Page 39 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
Kieran exhaled through his nose. “Fine. Seven minutes.”
It took all of my strength not to collapse to the ground. I claimed a spot by Nimue and lay on my back. “Is he being a dick, or is he right?”
Nimue took a sip of her water. “The last Kalimera rider died because he fumbled his dismount when gryphons attacked. It took his left leg, and he bled to death before they could get help. Not only that, but danger aside, the better you do in the mission, the more Luther will be convinced to let you see your sister.”
I sighed. “Do you think…” I glanced at the others. They were far enough away where they wouldn’t overhear us. “Could I go see her in secret? I won’t run away, I swear. I just… I need to know she’s okay.” I had to see for myself if the letters were a lie or not.
Nimue grimaced. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where she is. Luther kept it from us. He knew we’d get close to you and want to help. Aurelia probably knows, but she’s a vault. And if you try to get it out of her, she’ll go tattling to Luther. If I knew it, I’d tell you in aheartbeat.”
Fuck.So my only hope was going on a mission and impressing Luther. I took another gulp of water. Within a blink, our break ended, and we ran more drills. I considered it a victory when I managed to do another dismount without falling on my face.
But Kieran wasn’t satisfied and continued to be merciless. “We’ll practice catching each other.” He had that cocky smirk of his as he focused on me, sending another flare of heat through my body. Asshole knew I was exhausted, knew I was ready to collapse to the ground. He probably thought it was funny to push me until I dropped.
“The fuck?” The words escaped me before I could stop them. “You want us to willingly fall off our dragons? I’m nowhere near ready for that.” Maybe he changed his mind. Maybe he didn’t see me as useful enough to keep around anymore.
His lips quirked. “Are you scared?”
“Any sane person would be. I barely trust any of you assholes.”
Aurelia put her hands on her hips. “I don't want to catch her.”
The corners of his mouth curved. “Then she’ll be the one to catch you. Though not for the first training exercise. Selena would drop you, no doubt about that. So I’ll catch you.”
“What’s the point in this?” I folded my arms. “Aren’t we chained to our dragons for a reason?”
“It’s impractical to assume we’ll always be tethered,”Gareth said before Kieran could say something biting. “The main reason being Andova. If we face them in battle, they’ll try to use their fire against us, and since only Luther is immune to their flames, the rest of us need to make a quick getaway. Worst case, you die. Best case, you break a bone or someone catches you. But better than guaranteed death.”
I glowered. “Lovely.” I looked at Nimue and Ben for support, but they nodded along. “You all are crazy.”
“If it helps, we do practice under a huge net. So if you fail, you won't die,” Gareth said.
“Of course, if you land wrong, you might break something,” Ben added helpfully. “But Gareth can heal you right up. And the fall is pretty fun when you don’t land wrong. A huge rush of energy.”
“Awesome,” I muttered and looked at Aurelia. “You know, I think you were right, Kieran. We do need to trust each other. So why don't I catch Aurelia? I mean worst thing that happens is she lands in the net, right?”
“If you think I’ll allow—”
“Alright.” Kieran raised a brow. “But if you fail to catch her, I’ll have you running laps until you physically collapse. Got that?”
I bared my teeth in a smile. “Get new material or kick rocks.”
Kieran’s eyes flashed, but I could’ve sworn I saw a glint of amusement in them.
“You can’t be serious!” Aurelia balled her hands into fists. “She has no experience!”
“We all had no experience at first,” Nimue countered. “Besides, there’s a net. And it’s only fair. After this, you’ll be even. Think of it as a trust building exercise.” Her smile belied her soothing words.
Aurelia huffed but relented against our united front. “If you drop me, I’ll have you in the dungeon for a week,” she hissed before she mounted Enmei.
“Any strategies for how to catch a person?” I asked the others.
“Don’t drop them?” Ben suggested.
“I prefer not to answer,” Nimue muttered. “I suck at catching people.”
“It’s easier when Ben or Kieran do the catching,” Gareth said. “They’re the ones who can actually slow our falls or use their powers to catch us. The rest of us… we do our best. Really, the most we can do is try to redirect their fall so they don’t land on their heads. But in a real situation, if you’re close enough, try to get your dragon underneath them, so that they land on or by you. But don’t have them land just on your dragon.” He grimaced. “Past riders have been impaled that way.”
I blanched. “Are you sure we should be doing this?”
