“Life is Pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
When Frederick received the letter from Robin containing a Second Seal and a note instructing him to take on training as a Wyvern Rider, the knight had his reservations. Though this was only a temporary assignment to broaden his experiences in other styles of battle, the thought of taking on a new mount was somewhat odd to him. Frederick got himself suited up with the proper harnesses when his new wyvern arrived for him from Valm’s Wyvern Valley. The lieutenant had observed Cherche in action and decided to ask for her help in learning the finer points of mounted aerial combat.
“Remember, Sir Frederick: your wyvern is not a horse. He will not obey to the same calls and gestures you have developed over the years with your steed.” Cherche said as she patted Frederick’s new mount tenderly on the snout, allowing him to become accustomed to her scent. “Instead, you must gain his trust by showing him that you fear nothing from him. When you two have learned to trust each other properly, wielding axes from his back should come naturally to you; you are a first class knight after all.”
“You have my thanks, milady. Being airborne is something relatively new to me, so I do not doubt that I shall have some difficulties at first, but I have every faith in your abilities as an instructor.” Frederick said appreciatively. He held out his hand to his wyvern and patted him on the snout as Cherche had done before him. Cherche was excited to see that the wyvern accepted the gesture and silently goaded the knight to proceed. “There now, you and I have nothing to fear from each other. I believe I should introduce myself. My name is Sir Frederick of Ylisse. I hope our partnership shall be most fruitful for the pair of us.”
“Excellent, Frederick! You two should be getting along famously from here on in.” said Cherche in a warm tone. “Now mount up and take your very first flight as rider and wyvern.”
Frederick saddled up and climbed onto the imposing beast, finding his center. As he took to the sky, however, he felt a slight jerk beneath him as his wyvern wildly thrashed about mid-flight. Cherche took to the air and hovered next to him from a safe distance.
“Frederick, that’s quite enough!” Cherche scolded crossly. “Unless you would care to be thrown from your wyvern and devoured, you would be wise to relax your legs and keep your posture loose. You are not riding a horse!”
Frederick did as he was commanded and his wyvern stopped squirming and took off into the clouds. Being up in the air again was liberating; it had been nearly two decades since his mother took him up on her pegasus when he was a child. Excitement brewed in his stomach and he felt a warm oneness with the elements around him. Drawing his practice axe from the satchel on his saddle, Frederick directed his wyvern towards the training dummy that he had set up for himself and took a swing at its head which was fashioned from a gourd. The cut was clean and precise, and the top half of the gourd was sent flying into the air as he flew past.
After dismounting and corralling his wyvern properly, Frederick came to Cherche to thank her for her kind advice. The veteran wyvern rider nodded in acknowledgement, smiling brightly at her fellow vassal.
“A little rough around the edges, but you’ve shown the makings of a true wyvern knight. Well done, Sir Frederick.” Cherche said warmly. “I hope you realise that though approaches in riding differ, the relationship between rider and mount must be built upon a mutual understanding.”
“I do. Thank you, Cherche.” Frederick said nodding his head appreciatively. The two exchanged a few words about future lessons and laughed fondly about Frederick’s first attempt.
As the knight said his goodbyes and turned to get started on his evening charges, Cherche asked him one last question for the day: “Frederick, you really seemed to be enjoying yourself once you got the hang of things. Would I be wrong in saying that you have fond memories of flight from before today?”
Frederick smiled. “You most certainly wouldn’t, milady. Thank you for helping me rekindle some of those fond memories.”
