As a wave of trumpets sounded to mark the tourney's commencement, the herald tried to calm down the cheers of the crowd by making an announcement:

"'Allo 'allo! The horse race shall commence momentarily! All knights are to exit the arena, and solely those chosen for the race are to return in five minutes!"

As ever with Milisevran nobles, he spoke incredibly pompously, his nose so high in the air you'd think he was staring at the sky. Doing that before the king made the whole thing seem especially empty. Comically so.

And so Stalk got a brief snicker out before Chestnut abruptly lurched to the side, his hooves thunking against the grassy turf below them as the gelding twisted about to follow after Romain and Logan, who rode on the backs of their own horses towards the gatehouse through which they'd come in.

The square structure of long, straight wooden logs, knotted and nailed into the facsimile of a castle tower with battlements at the top and such, loomed over Stalk, the arched passageway beneath which they rode through bathing them in such darkness as they passed under that, even as the kenku felt relief as some reprieve from the blazing sun was given for a moment, he also began to feel uneasy.

While their group had been the last to enter, it did mean they were the first ones who got to leave... but the Stalk wasn't sure if that was a good thing. It actually could have been an omen.

Glancing up towards Phillipe in the royal box beside King Charles, he remembered what the bureaucrat had told him and the others about the tournament's rules; points would be awarded based on place at the end of each competition, and the team with the lowest number points would be eliminated from the tourney as each contest came to an end.

If they came last in this race, they would be the first team that was knocked out. And then his plan involving the Lake of Virtue would end up running down the drain faster than his shit after a bad batch of corn.

Which meant all of his hopes were riding on the back of, of all people, Finnan Greatsurge.

As they arrived outside the tourney grounds and trotted a few yards back onto a clearing amidst the forest of tents and pavilions, Stalk turned his gaze to the little halfling to see him beaming around gormlessly, his eyes vacant and his manner betraying that he had not a care in the world right now.

Undeniably, Stalk was fond of the little guy – his childlike innocence had a certain... charm to it, especially after that game of tag they'd played on the roof of Chateau Toussaint.

But right now, he had to rely on Finnan for the future of his people... and he couldn't find the confidence to believe that the halfling could win the first contest of the tournament.

At the very least, he was glad of was that he wouldn't be riding in a few minutes – that much was certain! He'd only been riding on horseback for a single day, and he was already starting to loathe both the act and the beast he was stuck riding on.

Chestnut was as easily distracted as Finnan – so much so that, instead of riding to join the others, the animal stopped in at the very lip of the dirt path which encircled the arena and began to crop the grass the grew on the minute ridge there.

Quite literally falling at the first hurdle.

"Stupid long-faced git!" he muttered as he spared no time in getting out of the saddle again and walking towards the others. As he did so, his claws hands reached down to the pouch which contained his mutagenic potions and other assorted belongings, hoping to find something that could be of use.

He wondered if the Rapidity mutagen might work on Finnan's horse Ruby. His concotions didn't work on human and demihumans – that much he knew, but if it could work on a kenku, the possibility was ther-

Suddenly, a crimson gleam near the top of his vision, light catching on a brilliant, rippling scarlet surface, yanked Stalk's gaze back up as his instincts kicked in and briefly made him as jumpy as Ren when a thought crossed his mind.

'Was that blood?'

Thankfully, it wasn't. Instead, it was something much worse.

It was a beanpole of a man dressed in a cascade of flapping red robes with a distinctive hat on his head – wide-brimmed with a pointed top that flopped downwards over the back of the man's head. For he was a human, and carried himself with the distinct Milisevran air, striding along with his head held stiffly high, using a two-metre staff with a glass orb on top as a walking stick.

A wizard. And a very different one to their resident wood elf. No doubt the one that Romain mentioned would be watching over the tournament to make sure there was no magic or other means of cheating in use.

And the very sight of him made Stalk quickly and subtly close the pouch, his talons hooking and pulling the leather strap through the buckle and fastening it shut... for now.

By the time the court wizard deigned to look his way, Stalk was already making his every effort to look nonchalant. He put his hands on his hips, glaring meaningfully at Chestnut and shaking his head as he pretended to be openly frustrated with his disobedient horse.

More than he already was, he meant.

Thankfully, all the wizard gave him was a contemptuous glance, his mouth and laugh lines contracting into a contemptuous sneer – exactly what Stalk had wanted.

By this point in his life had gotten used to that disdainful, dismissive look - the look that most people gave his kind whenever they walked past, usually accompanied by spitting or whispering something when they thought the kenku was out of earshot. All of it about as painful to him as a critical hit from a wet noodle.

Besides, that look meant that the wizard didn't see Stalk as a threat to the tournament – something he was immensely wrong to believe.

Stalk intended to prove himself a threat to all these knights. To be better than all of them and see his team come out the victors. He would have to be smart and subtle about it, but he had a plan to see this through.

After all, it's only cheating if you get caught...

~~~

Logan's hands felt hard and stiff as wood as he adjusted Ruby's saddle-straps right down to the millimetre, tightening and loosening around the red mare's midriff until it felt exactly right. Obviously, he didn't want to put Finnan's mount in pain right before a race, but he also didn't want the saddle flapping about, slowing the halfling down and running the risk of him being thrown to the ground where the other knights would be riding.

Ideally, they wouldn't lose either, but Logan didn't want to risk losing either the tournament or a friend. Least of all both. And while it wasn't a common occurrence...

No, he wasn't going to think about that. Not now.

Glancing up, he saw Arabella adjusting Ruby's bridle and reins, extending them to make sure they were in reach of Finnan's little arms. As her gentle hands pulled the loops of leather towards her halfling friend, he grasped them in kind and gave them a little shake.

"Does that feel comfortable, Finnan?" the princess asked softly. "Can you move them from side to side?"

Finnan nodded eagerly. "Yeah!" he said before demonstrating, swinging the reins so quickly from side to side that Ruby briefly spooked and glanced about, snorting in confusion before Arabella placed a hand on her snout, which calmed her almost instantly.

As the horse closed her eyes, Arabella's soft voice whispered "Gently, Finnan..." up to him, her voice little more than a gentle phrase of advice; seemingly the closest she ever came to being stern. To which Finnan looked down and said "Sowwy," in the most childlike way imaginable.

That incident was miniscule, but let it made Logan's heart rate spasm in his chest, sending a pulse of red-raw anxiety rushing right down to his toes.

'Gods, what have we done?'

The thought of losing at the first hurdle, of facing that shame, made Logan's fingers curve into fists, the metal of his gauntlets clunking as they did so...

But then, he felt a firm but gentle grip clasp his shoulder from behind, and his head twisted about to see Romain standing beside him. The Milisevran's gaze was turned his way, his voice low, quiet and compassionate.

"Logan? Are you well?" he asked, to which Logan sighed briefly, not bothering to deny it. He wasn't afraid, though.

"Just nervous," was what he said aloud.

Romain nodded understandingly, turning his gaze towards their team's representative in the horse race. "Ruby will pull through," he told Logan. "She's the fastest horse I own – too light for battle, but perfect for a race."

"It's not Ruby I'm worried about..." Logan confessed, his golden eyes flicking up towards Finnan to illustrate what he meant. Romain followed his gaze, but the hand upon his shoulder didn't shift in unease, or falter in its grip.

"He'll be fine. Unusual as he may be, I've faith he won't let us down... he hasn't yet, after all."

Faith was endemic to paladins, Logan knew, and to knights as well. As much as it fell to them to be the light against the darkness, they just as often had to put trust in things that were not themselves. Their companions, their lieges and their gods most of all.

And hard as it was to get past his nerves, Logan conceded that Romain had a point.

In every practical sense, their leaf-clad little halfling hadn't failed them yet. He'd even surpassed many of their other companions in their conflicts thus far... including Logan himself in the fight with the chimera. The battle that got them into all this in the first place.

When push came to shove, Finnan didn't fold. Logan just hoped this wouldn't be the breaking point.

"I hope you're right..." he told Romain at length, trying to smile as he felt his friend's hand on his shoulder. And in that moment, Stalk strode up beside the Milisevran servant of Bahamut, folding his arms as he kept his gaze on Finnan.

"Plus, if nothing else... he's light."

The kenku's remark made Logan chuckle, the levity making the gloom that hovered over him seem slightly brighter for a moment.

It was only a moment, but it was enough.

Giving Romain and Stalk a smile, Logan had to gently shrug off the hand the blonde knight had placed upon his shoulder before he could make his way over to Finnan. There, Arabella was still fussing over him, her hand resting on the halfling's knee, her large eyes quivering gently and her expression one of maternal concern and worry.

Finnan himself, meanwhile, was beaming vacantly, only taking notice of Logan when the paladin spoke up.

"You feeling ready, Finnan?"

"Super ready!" the halfling replied, grinning ear to ear.

Logan grinned. "That's what I like to see!" he said encouragingly, reaching up and give Finnan's shoulder a playful shake.

However, his gesture only seemed to make Arabella's worrisome look grow more intense, and as she looked Logan's way, she had no smile for him.

"Do you really think he'll be alright?" she asked.

Logan immediately could see that Arabella's feelings were the same as his from just moments ago. Circling to the other side of Ruby, to where the princess stood, he got up the courage to hold her hand in his.

"He will be..." he told the high elf. "We can't back out now... but I have faith in him."

Arabella managed to nod, but the small, shaky breath which escaped her lips betrayed how she was feeling. And it wasn't an unfounded fear to have.

Again, he was thinking about Finnan's safety mere moments ago.

Sitting in Ruby's saddle, his bare feet clutching the stirrups with his little hairy toes, Finnan managed to reach down and extend a hand to Arabella. The princess caught it, and the two held each other's fingers for a moment, as if reaffirming their bond.

Logan permitted them that moment, remaining silent as Finnan told Arabella "I'm ready, Arabella. And don't worry – I'll be fine."

The smile he gave her then was as infectious as all his others, but warmer and more sincere; enough for Arabella to give a small smile of her own as she nodded up to him, her own fears visibly parting before her eyes.

Logan placed a hand gently on her shoulder – where he got the heart to do that, he didn't know – but he only did it for a moment before turning his attention fully back to Finnan. "Okay, little guy. The higher the place you can make, the better... but don't get yourself killed trying to win. All that has to happen is you mustn't come last, or fall out of the race, and then we're still in this. Okay?"

His pep talk was very matter-of-fact, he knew, but he followed it up with a smile as he said to Finnan and Ruby. "We all have faith in you... both of you," he said to horse and rider alike. "Remember that."

Finnan's green eyes were afire with courage and steadfastness. "I will, Logan," the halfling told him. "And I'll win, I promise you."

~~~

Before Finnan knew it, he was back out in the middle of the big wooden circle, made of trees that had lost all their leaves and branches before being stuck together for people to sit within. They sat on what looked like brightly-coloured sacks that Finnan had seen people moving around, either on their backs or on the wheely-thingies that were often pulled by donkeys like Dapple... but he always thought sacks were for carrying things, not for sitting on.

He wasn't sat on one, after all. He was sat in a saddle on Ruby's back, having wound up in front of a white line drawn across the grass, which seemed mean to the plants as well as a little bit weird.

As he gazed around, he saw a lot of other weird things too, including people waving colour-stained tissues – those things Arabella said he should use if he ever sneezed – tied to the ends of incredibly straight branches. Where they got such straight branches, Finnan had no idea.

Some of the tissues on the ends were yellow like his hair, and like the kerchief Arabella had tied about his upper arm, but others were a dark, forest green colour, like his leaves.

So... which ones were cheering for him and his friends? There were a lot less people waving yellow tissues, he noticed...

Not that it mattered. Finnan didn't need people cheering him on to do his best.

Five other men wearing suits of shiny silver leaves then began to arrive, riding back through the cave-like entryway inside the stacks of logs and moving towards the starting line, all one after the other. They waved to the crowd and grinned, their bodies glittering like gemstones beneath all the sparkly things they wore, the light mixing with the colours of the blankets they covered their horses with which seemed to light up, turning each man into a topaz, an emerald, a sapphire and so forth.

Finnan, meanwhile, was sat still on his Ruby and still struggling to understand why the Milisevrans covered their horses in so many bright colours.

The horses didn't need certainly didn't want to wear it – under the big burny ball in the sky, he could already see their hides glistening with sweat and hear them snorting in stress and exhaustion even before the race has started. And it didn't make them look nice – animals didn't need to be covered in person-things to be better than they already were.

Ruby looked great already – as bright red and beautiful as the crystal she was named after, which Finnan had seen many of back at his mountain home.

Finnan also noticed that the other knights carried a bunch of different things with them - Sir Anseis de Dorndalle, a member of the meanie knights they met on the way here. He was the one with the long greasy hair, and today he wore armour resembling snakeskin and a green kerchief tied just above still his forearm, where his shield was still strapped – the yellow-coloured one with the three coiling snakes on it. Some of the other knights had shields too, which made him wonder if he should have kept his own shield on, despite what the others had said about not taking anything unnecessary.

After all, for him, the shield wasn't just a keepsake; not in Finnan's eyes. It was a reminder of home – of the mountain he lived in before the big red lizard forced him out. And his eyes went blurry for a moment as he remembered it.

'One day...' he thought. 'One day, I'll get to go home. After I've helped the others.'

"Knights, to your positions!"

When he heard that voice, Finnan blinked and his head shot up to see the funny man in the feathered hat standing upon a podium, raising his voice as if to make a big announcement. The talking in the crowd started to die down, and all of the other horses and their knights were standing on Finnan's left in one big row behind the white line on the ground.

Getting ready to... getting ready to...

Wait... what was that thing Logan said they were doing here again? And... where was he? Why was here at all?

Flicking his head side to side as the reins slipped from his fingers, a buzz then sounded in Finnan's ears and behind his eyes as his brain crackled with thought, his attention span frantically flickering back and forth like a leaf in a thunderstorm as he tried to recall what he was supposed to do.

He saw a young boy walk out a few paces in front of the horses, dressed in oversized clothing that showed a symbol on the chest, holding a flag in both hands and lowering it down in front of the six riders.

To Finnan's side, the knights all visibly tensed and flexed their gauntleted fingers as if waiting for something... but what was it?

Whatwasit?Whatwasit?! What was he supposed to remember?!

'Licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets?'

"On your marks!" the herald called.

'Bananas are an excellent source of potassium?'

"Get set..."

In the corner of Finnan's eye, he saw the horses paw at the earth, every muscle coiled and tense as if they were bracing for something...

'Weast isn't a real direction? Oh, for fubbernuck's sake, what was it?!'

And then Finnan glanced to his right, seeing the edge of the wooden barrier only a few feet away from him. And on the very precipice of that barrier were his friends; Logan, Romain, Arabella, Ren and Stalk.

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze, and then he remembered.

He was in a race. And had to win. For them. Even if Technus wasn't there as well, he would still win for him.

"Go!"

Then there was a blur in front of Ruby, and in that instant, it was if the whole world made sense. All the world became a race for first place.

Finnan immediately gripped his horse's flanks with his bare feet, his hands darting out to catch the fallen reins. As his fingers snagged the thin strips of hide, he first swung them high, then lashed them down with all his might as he screamed:

"Ride like the wind, Ruby!"

~~~

The whole world drowned in the sound of pounding hooves, and Logan's heart nearly exploded in sheer relief as Finnan surged forward with the other knights, Ruby carrying him forward in the outside lane at a pace with the others, barely missing the young squire waving the flag as the lad sped for the sidelines. Tufts of grass went everywhere as the race began and the crowd exploded into cheers – which he and his companions joined in.

"Go on, Finnan! Go on!" he roared, punching his armoured fist into the air.

"Yes, yes!" Arabella screamed in excitement as she watched her little halfling speed away into the distance – a sound which Stalk echoed through his mimicry, seemingly to try and save the effort.

Romain soon followed it up with "You can do it, little guy!"

Logan even heard a cry of "Run, Finnan, run!" beside him, and turned to his right to see Ren cupping his hands around his mouth to make his small voice even louder. This caught the sight of everyone, who smiled at Ren with pride even as the wood elf blushed and looked down.

Arabella also blushed when Stalk demonstrated how high she'd raised her voice, but by the time the riders came around again, she clearly didn't care. She joined in again and again, the party's cheers shooting up in volume every time the Finnan made a circuit, hoping against hope that it would help their team member in some way. Before long, Logan couldn't pull his eyes away from the six riders as they looped around the oval of the track, with Finnan and Ruby keeping pace all the while as the flags in the highest stand showing the laps were pulled away one-by-one.

Frustratingly, though, Anseis de Dorndalle managed to keep the lead after the off, the little rat-faced man blasting forward atop his steed's explosive acceleration. Worse, while the other knights were constantly shifting positions, overtaking one moment and falling back the next, he remained out in front, his shield catching the light each time he whirled around the track.

As the constant jostling for places went on and on, Finnan ended up at the back of the pack – easily visible as a blur with a wide red bottom, green middle and yellow top, the halfling and Ruby kept their speed consistent, following after the rest of the riders in last place.

The sight made Logan grit his teeth, his molars pressing together all the more as the number of laps ticked down. "Come on, Finnan..." he murmured through his grimace. "Push forward. Find an opening, and push forward!"

The race had twenty laps around the same semicircle – now they were ten down.

All the druid had to do was make up one place...

~~~

Finnan couldn't hear anything but the endless drum of hooves, nor smell anything save for horse and the cascades of dirt torn up from the ground and blasted out behind each rider. Even worse, as all five of them wound up in front, he could barely even see, the wads and clogs of grass and earth whirling up to tangle in his hair and get stuck in his mouth

Of course, he gobbled them down no problem, each earthy and gritty bite helping to keep his gaze fixed forward. Soon, everything else in the world disappeared into a haze of colour and sound that felt a thousand miles away amidst the din of the race. The colours made everything seem like it was taking place in a dream... but Finnan knew his dreams and they were never like this.

In his dreams, he and Ruby would be winning. But every-which-way that he tried to steer her, he could find no place to gain ground. The knights in front of him were packed flank-to-flank, with barely any room for him to squeeze in; even as he peered over their heads, could barely even see the man who was in first place – Sir Anseis de Dorndalle.

The member of the Mean Team was only a foot or two in front of everyone else, but he had stayed there the whole race. Only the other knights came anywhere close to him, the heads of their horsies becoming level the flank of his whenever they went around a bend... all while Finnan and Ruby were stuck at the back.

A sinking feeling, as if was about to feel sorrow, began to settle upon Finnan's soul... but then, a jolt shot through his body.

Something was glinting in the grass. Or was it... actually, it was more like a ripple. He didn't know what it was, or even where it was – all he knew was that he glimpsed it through the legs of two of the horses who were just in front of him.

There was another green object lurking amidst the long, fine blades – the same shade of verdant emerald, but it shimmered differently beneath the light of day, a pale line running up its long, winding body, distorted by a pattern of fine scales...

And then, before Finnan nor anyone else could call out what it was, the flash of two orange eyes and of light glaring off a pair of needle-sharp fangs sent the whole race into chaos.

The four horses ahead of Finnan all let screamed in alarm, whinnying and tossing their reins as they all tried to twist away from the snake coiled in the grass, whose hiss was drowned out by the cries of the horses, the curses of the knights, and the gasps of the crowd.

Only Anseis managed to get away, storming ahead of all the other racers, while Finnan and Ruby were left charging straight for the serpent at maximum speed!

Through the calves that gripped her flanks over the edges of the saddle, Finnan could feel the mare's muscles starting to tense up at the sight of the predator, as if bracing to stop and turn away like the others. With no time to think, he gripped the reins tighter, dug his heels into her sides, thrashing and kicking to spur her on.

Then, leaning forward, he saw Ruby glance back at him, fear burning like the dots in the sky as the snake came closer and closer.

"Don't be afraid, Ruby!" Finnan yelled through the panic and pandemonium. "Jump! I'm right here with you! Always!"

In that instant, the spark of fear in her eyes faded. Ahead of them, the snake looked their way, sitting in the middle of the track as the other riders parted before it. And as halfling and horse came closer and closer, a ferocious jolt shot through Finnan's ankles as his partner's muscles jerked and thrashed beneath him.

As he saw the reptile lunge, Ruby's body lurched back, her front hooves lifted into the air... and her back legs pushed outwards with every bit of strength she had. Finnan felt his tummy rise up inside his torso, floating like a butterfly before suddenly slamming back down. Heart pounding, he twisted around to look behind them, fighting to see through his whirling tufts of yellow hair.

The serpent had sailed up and across the grass, landing amidst tufts of dirt that the other riders' horses had only recently kicked up – Finnan watched it as it coiled in the grass, twisting as it made a rough landing.

Swinging his head back around to Ruby as she continued to run, Finnan ruffled the windswept locks of her mane and cried out "Good girl!" before focusing back on the race. Sweat beaded on his brow, only staying there for half a moment before getting blasted back across his scalp. Ruby hadn't slowed down in the slightest as they ran, and the icy burning forming on his cheeks was testament to that.

Finnan was now in second place, with the knights he had just passed only now getting back into the running as their steeds began to stampede away from the snake. One horse sprinted a few feet, only to buck its rider into the dirt before hurrying out of the stadium. Said knight was only barely missed by Sir Anseis as the member of the Meanie Team ran another lap, maintaining a comfortable lead.

Soon, Finnan circled back around to where the serpent had landed. It was still there, he promptly noticed, its coils looping over and around the scattered wads of dislodged soil as it lay in the muck, still obstructing the path. Anseis had sped past it without issue, but as Finnan and Ruby came back around, the reptile's head perked back up again, its eyes seemed to pierce right into Finnan's soul and its lipless, scaley maw looked as if it were twisting into a smirk.

This thing was obstructing the race, and Finnan knew in his heart that wasn't fair. Least of all on the other racers, who were now behind because of it. So he did the only thing he could do.

As Ruby got closer and closer to the snake, Finnan pulled the reins to steer her towards the inside the course, leaving the snake on his right. Then, trusting Ruby with all his heart – and he hoped that she trusted him as much as he did her – he left the running of the race to her as he let go of the reins completely. Balancing in the stirrups, he kept his eyes locked on the snake, meeting its gaze and raising both of his hands while the predator began to coil up tighter and tighter.

Both of them were waiting. Both of them were preparing...

As Ruby came within a few feet of it, there was a blur of green as the snake suddenly sprang out like a jack-in-the-box, darting for Ruby's legs. And the instant it happened, Finnan jumped out of his saddle. His heart rose to his throat as he felt himself fall down the right side of Ruby, and then slam back down like a rock hitting the ground as his right hand gripped the front of the leather seat strapped to Ruby's back.

Now the snake was coming right at him, fangs extended and venom already spraying from the tips! Swinging his hand up and feeling the air rush across his skin, Finnan waited... and right when something other than air began to brush his fingertips, he snapped his whole hand shut like the petals of a Venus flytrap!

The crowd gasped in both shock and amazement... and to Finnan's own amazement, it worked!

The next thing he knew, he was hoisting himself back up into Ruby's saddle one-handed... and in his other hand, a poisonous green snake was coiling and twisting madly, his fingers pinching it just behind the head! Ruby's legs were rushing past just next to his feet – he could feel the rush of air across his skin, ruffling the leaves he wore. Plus his left shoulder was aching beyond all belief!

But as he scrambled back into the saddle, the watching crowd instantly went from quiet as a moonless night to loud as a thunderstorm, cheers erupting from every throat so loud that it nearly became as deafening as the beat of Ruby's hooves on the ground.

Swinging back into position, snake still in his grip, Finnan held the writhing, wriggling reptile out behind him, endeavouring to keep it out of Ruby's sight so it didn't spook her. Thankfully, he'd handled snakes before, and he would give this one a stern talking-to after the race was over – he could promise you that!

Glancing back for a moment, he saw the other knights starting to get back into the swing of the race, their horses no longer panicking. The crowd's cheering began to fade into the background... and then something weird happened.

The snake was still held out behind him in his right hand... so why was there hissing in front of him, getting louder and louder.

A shard of ice scraped up Finnan's spine, and he turned his head back around just in time for Ruby to whinny in distress as another snake sprang up out of the grass, lunging right towards her head! At the sight of this, Finnan lunged forward and threw out his left hand, clamping his fingers down on that snake as well!

The legless animal's snout crashed into his palm, but even as Finnan's hand closed around it, the creature wiggled and wobbled in his hand like a living blob of jelly as it tried to pull its head free and bite him. With both hands occupied, Finnan could only hold on with his legs, the tails and torsos of both snakes trailing behind him like vines as Ruby surged onward, hs thighs gripping the saddle.

Clearly, the sight of two snakes didn't sit well with her either, as the scarlet mare suddenly began to sprint like there was no tomorrow. Finnan's shoulders were pulled back in his sockets as the sheer momentum meant his hands were soon flailing about madly, though he kept his grip on the snakes tighter than that of a creeper on a tree.

Even as they surged closer to Anseis, who was still leading the race, Finnan couldn't think about how or if they might get past him. He could only think about one thing:

'Where in the big blue ball were these snakes coming from?!'

But then Finnan saw something – and even amidst the blurring crowd and the mayhem of the race, it all made sudden sense.

Sir Anseis' shield had been strapped to his arm since the very start of the race... and where there had once been three green snakes coiling about each other on the shield's yellow surface, there was now only one.

~~~

Logan was completely fucking speechless as he looked on, unable to believe what he was seeing while also being so enthralled that he couldn't even blink.

Finnan was speeding along on Ruby's back, the red mare borderline nipping at Anseis' heels as they raced around the track, lapping the remaining knights at breakneck pace. Not only that, but Finnan was holding a live snake in each hand! Seeming to control Ruby entirely with his feet from where he sat in the saddle, the halfling was leaning side-to-side to pitch his stirrups in either direction, making his faithful and noble steed move accordingly.

It was unlike anything he'd ever seen in all his years of behold horsemanship. And for as unbelievable as it was, Logan certainly hoped he wasn't dreaming. Finnan continued to hold second place, and as he and Anseis crossed the start line once more, the last flag marking the laps was knocked off and dropped to the floor.

Not only that, but the squire who had started the race came out – this time carrying a flag of chequered black and white.

This was it. The final stretch.

Logan felt every part of his body seize up – leaning forward, his hands gripped the rim of the stands, his fingers digging so fiercely into the wood that pain shot up his arms and they began to feverishly shake. His sore, dry eyes gazed on as he saw Finnan and Anseis whirl around the first corner.

Finnan had the inside line, and gained more ground as Anseis slipped towards the outside of the track. This continued all the way around, and as the gap between the riders got thinner and thinner, Logan heard gasps on either side of him and abruptly felt a pair of arms loop around his right bicep and grip him tight.

The intrusion was sudden, but he dared not look away to see who it was for even a nanosecond. He feared that if he so much as blinked or stopped silently willing for Finnan to win, the halfling might slip behind.

"You can do it, Finnan..." he mouthed through gritted teeth. "You can do it, buddy. I believe in you..."

By the time Finnan and Anseis entered the final turn, their horses were neck-and-neck and snout-to-snout. The screams of the crowd were building to a crescendo of excitement and tension, a sea of eyes fixed upon this two-horse race as the course straightened out and the final charge for victory began...