As they joined the wind, even that sound faded away and it was almost like they were floating in space. Ashton heard Barclay's request and turned a silver eye to look at him, winking his inner eyelids closed.
"As you wish," came the rumbled response. "Hold onto me."
The instruction came barely a second before Ashton dipped towards the ground, angling his wings to cut a path straight towards the forest once more. They dove like a falling black blade, Ashton's feet tucked up tightly against his body, wings cropped, spines flat. Just before they crashed into the trees not far from the coast, the dragon opened his wings and cut again.
They came in so close to the ocean that the dragon's belly touched the crest of a wave and he trumpeted happily, skimming the top of the water and turning on a course that would follow the coastline all the way up the Academy property. He wove in and out of the clusters of rocky archipelagos, being careful to avoid the larger rocks where sharper turns were necessary and may unseat his rider. His scales were splashed with seafoam by the time they reached the boundaries of the Academy's protective borders.
Ashton pulled up and came to land lightly on the edge of the cliffs, settling his weight down on the rocks with tight gripping talons.