Res snapped his beak, the only warning Kiva had before her shadow reached out to trip her. I caught her before she could fall, grinning. “Don’t pick fights with the magical crow, Kiva.”
She glowered at Res, who puffed up in response.
I waved away the mild alarm on Caliza’s face. “Come on. Let’s go outside.”
The main training courtyard looked little like I remembered it. What had once been designed for flight and crow training had been transformed into something vaguely reminiscent of the training grounds in the castle at Sordell. Sparring rings, sword practice stations, and archery targets all filled the arena. But remnants of the complex’s old purpose still persisted. A line of massive hoops hung suspended overhead for practicing aerial spins, massive T-shaped perches below them for landing, and the crowning jewel of the training complex: the drop wall.
A massive stone slab four times the height of the nearest building, it’d been formed by earth crows ages ago for flight practice. Steps zigzagged across its flat face, a platform jutting out at each switchback so crows could practice at increasing heights. Normally, a fledging would start by attempting various types of flights on their own, but Res had long ago learned the feel of the wind. Now he just had to account for me.
I took the bridle from Caliza, spinning eagerly to Res. He let out a loud caw, stepping back.
I sighed. “If I lean left and you go right, we’re both in trouble. When we get more comfortable with each other, we can go without it.”
Res eyed me as if he were considering the multitude of heights he could drop me from.
I lifted the bridle. “Is it okay?”
Something like a dramatic sigh grumbled down the link, but in the end, Res lowered his head, allowing me to slip the bridle around his head and beak before securing the saddle on his back. My hands quivered as I worked, and he squawked when I pulled the girth too tight. I winced. “Sorry.”
Res and I walked along the grounds for several minutes, letting him get used to the feel of the leather against his feathers and readjusting anything that wasn’t comfortable for him. Then we climbed onto the highest platform, well away from the edge. Though it seemed the riskiest, starting so high, it was actually the safest way. It gave Res plenty of time to adjust to my weight and correct for it.
Nearly a hundred feet below us, Caylus, Kiva, and Caliza waited.
I looked to Res. “Ready?”
He straightened, puffing out his chest and lifting his head.
I grinned and, with my heart hammering, slid a foot into a stirrup. With a familiar ease, I swung onto his back, settling lightly into the saddle.
Everything stilled. I forgot the whisper of the wind through the trees, forgot the warm caress of the afternoon heat, forgot even the war looming on the horizon.
In that moment, there was only me, and there was Res.
Our bond thrummed. I closed my eyes, letting the feeling fill me. Slowly, the touch of the wind came back, the brush of sunlight against my skin like warm fingers.
Kiva let out a loud cheer, and the rightness of the moment filled me in a rising tide.
After so much loss, after so much pain and blood and death, we were both still here. Resyries was here.
And I was a rider.
I laughed once, loud and sharp. Res flared out his wings, releasing a piercing call. I leaned forward, keeping my weight centered, my knees clear of his wing joints, a thousand of Estrel’s past refrains echoing in my mind:Trust your crow to do the flying. Lean with them. Don’t lead them. You must move as one.
Go.I sent the word down the connection in a flutter. Res leapt, clearing the platform with ease, his wings two massive shadows stretched wide. They caught the current, holding us steady.
I let out a whoop as Res glided smoothly through the air. The wind poured over me in a caress, an old friend I never thought I’d know again. Res’s joy swept through our bond, filling me in rushing waves. It rebounded inside me, paralleling my own, two emotions made one.
I felt the wind brush through his feathers as if they were mine, felt his wings stretch and press against its power. He shifted beneath me, tilting and readjusting, compensating for my presence. But he didn’t falter, not once.
Rosstair stretched out before us like the white sands of an Ambriellan shore. Distant figures stopped to stare, hands lifting to point. Indistinct voices echoed with excitement. I relished being so high up, where the weight of the world dropped away and all that remained was this flight, this moment.
The familiar feel of the wind threading through my hair and nipping at my skin made me feel lighter than I had in months. As we flew in lazy circles, the gentle rise and fall of Res’s body with each wingbeat lulling me into serenity, I closed my eyes and simply let that feeling fill me.
For the first time in a long time, everything felt okay.
Until Res landed. I forgot to keep my weight back, and he went tumbling headfirst into the moist earth. I toppled over his head, landing on my back in a rush of expelled air and staring up at a very disgruntled-looking crow.
The moment the breath returned to my lungs, I laughed.
