Heir of Dust and Wind

Chapter 23 - Exploration

Ava leaned back and spread her arms wide.

She relished the brisk wind and the warm sunshine on her face. In this position, it nearly felt as if she too had wings. 

Beneath her, Trygve, whose wings were very real, had spread them as wide as her arms. In his black dragon form, he soared across the sky effortlessly, carrying Ava safely on his back. Through their bond, she felt pure and utter joy. It was the first time in nearly 900 years that he had been able to do this, and he enjoyed every second.

As scared as she had been of flying, she had been relieved when both of them had changed into their dragon form as they were no longer naked. While she harboured no romantic feelings for either male, as someone with her very limited experience it had still made her somewhat uncomfortable, not knowing where to look. Luckily, both Trygve and Gainor had been very casual about their nudity. To her it hadn't seemed as if they had cared the slightest.

To her left, she could see Gainor's bronze dragon soar beside them, beating his mighty wings every once in a while, to maintain the altitude. They were well above the ground and yet well below the protective dome above their heads, where it was safe to relish in the bliss of the moment. 

It had been Trygve's idea to explore their new territory from above. Whereas it came as no surprise that he was eager to take to the skies again after centuries of being confined to the ground, his suggestion to carry Ava had been a big one.

Sorcerers very seldom chose to ride their dragons because, unlike Trygve and Gainor who had sworn to all seven of the stars, most sorcerers were bound to their Dracaeni through weaker oaths. Even if they were nevertheless bound not to harm their masters, flying manoeuvres were considered to be too fickle in terms of security. They provided a loophole which very few sorcerers had ever dared to offer their dragons for fear of falling to their death and thereby setting their Draceni free. Since Ava's death meant their own, she didn't need to have such worries. 

Besides, and more importantly, she trusted Trygve not to let her fall.

However, when Ava had climbed onto Trygve's back and he had practically shot upwards, a surge of panic had struck her. She had clung to him desperately, closing her eyes for fear of the height and the velocity at which they moved. She had never been a very adventurous person and so she had merely clung to him, petrified for the first few minutes.

She had felt his laughter in her mind then, a sound she wished she would hear from his mouth some time too. As they'd reached a certain altitude though, she had started to relax until finally letting herself enjoy the flight as much. Now she had to admit that this was utter bliss and couldn't help but feel slightly envious of her Dracaenis' ability to take to the skies.

"I had nearly forgotten how good this feels," he hummed, sounding completely content and unusually relaxed for once. They were currently circling the highest peak of the mountain range they had seen from afar.

"Hmmmmm," Gainor added in agreement Earlier, he had involuntarily shared some of his feelings and memories through their bond. Although he had his wings intact for his entire service, Frode had hardly ever allowed him to use them, so he too was starved to feel the wind beath them.

It had served as another incentive for Ava to agree to this method of exploration. She was very happy that she could give the to of them something back which been taken from them for far to long.

"Still, we should start looking for the headquarters," Trygve continued, regret lacing his words, "the sooner we get this mission over with, the better."

The bronze Dragon beside them let out a long sigh but nodded at the same time. Even in moments like this, there was no full escape from the duties of completing their quest.