Page 53 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
In between, Ava regularly took rides on Draco's back, since she should avoid close combat with the mages anyway. For that reason, flight training played an important role in her education.
She always carried the Isip stone that the unknown mage had given her during Elora's captivity. In the event that she encountered a mage and had to face them alone, she needed to be able to defend herself.
On Kilian's orders, she was supposed to practice jumping from Draco's back during low-altitude flights. But it was so damn high, and Draco flew incredibly fast even when he tried to glide as slowly as possible.
"Now."
Ava couldn't do it."Fly slower!"
"If I fly any slower, we'll fall!"
It was so frustrating she wanted to pull her hair out. Ava simply didn't have the nerve.
To help her, Allan demonstrated it several times, but even his stunts couldn't convince Ava to attempt the jump. It looked like child's play when he did it, but she knew it wasn't. There was a reason why dragon fighters only practiced the jump in their second year of training, as Lilly regularly reported.
That afternoon, she again had let every opportunity to jump from Draco pass, instead crouching on his back and admiring Allan, who had just demonstrated his tenth jump from his fire dragon. When she again failed to imitate him, he flew over to Draco and made an encouraging gesture.
"Come on, Ava! Dragons are like trampolines, just with scales and sulfur breath."
She shook her head, feeling paralyzed as soon as she looked down. "It's too high. I'll never survive that!"
"Yes, you will, trust me. The dragons use their magic to slow our fall, making it slower than a snail crawling uphill."
"That's what I've been saying all along!"Draco snorted.
But Ava couldn't bring herself to do it. "It looks effortless when you do it."
"Well, I am the unparalleled prodigy of dragon jumping. But don't worry, even legends like me started small—though I never trembled as much as you." He winked with a grin and pointed at Magg, who was training in the arena but kept casting furtive glances at her. "Magg would have dared by now."
Laughing, Ava shook her head. "That doesn't work. I realized when I first arrived that she's an exceptional fighter."
Allan leaned forward, an amused twinkle in his brown eyes. "Who says you can't be one too?" With those words, he winked at her and flew over to Kilian, who was circling above the arena.
"You heard him. I'll slow your fall."
"But you've never done this before. If it goes wrong, I can't try again. I'll be dead!"
"You won't die just because it doesn't work the first time."
"Oh yes, I will. Do you have any idea how fragile a human body is? I don't have a thick layer of scales protecting me. Though Elora would probably be thrilled about that. I can already see the headline in the newspapers: Prophesied Dragon Guardian Dies Falling from Dragon before She Can Challenge the Sorceress."
Draco just snorted and, unprompted, began another descent. As the sandy ground loomed threateningly close, he shouted:"Now!"but Ava clung to his back.
"I can't do this!"
And that was true. Her fear was too great, which was why she didn't take the risk. She had gotten used to the feeling of flying on Draco, even enjoying it in particularly idyllic moments, but as soon as he went into a dive, she was paralyzed. And that didn't change, no matter how often he encouraged her or how frequently Allan demonstrated the jump exuberantly.
"Don't pressure yourself," Allan had unexpectedly said days ago. He'd really meant it. "Just fly as much and as long as possible on your dragon, it strengthens your bond and eventually the moment will come when you dare to do it."
Finally, some advice to her liking. And she referred to it every time Draco wanted to encourage her to jump from his back again. Instead, they went on longer flights, allowing Ava to see more and more of the surroundings every day.
To strengthen the bond, of course.
There were no villages or cities in the area, but vast fields and meadows, pristine forests, rivers, and small lakes. The landscape seemed boundless. The only thing missing were the numerous dragons flying through the sky. From a distance, they could see the mountains where the mountain dragons hid, but rarely caught sight of one. They were masters of camouflage.
Ava enjoyed the long flights more with each ride, feeling how Draco's and her connection grew closer and closer, although she had hardly been able to imagine it.
One afternoon, they returned from an especially long tour of the grounds. Her legs were shaking from hours of flight, and her fingers were cramped around his scales from having not moved them for so long. That was why she was glad to land.
