“No, I can manage,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster. I hadn’t realized before I came to the Academy how much my short stature would impact my life here. But I refused to give in and act helpless.
I stepped up on the offered foreleg and from there to the dragon’s immense shoulder. Then I was high enough to put my foot into one of the dangling stirrups and swing myself into the saddle.
Ryse was right behind me, and I was sure he would sit in front—that was how I’d ridden on Jorn’s dragon when the courier had brought me to the Academy in the first place.
Instead, he settled behind me in the saddle, so close I could feel his breath stirring my hair.
“Hey, I can sit behind, you know,” I said, feeling immediately uneasy at the close proximity.
“No you can’t—don’t want to risk you falling off when we’re a hundred feet up. This way I can be sure you stay on.”
He put his arms on either side of me and kicked his feet into the stirrups. My own legs, of course, were dangling on either side of the broad dragon neck. I was completely surrounded by the Wing Leader’s big, muscular body behind me, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
It wasn’t that I felt unsafe or taken advantage of—Ryse wasn’t doing anything inappropriate. But he was so close I could feel his muscular chest against my back. I’d never been so close to a male before—other than Auren and he didn’t count because he was my brother and my twin.
Also, this close I could smell him—he had a clean scent like leather and warm skin that was indefinably but undeniably masculine. I liked it—liked it more than I wanted to admit, if I was honest.
Ryse didn’t seem to notice how stiff and uncomfortable I was.
“You got your flags?” he asked me as he reached around me for the leather reigns, which were attached to the tall dorsal spine in front of us rather than to any kind of harness or bridle.
“Right here,” I said, nodding down at my lap. I’d been clutching the long wooden sticks with their bright scraps of fabric all this time.
“Mine are tucked in the pocket at the back of my saddle,” Ryse said. “You can signal for both of us. I’ll explain to Humbolt.”
“Oh…all right.” My voice was tight and still a little hoarse from my run-in with Larson the night before. I hoped I would get this right. “Er…how are you going to steer?” I asked, nodding at the reigns. “Can M’alex feel you tugging when they’re just tied to his dorsal spine?”
Ryse rumbled laughter in my ear that vibrated my whole body.
“Those are just for the rider to hold on to. You don’t steer a dragon with your reigns—you steer him with your mind. M’alex—up!” he shouted, raising his voice and making me jump.
The huge dragon crouched low and then pushed up and off the ledge. His massive wings beat the air once…twice…three times and then we were ascending, flying upward into the clear blue sky.
I felt M’alex’s joy coursing through him and felt it echoed by Ryse. I caught it too and whooped with excitement and the pure elation of flight as we beat upward, ever upward.
No wonder all the cadets were so eager to get to their dragons, I thought, watching as other dragons and their riders dipped and soared around us. This feeling of being one with another being—this euphoria of soaring through the air—was the purest form of joy I’d ever known.
I couldn’t help contrasting this flight to the only other flight I’d had with Jorn, the courier on the back of his little Brown. That had been pleasant enough, but there was none of the elation I felt now. I wondered why.
Maybe it was because G’lornie, as a Brown, wasn’t as intelligent as M’alex. He was sweet and gentle but not too bright. His emotions had been simple and uncomplicated.
M’alex, on the other hand, exuded wisdom. I could feel his knowledge, though I couldn’t hear his thoughts. I could sense that he and Ryse were on the same level intellectually. Was that what made the difference?
Or was it just that I was literally right between them and getting emotions from both at the same time since they were so close? Was it that we were soaring and diving in ways that made my stomach drop, but not in a bad way—in a way that made me whoop and gasp and laugh as I felt Ryse’s strong, steady presence behind me and knew he wouldn’t let me fall?
I had no answers—I only knew this sensation was like nothing I’d ever felt before and I never wanted it to end.
Finally, though, M’alex leveled off and we got down to business. Flying right over the top of the Old Drake was Professor Humbolt on his Cerulean Silver-wing. The dragon looked as old as his rider with gray around his muzzle, but he was flying strong, his long wings flapping to keep him hovering in the same place.
The cadets all formed a very loose ring around him, all of us hovering in place as well and looking for his signal.
As we watched, the professor flashed a blue flag with a silver stripe at us.
“Wing, up!” the flag meant.
At once all the dragons rose about fifty feet higher.
“Good!” Professor Humbolt shouted, his voice thin because of the distance, but still understandable.
