Time flew by and the day he was going to attempt the two tasks of the Quillintine were just a few days away. He threw another dagger into the stationary target. With a thud it landed right next to the other one he's just thrown.
"Big Brother, how are you so good at everything?" Lou's voice was full of awe. "You are a prodigy indeed, how did you get good so fast?"
Tate remembered their remarks earlier on in the process, he agreed with Lou then and now. It took others years to master this.
Master yes, but he hadn't mastered it, he'd become sufficient, at least by his standards. He wondered if people thought things just came to him without effort. He'd been called a prodigy all his life for various reasons, and there was truth to that. Many things just came to him naturally, but just as many things took hours, days, weeks, and years of hard work to master even for him.
The only thing he would say with confidence himself that he was a master in had been flying. From Aquana's last metamorphosis, from their very first flight together it had been so simple. To someone who was not a dragon rider that may seem like an odd thing to say, what could be so hard about just sitting there?
What was so difficult was the fact that if you did not move with the dragon, if you did not grip just the right amount at just the right times you would fall to your death. At least you would if the dragon didn't catch you. If you didn't move perfectly with the dragon's movement or you squeezed too tightly the dragon would become angry and he'd even seen people thrown off on purpose by angry dragons. There was nothing to hold you onto a dragon. A dragon was not a horse, there was no saddle, that invention had been experimented with but dragons had universally balked at them, not to mention no design had ever been perfected that didn't get in the way of their wing joints. There was no such thing as a bridle for a dragon the only steering done was through mental communication. A dragon and their rider had to be in perfect sync both mentally and physically for flight to achieve that effortless look. Most people and dragons when first flying together, even though they had been together and sharing a mind for three years sometimes they still weren't in sync mentally or emotionally. Sometimes it was just a matter of being incompatible physically, a dragon is a limber and quick being even the larger ones are distinctly graceful in their movements. Humans are not always so, some humans were stiffer than others, some too limber, some strong, and some weak, each of these factors contributed to how well the pair moved together.
From the moment he'd sat on Aquana's back after he'd just turned nine, everything had been so simple. They'd been free. They'd never wanted to come back down. Growing up in the Academy wasn't the worst but it had its challenges, one of those was that he wasn't allowed to do things other kids did. He'd look out the gates of the Academy and see children playing games in the street, they laughed together, and they had looked joyful. He wasn't allowed such things, he trained from sun up to sun down, and no one played with him. All his classmates were either resentful of him on principle or just too old for games. He was even jealous of the few times he'd seen Dian at how carefree he'd seemed, he'd been envious of the friends Dian would talk about so casually during their brief meetings.
That day he and Aquana had flown away from that restrictive environment for just a moment they'd considered running away. It had been a child's wish, something they knew to be true even as they were children. They knew they didn't have time to be children, they were soldiers it was their destiny, everyone said so.
"It's not easy." He said answering Lou's redundant question anyway. "I've been practicing every spare minute. He'd had the sudden urge to emphasize this to Lou. Lou had long had that starry gaze on him. Lou knew Tate as the invincible hero and when he wasn't that anymore he was still the man who could beat anyone in a fight, even boys and their dragons together.
They were alone today except for Nox. The Royal Guard had been giving him space this last week. He had the feeling that they'd gotten bored of watching him do the same thing over and over again. Now just one of them came each day in rotation to catch him if he fell and to spar with him when he was ready to practice with the talon.
After Lou handed him the daggers that had been embedded in the target he said. "I'm going to try it running the course." He glanced at Nox but the dragon seemed to have heard him. He made eye contact and nodded slightly. Tate nodded back and went to the startling point.
Lou started him off. "One, two, go!"
He ran.
He felt he could do this with his eyes closed at this point. Now even the daggers found their marks, he still missed from time to time but at least eight out of ten times they struck true. Sometimes he even achieved a perfect run. Just as much as he was concerned with hitting the targets he also had to be concerned with speed. To a human onlooker such as Lou it looked like Tate had wings on his feet as he flew across the parapets. When a dagger flew the human eye couldn't even track the movement of the hand that threw it. He was a blur.
To a dragon like Nox Tate looked just a little faster than a dragonling who wasn't expected to test into the military disciplines. They'd all begrudgingly admitted that Tate wasn't bad, that he'd actually surpassed their expectations, but was it enough to pass this Trial? Even they didn't know yet.
He threw himself out the window and ran across the wooden rods, his feet sure and quick. He'd gained experience to skip a few rods entirely. He flicked the daggers at the right spots without breaking step. He even launched off the last rod and with both feet at the same time jumped into the window catching himself on the upper sill with one hand to steady himself. He ran to the finish line and as he approached it he reared his arm back and with all his might hurled the dagger at the distant target. This was the one he had the most trouble with because it was so far, he was a strong human, but this pushed the limits even for him.
He stared at the center of the target, his weight over his right toes. The muscles of his legs and torso caught his momentum and left him hovering like that the left foot barely touching the ground. Sweat dripped into his eyes, but he watched the dagger fly, not letting the sting of the liquid make him blink once.
The dagger hit, and stuck. He blinked the pain away and used the bottom of his tunic to wipe the moisture away at last as he settled back on his heels.
"Yes!" Lou jumped up in the air next to him. "Tate, that was a perfect round! And it was seven seconds better than the last attempt!"
Tate smiled, he couldn't help it. It was satisfying news to him. "Really?" He looked behind him and quickly took stock of the other targets, each of them had a dagger stuck in them.
Pleased with this progress he practised for a while longer before cleaning up to leave. It was starting to get dark and Nox, Lou, and himself almost had all the daggers, talons, and training props put away when the sound of wings flapping caught his attention. He looked up to see the silhouette of two dragons flying off into the sunset. His brow furrowed and he was about to ask Nox about who they were when the rest of the Royal Guard minus Bezhar strolled in. They were led by Axashaw, the imposing male glanced at Tate as soon as his red eyes landed on him. Tate had noticed a few things about the Guard over their time together. He'd managed to forget for a while until their talk, managed to forget about the marks on his skin. If any of the Royal Guard had looked at him strangely he'd thought it had to do with other things, now when he looked back on it he suspected many of those times had to do with the marks themselves.
As if to prove this point Akashaw's eyes slid to the side of his right eye where the inky blackness began. He scowled, even though he'd been pleasant to Tate and Lou at times there were moments like this when just the sight of the marks caused a negative reaction.
"Nox!" Turaq greeted, his electric blue hair and eyes seeming to shine even in the darkening sky. "Are you done with the humans now, we're going to the tavern do you want to come!" He invited enthusiastically, his low voice booming in the night air.
Nox looked at them sighed and looked back to his comrades. "I'll meet you there I have to escort them back." He sounded put out.
"You can go on." Tate offered.
"You need me to take you back." Nox insisted with a frown. "It's a part of my duties." He looked like it was the worst part.
"Just go, we are still on the grounds of the Nest and there are other guards everywhere. Where are we going to go but back to our rooms?"
Nox hesitated for a second. He seemed torn as he stared at Tate, he never even gave Lou a second glance.
"Okay, fine go straight back to your rooms, understood?." He demanded.
Tate and Lou nodded. Nox went to join the group and without a backward glance from any of them except Koda, who looked over his shoulder and gave a small smile and a wave, they walked away.
The sky was darkening quickly. Tate looked at Lou. "Let's hurry back before we lose the light entirely."
Lou wasn't looking at him though. He was looking up. "We missed one." He stated, Tate followed his gaze and yes, there it was. The one he had to throw while running across the rods, the one that was nearest the top of the parapet was sticking out of the target. He wasn't sure how they'd missed it earlier but there it was.
"Hang on I'll be right back." Before Lou could interject or offer to go he was off. He was faster than Lou.
When he reached the top he sprinted down the top of the wall and when he got to where the target should be directly below him he got on his belly and looked over the side. The target was there, he could reach it if he stretched out his torso over the side and reached down. It was a precarious position but he'd done it a few times.
There was only one problem this time, the dagger was gone. He'd already slid himself halfway out over the edge he was in such a hurry before he noticed this fact. He reached back and grabbed the raised stones that were meant to keep one from falling off the side and grabbed them with his hands. He used his shoulders and back to pull and then push his body back onto solid stone. Confused he turned over onto his back preparing to sit up and look around.
When he flipped over he never got the chance to sit up. A large man was standing over him. He was dressed all in black, a hood pulled low over his face. Tate was so stunned by his appearance that he froze.
"My lady would like a word with you." As soon as those words left his mouth he shimmered and in the blink of an eye a dragon was looming over him, it was hard to make out the color in the fading dusk.
He opened his mouth to say something, anything when the dragon's claws came down towards his head and he instinctively shrank back. The talons passed by his face and he felt the foot curl around him, under his armpits, and over his shoulders. The paw contracted until he felt the squeeze.
"I-uh!"
The breath was jerked out of him as the dragon launched into the sky.