Page 123 of Grave Situation

I wishI could say I gracefully and easily mounted Leicht’s back, the way I’ve seen Tia and other riders do so many times in the past. The truth is, what I did ended up being more of a frantic scramble that resulted in me falling not once, not twice, but five times before I even got close to his back. One of those times I actually slid down his foreleg on my belly, scrabbling for a handhold that would stop my descent.

After the fifth time, Leicht is looking at me with outright disgust on his face.“Really?You’resupposed to be the future of mages?”

“You didn’t say I was allowed to use magic,”I snap, straightening my shirt and yanking my drawers out of my asscrack. I’m counting myself lucky that nothing delicate got twisted up in my clothing during that undignified slide.

“By all means,”he drawls,“continue to make a mockery of yourself and me. Perhaps by the time the zombie hordes have fully risen and reach us, you may have managed to mount up.”

Seething, I use a small amount of telekinesis to build myself an invisible staircase and regally ascend until I’m level with the top of his shoulder. I could have levitated myself, but this is atiny bit easier and looks more impressive. Not that anyone other than Leicht can see.

I hope.

Just in case, I glance over my shoulder toward the campsite, but I don’t see anyone watching us. Thank the gods. It wouldn’t have done much for my reputation as expedition leader if they’d seen my attempts to climb Leicht’s leg. Jaimin’s seen me in worse situations, but I’d like to maintainsomeauthority and mystique for the others.

From my position standing midair, I can see across the top of Leicht’s back. There’s a spot at the base of his neck that I think is where I’m supposed to sit. It’s kind of indented, with a knob of his spine rising behind and his neck in front. I send him a visual image.“Is that where I go?”

“Yes. Hurry up. We’re wasting time.”

Sure, that’s my concern right now.“What am I supposed to hold on to?”I knew better than to expect reins, but I figured there would be… something. I’ve seen dragons perform some very daring aeronautics with riders on them. How do the riders not fall off?

“You’ll see. Move!”

That’s not reassuring.

Reminding myself that we’re still on the ground, that I have my magic to help me get off him in a hurry if I need to, and that Jaimin, the world’s best healer, is nearby if I get injured, I gingerly step from my nice solid telekinetic stairs onto Leicht’s shoulder. Immediately, he flexes a muscle, and I lose my footing. Dropping to my knees, I scramble toward the wider part of his back, eyes narrowing as his laughter echoes through my mind.

“I really hate you,”I tell him. Making me crawl like this is rude.

He snorts in response.

I reach the divot I’ve been heading for and nearly plunge in face-first. Leicht’s amusement runs through me, and I make a mental note to get revenge somehow. I just need to work out how.

Meanwhile, I maneuver around and slide into the indent in a slightly more dignified manner. At the very least, this way won’t leave me with a broken nose. Once my ass is in place, I realize that this is almost more comfortable than Sweetie’s saddle. Which is to say, not as comfortable as my desk chair back at the academy, and certainly not as comfortable as the armchair at the king’s palace in Lenledia, but much better than what I was expecting. In this specific position, my legs fit into natural grooves along the sides of his neck, and the raised bone behind me gives support—and will hopefully prevent me from sliding right along his spine and off his tail once he’s moving.

There’s still nothing I can see to hold on to, though. I’m sure I’ve seen dragons turn completely upside down with riders aboard—how did they stay in place?

“Yeep!” I shriek as Leicht begins to move. “What are you doing?”

He sighs.“Getting you accustomed to how it feels when I’m not standing still.”

“This technically counts as riding a dragon, correct? Could we call this a successful first lesson and leave things here for the day?”I will willingly dig the latrine if I can get off his back right now.

“No.”

With absolutely no warning, he spreads his wings and pushes off the ground. I can feel the powerful muscles beneath me bunching as he launches into the air, and then I’m tipped back into the bone behind me as we angle upward. The sound that leaves my throat is shrill and entirely undignified.

“What the fuck are you doing?”I screech mentally.“Baby steps, baby steps! Where do I hold on?”

The only answer I get is his mocking laughter.

My heart is beating so hard and fast that I can actuallyhearit pounding in my ears. The wind whistles past as we continue to climb, but I’m surprisingly well sheltered here, tucked in behind Leicht’s thick neck and head. I don’t feel as though I’m going to be blown off. Not before I freeze to death, anyway. Because it’s damn cold up here.

Leicht hasn’t leveled off yet, and I bravely risk a glance downward, trying to see how far off the ground we are—farther than I’d like, but not as far as I’d feared. I can see now that he’s climbing at a fairly gentle angle, even if it doesn’t feel like it. We’re well above the tops of the trees that hold our campsite, but not anywhere near as high as dragons usually fly. It looks like he’s taking it easy on me after?—

He banks. Not sharply, but enough that I slide sideways and am suddenly freefalling toward the ground.

Lashing out with telekinesis, I thicken the air beneath me. Not enough to make it solid—that would hurt—but enough to slow my descent. The problem is that the thicker air is hard for me to breathe, and if I pass out, I’ll keep fa?—

A clawed talon snatches me from the air so sharply that I lose my grip on my magic—and almost my lunch.“Took you fucking long enough!”

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