“I still think Raith is right. We should practice fighting together. Who knows when we’ll need it?”

“Very well.” Typhon’s eyes glow, and I feel a sudden cold against my back. I look over my shoulder and see I’m rising off the ground, lifted by a dragon’s paw of pure water. I’m dropped unceremoniously on Typhon’s back, soaking and annoyed.

“Really?” I ask him. “I could’ve climbed you.”

“And wounded our collective dignity.”

“You’re right. Me looking like a drowned rat on your back is far more dignified.”

Blue magic flares and a saddle appears just below his shoulders. It’s the same kind he used on Confluence Day to help me stay on his back. I shimmy into it, feeling as the watery magic grips me tight, holding me in place.

“I would advise you to hold on, but it will not matter. My magic will keep you in place.”

“I can at least⁠—”

Typhon flaps his wings. Hard.

My stomach lurches and my vision darkens as we explode upward. I make no sound for several seconds, and then I throw my hands in the air and shout with pure exhilaration and joy. “Holy fuck!”

I look around, watching the trees grow small and Confluence Academy shift from the huge fortress I know it as to a small, gray dot in a green expanse. Typhon keeps flapping his wings, climbing higher until cool white clouds brush against my skin.

I stare in awe, holding my hand out and letting it slice through the clouds as we soar.

“I always thought they would… feel like something. I can’t even tell I’m touching clouds.”

There’s a faint pulse of amusement and pride from Typhon.

I lean down, hugging his neck and feeling the cool slick of his scales beneath my palms. “Thank you, Typhon,” I say aloud. “This is… special.”

“It still brings me joy, too. I am glad we could share it.”

I smile, letting the wind whip across my face as he holds his wings wide, opting to glide and drift, banking gently left and right as the winds carry us.

“Next time, I’ll do some actual practice. This time… I just want to enjoy it.”

“Very well, angry human.”

By the time I return to my room, my cheeks are chafed from wind and cold, but my heart feels full. I’m still smiling as I change into fresh training clothes for my session with Raith, automatically checking my door is still locked—a habit I picked up after hearing about people disappearing from their rooms in broad daylight. I braid my hair tight, telling myself it's only practical, not because I want to look good for him. Wanting things is dangerous here.

Dangerous or not. I know I do want him to notice me—to see me as more than a vulnerability or something to protect.