of the plateau was flat and barren. Tauran fought the urge to keep his eyes on his horse and tried to focus on the mountains rising above, even higher than the plateau. They were miles away, but so large they looked just a stone’s throw from the Sky Plateau.
His destination was not difficult to find; the flat ground made the group impossible to miss. The new sky recruits sat in a circle on the grass, the unmistakable forms of fledgling dragons moving in their midst, no larger than big dogs. Tauran had never seen so many fledglings at once. As he approached, he counted seven. Valeron rested a short distance away. He opened one silver eye and looked at Tauran. When Roric spotted him, he whistled and waved Tauran closer.
“Where’s Catria?” Tauran asked once he was close enough to be heard without shouting.
“Up there.” Roric pointed to the sky. “Demonstrating.”
Tauran craned his neck back.
At first, he saw nothing. Then, a form broke the faint cloud cover, descending in a soft curve. As it neared, Tauran made out wings, a tail, then horns and rows of spikes, and last, the color of the dragon’s scales: fawn, like caramel, with a paler underbelly.
At Catria’s command, Sorcha tucked in her wings and corkscrewed through the air. A quiet ‘oooh’ made Tauran look down.
All seven recruits had their eyes pinned to the team in the air, jaws wide open.
Despite the ever-present tension in his body, Tauran smiled. He remembered vividly the first several times he’d seen a dragon and rider team perform. The awe, the excitement.
A burst of air made Tauran’s horse yank its head when Catria steered down close. All the guard’s horses were trained to tolerate dragons, but swiftwings like Catria’s Sorcha were something special. Smaller than the common stateras, they were slender and lithe, with wings shaped perfectly for agility and speed in the air. A swiftwing could strike a horse before the horse even knew danger was coming. Whether the swiftwing could lift it off the ground was another matter.
Sorcha stretched her legs and leaned back, planting her feet elegantly on the plateau with barely a sound. A quiet, satisfied rumble vibrated in her chest that even Tauran could hear, despite the distance.
The recruits crowded around them like eager puppies, the fledglings stretching their necks toward Sorcha when she bowed her head to greet them. A kind, patient teacher.
Catria shielded her eyes from the sun, turning her head in Tauran’s direction. Tauran raised a hand in greeting, and she visibly startled, then patted Sorcha eagerly on the shoulder.
Sorcha leaped straight into the air, leaving the fledglings tumbling. She soared in an elegant curve towards Roric and Tauran. Catria detached her harness and slipped the eight feet from the saddle onto the ground before Sorcha had even come to a full stop.
“No way!” Catria’s curly black hair bounced around her face when she ran the last few steps toward them. “Tauran?”
“That’s me.” Tauran dismounted his horse and met her embrace.
She squeezed him tight, stroking his back, a familiar touch that made Tauran’s chest ache anew. He gently detached himself before the feeling could take root.
“What in all the clear skies are you doing here?” Catria asked, holding Tauran at an arm’s length as if to make sure he was real. “I thought you weren’t coming back.”
“I’m not back,” Tauran said quickly. “In the Sky Guard, I mean. I just needed a place to crash, and Falka offered me an apartment. Emilian is letting me work with the ground recruits.”
Catria’s eyes were gentle. “I see. Skies know Emilian could use a hand down there. It’s nice of you to help.” She stroked Sorcha’s nose when Sorcha nudged her shoulder, turning her blue eyes on Tauran.
“Stunning as ever,” Tauran said softly. Sorcha didn’t hesitate, but pressed her face against his chest.
“She missed you,” Catria said. “We both did. How’s your leg?”
“Still attached,” Tauran said with a grimace. He pulled away from Sorcha like he had her rider. When Sorcha draped a wing over his shoulder, Tauran kept his hands in his pockets, but didn’t pull away.
“I was so worried about you. The state you were in—”
“Yeah, I know,” Tauran murmured. “How are you doing? Roric told me it’s just you, him and Falka left from the old rider crew.”
Catria sighed heavily and looked over her shoulder at the new recruits, gathering behind Sorcha’s swinging tail. “It’s a lot of hard work. So much is happening. After the battle...” She shook her head. There