“Oh, the store had plenty. If you wear these like a mask, you can breathe! And we won’t have any problem seeing. Underwater is full of Firenekkies, the Trite Beasts that light all the streetlamps.”

Hasu hugged her arms to herself. “I don’t know. They look gross.”

“They do,” Shazi agreed. “I suggested we just Dool.”

Viola rolled her eyes. “Of course you did.”

“The race is supposed to make us work as teams,” Cecily pointed out.

“So?” Shazi said. “It could be three on three.”

“Good, because I want no part of this,” Yasha muttered.

“But I haven’t even gotten to the best part!” Cecily said brightly. “Here. Come look.”

She scampered to the rockiest part of the beach and climbed over the boulders that stretched across the water. “Look!”

The others scaled the rocks and stared. Cecily’s “best part” was six very strange-looking Beasts floating in the shallows. They were long and flat, with faces that looked like they’d been smooshed beneath the heel of a boot. They drifted aimlessly on the ocean’s surface, and even though they were clearly fish, Barclay was not positive they could actually swim.

“What are they?” Barclay asked.

“They’re Sunboards, a Trite class Beast,” Tadg explained. “You might be wondering how something so big could be Trite class, but trust me—it is physically impossible to bond with them. They’re so bony that not even Hooksharks will eat them, though I’ve heard of Muirmarús playing with them for sport.”

“That’s so mean!” Hasu said. “I like them. They’re cute and pink.”

“How did you find them?” asked Viola.

“Lifen—the woman we’re staying with—has a Beastiary,” Cecily said. “So I took them.”

Barclay’s jaw dropped. “You can’t just go around stealing everything!”

Cecily paid him no mind. “Sunboards are perfect for riding—they’ll float on the rivers. So it’s decided. We’ll spread out over the underwater river between here and the reef, and we’ll each get a Sunboard to ride. To make it fair, no other Beasts allowed—”

“But that’s—” Tadg started.

“But then I can’t—” Hasu cut in.

“It’s fair,” Cecily said firmly. “Hasu and Viola can start. Then Barclay and I can wait for them a third of the way down the river, and Tadg and Shazi can wait on the last third.”

“And I’ll go train,” Yasha said, but before he could leave, Shazi grabbed him by his collar.

“No you don’t,” she told him. “You’re the judge. Oh, don’t look so grumpy. It’s easy. Just wait by the reef, and the first team there wins the relay race.”

Viola nodded vigorously. After three months of her playing teacher’s pet to Runa, Barclay couldn’t believe she’d be willing to break so many rules. Even for Runa’s sake.