Page 131 of Ashborne: Defiance

“Flameborne, do not unclip until you are expressly ordered to do so. Do you understand the instruction? Repeat it back to me in your own words!”

“Yes, sir!” Grace’s voice was high and tight with pain, but she looked up at Ronen, and for the first time, I caught sight of her face, splattered in blood, dripping down her chin, and her teeth red. “I am not to unclip from Koa’s harness until you give me an order to do so.”

“Very good,” Ronen called calmly. My heart thudded.

‘She is safe,’ Kham assured me.

I prayed she stayed that way.

“Flameborne, order your dragon to fall back. Let us pass. Then she’s to rise and position herself over the net.”

It took bare moments for the maneuver. I practically bounced in my seat, waiting for Koa to position herself where Grace would be safe even if she fell. But finally, they were there. Tension crawled up my spine.

“Flameborne, in a moment when I give the order, you’re to cast off. That means you slip off your dragon and let yourself hang by the safety strap.”

“Yes! I know! I did it with Voski!” Grace reassured him.

Ronen’s brows rose, then, with a dark look at me, he continued. “Very good,” he said tightly. “Once you’ve stopped swinging back and forth, tell Koa to lower you to the net. You do not unclip until you have a grip on the net with one hand, and can use the other to unclip. Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

And then she fucking did it. Leaned forward on her hands, just like I’d shown her. Pulled her feet up to balance on Koa’s broad back, then dove off with barely a hesitation.

Ronen cursed, and I shook my head, my heart rising into my throat again.

But Grace whooped. And though it was shaky, by the time she was swinging alongside her dragon’s belly, she laughed.

She fucking laughed.

I could barely watch as Koa slowly lowered herself between our dragons—all three had to flap in time, and take very great care. We didn’t tell Grace so, because she needed to focus on getting herself to that net, but Koa’s position had to be slightly ahead of our dragons because the momentum kept Grace dragging behind her—and Koa needed room to flap without tangling Ekko’s or Kham’s wings. But that only gave Grace a very few feet to get to the net.

I held my breath until she was down, and her hand locked on the netting. And then she had to wrestle with the large clip of the safety strap with one hand.

It was a harrowing few seconds until she was able to get the thick clip pulled back enough to slide it off her belt.

But finally, Koa screamed and gave a swift down-flap to lift herself above our dragons, and power forward. She didn’t drop until she was clear of them—when she positioned herself under the net once more, where she could catch her rider if Grace fell again.

Please don’t let her fall again.

Grace bounced twice and would have gotten to her feet again, except Ronen barked at her to stay on hands and knees and get back to the center of the net, where she was to sit, facing forward.

And finally we could let the dragons drift closer, allowing slack in the net so it would curl around Grace.

She was safely twisted up as the pendulum of her weight caught in the wind of our flight, turning and twirling her, until she was little more than a round teardrop below our dragons, flying wing-tip-to-wingtip.

And only then could I actually take a breath.

46. Are You Hurt?

~ VOSKI ~

It was protocol for the dragons with the Flameborne in the net to be the first to land, giving them the clearest space and less chance of harm.

“Curl up, hands over your head, knees at your chest. You’ll drag for a time, but the meadow is a soft landing,” I called to her as the dragons descended the final feet.

Above us, dragons wheeled and took turns coming in to land, but I didn’t wait. The moment Kham and Ekko came to a halt, I slid down the mounting strap and ran to the net. The dragons let go of the corners so it could be untwisted.

As Grace pushed at the net around her, I reached it and tore at it, yanking the twisted length up and away, untangling it in frustrated tugs and cursing under my breath.