his bag. “Feeling up for it?”
Kalai smiled. They’d tested riding with the harness once in the dark, although they stayed on the ground, both agreeing low-flying was too risky despite their distance from Valreus. There’d been villages close by, and one never knew what a traveler at the right place and time might see. Staying on the ground was close to torture when Kalai could so easily rise above the trees and soar with a single command. But he wasn’t about to risk all their lives for his own satisfaction, no matter how much he yearned to fly.
But Tauran’s next words dissolved all Kalai’s determined reasoning. “How about we step it up a bit, huh? Literally.”
“Do you mean…?”
“Flying,” Tauran said, shooting Kalai one of his foxy smiles, all canines and dimples. “What do you say?”
Hopeful excitement blossomed in Kalai’s stomach, but he kept it carefully reigned in. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
Tauran nodded, slipping the thigh strap over Kalai’s wrist and letting it dangle there. “We haven’t seen a single human all night or morning. No one travels this far south, and we passed the last settlement almost twenty miles back. This is as safe as it gets.” He placed a warm, calloused hand on the back of Kalai’s neck. “Besides, you being able to fly once we reach the Terror Marshes would make me feel a lot better.”
Kalai’s smile spread despite his attempt at self control. “What about you? I couldn’t just take off on Arrow and leave you to be devoured by some creepy bog beast.”
Tauran didn’t seem troubled. “I happen to be a fairly good shot,” he said, patting the pistol at his hip. “I promise you won’t have to watch me get gobbled up.”
Kalai called Arrow over from the shade of a rocky outcrop. At the sight of the harness, Arrow perked up, spinning in circles, one way and then the other.
“I swear, he turns into a fledgling whenever he sees you getting ready.” Tauran patted Arrow’s shoulder as Kalai fastened the harness around his waist and thighs. “Remember how to strap in?”
“Yeah.” Kalai spread his arms wide for Tauran to test the buckles. Tauran hooked two fingers through the metal rings and tugged, hard enough to make Kalai take a step forward. Kalai rolled his eyes at Tauran’s smug smirk, then grabbed the saddle. Arrow bent his legs to let Kalai settle on his back. Keeping out of range of Arrow’s sharp neck spikes was becoming second nature. He attached the harness rings to the saddle ring in the center with the carabiners, tugging each in turn twice to make sure they held. The straps around Kalai’s calves weren’t standard equipment. Tauran had them added to the saddle for extra support in case Kalai fainted in the air. He tightened them under Tauran’s careful watch.
Serious attentiveness had replaced the playful glimmer in Tauran’s eyes when he reached up and across Kalai to tug the harness this way and that. Satisfied that Kalai was properly attached, he stepped back.
“Stick to what we’ve practiced,” Tauran instructed. “Everything will happen really fast, especially on the back of a swiftwing. If you feel in over your head, just hold on tight and order him back down. Don’t take any chances.”
Kalai nodded.
“Stay low and don’t do anything wild. If you feel him getting over-eager, order him down. Let’s go for just a few minutes this first time.”
“I got it.”
“Remember how to descend?”
“Lean forward, weight on the neck strap, clear vocal commands.”
Tauran nodded once. He smiled, although the expression was slightly frail. “You’re good to go.”
Kalai reached out, and Tauran took his hand, giving it a brief squeeze. “I’ll be careful,” Kalai promised.
“Thank you.”
Something passed between them. Kalai knew how much flying meant Tauran, and how afraid it made him, too. Kalai wished he could ease Tauran’s fear, take Tauran with him into the skies. Suddenly, Kalai desperately wished to share this moment with him.
Tauran kissed the back of Kalai’s hand and released him. “Go on.” He stepped back.
“Okay…” Butterflies tumbled in Kalai’s belly, excitement and anticipation making his hands shake when he turned his attention forward. He had wanted this all his life. He looked at the harness. He couldn’t fall. Gently, he urged Arrow into motion.
With faintly lifted wings, Arrow shifted into a walk, then a trot. He could take off standing but, as Tauran had instructed, giving him a running start with a rider on his back would be easier on his wings.
The moment Arrow flowed into a