A Forthcoming Wizard by Jody Lynn Nye

Author:Jody Lynn Nye
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

Chapter Seventeen

hee!” Rin cried, her hooves rising and falling in rhythm as she ran upward toward the sky. Tildi clung to her back. Her hair streamed backward, whipping into her eyes and mouth. “This is freedom at last, little one!”

“Keep steady!” Serafina cautioned her, bringing the black-nosed mare up behind the centaur’s striped haunches. “Tildi could fall off!”

“Not a chance!” Rin said. “We are one in flight, are we not?”

“I hope so!” Tildi said, holding on to the rough mane. No matter what power flowed through her, no matter how far she had traveled from her home, she was still terrified of heights. She risked a glance down. The treetops were receding to the size of broccoli clusters. If they were that small, then the bearkin were tinier yet, and in comparison she was a fingernail paring. Her stomach lurched at the thought. She squeezed her eyes closed.

“Tildi! Be back with us!” Serafina commanded over the rushing wind. “Help me. Study the map. It will take your mind off the heights.”

Tildi obediently took the flapping chart and surveyed the section that showed the part of the river that had become visible as a shining pathway to their right. The book obediently opened up to the runes that described the landscape. Tildi saw the ancient name of the province, which she could just barely read, and compared it to the modern chart. The book was far more accurate. Her heart was in her throat, but as they flew up into the thin clouds, she tried to convince herself the landscape below was no more than another piece of parchment.

“Whee-hee-ah!” Rin caroled, spreading her arms out with joy. Leaning over the mane of his horse as though he were in a cross-country race, the prince-troubadour came bobbing up beside them.

“This is marvelous!” he shouted.

“I don’t think your mare agrees,” Tildi called back. Tessera rolled her eyes so Tildi could see the whites.

“She’ll get over it,” Magpie said, patting the piebald’s neck. “She just needs to know she can trust a road she can’t see—oh, I envy you wizards, being able to fly like this whenever you wish!”

“We must be careful of thraiks and other perils of the air,” Serafina said sternly. “We have a long way to go, and we are vulnerable.” Teryn and Morag appeared to agree with her. Under their helmets, their faces were a study in caution. They rode at fore and flank of the group, constantly changing position to give the greatest coverage. Tildi didn’t envy them. It was difficult enough for two soldiers to protect a party while on the ground. In three dimensions, the hardship grew fourfold.

“Storm clouds,” Lakanta said cheerfully. “I don’t mind which way we go, as long as it isn’t back toward those gloomsayers, with apologies to you, Prince. Hard to believe they and the bearkin can exist in the same world, isn’t it? I feel free as a bird, and I’m not a whit ashamed to say it.”

Free as a bird, Tildi thought to herself.

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