April 9, 2004 – 07:30
She couldn't linger around or she'd risk accidentally bumping into someone trying to avoid something else. She took off as she would when flying with her usual riders. Still feeling Frank holding tight to her, she took a sharp turn upward and stabilized herself once she was above the highest building around them.
"You can talk now. How are you feeling?"
"Can't say it's the greatest feeling in the world. So far, I'm not a huge fan of it… but there is something oddly intimate about it. I think I'm feeling fine because I'm with you, but I don't know."
"Sebastian is probably a safer rider than me. He's used to flying with your sister and he's our goaltender. I know I can fly safe, especially with you, but riding with a passenger and flying as if I was on the field, isn't the same thing."
"Like I said, I trust you and that's probably the only reason I feel safe right now."
"If you need a break, let me know. I can either find a tall building to land on if we're near a city, or a clearing if we're above the middle of nowhere."
"And hope we won't get followed?"
"Yes, most definitely."
Even if he had known about her for over 2 years, it was the first he rode with her on her stick. She felt nervous and was careful not to make any abrupt turn when passing near flocks of birds or other people like her. She rode with passengers before, but they were not humans. They were not Frank.
She felt relieved when approaching Panjik's house.
"We're almost there. Panjik has a lot of wards around his house so that hikers wouldn't stumble on his yard. I don't think I need to tell you to hold on to me to pass them safely, but I'm not sure at which point you'll see the house."
"You definitely don't need to tell me that, but I'm assuming we'll soon go down? I mean, if we'll soon be landing at our destination, you'll be heading downward… am I making sense?"
"I get what you're saying," said Coralis, chuckling. "I usually lose my altitude at high speed and jump off my stick before touching ground but I won't do that with you. As I said to Panjik when we were home, I'm a reckless rider, you saw enough flyball games to know that. With a passenger, it's different and, well, even more so when my passenger is you. I'll try to lower us and land on the ground as smoothly as possible."
Coralis started to lower them as she finished her sentence and felt Frank tightening his hold on her. She circled around his land to give them a smoother and steadier descent.
A few minutes later, Frank saw the house appearing in front of his eyes. Shortly after seeing the house, his feet touched the ground.
"You can now remove the cloak," said Coralis as Frank stood up. "How are you feeling?"
Coralis shrunk her stick and turned it back into a keychain. Frank handed her the invisibility cloak and she turned it too into a keychain. She attached it to the other one before shoving it in her cloak.
"Good, all considering. I don't feel nauseous or anything like that, but let's just say I'm glad my feet are now touching the ground."
Panjik opened the door before they got to it.
"It's good to meet you in person, finally! I wanted to attend your wedding, but with three elders there, it would have gathered the wrong type of attention. Come in!" said Panjik to Frank, as he let them in.
Panjik led them to a large room with walls covered with various weapons. Frank was fascinated by what he saw. Without realizing it, he stopped following Coralis to admire the walls.
"When you live a long life like I am, you tend to collect a lot of things over the years," continued Panjik.
"That's indeed a pretty large collection you have," said Frank, turning his attention to Panjik.
Panjik stood in the middle of the room, next to Sonylla and Coralis.
"Fire training today?" said Sonylla, with a smirk.
"Yes. M. Blue made a valid point earlier. Most of us aren't immune to fire. It would be beneficial to learn how to defend against it. You may be immune to it, Sonylla, but Blue isn't, and neither am I."
"From what I read so far, fire is mostly what humans are using to kill your people," said Frank.
"I have heard you opted to go through the elemental binding ritual. Have you two completed it?" said Panjik.
"Not yet," said Coralis.
"Okay good, at least for now. I don't think our M. Blue here is ready to send flames your way. You and Sonylla cannot injure each other, but if he sends flames to Sonylla, had you two completed the bond, it could potentially have interfered and amplified your echoing injuries, even if using a flame thrower. With an incomplete one, it might make it even, which would still fit the purpose of this training."
"How would it help us if I'm immune to fire?" said Sonylla while Panjik turned to grab a flamethrower from the wall.
"You may be immune to it, but your twinning partner isn't and your bond doesn't make her immune. If I or M. Blue throw fire at you, you won't burn, but Blue will, internally. Learning how to heal internal burns is a good place to start this exercise. Remember, the twinning bond is a curse. If someone burns blue, so will you, to a lesser degree."
"Oooh I see your point, that's indeed a great idea. I guess you will start and M. Blue will send fire my way next?" said Sonylla.
"Precisely, and only an arm for today."
"Ready to burn?" said Sonylla, looking at Coralis.
"I was born ready."
A few hours later, as Coralis was about to leave for the flyball practice and take Frank back home, her phone rang.
"Is Frank with you?" said Eva on the other end of the line.
"Yes, why?" said Coralis, looking at her mate.
"Okay good, make sure he doesn't go to your game tonight."
Coralis got worried and she put Eva on speakerphone.
"Why? He and Stephanie have been watching the games from home for months. What happened?"
"I'm with Emery digging into agent Squily Haza stuff. Lieutenant Youmis has been executed this morning. He didn't want to go down alone, so he blurted the name of someone he said was his accomplice. Squily isn't home, but on a piece of paper on his desk, I saw the name of M. Blue written. I think he might be searching for your man as we speak."