Chapter 263

263 Time Skip

“Ok. We can do this! Right, me scaly bairn?! Now, what’s the goal for the day?” Skye asked in an excited, but steady tone.

Zazzy lightly jumped around as she made little trill noises, and darted her head around. It made getting her custom-made saddle on a bit difficult, but Skye was used to her rambunctious nature. Despite her size, Zazzy was still technically a baby.

Skye took a step back before she spoke; “Good, lassie! No crashes today! That’s the goal! If you can manage that, then I’ll have an entire roasted cow for ye when we get back! How does that sound?”

Zazzy jumped around to the point of putting indents in the ground. She rapidly flapped the tips of her wings, and opened and closed them at the joints. The squeaks and trills of happiness incited a giggle from Skye as she watched.

A minute or so passed before Skye felt a familiar hand on her shoulder, and a gentle kiss on her cheek. Tidas had just come out of their little love shack connected to Zazzy’s Place. They’d spent the night there the past few nights in a row because they wouldn’t get the chance to over the next week...

The Mage Trials would start in three days...

“Make sure you two are back within an hour. The Fae Royals should be entering the capital around then. Don’t forget that Nicolas wants us present when they do. I wonder what the surprise is?” Tidas asked as he helped his wife into her saddle.

Skye chuckled as she found her center, put on her mask, and grabbed the reins; “I don’t know, but it is the Fae.. I bet it’s gonna be awesome! I’ll have Zazzy drop me at the entrance. Celestia won’t care what Ima wearin’, so I’ll just meet ye there.”

Tidas outright laughed as he said; “No, but Aero might, and you know my father will be annoyed.”

.....

Skye outright laughed as Zazzy took off running. Skye held on tight as she called back to her husband; “Then I guess we’ll just have to fly past his window so he knows Why!”

Tidas yelled something after her, but she and Zazzy were moving too fast for her to hear. As she pumped her wings, they began to lift off of the ground, and into the direction of the barely risen sun.

It had been four months since Tidas’ birthday, and Skye had been working with Zazzy ever since. The spikes on her back made it difficult to ride her without a saddle, so Athena’s father, Sven, had made her a custom saddle to accommodate.

The saddle was designed to use the bigger, non-flexible spikes like pegs, to hold it in place. Until she grew bigger, and her spikes separated a bit more, it was the best solution.

Zazzy loved it. She didn’t like the bit in her mouth, so Sven designed a rein set that fit over her head and face spikes similarly to her saddle. After that alteration, she couldn’t wait to ‘go for a ride’. The phase sent her into a happy, chaotic mode; just like a dog.

As they gained altitude, Skye refocused herself, and enjoyed the feel of the wind whipping about her. It was cold and crisp, but refreshing in a way that Skye never got tired of. Even in the winter, she would ask Genie to take her flying. He was a master of Air magic, much like how Maevis is with her Earth magic.

Creating a bubble around himself to stabilize pressure, and fly at incredible speeds was Genie’s specialty. He was the fastest Air mage ever recorded anywhere, and would even give Shasta a run for her money if they ever raced.

As they flew, Skye had Zazzy follow the same pattern that they always attempted. Around the outside of the capital walls, then up and over to go around the inside of the city. The first few times, it had scared the life out of many tourists, so now they were warned as they entered: Beware of the low-flying Dragon.

The roads had been finished before the cold set in, and almost all of the capital was hooked into the sewer line now. A few had still declined, but it was fine. The work was made much easier with Skye opening the ground up for them.

It took her three minutes to do what took multiple people days to do. It was astounding what magic users could do to some of them(even though Skye was a special case).

As they swooped in low, the orphanage where Shasta and Lawrence were came into view. Lawrence had arrived early so he could have some alone time with Shasta. They were visiting with the children now because they were in the same predicament as Skye was. There just wouldn’t be time over the next week to see them.

The children screamed and clamored as Zazzy gave a screechy, adolescent roar as they passed by overhead. Her voice was becoming deeper, but still cracked and squeaked when she put in too much effort. It was adorable to Skye.

As they kept going, everyone out on the streets watched and waved. It was a unique treat for the residents of the capital, and a driving factor in Alcon’s early tourism surge. Large crowds always showed up for the Mage Trials, but this year had seen a ridiculous uptick.

People that never traveled were bartering for a room to stay in at the local inns. There was so much overflow that everyday residents were renting out their extra spaces to individuals and families; whatever they had room for.

A few tourists freaked out and screamed fearfully upon seeing Zazzy fly overhead. Which earned them mockery and ridicule from a few of the locals. They were used to seeing her on occasion, but it wasn’t like dragons were common, and they knew it. The tourists mostly got sympathy and an explanation after the initial reaction, but an Idiot existed in every group.

They flew around the city a few times before Skye thought that they should pay Magnus a visit. With a light tug, Zazzy redirected herself in the direction of the palace.

As they neared the palace, Skye could see Magnus in his room, talking with Marco. She screamed at the top of her lungs, but got no reaction. Only when Zazzy mimicked her mother did she see both of them jump where they stood.

Opening his window, Magnus waved to Skye and Zazzy, blocking their view of Marco(thankfully). He smiled as he waved at them as they passed by. He enjoyed seeing them flying, and secretly wished he could too. As they kept flying, Skye realized a terrible mistake on her part.

Being king, Magnus’ quarters were on the second floor. They weren’t at a steep enough angle to get back over the capital’s walls!

It was a lesson that they’d learned the hard way already.. Zazzy had gotten a broken wing, a broken tail, and her back leg had torn several ligaments. Skye also had a broken leg, and had shattered her collarbone, but she’d healed both of them right away after the crash.

Understanding her mother’s panic, Zazzy began to climb as quickly as the wind would let her. As they neared the wall, they both knew that they were still to low, but much higher than any of their previous crashes(as indicated by the varying, but large dents in the wall).

“We got this! We got it! We got it! We-”

As Skye frantically encouraged her, Zazzy slammed against the wall with her stomach. Clawing upwards and kicking off, the feisty baby dragon cleared the wall with only a slight battered feeling. Skye’s head was spinning from the impact, but since they didn’t fall this time, she knew she’d be fine.

A guard that was manning the wall watched the whole thing with a slacked jaw. Both Skye and Zazzy apologized as they climbed over, then jumped off.

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to scratch up the wall! I’ll fix it later!” Skye hollered as they jumped.

Once they got several feet away from the wall, Skye praised Zazzy for her quick thinking; “That’s me smart scaly bairn! Good job landin’ on yer belly like that! We’ll get better the more we practice! Don’t worry! Ye did a good job, lassie!”

Not thinking, Zazzy did a barrel roll in the sky as they circled around to the main entrance leading into the capital. Skye gripped the saddle with her legs as tight as she could as she let her arms dangle. When Zazzy righted herself again, Skye exclaimed; “That. Was. AWESOME! Let’s do it Again!”

Zazzy snorted, she was so excited. Peggy had yelled at her right before her mother started flying with her. Telling her to Never do tricks and the like with Skye on her back. To hear her mother encouraging her made the fear instantly disappear.

They did several more barrel rolls and loops before Skye told her that she was getting dizzy. It was perfect timing, too. As they neared the gates to the capital, Skye could see a line of all kinds of Fae and animals coming down the road in the distance.

Noticing Zazzy’s interest, Skye told her; “You can fly by after ye drop me off at the entrance! Then ye need to go straight home, understand?! I’ll try to come see ye before the trials start!”

Zazzy was sad she couldn’t see her parents for a few days, but knew how important they were to her mom. Nodding her compliance, she circled back around to find her father. His scent was in the air, so he wouldn’t be hard to find.

As they flew overhead looking for him, Zazzy did one last roll; allowing Skye to look for him easily. Not that she really needed to once Zazzy flipped.. He started screaming the moment he saw his wife upside down.

“Got him! Let’s land over there!” Skye shouted as she pointed to a small strip of open space that laid between Alcon Forest, and the capital.

The entry was even and smooth, which Skye was happy about, but that wasn’t the problem... This was their first time not full-on crashing into anything. Zazzy didn’t know how to land with Skye’s added weight..

When Zazzy’s feet hit the ground, they dug further into the dirt than either she or Skye were ready for. They lurched forward; flipping Skye out of her saddle, and sending her flying a good twelve feet or so.

She braced herself for a hard impact, but was pleasantly surprised by a pair of strong arms that caught her instead. Opening her eyes, Skye was happy to see Tidas’ amused, yet stern face staring down at her. He’d caught her before she hit the ground.

Skye laughed as she thanked her husband for the save, then turned to Zazzy; “Are ye okay, lassie?”

After shaking her head free from grass and dirt, Zazzy looked at her wings as she stood up and flexed each limb in turn. With a light trill, she shook her head indicating she was fine. As Tidas set Skye down, Zazzy walked over, then nuzzled her in apology.

Tidas and Skye both chuckled as they pet her, then her mother told her; “Ye best get goin’ if ye want to fly over them before headin’ home. Be a good lass for Lenny while we’re gone, ok? I’ll send that cow yer way as soon as we get to the palace.”

With a lick of her lips and a trill that everyone thought sounded like “love you”, Zazzy took off down the tiny field, then lifted into the air.

As the Fae approached, Skye and Tidas got up on top of Thoth, and rode out to meet them. She told him about the long line of Fae she’d seen from the air, bringing a large grin to the prince’s face. When Skye asked why he was smiling like he was, Tidas quipped; “It is a perfect day for a parade..”