Page 130 of Tailwind

‘The briefing isn’t for another hour,’ Josie reminded me, as if I knew what time it was to begin with.

‘I know,’ I whispered back, ‘but there’s someone I need to see beforehand and I’m not leaving you and Cam alone together.’

She smirked as we left the aviary. ‘I don’t see why not. That was fun.’

I shuddered. I wasn’t sure how I’d managed to find someone even more intimidating than my sister, and then put her in charge of me too.

Josie and I parted ways at the briefing room with a promise that she would have everything prepared by the time I got back. I doubted she didn’t already have plans A through to Z locked in and ready to go, but if going over them all again made her feel better, so be it.

I continued on, finding my way to the cavernous spiral staircase that formed the core of the pillar. There was no rush this time, since the conversation I was on my way towards wasn’t one I knew how to start – or end.

Luckily the tower was full of distractions. The Volitant and team crews used eighteen of the ninety-nine floors, starting from the sixth. One for each dragon and their rider, one for each team headquarters and three for Volitant: one for the cast control centre; one for the arcanists who puppeted the arcans; and one to host the wealthiest VIP guests.

Below, the interiors were partially caved in and anything higher than the middle floor became too inefficient. No modern augments could be added to the pillar without damaging it further, so no arcanite-powered lift system. Only stairs.

I ran my hand along the scales of the stone dragon that lined the wall of the staircase. Each scale had been hand-carved in larger-than-life size, bigger than my handspan. If it hadn’t been for the curve of the wall I wouldn’t have been able to see the head and tail at the same time. The eye was on the next floor up, a piece of bright raw arcanite that followed me as I walked. It was also as big as my head.

Following the stone dragon upwards I reached the first of the purple banners marking the Ballenir floors. I turned down the open corridor, feeling out of place in my orange uniform, though it was the uniform that stopped me from being turned away by the burly security guards. The breast of my shirt was embroidered with a pair of white wings. I was a rider now and we went wherever we pleased.

I reached a cross-section, with curved pathways leading off in three more directions. I tried to remember if this floor was a match or mirror to my own, before giving up and picking the route that would most likely take me to the outer rooms used for the aviaries. I’d barely stepped in the new direction before I was interrupted.

‘He’s on the next floor.’

I turned on my foot slowly, cursing myself. Omar Wilver had come from another leg of the intersection and seemed very amused to find me there. His uniform was a purple version of my own, with blue embroidered wings on the breast.

I sighed, giving up any pretence of being there for another reason. Lurking around looking for Theo had never been something I’d planned on doing, yet somehow Omar had caught me at it multiple times.

‘Thanks.’ I offered him an awkward smile. ‘I’ll just, uh …’

I began to sidle past him, hands in pockets, when he spoke again.

‘It’s good to have you back.’ He offered his hand. ‘Welcome to Volitant Chroma. Sorry I didn’t get to say it before.’

‘Thank you,’ I replied, a little dazed. ‘That means a lot.’

‘Good luck today.’ He started to walk off down the corridor. ‘And, hey, let me know if you’re going to be flying next year too. I’ll send you an invite to the Rider Union meetings.’

‘Oh, sure.’ I blinked as he walked away.

I’d been preparing myself to fight my way back into Volitant. Maybe not physically, not this time, but there had been a fair amount of bracing myself for the worst.

I stood limply at the cross-section of corridors deep in the Sky Pillar at a loss for something to rally against. Then I remembered I was on my way to see Theo. It wouldn’t be long until a fight found me.

After taking far fewer detours on the next floor up, I reached Theo’s aviary. My fist lingered over the ancient wooden door for a whole minute before I opted to go in without knocking.

I slipped inside, holding back a shiver as the cold air swept in from the endless sky surrounding the pillar. Framed against the gigantic opening was Theo’s dragon, Taicasso.

He watched me, his bright blue eyes steady as I nodded to him. The dragon had known I was outside the door and didn’t seem the least bit bothered by my presence.

‘Hey, one last layer on your wings before I go for interviews. The clouds are getting—’ Theo’s voice floated out of the adjacent rider room, followed by Theo himself. He was dressed in his flight suit already, collar open and sans armour. He paused when he noticed Taicasso had stopped moving. Then followed his gaze to the door. To me.

‘Hey.’ It wasn’t much, but it was all I had.

His hand drifted up into his hair, pushing it back. For the first time in a while, he didn’t break out in a smile when he saw me – smug, friendly or otherwise. His shoulders tightened. His eyes looked at anything other than me.

Theo picked up some spray from the workbench, wrapped a bandana around his face and started applying the protective layer to Taicasso’s wing. He kept his eyes on his dragon while he spoke. ‘Congratulations on your new job.’

As always I was pulled towards the scaly creature in the room. It was easy for Taicasso to be the focus of my attention. His purple scales were iridescent in the morning sun. He was more slender than Gottyk, but taller. He had four short, straight blue horns that sprouted at the back of his head in pairs, reminding me of Ascil and her four wings.