Flight

“Can you fly?” shouted Gustha above the wind.

“Of course,” said Jodah.

“Then follow,” said the royal mage, and she leaped out the window.

“Hey,” snapped Jaya. “I can’t fly!”

“Then hang on!” shouted Jodah, grabbing her around the waist and diving out the window himself.

It was like riding the aesthir, only infinitely worse. With the great bird beneath you, at least you could entertain the fantasy that if it crashed, you might be able to survive, using the creature’s thick plumage as a cushion.

There was no such protection here, not even a fiction, nothing between them and the ground. They fell like rocks, and Jaya clutched at Jodah as he grumbled something deep in his lungs. Then they banked away from the tower and suddenly parallel to the ground, aiming toward the Royal Castle.

Jaya did not relax her grip, but kept her eyes locked on the castle’s large main keep, counting the moments until they landed.

***

The Eternal Ice, Chapter 13