58. Anticipation
“ Y ou did good, girl,” Aeden said, patting Nyra on the neck as he gathered his breath from their ride.
Mistress Jara had been pushing them hard in training, and both Aeden and Nyra had benefitted from this.
She was faster on the ground by a long way compared to the other Aer-Kin, and her handling had become easier for Aeden, to a point where Aeden’s confidence was growing every time they worked together.
He hadn’t even been unseated in the last few training sessions.
“ Shall we give it one last go? ” Aeden asked.
“ If you want to ,” Nyra said, less enthusiastic than usual.
“ Are you okay? ” Aeden asked, concerned for her. “ You don’t seem yourself at all today .”
“ It’s nothing ,” Nyra said, cutting the conversation short.
Aeden gave her a sceptical look. “ Well, it seems like there is something .” It didn’t feel like the right time for Aeden to remind her that he could feel her anxiety, with some signs of sadness there too. “ Doesn’t seem like nothing, Nyra. Come on, it’s me, you can talk to me about anything .”
“ Do you want to do the course or not? ”
Nyra set off without any warning, catching Aeden off guard. It was all he could do to hold on to the reins as he gripped them as tightly as possible.
“ Woah, Nyra .” One thing Aeden knew about her was that when she was running, when she was moving at speed, that was when she truly felt free.
As concerned as he was, he also enjoyed the spike of adrenaline that came with riding her around the course.
Mistress Jara had made the course more difficult for them once they had been able to make their way around comfortably.
There were more difficult traps for them to navigate but Aeden was grateful for the challenge.
Anything that could help them prepare, he appreciated.
Pulling himself forward with the reins, Aeden pushed against the sheer force that Nyra was generating, grabbing hold of a handle that was attached to the front of the saddle.
Once in place, he hooked on using a metal hoop that was connected to his gauntlets and fixed them into place.
He had learnt his lesson from previous runs and had asked Lyric to help come up with a solution.
So far it had worked perfectly. This time, though, Nyra hadn’t afforded him the opportunity to prepare himself.
Putting it mildly, he knew she was pissed about something, but Aeden was none the wiser as to what exactly was affecting her so much.
Nyra weaved in and out of the columns, Aeden leaning with her, his chest pounding fast and hard as he kept his eyes firmly on the path ahead of them .
“ Remember to duck after this corner ,” Aeden said.
No sooner had they rounded the column than Nyra pressed her body low to the ground and Aeden pushed his body forwards as flat as he could. A pole barely skimmed the top of his head.
“ Nyra, you don’t need to hit the corners so fast .”
Nyra didn’t respond. She sped up even faster, which Aeden hadn’t even realised was possible. She weaved around one pillar and then the next, leaning forwards as her momentum continued to build.
“ Trap! ” Aeden reminded her as Nyra vaulted over the hole that had been dug into the ground.
This had gradually been getting larger in size the more times that Nyra cleared it.
Now it must have been four or five metres in length, and even though there were no spikes or traps inside, Mistress Jara had said they should treat it like there was; it would still cause an injury should Nyra fall in at this speed.
Nyra landed back onto the earth with a thud, with Aeden bouncing in his seat and holding on as best he could, keeping himself as streamlined as possible. She rounded another bend, vaulting another trap with ease before ducking the two poles that were sticking out from the column.
Nyra meant business on this run.
When they reached the start of the course, Aeden panted, lifting up his goggles and rubbing his face. As much as he loved travelling at speed, he hadn’t enjoyed that, not one bit. He felt like he wasn’t in any form of control, although it had lifted Nyra’s spirits, if only slightly.
“ Feel better now? ” Aeden asked, wondering what Nyra’s outburst was all about .
Nyra looked up into the sky longingly, a fresh wave of sadness reaching Aeden through the Weave.
She was watching the second-year students that had taken to the sky in a flight formation under the watchful eye of Mistress Jara, who was coasting behind them atop Thalmaar, her towering blue-scaled Aer-Kin.
The way she carried herself as a rider was something Aeden aspired to.
She seemed unfazed by Thalmaar’s movements, even from this distance.
The Aer-Kin’s roars could be heard from down where the two of them stood watching.
“ I just struggle at times ,” Nyra finally said. “ Other than you and Lyric, I don’t have anyone to talk to .”
“ You have the hatchlings ,” Aeden said, rubbing her neck.
“ I’m being serious. We’ve been training with the second years for weeks, yet none of their Aer-Kin accept me. Not one of them sees me as one of their kind. Even after all this time, they don’t acknowledge me. Even Thalmaar greets me with the bare minimum, only doing that because of his rider .”
“ I’m sorry, Nyra, I didn’t realise you felt that way .”
“ It’s hard. I work just as hard as the rest of them, despite being younger and smaller than the rest. But knowing I’ll never feel the wind against my wings like they do, knowing that I’ll never be able to soar in the sky like they do . . . Well, it’s enough to question my worth .”
Nyra was upset, and all Aeden could think of to make her feel better was to say, “ Hey, I promised you that I would do whatever it takes to fix your wings. If there is a way, we’ll find one together .”
“ But that’s part of the problem, Aeden ,” Nyra snapped, “ Even you, my bonded rider, thinks that I am broken, that I am different from the rest, and if you think like that, how can I ever expect to be accepted by the rest of them? ”
“I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just saying ?—”
“ Please stop ,” Nyra asked, frustration rising in her.
Guilt trickled into Aeden, and he felt truly terrible. He could sense through the Weave that Nyra was feeling hurt, and that worried him.
“ I’m sorry, Nyra ,” he said. “ What do you want me to do? ”
“ Can we just leave? ” she said, turning away from the training field. “ I just want to head back to the hatchery .”
“ If that’s what you want to do, I can respect that .”
Nyra didn’t say another word as the two of them headed back to the hatchery, Aeden choosing to respect Nyra’s silence.
A short time later, Aeden was sitting in the dining hall, swirling some soup around in his bowl with his spoon.
Even though it was his favourite, leek and potato, he found that he didn’t have much appetite for eating.
His cob of bread was half eaten as he found himself ruminating over his earlier training session.
He had ridden Nyra back to the hatchery where he left her with Lyric, who was still busy conducting his research.
Midnight had been excited to see her, but Nyra had barely acknowledged the young Aer-Kin, which wasn’t like her.
Aeden hated that she was feeling this way.
More than anything, he hated that he had hurt her feelings.
Sure, they had bickered and had disagreements in their time together, but never a falling-out.
The swell of guilt inside Aeden rose to new heights as it continued to grow inside of him.
He felt awful, not for what he had said, but for how Nyra had interpreted it.
Yes, he wanted to find a way to fix her wings, but for her, not for him. Aeden didn’t see her as broken like Nyra seemed to think. He wanted to help her with her wings so she could take flight, so she would be where she belonged, where she wanted to be with the other Aer-Kin.
He had opted to give her some space, and given it was time for lunch in the dining hall, it was as good an opportunity as any to afford her that.
He closed himself off from the Weave to give her further privacy and as much time as she needed, knowing that he would visit her later to make amends for his comments and make sure that she was okay.
For now, Aeden had to settle on the knowledge that Lyric would remain with her and do his best to lift her spirits.
She wanted to be accepted by the other Aer- Kin, not necessarily be just like them. Aeden had seen the error of the way that he had phrased his promise to help, and he understood why she was feeling this way. It didn’t make it any easier to process.
“You going to eat that?” Harrison asked. He was sat beside Aeden, having finished his soup already, a bit of which was on his face.
“You’ve got a bit of something on your chin,” Serene said, gesturing from the opposite side of the table.
Looking embarrassed, Harrison quickly wiped at his face with his hand before repeating his question. “You going to eat that or not? All this extra training has me starving.”
“Go ahead,” Aeden said, sliding the bread towards him.
Harrison snapped it up and mopped the remaining residue of soup that was on the outer edges of the bowl before shoving it into his mouth like it was the first meal he’d had in months.
“I see you still haven’t gained any manners since being at the academy,” Serene teased as she picked up her bread and dipped it into her soup with a little more grace than Harrison.
“I’m not here to learn how to eat,” Harrison said with a mouthful of bread, “I’m here to become the best rider this academy has ever seen.”
Vivienne took up a seat next to Serene, her soup, bread, and drink on a tray that she slid down in front of her. “Leek and potato,” she scoffed, clearly not as keen on it as Aeden was. “What have I done to deserve this?”
Harrison laughed. “Well, if you don’t want it.” He leaned across the table to reach for Vivienne’s bread.
Without hesitation, Vivienne slapped Harrison’s hand, causing him to snap his hand back and shake it.
“Ow!”
“Next time it’ll be with a fork.” She looked down at her free hand, which was holding her spoon. “Or spoon.”
“Okay, okay, message received, loud and clear, jeez,” Harrison said as he continued to shake his hand.
There was a buzz in the air around all of the tables from most of the students, although some chose to sit quietly, much like Aeden.
“What is it that has you in such a foul mood?” Vivienne said. “You look like someone took a shit in your bed.”
It took Aeden a few moments to register that she was speaking to him as he sat vacant at the table.
“Hello,” Serene said, “anyone in there?” She waved her hand in front of his face to grab his attention .
“Sorry, what?” Aeden said, dragging himself back into the conversation.
“What’s up? You’re not yourself, and you’ve barely touched your soup. That isn’t like you,” Serene said as she took a spoonful of soup.
Aeden thought about Nyra back at the hatchery and what had happened during their rider training. “I upset Nyra this morning. I didn’t mean to, but she’s pretty upset with me,” he said.
“Want to talk about it?” Serene asked.
“Not really, it’s her I need to speak with to make things right. It’s just the first time that I have felt her so mad, especially towards me.”
“I’m sure you two will figure things out,” Vivienne said. “You two have a great bond. I’m sure it’s normal to have a falling-out.”
Aeden appreciated their attempts to lift his mood, and not wanting to ruin lunch for everyone, he decided to try and change the subject. “So are you all ready for the bonding ceremony?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Serene said.
“I can’t wait,” Harrison said, practically vibrating with excitement.
“Watching you and Nyra grow together has just made me want to experience this even more. Only one more day, and we will finally know which Aer-Kin we’re going to be bonded to.
I wonder if I’ll end up with the copper one. ” He ruffled his flame-red hair.
“You mean Copper Top?” Aeden laughed. “I think he would be too much of a handful for you. I could see you working well with Sky,” he said, referring to the playful blue Aer-Kin.
Thinking about the hatchling caused Aeden to think about Midnight and who she would bond with.
Most of the academy by now had heard about what had happened with her and Bertha.
“Whoever we get, it’s going to be incredible. To think by this time tomorrow, we could all be bonded,” Serene said, clasping her hands together with excitement.
“Will be,” Aeden corrected. “This time tomorrow, you will all be bonded.”
“Well, let’s not be too expectant,” Serene said. “I prefer to air on the side of caution, although I think we are as best prepared as anyone else.”
“Either way, there isn’t any way I’m going to get any sleep tonight,” Harrison said as he pushed his now-clean bowl away from him, leaving a trail of crumbs in front of him.
“Well, you’ll need to rest as best you can,” Serene said as if she was lecturing him.
“You need to be as strong as possible mentally for the bonding. It’s okay for Aeden, he has already bonded, but what if something happens to one of us during the ceremony?
” she added, pensive in her expression. She was a picture of worry.
“We all knew the risks when we signed up to do this,” Harrison said. “You forget we have someone on the inside. He has taught us all we need to know.” He laughed, nudging Aeden in the arm with an elbow.
“This isn’t a joke, Harrison, I mean it. Any of us could die during the ceremony.” Serene looked over at Vivienne, who offered her a faint smile.
“Listen, everyone is on edge,” Aeden said.
“I’ve gone through everything I experienced, but as I have said countless times, it might be different for you.
After all, I bonded with Nyra away from the academy.
” Aeden didn’t think it was wise to go into the ceremony with too much confidence. “Anything could happen tomorrow.”
Serene continued to cut a lonely figure as she curled up, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her upper arms as if she had been taken by a sudden coldness. “That’s exactly what I am worried about.”