Page 161 of Ashborne: Defiance

Both the dragons huffed—which meant he was sharing all of this with her, as well. I shot him a sideways scowl, then gestured to Grace. “Kham says you’re welcome to mount,” I said through clenched teeth.

But to my surprise, she didn’t move immediately, except to clasp her hands more tightly, so her knuckles turned white.

“May I ask your help with something?”

I hated that she asked that with such uncertainty. I knew I could be a grumpy bastard, but I was a dedicated—desired—teacher and trainer. I was angry with myself that she hadn’t had the chance to observe that in me. And my pride prickled a little bit as well.

“I won’t ever rebuke you for asking for help, Grace,” I said as tonelessly as I could manage. “I know we got off to a rough start. I meant what I said in the clearing. I’m sorry that I frightened you, and overreacted. I’m your squad-brother, and our dragons are mated. I’m the first person you should ask for assistance.”

I felt Kham, about to offer his airy commentary on that and snapped my mind closed so I wouldn’t hear it unless he forced me to.

He didn’t.

Grace’s eyes widened. “Thank you. I just wondered if we could ride Koa, instead of Kham?”

“The reason we have you ride multiple dragons at the beginning is both so that your dragon isn’t too tired, and also because riding with different strides and shapes will give you a better understanding of all dragons, not just your own.”

“Yes, and I have—in fact, we’ve ridden Koa very little.”

When I frowned she rushed on.

“It’s just that, I seem to be able to ride other dragon’s landings better than hers. I started paying attention. I’ve practiced with everyone else, every day, and I have better success with all your dragons. I fall less than half the time landing overall. But when we ride Koa, it’s far more than half. I think it’s because I’ve gotten to ride her less, and her gait is different.”

“That’s probably true,” I said, impressed that she’d observed that in herself and was willing to work harder to fix it. Most Flameborne wanted to give themselves the best chances to succeed, rather than pressing into their own weaknesses. “Well, then, if Koa is happy for me to ride with you, we can take Koa for the whole session instead of just the end.”

Grace beamed. “She is. I already asked her. She encouraged me to ask you. I’m going to ask everyone. I just need to practice. I’m sure I can do it.”

“I’m certain you can too.”

Her cheeks pinked, but she thanked me, then turned and started up the mounting strap. I purposefully gave her time and space to mount alone. This many days into training, she should definitely be able to do it alone—and I was pleased to see that, while she was still slow, she made it to Koa’s withers without needing to pause to rest as she had a few days ago. And while she still needed to pull her body up and over her dragon’s neck before throwing a leg over, she did so smoothly.

“You’ve been practicing,” I observed, as she settled into her seat and I grasped the mounting strap to haul myself up.

“As much as I can. I’m allowed to mount and dismount alone, as long as we don’t fly. So, when everyone else is busy, I do that.”

“Good. That’s why you’re getting stronger and smoother. Keep doing as you’re doing.”

When I reached the top of the strap, it was awkward, because I had to get behind her. She propped both hands on Koa’s withers, and leaned forward and down, letting me reach over the top of her back to grasp the neck strap for counterbalance, and pull myself up to slide in behind her.

There was a brief second when our bodies were pressed together, her ass against my groin, her warmth under my chest. Then I sat back and cleared my throat, settling myself into my seat, and turning my attention to the training, to distract my now tingling body.

As Grace talked me through each step of clipping in and preparing to take off, I barely heard a word. The skin on my arms and neck prickled with goosebumps, and my breathing had grown shallow.

“Very good. If you’re ready, take hold and tell Koa to go.”

I’d meant to distract myself with teaching her, but the moment Koa began to move, our bodies were jostled together and I wanted to curse.

I leaned back, trying to put as much space between us as I could, pretending it was to give her the chance to ride the take-off without my support. And, to my relief, she did ride it without help. I didn’t need to circle her in my arms, or hold her close. I didn’t have to catch her weight, or press her down to keep her safe.

Soon, Koa soared over the Keep, and because it was far easier to ride flight without touching than take-off and landing, I instructed Grace to have her take one pass along the coastline, before returning to the launch hollow to land.

She did well—and still beamed every minute of flight.

I remembered when flying felt like that, the sheer delight of it. The marvel. The disbelief that this was my life now. I remembered those early days, and the sense of freedom I’d felt for the first time ever.

‘Your heart healed more every moment we remained in the sky,’ Kham sent warmly.

‘Yes. I remember,’ I replied with genuine warmth. He had saved my life. And that wasn’t a metaphor.