legs and pulled a book onto my lap from the large stack sitting beside me.
He shrugged noncommittally.
For having become so near to his goal, the dragon-kin was showing a frustrating lack of enthusiasm. He left after a while and I returned to my books, wasting away the rest of the evening. Rio returned eventually, joining us for a quick dinner and then it was off for bed once more.
The next few days seemed to have a shadow of impending doom creep over them. Though Pierwyn Aenlilea’s enthusiasm for his flying machine was contagious, dread filled my veins when I thought of flying up to the Spire.
Breakfast on the day of departure was quiet. My stomach was jumping a little at the thought of being up in that flying deathtrap, but I quieted it with some warm tea. This was no time to acknowledge my cowardice. I had braved the deep ocean. I could handle this. I was lying to myself, of course, but it filled me with the determination necessary to face the flying boat.
We brought all the things we would not be taking with us to Aenlilea’s house. I took all of the books out of my bag and stacked them beside Aenlilea’s desk in the living room. Rio helped me tie a strap to my walking stick to that I could carry it slung across my back. I clutched my bag, now much lighter without the books, and went to meet Kewyn outside the greenhouse.
“You ready?” Aenlilea asked his daughter. Kewyn was suited up in a padded suit and helmet similar to his.
“As I’ll ever be,” she answered spiritedly.
Too soon, it felt, we were wheeling the ship along the back roads of Lahnfabon. It was just after noon, but the air was bitter cold. I wrapped my scarf tightly around my chin and had my hood up to keep my ears from frostbite. My nose was the only thing still catching the cool air, and had reddened brightly. The half-blood seemed unfazed by the cold except for along his pointed ears. He pulled his hair out of the band of his eye patch enough to cover them.
The houses thinned around us, long fields stretching between them. I concentrated on keeping my hooves moving, just following the noise of the wheels against stone.
When the trolley finally stopped, I looked up. The road ended ahead of us.
“This is about as close as we’re going to get,” Aenlilea said. He began to fuss