ground,’
she replied.
‘There are quite a lot people down there,
too.’
‘Is Jack in one of the flying machines?’
Elian felt Aurora reach out with her mind. She searched the sky around them looking for the airman they had encountered on previous visits to this world. All the time she was searching, she was
also climbing higher and higher, her wings pounding in a powerful rhythm that lifted them out of the immediate path of the flying machines.
‘I don’t think so,’
she said eventually.
‘Though I can’t be totally sure.’
Elian was also scanning the sky when a sudden blast of light, heat and sound smashed into him with no warning. By chance, he was looking to his right, directly at the spot where the weapon
exploded. Instinct made him flinch away. As his head snapped to the left, he felt pain flash forwards in a line from his right earlobe across his cheek and a simultaneous flare of pain erupt in his
right thigh. Aurora lurched into a turn to the left, roaring with anger and shared pain. The suddenness of the rolling motion combined with the shockwave from the explosion nearly threw Elian from
the saddle. Only his instinctive reaction to grip the pommel with all his might saved him from a long fall into the dark.
The next few minutes were confusing. Elian’s ears were ringing and his right ear was incredibly painful. Everything sounded distant and unreal. Nor could he see very much. A large yellow
flash spot blocked his vision wherever he looked. Everything around the spot was blurred, and blinking hurt the surface of his eyes. Even with his eyes closed, the yellow splash of colour
remained.
Aurora appeared to be having problems flying straight and her voice in his mind sounded distant. He could tell that she was also hurt. Her thoughts were laced with a rising sense of panic, but
he could not think straight enough to respond with any coherent thoughts of his own. There were more explosions. Some were close enough to rock Aurora further, but none inflicted more pain.
An inner fire began to burn in Elian’s mind and chest. Power was building inside him. The sun was approaching the horizon. In his confused state it took a while to realise the fire he
could feel was Aurora gathering energy to form another vortex. He wanted to call out. He could feel that the full power of dawn was still some way off. He wanted to tell her to stop – tell
her not to overstretch herself. The thought of entering a passage back to Areth while injured terrified him. Jumping between worlds was uncomfortable enough when he was fit and well, but at the
moment he was barely hanging on to her back. What would happen if he fell inside the vortex?
He wished he could communicate with his dragon, but he could not channel his thoughts into any sort of organised stream. He wanted to ask how she was, but he could not reach her. He did not see
the vortex form. One moment was confusion and pain, the next he was floating in the grey nothingness that filled the place between worlds. All pain ceased. The yellow flash spot was gone, replaced
by never-ending grey. The ringing in his ears stopped. The tranquillity of the passage cocooned him in a bubble of peace.
For the first time, Elian did not even feel the wrench as he entered the place between worlds. He would never have believed it possible to feel relief at being there, but the sudden cessation of
pain and confusion was a blissful release. He had just enough time to think that to fall into such a peaceful place would not be such a bad thing before being hurled back into reality.
Lashing rain whipped him with stinging lines of icy cold as they emerged. The flash spot blossomed instantly before his eyes and his right ear felt as if someone had pierced it deep inside with
a long needle. Within seconds he was not just flying blind and deaf but also soaked to the skin and freezing cold. The realisation that he might be about to die was a shock. From the moment he had
left
she replied.
‘There are quite a lot people down there,
too.’
‘Is Jack in one of the flying machines?’
Elian felt Aurora reach out with her mind. She searched the sky around them looking for the airman they had encountered on previous visits to this world. All the time she was searching, she was
also climbing higher and higher, her wings pounding in a powerful rhythm that lifted them out of the immediate path of the flying machines.
‘I don’t think so,’
she said eventually.
‘Though I can’t be totally sure.’
Elian was also scanning the sky when a sudden blast of light, heat and sound smashed into him with no warning. By chance, he was looking to his right, directly at the spot where the weapon
exploded. Instinct made him flinch away. As his head snapped to the left, he felt pain flash forwards in a line from his right earlobe across his cheek and a simultaneous flare of pain erupt in his
right thigh. Aurora lurched into a turn to the left, roaring with anger and shared pain. The suddenness of the rolling motion combined with the shockwave from the explosion nearly threw Elian from
the saddle. Only his instinctive reaction to grip the pommel with all his might saved him from a long fall into the dark.
The next few minutes were confusing. Elian’s ears were ringing and his right ear was incredibly painful. Everything sounded distant and unreal. Nor could he see very much. A large yellow
flash spot blocked his vision wherever he looked. Everything around the spot was blurred, and blinking hurt the surface of his eyes. Even with his eyes closed, the yellow splash of colour
remained.
Aurora appeared to be having problems flying straight and her voice in his mind sounded distant. He could tell that she was also hurt. Her thoughts were laced with a rising sense of panic, but
he could not think straight enough to respond with any coherent thoughts of his own. There were more explosions. Some were close enough to rock Aurora further, but none inflicted more pain.
An inner fire began to burn in Elian’s mind and chest. Power was building inside him. The sun was approaching the horizon. In his confused state it took a while to realise the fire he
could feel was Aurora gathering energy to form another vortex. He wanted to call out. He could feel that the full power of dawn was still some way off. He wanted to tell her to stop – tell
her not to overstretch herself. The thought of entering a passage back to Areth while injured terrified him. Jumping between worlds was uncomfortable enough when he was fit and well, but at the
moment he was barely hanging on to her back. What would happen if he fell inside the vortex?
He wished he could communicate with his dragon, but he could not channel his thoughts into any sort of organised stream. He wanted to ask how she was, but he could not reach her. He did not see
the vortex form. One moment was confusion and pain, the next he was floating in the grey nothingness that filled the place between worlds. All pain ceased. The yellow flash spot was gone, replaced
by never-ending grey. The ringing in his ears stopped. The tranquillity of the passage cocooned him in a bubble of peace.
For the first time, Elian did not even feel the wrench as he entered the place between worlds. He would never have believed it possible to feel relief at being there, but the sudden cessation of
pain and confusion was a blissful release. He had just enough time to think that to fall into such a peaceful place would not be such a bad thing before being hurled back into reality.
Lashing rain whipped him with stinging lines of icy cold as they emerged. The flash spot blossomed instantly before his eyes and his right ear felt as if someone had pierced it deep inside with
a long needle. Within seconds he was not just flying blind and deaf but also soaked to the skin and freezing cold. The realisation that he might be about to die was a shock. From the moment he had
left
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