"Show me your best downbeat," Evander requested of the dragonet who ruffled his wings.

The leathery flaps of Viliant's wings were in the best shape of his life—almost since his hatching. Viliant shifted his weight evenly on all four feet and straightened his posture. Given this was an individual lesson which Arenis did not need to overhear, Viliant opted for the privacy of telepathy with Evander. I don't actually know the right way to beat them, Viliant admitted. With a timorous shake to his wings, Viliant extended them outward to the fullest. This already felt unnatural after he had let them hang at his side for the greater part of a decade.

"Not so rigid." Evander ran the back side of his claws underneath the stiffened second half of Viliant's wings.

"Put most of the effort near your shoulders, and the rest of your wing will follow."

When Viliant did not use all his wings to compensate for the lack of strength, the tremble in his frame became more severe. Of all the parts of his body, his wing muscles had gone the most undeveloped. With a defeated huff, Viliant dropped his wings back down.

After Arenis's next thwack against the tree trunk, the red dragonet gave pause. A glint appeared in the corner of his eyes, shining with amusement. Even though they had already disconnected from telepathy, Viliant swore that he did not need it to hear Arenis's thoughts. Ha! He can't even hold up his wings straight out for more than a minute.

Viliant's claws clenched against the gritty earth. A growl of frustration caught in his chest. Even if Arenis's opinion of him mattered no more than that of a fire ant, his judgment heightened Vitiant's sense of urgency. I should already know how to fly. I need to catch up as fast as possible! Regardless of the attitudes of the Carlinoan dragons around him, Viliant knew that his ability to fly might help him survive against the humans' invasion.

"Your endurance will build with time," Evander told him. "Right now, let's focus on good form." The warrior backed away from Viliant to demonstrate the exercise that he wanted him to learn. "Jump up! Flap once!" Evander leaped into the air, most of the power coming from his hind legs. The downward rush of his wing flaps buffeted the small foliage beneath him.

Viliant squinted his eyes against the airborne grit, watching how high a single beat of his wings took Evander.

The orange dragon dropped back down onto his front legs first. "Then, you rest for a minute." Evander reclined in a spot where a bit of early morning sun seeped through the trees, and he sprawled out his wings.

Viliant nodded along with his hooded lids. "I can do that," he murmured. By now, he had fully recovered from holding the length of his wings straight out for Evander's examination. Viliant relied on his legs to carry him most of the way into the air.

"Jump!" Evander said in time with his movement. "Flap!"

The meek stroke of Viliant's wings delayed his descent. The black dragonet landed on his feet, softer than a regular jump. "Again," Viliant muttered. "I can do better." Except his second attempt forced his wings to blow above his horns on the way down.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"No," Evander snapped. "The break is an important part of this exercise. You're too old for the proper form to come naturally anymore, so you need to go slow and put all your energy into each one."

Viliant grumbled as he stomped over to a patch of ferns. Given his mood right now, the shadow dragonet preferred to lie under the big leaves than the gentle sunlight.

"Watch me again," Evander said. The leathery underside of his wings pummeled the air, carrying the adult dragon near the lowest branches. "The more time you try to spend in the air now, it'll take that much longer for you to fly later."

Viliant and Evander went back and forth a few times. After each one, his mentor always had a pointer or two to share. They continued like this until Arenis tromped over.

"Evander!" his little brother whined. "You've spent the entire time on Viliant."

"That's fair, but it's his first day," Evander explained with a sympathetic twist to his tail. "I need to show him the drills, so he can do them on his own. You could join us, if you know how to demonstrate one of them."

The invitation, posed like a challenge, incited Arenis to jump on a log. "Perch like this! Flap like this!" Beyond his enthusiastic demonstration like a dragonfly, Arenis offered no further explanation.

Evander interrupted Arenis, nudging him from the middle of the log to its far end to make room for Viliant. The dragon warrior provided greater detail on the intention and technique behind the exercise.

Although Viliant felt silly, hunkering low on the log and hovering his wings in quick beats, he felt better about doing it with Arenis in this case. At least he can't make fun of me, he thought, up until his repetitions slowed in comparison to the other dragonet.

"Don't worry, Viliant," Arenis bragged. "You'll get as good as me if you train hard enough." The red dragonet boasted his skill during one of Viliant's breaks by taking a short flight beneath the tree branches.

"Looking good, Arenis!" Evander whistled his compliment, laced with a tone of warning. "Do you want to fly back on your own?"

"No way!" Arenis folded his wings and dropped straight onto his older brother's back.

"You did a great job today, Viliant," Evander praised the other dragonet as he lifted him up. "We'll do this again tomorrow. Until then take it easy. If you want to train more, you should play with Arenis or Fia."

"Hm." Viliant's blatant mindset was easy to read for the adult dragon. The shadow dragonet wanted to beat his wings until they fell off or he learned to fly—whichever came first. When Evander put training in the context of play, it warmed Viliant up to the idea. I already promised Fia that I'd play with her, when we're back at Carlinoa anyway. If the dragonets focused on games that required use of their wings, Viliant could accumulate more practice—just like how Diwa showed them how to swim. "That's a good idea. Thanks, Evander."

While Viliant looked out to the bright day ahead, Evander flew them over to the warrior's official training grounds on a rocky plateau.

There, a ring of dragons circled around the pink dragonette at the center of their sharp gazes. When she rose onto her hind legs, a ring of fire exploded outward and swallowed all the dragons who watched her.

"Fia...!" Viliant gasped. Even the heat affected him from here as Evander swooped to drop the dragonets off and join the ranks of warriors.