Leyra followed without prompt from Tauran, and gradually, he relaxed.
One by one, he grew aware of the things he’d once loved and never quite forgotten: the feeling of sitting astride a magnificent predator, the rush of the wind and the sun at his back and the freedom to go wherever his heart desired.
The landscape rushed past them, the beats of Leyra’s wings slow and steady like the rhythm of a calm heart. Her deep, even breaths synced with his own. A flock of frightened sheep bleated and fled at the sight of them, Leyra’s eyes lingering on the animals before Arrow urged her ahead with a call. They flew close together, the fanned tip of Arrow’s tail nearly close enough for Tauran to reach out and touch.
At last, Arrow slowed over a cluster of trees hiding a meadow in its center covered in lilac wildflowers. He leaned back and fanned out his wings, Kalai’s posture so effortless and elegant that Tauran nearly forgot to focus on his own landing, wobbling on Leyra’s back before he regained his composure. He eased into it, leaning back as she touched down, her strong wings sending gusts of wind through the flowers before they stilled.
Tauran was unprepared for the weakness in his legs when he slid from her back, and he stumbled straight into the flowers, laughing like a drunken fool. All the excitement drained from him, leaving him raw but full of joy and relief as Kalai fell to his knees in front of him and hugged him tight, letting Tauran drag him into his lap.
“That was incredible!” Kalai said, voice breaking when he took Tauran’s head in his hands and stared at him with eyes full of emotion. “How are you feeling?”
Tauran’s jaw worked, his tongue unable to form words before he settled on, “Alive!” His vision blurred with tears.
Kalai laughed and hugged him again, fingers tangling in the back of Tauran’s shirt. “I’m so proud of you. Skies, this is everything I’ve ever wanted.”
For a long moment, they held each other as Tauran’s racing heart slowed and the tears of relief and joy dried on his cheeks. Then, Kalai whispered more words of pride, and the tears fell again.
He’d been broken for so long. Missing a part of himself. Not any longer. Bit by bit, he let go of the longing and feeling of wrongness he’d let build up inside for the past four and a half years.
In the scorching heat of the afternoon sun, they mounted back up and took to the skies.
For a moment, Tauran couldn’t help but worry that his wild bout of bravery had been temporary, that it would terrify him to climb onto Leyra’s back and fly a second time.
The initial nervousness was still there, his hands shaking as he grasped her neck, spines a little too tight, muscles painfully clenched as they took flight with a jerking leap. But then they were in the air, soaring on steady, strong wings, and so long as Tauran didn’t spend too long looking down, he found he was all right.
Still, he was thankful Leyra was a titan and not a swiftwing. Watching Arrow dart around them, twisting this way and that, made Tauran dizzy.
Kalai seemed to love it, urging Arrow into a backwards flip straight over Tauran’s head. Kalai grinned as they leveled back out. To Tauran’s delight, he managed to make Leyra strike a wing hard through the air, blowing a gust of wind toward Arrow that sent the smaller dragon tumbling. That, too, made Kalai laugh, and it struck Tauran that he rarely got to see him this happy. The joy of knowing they could share this now, too, replaced Tauran’s last shred of nervousness. The initial terror of standing at the top of the mountain was suddenly worth it a thousand times over.
They had made plans to eat together before Tauran prepared to leave for Valreus with Catria. As the town grew larger on the horizon, Arrow’s aerobatics stilled, and even from the distance between their dragons, Tauran could see that the prospect of splitting bothered Kalai.
Tauran didn’t feel much better about it. More than anything, he wanted Kalai by his side. Ever since they’d met, Kalai had been only a short walk away. Tauran could always come to him whenever things boiled over, and he felt he was losing his grasp on control. Not only that, but seeing Kalai so sick from the withdrawals, spending nights on end desperately