Page 68 of Swift Wings Shadowed Heart
I smile. It may be petty, but I enjoyed that.
32
Rhea
We spend the rest of the day training until it feels as if my muscles will peel right off the bones. When our dragons bank in different directions, it’s crucial for our Tethers to automatically adjust to keep us balanced. So we fly, performing maneuvers that simultaneously test their strength and flexibility. The one at the far end must lengthen, while the other must shorten.
During some of the sharpest maneuvers, I still need to increase the number of Tethers. Two aren’t enough to stop me from wobbling all over the place like a rag doll. I watch Vaylen carefully to learn how he makes it look like a stroll in High Park. He never uses more than two. He even drops down to none when he coasts. I’ve tried to mimic him, but so far, replicating the stunt has been impossible. The wind combined with Zephyros’s movements, no matter how slight, nearly send me plummeting to the ground. I need to figure out that trick he does with his boots, it seems.
When we finally come back down, Vaylen is pleased with us. He doesn’t mince words when we do something wrong, but he isn’t adverse to offering praise where due. I like that. It makes me think he’s admired for more than his power. He’s an excellent Prime, and it’s just the reason Phoebe and I are ahead of the others. We’re ready to move on to upside down maneuvers and signaling, while the rest of the initiates are still working on the most basic maneuvers.
“You can have the next hour to study, then you’re free to do as you please,” Vaylen says, then leaves to talk to the other Primes.
“Study?” I complain.
“It won’t be so bad. Let’s go.” Phoebe hooks her arm with mine, and we head for the lifts. “The library is rather nice. Have you seen it?”
“No.”
“I’ve been doing some research every night.”
I frown. “Research? About what?”
Her eyes shift from side to side. “Um, Heratrix.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were one of… those.”
She lets go of me and crosses her arms, closing off.
“I—I don’t mean that in a bad way,” I stammer.
“Oh, you don’t?”
“I’m just not a dreamer, Phoebe.”
“You don’t have to be a dreamer to believe Heratrix is still out there.”
“Most of the time, I do but being practical… let’s say the Goddess is still out there. She’s been gone for nearly a thousand years, without a trace. Whole generations have come and gone during that time. To believe ours will be the one to unravel the mystery… I’d say that’s a dream of epic proportions.”
She shrugs. “Maybe, but there’s so much we don’t know. What if her absence is only normal? What if every so many centuries she plunges into the Tide of Embers Sea to a secret world and reigns over a whole other realm?”
“Amazing theory. Have you shared it with Embernia’s scholars?”
“Maybe I will.” She stomps into the lift that has arrived.
I shuffle inside, regretting my words. “I’m sorry, Phoebe. It was a bad joke. It’s nice that you have an interest in the Goddess.” The lift clanks and starts descending. “It’s dreamers who come up with things like this lift, not people like me.”
She examines me sidelong, likely trying to evaluate my sincerity.
“One day, in this generation or another, it’ll be someone like you who’ll find her.”
She smiles, blushing a little. I mock-punch her shoulder, and we laugh, the tension seeping away.
Talking excitedly about all the research material at the library, she takes me there. The place is, indeed, nice—a vast chamber that stretches into the darkness beyond the reach of my vision. Shelves, impossibly tall and laden with ancient tomes, line the walls. But it’s the light that captures my attention. Not the flickering glow of torches or the dim, smoky light of candles, but a clean, steady radiance emanating from glass orbs suspended from the ceiling. Electric lamps!
“Wow!” I say, staring at one of them.
“Right?” Phoebe says.
