An Unlikely Friend. part 1

Chapter 22: The Games

Iona

Iona snaps awake. The games! She throws off her covers and hurries out of her room. “Come on Thea it’s time to get up!” Thea stirs in the other bed but doesn’t move further.

Sosimo, wearing his standard long sleeves, looks up from making breakfast as Iona enters. “Mornin' Iona. Food’s pretty much ready so help yourself.” Iona grabs a plate and fills it with eggs, bacon, and toast. “I'm going to wake the others,” He says.

She takes a seat at the table by herself. Nero isn't up yet? That's got to be a first.

A few moments later Sosimo comes back and the other excited children start to trickle in behind him. Nero is last and looks like he just came out of a drier filled with rocks and dirt, he is fighting to keep his eyes open, and he is limping on one leg.

Sosimo frowns. “Jeeze Nero, rough dream?”

“I was fighting...” Nero bights his tongue and looks down. “I just bumped my thigh. It really hurts.”

“A Charlie horse. Those are the worst,” Sosimo says.

“What's that?” Korbin asks.

Ryder turns to Korbin and punches him in the thigh. Korbin falls from his chair in agony. “That's a Charlie horse.”

Sosimo lets out a short laugh. “My brother and I used to do that all the time. How’d everyone sleep?”

“What was that giant explosion?” Thea asks. “It woke me up.”

“Me too,” Ryder says. “The sky was glowing for a while after.”

“I’m not sure,” Sosimo says. “I caught the news before breakfast and they said it was some sort of Aether explosion. Probably some dim wit all excited and showing off for the games. Things like this happen when there are big events.”

Iona watches Nero pick at his food without looking up. Maybe it scared him really bad…

After they finish breakfast and brush their teeth, Sosimo pulls out a set of bikes for them to ride.

“Why do we have to ride on bikes?” Korbin asks. “Can’t we just take Gracie?”

“It’ll be much easier to get around than trying to park a car in the crowd,” Sosimo says as he gives an old looking purple bike to Korbin. “It’s not so far.”

“Stop whining Korb,” Ryder says. “It’ll be fun, watch.” He grabs a red bike and starts doing wobbly circles in the alley.

Korbin jumps on his bike and mimics Ryder with an equally unsteady demonstration. They all take a moment to acquaint themselves on their two-wheeled transportation before Sosimo leads them away on his bike, which looks more like a motorcycle. The crowds of people walking on the sidewalk soon overflow onto the streets and car traffic is slowed to a halt.

They reach the cliffs where they see the morning sun just above the ocean. It creates a road of fire that streaks along the water towards them and illuminates the large stone structures.

Sosimo stops at a rack where bikes are haphazardly secured. He pulls out a giant chain, strings all of their bicycles together, and locks them. The crowd briefly clears and Sosimo points to a giant museum of black marble crisscrossed with white lines. Two carved Borukins stand on either side of the large double doors with one hand holding up the roof. “That is the Orinda Museum where the history of the games is kept. I’ll show you around a little before we visit Testrel the imprisoned Drake and then we’ll head to our seats in Stone’s Coliseum. Sound good?”