A Different Destiny Chapter 5
"How do your wings feel today, Levitas?" Emily asked brightly.
"They feel better," he answered, as he always did, but his eyes were on the burden she had brought him. "Is that a pig in that wheelbarrow?"
"It sure is," she grunted as she deposited the dead pig in front of him. "And it's all for you." That was the end of the conversation until after he'd devoured his meal. Like all dragons, he was a very messy eater; Emily preferred not to watch the process if she could help it. Also like all dragons, he much preferred his food to be very fresh. Killing an animal on the dragons' feeding grounds, and then laboriously wheeling it up to the courtyard by hand, took too long; Levitas always complained that it didn't taste right. So Emily had worked out an arrangement with Laurence and Temeraire. First, they tried having Temeraire kill an animal and bring it to Levitas. That offended the Winchester because he didn't want to feel like he had to be fed by another dragon. So now, the Celestial would kill the animal, carry it up to the covert on the wing, and drop it into the wheelbarrow near the courtyard. Emily would take over from there and deliver it to Levitas. This didn't bother him; he didn't mind if Emily fed him. Until the little dragon could fly and capture his own meals again, it was the only arrangement that seemed to work.
When he was finished, she took some damp rags and wiped him clean. He almost purred from the attention; he still was not accustomed to such kindness. She stepped back to check her handiwork, then asked him again, "How do your wings feel?"
"They feel better," he answered.
"Will you show me?" she asked. He replied by walking to the center of the courtyard, spreading his wings, and flapping them vigorously. Small puffs of dust and a few shed dragon scales went flying. "See?" he said proudly.
"Yes, I see," she nodded. "Everyone's hoping that they work like they used to. Celeritas, the training master, says he wants to see you as soon as your meal is done."
"Oh, that does not sound good," Levitas sighed. "Have I done something wrong?"
"I don't think so, seeing as how you haven't done anything at all," she replied. "I think he wants to see if your wing muscles have healed enough to try flying."
"Oh, I do hope so!" he burst out, his mood instantly changing from worried to optimistic. "Where is he?"
"Follow me," she nodded. She led him through the courtyard toward the cliffs at the edge of the covert, where the training-master was waiting for them. But their walking speeds were mismatched; Levitas kept getting ahead of her in his excitement, and then stopping to let her catch up.
At last, she asked, "Would it be all right if I rode on your back?"
"Of course, friend Emily!" He crouched and let her scramble aboard. He wore no harness, so she had to use his foreleg as a step, and then hold onto his neck to avoid falling off.
"Crew is aboard," she said formally. "Go straight until you reach the cliffs, then turn left." He did so, and soon saw Celeritas on the cliff edge, watching as they approached.
"Dismount, please," the training-master ordered, and she quickly obeyed. He paid her no further attention as he focused on Levitas. "You walk without a limp; that is encouraging," he began. "Stretch out your wings to their full span. Good; now fold them quickly. Yes, very good. Now, wings straight up. Higher, please. Is that as high as your left wing will go?"
"It still hurts a little when I do that," Levitas answered.
"I suppose that is to be expected," Celeritas replied. "I cannot clear you for unrestricted flight until you have full range of motion. But some basic exercises should do you no harm, and they will certainly improve your spirits. Five quick flaps, please." The Winchester did so, and almost rose off the ground. "Did that hurt at all?"
"No, not even a little," Levitas replied.
The training-master nodded. "Quite satisfactory, considering all that you have been through. I am clearing you for limited supervised flight."
The Winchester looked puzzled. "What does that mean?"
"It means you can fly again!" Emily explained.
"Correct," Celeritas added, "but you cannot leave the training grounds, and you must have another dragon in the air next to you, in case something goes wrong."
"I can fly again?" Levitas exclaimed. "Oh, friend Emily, that is the best news ever! Thank you for all the help you have given me. But who will fly with me?"
"You will not need a human rider for your test flights," the training-master said. "As for the dragon who will fly on your wing, I have made some special arrangements. Report back here after the people have had their lunches. You will be harnessed, and we shall see how you do in the air."
"Oh, I will. I will!" the little dragon exclaimed, wriggling all over with delight. "I'm going to fly again!" It was all Emily could do to persuade him to return to the courtyard and wait for a few hours.
When they returned to the cliffs, a small ground crew waited next to Celeritas with an assemblage of new leather straps, cables, and metal buckles. "Is that harness for me?" Levitas asked.
"It's not the harness you used to wear," Emily said as she slid off his back. "That one got too cut up and damaged by the French, the last time you wore it. This is a brand-new one, but they made it to the same measure as the old one, so it ought to fit." She stepped aside to allow the ground crew to put the harness on him.
"Wait," he said plaintively. "Friend Emily, will you put my harness on for me?"
"These men have had a lot more practice at it," she tried to explain.
"I would really like it if you put it on," he said. Levitas was quite biddable, as dragons went, but he could be as stubborn as any if there was something he wanted, and he sorely wanted his friend to do the honors today.
Emily shrugged and turned to the ground crewmen. "I've never done a full harnessing before. Will you let me know if I make a mistake?" she asked them.
"I most surely will, you ambitious young upstart," came a familiar voice from around the corner.
"Mister... I mean Captain Hollin?" Emily was so surprised to see him again, now in the green-and-cream uniform of a Corps officer, that she quite forgot the task at hand.
"Friend Hollin!" Levitas echoed. "You came to see me again!"
"I came for that, and quite a bit more," Hollin exclaimed with a broad smile. "Betsy and I are the ones who will fly with you in the training grounds." From around the corner stepped a Yellow Reaper, still very young but already larger than Levitas. "Celeritas says it will be good practice for us, and we will be an encouragement to you."
"Levitas," Betsy said in an alto voice. "I am pleased to meet you. It is an honor to fly with a hero like you."
"Me? A hero?" Levitas wasn't expecting that. "I do not feel like a hero."
"Nevertheless, that's what you are," Hollin said, stroking the Winchester's neck easily. "You got through the French defenses, you got back alive, and you remembered enough of what you saw to help us guess at Napoleon's plans. If it wasn't for you, we'd all be eating snails by now."
"Ugh! I would not want to eat snails!" the Winchester said with a shudder. "Friend Hollin, it is so good to see you again! Today, I am to fly!"
"Yes, I know," Hollin said with a touch of amusement. "As soon as Cadet Roland stops gaping at me with her mouth hanging open, perhaps she can harness you and we can try out your wings." Emily snapped out of her daze and picked up the front of the harness. Levitas eagerly thrust his head and neck through the appropriate opening. Emily fastened the buckle on the main chest strap. "That's good, I think." Then she adjusted the frontal belly strap and set that buckle in place as well. She had to adjust it several times to get the correct fit. "There!" she finally said as she checked her handiwork.
Levitas was so eager to fly again that, when she said "There!" he thought she meant that the harness was completely fitted. With an excited cry, he spread his wings and leaped off the cliff... with the rear portions of the harness still flapping loose. Emily had been standing in the middle of that harness while she worked, and the rear belly strap caught her just behind the knees. Levitas took off with Emily dangling upside down beneath him.
She cried out in panic, reached up, and got a double fistful of the left side-strap. Celeritas saw the problem and bounded into the air behind them; Hollin ran and leaped onto Betsy's back, and they got airborne a few seconds later. But Emily was going to have to endure the first few seconds of this unplanned ride without help.
"Levitas!" she shouted. "Turn to the right!"
"Emily?" he asked, puzzled. "I hear you, but I cannot see –"
"TURN RIGHT!" she nearly screamed. He was unsure what was happening, but he obeyed her firm command. As he banked to the right, his left flank rose. That pressed the side-strap more tightly against himself, which reduced the slack and gave Emily better purchase for her grip. She laboriously pulled herself into an upright position, let go with one hand, and quickly snapped a carabinier onto the side strap. From there, she was able to drag herself up onto Levitas' back, one clip at a time, then forward to the usual riding position.
"There you are!" he exclaimed. "How did you get here?"
"We'll call it a misunderstanding," she panted as she double-clipped herself in. "We weren't ready for you to take off. You need to fly back to the cliffs."
"Must I end my first flight so soon?" he sighed. "But why? You are safe with me. I will not drop you."
"It's your first flight in a month, and we don't know how strong your wings are," she tried to explain. "Celeritas said you shouldn't have a rider for your test flights."
"You are certainly not too heavy for me, friend Emily," he said, turning to face her. "I am happy to have you fly with me."
She tried a different approach. "Your harness is flapping loose from the front belly-strap on back. That's not safe, and it's against the rules. You have to go back and let me finish putting your harness on, or Celeritas will ground you for a week."
That threat had the desired effect. He turned back just as Celeritas caught up with them.
"Are you all right, Cadet Roland?" he called.
"Yes, sir, I'm fine," she answered, although she was still visibly pale and shaking. "We're going to land so I can finish hooking up his harness."
"And rightly so," he growled. "Levitas, your muscles may have healed, but is your mind all right? What were you thinking, endangering your rider in such a fashion?"
"I did not know that she was flying with me," Levitas tried to explain.
"It's true, sir," Emily added. "He wasn't trying to do anything bad. He was just excited to fly again."
"Levitas, excitement or not, you know the regulations," Celeritas scolded. "At least, you knew them in the past."
"Which rule do you mean?" Levitas asked, confused.
"Have you forgotten everything?" came Hollin's voice from the other side as Betsy overtook them. "What about the rule that says you must check your own harness and say, 'All lies well' before you even think of taking off?"
"Oh, my, yes," Levitas said, suddenly crestfallen. "I quite forgot about that."
"You have been too long on the ground, and too long out of practice," Celeritas decided. "Perhaps I let you back into the air too quickly." They all landed. Emily slid off Levitas' back, but her legs turned to jelly as her feet hit the ground. She clung to the nearest support she could find, which was Levitas' neck. Celeritas eyed her appraisingly.
"Cadet Roland, you showed great presence of mind just now. I foresee a fine future for you as Excidium's captain someday."
"Thank you, sir," she gasped.
He turned back to the Winchester. "Because you endangered Cadet Roland, I will let her choose your discipline," he decided. "I will overrule her only if I think she is being too lenient with you."
"Friend Emily, I am so very sorry!" Levitas burst out. "I never would have harmed you or frightened you."
"It's all right, I forgive you," she said, trying not to let her teeth chatter.
"There can be forgiveness, but some actions must still have consequences," Celeritas said firmly. "Cadet Roland, what punishment is appropriate for Levitas' breaking of the safety rules?"
Emily was in a terrible position. She didn't want to punish Levitas at all. But if she let him off the hook too easily, Celeritas would throw the book at him. She waited until she thought she could stand without falling over, let go of the dragon, and backed away a few steps. "Three days," she decided. "Three days on the ground, working with a ground crew and re-learning the basics of how to wear a harness. Then you can try flying again." She turned to Celeritas. "Is that all right?"
"I would have made it a week," the training-dragon said wryly. "But three days should be sufficient. The problem is that all my ground crews are needed to work with Lily's wing. I have no one I can spare to work with you for that length of time, so you may have to wait much longer than three days until a crew is free."
"Actually, you do have a crew, sir," Hollin cut in. "A crew of one. You assigned me and Betsy to work with Levitas for the next ten days. I can work with him on the ground just as well as I can in the air, can't I?"
Celeritas considered that for a moment. "Yes... yes, I suppose you can, if you are willing to lower yourself and undertake ground-crew work again. Very well, then. Levitas, you are grounded for three days. Captain Hollin will serve as your ground crew, and Roland will be your taskmaster. At the end of those three days, I will test you, to see if you really remember your rules and your safety procedures."
"I won't forget again," he said in a very small voice. Now that he realized what had just happened, he was quite shaken. Emily hadn't heard that sad tone of voice since he had begged Laurence and Hollin for some attention, back when Rankin was his captain.
"I certainly hope not," Celeritas rumbled. "I release you to the care of your cap – I mean, your... umm... your friend. Cadet Roland, see that he learns his lessons properly."
"I will, sir," she promised. "I don't ever want to go flying that way again."
She will never want to fly with me again at all, Levitas thought sadly.