The hotel Stella found was the kind of place most people pretended not to see — tucked into a quiet corner of Fallentop where the wind carried more dust than voices. The sign out front flickered between FALLEN HOTEL and ALLEN OTL. the lobby smelled faintly of old wood and cigarette smoke. Perfect for staying unnoticed.

  Casey and Stella were already inside Room 1 when the others arrived, sitting cross?legged on the floor with a map of the Twin Champion Towers spread between them. The blue glow from the rings outside filtered through the cracked window.

  Casey looked up as the door opened. “Finally! We were starting to think you got mugged or died.”

  Jaden stumbled in behind Imala, clutching his satchel like it contained the last pieces of his sanity.

  “I wish I had,” he muttered.

  Imala dropped a bundle of Gemwood and indarem panels onto the floor with a heavy thunk. “We got what we needed.”

  “‘We’?” Jaden croaked. “You mean you got what we needed. I just… financially perished.”

  Imala smirked. “Good. Builds character.”

  Jaden made a noise that suggested his character had already been built, broken, and buried.

  ‐----------------------------------------------------------------------

  Imala knelt beside the materials, sorting them with the precision of someone who’d been doing this her entire life.

  “Gemwood, Indarem, wind?veins, pulsar brickets and a few sail cores,” she listed. “Enough to keep the Luna floating for another year — maybe three if we’re lucky.”

  Casey laughed. “When have we ever been lucky?”

  “She’s a death trap,” Jaden whispered.

  Imala ignored all of them. “I’ll start repairs after the ceremony. We’ll be flight?ready by the end of the competition.”

  Jacob nodded. “Good. We’ll need her.”

  Elijah sat near the window, watching the rings above the Twin Towers pulse with soft blue light. The sight made his stomach twist — excitement, fear, something in between.

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  Hokori stood near the map, arms folded, gaze steady.

  “We need to finalize our lineup,” he said.

  Casey perked up. “Finally. Strategy time.”

  Stella tapped the map. “Three rounds. Two?person Trick Showcase. Three?person Tower Circuit. Two?person Sprint Race.”

  “And the rule,” Jacob added. “No rider can compete in more than two rounds back?to?back.”

  Aidan cracked his knuckles. “I call the Circuit Race. That’s my domain.”

  “You also called dibs on the last three snacks,” Casey said. “And I still haven’t forgiven you.”

  Aidan shrugged. “I’m consistent.”

  Hokori’s expression didn’t change, but Elijah could tell he was amused.

  “For Round One,” Hokori said, “I’ll ride.”

  “Obviously,” Casey said. “You’re the only one who can make the crowd scream without even trying.”

  Hokori didn’t deny it.

  “For Round Two,” Stella said, “we’ll need three riders with stamina and awareness.”

  “Aidan, Casey, and me,” she added.

  Casey nodded. “Solid.”

  Elijah stayed quiet, hoping no one would look at him.

  ____________________________________________________

  The Opening Ceremony was a blur of lights, cheers, and roaring engines. When the announcer dismissed the teams to their waiting areas, Elijah slipped away to use the bathroom, grateful for a moment of quiet.

  The hallway outside the restroom was dim and strangely muffled, as if the noise of the arena had been swallowed whole.

  Elijah stepped out, drying his hands on his pants — and froze.

  A man stood at the far end of the corridor.

  Tall.

  Thin.

  Still.

  The man’s amber eyes locked onto Elijah — unblinking, sharp, almost glowing under the flickering lights.

  Elijah reluctantly “Uh… excuse which way is it to-“

  The man spoke over him, voice soft and cold.

  “It’s getting louder.”

  Elijah’s stomach dropped. “What?”

  The man tilted his head, studying him like a specimen.

  “The seal,” he said.

  “The whispers. You hear them, don’t you?”

  Elijah stumbled back. “How do you—”

  The man took one slow step forward.

  “connected to the hidden the old blood is not your to command-- time is coming-time is coming “

  Elijah bolted, heart pounding, pushing through the crowd until the noise of the arena swallowed everything again. When he finally looked back—

  The man was gone.

  Hokori found elijah near the waiting area, pale and shaken.

  “You’re late,” Hokori said. “What happened?”

  Elijah swallowed hard. “There was… someone. A man. Tall, thin, amber eyes. He spoke like he knew me. Like he knew about the seal.”

  Hokori’s expression darkened — not with recognition, but with caution.

  “Did he say anything else?”

  “I dont know um something about old blood and a time being near and a connection of some sort? – I don’t- I don’t remember .” he says the last words as if the memory itself was being plucked from his mind.

  Hokori exhaled slowly. “If he knew about your seal… then he was probably Veilguard.”

  Elijah blinked. “Veilguard? What does that mean?”

  “Not here,” Hokori said. “Not now. Focus on the competition. We’ll talk after.”

  Elijah nodded, but the man’s amber eyes stayed burned into his mind.

  Imala walked with them to the inner city… until she stopped at the base of the towers.

  Hokori noticed first. “You’re not coming in?”

  Imala adjusted the strap of her over-hauls “No. The Raven still needs work.”

  Casey blinked. “You’re skipping the competition?”

  Imala gave a small, lopsided grin. “I can hear the crowd from the ship. And the hotel TV gets the broadcast. I’ll be watching.”

  Aiden stared at her. “You’re choosing… repairs over this?”

  “Someone has to make sure we can actually leave this city when you’re done showing off,” she said. “Engines don’t fix themselves.”

  Then she looked at Elijah — steady, confident, almost reassuring.

  “Don’t die,” she said. “I don’t have time to fix you too.”

  Elijah tried to laugh, but it came out thin.

  Imala turned and headed back down the winding street toward the lower docks where the Raven waited. Her silhouette shrank against the glow of the towers, swallowed by the crowds and the rising noise of the festival.

  Casey exhaled. “She’s gonna miss the best part.”

  Jacob shook his head. “She’s doing her part.”

  Hokori watched her disappear, then turned toward the towering gates.

  “Let’s go.”

  The crew stepped forward, crossing into the shadow of the Twin Champion Towers as the rings above rotated in slow, deliberate harmony.

  The crowd roared.

  The competition was about to begin.