This time, Kayla understood Tazanna had shut the door to that conversation firmly. Tazanna would say no more, and there was nothing Kayla could do to give her solace.
Allowing her mind to drift, Kayla mulled the possibility of more gliders. Could there really be more here? Was there truly an “appointed time?” From the little Tazanna had shared, it was clear there had already been plenty of opportunities for these gliders to have come out of hiding—and do what? Kill the Gaptor? Kayla sighed. As with so many other things, there were more questions than answers again.
Kayla had given Tazanna enough time. If Kayla didn’t improve her aerial skills, she would die too, becoming just another nameless failure in what sounded like a long list of casualties. Kayla had no intention of exiting this world without a fight. While her second attempt at looping had been terrifying, maybe the third time would be an improvement.
“Let’s try another loop.” Kayla smiled when Tazanna perked up.
Feeling the change in Tazanna’s rhythm through her knees, Kayla tensed for the loop, gritting her teeth when she again separated from the bat. On the upside, each new attempt was less scary. Kayla focused on relaxing her muscles, narrowing her thoughts to her breathing, making it slow and steady. Expecting Tazanna’s abrupt appearance, she wasn’t caught off guard this time. And when she connected with Tazanna, the landing wasn’t nearly as rough.
“Well done! There’s hope for you yet,” Tazanna said.
“I guess there is.” Kayla grinned. “Let’s go again. But this time, what can I do to make it easier for both of us?”
Tazanna paused fractionally before making a tentative suggestion. “When I arc, aim for a backward somersault off my back. I know, I know, it sounds daunting. But try it and let go of me sooner. Both will put you in a better position for landing. Think you’re up for that?”
“I’m discovering there’s a first time for everything, sometimes regardless of whether you want to take a crack at it or not. I think I’ll manage. I’ll pretend I’m underwater, which should make the somersault attainable.”
And surprisingly, it was. When she took Tazanna’s advice, Kayla was ecstatic to find that the earlier release combined with the backward flip resulted in her ending up in a stable position, facing the ground, awaiting Tazanna’s retrieval. The bat materialized under her, rising to catch her. Kayla floated down onto her back, this time not even feeling the landing. “Yeah, baby!”
Tazanna quaked under her, and Kayla recognized it for the laughter it was. No matter. So be it. She added her own boisterous laughter to the bat’s, feeling on top of the world. Kayla wasn’t even put out when Jaden and Ohanzee cut past them, Jaden looking like he had been born to fly.
With a long, challenging howl, Jaden and Ohanzee slipped ahead of the girls. Kayla watched, envious, as they lifted, dived, looped, and dropped with impunity. No, he won’t get the better of me. Urging Tazanna forward, Kayla grinned maniacally when Jaden jumped as she and Tazanna whizzed by. The two pairs raced each other, alternating the lead.
As they streaked through the air, Kayla hooted and laughed with Jaden. They were having so much fun, she almost rebelled when Tazanna insisted it was time to practice their last basic exercise—a roll. But Kayla squared her shoulders and accepted the inevitable.
“It can’t be any scarier than what we’ve already done,” Kayla said, buoyed by her recent success and breathless from their exhilarating speeds. Aware she and Tazanna were more successful as a team when she knew what to expect and what her part was, Kayla asked, “What does a roll entail?”
Ohanzee explained. “Think of it as a combination of a turn and loop. We’ll start turning, but instead of straightening out, we’ll keep rolling over, completing the turn and ending in the upright position again.”
“The tough part,” Tazanna interjected, “is staying on this time. There’ll be no letting go and freefalling into space. You need to use your knees and bodies to shift your weight so you remain on our backs. Ready to try?”
“Absolutely,” Jaden agreed, willing to attempt anything.
“Kayla?” Tazanna asked.
Kayla shrugged. “Why not?”
By some unspoken agreement, the bats rolled in opposite directions simultaneously. Jaden wouldn’t outdo her. As Tazanna curved to the left, Kayla shifted her weight to the right. When she was as far right as she could go, Kayla held her body in that fixed position, letting it rotate with the bat’s roll, until she was almost perpendicular to the ground.
At this point, she threw her weight over to the other side. For a split second, Kayla wondered whether this was when she fell off. Then she sensed Tazanna’s momentum swing in the other direction. Hooking her left leg more securely around the bat’s left wing, Kayla locked her position.
Tazanna continued rolling under her, picking her up, and Kayla recognized the familiar sensation of coming out of a turn. Kayla waited for the right moment and then shifted her weight back to the center, elated that they were upright again. She couldn’t believe she had succeeded. She had done it. A wild cry of pure pleasure erupted.
“Hmm, I should put you in a competitive position more often, it seems.” Tazanna grinned, her small, sharp, white teeth gleaming against her dark lips. “Bravo!”
Kayla giggled, both satisfied and surprised by the commendation. Glancing at Jaden, she glimpsed the tail end of his roll with Ohanzee, practically flawless. She grunted in disgust. He probably hadn’t even had to think about how to do it. “Show off!” she yelled.
Jaden turned on Ohanzee and grinned wickedly as they sped past. Kayla’s breath hitched. Does he know how impossibly good he looks right now?
His long, blonde hair whipped around his handsome face, giving him a primitive appeal that was hard to ignore. His dark eyes, a deeper shade of blue than usual, sparkled mischievously with more than a hint of merriment. Perfectly balanced on his glider, his lean body flowed with Ohanzee’s in smooth, graceful motions. His expressive hands were buried up to his muscular forearms in Ohanzee’s neck fur. She remembered being held by those arms.
Tazanna purred under her. “Kayla? Are you alright?”
Kayla started, reigning in her raging emotions. How did Tazanna pick up on them? It won’t do to get any ridiculous, romantic notions. Haven’t I already had this conversation with myself? Snorting back her disgust at her temporary lapse in judgment, Kayla replied, “Yup, all good. Just envious of how easy he makes it look.”
She could almost hear the smile in Tazanna’s voice. “A little competition never hurts. I know you’ll soon surpass him.”
Kayla laughed out loud. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I seriously doubt it.”
They slowed and waited for the boys as Ohanzee and Jaden circled back and pulled up alongside them, their gliders resuming their side-by-side flight.
“Not too shabby yourself,” Jaden said, now that she could hear him.
“Thanks,” she muttered, too preoccupied with her earlier rogue response to say more.
Ohanzee unwittingly spared her the effort. “Well done, both of you. In our training, they told us no voyager had ever succeeded getting that move right on their first attempt. You’re setting records.”
Kayla registered Jaden’s surprise. Evidently, he hadn’t yet heard that they weren’t the only voyagers. Before Jaden could ask the question burning on his lips, Tazanna spoke.
“You’ve had a long day. It’s time for us to transport you to your original destination. We can speak and practice more along the way, but you’re familiar with the basics. Zareh promised to ensure the time difference was exact for our arrival, although I’ll never understand how he does that.”
Jaden frowned. “Meaning what?”
“That we won’t be subject to the usual time freeze that happens when you’re with us, thus negating the need for you to wait outside in the cold for two hours before the terraporter appears and you can pretend to arrive at your grandmother’s.”
Ohanzee sniggered. “Might
I suggest they have some food from their transport before we leave? Jaden’s stomach has been making the strangest noises for the past twenty minutes.”
Jaden rubbed the back of his neck ruefully. “Some food would be nice.”
All laughing at his barely contained enthusiasm, they descended, with the gliders landing alongside the terraporter. Unsure whether the bats were hungry, Kayla offered them food, amused when Tazanna’s lip curled in distaste. They were, however, quick to accept the offer of water, lapping it up with the longest pink tongues Kayla had ever seen.
Once the teens had replenished themselves and the bats had assured them their belongings would make it to Jaden’s grandmother’s home along with the terraporter, they successfully executed their second aerial connections, and the group resumed their journey.
Jaden jumped right to the question echoing in his head. “Now, what was this you mentioned about us not being the only voyagers?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jaden’s question had not nearly been answered to his satisfaction. Tazanna had cast an annoyed glance in Ohanzee’s direction before retorting, “Obviously there have been other voyagers. You’re not the first seekers, but you’ll likely be the last if we don’t hone your flying skills.”
And that had been the end. Entertaining no further discussion, the bats drilled them repeatedly on the finer points of turns, loops, and rolls while speeding toward his grandmother’s home.
When their heads were spinning, and the teens didn’t think they could learn more about riding on the backs of giant bats, their steeds merged the individual moves into various combinations, each more complex than the last, until Jaden and Kayla were convinced they’d been born to fly instead of walk.
Jaden’s body ached in places he didn’t even know muscles existed. His eyes burned, unaccustomed to long hours of exposure to both bright sunshine and gusty wind without the benefit of sunglasses. He was beyond weary; the day’s strange events were finally catching up to him.
Casting a sidelong glance at Kayla, he saw the same weariness etched on her face. Her flying had improved radically since that sickening, heart-stopping fall earlier in the day. Jaden had to hand it to her. The girl had guts. After a fall like that, most people would’ve given up. But she had pulled it together. She was . . . impressive. And she was still hanging in there, despite her obvious exhaustion. It encouraged him to do likewise.
By the time their flight had progressed to the bats’ satisfaction, Jaden was drooping over Ohanzee’s neck, too tired to even talk, let alone think or ask questions. Mutely clinging to his glider with fingers stiff from overuse, he dreamed of his soft, comfy bed at his grandmother’s house.
And then, at last, her silvery house lights pricked the deepening silky sky of an early summer evening. Jaden’s tired mind registered they were arriving at roughly the right time of day, but he was too fatigued to dwell on the time freeze anomaly.
Hadn’t Tazanna said Zareh would take care of that? As night’s soft cloak embraced him, its implication comforted Jaden: they could rest soon.
A loud roar jerked him upright. When Jaden realized the noise only signified their terraporter’s arrival, he slumped again. As the transport touched down, the bats angled toward it and landed softly on the far side, their huge frames easily concealed by the transport’s immense metal hull.
Drained, Jaden slipped awkwardly off his bat, too weary to even help Kayla, wobbling off her bat just as shakily. Jaden doubted his legs would ever function properly again. But there was no time to ponder the matter. His grandmother dashed out of her house, a broad, welcoming smile on her face.
“Get the stairs down,” Ohanzee hissed, his wings whooshing as he and Tazanna took off again, disappearing into the inky sky in the blink of an eye.
Jaden staggered under the belly of the terraporter and crawled to the stairs, Kayla dragging her bones behind him. He’d only just lowered the stairs when his gran popped around the corner of the terraporter.
“Jaden!” she enthused, throwing her arms wide and skipping toward him.
Jaden grinned. Of all his relatives, he loved his grandmother the most. An absolute sweetheart, she was full of vitality despite her age, always up for trying something new. He swayed into her waiting arms, hoping she wouldn’t notice how unsteady his legs were after the day’s exertions, embracing her as she hugged him tightly.
“It’s so wonderful to see you again, dear.” Releasing him and pushing him back to arm’s length, she studied Jaden. “You haven’t stopped growing either. Probably a good thing—you’ll make a nice, tall husband one day.”
“Gran!” Jaden exclaimed, mortified she would say such a thing in front of Kayla. He hoped Kayla wouldn’t interpret his grandmother’s careless comment in the wrong way. Covertly, he measured her response. If her barely suppressed laughter was a gauge, he was worried for nothing. It didn’t make him feel better.
Amused by his outrage, his grandmother grinned. “Oh, come on, Jaden. You know I’m only teasing you. Allow an old woman some latitude!” She turned and fixed her steady gaze on Kayla, not missing the fact she was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide her laughter. “You must be Kayla.”
“Yes ma’am, very nice to meet you.” Kayla extended a hand and a smile.
“Oh, none of that ‘ma’am’ stuff around here,” his grandmother tsked. “Makes me feel like an old woman. Please, call me Ruby.” She ignored Kayla’s outstretched hand and enveloped her in a warm hug.
“Thank you, I will.” Kayla smiled, her green eyes sparkling.
“Come on inside. That long trip must’ve worn you out.”
More than you know, Jaden thought as they stumbled after her. The moment they entered her home, the delectable aroma of something delicious assailed his nose, making his mouth water. From the way Kayla perked up, she had smelled it too. His sharp-eyed grandmother noticed their interest.
Ruby beamed. “Seems like dinner is right on time.”
“Gran, you’re amazing! That smells fantastic.”
She laughed—a bubbly sound much like her daughter’s. “Go wash up then, and we’ll eat before getting you settled. Jaden, please show Kayla where to go while I attend to the gravy.”
Jaden nodded and then led Kayla to the bathroom at the end of the hall. Allowing Kayla to go first, Jaden waited in the hallway. When she emerged a few minutes later, she looked refreshed.
She grinned. “Your turn, you dirty urchin!”
He chuckled. “You weren’t too pristine yourself before you went in there.”
He heard her laughing on her way back to the kitchen as he took his turn in the bathroom. Ridding himself of the day’s travel grime was glorious. After vigorously scrubbing his hands, face, neck and arms, he felt revitalized when he returned to the kitchen.
The kitchen was an enchanting room—warm and cozy, much like his grandmother. Muted, apricot walls set off the gleaming copper pots, pans, and utensils she wielded so skillfully. A copper country sink, recessed into beautiful rose-hued Oregon pine cabinets, showcased her impressive wine-colored Viking stove. Burgundy counters sparkled with tiny embedded stone crystals, setting off the beautiful lime-green ceramic pieces scattered across their surface.
Jaden’s roving eye halted when his brain registered that appetizing morsels filled the ceramic dishes.
On cue, he heard Kayla say, “Ruby, thank you, this looks scrumptious!”
Kayla seemed overwhelmed by the lengths his grandmother had gone to to make them feel at home with a meal that had clearly taken hours to prepare. Jaden’s heart expanded in his chest. He knew this girl was special. That she appreciated Ruby’s efforts confirmed it.
“Nothing but the best for my Jaden.” Ruby sent a doting smile his way.
Jaden responded by hugging his gran. Grinning at Kayla over his gran’s shoulder, he said, “My gran always knows what I need.”
“I think as long as it involves food, she can’t go wrong.” Kayla smirked, eliciting a chuckle from his gran. Smiling
at Ruby, Kayla asked, “What can I do to help?”
“That’s sweet of you, dear. If you would pour the gravy into this serving dish, that would be wonderful.”
“Sure.” Kayla moved to the stove and lifted the pot. “Wow! This pot’s heavy!”
“Now you know why I asked you to do it.” Ruby grinned, nudging Kayla to one side as she opened the oven door. Removing a dish overflowing with an enormous beef roast surrounded by a mountain of potatoes, she said, “Jaden, could you please carve the roast?”
Jaden didn’t answer the rhetorical question, waiting until she’d set the load on the counter before changing places with her. Expertly, he transferred the meat to a carving platter, selected a carving knife, and began slicing like a pro, smiling when he caught Kayla ogling.
“You didn’t tell me you were a closet chef!”
Jaden laughed. “I’m not. This is something Gran teaches all her grandkids from the time they’re ten. When the whole family’s together, we take turns, just to be sure no one forgets their lessons.”
“With so much being given over to droids these days,” Ruby explained as she transferred the potatoes to another platter, “it pays to know how to still do some things for yourself.”
Kayla smiled. “A wise philosophy to practice.”
Ruby beamed, conveying her delight that the girl seemed to have a brain in her head. “I’m glad you think so.”
When the meat, gravy, and potatoes were on the table, Ruby handed them each a plate, encouraging them to help themselves to the salad and vegetables on the counter. Needing no second invitation, but cognizant of their hostess, Jaden and Kayla held back, adamant Ruby should go first.
Jaden smiled, amused, when his gran hesitated. She wanted to argue the point but must’ve decided it would be futile, as she acceded, spooning bird-like portions onto her plate before sitting at the table.
Gesturing Kayla ahead of him, Jaden wasted no time following, securing generous helpings before joining his gran and Kayla at the table. They passed the table platters around, and then Ruby said the blessing.
Dawn of Dreams (Destiny Book 1) Page 22
