Darius puts an arm around my shoulders and gives me a sympathetic look. “Too late, my friend. We’ve all beenwaytoo invested in this.”
Nessa spears a piece of fruit and shoves it in her mouth. “Oh yes! They have caught me up with everything that’s been going on with the Warlord these past few months.”
Of course they did. Nessa only joined our little group a few weeks ago.
Lyra is laughing, eyes gleaming with way too much amusement.
I notice Kieran two tables over, looking at us. He arches aneyebrow and winks. I groan even louder.
I risk a glance across the hall. Thane’s already watching—standing with the rest of the Phoenix Ring, expression maddeningly neutral. Except for the tilt of his mouth. The one that says he heard every word.
The one that says: I dare you to blush again.
Later that afternoon, I ride Calryx through the sky.
The wind rushes past me, crisp, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth from the forest below. The sky stretches endlessly above, a vast expanse of pale blue streaked with wisps of white. The world sprawls below us, quiet and vast—rolling hills, dense forests, rivers cutting through the landscape like silver veins.
From up here, everything looks smaller.
It’s been ten days since we bonded. Ten days since I took the trust fall from the cliffs, letting go of my fear so she could catch me before I broke. Ten days of flying together, learning each other’s movements and testing our limits.
She’s strong. Fast. Unstoppable in the sky. And I am learning. Learning how to move with her; to trust the instincts that are no longer just mine, but ours.
Flying with her is starting to feel like breathing.
We glide effortlessly, Calryx’s wings outstretched, catching the thermals. She barely moves, her body in perfect harmony with the sky. I close my eyes for a moment, feeling the weightlessness, freedom, and pure exhilaration of flight.
“You’re learning,”Calryx murmurs.“You trust me more now. I will never let you fall.”
I grin, tilting my head back as the wind rushes through my hair—wild, untamed, alive.“I think I believe that now.”
Calryx rumbles beneath me, low and pleased, her joythreading through mine like a shared pulse.“Or maybe you are finally realizing you were meant for this.”
The clouds part for us like they recognize something ancient in her wings—something sovereign. Calryx’s magics anchors me to her back, a steady, invisible tether that holds me firm. It hums through me, a quiet promise that I won’t fall. I’m settled deep in the saddle, secure in every way that matters.
But gods, the freedom of flight—it’s intoxicating.
She dips suddenly, rolling into a sharp spiral, the movement smooth, controlled. I move with her. Instinctively. Without fear.
For once, I’m not training or fighting. Just . . . being. The ground blurs far below us, forests melting into rivers, mountains rising in the distance.
From up here, the world is quiet. Peaceful.
Calryx lets out a low, pleased hum.“This is what we were meant to do.”
“Yeah.”I exhale, shifting forward, resting against the warm scales of her neck.“It is.”
For a while, we just fly.
But then, the wind changes. A sharp stillness creeps in.
The warmth of the sun diminishes, replaced by something cold, unnatural.
I sit up, my gut tightening.“Calryx.”
“I feel it.”
Ahead, the sky darkens. Not clouds, but shadows. And then, from the curling abyss, they emerge.
