A TV broadcast showing off a long and unusually large boulevard of a big city, surrounded by skyscrapers. Temporary stands have been installed alongside the boulevard, but some stands are also on top of the skyscrapers themselves. Dragons and humans sit on them together, all watching a line of dragons wearing helmets and protective gears, directed towards what is clearly a starting grid traced on the concrete.

Good afternoon spectators, get ready for the round 7 of the Formula D World Championship 2067, the Grand Prix of Altinova! The Monaco of dragon racing, the only track where both dragon racers and human fans can say: yes, this is OUR home. Fifty-eight laps around the skyscrapers in the city center, 21 kilometers and up to 700 meters above the level of sea!

And here what the starting grid looks like for this race:

20th, Rantaseg, 19th is Virdees, 18th Sungansem, 17th Zerpe, first time out at Q1 in this season after a mild burn on his knee…

More dragon racers are named along with their starting position.

...5th is Sniza, 4th and 3rd are Onasol and Ilmothan, starting together on the second row, and ahead of them Sellurs and final Parvenstep, flying from the pole for the fifth time this season, and the twenty-second in his entire Formula D career! If he wins today, he’ll only be one win behind the record of most wins in Altinova, held by Harcsumecha since 2034!

Here are the competing dragons… they’re finally putting their helmets on and taking their position for the formation lap. As always, all bets are on Parvenstep, but beware of Sellurs, whose sudden sprints from below are unpredictable, especially in a narrow skyscraper circuit like Altinova, and has shown to be in great shape this weekend, first during free practice, then at qualification he missed the pole for only 10’’. But as we all know, Parvenstep is just something else.

The formation lap goes on… here is the monument to Ayreth* curve, the narrowest one… last time no racer crashed their snout was seven years ago. We all remember the 2046 race, when only three dragons finished the race. But that’s the Altinova Grand Prix for you. And, will Zerpe manage to recover from his disastrous qualification and fly closer to his teammate in the pole? He certainly can, no matter how unlucky yesterday was. But that incident could force him to land down to the pit stop and take 30 seconds breaks more than twice. Same goes for Crellec, the only racer today coming from Altinova itself, even though his performance so far this season has been quite underwhelming, with just two podiums.

Parvenstep has landed back to the pole position, followed by Sellurs, and now everyone else. The lights are ready to turn red! All racers stand still, rear paws tense, ready to take the initial flying sprint, and here is the first light - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, it’s lights out and away we fly! Parvenstep unfolds his wings followed by Sellurs and both leave the ground, followed by Ilmothan and Onasol, Sellers attempts a lower sprint, but Parvenstep dives down, but watch out because the upper part of the circuit is free, and Ilmothan takes advantage and overtakes Parvenstep and Sellurs, Ilmothan is now first! Onasol took the large curve and Sniza takes the fourth position! Wait though because Onasol is side by side, and in the meanwhile Ilmothan is 0.2 seconds ahead of Parvenstep and behind him Sellurs is finding an empty space to trespass him! What a start! What an incredible start!

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40 more laps to go and Ilmothan still leads the race, Parvenstep coming 2.5 after him and Sellurs and Crellec, who has made an amazing comeback from 6th to 4th position-but wait because Ilmothan’s wingbeat is decreasing, Parvenstep is getting close, he might aim for a vertical overtake, and yes! Parvenstep takes back the first position! Ilmothan looks indeed fatigued, let’s hear the radio.

“I might have a cramp in my left wing.”

“Box, box.”

Yes, it looks like Ilmothan will have to go to the pit stop earlier than planned, in the meantime Sellurs and Crellec both are assaulting him from both sides-oh wait! Crellec collided with Ilmothan! Both are roaring in pain right now! And Sellurs conquers the second position! Crellec meanwhile is losing control and ooooooooh! He crashed! Went against the building with his whole helmet and is falling down! Race over for Crellec, just when he was making a miracolous comeback!

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Still 21 more laps to go, Sellurs is right now first, but also hasn’t landed down at the pit stop. He’s expected to do it soon, meanwhile Parvenstep is 2nd, 0.9 seconds behind, and immediately after Ilmothan and then Onasol. And here he is, 20 more laps to go now and Sellurs steps down to the pit stop, and Parvenstep is first again, Sellurs’ team is giving him water and applying medicament to his wings and paws, and now Sellurs leaves, after 4.8 seconds and sprints towards Ilmothan for the second position, the two are now side by side, but we’re now at the Ayreth curve, Ilmothan is flying above, and now for the Dunkelzahn long straight, and there! Sellurs dives up first and blocks Ilmothan’s path, who has to stop abruptly, and with a spectacular move Sellurs takes the second position! Meanwhile Parvenstep is 4.8 seconds ahead, having just done the fastest lap…

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There he is, Parvenstep crosses the last curve and aims at the finish line, and it’s over! Parvenstep wins once again, fourth victory this season! Followed next by Sellurs, who takes second place, 2.2 seconds at the checked flag! Next, the last attempt by Sniza to steal the 3th position from Ilmothan, is happening at the last curve, where Ilmothan takes the largest part and there! Sniza overtakes Ilmothan and finishes the race 4th!

The TV no longer shows the streets of Altinova used for the race, but a podium installed at the top of the DHA headquarter. A big human crowd cheers at the building’s feet, while dragons fly around it in celebration.

And here they come for the podium, Parvenstep, Sellurs and Sniza, Parvenstep can celebrate his 24th win in Formula D, the fourth in Altinova, just like the legendary Harcsumecha, and he lifts the trophy with his mouth! The celebrations can start, and the three dragons breathe their fire to the sky in celebration!

* The dragon who gave the name to Altinova. Also, the protagonist of this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59821968-dragon-dreams