"It's not windier than yesterday, just colder." I forced what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "If the conditions weren't safe, our instructors would have canceled this afternoon's session."
"Our instructors don't know about my dreams because you won't let me tell them."
Given that Kailin was who she was, the instructors would have probably listened to her warning and grounded me, de facto ending my career as a rider.
I hadn't come this far and sacrificed so much to throw it all away because of a nightmare. Even if it had been dreamt by the Hero of Elucia and its future shaman.
I squeezed her hand. "You know why we can't tell them. We've been over this."
"I know." She let out a breath, which condensed into mist in the cold air. "I understand that you want to keep flying, but I'm scared for you."
We'd been having the same conversation every afternoon for the past six days, and it was exhausting for both of us.
The evenings were even worse because when we were alone, Kailin was pressuring me to return to Catonia. She'd even gone as far as telling me to call my mother and tell her to issue an official request for my release. She presented her case in a calm, rational, and methodical way, citing the consistency of the visions across four separate dreams, and the increasing clarity that correlated with her growing power.
I had been listening respectfully and just as respectfully refusing.
It was tearing us apart.
"Finally." One of the cadets pointed to the aviary.
The first two dragons floated down from their abode higher up in the mountain, aiming for the roof and their riders.
Morgateth arrived first, which he always did, impatient to reunite with his bonded rider and take her up to the sky. According to Kailin, he'd missed having a rider, and he was eager to make up for lost time.
I found it hard to believe.
Morgateth didn't look like he enjoyed anything. He was like an old warrior with a nasty attitude.
He came in fast and hard, his deep blue scales with their crimson veins catching the waning afternoon light as he landed with a controlled violence that made the roof shudder.
The smaller dragon who had arrived with him gave him a wide berth, and most of the newly bonded riders took a step back.
Kailin didn't. She never had, not from the first moment Morgateth had snapped his jaws at her face.
"Be safe," she said as she released my hand, and the look she gave me was a combination of fear, love, and frustration.
I smiled at her, putting everything I had into making it convincing. "I'll see you at dinner."
She nodded and walked toward her dragon.
Morgateth nearly plastered his belly on the roof to make her climb easier, and I had to admit that he was doing his best to accommodate her.
She pulled on her goggles and flight hat, and Morgateth took three bounding steps and launched off the roof. The downdraft from his wings nearly knocked Morek's descending bronze offbalance, earning an indignant huff, though the dragon was careful to keep its distance from the menace.
As Kailin and Morgateth spiraled upward, I watched them until they were specks against the auroras, then let out the breath I'd been holding.
She was safe with him. Morgateth was experienced, had faced many battles with the Shedun, and had managed to evade projectiles that would have gotten less powerful flyers. That was what Captain Odinah had told Kailin during the post-bonding party. She'd told her that she was lucky he'd decided to give bonding another chance.
"Stop worrying about her," Codric said. "She'll be fine."
"I know. I'm coming to realize that the monster might actually be good for her."
Codric didn't know what the dreams were really about. Kailin had finally told the group about the nightmares, but only the part about the Citadel being attacked and the carnage she'd witnessed. At my request, she'd kept to herself the part where I died in every version.
Veynathei arrived next, and the sight of her drove everything else from my mind.
She was beautiful. Every time I saw her, the word felt inadequate and yet nothing else came close. Her scales shifted through their spectrum of silvers, golds, and faint turquoise as she descended, like light through cut gemstones, each color bleeding into the next.
