Page 133 of To Touch A Silent Fury
The moment her head passed, I raised my hand to the sky, the loop of my belt held stiff above it. I’d only just grabbed hold with my other hand when she yanked me entirely off my feet.
My arms screamed as she pulled me into the sky by the thick leather. My legs dangled as she pulled quickly up, and my feet skimmed the edge of the roof tiles of the western wall. She beat her wings, pulling us higher. Below, already far below, I heard Braxthorn’s yell as he commanded Kallamont into the sky.
But it was my body they all watched, staring up at me as I hung from one claw of a ruby dragon.
Are you ready?She asked.
My arms will give out soon enough,I thought, my mind as breathless as my body, buffeted by the evening air.So I have to be.
Your confidence is astonishing.
She beat her wings again, and then she spun, rolling in the sky as she released the belt, throwing me upwards to the clouds. For a moment, I was suspended in it, at home in the vaporous air. Then I was falling back towards the Vidarium.
I could see their faces, tiny pale circles, but not yet their expressions, as I plummeted back towards the roof. The wind hit against me as I spread my arms and legs to slow my ever-quickening descent. I blinked as the air pulled tears from my eyes, my face warped by its sheer force.
A moment later, I felt it. The warm air of hot breath to my right. I could barely see as Chaethor rolled her body under me. I pushed against the wind itself, reaching towards her as the roof grew ever nearer. I could almost make out the individual tiles as I tried to propel my hands towards the saddle loop.
Chae,I warned.
I’ve got you.
Her wings flared ever so slightly, slowing her just enough, and I grabbed onto the saddle, pulling myself onto her back. She flared her wings more, pulling us into a steady careen over the courtyard, her feet grazing the roof as mine just had.
I laughed as I made out the sheer horror on the women’s faces. It had worked. I laughed again, punching my fist into the air as I whooped, and Chaethor let out a hearty and happy roar.
That was your fun,she said.Hold on, it’s time for mine.
I grinned as I clutched onto the saddle with both hands, pressing my body against hers as she looped us into yet another death-defying roll in the endless warm sky.
At first light, Chaethor dozed as I fussed around her, fitting the thick straps of the custom saddle around her middle from atop one of the towers. She was up to the final fastening now, and I would need to commission new straps from the leatherworker.
Chaethor grunted.Incoming.
I turned just before I heard it myself. The thump of wings as Kallamont flew over from the south. The ruby and the sapphire dragons kept their distance from one another for the most part, and if one of them was sleeping on one of the Vidarium’s towers, you were likely to find the other on the palace roof.
It didn’t seem he approached alone, though. I squinted in the low light and noticed his rider. Behind me, Chaethor stretched and moved to the edge of the basin, making room for their approach. I grabbed up the rest of the straps over one arm and stood beside her neck, my other hand resting on the skin there.
Kallamont gripped the tower’s side with outstretched claws and for a moment the two dragons took up nearly the entire space, their wings grazing one another.
Chaethor growled at him, and as soon as Braxthorn jumped down to the tower, Kallamont left again, flapping down to the woods below. Chae resettled, and I eyed my father as I continued fastening her saddle.
“You off for a dawn flight, too?” he asked, pleasantly. His gaunt cheeks were enlivened with the red of fresh air, and even his posture looked better. Stronger.
I shook my head. “I mean to take my leave back to the city.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why so soon?”
“We cannot leave your sister in charge for too long,” I said, forcing a smile.
Braxthorn laughed, as I hoped he would. “That was some trick last night,” he said. “Any way you can make that useful?”
Just like my father to ask such a thing. Everything had to have an angle with him; there was no pleasure, not even in flight. I nodded regardless. “Working on it.”
He rubbed his leather gloved hands together, blowing into them. “So, Lady Elissa?”
I could not hold the question back any longer. “You’re really going to let him marry Vorska?”
“You want to get involved in politics now?”
