33. Test Ride
A eden received more than a few funny looks as he made his way to the test field riding atop Nyra.
They took it easy and slow as Nyra got used to the harness and Aeden got used to not falling off.
Lyric had warned that Nyra was still a little small for her first ride, but given that they would not be airborne, it was in both their best interests to start practicing.
For all Aeden knew, the Conclave could turn up at any moment, so at the very least, if he could ride her, they could try and escape if they needed to.
He had already calculated the forest as the best exit strategy, as Aer-Kin wouldn’t be able to see them from above or land within the dense trees. Or at least, he hoped not.
He was getting used to the staring, but what he really struggled with was the whispers, the hushed words they spoke as if neither Nyra or he were there.
It was something that was getting more and more difficult to tolerate, but Nyra had reminded him on more than one occasion to not give them the reaction they were looking for.
Still, there were only so many pointed looks of disgust and comments of her being a “crawler” or “earthbound” without Aeden’s blood boiling.
The worst he had heard was a third-year student calling her a “half-kin” – and that was something Aeden had struggled to digest, like she was somehow less of an Aer-Kin because of her wings.
Despite his urges to confront each and every one of them, he listened to Nyra, not wishing to upset her, even though he could feel her pain at the situation.
If she could have the grace to not rise to it, then Aeden needed to echo that.
Lyric walked in front of them, guiding Nyra and talking her through what she needed to do with their first test ride.
Aeden could have been forgiven for thinking that Lyric was a flight instructor with the knowledge he seemed to have, which was interesting given the fact that he was the one faculty member at the academy who didn’t have an Aer-Kin.
The flight field was a huge expanse of vibrant green grass, and there was a light breeze in the air.
Large poles were buried into the ground, reaching far above them.
They were scattered around the field, some with hoops, some with flags attached to them.
Beyond the field was a mountain range, but that was so far away in the distance that Aeden didn’t know how far away they actually were.
Down the centre of the field was a long stretch of earth where the grass had been clawed away by other Aer-Kin, clear by the gouged lines that were etched all over the ground.
“I won’t need to explain that this is where take-offs and landings happen,” Lyric said as he pointed at the strip.
“We don’t want Aer-Kin landing on the pillars, either.
Honestly, I don’t know why we still use them.
There have been more than a handful of Aer-Kin perished on this very field because of those.
” He made a skewer gesture, which Aeden didn’t appreciate.
“I don’t think that’s very helpful.” Aeden’s voice shook with nerves. His hands were trembling and his knuckles whitened as he gripped the reins tightly.
“Well, it’s not something you need to worry about,” Lyric said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that . . . I just meant, we don’t need to worry about Nyra spiking herself like I would with other Aer-Kin.”
Aeden studied the field as best he could. There was certainly plenty of space for him to practice riding Nyra.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked. He could feel through the Weave that it wasn’t just himself that was nervous.
“Well, lets have a little think. We don’t want anything too extreme, we just want you to get used to riding her for now. You’ll have classes that will build up the intensity. Let’s use the pillars as markers and get some of the basics done. Have you ridden a horse before?”
“A few times, yeah.” Aeden wasn’t a fan of horses. He found them temperamental and didn’t trust them not to buck him off for no reason.
“Great. Riding an Aer-Kin is like riding a horse,” Lyric said. “Well, kind of. Obviously horses can’t fly, and they don’t have magic coursing through their veins, but you know what I mean.”
“I don’t, really,” Aeden laughed.
“Right, well, holding the reins and what you do with them is similar to that of a horse, that’s what I meant.
You can use them to help control which way you want to go, but as your bond with Nyra increases, this will get easier and easier.
You’ll eventually synchronise with your Weave, and your thoughts, wants, and wishes will become one.
You’ll be able to think which way you want to go, and Nyra will follow.
You’re some way off from that, despite how strong of a bond you two have already formed. ”
Aeden gripped the reins tighter, and the leather straps groaned in his grip.
“Let’s start with something simple,” Lyric said.
“Just head to that first pillar and back, but make it a faster pace than we used coming here. I want to see your movement when I’m not guiding Nyra.
Does that sound okay to you?” He stepped to the side to give Aeden and Nyra some space. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Something about the way Lyric said that made Aeden feel even more uneasy.
“ Are you ready, Nyra? ” Aeden asked.
She reached him through the bond with an air of nervous excitement. “ I am, are you? ”
“ If you are, then I am .” He gripped the reins tightly and waited for Lyric to give the word.
“Remember, don’t set off too fast or you’ll find yourself unseated. It may not look like far, but you’re six feet in the air, which still holds a risk to you should you fall.” Lyric raised his arm in the air. “Just the first post and back, that should be all you need to get warmed up. Ready, go!”
Nothing could have prepared Aeden for the speed at which Nyra set off, and he found himself pushed back into the saddle.
It was all he could do to squeeze his legs into either side of the seat as he desperately fought to stay on top of Nyra.
His stomach muscles tightened as Nyra got faster and faster, quickly building up momentum.
Had Aeden not wrapped the reins around his wrists and gripped them so tight, he would have rolled backwards and fallen off.
The wind pressure against his face was incredible as Nyra somehow lowered herself to the ground as she ran, her speed picking up at the same time.
With each step she took, her talons raked through the earth, slamming into the ground over and over again. Aeden kept himself as low as possible as his stomach muscles tightened, and he almost cried out when he was greeted with a cramp in his right hip.
Nyra reached the first post and ran around the outside, then surged back towards Lyric.
“ Sit up, Aeden, you’re making it harder for me to balance ,” Nyra said, reaching out to him.
Aeden struggled to do anything other than cling on for dear life.
“ I’m trying ,” he said. There was absolutely nothing he could have done to prepare himself for the sheer force of pressure he was feeling against his body as Nyra raced back towards Lyric, who stood not far from them now, the biggest smile that his beard would allow him on his face.
They flew past him with Nyra skidding to a stop. Aeden’s knuckles whitened even more as he pulled the reins tight enough to ensure he didn’t go flying off.
“ That was incredible ,” Nyra said, chittering and jumping into the air like an overexcited child.
“Nyra, be careful,” Aeden said in a panicked state.
“By the gods,” Lyric said, slapping his knee, “that was fast!”
“Is that a good thing?” Aeden said as Nyra drew level with the hatchery master .
“I’ve never seen such a young Aer-Kin move so fast on this field, not even for a take-off!” He paused for a moment and examined Aeden. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I feel like a shell of a man,” Aeden said. He didn’t dare let go of the reins in case another burst of energy fell on Nyra. “ What happened to take it easy? ” Aeden asked her, making his displeasure known through the bond.
“ I’m sorry, I just haven’t got to spread my legs like that before, other than when I ran to the lake to help you. That felt so good .”
She chittered again, and a pang of guilt came over Aeden for scolding her. “ Sorry, it’s just, your speed – it took me by surprise .”
“Are you ready to go again?” Lyric asked.
“ Yes ,” Nyra said excitedly.
“No,” Aeden said at the same time.
“Good,” Lyric laughed. “You may have one of the fastest Aer-Kin in the academy. On land, anyway. Next I want you to weave in and out of those four posts, then turn around and do the same again until you get back. This time I want you to get back to me as fast as you can. I want to see how Nyra handles herself when travelling at speed. Most Aer-Kin struggle with this one when they’re flying, let alone running on foot. ”
Instinctively Aeden sat forward and pushed himself into the seat. The jolt of setting off last time had gotten the better of him, and he knew he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He had spent the entire first run holding on for dear life.
Nyra set off just as fast as the last time, but Aeden focused on his core, meaning that he wasn’t pushed backwards this time.
Instead he tried his hardest to lean forwards.
The pressure was unreal as air hit him with so much force it felt like someone was physically trying to push him back into his seat.
“ Are you okay, Aeden? ” Nyra asked.
“ Yeah ,” Aeden said.
Nyra made it to the first column even faster than the first time. She ran around the inside before switching and weaving around the outside of the next column, then repeated the process until she reached the fourth and final one.
Nyra’s body shuffled, her hips jerking differently than how she had been running before. She lowered herself even lower to the ground and wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
“ Nyra, you’re going too fast for the corner .”
She didn’t reply, and panic filled Aeden as he gripped the reins so tightly they threatened to snap.
“ Nyra! ”
She didn’t respond as she passed the column at lightning speed. It whooshed passed Aeden dangerously close as she leaned to the right. Her side moved that low to the grass that if Aeden had reached out he may have been able to touch it. He wasn’t that brave, though.
“ Nyra, I’m struggling to ” – Aeden’s arms were tensed as he did everything he could to remain seated.
As Nyra flicked her back end around the column to head back through and back to Lyric, the motion of suddenly stopping was too much for Aeden.
Unable to hold on any longer, he was thrown off from the side.
Earth and sky spun around him, blurring into a mixed palette of green, blue, brown, and white. He had no clue how many times he rolled over, but when he stopped, it was the dizziest he had ever felt as the world continued to spin around him.
All he could smell was the grass, his arms and sides aching like he had just had another one of Master Storme’s sparring matches. When he looked up, dazed and confused, all he could see was Nyra continuing around the course that Lyric had set. She hadn’t noticed she had unseated him.
“ Forgetting something? ” Aeden groaned, reaching through their Weave. The only positive from this exercise was that he could still speak to her as clear as day, even from this distance.
Nyra came skidding to a halt by Lyric, her breathing heavy as she panted. Lyric was pointing in Aeden’s direction. “ Sorry ,” she said, still panting. “ I thought you were still ” – she paused for a second while she gathered herself – “ sat on me. Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you? ”
“ I’m okay ,” Aeden said, a slight frustration in his voice. “ Just a little bruised, but nothing worse than what I am used to .”
“ Oh, good ,” Nyra said. “ That was amazing! Hold on, I’ll come and get you .”
“ That’s okay, I can walk ,” Aeden said.
“ Have I done something wrong? ” Nyra said, her excitement fading.
“ I just need to gather myself after the fall. I’ll be okay .” Aeden climbed to his feet and made the walk back to Lyric and Nyra, albeit slightly slower and a bit more gingerly than his usual pace.
“What happened?” Lyric said as he approached.
Aeden finished dusting the dry earth from his sleeves. “I wasn’t expecting Nyra to go so low on that corner. When she spun around, the motion of stopping suddenly left me unbalanced and I lost my grip.”
“And let me guess, she didn’t respond when you reached out to her?”
Aeden nodded, feeling deflated and jaded. He had been unseated on his first ride, with his Aer-Kin that couldn’t fly. This wasn’t a good sign of things to come. If the Conclave did turn up, how was he going to run if he couldn’t remain seated?
“Don’t beat yourself up, lad,” Lyric said, patting Nyra on her side with a solid hand. Her breathing was still heavy as she gathered herself.
“You’re not the first rider to be unseated on their first ride, and you won’t be the last. Don’t forget, it’s Nyra’s first time too, and she is young.
When hatchlings get excited or overstimulated” – he raised his hand to purse the side of his mouth and lowered his voice to whisper – “they tend not to listen.” He lowered his hand again and brought his voice to a normal level. “So, don’t take it personally.”
“ I’m sorry, Aeden, I didn’t mean to! ”
Aeden felt terrible as Nyra’s emotions reached him through the Weave. “It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” he said, even though he felt it was. He wanted to reassure her after what Lyric had said, reminding himself that all of this was just as new to Nyra as it was to him.
“It gets easier the more you practice, and with you two bonding easier than the rest of your cohort, you’ll have more time together to train.”
“Even though we can’t fly?” Aeden asked.
“I’ve seen so many hatchlings take to this training field over the years, and I don’t think I have seen any as fast as Nyra.” Lyric grabbed hold of her harness and gave it a light shake. “It possibly has something to do with her wings being fixed down. It may make her more aerodynamic.”
Aeden tried to take some comfort from Lyric’s words, but this exercise had only made him more determined to fix her wings for her. He didn’t want her to be different from the other Aer-Kin.
“Well, at least you weren’t in the air when you were unseated,” Lyric said with a laugh.
As much as Aeden appreciated Lyric’s attempt to lighten the mood, he couldn’t muster a smile. The Conclave could already be on their way to the academy, and Aeden felt like they were running out of time to prepare.