"It's more than that," Ravel said. "The royal family is supposed to be purely Elurian. The king having Elucian blood is a much greater scandal than Alar being here."
I hadn't thought of that, but it was a good point.
"Did Saphir tell you about my meeting with him?" I asked.
"There was no time." Ravel motioned for me to turn east. "How did it go?"
"Good. I got to pet Moki."
"That's unusual." He sounded surprised.
"So I gathered."
"Little Warrior,"Onyx said."Brace yourself. I'm going to stop channeling mental reinforcement your way so you can develop the needed tools to overcome your fear of heights."
I didn't like the sound of that, but he was right. I needed to be able to do it unaided.
As soon as his warmth and reassurance faded, my fear surged to the forefront, but I kept my eyes open this time, determined to fight it rather than be mastered by it.
The vertigo was still there, a swooping sensation in my stomach as we climbed, but it was less overwhelming than before. I focused on my breathing, on the solid feel of the saddle beneath me, and on Commander Ravel's steady presence at my back.
"You're doing much better today," he observed as Onyx leveled off.
"Thank you. I'm trying, and Onyx is a great help." I cautiously allowed myself to look down at the mountains below us.
They were beautiful from this vantage point, white peaks punctuating the dark green of pine forests, all of it bathed in the ethereal glow of the auroras. "It helps that this is not the first time. The unknown is always more frightening than the familiar."
The lingering effect of Onyx's influence was no doubt helping as well. He might not be actively sending more of it to me, but the remnants were enough to dull the cutting edge of my fear.
"Good," Ravel said. "Now, take us into a gentle banking turn to the right."
I shifted my weight slightly, telegraphing my intention to Onyx, who responded with a smooth turn that carried us in a wide arc.
We continued through a series of basic flight maneuvers, which were designed to build my confidence and coordination. Onyx was remarkably responsive, making me look far more skilled than I actually was, and it occurred to me that the riders' skills were not that important.
Dragons knew what to do.
"Yes, we do,"Onyx said."But riders are important too. Dragons are rash, and it's up to the riders to control our impulsiveness."
"Don't get complacent," Ravel said. "When you bond with your own dragon, it won't be this seamless initially. He or she won't be as experienced as Onyx, and it will take a while for the rapport between you to develop."
He was right, of course. On rare occasions, a dragon who lost its rider chose a new one, but most of the time, the bond was between a young, unbonded dragon and a new rider. I could only imagine how steep the learning curve was.
"I doubt I'll get as lucky again," I said. "Onyx is one of a kind."
"You've got that right,"Onyx's voice rumbled in my mind."I'm the best of the best."
"And also so modest," I teased out loud.
"Dragons don't know the meaning of the word," Ravel said. "They don't have one modest scale on their body."
"Why would we?"Onyx chuffed."We are the apex predators of the galaxy, and we are magnificent."
That was an odd comment. What did dragons know about the galaxy? Were there dragons on other planets, and could they somehow communicate?
"What did Saphir say about your abilities?" Commander Ravel asked, changing the subject.
The question reminded me of the medallion the shaman had loaned me, which was tucked beneath my uniform.
