The Scrollrunners

Chapter 17 | Victories and Losses

"Don't you have a boat to catch?" Ketra called out to Talibah. The soon-to-be exile walked up the steps (Athena lithely following at her heels) inside the hippodrome towards her friends. They had all come to cheer on Talen, who was about to compete in the last tournament of the season.

Talibah grimaced before pulling her expression back into a smile, trying to enjoy her last day in Alexandria. "We don't leave until late this afternoon. I thought I'd celebrate my last day by watching Talen kick some butt."

Talibah was weary from all the goodbyes, having gone to the Serapeum earlier that day to bid her team of rebels farewell. Khepri, Ife, and Vara had all pulled her into long embraces and made her promise to come back to Alexandria some day. Omari ruffled her hair and told her to never stop learning and exploring. Bahiti clutched Talibah's hands in her old, wrinkled ones with surprising strength while she thanked Talibah for what she'd done for Alexandria and told her that her mother would be proud. Talibah had walked down the cracked stone steps of the once-grand temple of Serapis and waved back at her found family as they stood under the arched doorway that led into the columned place of worship beyond. She had briefly wondered where Bas was, but figured she would pop up sometime before she left the city for good.

Ketra, Lin, Arben, Gaia, Hexa, and Nyx all laughed, albeit in a somewhat forced manner. Talibah quickly changed the subject.

"Where's Talen?" She asked, holding a hand over her brow to block out the sunlight as she peered towards the crowd of athletes gathered in the hippodrome. Dust from the oval-shaped field surrounded by a track at the base of the hippodrome curled at the athletes' feet. Various areas of the field had been parried off and were set up for competitions for fighting, weightlifting, javelin-throwing, and many more sports. The large, columned stadium seats above and around the field were slowly filling with people come to watch the tournament.

Arben pointed to the left of the field, where Talen stretched and bounced on her toes. Talibah swelled with pride at seeing Talen out there on the field. Her long, straight black hair draped down her back in one braid. This was the first competition in which she didn't have to disguise herself as a boy. She was the image of strength.

The sky was bright blue, and the hot desert sun glinted against Talen's sweating skin. Even from a distance, she looked a formidable athlete. All around the field, her competitors also warmed up; they jogged, made practice throws, shook out their muscles, and jabbed fists into the air, each one aiming to win the day.

Talibah and her friends stood in the stone-hewn stands, giddily awaiting the start of the games on the field below. This was the last tournament of the season, and the last one before the Library would officially open to all children.

Athletes below could be seen squinting into the crowd and waving excitedly upon seeing their friends or family come to root for them. Whoops of encouragement broke out sporadically throughout the stands as the athletes prepared for the competitions to commence.

Talibah was admiring the energy of the stadium's atmosphere when a soft hand slipped into hers. She turned her head to see Letes next to her, looking down onto the field.

"What'd I miss?" Letes asked.

"Nothing yet, they're still warming up." Talibah said, leaning her head on Letes's shoulder. She smelled like paint—and was covered in colorful splatters of it—unsurprisingly.

Talibah, Letes, and their friends took their seats as whistles sounded in the field below, calling the athletes to their stations. Athena crouched contentedly between Talibah's feet, happy to doze in the little shade available.

The dozens of athletes below jogged to their places, called to action by the whistles of the referees, looking like so many birds scattering into the sky after being startled by some disturbance.