Flight Test

Sartoma continued, "I would like you to try it within the first hour after you wake up from rest. Sleep is one of the great healers for dragons as well as the smaller creatures. Once you are fresh in mind and body, you will naturally be more comfortable with what I am going to do."

Astra replied, "This suits me. It seems like ages since I have been outside the caves, although it has only been a matter of weeks, I think. My life has changed so much. I yearn for at least some familiar surroundings."

Solbert interjected, "The preperations may take more than a day. Astra needs to re-learn the simple rules for many things if our mission to the East is to succeed."

"How exactly are you defining this mission?" asked Fred.

Solbert answered, "To evaluate any threats, inside and outside of the Dolomite League, to Astra's well-being. This, by the nature of the magic, includes threats to the integrity of the Dolomite League itself. I would at first recommend interfering as little as possible, as there are only five of us, and it will not be obvious to any of us where the greatest dangers lie. Once we have better information, then we need to find a home for Astra. Caves are by their nature good, being secluded, and in the best cases they are spacious and easy to defend. Astra is not going to get anything as good as Mount Erebus, but we should be able to find or build something."

"I would think that most suitable caves in the foothills have already been occupied by the border patrols for defense against the men of the plains," Checkers replied.

"We may not have any ideal options. We could quietly occupy a structure without bloodshed, attempting to get simply get shelter without arousing much anger. We could also build outside the bounds of the league. A wooden fort in a forest would be a reasonable second choice if caves and hills are not available."

Checkers responded, "There are a few places where that might be possible. You would want to approach White River or the Catfish Lake chain, avoiding the great plain near Blueberry Pass.

Sartoma then responded, "We can deal with this when we are about a day out. We also cannot tarry too long. I know that there is a lot to learn, but we cannot teach Astra everything that we know about dragons, Solbert. I can give her some important things to know about dragon magic. I would think that you could show her some things about her body, especially as regards combat."

A shy grin appeared on Solbert's face. "Yes, I can be of help there, and she might be needed for combat, or know the tricks that allow her to avoid combat unless it is on her terms. The making and flight of the balloon we will have to improvise. But I think that the first priority is teaching Astra how to fly."

"But I can already fly a little," said Astra. "And I am not sure that dragons fly in the same way as other creatures."

"The ways of the air do not change, whether the glideri is a bird, bat, dragon, or Glider. All our wings are different, but the rules are the same. All Gliders in the League are taught to fly if they are physically able to do so. For my people, flight is something that is studied carefully, as an unwary flier can go from soaring smoothly to an uncontrolled landing very quickly if she is not wary."

Sartoma said, "I agree with you, Checkers. If you could pack as much training as you can into two or three days, it would be worth doing."

Astra and Checkers both had reservations about this, for opposite reasons. Checkers thought that it would take two or three months to expose Astra to all the important aspects of flight. Astra just wanted to know how to move forward, and how to land without getting hurt. But neither said anything.

On a low cliff, outside the caves, after midnight

"Checkers, when are we actually going to fly?"

"Not until I am satisfied that you can take off without getting into trouble. You are not going to be circling around in the still air of the caves. The wind should be your friend. When I crossed the great ocean, the sailors on the ship the I took had made an art of taking advantage of every puff of wind to get the ship where it would not naturally go. We Gliders do the same thing. It is important that we know what the wind is doing, so that we are using it and not fighting it. Now what is the current direction of the wind here?"

"Down, and toward the valley."

"North-by-evening, two down, ten or twelve knots, I would guess," replied Checkers.

"I am impressed, although I do not know what half of that means. It is not helping me."

"Evening is the direction in which the sun sets. You use the term West, but we use Evening to mean 'west' and Morning to mean 'east'. So North-by-evening is just a bit north of 'due west', as you would call it.

"Two down?"

"The wind is also going down. You lose about two lengths of height for every ten that the wind pushes you forward. If you ever get a wind where you lose more than five down for ten forward, try to find a safe spot to land as soon as possible, for those conditions are dangerous."

"And what is a 'knot'?"

"That is how fast the wind goes. Ten knots is fairly fast. That is the one thing that I cannot understand about Sartoma's plan. We would have to travel at a speed in the hundreds of knots, which would be breathtakingly fast. She either is using magic, or knows where there is a very fast air current. Anyway, now that you know that there is a bit of a downwind, tip your wings up a little, like this, and do not flap. You want to glide down, and save your energy. We will practice landing, gliding and reading the wind today, and if you feel comfortable, then we can work on the power stroke."

"I will never remember all this."

"It just takes practice. I should start giving you all this in Modern Dolomite, so that you can learn a bit of that, too."

"Hold off on that, please! I have enough to take in as it is!"

"I promise that I will not. Do you feel game enough to try for that white boulder over there? If you land within two dragon lengths, we take a break."

"You are on!"

At the base of the cliff

Sartoma, Fred, and Solbert looked up that the two dots at the top of the small cliff, silhouetted against the moonlight. The smaller dot slowly floated down toward the earth. The larger one wobbled unsteadily at first, but eventually its path became smooth. The small dot landed just in front of a large white rock in the distance. The large one overshot the rock, and a pair of wings could be seen on it now, flapping rapidly. The wind carried this large dot about twenty dragon lengths beyond the rock, where it landed safely, but without much grace. The two dots started moving back alongside the ground toward the cliff, preparing for yet another controlled landing.

"It appears that Checkers is being very thorough with the landings, which is good. I may have to remind her that we cannot spend months doing this, though," said Sartoma.

"I would not worry about that," said Fred. "I am sure that she wants to get home, so I would be surprised if she spends that much time on it."

Solbert then changed the subject, "Fred, we are trying to get some information as to how to get to the Glider homeland. While it would appear that there are many ways to get there from here, and that a straight line would be the best way to take, there are other things to remember. I looked at the globe, and the latitude of the Dolomite League lies somewhat to the south of the Shreken. The wind also changes as we go southward. In ancient days, 'the latitude of the Shreken' was also know as the 'zone of storms.' We have a good wind, but risk running into a whirlwind. But further north, at about forty leagues, the winds change and there is there is a constant stream from the west, which would greatly help us. I would like to know more about that route."

Sartoma added, "That is the location of the Great Northern Way, a river of wind very high up that blows constantly across the Terel Sea. One can travel thirty to fifty leagues in an hour just by staying still. This aerial river does not stay in its banks quite the same way as an aquatic river. Far beyond the equator - that is, the belt of hot lands around the middle of the world - beyond that is the Great Southern Way, another river of air. We may also choose to use this route if there is a problem with the Great Northern Way. The one thing that I do like about the Southern Route is that it has fewer islands under it, compared to the Northern Way. There is less chance of being noticed."

"In some ways I would rather have those islands, in case we need to land for some reason," said Solbert.

Fred then added, "Of course, in getting back, we cannot use either way, unless the winds reverse themselves."

Sartoma answered, "I think that it would be easiest just to stay on the Great Northern Way, and approach the Shreken from the west, by going all the way around the globe."

Fred thought about this. He knew at some level that the world was round, but he had just grasped the concept that there was an end to the Terel Sea. Now they were talking about going all the way around the world.

Fred nodded his head, trying not to look like a fool. Fred asked a question.

1. "How are we going to use either of these aerial rivers without getting ripped to shreds? Fifty leagues an hour is very fast."
2. "Once we cross the Terel Sea, how far is it the Dolomite League? How long should it take?"
3. "What information do you need to know about the Havnheim?"

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