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“That’s an interesting technique.”

“Shut up,” I muttered through gritted teeth, yanking the strap tighter. Tryggar huffed, and I winced, bracing for him to take off into the lawn. But instead, he stilled, his dark eyes boring into mine. My hands were trembling as I stepped onto the mounting platform.

“Alright Tryggar, we’re going to go for a ride,” I said, giving him a simple nudge.

“This should be good,” Aether said.

I ignored him, gathering every ounce of bravery I had. Our last interaction had gone so well, but that was on the ground. I didn’t know how he would react to being mounted. I took a deep breath and tried to shake off the nerves.

Okay, you can do this.

Three… Two… One…

With a clumsy but determined leap, I threw my leg over Tryggar’s back, settling into the saddle. It wasn’t graceful—far from it. Inearly toppled over, and my foot caught awkwardly in the stirrup. But I stayed on.

Tryggar shifted under me, wings rustling, but he didn’t throw me. I exhaled sharply, relief washing over me as I straightened.

“That’s a good Vördr,” I said, surprised. I reached down and gave him a pet along his cheek. “Now, take me away from this man.”

Tryggar snorted, and it almost sounded like a laugh. He took one step forward and hesitated, as if adjusting to my weight. But then took another, and another until we were out of the stable.

“Look at her go,” Aether said evenly.

Tryggar kept a steady trot further onto the lawn. It only then occurred to me that Vexa and I hadn’t gotten this far in our Vördr riding lessons. How exactly… was I supposed to steer this giant animal?

"Alright. I’m impressed,” Aether admitted, though his tone was maddeningly flat. “Now bring him back and practice the dismount.”

“The field?” I asked the beast nicely, but his eyes were set on the stone wall. I heard Aether’s footsteps crunching from behind.

“Going flying, are you?” Aether’s tone sounded vaguely like a hiss. My stomach tightened as I followed Tryggar’s gaze, realizing with growing horror that flying was exactly what the beast intended.Oh, Esprithe.A part of me wanted to cave and ask for help, for instructions, foranythingto stop this.

“As I said before,” Aether sighed. “Completely insufferable.”

I was just about to turn my head, to beg him to intervene when something slammed into me. Hard. The force knocked the air from my lungs, and I staggered, nearly sliding off the saddle.

The sudden movement startled Tryggar. The Vördr reared up with a sharp hiss, and I latched onto the saddle's horn and held on for dear life as his hooves clawed at the air before slamming down. The ground shook beneath his weight, muscles rippling like waves.

“What did you do?” I hissed.

“You’d better hold on,” Aether murmured, his breath brushing my ear.

I didn’t think. I just reacted, driving my elbow into his side with as much force as I could muster. He merely grunted softly in response.

Before I could tell him off, Tryggar lunged forward, tearing across the lawn at top speed. Aether’s arms wrapped around me, locking me firmly against his chest. The rough leather of his armor scraped against my back, and my hair whipped wildly in the wind, lashing against his face.Good. I hoped it stung.

“You’re too close,” I muttered through gritted teeth, trying not to gag at the proximity.

He didn’t say a word, but I could feel the subtle rise and fall of his chest, like he was suppressing something bigger than a chuckle—a full, unrestrained laugh.

A scream caught in my throat as Tryggar bounded onto the inclining platform and launched himself skyward. The force of the leap sent my stomach into my boots. His wings unfurled in a thunderous snap, catching the wind.

The ground fell away beneath us in a rush, the world shrinking as Tryggar’s wings sliced through the sky. The air hit me like a whip, dragging my breath in ragged bursts. I should have been terrified, my mind screaming for the safety of solid ground, but all I could hear was the thundering of my pulse in my ears. And for the first time in too long, I felt a tug at the corners of my lips.

I had been suffocating. Every moment of silence, every second spent locked away in that tower, had smothered something inside me, something I hadn’t known I was losing until now.

Thisfeltlike freedom, even if it was just the illusion of it. The kind that made my chest ache. For a brief second, I felt a surge run through me, something like lightning coursing through my veins.And then it became clear—I had forgotten how to feel at all. The air was different up here. I felt weightless—I feltalive.

My fingers tightened around Tryggar’s saddle as he banked, soaring higher. The ground was a memory now. The city we were leaving in the dust, the walls I had once been trapped behind—they didn’t exist anymore. Not up here.