Page 22 of Surge of Ice

Nineteen. Wow.I selfishly wonder if my life will get easier after they wake up. One thing is for sure though, we need to do what we can to help these women when they become dragons. They shouldn’t have to deal with the shit I’m trying to handle.

How long do dragons live? Why do some dragons fall asleep beneath the earth, and others don’t? How does that work?Evander shoots out questions.

Dragons who sleep between lifetimes can live for thousands of years. But the dragons who are reborn each lifetime usually pass around their one hundred and fiftieth birthday. And when they die, the other dragons sleep. It’s our way.

We continue flying, and Zane moves higher.Up here. Catch the wind. Turn your wings to deflect the surrounding air downwards so we can ride the updrafts. Don’t waste energy that might be needed to defend your mate.

Evander and Aydan aren’t happy that he’s telling them what to do, but we all soar higher. And, sure enough, we catch a solid breeze. Now, we’re gliding instead of tiring ourselves out.

What else do you know?I ask.

Zane laughs.I can teach you all to fight. I always do.

We don’t need help learning to fight, Aydan says.

Actually, Evander draws out slowly,it couldn’t hurt.

Aydan grumbles in my mind but says nothing more. I wait, curious what Zane could show us that we don’t already know, but hoping that it’ll help us in the fight against… Than and Balor.

First of all, the best place to be in a battle in the sky is above your opponent. If at all possible, you do not ever want to be below someone. That is when you are at your most vulnerable.Zane moves in the sky so that he’s hovering above me. I can sense Aydan and Evander tense beside me, and I also think I can sense Zane’s attraction toward me.There is a move that most dragons know how to do well. It involves getting really high above their opponent, then diving down and catching the other dragon with their claws. For dragons, your wings are your more vulnerable part, and then your bellies. Never forget that. I can teach you the move that allows you to attack your opponent’s wings today. If you would like.

Seems pretty self-explanatory, Aydan says.

Then, by all means, try it, Zane encourages.

So, he does. He flies so far above us that he’s out of sight, then dives straight down at Zane. Zane, at the last minute, does a barrel roll and avoids Aydan in a movement that seems far too practiced.

What the hell?Aydan huffs angrily.

You let me catch sight of you. Next time, you need to simply drop down. Not fly down. Literally, drop down on top of me.

Aydan tries it, but he’s still flying, not dropping. And Zane always manages to avoid him at the last possible second, although I get the feeling the ice dragon is playing with him a little. Evander gets annoyed and tries it himself, but he can’t catch Zane either. No matter how frustrated he gets.

You’re too damn fast, Evander says, sounding out of breath.

Neither of you can let go of the control of flying and just trust your wings to catch you when the time comes. Let me show you.

Zane flies above us. And I twist to watch him. He’s a combination of white scales and pale blue ones, mirroring his hair. He’s a little smaller than Aydan and Evander, and far more graceful as he soars above us, then disappears in the clouds.

I fly a little slower, letting my men get ahead of me. I want to see what Zane will do. Male dragons seem to have a thing about getting on my back. If I can learn to avoid them, that’d help me a lot. And learning to attack them? That’s even better.

From one blink of the eye to the next, Zane comes crashing into Aydan with full force. Suddenly, both of them are plummeting from the sky, and my mouth drops open. Zane seems to have his claws in Aydan, how much, I don’t know, but they’re going to crash into the ocean if he doesn’t let him go!

Then, he does, separating himself from the big golden dragon in the sky. They both begin to flap their wings and shoot back toward us. I release a deep breath. Aydan seems to be okay. He really was just playing.

See the difference, Zane says.

Aydan sounds annoyed.How the hell do you just… stop flying like that? It feels dangerous.

You just have to trust your wings and know what your limitations are.

We all start to practice. When it’s my turn, I see what Evander and Aydan are struggling with. Stopping flying in the sky feels like getting out of a car while it’s moving. It seems unnatural, and absolutely dangerous. But Zane’s also right. When I finally manage to do it, and to land on his back, everything seems to click into place, and it doesn’t seem so scary any more.

I’m about to say exactly that when I breathe in his scent and stiffen. Being much smaller than him, I’d only managed to knock him out of the sky for a short time before he was flying once more. Now, I’m resting on his back like he’s carrying me, and it feels nice.

We used to do this all the time, he says, and I know he’s smiling.

I breathe him in deeper.Yeah?

---