Elucard tightened his hold around Mave’s waist as the drake made a sudden movement to push upwards. With a small kick to the creature's side, it spun around in a spectacular flourish. Elucard quickly reached for the black strap fastened to the saddle. He made a short yelp as he briefly hung upside down.

“Are we having fun yet?” Mave chuckled. She enjoyed tormenting Elucard with her dynamic feats and death-defying stunts.

“A-are we going to be doing all this in battle?” stuttered Elucard, clearly not enjoying his time in the air.

Mave rapped the drake with her stirrups twice and the drake dropped like a brick. Down, down. Further and further. Faster and faster. Elucard gripped his straps so tightly his flesh turned a bleached white.

“You need to get used to this speed Elucard!” called back Mave. “In a real battle we’d have to dodge fire breaths and other dragons.”

The rushing wind stretched out the elf’s mouth. He shut his eyes as tears whipped away from his face. His crimson red hood and cloak flapped in the air as the drake blasted through the sky with a blistering velocity.

“You can do it, Elucard! Head low, eyes forward, like you’re running through the trees! That’s what you ARO types do, isn’t it?” Mave looked over her shoulder. Elucard’s head bobbled back and forth. Mave watched as Elucard’s eyes rolled back. She snatched Elucard’s collar and yanked on her reins until the drake cruised at a more gentle pace. “The bloomin’ elf passed out.”

***

“And then Bruce and his dragon careened across the ocean surface. I could taste the salt and feel the mist!” Kyzo shouted excitedly between mouthfuls of food. He and the other Anti-Rogue Ops members sat in the galley of the Sea Sprinter, a Southtail frigate bound for the shores of New

Estinia, eating salted pork and cornmeal porridge.

Timber nodded in agreement. “It was frightening at first, I think we can all attest to that, but Corso started slow for me.”

“Aye, Quinn let me get accustomed to flying before really pulling out the speed. It was exhilarating!” mused Elisa. She stabbed at another slice of gray pork with her dagger and brought it back to her plate. “What about you, Elucard? Is Mave a good teacher?”

Elucard lowered his head in embarrassment. “I-”

“He passed out,” Essie blurted out. She had practiced her flying with Bruce, albeit less intense than the others. As a field medic, she wouldn’t be needed in the air battles. Her time to shine was dropping from the drakes and parachuting into an enemy fortress. The harekins coined it a ‘devil jump’.

“Yes, thank you for reporting that to them.” Elucard leered at the medic until she looked back to her porridge. “Mave is the ‘trial by fire’ sort. If I can master my Black Rabbit training, I can master this as well.”

“We haven’t much time, Elucard,” said Elisa, “We’ve been out at sea for a week now and we are fast arriving to the shores of New Estinia.”

“I know, I know. It’s just this is different from clandestine combat. It will take more time to develop these new skills.”

“Maybe you can switch partners?” suggested Kyzo. “Bruce is a fantastic flight instructor!”

“I hear someone call my name?” The gruff voice of Bruce Brawnwood entered the conversation as he, Quinn, Corso, and Mave sat next to their students.

“We were just discussing all the different SMO teaching methods, Bruce,” explained Timber. “Elucard seems to be having difficulty picking up drake flying.”

Mave slapped down on Elucard’s shoulder. “Cheer up, bucko! We all had trouble with the skies at one point.”

Elucard gave a weary smile.

“Of course, we had six months to learn, while you lads,” Mave lowered her voice to a murmur, “only have a month.”

“You chaps are the Cypress-renowned Anti-Rogue Ops!” exclaimed Quinn. His hand swept around the table. Each ARO soldiers’ chests swelled with pride. “You are highly skilled individuals. You can slice the moon in half and swipe away the stars. A little drake riding isn’t going to keep you lads down!”

The galley erupted in cheers, but Elucard sulked even more. His ability to save Koda from his imprisonment relied on him learning how to ride a drake, and he believed his stomach was not quite up to the task.

“You want to give it another go, Captain?” Mave whispered to Elucard.

Elucard nodded and Mave led him out of the galley and to the bow of the ship. The Sea Sprinter followed closely to one of several drake-roost crafts. A drake-roost craft was larger than the average clipper, but was used for the sole purpose of transporting the SMO dragons across the ocean. Although they could fly great distances such as across realms, it wasn’t possible without rest.

Mave pulled a thin bone flute from a small leather strap around her forearm. She brought it to her lips and blew, however no sound came forth. Across the way, a white and green scaled drake landed by her side. She patted it on the dragon’s muzzle and hefted herself onto the deer-hide riding saddle. Mave offered her hand to Elucard and pulled him up.

“I didn’t hear anything, is your flute broken?” asked Elucard.

“It’s a sky-serpent flute. They are magically attuned for the rider and their drake. Each drake hears their own melody and only the attuned player can use that flute,” she explained. “You are not attuned, thus you could not hear the melody. It is perfect when we need an extraction.”

Mave jerked her reins. “Are you ready to go up?”

Elucard only patted the harekin’s right shoulder three times. He was taught that physical signals were used instead of vocal ones. In the air, shouting over the wind was difficult; if Elucard needed something, he needed to pat a shoulder. Left shoulder, right shoulder, one pat, two pats, each meant something different.

Mave held up her thumb, affirming Elucard’s response. “Up we go! Hang on!”

***

Elucard grit his teeth, holding onto the leather strap with a firm grip. They had been flying circles around the boat, each pass they went higher in elevation and with each loop, Elucard’s confidence rose as well.

“You’re doing well, Elucard! Are you ready for something more advanced?” Mave asked loudly, shouting over the blustery wind.

Elucard patted three times on her right shoulder.

Mave stuck out her thumb again and prodded the creature with her stirrups. “Let’s go, Maisy! Show ‘em how we ride!”

The dragon growled a loud roar. She wrenched her body in a spin and let her wings fold. The riders sailed down through the air. Maisy screeched in excitement as she straightened her body and tail. With another kick from Mave, the drake lurched her wings forward and shot them backwards, torpedoing the trio through the sky.

Mave straddled her rear off her seat while Elucard narrowed his eyes from the intense movement.

I can do this, I can do this! Elucard told himself. Don’t pass out, be one with the drake. She is my sword. Elucard clenched his eyes shut and concentrated. Focusing only on the wind blowing through his baggy clothing and whipping his cloak tail around. I am the wielder. We are a team. We. Are. “A team!!!” Elucard shouted at the top of his lungs. A rush of adrenaline coursed through his body, tightening his muscles and freeing him from his fears.

“Wooh!” Mave celebrated with a fist pumping in the air. “You’re doing it, Elucard! You’re a drake rider now!”

“Woohoo!!!” cried Elucard. He arched his head backwards and enthralled himself with the act of riding a dragon through the skies.

“Are you ready to jump off the thing now?” Mave asked with a sly grin creeping across her face.

“Come again?”