Page 92 of Elemental Becoming

Calryx exhales. Muscles coil beneath me.

She spreads her wings, sunlight catching on the translucent membranes, casting shifting light across the ground below. Nearby dragons stir, tails flicking, acknowledging her.

Then, with a powerful push, she launches into the sky.

The ground drops away, wind rushing against my skin as she beats her wings once, twice—each powerful stroke sending us higher into the crisp morning air. Below, the field shrinks, the castle’s spires gleaming, banners already stirring in preparation for the night ahead.

Higher.

Faster.

Free.

The world stretches endlessly below us. The wind rushes past, cool against my skin, and unbridled joy floods through our bond.

It isn’t just mine.

Calryx’s exhilaration pours into me—her love for the sky, for speed, for the unbound freedom of flight.

And me.

I feel her love for me.

My emotions rise to meet hers, amplifying until the linebetween us blurs—like I belong here as much as she does.

She banks sharply, wings tilting with effortless control.

Sunlight glints off her opalescent scales, scattering flashes of color across the sky. Below, the landscape unfurls like a painting: rolling fields, winding rivers, the distant sprawl of the capital on the horizon.

Then she dives.

The drop is sudden, breath-stealing. I laugh, gripping the saddle as we plummet, only for her to snap her wings open at the last moment, catching the wind and propelling us upward again.

“Show off,”I tease through the bond.

Her response is immediate, firm.“Humans call it showing off because humans require witnesses. Dragons require only the sky.”

There is no jest in her tone—a truth so absolute, there’s no space for further discussion.

She’s not wrong.

Up here, there is no war.

No politics.

No expectations.

Only the sky, the wind.

And the unshakable bond between us.

Free.

Calryx climbs higher, the air thinning as her emerald eyes catch the light.

“Where would you like to go, Virelya?”

I don’t have to think about it.