Now We Wait III
“Nonsense. We carry on as planned.” Farrin’s confidence was warming. Not as warming as the resistance spells Horil had cast to keep them from freezing to death, but she knew every bit helped. Checking her mental register, she was confident their temperature wards would hold until they were at safer altitudes. She wasn’t so sure about the wind shields.
Farrin was looking around with such zeal, he broke her train of thought and forced her to hold on. “What are you doing?” she said.
“Looking for dragons,” he replied, “Perhaps we could negotiate transport.”
“With a dragon? Did you not just declare that a bad idea?”
“Jumping on an unwilling dragon, yes,” he said, “I fully expect better results from mutual agreement.”
Horil closed her eyes and sang a childhood rhyme in her mind. How many times had this practice saved Farrin’s life? She couldn’t begin to imagine. “While other solutions may present themselves,” she said, “I don’t think more dragons would be at the top of my list.”
They hung in silence for a time, contemplating avenues of approach with their limited resources. “I still don’t th–”
“No dragons,” Horil said.
Farrin chuckled and tensed a bit, taking a deep breath. “It’s time. Ready yourself.” He reached aching fingers up and activated the release, and nothing happened.