16.Dec.19, 02:16 AM
Aederyn watched with rapt attention as the rider attempted to explain how to mount up, smiling a bit at his struggle. He mounted, dismounted, and mounted again, and she made a mental note of hand and foot placement each time. She wouldn’t want to harm Edath with an ill-placed foot!
She made quick work of mounting up herself, easily settling in behind the rider. Not immediately seeing any kind of hand-hold for passengers, she wrapped her arms securely but (she hoped) still respectfully and not too tightly around his waist, and flexed the muscles in her legs that were in contact with the blue, making sure her grip wasn’t based solely on holding on to R’dal.
“Okay, I’m ready.” She pursed her lips together and forced herself to breathe slowly and deeply through her nose. Her heart skipped faster as she felt Edath gather himself, the muscles in his neck and shoulders rippling under his two passengers. With a speed that she expected yet was still somehow entirely unprepared for, the dragon launched himself skyward, pumping his powerful wings and lifting them higher.
Aederyn gasped and tears came unbidden to her eyes as they were stung by the sudden rush of air whipping past. Nevertheless, she kept them open and blinked the tears back. She didn’t want to miss a moment of this experience. In the span of just a few blinks, they were higher off the ground than she had ever been.
The view was absolute spectacular. Never in her life had Aederyn even hoped to see such a sight. The clouds above filtered the rising sun in a subdued, watery light, shadows dancing across the land below. The mossy runner trace stood out vibrant against the more muted scrubby grass, a bright green ribbon winding around the rises and dips until it faded and disappeared into the distance.
“Whoo-hoo!” Aederyn released R’dal with one arm, lifting the hand skyward, fingers spread as if to catch the wind. She grinned broadly and laughed, watching Rudi swoop and dive beside them. She savored the moment and did her best to etch it into her memory forever, before getting her bearings. She followed the trace in both directions she could see and picked out the landmarks she’d already passed. She pointed.
“That way, beyond that rise! Two hills over! The station is built facing the other way, and off the trace a bit. It’s built right into the hillside, too. The station master painted a sizable boulder the same orange as our headbands and put it up top so it would stand out and nobody would miss it and run past then have to double back!”
She made quick work of mounting up herself, easily settling in behind the rider. Not immediately seeing any kind of hand-hold for passengers, she wrapped her arms securely but (she hoped) still respectfully and not too tightly around his waist, and flexed the muscles in her legs that were in contact with the blue, making sure her grip wasn’t based solely on holding on to R’dal.
“Okay, I’m ready.” She pursed her lips together and forced herself to breathe slowly and deeply through her nose. Her heart skipped faster as she felt Edath gather himself, the muscles in his neck and shoulders rippling under his two passengers. With a speed that she expected yet was still somehow entirely unprepared for, the dragon launched himself skyward, pumping his powerful wings and lifting them higher.
Aederyn gasped and tears came unbidden to her eyes as they were stung by the sudden rush of air whipping past. Nevertheless, she kept them open and blinked the tears back. She didn’t want to miss a moment of this experience. In the span of just a few blinks, they were higher off the ground than she had ever been.
The view was absolute spectacular. Never in her life had Aederyn even hoped to see such a sight. The clouds above filtered the rising sun in a subdued, watery light, shadows dancing across the land below. The mossy runner trace stood out vibrant against the more muted scrubby grass, a bright green ribbon winding around the rises and dips until it faded and disappeared into the distance.
“Whoo-hoo!” Aederyn released R’dal with one arm, lifting the hand skyward, fingers spread as if to catch the wind. She grinned broadly and laughed, watching Rudi swoop and dive beside them. She savored the moment and did her best to etch it into her memory forever, before getting her bearings. She followed the trace in both directions she could see and picked out the landmarks she’d already passed. She pointed.
“That way, beyond that rise! Two hills over! The station is built facing the other way, and off the trace a bit. It’s built right into the hillside, too. The station master painted a sizable boulder the same orange as our headbands and put it up top so it would stand out and nobody would miss it and run past then have to double back!”