Exactly.”
Team Heart hadn’t made it halfway through the fair before another crowd formed.
A merchant selling festival masks offered Kit free merchandise.
A pair of academy students asked for signatures.
An older woman insisted on taking a family photo with him.
A little boy nearly tripped over a food stand trying to get a closer look at the golden compass stitched across his back.
The attention followed them from terrace to terrace.
At first it was funny.
Then it became impossibly inconvenient.
Mina stopped walking.
“No.”
Kit looked over.
“No what?”
“No more cloak.”
Kariah immediately nodded.
“Agreed.”
“Seconded,” Ren said.
“Thirded,” Taro added.
Zakiah pointed toward another growing crowd.
“We’re about thirty seconds away from another photo.”
Kit groaned.
The crowd was already moving toward them.
“Okay. Whatever.”
He slipped the cloak from his shoulders.
The weight settled into his hands.
Now came the problem.
He wasn’t leaving it somewhere random and there was no way he was taking it back home.
And he definitely wasn’t handing First-Class Explorer clearance to Ren.
“I’d be responsible with it,” Ren said.
“You’d use it to get free food.”
“I would.”
A small hand lifted into the air.
Everyone looked down.
Kilo stood between Mina and Kariah.
“Can I hold it?”
The group exchanged looks.
Kilo immediately straightened his posture.
Trying his best to look trustworthy.
The effect lasted about two seconds.
Kit laughed and handed it over.
The cloak swallowed him whole.
The sleeves covered his hands.
The hem dragged across the stone.
The hood dropped low enough to hide half his face.
Kariah broke first.
Then Mina.
Then everyone else.
Even Zakiah.
Kilo ignored all of them.
He stood proudly.
Like he’d just been promoted to General.
“Inside out,” Kit said.
“Inside out,” Kilo repeated seriously.
He flipped the cloak around.
The golden compass vanished.
The embroidered name disappeared.
Now it was simply a giant black cloak hanging off a very small boy.
Perfect.
Kilo puffed out his chest.
Started walking with slow dramatic steps.
Trying very hard to look mysterious.
Ren nearly collapsed laughing.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
The Solar Run occupied nearly an entire terrace.
The line stretched around a section of the lower city and disappeared beneath rows of festival banners.
People packed the viewing platforms above.
Children sat on shoulders.
Vendors sold drinks and snacks to spectators waiting for the next race.
Kit could see the course cutting through Sol.
Not above it.
Through it.
Twin rails followed the solar grid routes built into the city itself.
The track dove between buildings.
Wrapped around plazas.
Crossed bridges spanning the lower terraces.
Then curved back toward the launch platform.
Amber light pulsed beneath the rails.
Each surge flowed from the Halo Clock.
The same solar grid that powered Sol fed directly into the attraction.
Four sleds waited on the starting platform.
Low.
Fast.
Built from black alloy and solar-glass plating.
They hovered inches above the track, held aloft by repulsion fields built into the rail system.
A faint hum surrounded them.
The energy running beneath the city pushed through the course like a river.
The sleds simply rode it.
The faster the grid flowed.
The faster the race.
Taro stared.
“Oh we’re definitely doing this.”
“Obviously,” Ren replied.
The group moved toward the loading area.
An attendant checked wristbands.
Then stopped.
Looked at Kilo.
Looked back at the height marker.
Looked at Kilo again.
The answer was immediate.
“Not this year, little man.”
Kilo looked at the marker.
Then at the sleds.
Then back at the attendant.
A long pause.
“Next year?”
The attendant smiled.
“Next year.”
Kilo nodded once.
“Okay.”
That was it.
He stepped aside and adjusted the oversized Explorer’s Cloak.
Kariah ruffled his hair.
“We’ll stay with you.”
Mina nodded.
“We’ll cheer louder than everybody else.”
Kilo grinned.
“Good.”
Then pointed at the guys.
“Better win.”
The queue moved forward.
Team Heart reached the boarding platform.
Then Ren stopped.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.”
Across the loading area stood another group.
Arin.
Arms folded.
Already looking pleased with himself.
Dylan stood beside him.
Dash bounced lightly on his heels.
And next to them stood Geni Hua.
Kit’s brain immediately forgot what it had been doing.
Geni glanced over.
Caught Kit looking.
Then smiled.
Just once.
Kit looked away so fast it hurt.
Ren made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a choking fit.
The other two teams approached the platform.
Four farmers from Dorion.
Broad-shouldered.
Sunburned.
Already arguing about strategy.
One pointed toward Team Heart.
“We’re smoking all of you.”
Taro pointed back.
“No chance.”
The farmer grinned.
“We’ll see.”
The final team arrived moments later.
Four OmiKami warriors.
Off duty.
Relaxed.
Smiling.
One of them studied the others.
“Any of you raced before?”
Nobody liked how confident she sounded.
The attendants waved the teams forward.
Four sleds.
Four teams.
Four lanes.
The Halo Clock pulsed above Sol.
Amber light rolled through the rails.
The sleds hummed louder.
Kilo stood behind the safety barrier, drowning inside the oversized cloak.
Waving both arms.
“KIT!”
Every head turned.
“CRASH INTO ARIN!”
Silence.
Then Geni laughed.
Dash folded in half.
One of the OmiKami warriors covered her mouth.
Arin looked personally offended.
Kilo didn’t care.
The launch lights ignited.
Four amber circles.
Three.
Two.
One.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether─────⟣