call out the similarities between him and his gryphon and their place in her world. He was just that—a novelty—the Elvasi who wanted to help the Andinna. The Elvasi who didn’t really have a place in their community, but he was there anyway, just like the gryphon. Neither of them had anywhere else to go, so they stayed in the valley and tried to be helpful.
“So, how do we want to do this?” Emerian asked, oblivious to what had just happened or sounded like it, anyway. Trevan didn’t think he was deaf and blind, just choosing to ignore what had just happened.
“We’ll use wooden weapons for safety,” Mave declared, stepping back to look around. “Can you go get some from that shack? A spear and some moroks. Or a long sword for Trevan. Spear will probably be best.”
Trevan heard Emerian jog away without replying to his warrior and looked at the male running across the field. Emerian went into the shack, coming back out with three wooden moroks and a wooden spear.
“As for you and Vahn,” she continued, looking at him. “Use the spear or a sword. That’s what I saw the Elvasi using. They try for range, and the gryphon does most of the work in the air. He’s trained to tear us apart in combat, and I think it would help you to learn what he can really do.”
“Of course, it would, but I’m not trained by the Elvasi, and I don’t want to hurt anyone with him by accident,” Trevan countered. That was why he had never tried to do this sort of training. “I don’t know what he responds to or how to make him stop once he gets started. It took me a season to get him healthy and flying with me on his back. It took two weeks of that season for me to learn how to control him on simple flights.” Trevan would never forget those weeks as he tested the waters with Vahn. There was a lot of yelling and a lot of laughter as he tried to enter the skies, using a mount, so he could keep up with the Andinna he lived around. Once he had the hang of it, being with Vahn was a boon, but he would never forget the work he had to put into it. It made him respect Vahn’s power—he could throw Trevan on his worst day and kill him on his best.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she said, seemingly without a worry in the world. She took the wooden spear from Emerian and looked it over before handing it to Trevan. “You know how to use the Elvasi spear. Just act as if you’re on the back of a horse.”
“I was never a member of the cavalry,” he tried to remind her. “I was a foot soldier. I was a good foot soldier, but a foot soldier, nonetheless.”
“Well, now you’ll be more,” she said, smiling. “Come on. You might need this one day, and it’s better if you train with us than with someone who might take advantage and try to use it to hurt you.”
“You really don’t trust anyone,” he commented, somewhat indulgently. “There’s not many here that trust me, but I don’t think I have anything to worry about anymore.”
“I won’t take those chances.” She stepped back, crossing her arms with clear expectation. He stared at her for a moment, trying to fight this. He didn’t think this training was going to go the way she wanted it to. “Well? Mount and get into the air. I’ll go first.”
With a sigh, he grabbed Vahn’s neck feathers, using them as leverage to pull himself up. Luckily, someone had scavenged a saddle for him because there would be no way he could do this bareback. With only the most minimal encouragement, Vahn jumped into the air, his wings beating hard as he gained altitude over the field. Below him, Trevan watched as Mave pointed Emerian to the side, out of the way before she joined him in the sky.
“Now, I want you to lift the spear and try to attack me!” she called out.
“Are you ready?” he asked his mount softly. “Let’s not hurt her, okay? We don’t need that kind of trouble.”
Trevan wanted to groan, but he lifted the spear, holding Vahn’s reins with one hand, struggling to balance himself. He tapped his heels and sent the gryphon flying toward her at a speed he wasn’t ready for. She dodged the spear easily,