I’m trying, I really am. But as I gaze over the practice weapons, the familiar horror fills me, and I freeze.
Astralux sends a wave of encouragement through me, trying to help combat the sorrow and pain. But she feels the same, and her calm gives way to the deep hurt we both feel.
I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be a Ward.
“That’s alright, Estelle,” Neil says gently.
Realizing I have tears on my face, I wipe my cheeks with the sleeve of my gray cotton shirt. I look up to see Neil, standing beside Astralux, beckon me toward him.
“Let’s work on something else today,” the hulking Ward says.
Lyssa pats my arm sympathetically, her light gray eyes sad as she beholds me. Whereas not a month ago she would have been furious with me for not practicing, now I can tell that she empathizes with my pain. Perhaps she’s hurting too.
Setting aside the wooden practice shield in my hand, I swing my legs over the wooden fence around the practice area and head toward Neil. I glance to the side, still sad to see no sign of Blythe or Eclair. They had taken Vladykar Amon and Andeuten’s betrayal hard, and hadn’t come to practice.
“Would you be up for some aerial maneuvers?” Neil asks.
“That sounds nice,” I say.
Astralux smiles. “I can’t believe I’m hearing that from you.”
I smile a little as Neil and Lyssa chuckle—it feels good to have a little fun. Climbing up Astralux’s saddle, I pat the iridescent white dragon on the neck. “What should we practice?”
“Well, if you’re up for some real tests, I think you should do a loop,” Neil says.
A flood of excitement rushes through me. “Okay!” I say. Then I blink, surprised at my own tone and joy. “Uh.” I stare at Astralux, who turns her head and gives me a sheepish grin.
Neil busts out laughing. “Man, I do love it when a new pair reaches kainos. The other stages are great too, but kainos…kainos is precious.” Still chuckling, he steps up, putting a hand on my boot. “Alright, Estelle—Astralux has done inside and outside loops plenty of times before, so this is definitely more training for you. It’s not that far off from a barrel roll, really, but you do want to be ready for it. Gravity is going to pull you away from the saddle, so remember to always keep your feet locked into the stirrups, and a grip on that saddle horn.”
I nod—he doesn’t have to tell me to hang on twice.
“Inside loops are, relatively, easy.” Neil picks up a stick and a rock, putting the rock on top of the stick in the middle. “If this is you riding Astralux, an inside loop is when Astralux flies up, over, and then down.” He demonstrates the stick circling around, with the rock staying inside the circle. “This is why we call this an inside loop.
“An outside loop is when the rider is outside the circle.” Now Neil turns the stick down, the rock on the outer edge, as he makes another loop. “These are a bit trickier compared to inside loops because the momentum can throw you off the saddle more easily, whereas with an inside loop you go up before you turn over, helping to stabilize you just that little bit more.”
“Which is harder for you?” I ask Astralux.
Astralux shrugs with her front shoulders, shifting me in the saddle a little. “As long as I have good speed and control, there’s not much difference between them. Outside loops can be a little bit more difficult because you can have too much speed, but then again inside loops can be a little bit more difficult because you can lose too much speed.”
“Let’s do an inside loop first,” Neil says.
Nodding, Astralux turns and bounds off along the grassy field, her wings beating. Finding lift, she rises, and I’m surprised by the relief I feel as we climb into the air. The partly cloudy sky above still gives ample light, and I peer down, watching the way the shadows from the clouds moves across the Nordstern Mountain’s sides.
“It does feel good to be up here, doesn’t it?” Astralux asks over the wind rushing past us. She flaps her wings once. “I’m going to dive a little bit before I take an inside loop. Ready?”
I make sure my boots are well in the stirrups, and grip the saddle horn tight. “Ready.”
Astralux’s head dips down, angled toward the ground, gaining speed. She doesn’t dive for long, however, but then lifts her head, her body curling back a little. I feel the strange pull Neil had mentioned, first from behind me, then away from the saddle, and I lift my head to look down at the earth below me. My heart leaps a bit in surprise and fear, and Astralux falters, suddenly twisting and righting herself instead of seeing the loop through.
“Estelle?” Astralux asks hurriedly.
“I’m fine, I’m sorry.” I scratch the base of her neck. “I was just a bit taken aback by looking ‘up’ at the earth.”
Astralux chuckles. “I suppose that is a bit disorienting the first time. Alright, I’ll try again.”
Once more Astralux rises in the air. She dips a little, and this time I feel exhilaration from her. It helps my own uncertainties as she suddenly lifts, arching around. I grip the saddle horn with my hands, the saddle sides with my knees, and refuse to look “up” at the ground this time, not wanting to mess Astralux’s focus. Instead, I watch her head just in front of me, feeling her adrenaline rush as we arch back right side up.
“Perfect!” Astralux says excitedly.
I smile. “Should we try the outside loop while we’re up here?”
Astralux peers down at Neil, perhaps looking for a cue. “He’s not waving us down. I say let’s do it!” She circles higher, rising in the air, and then straightens out. “It’s the same thing, but the pull is just a little different—it’s going to be a bit like I’m throwing you from the saddle while I’m tumbling.”
I think through what she’s saying, and nod my head. “I understand.”
“Alright!” Astralux gives one last heavy flap of her wings, lifting us up, and then she tucks her head and arches her body down.
Our speed increases dramatically as Astralux is first diving naturally, then diving straight down, and then begins to dip around. Now I see what she and Neil were talking about—because of how Astralux is looping, gravity is trying to pull me forward and up out of the saddle, then down, and then even back as Astralux loops around again, stronger than the inside loop was. But I’m already hanging on for dear life, and fight against the pull with ease, keeping my grip on the saddle horn and my boots well-secured in the stirrups, until Astralux levels out again.
A flood of joy and excitement rushes through me as Astralux gives a happy roar. I giggle as she swoops around, thrilled, and then she circles down to land near Neil and Lyssa.
“Well done!” Neil grins up at us. “And I’m not just saying that—you look like naturals!”
“I scared Astralux on the first try,” I say. “This kainos bond is a bit disorienting.”
“Not helped that you progressed to kainos so early in your bond,” Neil says, his tone gentle. “Still, you’re both doing fantastic.”
“I think soon you’ll be going through Ward Neil’s aerial obstacle course,” Lyssa says.
I’ve seen this thing, a little farther northeast of Adytol. It consists of massive metal circles suspended by poles that stand high in the air, ropes strung across even taller poles, and other strange contraptions. Astralux explained that it’s a much more vigorous form of aerial testing, and confirmed that she had completed it, both on her own and with Tristin. But she did warn me that there was a part for me to play in the testing, and it wasn’t easy.
“Maybe not yet,” I say.
Neil chuckles. “Soon enough, though. You’ll—” He stops speaking abruptly and gazes north.
“Neil?” Astralux says. “Is it Giftigbun?”
Neil frowns and then looks back at us. “He’s asking about Eclair—he and Silexamani haven’t seen her in over a day. Have you seen her?”
Lyssa toys with her blonde braid, pursing her lips. “No. In fact, I’m trying to remember when I last saw Eclair. I talked to Blythe yesterday.”
A worry starts to run through me. “How did they react to the news about…about the betrayal?” I ask, still struggling to say Vladykar Amon.
“Not good.” Neil stares at me now. “They wouldn’t….”
“Oh my gosh.” Lyssa puts her hands on her head, her eyes wide. “Blythe asked me about saddles, where they were kept. I didn’t even think…oh Ariadna. I’m so sorry.”
Neil sprints north. “We have to find them,” he shouts over his shoulder. “Before they run into a Vladykar.”
Emotions flood through me—mine and Astralux’s protective worry combining—and an adrenaline rush like no other fills me. I leap onto Astralux’s back. “We’ll start looking now.”
“Don’t go alone!” Neil shouts at us from far away—he’s moving incredibly fast. But not as fast as Giftigbun, who has arisen from the dragon caves north and is zooming toward Neil. I can see the worry on the massive yellow dragon.
“I’ll come with.” Lyssa climbs onto Astralux’s back behind me. “It’s my fault—”
“—Nonsense,” Astralux says. “Hang on.” She takes a running bound along the grassy field, her wings beating heavily. It strikes me, as she slowly rises in the air, that the last time Astralux carried two people, it had been myself and Vladykar Amon.
But I push these thoughts aside as I peer out, using my improved vision to search out far.
“Where do you think they went?” Lyssa asks.
“To the southwest.” I feel oddly certain of this, though I’m not sure why.
Astralux nods, banking around and flying in that direction. I feel her hesitation, but I’m not sure why until I look down and realize that we aren’t that far from where Vladykar Amon and Andeuten’s remains had been burned and buried. I lift my head, staring straight ahead, and think only of Blythe and Eclair needing our aid.
Neil and Giftigbun approach from nearby, Giftigbun faster in straight-flight than Astralux and not encumbered. Beside him is Silexamani, Giftigbun’s mate and Tikokaftos and Eclair’s mother. She’s a dark brown-gray color, the tips of her scales darkening even more. She has a very calming aura, despite her massive size, but today I can feel the anxiety from her as she hurries ahead.
“You think they went this way?” Silexamani asks, her voice deeper than Astralux’s yet still decidedly feminine.
“It’s a guess,” I admit. “But I feel that they went this way.”
“Kalteratem and Undabouclier are searching south and north,” Silexamani says.
Giftigbun suddenly stiffens, staring directly ahead of us, peering around the forested mountainsides. “Eclair!” He opens his mouth, and I feel the silent beat of a dragon’s call.
“Oh, my little one—she called?” Silexamani asks.
We all hear Eclair’s higher-pitched roar of pain across the mountainside. Astralux—wisely, I think—pauses just a second to let Giftigbun and Silexamani go on ahead, the protective parents rushing on ahead. Then Astralux hurries after them.
“Eclair!” Silexamani shouts, her voice echoing through the mountainside.
Eclair yelps with a mix of relief and fear. When Astralux rounds the next mountain’s edge, my breath catches as I spot Eclair and Blythe on the ground—they’re surrounded by trolls on every side.
Giftigbun and Silexamani give a combined roar that makes everyone jump, myself included, and the trolls freeze, staring up with wide eyes as they tremble.
Astralux chuckles. “Those trolls are so dead.”
Tamara Rivers 
Leave a comment