by Kenna Bardot
“I’m coping. Which is better than I was a few months ago. Oh, hello!” Madi glanced down to see Hydra pawing at her gently. I hadn’t even noticed that Hydra left my side, much less gone forward without me. Madi crouched down and reached out to touch Hydra but stopped midway, tears pooling in her eyes. “Kimba’s girl.”
“Yes, Hydra.” Haisley confirmed, running a hand down the crouching Goddess’ hair.
Madi looked up and gave Haisley a watery smile. “She’s beautiful. I can already feel the same fire in her spirit that Kimba had.” Then she turned towards the doorway and met my gaze. “Hi. I’m so sorry. I’m being rude.”
“Madi, that’s Mireyah. She’s Hydra’s.”
“The Goddess from the square. It’s nice to meet you.” She extended her hand for me to shake and I walked in to do so.
“That’s me,” I said with uncertainty.
“You were the last one to see Trellis alive.” She took a deep breath and while I didn’t know her very well, I could see plainly that she struggled to hold her emotions in check.
“Yes.” I really couldn’t say much more. I didn’t want to offer sympathy for someone who was obviously in mourning. How could I when I hadn’t known them both?
“Well, I’m glad her baby is in good hands. Let’s look at her, shall we?” She rounded the side of the island and patted it. “Can you come up here, please, Hydra?”
Obligingly, Hydra flapped her wings and with a wobbly start made it up with no help. I walked over to watch. Haisley positioned herself beside me. “Madi’s going to check on Hydra’s growth rate to ensure that she’s doing well.”
“My specialty is tied to reproductive health, what with me coming from Svadeni house. But Haisley isn’t completely wrong. Growth rate and reproductive rate are so connected.” She ran a hand down the side of Hydra’s head, tilting it up so she could stare into my dragon’s eyes.
“Oh, you’re beautiful and coming along so nicely. I can just imagine how our gents will love you. Oh, for sure. She’ll be swatting them away, you can be sure of that, Mireyah.”
“Gents?” I asked weakly.
“Sure, dragons have been known to choose several mates when they’re fertile and have a great need to procreate. Goddesses too really if you think about it.” She laughed, and I held a hand up to my belly in defense.
“Did you just compare me to a dragon in heat?” If anybody else had made such a comment, I might have been tempted to punch them. But from the kind-eyed Svadeni, all I could do was restrain my growing amusement. She truly seemed to have no idea what sort of comparison she’d drawn.
Beside me, Haisley had her head on the counter, weak from so much laughing. Madi threw us both confused looks. “Wait, what are you…” she trailed off and her eyes widened. “I knew I recognized you. You were that Sylfe, in the Trials that Trellis and I volunteered for. That’s why you looked so familiar.”
She looked over her shoulder, and a moment later, a dragon dashed into the room. He was big, beautiful and very familiar. I remembered touching his face, looking into those eyes back during a time when I had been in despair, wondering if I would ever have my Sires.
Madi reached up to wrap her arms around the dragon’s snout as best as she could. “This is Leone.”
“Hello, Leone.” I reached out to touch his snout, rub it. “It’s nice to see you again. You were the first dragon I ever saw.” He nuzzled my hand, and I felt an instant and immediate connection to him. If not for him, I was sure I would have fallen to Ashric. I might not have survived the Sire Trials.
“He hated that Tovenaar from the moment he saw him. Most times, the dragons understand that while it’s meant to be difficult, the Sire Trials themselves aren’t life or death. But I truly believe he would have died before he let the Tovenaar reach you first. We were so scared for you. It’s nice to formally meet you, Mireyah. I’m glad you made it out without him.”
I shot her an enormous grin. “I’m glad I made it out too. Now if I could only do the same for my basic training.”
Haisley spoke up, “Have you been to visit Gwynna yet, Madi?”
“Sure, just an hour ago. It’s so close. I can feel it. Illyrio is going insane. You should both go.” Madi plucked a tiny bottle from the cabinet and opened it for Hydra to drink, which she did obligingly.
“Just a vitamin,” she clarified when I looked at her. “You can go now if you want.”
“Great! Let’s go, Mireyah. I’ll introduce you to Gwynna.”
“Okay.” I waved goodbye to Madi and gave Leone another stroke before we left.
We walked out of the medical building and over next door. Haisley pushed open an enormous stone and iron door and we stepped into a clean, wide area being guarded by two pairs of dragons and their partners. Elin was there on top of his dragon, a spear in his hand and a serious expression on his face.
We walked down towards a big pen where a majestic dragon was guarding a gleaming black egg. A short stocky man with a long blue braid sat right next to her.
"Hi," Haisley whispered and the blue-haired man looked up.
"Oh, hey, Haisley!”
"This is Mireyah.” she said to him as an introduction. “She’s bonded with Kimba’s girl. I figured she'd want to see what her baby used to be like. Or close enough."
The guy gave me a wave but didn't get up off the chair. "Hey! Welcome to the Dragon Guard. I'm Illyrio and this is Gwynna."
"Nice to meet you, Illyrio and your beautiful Gwynna." Hydra jumped up onto my shoulders and I huffed out as she sniffed the air, obviously very curious about the momma dragon and her egg.
“So Madi tells me it’s almost time.”
Illyrio pulled at the collar of his shirt. “That’s what she says.
When we walked out of the building with a last wave at Elin, I ran straight into Haisley who was stopped just outside the door. I heard the low growl she made at the back of her throat, and I followed the direction of her gaze to see Jarek and his minions who had made their disapproval of me known in the days before.
"Bloody stupid asses. They’re harassing you, Mireyah. Plain and simple." Haisley crossed her arms over her chest and lightning cracked the sky a moment later.
"Haisley, it’s fine. They barely affect me. And if they do, I don’t show it. They’re not worth the attention or the energy.”
"No, they’re not. But it doesn’t make me happy when I want the entire Guard to get along. Arkin is just being stupid because he wanted Yula to get a dragon when Kimba had her egg. Kimba chose you for Hydra, and they're not happy. Now they want Gwynna's baby and she's pure, you know? They don't deserve that baby dragon." The wind blew harder, and I feared Haisley would burst.
"Maybe we should just go?" I looked up, and the sky was boiled a gloomy grey, proving just how much power Haisley had at her disposal.
With a last glare, the group of three eventually walked off. Haisley let out a sigh and closed her eyes as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. "Okay, we can go."
Somehow, even with them gone, I had a feeling it wasn't the last they would make trouble for me.
✽✽✽
“Well?” Chett eyed me curiously.
“I would like to choose Leone.” I nodded my head decisively. With my special connection with him, I knew it would be an honour if I could experience this first with him.
“Madi’s Leone? When did you meet him?” Chett rubbed his chin as if deep in thought. He nodded at Thorus, who rumbled low in response, flapping his wings once before settling back down.
“Yes, Madi’s Leone. I had to take Hydra to be checked by Madi a few days back. But that wasn’t even the first time I met him. He was there during my Sire Trials back in Sylfeshire.”
“Well, here they are.” He pointed to the sky, and I looked up to see a large shadow landing until the sound of its weight falling reverberated through me.
“Hiya, Mireyah! I heard you wanted to borrow Leone for your first flying lesson?”
I worried my b
ottom lip before nodding. “I hope that’s okay?”
“Oh, he’d love it.” She slapped the side of his neck, and he made a sharp sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter. “He’d enjoy helping you learn how to ride a dragon.” She gestured me forward, and Hydra and I moved closer. Running my hand over the scales on his neck, I pressed a forehead against him. Relishing the moment, truly feeling the connection I had with him.
His scales were different beneath my palms, much larger than Hydra’s and cool to the touch where hers were warm.
A warm splash against my back made me jolt into him, and he looked over my shoulder with a growl.
From the corner of my eye, I watched Madi frown at my back. When I turned, Jarek, Arkin and Yula stared back at me. Jarek held both their wrists, and I imagined that he had just taken them along when he’d travelled. He smiled at me, as if daring me to do something about the splash of mud that hardened on my clothing. “Oops, sorry, didn’t know we were landing in mud.”
“Jarek, Arkin, Yula, what are the three of you doing here?” At that moment, a large blob appeared in the sky, separating into two separate figures. Arkin and Jarek’s dragons.
“Heard it would be the newbie’s first time flying. According to Dragon Guard tradition, we’re allowed to observe. Are you going to send us away like naughty children again to protect your human pet? I didn’t intend to land in the mud, but I guess filth recognizes filth. Doesn’t it, human?” Arkin folded his arms in front of his chest and smirked.
“That’s probably why you landed in it,” I snarled.
Chett held up a hand to cut off whatever Jarek might have said in response. “You can stay. But behave.”
“Madi, are you sure you want her to take Leone up? You don’t want him to end up like Kimba, do you?” His words met an echoing silence as the others absorbed his words in shock.
I opened my mouth to speak through my quivering bottom lip. To hate me so vehemently that he would insinuate Kimba’s death was my fault shook me to my core.
Madi stepped forward, squeezing my shoulder in support as I tried to find the words I needed. “I’m honoured that she wants my Leone to be her first time taking flight.”
“What did I say about behaving? Stay quiet or I’m ending this tradition,” Chett warned. He nodded at me and while I still wanted to respond, I shut down the words. I needed to focus, not be distracted by the trio of hate. “Go ahead, Mireyah. Get onto Leone and take Hydra with you.”
I took a deep breath to steady my trembling hands as I turned to Madi and spoke quietly, “I’ll take care of him. Thank you for trusting him with me, Madi.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, “He’ll take care of you too. Just trust him.”
As I squeezed back, I made the mistake of looking over at Jarek and his friends. The smug looks on their faces, the judgment on them was enough to rile me up again. Ignoring them, I walked over to Leone, touching my cheek against his. “We’ll take care of each other up there, okay?”
He huffed out a breath through his nose and I grabbed his sides, carefully hefting myself onto his back with a few pumps of my leg. With a slight flutter of wings, Hydra flew up and joined me. Her nerves and fear coursed through me, mingling with mine, heightening until I wished I could just call it off.
I looked back at my audience and noticed that Haisley had arrived. She gave me a wave and a thumbs up. A few feet away, Patrick and Jas stood along with several other Dragon Guard I hadn’t met personally yet. That really wasn’t even the worst part because then I saw Corban. I guess Chett hadn’t been joking when he said our leader almost always had his finger to the pulse of the Guard.
My nerves flared higher, especially when I felt the mud drying on my back. It served as an unwelcome reminder of the hatred towards me. People watched me. Judged me.
I should have been used to it. I’d had entire audiences in the Challenges at Godsvail, but no matter the outcome, I’d known my time there would be temporary.
In the Reserve, I had an eternity to live with the judgment if I failed.
Not everyone wanted me to fail, but the desire to prove Jarek wrong blinded me.
Beside me, Chett got onto Thorus’ back with one fluid motion. “You good, Mireyah?” I swallowed before nodding. “Good. Ask him to take you up.”
“Let’s go up, please, Leone.” He let out another huff of breath as he stretched out his wings and with one flap, had us at least twenty feet up in the air. My hands shook as I grabbed his sides and squeezed in, “Higher.”
He angled himself up like a rocket and flew higher. My hair whipped around my head so much, making me wish I’d thought to tie it back before we’d gone up. I spied Chett making hand gestures, and I pushed on Leone’s neck to get him to follow the directions my trainer pointed out. It took an impressive deal of effort, and I looked over to see Chett pointing to his legs. I took a breath and tightened my thighs around Leone’s back, bending my body in a jerky movement to get him to turn.
With a jerk of surprise, he moved to follow. Not very graceful, but effective enough, I supposed. Chett directed Thorus with barely a movement so they were flying directly beside us. “Good, so far?”
I tried not to think about the fact that I was thousands of feet above the ground without another body controlling the dragon I rode on. “I’ve been better!”
“Hydra’s time.”
I used one of my hands to stroke Hydra. Under me, Leone settled into a glide. Smooth and steady, allowing Hydra the opportunity to stand and flap her own wings. She flew directly above Leone, going up inch by inch until she was flying more beside me. Under me the bigger dragon kept his pace slow and steady so Hydra wouldn’t need to work harder to catch up.
I didn’t speak, but I knew she felt how proud I was of her. How much I shared in the happiness that just swirled around her. She made bigger flaps, tentatively trying to perform a few tricks. Chett’s face appeared behind her with an enormous smile. While I couldn’t hear it, he clapped at Hydra’s display. I shot him the biggest smile I could muster even as the wind flew at my face.
Without warning, a powerful gust of wind caught Hydra’s wings, sending her barrelling under a group of inky storm clouds. Leone sped to catch up with her, heading straight into rain. The dried and cakey mud melted off my hair and streaked down my head and into my eyes.
I shut them when they stung, reaching up to wipe at them with equally muddy hands. The mud felt slick on my hands as it flowed down between my fingers. I struggled to get my grip back, failing to get a hold on Leone’s equally slick scales.
Then my world stopped when Hydra’s fear coursed through me. Even over thunder and the falling rain, her voice roared in my head. I opened my eyes, squinting against the low visibility, and finally spotted her thrashing about in the wind.
I pressed on Leone to fly towards her, which he did quickly, large wings beating against the wind with giant flaps. With my heart thudding in my chest, I let go of Leone. I knew I could fall, but as I grabbed Hydra and brought her closer, she was my priority.
My only priority at that moment.
“Let’s go down, boy.” Leone flew out of the storm and descended towards the training field. Chett flew up next to me. “Are you okay, Mireyah? Hydra? I suddenly lost you.”
I still had Hydra in my arms, our hearts beating a staccato in our chests in sync. “We’re good. We’re good.”
When we landed, the crowd quieted. Gaige stood there, eyeing me with a blank look so like Char that I couldn’t read him. His mouth tightened into a straight line, and I felt my heart sink. I had been a disappointment, letting a little mud affect me so profoundly.
If it meant I’d lost all my chances to be part of the Cadre, it would break me.
Nearly blind with fear and despair, I stumbled off Leone. “Thanks, Leone.” I crashed down onto the ground and held Hydra tightly against me. I’d almost lost her. I’d almost lost half of myself.
As voices spoke to me, hands came to soothe me, I drowned th
em out and just held on. I let the fear bleed out of me.
✽✽✽
I didn’t know how long I sat there. I waited until Hydra’s heart rate steadied, waited until she was no longer an enormous ball of fear before I looked up to see that the crowd from earlier had dispersed. I only saw Chett and Haisley talking in the distance.
Haisley must have noticed that I was looking because she turned towards me. The two of them walked over, Haisley quietly crouching in front of me and pulling Hydra and I towards her for a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed.
“It’s okay, Mireyah. You and Hydra are okay.” I nodded and just held on tight. “I almost lost her.”
“You didn’t, and that’s what matters.” Haisley pulled back and wiped at my tears with her thumbs. “You’re good, you’re here and you did so well. Don’t let what anyone says tell you otherwise. Madi says Leone was very impressed with you. He likes you and Hydra so much, Mireyah. So much. Only he saw what happened up there. None of us can judge you for what we didn’t experience.”
“Thanks, Haisley.”
Above us, Chett turned around and a quick glance showed that one of the Springen Dragon Guards from the station was there. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw the way Chett’s back stiffened as he nodded. The Springen gave a jaunty wave before winking out. Chett turned to see me watching him.
“Mireyah, you have a note from Zeevar. He’s summoned you to his estate.”
I sighed. He had probably heard about my disappointing performance. I stood up, making sure that Hydra was okay. “I’ll go now.”
“Mireyah, you’re all muddy and splotchy…” Haisley said, but I squeezed her shoulder.
“It’s fine. I’ll face him as I am - dirty and emotional. I won’t pretend to be but what I am. Not even for him.”
Fourteen
Mireyah
My muddy and streaky appearance at the Springen Express station earned me some sideways glances. So lost in my disappointment, I didn’t think to specify my location to the Springen on duty. The station closest to home greeted me, and I dropped my head back with a groan of frustration.
