Page 171 of Ashborne: Defiance

I scanned the quickly looming ground, but there were no other clear areas in close proximity, that I could fudge looking like it had been my line all along.

‘Koa, fly. Fly as fast as you can. Dive! We’ll get ahead of them and land first. He’ll have to give you the line if you’re ahead of him. Fly. Fly!’

She didn’t even call, just dropped her head and tucked her wings. For a moment, I thought she’d do it. Conn began to fall behind. But then Kennik shouted, and suddenly Conn was right at her wing-tip again, and closer now because her wings were tucked.

‘I will keep you, Grace!’

‘No, Koa, we have to—’

‘I will keep you!’

She screamed so loudly, it rang in my skull. I instinctively clapped both hands over my ears, at the exact moment she flattened her ears and bared her fangs, tossing her head toward Conn—who screamed, and tilted off the line.

It should have been a moment of triumph—Conn had to pull up because we’d gotten ahead, but Koa dropped faster at the same time she snaked her neck at him, and the sudden shift took me off guard. I’d let go of the neck straps to clap my hands over my ears, and moving at such speed with her wings tucked, the ground sucked closer at an alarming rate.

“Koa!” I shrieked, grabbing for the straps too late.

Koa screamed, and back-flapped, her hind end swinging below her with such force as she attempted to slow her passage, I slammed into her raised neck, my head ringing like an inflated ball bouncing off the wall.

I scrambled for purchase, but for a second, in the wake of that blow, I lost the strength in my grip. I was disoriented. Koa screamed again, and the world flipped. I saw blue sky, then green earth, then red scales.

I found myself dangling by the safety strap, swinging like a pendulum, as my dragon was forced to commit to the landing, or risk plowing into the earth.

No. No, no, no!

It all happened too quickly for thought. All I knew was that I couldn’t fall. This was the flying assessment! It was all about being safe and strong enough to fly alone. I’d led Koa into this, now I had to keep us out.

As Koa continued to back-flap, her hind end dangling from her shoulders, her body curled as she fought to slow her momentum, other dragons screamed in response. The world swung, but I was upright, hanging by my belt, and I had one pass at this.

One chance.

Because she’d slowed so dramatically, I swung forward of her withers on the safety strap, my legs flying ahead of me so I stared at my toes—but then I hit the end of the strap’s reach, gravity struck, and I was sucked backward.

With a strangled scream, I looked over my shoulder.

I swung back toward her wings, toward the neck straps, and the looped mounting strap.

When I reached that end of the swing, her withers were ahead of me. If I could get hold of one of those straps, I could pull myself to her.

‘Koa, don’t stop. Keep your line.’

She sent a rush of affirmation and love as I swung forward again, my toes reaching their peak a little lower this time, then began that awful backward swing once more.

Keeping my eyes on the big loop of the mounting strap, letting my head swivel so my eyes remained locked on my salvation, and waited for that split second of hang-time at the end of the pendulum swing. As my body turned, I flattened my palm, aimed my arm through the loop of the strap, then hugged myself, desperately praying my grip would hold.

Koa, still descending, back-flapped frantically, screaming her protests to Conn, was still moving quickly.

When the loop of the mounting strap caught on my elbow, my shoulder was jerked backward against my bodyweight, with a painful wrench.

I screamed, but gripped both hands to my chest, which jerked my body around. The shortened swing slammed me into Koa’s side, and I was disoriented again.

But as the rush of the wind slowed, and her flaps grew louder, I blinked.

Eye level with her neck, I clung to the mounting strap, just a couple of feet from her withers.

Shoulder aching, and arm strangely weak, I planted my boots against her shoulder.

The momentum threw my upper body sideways, pivoting on my feet, but at least it was to the correct side of the neck straps.