Pure Joy and Fierce Competition

Tonn thrills at the sight of airhorses, even after tough months as a rider-in-training.
Knowing every day brings him closer to a pairing of his own.
And the ultimate freedom of taking to the skies.
But conflicts with other riders prove the bigger challenge.
Can Tonn learn to overcome difficulties and trust himself?

Also available in the collection Fantastic Side Trips: Side Characters Take Center Stage

An excerpt from Trusting Their Magic:
The Match That Defines a Lifetime

Tonn jumped at Master Adur's sharp voice.

"How did the airhorses learn the flight pattern we're observing right now? Tonn?"

He was certain he knew the answer, but a rush of nerves sent his belly twisting anyway.

"Same way landhorses do, or fish or fowl or anything else, Master. They're playing. Or at least that's how it starts out."

"Exactly so." Master Adur's warm smile balanced out her sometimes harsh tones and fierce expressions. "The wild colony of airhorses not far from here does much the same every morning when the weather's fair. Have any of you had a chance to observe them in their own play?"

Every hand shot up.

Tonn took every chance he got to take the long walk out past Maestar's towering city wall, cutting through the low, wide passage out to the rocky cliffs overlooking the sea. He wasn't the only one who made the trip by the faintest light of dawn, hoping to catch a display even more breathtaking than the one over their heads.