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“Sounds about right. He always did like to make training…interesting and unpredictable.” Agnar pats me on the back. “Considering you survived, this should be a simple enough flight for you. If we want to reach our destination before nightfall, we’d better get going.”

Once everyone agrees, I give Kaida the signal.

With a powerful leap, Kaida takes to the air, and I follow suit.

Leesa’s eyes are squeezed shut, so she’s missing the view as we continue to climb high enough to fly over the palace towers and walls. We ascend even higher to avoid the need to constantly dodge trees.

The ground falls away, and the cool rush of the morning breeze embraces us. Leesa’s knuckles blanch where they grip Kaida’s spiney neck, but as the land recedes below and the angle of ascent tapers off, her tension begins to lift and her eyes slowly ease open.

“See? Much like riding an alicorn.” Bastian flies effortlessly on her other side, his laughter a clear note against the hush of the wind.

“It really is.” There’s a hint of curiosity in her voice as she leans over to peer at the ground. “It’s just been a while since I’ve flown. And my first encounter with Tirene’s dragons was less than stellar, as you all know.”

This is her first time riding on the back of a dragon, and though she’s used to alicorns, there’s just something special about flying in general that never gets old.

Thankfully, this leg of our journey is uneventful. After some hours pass, the desert comes into view, a sea of gold through wavering lines of heat that rise up to meet us. The Impassable Desert. Beautiful, deadly, and utterly indifferent to our quest.

“This is where we can skirt past on the coast.” Blair swings closer to Leesa and me so we can hear him as he yells.

He points westward to a ribbon of green that marks a lifeline amid the desolation. I follow the thin strip of plant life along the coast until the green peters out into the gold.

Why is the desert so close to the ocean? Wouldn’t storms off the water be able to reach the sand? Unless the desert is so hot it stops the rain. Where does that kind of heat come from?

Even at this distance, the heat is noticeable. The thermals produced along the edge are strong enough to lift us all. Holding my wings open, I rest on the updrafts of air, letting them carry me along.

Threading the line between ocean and desert is easy, even carrying the heavy pack. The only time I have to work is to change direction, sliding from one updraft to the next, until the desert tapers away. My stomach rumbles, prompting me to pull the travel rations from my bag and eat while in the air, the same as everyone else.

The landscape changes to forest and still, we fly on. Eventually the Red River comes into view, a sliver of silver threading through the dense foliage below. We hover above it, casting fleeting shadows on the canopy as our wings beat a rhythm against the air. According to the map clutched in my hand, this is where we should land to take the boat across. A notion that seems absurd when the sky offers freedom and speed.

I signal the others, and we gather around Kaida so we can discuss the situation.

“Seems like a waste of time to take a boat.” Agnar echoes my thoughts.

“Maybe there’s a reason.” A rosy hue has colored Leesa’s cheeks.

I squint at the map, at the small drawings that all but insist on a waterborne approach. “But why?”

“Maybe whoever created this map didn’t have wings?” Bastian checks the ground below. “The canopy’s rather thick. I can’t see anything through it.”

Since Blair and Agnar are the two most experienced members of our party, I seek their guidance.

“Let’s just fly across.” Like Bastian, Agnar inspects the ground around us. “It’s a city, not a building. We should be able to find a place to land. Unless the wilderness has completely taken over the place. In which case, I doubt we’ll find anything useful.”

We glide onward, crossing the river’s expanse.

And reality warps.

The land and river below blur, smudging like wet ink on parchment. The trees, the water, all of it fades into a gray-green nothingness.

My stomach swoops, plummeting toward the ground while my mind swims.

Kaida growls and shakes his head as if to clear it. He flaps his wings to throw a wall of air in front of us in a desperate bid to decrease our momentum. Through our connection, his confusion and anger flood me, amping up my own out-of-control emotions.

Leesa yelps and leans closer to his neck.

My heart gallops as I dodge the sudden dragon-induced hurricane. With the distorted, wonky sky and surroundings, the whole world seems topsy-turvy. I can barely tell which way is up.

We can’t stay in the air like this. Not if we don’t want to risk getting disoriented enough to crash. “Retreat!”