Coaster

Ali gripped her knees into the warm muscular shoulders of the leathery black beast beneath her. She tuned out the other racers and the bright plasma-screens displaying the fact that she and Coaster were in last place—again. Instead, she let the rhythmic sounds of Coaster's curved talons beating against the dry, packed earth drown out the screaming crowd. 

Ali brought her attention to the blistering wind that whipped past her, hardly stirring her ebony hair, braided tight against her scalp, to prevent it obstructing her vision. As the only female racer among the pros, she needed to be creative with her hair. Her mother had tried to teach her the technique so many times. It hadn’t been until her mother was gone, and she was forced to do it herself, that she had learned. The dull ache in her shoulders from holding her arms above her head while she braided was a constant reminder of how much she missed her mother.

Ali's heart pounded, and her skin tingled. Memories of her childhood, racing alongside her brothers on their family farm, flooded back to her. Tan and Jax, her two older brothers, had never cut her any slack because she was youngest, or because she was a girl. Trying to keep up with them was how she became so good. The carefree days of racing for fun were behind her, though. That was why she had become a verithrox rider.

Ali closed her eyes, imaging Tan and Jax as the two riders ahead of her. If she let them win, they'd tease her for days. 

She leaned her head against the side of  Coaster's smooth, warm head. "Come on Coaster," she whispered in the beast's flat ear hole, "we don't want to be stuck with one of the boys' chores, do we?" That had always been their bet. Loser did the winner’s chores until the next race. Unless their parents joined them. Her father didn't like gambling, even for something as harmless as chores.

She understood him so much better, now. Too many people losing everything when they let the thrill of chance overpower their more rational decision-making skills. The amount of money some people were willing to risk was more than her entire family earned in a year.

Ali kept her eyes closed, relying on Coaster's instincts and the sensors on her bridal to keep her on course. She dropped the reins and wrapped her arms around her beast's neck like she had as a child.

They passed one rider. Bye Jax. 

Coaster's long neck bobbed as she ran. Ali gripped her a little tighter. 

They passed someone else on the left. See ya, Tanny. She laughed out loud, remembering their best races.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Shit. She forgot to charge Coaster's sensors. It would be fine, though. She had never relied on a sensor against her brothers.  

Ali opened her eyes. The race track, the roar of the cheering crowd, and the blazing sun rushed back to her. So did the other eighteen racers. She would have to keep passing them.

If she came in within the bottom fourth for three races in a row, her sponsor would definitely drop her. She could not afford the racing fees on her own. Her career would be over before it began. And everyone who doubted her because she was a woman or because she hadn't been training with elite racers since she was old enough to ride would be proven right.

She had to do something.

Ali raised her sparking electro-whip. Cringing, she brought it down on Coaster’s smooth flank. They rocketed ahead to join the rest of the pack.

Now she was making actual progress. They hurtled past first one verithrox, then two more. As they closed in on a fourth beast, its rider snapped his electro-whip sideways, causing Coaster to rear up in fear. All five riders behind her flew ahead again.

Shit.

“Come on, girl.” Ali pleaded. Coaster was only managing a quick gallop now, and they only had one lap to go.

Coaster turned her sleek black head back towards Ali. Her eyes, with their uncanny intelligence, spoke volumes. She saw betrayal, for the whipping Ali assumed, mixed with what looked like an apology. Ali knew Coaster was trying her best. Everyone told her to ride with a more experienced verithrox, but she had raised Coaster from an egg herself, hand feeding her when her mother wouldn't. 

Verithrox were like that. There was typically only one egg. When there were two, the mother only cared for one. Ali had insisted her father let her care for the reject.  She and Coaster were family. She couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else.

Coaster picked up speed again, but Ali’s heart wasn’t in the race anymore. She kept seeing Coaster’s pathetic eyes. When had it become all about winning? 

When so many people said she wouldn't be able to do it, she had become determined to prove them wrong. What did it matter what anyone else thought? She loved riding more than anything else, and no one should have the power to take that love away from her.

Ali pulled back on the reigns. Coaster slowed to a stop. She hopped down onto the track. It wasn’t like trampling was a danger—in the back, behind all the other racers. The tension in the crowd was palpable as Ali led her verithrox off of the course.

Ali stifled a grin. The look on her manager's face was priceless, his single bushy, grey eyebrow raising up into his hairline. Ali ripped off the number pinned to her back and threw it at his feet. 

She heard her name and number blaring from a speaker. She assumed the cameramen had her image flashing on the plasma-screens as well. It took a lot to draw their attention away from the front runners this close to the end of the race.

Ali stalked away from the course, fire in her veins, daring anyone who looked her way to ask what she was doing. Coaster followed obediently, her head held high on her long neck. They walked until the crowd behind them was no more than a distant murmur. 

Then, she jumped back up onto Coaster’s back, relaxing her body and letting the beast lead. Coaster started with a slow trot. Ali tugged at her braids, letting her hair loose. As Coaster picked up speed, she raised her arms up to the sky, letting the wind push at her arms, and pull at her hair. 

As Coaster raced down a hill and Ali’s stomach lifted into her chest, she was reminded of the sensations she had thought about when she named the beast.