Zanth met her on the roof, his huge wings rustling a little as they folded. Maya silently rubbed his head, hit by a sudden stab of grief as she realised that this might be the last time they would ever spent together again. She’d been through all this before, all the heartache of trying to accept the last time for everything she knew and loved. The last night ride under the stars. The last time she would see Zanth, call him ‘buddy’, and go on crazy adventures. The last time she would feel that rush of adrenaline rushing through her limbs as she climbed a wall with nothing but her bare hands.
 It had been hard last time. But she did it. She accepted that it was over. But then they offered her a chance of freedom. A chance to have all this, to have her life back for good. And then, just like that, they took it away from her and left her with nothing by heartbreak all over again. Now she had to do it all again, find the willpower to give it all up for the second time. And Maya wasn’t sure she was strong enough this time.

Maya glanced up at the carvings [on the outside of the tower]. “Xavier,” she said, “you wanna do something fun?”
 Xavier gave her a considering look. “Depends.”
 “A race?”
 “What kind of race?”
 “You up the stairs, me up the side.”
 He didn’t immediately say no, which Maya took to be a good sign. Then he broke out in an honest to goodness grin. “Why not? But no cheating. The dragon stays where he is.”
 “You got it.”
 They lined up. Ready. Set. Go. Xavier took off through the doorway, and Maya grabbed onto the carving and started moving. At first she couldn’t find her rhythm, couldn’t locate the foot and hand holds fast enough to keep the momentum going. And she was painfully aware of the eyes of the guards that followed her up the outside of the tower.
 And then everything just clicked and she was moving with more grace, her movements fluid, swinging from one perch to another like she was flying instead of climbing. Without her gloves, her hands slipped on the carving sometimes, tearing the skin, but she pushed through that. It seemed all too quickly that she reached the top. Just as she pulled herself up the outside of the railing, Xavier reached the top of the stairs.
 Maya leaned on the wrong side of the rail, arms and legs shaking from the effort. Man it had been forever since she had climbed a wall like that. Still, she grinned at Xavier. “Good race.”
 “Who won?” Xavier offered her a hand and helped her climb over the railing.
 Maya shrugged. “Who cares really? You can have the win if you like. I just wanted to climb this tower.