Wingborn (53 page)

Oblivious to
her lieutenant’s thoughts, the captain nodded at her Riders. “The
miryhls are assembling on the foredeck,” she said. “Leave your
luggage in your cabin to be taken care of and get yourselves in the
air with your flurries.” Pausing only to brush her fingers across
her forehead, in a semi-respectful, non-military salute to the
ambassador, Captain Wellswen strode out again. Brisk and brusque
and busy as always.

“Well,” Jesken
chuckled, standing up. “Time you were off then. Thank you for your
patience, lieutenants, and luck go with you. I shall see you at
dinner.”

Scrambling out
of their seats to bow, Anhardyne and Nera mumbled their agreement
and hurried out of the door. The corridor was awash with Riders
gathered around the ladders that led to the upper deck. While the
captain and embassy servants would remain on the ship with the
ambassador, it was up to Nera and the three other lieutenants to
fly their twenty-five Rider strong flurries across to the palace
and settle into whatever accommodations the dragons had provided
for miryhls and humans alike.

As they
awaited their turn for the ladders,
Anhardyne smiled at Nera
and raised her eyebrows. “So, Half-Pint, we
’
ve arrived at last. Ready to meet some
dragons?”

Squashing a burst of anxiety into the pit of
her stomach, Nera took her place on the ladder and summoned up a
confident smile. “I
’
m
ready.”

At least she hoped she was, as she climbed
up to the deck where fifty giant miryhl eagles awaited their
Riders, with fifty more already in the air. It was too late now to
be otherwise.

The story of
Wingborn,
and the
Overworld as a whole, goes back to 2003, when I had a dream about a
girl in a little rowing boat being towed over a sea of clouds by a
giant eagle – and so Mhysra and Cumulo were born. (There was also a
dog, but I don’t know what happened to that one. It certainly
wasn’t Bumble.)

Everything took a bit of a twist when I
actually sat down to write it, though, and the original Rift Riders
book was full of angst and high drama, with Mhysra pretending to be
a boy in order to sneak into Aquila as the swordsmith’s apprentice.
At the beginning, Cumulo was forced to leave her due to her
father’s strict plans, but returned three years later on the night
of the Midsummer ball to sweep her away after her first kiss
with...

Well, you get the idea.

There may also have been a sarcastic, talking
falcon named Spirit, but the less said about him the better.

Anyway, I think my point was that this book
has come a long way since those heady days, when I would somehow
stamp out three huge chapters a week and post them onto Elfwood for
my incredibly loyal readers to devour.

If you’re one of those original Elfwoodians –
thank you so much! Your support and enthusiasm back then was
amazing. You made it so easy to keep writing.

And I’m really, really sorry about the book
that followed.
Below the Clouds
was weird, and both Mhysra
and Lyrai deserved to be dropped from a great height. As for the
thing with Jaymes and the dragon... yeah. No idea.

Fast-forward to 2010 and I decided to revisit
my old Overworldian friends. Only this time I didn’t want just one
girl in the Riders, I wanted more. I didn’t want one extraordinary
girl to go out and change the world, I wanted to change the world
for all girls. So I dusted off the old book – and pretty much
dumped it. I kept the same places and most familiar faces, then
rewrote everything else from scratch.

To my Livejournal friends who read that
version – you’re awesome. Particularly because some of you also
read the original and you’re still around, reading and helping me
today.

Extra special thanks goes to:

Pantha. Typo-catcher extraordinaire! I know
old Lyrai still colours your opinion of current Lyrai, but he’s
better, I promise. Besides, your love for Mouse and Jaymes in
particular means I will never forget to include them. Thank
you!

Elizabeth F. Because you were always on
Lyrai’s side, not to mention Milli’s, and you seem pretty fond of
some of the others too. Thank you for still believing in the
romance (and giving me the confidence to keep writing it).

And Lynn. Because Bumble would have been
forgotten without you. Milli and Stirla couldn’t wish for a better
champion for their cause.

Also Brandi and Liss. Life gets in the way
sometimes, but I’m still so happy that I know you lovely
people.

Thanks and gratitude also go out to everyone
who has read, liked and left me comments on this latest version as
I serialised it on my blog, Livejournal and Wattpad. It’s been so
much fun seeing these characters make new friends and find new
fans.

And to anyone who is reading this now. Thank
you for giving my strange things-with-wings fantasy with Regency
manners and odd monsters a try. I hope you liked it – and that
you’ll come back for more.

Cheers, everyone!

About the Author

Becca Lusher is an indie fantasy author from
the wild British Westcountry who learned how to fly a bird of prey,
gallop bareback and survive as the youngest in a big family all
before she was a teenager. Sadly, the years since haven’t been
anything like as exciting.

Nowadays she saves her adventures for
writing, her weekends for walking and her days for dreaming.

Come visit her for more stories, information,
photos (with rocks in) and the occasional hidden extras.

Website:
beccalusher.com

Wattpad:
@starlightmagpie

Livejournal:
saiena

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