Page 141 of Unbound

"That's cheating," Beck says. "I would've got that straight in your mouth."

"Well, you didn't," Ambrose says, standing straighter. "And you should stop trying so hard to get things in my mouth. People will start to wonder."

The two of them fall into good-natured bickering and teasing as we gather our things and head for the lecture hall.

The rest of the day passes in a blur of classes and training. Combat theory with Instructor Vail, where we study ancient battle strategies of primal warfare. Physical conditioning, where Beck breaks his previous record lifting a water-enhanced weight system, beaming with pride as Instructor Thorn marks his progress in the ledger. Elemental history, which focuses on how there used to be more continents on our world before the elemental civil war completely destroyed them, leaving all of humanity on the single large landmass. There are, of course, outlying islands, but dangerous rogue elementals make traveling that far across the oceans too dangerous for any but the most desperate to make the journey.

Beck found the lesson boring enough to fall asleep, snoring so loudly that Ambrose had to elbow him awake several times.

Through it all, I'm only half-present, my mind constantly returning to the revelations at the quarry and tonight's training session with Raith. I've felt like things between us have been changing lately. But I'm worried he feels it too, and the Raith I know will pull away before anything becomes serious. He'll pull back at the last moment, and if I let myself hope we might become something, I'll be left with a broken heart.

So I do my best to just… not think about it. Because I've tried and failed too many times to convince myself I don't want him.

I do, though. Gods, I want him.

The truth of it burns under my skin like fire. It's far too strong to deny, so all I can do is manage periods of time where I force myself to think about other topics.

And maybe, just maybe, if I avoid thinking about him often enough I'll forget how I feel.

"Avoiding the blade at your throat only makes it slice deeper,"Typhon notes.

"Raith isn't a blade at my throat, though."

"No. A blade at your heart, perhaps."

* * *

Raith’s adviceabout paying attention helps me slip outside the castle walls for a bit of practice with Typhon. I stand in a grassy field with him, mostly shielded by trees if anyone cared to look out from the walls. He waits in front of me, larger now than he was when we returned from Confluence day by quite a bit. His shoulder is high above my head, and if he extends his long neck and wings, he’s simply breathtaking. Absolutely massive.

I put my hands on my hips, staring up at him.“So… Raith thinks I should learn to ride and fight from your back.”

“You would likely be in more danger on my back than on the ground. I’ll have to hold back with you riding me.”

“I still think Raith is right. We should practice fighting together. Who knows when we’ll need it?”

“Very well.”Typhon’s eyes glow, and I feel a sudden cold against my back. I look over my shoulder and see I’m rising off the ground, lifted by a dragon’s paw of pure water. I’m dropped unceremoniously on Typhon’s back, soaking and annoyed.

“Really?”I ask him.“I could’ve climbed you.”

“And wounded our collective dignity.”

“You’re right. Me looking like a drowned rat on your back is far more dignified.”

Blue magic flares and a saddle appears just below his shoulders. It’s the same kind he used on Confluence Day to help me stay on his back. I shimmy into it, feeling as the watery magic grips me tight, holding me in place.

“I would advise you to hold on, but it will not matter. My magic will keep you in place.”

“I can at least?—”

Typhon flaps his wings.Hard.

My stomach lurches and my vision darkens as we explode upward. I make no sound for several seconds, and then I throw my hands in the air and shout with pure exhilaration and joy. “Holy fuck!”

I look around, watching the trees grow small and Confluence Academy shift from the huge fortress I know it as to a small, gray dot in a green expanse. Typhon keeps flapping his wings, climbing higher until cool white clouds brush against my skin.

I stare in awe, holding my hand out and letting it slice through the clouds as we soar.

“I always thought they would… feel like something. I can’t even tell I’m touching clouds.”

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