The Magical Flight of Dodie Rue by F.C. Shaw Read Free Book Online

destitute.”
    Dodie felt his face heating with anger.
    Atallah chuckled and addressed the other racers. “I’d stay clear of him—he pukes when he flies.”
    Randi inched away from Dodie.
    The sky was lightening in the east, the stars fading like phantoms. The crowd grew restless with anticipation. More racers continued to line up and unroll their carpets behind the row of torches. Each racer rug had its own unique design and color scheme. Many were jewel-toned with elaborate gold or silver embellishments, but some stood out, especially Phoenix and a black and red carpet ridden by Nye.
    Dodie’s heart was now racing, his arms were tingling, and his stomach was churning. If he hadn’t taken Binni’s potion, he knew he would already be vomiting. He suddenly had an urge to run away and forget the whole race.
    But he couldn’t forget Taj. So he turned around, clenched his fists, and set his eyes on the east.
    A second gong sounded, and all the racers mounted their carpets. Atallah adjusted his waist pouch so it rested on his lower back. Randi pulled on his head mask. Axel inhaled and exhaled several cleansing breaths. Bae whispered a prayer. Dodie gripped his carpet’s loops.
    All eyes fixed on the east where Turah lay. The sun was clearly rising, bathing the desert in new sunlight. The crowd was suddenly silent. The yurt flapped in a light breeze, and somewhere from the village a donkey brayed.
    Any moment now the sun would peek above the rooftops.
    Any moment now the magic carpets would shoot off in the blink of an eye.
    Any moment now Dodie would be racing in the Grand Flyer.
    He could feel the charm engraved with a flame pressed against his heart, and for the first time he wanted to believe in its good luck.
    Dodie’s breathing quickened. His palms were sweaty. He was worried about takeoff, about going fast enough, about not falling off. He also wasn’t sure when exactly to take off. At the first sight of the sun, or when the whole sun had risen?
    His eyes darted at the other racers on either side of him. He would just follow their lead for this first takeoff. Then he would—
    Whoa!
    A blast of wind and a cloud of sand engulfed him, blinding him. The crowd screamed and cheered. Dodie coughed and blinked his eyes open. He was the only one behind the torches.
    Takeoff had happened.

Chapter 5
    The crowd roared at him to go.
    â€œGo, Phoenix !” he shouted, but the magic carpet had shot up before the words were out of his mouth.
    The force of takeoff pulled Dodie’s legs out from under him. He gripped his carpet as they gained altitude. He remembered what Nadar had told him about going too high, and the higher he climbed, the gustier the air turned. If he hit the Boundary set over the race course, he would be blown away for miles and be disqualified. He needed to take Phoenix down a bit. The magic carpet obeyed his thought and made a smooth dive. Dodie tucked his knees under him and scoured the sky for the other racers. He saw no one ahead of him, and he could no longer hear the crowd behind him. Turah was rapidly disappearing in the past. Ahead and below him lay the Fringe, a vast desert of gentle sand dunes.
    The sun continued to rise to his right, which meant he was heading north, so that was good. He remembered from the race course map that this first day he would cover the Fringe and cross the dune range. On the other side of the range was the first checkpoint he had to reach by sunset. He was not off to a good start. He wasn’t just in last place, he was virtually in no place.
    â€œWhat’ll I do?” groaned Dodie to himself.
    He suddenly remembered the secret map his grandfather had given him. Slowing Phoenix down momentarily, he reached behind him into his waist pouch. He found the old scroll of parchment and opened it. His eyes swept over the faint map of the area, and read a few of the nearest locations marked. One caught his eye: Emergency Stash