Shifting my grip on the wooden practice longsword in my hands, I look up as the rain continues to drizzle. “So why are we practicing aerial combat maneuvers in the rain?”
Neil, standing on the ground beside Astralux and triple-checking the straps on her saddle, looks up at me. “Since rain makes everything slick, you’re forced to have a firmer grip. It’s both a challenge and a way to ensure that you have good posture.”
I grab a hold of the saddle horn in front of me with my left hand—and we haven’t even taken off yet. Lyssa, standing beside Blythe nearby, snickers at my reaction.
“Now the goal is to pull up out of a dive while swinging your sword,” Neil says. “The first time you do it, focus on holding the stick out and keeping a hold of it. But on the second dive, I want to see you swing on the way down and on the way up. Once you get the hang of this we’ll practice with actual targets.”
“Okay,” I say.
“Remember, swing out to the side—you’re attacking an opponent coming at you from an angle.” Neil pats Astralux. “And you know what to do.”
Astralux grins, flapping her wings. “I’m so excited!”
I’m not, but I’ve already committed to becoming a Ward, so I swallow as Astralux turns and bounds away from the others, her wings fully stretched out now and beating hard. Catching a gust of wind, Astralux takes off, circling to avoid flying into trees and then widening her circle as she rises.
My ears detect heavier breathing than usual, and I lean over. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Oh yeah!” Astralux says, her voice enthusiastic. “I’m probably just a little out of shape or something. I’m so glad to be flying again with you!”
“I’m…I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit scared.” I glance down, my keen eyesight picking up Neil, Lyssa, Blythe, Giftigbun, and Eclair below, watching us. “And I don’t like having an audience.”
Chuckling, Astralux circles around in the air. “Just ignore them and be yourself. Whenever you’re ready, let me know.”
Double-checking my grip on the saddle horn and on the longsword, I hunch forward, just as Neil had told me. “Ready.”
“Here we go!” Astralux stops beating her wings, holding them straight out and still, while she points her nose—and then her entire body—almost straight toward the ground.
The wind immediately picks up, the rain now patting much harder against my face. I stay hunkered down, trying to decrease wind resistance. The sword in my hand is pulled harder and harder, and my fingers struggle with the wet handle. My heart thuds in my chest as the ground comes rushing up toward us.
I feel it. Perhaps it’s the tension in Astralux’s muscles under my legs. Or the way she starts to lift her head. But I feel her decision, as the ground is mere meters away, to pull up. Her wings angle up, and the force of the change of direction pulls down at me and my longsword. We zoom back up into the air quite a ways before Astralux has to start flapping her wings again.
And I realize I’m smiling. “That was amazing!”
“See?! I thought you’d like it.” Astralux huffs and takes a gulp of air before glancing back at me. “Still got your sword?”
“Yep.” I shift my grip on it, but it doesn’t feel like it’s falling out of my hand. “I swing on the way down, and on the way up this time, right?”
“Neil probably means it as one big swing,” Astralux says. “Like pulling your sword up through the rise.”
“Oh. This makes sense.” I take a breath of air, but this time I’m eager for the dive. “Ready.”
“Here we go!” Astralux does a fancy little twist before diving down. It throws me off for a moment, but I make myself focus. I pinpoint a spot to aim for, and begin swinging my sword through our dive this time. The force of our fall makes my longsword sing as it zips through the air. Once again, I feel Astralux’s change in direction before she rises out of her dive, and I pull up on my longsword. This is more difficult but not at all impossible, and I lift the practice stick around.
There’s applause from below, and both Astralux and I glance down to see Giftigbun beckoning for us to come down with one of his front paws.
Astralux circles down, much slower in her descent, and I grin as Neil, still clapping, walks up as we land.
“That was perfect!” Neil says. “You’re a natural.”
“It was awesome!” Blythe comes running up, grinning, Eclair following after him. “It was like you’d been practicing for years!”
“Your form was stellar,” Eclair says to both Astralux. “I don’t know that I could have executed a dive that well.”
Astralux, still panting, grins. “Just takes practice. You’ll get it.”
“I think you’re ready for actual targets at this point,” Neil says. “Giftigbun and I could set them up now.”
I hesitate, watching Astralux. She’s still taking deep breaths, and I notice that her tail, while tapping on the ground, looks sluggish. I unhook my leg from the foot rest and clamber down.
“Estelle?” Astralux tilts her head, watching me. Her blue eyes look a bit glassy. “What’s wrong?”
“Let’s hold off,” I say.
“What?!” Astralux’s eyes fill with tears. “But, but we were having fun!”
“I’m not sure—”
Astralux’s scales ruffle, and she gives a slight growl, interrupting me. “Just because we’re setting up targets, all of sudden it’s not fun anymore?! You wouldn’t lift up a finger to fight!”
“Astralux, stop,” I say. “I’m worried—”
“—Worried about what?! Your, your image, how people perceive you!” Astralux gives a snort, light sparks trickling up from her nostrils. “You just want to look like the most innocent—”
“—I’m worried about you!” I jump forward, putting my hands on Astralux’s side. “You’re not feeling well.”
“What?!” Astralux frowns. “I feel fine.”
“You said you were feeling sluggish this morning.”
“Yeah, and that all I needed was food.”
I shake my head, running a hand over her scales. “You feel warm to the touch and you’re breathing heavier than usual. Astralux, I think you might be getting sick.”
“Dragons hardly ever get sick,” Lyssa says.
“Exactly,” Astralux says. “What do you know?!”
“I was a nurse assistant for my entire life,” I say. “I know when someone’s ill. You need to rest.”
Astralux rolls her eyes. “Just when we’re finally making good progress?!”
“Please,” I say. “Get some rest. For me.”
“Fine!” Astralux snaps. Growling angrily, the white dragon shrugs off my hands and turns, stomping off. Her tail swishes back and forth in a manner that tells me she’s mad.
“What is your problem?!” Lyssa exclaims.
Confused, I turn just in time to see Lyssa point her finger at me. “What?”
“Why are you doing everything to hold back Astralux—and hold back the Wards?!” Lyssa throws up her arms. “It’s like you don’t want to see her succeed.”
“She’s sick,” I say. “Didn’t you hear—”
“—You waste every opportunity to train,” Lyssa continues, as if I hadn’t spoken. “All you think about is how much you don’t want to draw blood. Well guess what? Any Vladykar would do whatever they could to draw every ounce of blood out of Astralux. Is that what you want?!”
“Which is why Astralux needs to rest.” My tone is rising, and I take a deep breath, trying to keep myself calm. “Astralux just needs to take it easy for a little while, and then we can go back to practicing.”
Lyssa rolls her eyes. “Practicing for what? Hiding? Astralux would be better off without you!”
“Lyssa,” Neil says sharply. “Ariadna wouldn’t want us to say such things.”
Tears fill Lyssa’s eyes as she glares from Neil to me. “I’m sorry,” she mutters. Grumbling, Lyssa whips her braid over her shoulder, picks up a practice stick, and marches toward a straw dummy in one of the practice rings.
“I, uh.” Blythe glances from Neil to Eclair to me then back to Neil. “I should go.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Neil says quietly. He waits until Blythe and Eclair are walking off and then turns to me. “You’re right, Estelle—something’s wrong with Astralux.”
“You saw it too?” I ask.
“No, but Giftigbun noticed it,” Neil says.
“As soon as you said she looked unwell,” Giftigbun says, his deep voice rumbling, “I realized you were right. We better tell Domagoj. And Kalteratem and Auramity should probably be alerted.”
Neil nods. “If you want to tell Kalteratem and Auramity, we’ll find Domagoj.” Giftigbun nuzzles Neil’s shoulder once, giving me a small smile, before he turns and flies up.
Astralux had told me Auramity was her mother, although I hadn’t met her or the other non-Ward dragons just yet. But I had only heard of Domagoj in passing the other day. “Who is Domagoj?”
“Domagoj is our expert on all things relating to dragon health,” Neil says. “You haven’t met him because he’s been preoccupied with Kalteratem and Auramity’s egg. Which, is also why you haven’t seen Auramity around. We should take you to meet her and Astralux’s siblings.”
“Yeah.” My heart hurting for Astralux, I glance off.
Neil pats my shoulder. “Don’t you worry—you did the right thing.”
“I was trying to explain that it was for her own good,” I say. “But she was so upset with me. And Lyssa was mad, too!”
“I’ll have a talk with Lyssa,” Neil says. “I try hard to let adults talk through their differences, but Lyssa seems to have decided to dump all of her problems onto you.” He smiles wryly. “That said, you’re doing great handling her.”
“Well, thanks. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything great right now.” I sigh. “I know I’m not the fighter-type, but I really am trying to—” A beat of warning enters my heart and I pause, staring off in one direction.
“Estelle?” Neil stops, watching me.
I glance at Neil. “Something’s wrong.” And then I feel a sudden dull pain on the underside of my body—Astralux was hurt. I sprint off in the direction I feel her, which was past the Wards’ palace. I hear a dragon’s roar not in anger, but in a call.
Neil, easily keeping pace with me, flinches and pulls ahead. “Giftigbun. Astralux just collapsed.”
Terrified, I vault over a bush and a stone wall for landscaping, and sprint around the Wards’ palace. I can see Giftigbun and Undabouclier hovered over where my heart is pointing. Between the dragons, I spot the white gleam of Astralux’s scales.
“Astralux!” I rush past the dragons but Mortimer catches me before I get to Astralux. “Please, let me help!”
“Domagoj is checking her,” Mortimer says. “Just wait.”
Then I spot Domagoj. Dressed in a simple light gray shirt and black pants that match his ebony hair, he’s inspecting Astralux’s mouth and then her eye. He glances up at me. “You must be Estelle Brand. I’m Domagoj.” He looks back down at Astralux, his tan-skinned hands running over her scales along her temples. “I’m not sure what’s going on but we’d better get her back to her room. I don’t want her in the dragon caves right now.”
We all glance up at the heavy beat of wings and whirl of wind that announces Kalteratem’s arrival. The massive silvery-blue dragon lands and hurries to Astralux’s side. “Astralux?”
Astralux gives a small whimper and growls lightly. Kalteratem leans his head down and nuzzles her neck.
Veremund, dropping to the ground from the saddle, walks around Kalteratem to join us. He glances at me in Mortimer’s arms. “What happened?”
“Astralux collapsed,” Undabouclier says. “She was flying toward her room.”
“Estelle had sent her to go rest,” Giftigbun says. “She knew Astralux wasn’t feeling well.”
“Oh really?” Domagoj glances up at me. “Let’s get Astralux back to your room, but tell me what you noticed on the way.” My fingers entwined together, I hold my hands to my chest as Undabouclier and Giftigbun help to maneuver Astralux onto Kalteratem’s back. “Okay.”
Tamara Rivers 
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