The grandstands rose into the beautiful blue sky, dwarfing anyone standing on the blinding white cobblestone below. The roar of the crowd was so powerful that it shook the walls of the surrounding buildings.
Down below the grandstands in the stables, pirate captain Tony Axot leaned against the wall smoking from his pipe.
"It disgusts me to no end that you're here!" Someone, a female voice shouted.
Tony turned to see a rather short human lady, with dark brown hair and flawless white skin with brown eyes.
"Laly!" Tony shouted in glee "Pleasure seeing you here."
"Don't play dumb with me, you knew I would be here." She shouted
Laly Erteger was the High Priestess of Delza, the highest ranking religious figure on the Island.
"Why would you want to compete in the Delza Derby?" She asked
"I've always wanted to and now I have my chance." Tony cheered
"As if this violent event wasn't sinful enough, now we have bloodthirsty pirates here."
"I was here last year."
"Yeah, and you started a riot."
"No, the race's conclusion started a riot. I merely took part in it."
Laly's face turned red as a tomato, her eyebrows darted down towards her eyes and she grinded her snow White teeth together to the point of nearly breaking them.
Then the roar of the crowd ceased, an even louder sound shook the ground and shattered nearby Windows. The sound of trumpets signifying the start of the event.
Both Tony and Laly peaked out of the stables to see what was going on.
Towering over the track was a giant obelisk with a platform at the top.
Atop the platform was an older white man, with a white beard wearing a toga and a reef on his head.
The man had ten blue rubber bands around his arms, five for each arm.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you! Amelec Merris! The ten time winner of the Delza Derby!" The announcer shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Fifty drivers will jockey around this track for fifty laps for fifty thousand gold doubloons and that prestigious blue arm band!" The announcer went on to say
"I want it." Tony said like a little kid
"Oh grow up!" Laly said
Besides, Amelec Merris was a woman of almost Goddess-like beauty. Tall with flawless white skin, long blonde hair and eyes as green as tree leaves.
"The winner of the race will also get a kiss from Princess Anna Lannister! The most beautiful woman in all of Oceanlandia!" The announcer again announced
"What don't you get for winning this race." Laly snarled in sarcasm
"The keys to the Treasury." Tony clapped with some sarcasm of his own.
The sound of a bell ringing pierced through the plethora of other noises throughout the arena.
"That's my que." Tony said as he walked back into the stables and to his horses.
Tony jumped into his chariot and then looked down at Laly to ask
"Are you going to be in attendance?"
"Yes, I will." Laly answered in a passive aggressive tone.
All the horse drawn chariots then emerged from the darkness of the stables, to a massive cheer from the crowd. All the chariots were pulled by a duo of two purebred Mustang horses.
The chariots all had different numbers on them to mark who they were. They chariots slowly circled the track three or four times until they all stopped in unison at a white chalk line.
Up at the top of the obolosect was a cannon. Amelec picked up a lit torch and placed it on the cannon's wicker.
The sound of the cannon signified the start of the race. When the cannon fired its blank shot, the horses below began to run at top speed.
Up in the stands Laly sat amongst the aristocracy, segregated from the lowly common folk who were shouting at the top of their lungs.
"Such hooligans, not too dissimilar for the mongrel pirates who pillage innocent vessels." One woman said "I'm glad to be up here where people are civilized." She continued
Then a drunken nobleman came up to her, slurring his words and stumbling around barely able to stand.
"It's a rather humid day. Maybe you should take off that dress." The man said as he struggled to stand.
"How much wine have you had?" The woman said in fear.
"Not enough! Barkeep! Get me some more wine." The nobleman shouted.
Laly rolled her eyes at this scene before looking back at the race.
On the track Tony was starting in thirteenth place. Tony held onto the ropes of his chariot for dear life as the sheer amount of speed was something he had never witnessed before. The other chariots were ramming each other to pieces. Sometimes accidentally, sometimes intentionally.
Going into the first turn, everyone was going so fast while so close together that one of the chariots ended up flipping over, throwing the driver onto the track and into the wall.
The race continued, Tony was flanked on all sides by dozens of chariots, even though the track was made of cobblestone it still had some dust on it. The amount of horses and chariots passing it at top speed kicks up all the dust and makes it hard to see.
Tony then whipped his horses to run faster, he then motioned to slam his chariot against the one right beside him.
After being rammed the opposing chariot lost control. It veered from side to side before the rider voluntarily slower his horses down to prevent wrecking.
Tony then made his way to twelfth place.
The field stayed static for a dozen laps, until a massive wreck occurred in the back.
One chariot broke a wheel, slamming down on the cobblestone pulling back its horses slowing its speed. Another chariot slammed into the back of it, sending the first rider flying through the air like a bird, the rider slammed down hard on the hard cobblestone.
The other chariots attempted to avoid. The horses of the chariot managed to just barely miss the wreck but the rider behind them slammed into the wreckage smashing the wooden chariot to pieces sending the rider through the air and into the crowd where he landed.
The race was then halted for a few moments. Regular soldiers in green coats scurried onto the track to assist the wounded men.
Once the wreckage was all cleaned up the race commenced. Once the cannon was fired again the Tony's horses swiftly pushed their way past the riff raff and made it to fifth place.
Tony trailed the other rider for a few laps and he and the guy in fourth and third place got side by side going into one of the turns. Tony on the bottom had his horse go at full speed racing up the track pushing the other two up the track. The rider at the top of the track had to slow down to avoid being smashed into the wall.
Tony was trailing the second place rider while the rider in second did the same to the one in first. On the final lap coming around the last turn, the track itself shook from the cheers of the crowd. Tony and the other two racers again went three wide on the track this time with Tony at the top.
The rider in the middle attempted to ram Tony but Tony rammed him first sending him into the rider at the bottom resulting in a massive wreck.
Tony took the lead right as he crossed the start-finish for the final time winning the race. The cannon then fired one more time signifying the conclusion of the race.
"I won! I won!" Tony shouted at the top of his lungs.
Up in the stands Laly was in disbelief at the outcome of the race.
"I can't believe it." she said to herself.
The crowd cheered as Tony took his victory lap and Laly walked down to the stage.
After the victory lap Tony stood on stage. He kissed Princess Anna and then he took the chest of gold and the blue arm band.
The next day Laly sat back in her temple cleaning, when Tony came in.
"What do you want?" She asked
"I just wanted to give you this." Tony answered
He then placed the chest of gold he won yesterday down in the donation box.
"What? You're donating your prize money to my temple?" Laly said as her face blushed cherry red in utter disbelief.
"Well half the money. Me and the lads spent the other half drinking and whoring all last night." Tony said
"Predictable, but thank you." Laly said as she embraced Tony so hard that he struggled to breathe.
"Oh thank you Tony." She said with tears in her eyes.
"I just thought I'd do one kind thing while I was here in Delza, before I sail back to Derzy." Tony said
Laly then gasped so hard that she nearly choked herself.
"You can't." She coughed
"Are you okay" Tony asked
"Yeah I'm okay. But Tony after the robbery of the Treasure Convoy the South has been completely infested with the Royal Navy."
"Really?" Tony questioned
"Yes. It's best to stay in the North for a bit if you're going to pillage."
"Thanks for the heads up, if I'd known you'd be that good to me I'd have saved you seventy five percent of the gold."
Tony then walked out of the temple.
"I've got to stop dealing with these pirates. If only they weren't so damn cute."