"Your turn."
I stared down at him, then at the narrow strip of stone between the dragon and the abyss, trying to calculate if I could manage the dismount without stumbling over the edge.
"It's simple," Ravel said. "Swing your right leg over and use the handholds on the saddle to guide your descent. Onyx will not move until you are safely on the ground."
I swallowed hard and nodded.
After the terrifying flight, this was a piece of cake, right?
Funny how everything was relative. Maybe that was the key to overcoming my phobia—the shock of exposure. The more dangerous stunts I took part in, the more of the ordinary stuff I could handle.
Yeah, right. As if anything about this place was ordinary.
I was sitting on top of a massive dragon and thinking of him as a new acquaintance or maybe even a friend.
"Thank you, Kailin," Onyx's amused voice sounded in my head. "I think of you as a friend as well."
"I appreciate that, but we need to set boundaries. Is there a way you can stay out of my thoughts until I give you permission to enter them?”
The horrified voice of my dragon lore teacher suddenly sounded in my head."Are you insane, Kailin? How dare you talk like that to a dragon?"
"It is quite alright," Onyx said. "You were not disrespectful. And as for guarding your thoughts, you will learn how to do this in due course."
"Come on, Kailin." Ravel waved his hand in encouragement. "We don't have all day."
With a sigh and as much dignity as I could muster, I swung my leg over and started to slide down, my fingers closing over the leather handholds with a white-knuckled grip.
Halfway down, my foot slipped, and I slid the rest of the way in an ungraceful scramble, landing on my rear end on the stone platform with a jarring thud.
At least I hadn't fallen over the edge.
Ravel's lips twitched, though to his credit, he managed not to laugh. He offered his hand to help me, and as I took it, he pulled me up.
"Sorry about that," I mumbled, brushing myself off and avoiding looking down the abyss that loomed behind me, far too close for comfort.
Onyx's head swung toward me, his massive golden eyes regarding me with what seemed like warmth or even amusement. "Don't apologize, Little Warrior. You are pure of heart and courageous, and that is what matters. You will learn the rest in time."
Without thinking, I lifted my hand and put it on the side of his snout. "Thank you. I appreciate your words of encouragement. I needed them."
Ravel shook his head. "Most cadets count themselves lucky if they can hear the voice of the dragon they are bonded to, but Onyx is bonded to me, and dragons never bond with more than one rider." He studied me with interest. "Do you hear any of the other dragons?"
I shook my head. "The only other dragon voice I heard was the one calling me to rise and come forward in the Circle of Fate. The other potential riders heard it too."
"Saphir's dragonia has the unique ability to speak to all riders and all dragons."
It occurred to me that Nyxath didn't sound like a nickname, but it also wasn't difficult to pronounce.
"Saphir named Nyxath like he had all the first hatchlings," Onyx said. "She was happy with it and never saw the need to choose a dragon name even though she's our queen."
I hadn't known that, and I also hadn't known that she was the only one with the ability to communicate with all riders. Maybe it was a trait that only the queen had.
I turned to Ravel. "If something happens to Nyxath, how will riders get called forth?"
He shrugged. "I guess a new dragon will be hatched with her ability, or maybe it will be passed to another. Supposedly, there is only one such dragon alive at a time." Ravel smiled. "I think dragons have magic."
Onyx chuffed out a puff of sulfur-smelling smoke as if to say that was obvious.
Ravel's expression turned serious. "Your talent is as rare as Nyxath's, and if it extends to include other dragons, it is incredibly valuable. Right now, our communications are limited. Having a rider with the ability to communicate directly with all dragons at once will give us a huge advantage, but until we know more about your ability, don't tell anyone about it."
