“Righto, three shanks and bullion of oak.” Josh grinned. “You two take the horse, I only ride griffins, sea monsters, and dragons. I should be able to keep up - I outran a Fallieni strider once you know.”

“Is a Falleini strider a name for a Fallieni horse?” Shinsou asked in confusion.

“It is now!” Josh shouted. He lifted both arms and the confetti cannons either side of the walkways erupted. The crowd gathered together and quieted, expecting another epic musical number as the demigod struck a gallant pose.

“Josh, we don’t have time for that!” Shinsou shouted as Breaker opened his mouth to sing. The Telgradian and the lightning mage had already climbed aboard the mountain of a horse. They kept their seats back in the full upright position and adjusted the a/c until it hit that perfect ambience of cool and warm. Shinsou leaned out the window and Storm leaned on the horn.

Attila scuffed the ground with his hooves, confused by all the automobile references, and tossed his beautiful maned head.

“Come along, Joshua,” Attila said in his horsiest voice, “we’ve got ads to venture!” With that the big animal took off galloping down the road.

“Damn it,” Josh muttered. He’d really been looking forward to trying out the triple pirouette at the end of his softshoe number. Not that there was anything soft about his shoes.

He took off running like a stone from a sling, charging through Attila’s wake until he caught up with the horse and jogged at its side.

“Brilliant idea to get out for some fresh air,” Josh told Storm as they moved. The Lornian air was fresher and crisper than most because of the floating city’s altitude. This actually gave athletes from Lyridia an edge in competition, because due to their acclimatisation to the high altitude their bodies processed oxygen more efficiently when they went to lower altitude venues. Training in Lyridia (if that’s the floating city’s name, I’ve forgotten and I’m too lazy to check) offered a host of benefits to competitors. In his earlier years on Althanas, Josh would have taken advantage of this.

Back then, you actually had to support your abilities with actual in character events. You couldn’t just be all “Oh by the way, my character has 10x strength too because lul why wouldn’t he?” Back then, it would have mattered to have a cool idea like training at altitude for increased endurance. Now, however, it didn’t matter at all, so Josh barely spared a thought for it.

“Hey, running to Letho’s farm was a pretty great idea,” Josh said as they neared the edge of the floating city. “There’s only one problem…”

Suddenly the road ran out, and the mighty horse and all three men plunged into the inky darkness of the Lornian sky.