suddenly flung into a little quiet oasis.
«Stop shouting or I push you back down», a very familiar voice grunted. Amanda turned to see Shim scowling at her. In spite of the constant whistle of the wind all around, his voice had reached her clearly, thanks to the invisible bubble which surrounded the carpet, shielding them from the awful weather.
«I thought you hated flying», she said, confused, surprised, but most of all happy to see him there.
«I hope you will still remember when I tell you what I think of this bravado of yours», he replied. «Now we have to go away from here quickly.»
He was right. Flying carpets where enchanted so that they protected their passengers against bad weather conditions, but they weren't designed to fly in an hurricane, and soon the protection would fade out, considering the hard challenge it was facing.
«Were are we going?» she asked.
«Central!» he replied quickly before concentrating again on piloting.
They raised, even though all but steadily. The carpet was violently flung around, and even though its magic kept them on board, it looked like they could be thrown away at any moment, so much that Amanda flattened herself as much as possible on it, as if this could somehow protect her from what was happening. Around them, the hurricane unleashed its fury. She didn't think she'd ever seen something like that in her life.
Rain had started pouring, and now the wind was pushing towards them compact bodies of water which looked almost like waves. The carpet seemed to be floating in water rather than flying, like an odd surfboard facing higher waves than it had been designed for.
The sky was black, engulfed by clouds crowding together like people trying to conquer the front line in the audience of a concert, though the show they wanted to see was quite different.
A violent blast almost made the carpet topple over, and left Amanda wondering what would happen if it did. She didn't think the magic would be of any help against gravity in that case, and probably they would crash on the street below, or maybe be flung away by the wind alone.
Shim looked calm and self-assured. In truth he was just entirely focused on what he was doing, all of his efforts taken by the task of keeping the carpet steady and preventing the contents of his stomach to come back the way it had gone in. He would have cut a very poor figure if he had retched, but most of all he wasn't sure he could be able to pilot and vomit at the same time, and it was this thought which helped him the most to keep his last lunch down.
«There!»
Amanda's scream drew his attention on a dark shape moving towards them. He pulled up the carpet abruptly, just in time to avoid a door which must have been stripped away from some house and was now floating freely, waiting to crash against something or someone. He heard a muffled thump as it hit the rear edge of the carpet, which steered unexpectedly and almost made him lose control. The air was getting wet even in there, and some raindrops were already pushing their way through the barrier, a clear sign that it was about to stop existing at all.
Reaching the headquarters was unthinkable, they had to find a nearby place to stop to, and stay there until the weather improved. If it was ever going to.
«Down there!» Amanda shouted again, trying to show him something he couldn't see at first. Then he noticed. At their right there was a place in which clouds seemed to be thinner, as if there was an area the hurricane wasn't hitting.
He immediately steered in that direction, hoping it was really the case and that they could be able to be there before the protection of the carpet was completely broken.
When they got there, it was like breaking a barrier between two different worlds. The carpet poked out of the storm in a zone that seemingly had been left untouched by it, not even brushed by the wind.
There they would have been safe, if they hadn't been a second too late.
The magic of
«Stop shouting or I push you back down», a very familiar voice grunted. Amanda turned to see Shim scowling at her. In spite of the constant whistle of the wind all around, his voice had reached her clearly, thanks to the invisible bubble which surrounded the carpet, shielding them from the awful weather.
«I thought you hated flying», she said, confused, surprised, but most of all happy to see him there.
«I hope you will still remember when I tell you what I think of this bravado of yours», he replied. «Now we have to go away from here quickly.»
He was right. Flying carpets where enchanted so that they protected their passengers against bad weather conditions, but they weren't designed to fly in an hurricane, and soon the protection would fade out, considering the hard challenge it was facing.
«Were are we going?» she asked.
«Central!» he replied quickly before concentrating again on piloting.
They raised, even though all but steadily. The carpet was violently flung around, and even though its magic kept them on board, it looked like they could be thrown away at any moment, so much that Amanda flattened herself as much as possible on it, as if this could somehow protect her from what was happening. Around them, the hurricane unleashed its fury. She didn't think she'd ever seen something like that in her life.
Rain had started pouring, and now the wind was pushing towards them compact bodies of water which looked almost like waves. The carpet seemed to be floating in water rather than flying, like an odd surfboard facing higher waves than it had been designed for.
The sky was black, engulfed by clouds crowding together like people trying to conquer the front line in the audience of a concert, though the show they wanted to see was quite different.
A violent blast almost made the carpet topple over, and left Amanda wondering what would happen if it did. She didn't think the magic would be of any help against gravity in that case, and probably they would crash on the street below, or maybe be flung away by the wind alone.
Shim looked calm and self-assured. In truth he was just entirely focused on what he was doing, all of his efforts taken by the task of keeping the carpet steady and preventing the contents of his stomach to come back the way it had gone in. He would have cut a very poor figure if he had retched, but most of all he wasn't sure he could be able to pilot and vomit at the same time, and it was this thought which helped him the most to keep his last lunch down.
«There!»
Amanda's scream drew his attention on a dark shape moving towards them. He pulled up the carpet abruptly, just in time to avoid a door which must have been stripped away from some house and was now floating freely, waiting to crash against something or someone. He heard a muffled thump as it hit the rear edge of the carpet, which steered unexpectedly and almost made him lose control. The air was getting wet even in there, and some raindrops were already pushing their way through the barrier, a clear sign that it was about to stop existing at all.
Reaching the headquarters was unthinkable, they had to find a nearby place to stop to, and stay there until the weather improved. If it was ever going to.
«Down there!» Amanda shouted again, trying to show him something he couldn't see at first. Then he noticed. At their right there was a place in which clouds seemed to be thinner, as if there was an area the hurricane wasn't hitting.
He immediately steered in that direction, hoping it was really the case and that they could be able to be there before the protection of the carpet was completely broken.
When they got there, it was like breaking a barrier between two different worlds. The carpet poked out of the storm in a zone that seemingly had been left untouched by it, not even brushed by the wind.
There they would have been safe, if they hadn't been a second too late.
The magic of
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