Imdalind 01 - Kiss of Fire

large tree.
    “Okay, now, climb the tree,” Ovailia snapped impatiently, ignoring my quick success. “Show me how you accomplish these tree races that Wynifred has told me so much about.”
    I felt excited for a whole moment, until I looked up into the tree branches. The tangled knot of the tree extended high above me; no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see a way through. But it was more than the impossibility of the branches, it was the fact that I could fall. My hands moved to wrap around my back without my even knowing. My fingers spanned flat against my back, the fingers touching the places where broken bones and nerves had been only a week before. My painfully broken back had given me a fear of falling.
    “You won’t fall,” Ilyan whispered in my ear.
    “How do you know I won’t?”
    “I won’t let you.” His finger moved up to trace a circle around my kiss.
    I tore my eyes away from the tangled branches to look at him, stepping away from his touch, feeling guilty.
    “But there is no way up, Ilyan... My Lord.”
    Ilyan smiled at me softly before turning to Ovailia. “If you will excuse us, Sister, I believe this lesson will not require your assistance today.”
    Before Ovailia could open her mouth to rebut, Ilyan had opened his hand, the necklace flying into his open palm from within the bush. Ilyan then took my hand and began to lead me out of the courtyard. Everyone looked surprised that we were leaving again so soon, but they stood and paid their respects to him as we walked by, nonetheless. Once we had made it through the door from the courtyard, Ilyan’s pace increased until we had emerged on the other side through yet another door, this one leading to a wide expanse of untamed forest. I couldn’t see a city or town; we were surrounded by hills of forest, misty mountains just visible in the distance.
    “Now, do you trust me?”
    The answer to the question was obvious. I did trust him; I just didn’t trust how he acted around me sometimes. But I knew that I couldn’t let my fierce loyalty to Ryland get in the way of Ilyan teaching me how to save him; so I nodded my head.
    “Good. Now, do you trust me to not let you fall?”
    It took a moment for me to get my wits about me. As much as I was scared of falling, scared of breaking my body again, I knew that I trusted Ilyan. He would not let anything happen to me; of that, I was sure. I nodded once in agreement, and a wide smile spread over his face.
    “Good. I am going to teach you to fly the way my father taught me. I want you to use the wind to launch yourself into the air, straight up. Can you do that?”
    “No,” I said, panic seizing me.
    “I won’t let you fall, Joclyn. I promise you this above all else, I will never let anything hurt you. I am only here to protect you.”
    “Okay.”
    “Now get down and prepare to jump.”
    I crouched down to the ground as Ilyan had instructed, my palms laying flat against the ground.
    “Now call the wind to you,” he whispered behind me.
    I closed my eyes tightly, attempting to forget that anyone was there, forgetting my previous failures. I breathed out, letting my magic come to a boiling point under my skin. My magic moved away from me easily, stretching away and bringing the wind back with it. The warm tongues licked at my feet and the tips of my fingers. I moved it around; amazed at the control I had over it. It obeyed my every thought.
    “Now, jump.”
    With one swift movement, I kicked off from the ground, the wind propelling me upward, my arms extending out, warm air whipping past my fingers. The sensation was amazing; I could have never guessed that so much freedom lay in this, in flight. My face rose to the sun, enjoying the warm rays and the breeze that moved across my skin. The feeling of the wind’s soft touch brought back memories of a million car rides up the canyon and a million tree races. Even through the bitter-sweet memories, I smiled. And then the wind began to change.
    I had flown too high. The air zoomed past me as I began to fall. I looked around desperately for a branch large enough to land on, my instinct from the tree races kicking in. There was nothing, not even a stem big enough to support my weight.
    I had been here before. I had fallen. I had almost died. I screamed in fear and agony as gravity pulled me toward the earth again. My body tensed, preparing for the awful impact that waited for me below. But instead of hard dirt, I felt strong arms. My body