Page 32 of Of Blood and Banes (The Arterian #2)

A LESSON IN FREEFALLING

D aeja’s black figure shrinks at an alarming pace, along with the rest of the dragons and their riders.

The wind whistles around me, ripping an endless scream from my throat.

As I fall, my stomach is somewhere between two feet and two miles above me.

The speed of my descent forces my eyes closed, the muscles in my body bracing for the eventual impact.

The wind and terror drown out my every sense.

And when I have nothing left…I surrender to the fear.

Something snags me, snapping me out of the air.

My eyes flash open, my head whipping back violently at the sudden stop, causing a screaming pain to flare in my neck.

Black as shadow, swift as the night, Daeja has me clutched in her claws, her thick talons piercing my cloak and shirt, the tips having scraped my chest.

She caught me.

“I want down…I want down, I want down, I want down!”

“Understood,” she says gently.

I hang pathetically from her claws, clenching my fists into my shirt to give me some sort of control.

She pulls me closer to her dipped head, gently picking the fabric of my clothes between her daggered teeth and transferring me from her talons to her jaws.

Twisting her neck, she places me back on the saddle.

My hands and entire body tremble as I latch the hooks onto my belt, before lowering my head and keeping my eyes shut. Every nerve and muscle in my body screams and swirls, my heart threatening to burst out of my chest.

I don’t know how long it takes until we land back in the forest. But as soon as we do, I rip the hooks off my belt and jump off Daeja’s back, folding to my knees onto the ground and brushing my hands over it.

Reminding myself how much I love being on the ground, with the earth steady underneath my feet.

A’nala and Sethan land seconds afterward, the ground thundering underneath her heavy landing, and my hair swirling with the gusts. I whip a glare at Sethan as I stand, and he waves at the rest of the dragon riders above us to land further away.

I stomp toward him, anger bubbling in my veins and likely the only thing keeping me going at this point. “What in the fuck was that! Were you trying to fucking kill me?”

A’nala snakes her head toward me, her lips curling up in warning and revealing her yellow-stained teeth as I approach.

Daeja shifts close behind me, her own anxiousness wafting over me as she shadows me, her eyes trained on A’nala as she growls.

As soon as I’m within reach, I shove Sethan’s chest. A’nala lunges forward, snapping at the air inches from my forehead.

Daeja lurches, snapping back at A’nala despite being half her size.

A’nala’s mouth parts, a deep rumbling hiss emitting from her throat. Strings of saliva drip from the top of her rows of teeth. Her hot, rancid breath washes over us. And those golden eyes narrow to slits.

Sethan whips a wordless look at A’nala. She shifts back a few paces, closing her mouth, slitted eyes still locked on Daeja.

Sethan holds out a hand to me. “Calm down. Did you forget you and I forged a blood pact?”

I’m two steps away from him, my body shaking as if I were freezing. “So what? I die and it takes you out for breaking your oath, but it also kills the King. The Vitalans win. Seems easy enough of a solution to me.”

“If I truly thought that, then you would have been dead long before you made it to the Dragon Lands. I don’t think the prophecy meant something as simple as killing you. In doing so, it would kill your dragon.”

Great, so he’s keeping me alive for Daeja. I flip my ring finger up, partly wishing I had placed Cole’s ring on my middle finger instead. “So, you’ve known about this ring linking me to him, all this time, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” he answers flatly.

“Who else knows?” I lower my hand to my side.

“Most of those here in the Dragon Lands have heard of the rings from their grandparents’ generation.

But it’s impossible to know how many might glimpse it and know what it actually is.

No one has seen it in well over a century.

And it looks as simple as any other metal ring but with imperfections that may come across as the workings of a juvenile jewelist, rather than an ancient artifact. ”

“And so the only reason you aren’t killing me is Daeja?”

“Told you I was scary,” Daeja purrs in my mind.

I toss her a glance, the wind whistling over her tail as she swishes it back and forth with her white, narrowed eyes still fixed on A’nala.

“She’s the only moon dragon to ever inhabit this earth in over a century. The Gods wouldn’t put her here if they wanted her to live a short while. Besides, I think…” Sethan laughs, shaking his head and dragging a hand over his face.

“What? What’s so fucking funny to you?” I growl. “You asked me to trust you, and then you pull some bullshit like that!” I flick my hand up to the sky.

He turns a heavy stare onto me and sighs. “It’s foolish, really. But I think the Gods intend for you to lead. For you to rule over all the lands.”

My mouth drops open, completely gobsmacked out of my anger for a split second before I shake off my expression.

He clears his throat and the half-hearted humor from earlier.

“So, if that’s their plan, who am I to interfere?

In fact, they might smite me if I don’t do what it takes to keep you safe—to keep you on track for that destiny.

And despite how much I may detest the thought of the kingdom falling to their knees for such a young, incompetent woman?—”

I narrow my eyes.

“—if my daughter believes in you, then so shall I. Many of the other rebels may not agree, but I’ve been chosen to govern this realm, and I will spend my last breath protecting these people. Which means, in exchange, I must protect you.”

“By letting me fall out of the fucking sky?” I flick my hand back up toward the heavens.

“Once you lose your fear of falling is when you will really learn how to fly.”

I glower at him. Sounds like some roundabout bullshit way to inspire me. But I’m still seeing red and struggling to push down the trembles snaking up and down my spine.

“You need to trust her,” he says gently, his expression softening slightly.

“I do trust her?—”

“No. No, you don’t. I don’t mean to be crude, but you looked like you were going to shit yourself up there. And that was when you were still hooked in and had your hands wrapped around the horns.”

I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out.

He holds out a hand as if to calm me. “It’s alright.

We all start off that way. Us humans have a preference for our feet on the ground.

Just as the dragons have their preference to take to the skies.

The beauty of our bonds is that we work as a team, each trusting the other for our own strengths.

Together, we make something formidable. We start training all our dragon riders this way, and you aren’t an exception.

Once you learn to fully trust her—to fully let go—you’ll be able to actually fly.

Now, we are but a short flight away from Driftmond?—”

“Flight? Ha. Suppose we’ll walk, then,” I state. My stomach flips and churns at the thought of being any more than two feet off the ground. There’s no way I’ll be flying again anytime soon.

“You can’t walk. If you two stay down here, people will get suspicious about a lone black dragon with a rider. You’ll have no one to defend you against any Vitalan rebels if they’re lurking around Driftmond.”

“Then I suppose we can take our chances, huh?”

“You’re being ridiculous. You don’t even know what Vitalan rebels are capable of.”

“You just said it yourself. If there are rebels lurking about Driftmond, who’s to say they won’t attack even if I stay with you and the other dragon riders?”

“Because I’m a symbol for peace and for the good of Vitalans.

There’s a percentage of the population that opposes my rule, but most people are cowards.

Us dragon riders go by ‘dragons of a scale’ instead of ‘birds of a feather,’ because we have strength in numbers.

They won’t strike if they have the disadvantage.

The rebels here are quiet, working within the shadows.

If you stay here by yourself, you’re out of my protection and an easy target. ”

“Tell him I said if anyone threatens your life, they’ll be the ones needing protection,” Daeja grumbles.

A’nala hisses at her, and Daeja snaps at the air in defiance.

“We can manage on our own,” I retort.

Sethan stares at me, waiting for me to falter, before finally dipping his head and mounting A’nala. “So be it.”

A’nala and him take off into the sky again, her flapping wings stirring the pine needles and grasses around us. I turn to Daeja, her white eyes dilating as I stretch my hand up to scratch her under the chin.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to throw you off, but A’nala cut into me ? —”

“Don’t be.” I smile. “I know it wasn’t you. Thank you for catching me.”

I know she hadn’t had any ill intent. Sethan was just forcing my hand over what he thought was necessary. If I’m pissed at anyone, it’s him. She bumps her forehead to mine, and even though she means to do it gently, I stumble back a step.

“Always,” she purrs.

After patting her cheek, I throw myself up and over her into the saddle.

As Daeja lifts onto her four legs and begins to stalk through the forest, I glance up to the sky above the treeline.

The other dragons and their riders join back into formation with A’nala at the front.

The seven dragons shrink to spots of red in the vast blue sky.

My eyes narrow.

I latch the hooks back onto my belt, wrapping my hands around the saddle horns until my knuckles groan in withered protest. My stomach churns at the thought of lifting off the ground.

The vision of falling flashes in my head in short, terrifying spurts.

A dizziness swims in my skull, and I begin to slouch to the side, trying to fight my body’s responsiveness by closing my eyes.

I rip the hooks back off my belt, half-sliding, half-falling off the saddle and collapse to my hands and knees.

A bitter heat creeps up my throat and out of my mouth as I vomit bits of my breakfast and bile several times over.

Something whizzes nearby. As I lift my head up, I swear I see a flicker of shadows through the distant trees.

A glimmer of sunlight on metal flashes for a split second between the trees before it’s gone.

Daeja nuzzles my back, her exhalation billowing in my hair. “If you’d prefer, you can take your own two legs.”

“No.” I wipe my hand across my mouth, eyes still fixed on the spot where I thought I saw something. “ Fuck it. If Sethan doesn’t believe I trust you, I’ll show him he’s wrong.”

Daeja lifts her head, stilling as she scans the forest. “Did you hear that?”

I slowly rise. “No, did you hear something?”

She tilts her head to the side, unblinking, her wings unfolding out to the side.

Something like a branch snaps, and we whirl to the left.

The horns on Daeja’s head and neck bristle, her lips peeling up into a growl.

I reach up onto the saddle and pull out my sword from its sheath and turn to face the sound as Daeja curls her body in front of me.

Approaching footsteps whisper in the undergrowth.

“Get on my back. And don’t you dare argue.”

“What if it’s someone from our group walking ahead of the wagons?”

“It’s not. Whoever this is has an odd scent I don’t recognize.”

Sheathing the sword, I climb onto her back, feeling even weaker than before now that I’d dumped everything in my stomach out onto the forest floor.

Fastening the hooks once more to my belt, I scan the trees around us.

For any movement. For any of those stray rebels Sethan threatened might be out here.

A masked figure slinks through the shadows, and that glimmer of metal in the sunlight flashes again. Daeja growls harder, her wings extending out to her sides.

Slink. Something slices through the air toward us.

“Get down!” Daeja roars and drops to the ground.

I fling myself forward, flattening myself to her spine as something whizzes behind my back.

Daeja jumps to her feet, and I rock forward as I glance at the masked person.

The glimmer isn’t from a blade. It’s metal-tipped arrows in a quiver.

The masked person pulls back a newly notched arrow.

More shimmering metal sparks throughout the forest behind them, with shadows crawling out of the underbrush.

“Daeja, get up! Go, fly!” I wrap my fingers around the saddle horns, ignoring my brain and nerves screaming at me to get the fuck off.

She clambers forward, and I keep my head down as I work through each roll of her body threatening to dismount me.

“Hold tight!” She launches into the air and ascends at an angle which tips my stomach back out of my body.

I squeeze my eyes shut, hanging onto her for dear life as I’m shifted back a few inches in the seat, suspended by my belt.

Wind whips at my face, pulling at my cheeks.

When I peek open my eyes to see how far we’ve risen, the masked person watches us below with a cold threat in their eyes.

More shadowy figures slink out from the forest behind them.