“Your feet are small, it should be no problem for you. Step close to the ridges. Plant your feet on either side. You’ll be running fast, so you’ll probably only take three or four strides before you’re on her back.”
“You’ve done this yourself ?” I was sorry I was so insensitive to have asked that question, as I saw a shadow of sorrow briefly cross his face.
“Yes, it is a standard mount. Now, go. Imagine you are being chased by a pack of wild dogs, or whatever works for you. Use a mental picture to plan your steps.”
I took a deep breath and allowed my natural determination to take over. I wanted to show Gallen I could do this — for him to see I was an able dragon rider. My confidence was up. I was a good runner and had excellent balance. Retreating to the opposite end of the courtyard, I turned and began my run. As I mentally projected my foot placement for my first step, I leapt onto Eshshah’s tail. I landed at a good distance and planted my right foot to the right of her ridges. Perfect execution. Spotting my second step, I planted my left foot at what should have been just left of her ridges. But I misjudged. My placement was too much to the left where her tail was more rounded. My foot slipped and I lost my balance. I tried to correct my error and establish traction with my right foot — to push off, jump left and clear her tail. I drove my foot downward, but instead of gaining a foothold, it slipped to the right. I slammed straight down, straddling her tail in a crotch-drop. My breath burst from my lungs. Fortunately, I didn’t land directly on one of her ridges, but between two of them. Groaning, I slid off to my left, and landed on my back. I grabbed myself on the way down. My modesty forgotten at that moment.
Eshshah turned her head to where I lay writhing in pain. She mentally cringed and said, “Let me help you, Amáne.”
“No... No... I’m good. Thanks.” That would have been a little too awkward for me in front of Gallen.
Tears of pain streamed from my eyes. I rolled on my side and tried to even out my breathing. Eshshah was concerned but refrained from helping. Gallen winced and turned away, feigning to find something interesting in his palm. He let me have a couple private minutes to recover, after which he offered me his hand.
“Same thing happened to me when I learned this mount. Get up and try it again. You won’t repeat that mistake a second time ... trust me.”
He helped me to my feet. Not ready to stand up straight, I bent over with my hands on my knees and took a few more breaths. I paced a bit to shake the pain ... and the thought of having to try it again.
Wiping my eyes with the back of my sleeve, I proceeded to the further side of the courtyard. I closed my eyes, and envisioned my steps. When I had a mental picture of my strides, I opened my eyes and started my run again. I leapt; first step same place as last time; second step, perfect landing. I made a note of where that was. Third stride I planted at the base of her tail. Just as I was ready to exhale in relief of my success, my trailing foot caught on a ridge and I flew forward onto her back, landing with a thud to the right of her ridges, just above her haunches. I slid off behind her right wing, and ended in a heap in the dirt.
Determined, and a bit angry with myself for failing the second time, I ran back to the other side of the courtyard and started my third approach. All else blocked out, I envisioned my three strides and accomplished them perfectly. I ran up her back and, elated at my success, I leaped into the saddle. I had a momentary mental lapse of my first mishap, but upon hitting the saddle, it all came back to me. I clenched my teeth to keep my howl of pain from escaping. “Ow,” I groaned to myself.
“Okay, Amáne, I want five more successful tail mounts. Go.”
With a few wobbles, I completed my five successful mounts in the next seven tries. Thankfully, I did not repeat the crotch-drop and hoped Gallen was correct when he assured me it would only happen once.
“This next one,” Gallen instructed, “is the wing mount. It’s another running escape mount. Eshshah if you would, please open your wing for us. See this bony protrusion here?” He indicated a point in the middle of her wing at the joint that bent sharply backwards. In this joint a claw-like finger extended from her wing. “This is what you’ll be aiming for. The maneuver will involve some synchronization from both of you. The objective is for you to run toward her wing. Eshshah, you will lower it to just within her reach. Then, Amáne, you must jump, grab a hold of her finger and Eshshah will raise her wing and propel you as you swing toward the saddle. This will take quite a bit of practice and you need to time your swing while Eshshah needs to time her uplift. Once you’ve mastered it, you’ll be able to launch yourself into the saddle. Eshshah will then be in the correct position to spring into flight. You can start by using two hands, but eventually you will need to learn it with only one hand as it’s likely you’ll have a weapon in the other.
Okay, that didn’t sound so hard. I went through the motions in my mind to get a mental picture of what was necessary for success. Then I retreated to the far end of the courtyard ready to run in on her left side.
“Are you ready, Eshshah?”
“Yes.”
Eshshah held her left wing at a height I could easily reach. I started my run keeping my eye on her wing joint. As I approached, I reached up and grasped it with both hands — she lifted her wing up and in. I swung, propelling myself toward the saddle. The combination of her strength to propel me and too much swing on my part catapulted me several feet over my target and I literally flew over the saddle, landing at a distance on her other side. My feet hit first and I rolled out of the fall without any harm to myself, except my pride — I failed my first try.
“It’s okay, Amáne.” Eshshah comforted. “You didn’t expect to get it on the first try, did you?” She knew I did.
Gallen gave us some pointers. He told us I didn’t have to swing so forcefully and Eshshah needed to slow her uplift. Eshshah and I worked on this skill for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. We tried it from the left side and the right side, with one hand and with two. I don’t know how many tries it took us to start getting even close to the saddle. I landed everywhere but where I was supposed to.
He checked in on us every so often and repeated, “It shouldn’t take as much effort as you two are exerting.”
Finally, success! I grabbed her wing at the right moment and she lifted it at the right speed. I landed squarely in the saddle. I would have celebrated more, but the fresh stab of pain reminded me of my failed first attempt at the tail mount.
The sun had set and we were exhausted. Eshshah decided to wait a little longer for darkness to hunt. I was ready to collapse. I washed off my sweat and dirt, went through the kitchen to grab a small bite, and headed to bed.
The next morning dawned too quickly. Out by the barn again before the sun was up, the Healer had me working with the sword. She started me on my striking techniques using a pell — a man-size wooden post that roughly simulates a human target.
I ran through my cuts and strikes and my footwork. She pressed me to attack the pell with power, emphasizing good technique and accurate range. I practiced combinations as well as single-strike techniques.
“Focus, Amáne! More force. This is your opponent. You’re supposed to try to injure him, not tease him.”
I put more energy into it, but still she reprimanded me, “Strike with precision! If you don’t have control of your strikes then you have less chance to actually hit the target. You must learn to coordinate the movements of your entire body without wasting energy.”
We donned our armor and started sparring practice. My body ached from our previous day’s training, but I didn’t ask Eshshah to help me out with my pain. I wanted to try to struggle through it myself in hopes it would increase my strength and stamina.
Holding her sword in front of her, point up, the Healer demonstrated, “This is your best defensive position. You can block anything from here.” I threw a few strikes and she blocked them with ease. She made it look so simple.
Our morning passed
into afternoon. She threw techniques and instructions at me one after the other. The Healer did not lessen her skills, but instead relentlessly challenged me at a higher level. She continued to point out everything I did wrong. Countless times my anger took over and I made costly mistakes. If she had been an enemy, they would have translated into fatal mistakes. That seemed to be when her dissatisfaction in me increased — when I lost my temper. It had always been my worst trait.
Later in the afternoon was spent with Gallen as he worked with Eshshah and me in practicing the mounts we learned the day before. I put saddles on and took them off. I was sorely missing riding Eshshah and asked Gallen if we might have a short flight that night. He said the Healer didn’t want me riding for a few more days. My disappointment was not lost on him.
The next day was the same and the next and the next. Day after day, I worked from sun up to long after dark. A couple of times we were even awakened in the middle of the night to practice my mounts so Eshshah could actually take off once I landed in the saddle. Truthfully, I didn’t mind that part of our training because it allowed us to fly together. On one occasion we stayed away a little longer than instructed. Both the Healer and Gallen voiced their disapproval. Eshshah and I needed our time alone. I was not sufficiently contrite over my disobedience, and didn’t do a very good job hiding my bad attitude. They punished me by not allowing any more night flying practice. I thought it was too severe, but kept my thoughts to myself.
The Healer came up with endless ways to keep me moving. She rarely let me rest, except for meals. I practiced archery, which I was actually pretty good at — it was the only weapon girls were instructed in. She had me run a path around her property for an hour at a time. I mucked Thunder’s stall and the donkeys’ stalls and moved bales of hay. I worked in her garden. I scrubbed her kitchen.
My frustration at her relentless pressure on me increased daily. Exhaustion claimed my body each night. I hardly had the energy or desire to wash up for bed. Many times I just collapsed with all my clothes on, including my boots. I was even too drained for my reoccurring nightmares. Quite often I cried myself to sleep. Other nights I was too worn out to sleep, which made the following day a disaster.
Try as I might, I felt I could not please the Healer. My only consolation was that Gallen wasn’t quite as hard on me as she was.
I cried to Eshshah too often, “What am I doing wrong? I don’t understand. I don’t know how much more I can take, Eshshah. Is she trying to break my spirit? Is she wishing it was someone else whom you chose?”
“No, Amáne, I don’t believe that’s the reason at all. I don’t know why she’s so hard on you. I can feel her heart and it is not vindictive. She must have a very good reason why she is treating you so. Maybe she feels she’s helping you learn faster.”
“Well, I just wish she would ease up on me before I go mad — I’m that close.” I could feel Eshshah’s agitation at not being able to ease my pain. This was mental pain, and although she hummed her calming melody for me every night, which did help, she couldn’t find a remedy for my anguish. I shouldn’t have burdened her so often with my complaints, but I had no one else to confide in.
The next day brought more of the same. The Healer started me on training with a partisan — a spear. This was a weapon I had very seldom worked with. It might have been an enjoyable day for me as I really took a liking to fighting with a spear. However, my concentration was at an all time low and the Healer found it difficult to get me to focus. Adding to that, my lack of sleep made it even harder for me to control my temper. My mood grew dark. Eshshah watched me closely. She suffered with me.
Morning advanced to afternoon, which progressed toward evening.
“Tread back with your hind foot, Amáne!” the Healer admonished yet again.
I’d had all I could take. I closed my eyes and shook with anger as I tried with all my might to compose myself. I didn’t want to completely lose control and turn on the Healer. My breathing came in short raspy breaths as I battled in vain for self-restraint.
My fury subsided when I became conscious of Eshshah’s heated emotions. I felt her increasing distress. Her tail began to twitch. At first just slightly and then it became more animated. She swung her head back and forth, then rose and began pacing. A low rumble emanated in her throat and then grew louder and stronger. Gallen had come out of the barn to see what was happening. The three of us froze — our attention riveted on Eshshah.
“Amáne, control your dragon.” Alarm was in the Healer’s voice. “An enraged dragon is not a sight you ever want to witness.”
Eshshah was dangerously agitated by now. Her tail quivered. She lost her composure, and raised her head to the sky as she let out a roar. Fire spewed twenty feet into the air.
“She’s feeding off your emotions, Amáne, get control of yourself first. Immediately. That’s the only way you’ll be able to calm her.” The Healer and Gallen both backed up to a safe distance, not taking their eyes off Eshshah.
“Eshshah!” I screamed.
Knowing it was her concern for me that had sparked her rage, I assured her, “I’m okay. I’m okay. Please stop.”
I ran toward her as the Healer shouted, “No, Amáne! Stand back until she regains her control.”
Unaware of the serious danger I was in, I moved closer to her. Too ignorant to be frightened, I was only concerned for Eshshah’s safety — I couldn’t bear to see her so upset. It was my fault she had gotten to this state. I was beside myself with worry and guilt.
Enraged, Eshshah raised her head again and belched out more flame into the night sky. I was within two arms-lengths of her. I could feel the heat, even though it was directed upward. Had it been toward me, there wouldn’t have been even ashes left where I stood.
With my anger under control, I fought to link to her emotions. I’d never seen her like this. My only fear was for her. Without warning, she reared up. Her forelegs beat the air above me. I sprung to the side and rolled as her large mass came down, almost crushing me. Her tail whipped around in my direction. Again, my reflexes saved me. I leapt up barely in time to avoid the sharp barb. It passed under me with a whoosh of air.
My mind melded with hers as I strained to exude calmness. It brought back memories of us working together to survive the Valaira that seemed like another lifetime ago. I fought for both of us. I had to find a place in her mind to latch on to — to let her know I was there. That we would both be fine. At last, I felt a faint realization in her mind that she caught my presence. I grasped at a thread of her consciousness.
“Eshshah,” I said calmly in thought transference. “It’s okay. We are okay. Please, you’re worrying me. Calm down.” Eyes shut tight, I strained with the effort. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead.
Finally, recognition was in her thoughts. It was as if she came from the dark into the light and found me. She was confused but I could feel her begin to relax as I hummed my version of the sound she used to calm me.
She lowered her face down to mine, her golden eyes still whirling. I heard a gasp from the Healer. Eshshah became fully aware of me. I put my hand up to her jaws, held on to her fangs that lay outside of her mouth and brought her nose to my forehead. I continued with my silent conversation. “Shh. It’s okay. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lost my temper with the Healer. You were right all along. I’m sure she has our best interests in mind. It was all part of our training. I see it now. It’s my fault. I’m so sorry, Eshshah.” My tears flowed.
Slowly, she came back to herself. Still a bit disoriented, she said, “Amáne, please forgive me. I don’t know what just happened. I saw you at your breaking point and I couldn’t control myself. I couldn’t bear to see you suffer, but yet I almost killed you.”
“But you didn’t, Eshshah. Let’s never let anything like this happen to us again. Do you understand me?”
“I’m so ashamed, Amáne. Please offer my apologies to the Healer and Gallen. My behavior is unforgivable.”
I turned
to the Healer and Gallen who were slowly approaching, one eye on Eshshah, one on me. Both of them visibly shaken. “We offer our apologies Healer and Gallen, we’re ashamed of ourselves — both of us. This behavior will not be repeated.”
The Healer came up to me, took my face in her hands and looked deeply into my eyes. I don’t know what she was looking for. But apparently satisfied, she wrapped her arms around me and Gallen put his arm around my shoulder. Eshshah put her nose on my back and all four of us stood like that for a time.
The Healer finally broke the silence, “I don’t know ... but that was either the bravest, strongest demonstration of a rider’s link with their dragon I have ever witnessed ... or it was the most foolish.”
“I’m betting on the former,” Gallen stated.
“Amáne and Eshshah,” the Healer said, “it is I who beg your forgiveness. There’s no excuse for the way I’ve treated you for the last several weeks. But I had to see what you two were made of. You linked and grew together on your own, without any supervision or training. I was worried you’d be difficult to train correctly. I wanted to push you to find your limits. Truthfully, I was amazed at your superior skills for an untrained linked pair. I felt I had to keep testing you. Instead of letting up as I should have, I increased the pressure.
“I’m astonished. I found you’re at the level that most dragon riders took at least two years to attain, and some never did achieve. The only explanation I can come up with is the excessive amount of venom you have in your veins. You’ve withstood more than ever should have been dealt to you. I’m truly sorry. But you have to understand our very kingdom relies upon both of you.”
My anger had subsided. I didn’t need to fear any danger with Eshshah. But, I needed to know. “Healer, no disrespect, but I have to tell you that all this time I thought you were angry with us. I thought maybe you were sorry Eshshah chose me and that you were disappointed with me — that maybe I was too young to be a dragon rider, or that I was a girl, or that I wasn’t good enough — I didn’t know why.”
Amáne of Teravinea - The Chosen One (The Teravinea Series Book 1) Page 10
