At what seemed like the last possible second, Onyx spread his wings wide, and the force of the deceleration pressed me hard against the harness as we pulled out of the dive and shot upward at an angle that should have been impossible.
"Good girl," Ravel said. "You didn't scream. Most first-years do."
"I was too terrified to scream," I admitted.
Onyx's mental chuckle rumbled through my mind."You did well, Little Warrior. Many riders lose their breakfast on their first dive-and-climb."
"The day's not over yet," I muttered.
We spent the next hour practicing various evasive maneuvers. Each one seemed designed to test the limits of physics, my courage, and my ability to keep the contents of my lunch inside my stomach and not all over Onyx's neck.
The serpentine weave would make us a harder target for ground-based weapons. The sudden altitude drops would confuse our enemies. The wingover reversal would completely change our direction in seconds.
By the time Ravel called for a break, I was ready to call it a day, but we weren't done yet. Onyx landed on one of the smaller peaks, but we didn't dismount. The break was more for him than it was for us.
"You're improving," Ravel said, and from him, that was high praise. "You're conquering your fear of heights quite admirably."
"I'm learning to compartmentalize it," I admitted. "Though I suspect I'll never love flying the way other riders do."
"Love isn't necessary. Competence is."
"That's good to know."
"Did you dream last night?" Ravel asked. Evidently, he hadn't been privy to my mental conversation with Onyx at the start of our lesson.
"That's another thing I don't love, but am getting more competent at doing. Last night, I connected with half a dozen different creatures, and even a bat, which was an interesting experience. I still managed to wake up as me this morning."
"Perhaps you should give yourself a few more nights off. You still look like you've been run over by a dragon instead of riding one."
I chuckled. "Are you always so suave with the ladies?"
The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back, but it was too late. That was no way to speak to a commanding officer. Ravel was not my friend despite dining at my grandmother's table and saving me from assassins.
He shifted behind me. "You are not a lady, Kailin. You are a cadet, and we speak plainly to each other."
"I'm sorry. I was out of line, Commander. I would have gladly taken a few more days off, but Nyxath told me to drink the tea and dream. I don't think saying no to the dragon queen is an option."
Ravel was quiet for a moment. "She has her own agenda, and she might not be as concerned with your well-being as she is with the survival of her kind."
"Our fates are intertwined. If the dragons die out, Elucia falls, and without riders, dragonkind will not survive. We're bound together."
"There are different ideas about how to ensure that survival."
This was my opening. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something my friends discovered."
I felt him tense behind me. "Go on."
I took a breath, organizing my thoughts. "They were doing research in the library, reading through the journals of the fallen riders, and they found a concerning pattern."
"What kind?"
"Four dragons have had multiple riders die under suspicious circumstances. Always from mistakes that experienced riders shouldn't make. Improperly secured saddles, breaking formation to charge alone, that sort of thing. Their names are Ixilthar, Syltharion, Morgateth, and Vyrassin. I thought that I should mention it. Their current riders should be warned."
"I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. Every death, either accidental or in battle, is thoroughly investigated by riders and ground crews."
I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder. "But the pattern…"
His expression hardened. "It's the rider's responsibility to check their equipment before every flight. They are always the last ones to touch their harness before launching. If the harness fails, it's on them. No one has access to it after they take off. And besides, how do you imagine the dragons sabotaging the harness? They don't have the physical capability to tamper with straps and buckles."
