Page 172 of Ashborne: Defiance

Desperate, I grabbed for them, and caught hold right at the base of her neck, above her withers.

And then I fought.

One weak arm. Screaming in my head. Koa moving below me… it all seemed impossible, but there was no time to think.

I clung, yelling in frustration at my weak body for not being able to pull me up when I was so close.

Then, her back feet hit the ground, and the first jolt knocked my elbow from her withers.

The second, when her forefeet slammed into the earth was my undoing.

I lost my grip entirely, dropped to the limit of the safety strap, grunting when it caught me like a steel bar across my middle, as Koa fought to slow our momentum before she hit the wall of rapidly approaching trees.

The final seconds were hellish. I bumped and swung, unable to control my trajectory because I had nothing to grip, so I was at the mercy of momentum. I remembered Voski’s early instructions, and as I found myself bouncing against Koa’s shoulder, I hunched, curling arms over my head and drawing my knees up, until I made as tight a ball as I could, letting my back take the brunt of the impact, rather than joints, or worse, my head.

When the bouncing finally stopped, the world went strangely quiet.

There was a fierce, rhythmic, rushing sound that turned out to be my breath, tearing in and out of my throat. When I finally lifted my head and let my legs drop, I dangled from the safety strap at Koa’s side.

Overhead, two dragons screamed. I flinched, then realized they weren’t landing and watched, utterly demoralized, as one of the officers who’d been nearby, sent Kennik off on a different line—he must have circled around to land in this clearing as well. Then the officer landed his dragon behind us with a great deal less drama.

And when they came to a halt just feet away, he slid down the mounting strap and was at Koa’s foreleg in moments.

“Ask your dragon if I can approach.”

“She says yes,” I reassured him miserably. I didn’t recognize him. He looked younger than Donavyn, but older than Ronen.

“Are you injured?” he called up.

“Not badly. I wrenched my shoulder. But I can climb. I just…” I looked helplessly at the straps. I could no longer reach the looped mounting strap—which meant I couldn’t release it to let him use it to get up.

But then I remembered my knife. “I can cut through my strap and release—”

“No!” The word was sharp and bitten off. “Do not move.”

My heart sank. I could do nothing but hang there until he’d turned his dragon around, put her shoulder to shoulder with Koa, then used his own strap to climb his dragon, then jump across like a spider, to catch himself on my straps.

The strength and athleticism of these men was astounding.

Would I ever be able to manage such a thing? I prayed so.

The officer never clipped in. Using only brute strength and grip to hold himself up on Koa, he reached over, pulling me to his side, and hoisted me up until I virtually sat in his lap.

“Get your bearings,” he said kindly. “That was quite a landing.”

“I could have flown it if…” I swallowed the words. A Furyknight never blames others for their own mistakes. I cleared my throat. “That is, I know if I could have another try, I could pass.”

He huffed. “Flameborne, you won’t be flying anymore today,” he said with a low chuckle.

“I mean it! I can still fly! And if I could just get on the right line, I could—”

“No.” he said simply, then ducked his chin. “Unclip yourself. Don’t worry, I have you.”

There was the scream of another dragon in the sky, but I focused on Koa, and getting myself unclipped, then clung to the man as he lowered us both down.

When we finally dropped those last inches and I got boots on the ground, I slumped.

At least this isn’t a fail forever, I reminded myself. I can take the flying assessment again. They said that at the beginning. I just have to wait. That’s all.