on the kehok—at least for the first few days. Slowly, she withdrew her control, though she stayed ready and alert, as she watched Raia and the black lion run across the sands. She can do this, Tamra thought. She has the fire. She only needed for her kehok to feel her burn.
On the third day, Tamra and Raia removed the chain net and harness. His speed doubled, and Raia rode with an enormous, giddy smile.
On the fifth day, after they’d run so far they were spots on the horizon and then returned, Raia slid off the lion and announced, “I’m ready. Teach me how to race him on my own.”
“You already know.”
Raia stifled a sigh, but Tamra still heard it. “You’ve been saying from the beginning—I have the fire inside, but I—”
“I haven’t commanded the black lion during your rides since your third day.”
That silenced Raia.
Tamra smiled.
From there, the lessons accelerated. Seven days before the first qualifying race, Tamra introduced the challenge of running with other kehoks. She controlled the rhino-croc, forcing it to run alongside the black lion. At first, the black lion was distracted, trying to attack the other monster. But then he seemed to realize that only slowed him down, and he began to ignore the other racer.
So Tamra made the rhino-croc crash into them, cutting them off.
This time, the black lion did attack, and it took Tamra imposing her will on top of Raia’s to separate the black lion from the rhino-croc. Blood was spattered on the sand as the two monsters circled, growling at each other.
“Stop for a rest?” Tamra offered. Soon, they’d need to take shelter from the searing heat anyway. Her tunic felt saturated with sweat.
“No.” Raia mounted the black lion again.
With a rush of pride, Tamra tightened her grip on the rhino-croc’s mind. She performed the same move, cutting them off, and this time the black lion tossed him back and kept running.
The next day, Tamra added the lion-lizard to the exercise. She ran both kehoks close to the black lion, trying to mimic the claustrophobic feel of running with twenty other racers and their riders inside the racetrack.
Raia was able to get the lion to leave them in the dust.
Five days before the first qualifying race, Tamra stopped Raia as she went to haul out the transport cart. “You’ll run on the track today.”
It was time to see how well she ran against other racers.
Raia didn’t question that. Instead, she ran for the saddle and into the stable to prepare the black lion, while Tamra limped to the racetrack. All the time out on the sands had aggravated her old injury, as much as she tried to hide it.
She leaned against the gate to the starting stalls and gazed across the familiar oval of sand. It was churned up by the other racers whom the other trainers had been running through here, day after day.
“You’re going to try the track today?” Osir asked from behind her.
“She’s ready,” Tamra said.
“After one week? On that monster? Doubt that.”
“Then watch,” Tamra said. “You’ll see.”
She said it with a confidence she didn’t feel. It was one thing to race across the open sands. It was another to experience the claustrophobic intensity of the track, knowing your trainer couldn’t help you, knowing it was just you and a monster who wanted to rip you apart. Still, the girl had come a long way in a short amount of time.
And they really didn’t have a choice.
“It helped to not have the distraction of other students,” Tamra said.
“Tell yourself that. Green rider and an unbroken killer?” Osir snorted. “My riders have been learning how to function within a group, to take the curves in the track, to handle a crowd. Mark my words: yours will spook. And as long as she’s within the track’s shield, you can’t help her. None of us can.”
“I know all this.”
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
“She has the control.”
Osir lowered his voice. “Place a wager?”
“I don’t bet on my riders.” Tamra pushed away from the gate and began to walk back to the stable. Raia would need help bringing the black lion to the starting stall—she wouldn’t know where to go, and he might resist the change from the open desert.
“Because you know she’ll lose!” Osir called after her.
Over her shoulder, she flashed him a smile that showed none of her doubt. “Because I know she’ll win. It’s not sporting to bet on a sure thing.”