Flying High

"So this is a wing-gate?" Diane asks. “And here I was expecting dragons.” Or hot air balloons. A balloon or airship would have been preferable. Diane looks sceptically at the arrangement in front of her; the large open basket,  the sturdy ropes that attach it to three giant… ducks. Pretty blue ducks. Roughly the size of elephants. Wearing harnesses. 

It turns out that a wing-gate, as the name suggests, is a place for birds. And traveling. Not very busy at the moment though. They’re the only travellers there.

“Dragons are fast, you’re right. Strong too. But they’re almost impossible to tame, so they're not ideal for transportation.”

“I was joking.” She stares at him. “You actually have dragons here? Like real, fire-breathing dragons?”

“Fire-breathing? No, I’ve never heard of them doing that, but they’re real alright. Mean and intelligent. Caused a lot of problems in the past, but most are living high up in the mountains now and haven’t been seen for many years.”

“Oh. I hope we don’t encounter any then.”

“You and me both.”

“All aboard!” A young girl opens the hatch to the basket, and they climb in. There are seats but no seatbelts. Of course not. Diane sits down and places the bag with Momo next to her. Aster takes the opposite seat, and their knees almost touch. It’s not exactly first class, with extra leg space. More like riding a small Ferris wheel at a countryside fair. Still, this means a day of not walking, and they were really lucky to get this opportunity. From what the ‘duck master’ had said, she and her team were one of only three left in the area. Everybody else had been moved to either the capital of one of the large army camps.

Fascinated, Diane watches the girl jump up on the lead duck’s back and shout a command. The ducks get on their feet, start running, huge flat feet going pat-pat-pat against the ground. The basket is dragged along, bouncing wildly, and Diane is almost thrown out of her seat. Aster is looking disgustingly relaxed, though his fingers tighten around the edge of the seat.

“I always enjoy flying. Some of us take the shape of great eagles and I’ve always wondered what it must be like…”

The ducks spread their wings, flap, and tuck their legs up. The basket takes a few more hard bounces, but then they’re airborne, steadily rising higher.

Aster’s calm is seeping over to her, and she finds the ride more pleasant than she’d expected.

“So, will we reach your home today then?”

“No, I hope the next wing-gate has a working team too, but even one day of flight will save us days compared to walking. Even if I were to change and carry you.” He winks.

“Oh, okay. I think I prefer this. It’s very pleasant up here. Good thing I’m not afraid of heights.”

Right on cue, Momo pokes her head out of the bag and looks around curiously.

“I guess she’s not scared of heights either,” Diane says. “But be careful, you hear.”

“I’m sure it’s not. They’re very brave creatures.” He gives her a curious look. “You keep calling the cub ‘she’. Are you sure it’s not a little guy?”

“I’m sure,” Diane says confidently until she meets Aster’s eyes and he looks expectantly at her, clearly waiting for her to elaborate. “Um, if you look just beneath the tails there are no… ” She feels a treacherous blush creep up her neck, threatening to reach her face. This is ridiculous. She’s a trained nurse. There’s no way she’s getting all red and bothered talking about cat anatomy. “I mean, there are no… visible male parts,” she finishes lamely. “You know…”

“Oh, right. Of course.” The tips of his ears are turning a dark pink shade, making Diane feel slightly better. Fortunately, Momo chooses this moment to meow loudly. A welcome distraction. The kitten scrambles out of the bag, stretching thoroughly before walking the few steps to Aster. She’s still not putting weight on her injured paw.

“Come here, you. Let’s have a look at that leg.” Diane picks Momo up and places her firmly on her lap, ignoring the insulted look she’s given.

Carefully feeling her way down the leg, finishing with the paw, Diane relaxes. Nothing seems broken, and while definitely sore, Momo doesn’t appear to be in too much pain. There could be a fracture. There’s no way of telling without an X-ray, but a bandage or a splint should make sure it remains fixed and take some pressure off it. There might be something in her bag she can use… She starts rummaging around in it, talking to herself as she searches for anything useful.

“You can just use magic to heal her, you know.” Aster points out.

“No, even if I could use it properly, I’m not sure exactly what or where the injury is. I might make things worse. Some general support…”

“I’m no healing expert, but I’m sure that doesn’t matter. Nobody knows all the details about how their abilities work.” He frowns, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “I for sure don’t, and I know you well enough by now to say that nothing you do will bring harm to anyone or anything you care about.”

“Oh, okay.” Her face grows warm at the compliment. So does her chest. Suddenly shy, she looks down at Momo instead. Much safer. Since she doesn’t have any medical supplies, there’s no harm in trying magic.

“You need the practice. And up here, nobody will notice any mishaps.” He chuckles and gives her another wink. “But do try not to startle the birds. I’d rather not crash.”

"Very funny." She rolls her eyes at him, but places her palm against Momo’s injured leg.

“Warm Touch,” she whispers. After all, saying it loud worked last time. To her surprise, the tingling appears almost immediately, followed by the faint blue light and the accompanying warmth. Momo purrs like a jet engine and settles down on her lap. When she finally gets back up to explore the small space, there’s no trace of the limp.

“I did it.”

“Told you so.” Aster smiles proudly, “You’ll be levelling up in no time.”

“I hope so.”

Diane keeps practicing the summoning of mana, gathering it around her hands and then letting it fade back. Meanwhile, Aster chats about his family, points out landmarks they pass, and brags about past or imagined adventures. Tells bad jokes. She talks about her work at the hospital. It’s surprisingly hard to think of anything else interesting enough to tell him. Had her life really been that boring?

He doesn’t mention his fiancée, and Diane doesn’t ask.

A couple of hours later, thick smoke rises ahead of them. Looking down as they pass over it they see a whole field has been set on fire. A small part of it still holds yellow crops, but the main part is covered in oily black, now slowly being devoured by the flames.

“Entire fields are getting infected?” Diane asks, stunned at the implications. Though she can see it with her own eyes, she doesn’t want to believe it. What kind of disease can infect plants as well as animals?

“Yeah. It’s worse than I thought. I doubt this is a single or random occurrence.”

“They’re targeting your food supply?” Biological warfare. What good can her little blue flames and nurse’s education do against something on this scale? They’d need a military grade medical lab. A team of proper doctors and scientists. Not her. 

“It seems so, yes.” The troubled frown is back on his face, and it deepens for each additional fire or pool of black they see as the flight continues. The mood for lighthearted chatting and banter is gone, and they both sit quietly, lost in somber thoughts.

As the sun starts to set, the ducks descend. In the dwindling light, Diane can make out a big dirt field, a large turquoise pond, as well as some buildings that get bigger the closer they get.

Somehow the landing is even worse than the take-off had been and Diane grumbles, rubbing her elbow where she’s sure she’ll be sporting a nasty bruise tomorrow.

“Please tell me they have a nice hotel here.”

“They do, but we’re not staying. If anything's open, we’ll grab some food at one of the taverns, wash up a bit, then hopefully be off again.”

“You’re not serious,” Diane groans, but Aster just nods and grins smugly.

“I really hope the night flight is available. You’re going to love it.”

Night flight?