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Then she felt the moment his wings caught the air. His massive body to surged up as the corresponding G-force bore down on her. Her eyes clamped shut.
She felt dizzy and disoriented and like she wanted to upchuck all the sugary confections she’d eaten, but she managed to keep everything down. Then the world stabilized.
After a calm moment, she dared a peek…
She gasped and sat up, excitement firing through her pulse.
Only yards below, the forest was a blur as it zipped by at speeds she couldn’t begin to fathom. Behind her, her dress snapped against the force of the wind, baring her legs to the elements. “This is amazing!” she yelled.
He peered back at her for a moment and she thought she spotted a little grin on his dragon lips, though she couldn’t be positive. When he banked slightly to the right and then to the left and back again, languidly rocking through the air, she was sure he was enjoying himself. She released and allowed herself to enjoy the air rushing though her hair.
Then he glanced back and gave her a look that seemed to askAre you ready for more?
Checking the security of her grip, she smirked at him. “What else you got?”
He angled his wings to catch more air and they rose in altitude. Higher. Higher. Then his extraordinary wings began to flap, jostling her enough that she once more plastered her body to his, but this time her eyes were open.
Up and up they went. The temperature dropped several degrees. Chilled air kissed her skin, but his body heat kept her from shivering.
As her body rolled along with his and the ground below grew farther and farther away, June wondered if he realized the air would be thinner up here for her. Already she felt the difference, her lungs working harder to deliver oxygen to her bloodstream.
Then the world below vanished completely as they entered puffy white clouds. Suddenly she was in another realm, a fantasy of heavenly proportions. Streams of wispy particles floated by. Tristan glided smoothly now and she dared to sit up once more so she could reach her arms straight out and feel the cool flurries between her fingers. Condensation beaded on her flesh, and she marveled at the fact that she was actually riding a dragon.
June Jacobs, dragon tamer!
And still they continued to rise. She only knew this because one moment they were wreathed by fog, the next they broke the surface and she squinted her eyes against the sudden blast sunlight. When her eyes adjusted, her breath caught in her throat. Her heart skipped a beat. Her mind stutter-stepped. The beauty of her view overwhelmed her, and all she could do was take in the awe-inspiring sight. An ocean of clouds so thick one might believe they could walk atop them fanned out in every direction.
This was a world in its own right. A world of peace. A world of tranquility. A world untouched, without turmoil, discord, or conflict.
Emotion flooded her. Eyes growing damp, she muttered, “Thank you,” to Tristan, unsure if he could hear her over the wind.
Every moment with Tristan had been better than the last; introducing her to the magic of the Faieara, the perfection of his body, the beauty of his world. Now he’d gifted her with yet another incredible experience to take with her forever, quite possibly the best one yet. Breathing in the thin air, she let herself melt into this moment; the sun on her face, the wind in her hair, the inconceivable view. She wrapped herself in it and inscribe it into her memory.
When Tristan shifted his wings once more, their altitude began to drop. They reentered the layer of clouds, floating down, down, down, through to the bottom. With one last reach up into the clouds, she let her fingers trail through the fluffy white portal, and then Tristan began to descend more rapidly, playing on the current in smooth wide arches back and forth.
As they approached the ground, anxiety ruled once more, and she tightened her grip on him. The landing was smoother than she’d imagined, yet still jostling. She felt the thud of his paws against the ground, his body taking the impact. After he settled, he lowered himself flat as he had before so that she could slide off. Her heels sank into soft turf. Then he trotted a distance away and shifted back to his two-legged form.
She glanced around. He’d set them down in a large meadow filled with wildflowers. “Why did we stop?” she asked when he approached.
Instead of answering, he asked, “Was the flight okay? You weren’t too frightened, were you?”
She shook her head and then sputtered, “It was brilliant, Tristan. Incredible. So amazing. Thank you. I’ve never experienced anything like that. I can’t even express how much I loved it. It was just…there are no words…it was wonderful, beautiful, stunning—”
With a self-satisfied grin, his arm hooked her around the waist and he pulled her close. “So, you liked it, yeah?”
She teased, “Meh. It was okay.”
“I have not shared that experience with many others, and this was a thousand times more enjoyable. SoIwould like to thankyou.”
“Well, any time.” Something caught her eye then, a burst of solid color that didn’t belong in the rainbow-stippled field. A blanket had been spread out next to several baskets of food and wine. “Is that a…picnic?”
“It is.” Big grin.“You set this whole thing up?”
“Well, I had Tenji set it up.”
“What if I had refused to fly with you?”
He shrugged. “Then we would have dined back at the palace.”
