Raxtus the flier

  Raxtus really was quite adept at flying. He gripped Kendra snugly around the torso with a single foreclaw and ripped through the air with dizzying maneuverability. Because of the way he held her, Kendra was free to spread her arms and legs and pretend she was flying all alone. The speed, the cold wind in her face, the exhilaration of swift turns and sudden dives, all combined to fill Kendra with surprising joy. Soon she was laughing.

  "I could set us down," Raxtus said, "but it seems like you're having fun. "

  "I am!"

  "Flying is one of my great escapes. How's your stomach holding up? Want to try something fancy?"

  Kendra had never been a daredevil. But she felt so secure in Raxtus's grasp, and he flew with such smooth competence, that she found herself saying, "Go for it. "

  First Raxtus swooped into a huge loop. The sky became the ground and the ground became the sky, and then everything was right again. After verifying that Kendra was still enjoying herself, he climbed high, then plunged in a corkscrewing dive, spiraling through space at tremendous velocity. To the spirals he added more loops and lightning turns, tracing pretzels in the sky. Kendra lost all sense of up and down as everything blurred into a wild rush of motion.

Chapter 23