From Flames to Fury (Part 2)

Rhaenyra's body stiffened, Syrax's wings beating hard against the wind as she stared down at the distant figure, small and helpless in the grip of the enemy. I could see the panic in her eyes, mingling with a raw, burning rage that looked like it would tear her apart. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and her knuckles whitened as she gripped the reins tighter. She was calculating, desperate, trying to come up with a plan to save him. Her eyes darted frantically across the battlefield below, scanning for answers that seemed just out of reach.

Then, her gaze snapped toward me, and I could see the moment a realization dawned on her. Her eyes flickered between me and the Cannibal, widening as the pieces fell into place.

"Have him stay there!" she called out to me over the howling wind, her voice sharp and commanding, leaving no room for hesitation.

I blinked, unsure of what she meant at first, but then it clicked. She was planning something—something reckless, knowing her, but I couldn't argue with her now. Not with Viserys down there. Not when time was running out.

"She wants you to hover here," I said quickly, reaching out to him with my mind.

He growled low in response, the sound rumbling through my bones, but he obeyed, leveling out his massive wings to hover in place. I could feel his confusion at being held back, but I didn't have time to explain.

Rhaenyra had already begun speaking to Syrax in High Valyrian, her words a fast, urgent string of commands that I barely caught over the wind. Syrax responded immediately, wings tilting to glide forward smoothly before banking back around in a tight circle.

I watched, heart in my throat, as Rhaenyra in the saddle circled around me and the Cannibal. Her eyes were locked onto us, calculating, determined. I could see the gears turning in her mind, her body coiled like a spring.

Syrax moved higher, her wings cutting through the air above us, and before I could fully process what was happening, I heard Rhaenyra shout another command in High Valyrian. The unmistakable sound of dragon wings flapping hard echoed around us, and my eyes shot upward just in time to see Syrax hovering directly over me, her massive frame casting a shadow over us.

"What is she—" I started, but my words were lost as I saw movement over Syrax's flank. My heart nearly stopped as I watched in horror.

No.

No, she wouldn't.

But Rhaenyra was already swinging her leg over the side of her saddle, and before I could shout for her to stop, she jumped.

"Rhaenyra!" I screamed, my hands instinctively reaching up, my heart leaping into my throat as I imagined her missing the mark and plummeting to her death.

But she didn't miss.

Her feet collided with the black scales of the Cannibal, right at the front of my saddle. She slipped, her balance thrown by the force of her landing and the movement of the Cannibal, but I reacted instantly, my fingers hooking into the belt at her waist, holding her steady before she could fall. The sudden weight sent us both teetering for a heartbeat, but I held on, my heart hammering in my chest as I realized just how close she had come to falling to her death.

"What the hell, Rhaenyra!" I shouted at her, my voice thick with a mix of terror and fury as I fought against the urge to shake her. "You could have killed yourself!"

She glanced back at me, her violet eyes blazing with a wild determination. There was no apology there, no regret—just that fierce, unshakable will that I had come to know so well.

"I couldn't risk losing time to land!" she shouted back, stepping around me with a grace that made my stomach twist in knots. We were hundreds of feet in the air, and she was moving across the saddle like it was nothing more steady ground beneath her feet. Every gust of wind, every shift in Cannibal's massive wings, could send her plummeting into the chaos below.