Misfits of Aquila (Aquila's Originals 1)

Chapter 19: Flight, Part 1

ORLA FELT SICK. She stood on the flying field at the end of a long line of students and their brand new miryhls. Sunshine had been pouring down over Nimbys for the best part of a month, but today it was overcast, the sky heavy with the promise of rain. A gusty wind alternatively huffed and teased, ruffling feathers and fraying nerves.

"It'll be fine, it'll be fine, it will definitely be fine," one of the Storm Peaks students was muttering a couple of places up the line, his knuckles white from the death grip he had on his miryhl's stiff new reins.

"It will be fine," a gentle voice murmured in Orla's ear, and she felt a smooth beak rub against her plait. Feeling a tug, Orla tipped her head and saw Milk nibbling on the end of her braid. She winked a dark eye and straightened up, white feathers fluffing out as a great shadow rushed overhead.

Students and miryhls looked up and cooed with appreciation as Captain Stirla, his four lieutenants and their four sergeants swept over the landing field, the sound of their wings a vast whoosh above the capricious wind.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" Milk sighed, right as Captain Stirla's miryhl turned on a wing tip and glided into land.

Orla patted her miryhl's neck. They would never be the biggest pair, but they would look just as wonderful in the air one day. She hoped.

The broad-shouldered captain swung down from his saddle and strode to where Mhylla Wrentherin already stood in front of the students. Everyone, miryhl and human alike, straightened up.

"Students and miryhls, you have made your Choice," the big captain boomed in his impressive voice. "Now comes the first test of your partnership. A student who cannot fly is a sorrowful thing, but a miryhl alone is lonely. Only together can you command the skies. Only together can you become Rift Riders. You might think your journey started seven months ago. You might believe it doesn't truly begin until we reach Aquila. You'd be wrong. It starts here, now, today, on this field, in these saddles. When your name is called, come forth, students and miryhls, and mould yourselves into Riders."

* * *

Kaskad

"CAELO AND FYRA."

Zett watched, heart in mouth, as his best friend strode confidently away from the dubious shelter of the rocks onto the open slope of the clearing. A compact miryhl awaited her there, a mahogany tint to its feathers that perfectly suited the red of Caelo's hair. Lieutenant Cayn murmured instructions, which the watching students strained to overhear, but the ever-present Kaskad wind snatched them away before they could.

"I'm not sure I'm cut out for this Rider business," someone muttered, as the students huddled together for warmth.

"Oh gods, she's actually in the saddle."

Zett kept his eyes fixed on his friend while the others muttered, grumbled, moaned and placed bets. He felt sick with nerves, but Caelo was laughing as she settled into her miryhl's saddle, looking as if she'd done it a thousand times before. She shifted her leg forward while the lieutenant adjusted her stirrup, then leant forward herself to run her hand through Fyra's red-tinted feathers.

"Maegla, preserve me. Maegla, protect me," a desperate voice chanted over and over, as Cayn stepped back and took his hand off the miryhl's bridle.

Caelo flashed a grin as she waved at the students by the rocks, then she was gone..

The students whooped and cheered as the eagle took off, leaving the ground behind and sweeping towards the cliff at the bottom of the slope. The watchers gasped as the miryhl tilted on a wing, turning almost side-on to the ground. Then the first new Kaskad pair whooshed back to the clearing, landing with a confident bounce.