Chapter 9

- Bronwen -

I'm not surprised that he's confused. I'm also confused about all these impulsive ideas I'm having about him.

Noker turns the shorts over in his hands, finding what's the front and what's the back. He pulls them on under his loincloth.

I tug on the old, worn garment. "Take this off, maybe?"

He undoes the belt and slides the strap off his shoulder so the loincloth falls. Now he's wearing only the shorts I made for him from the fine, brown fabric Bryar has given us. They're a kind of primitive cargo shorts, because I know he likes to bring stuff with him. He looks indecently good in them, his giant muscles stretching them in a way that makes my eyes widen.

"Are too tight?" I ask.

He walks a couple of steps back and forth. If anything, from the rear he looks even better.

"They feel good," he reports.

"They will help run faster," I assure him as I help adjust them and fasten the drawstring. I've been very careful about not making the shorts too confining or too tight to run in, and it looks okay. "On Earth, warriors wear those to run when in a game. Thanks for saving me from irox, Noker. Now win the contest."

He returns my smile, looking confident and strong. I even think his back is straighter now.

He takes up his place by the start and adjusts the grip on his spear. His thighs flex like crazy. The pots are ready, and the drummer boy lifts his drumstick.

Boom!

He sprints off, sending dirt and debris flying from the acceleration.

"He's a freaking missile!" Piper exclaims. "Look at him go!"

"I think those shorts must be magical," Alba says in wonder. "I never saw anyone run so fast."

Noker reaches the first target and hits it with the side of the spearhead. When it hits the ground, he's halfway to the next one.

"My dad used to play tennis," I tell the girls, my voice shaky with excitement. "He said that whenever he got a new piece of equipment, like shoes or a racquet, his game would always improve and he would win the first match, even against players that usually beat him. But after that, he returned to his usual level. It was like the new item made him more confident. I thought, maybe it's true for penk, too."

"Applied psychology," Alba says with satisfaction. "I think you and your dad are on to something."

Noker runs so fast it looks like CGI in real life. There's a confident calmness to his moves that reminds me of videos of cheetahs, and his steps must be three yards long. The distant thunks from the targets he hits come with a steady rhythm, like clockwork.

"He's half dinosaur," I remind the girls. "He must have special muscle fibers."

"There's definitely something going on with him," Alba says. "I'm starting to worry if he's about to become airborne."

Noker knocks over the final target and slows down, looking around for more. But there aren't any. He's come to a complete stop when the boy hammers on his drum, marking the end.

The girls and I cheer wildly, jumping and applauding and high-fiving and making everyone look at us in wonder.

Noker jogs back towards us.

"Thirty targets!" Sarker'ox yells. "I've never seen anything like it! Guest Noker is the winner of the second part of the game!"

The crowd cheers, although not as loudly as they did for Unin'iz.

"Sports have come to Xren," Piper says. "They already have the athletes and the supporters. Six months from now they'll have teams and coaches and jerseys. And sponsor deals."

Alba adjusts her newly patched-up sweatpants. "It's a better use of those swords than fighting wars."

Noker comes over, not even breathing hard. "That was fun. It happened so fast, too!"

"That be because you run fast," I inform him. "I knew you can jump, but also can run? You have strong legs, Noker."

He slaps his thigh. "It was the new shorts that made it easy, I think. They don't keep whipping around my legs and getting in the way. Or keep sliding down."

Several of the Borok men start asking him about his speed and his spear, and soon he and Brak are in the middle of a circle of cavemen, chatting happily.

"I think you were riiiight," Alba singsongs. "He thought the shorts would make him run faster, and so they did. You should be a mental coach, Bronwen."

"Sure, but who will coach the coach?" I ask, not concentrating on what I'm saying because Noker is looking happy and I love seeing it, as well as the indecent way he wears those shorts.

"Then we proceed to part three of the game of penk!" Sarker'ox announces. "The obstacle course. For that, we must go outside the gates."

We follow the cavemen out of the village and into the semi-darkness of the jungle. I'm not super happy about this, because the jungle is still dangerous. But we'll be in the middle of a whole tribe of cavemen, so I guess it's not as bad as being here alone.

"We won't be able to see them for most of the race," Piper observes. "They'll be in the jungle nearly the whole time."

"Not the best spectator sport," I agree. "But it's very caveman-ish."

"Meanwhile, where's Astrid?" Alba asks, looking around. "I thought she wanted to see this."

"She's with Shaman Melr'ax," I tell them. "He may be training her to do his job. When he… well, he's old."

Piper and Alba stare at me. "He wants Astrid to be a shaman?!"

"I don't know," I admit. "It was just something we talked about. I doubt she wants it."

"That may actually not be a bad idea," Alba says slowly. "She needs something to do, besides staring at the wall."

"The third part of penk is very simple," Sarker'ox says when the crowd settles down. "The contestants start at the same time. They run the whole course. The one who finishes first is the winner."

"There are tribesmen in the jungle," Brak tells us. "Noker and Unin'iz must pass them all. There can be no shortcuts."

"What are the obstacles?" Piper asks.

Brak grins with his scary mass of dactyl teeth. "The jungle!"