He paused only momentarily at the scene on deck. A giant funnel of water spun between two other ships—military ships maybe—to the starboard side of the Lustrous Rose. The two ships were each heeling heavily to opposite sides. The Lustrous Rose was turning towards port and gaining speed.


    “Sinit?a!” Gods, what if she had been there?


    They stood there and watched as the Lustrous Rose made it farther out to sea. After a while, the funnel stopped spinning and the water collapsed back into the sea. Shortly after, Jorvan flew back over the Lustrous Rose. The wind picked up and the sails filled out more.


    Meleng sighed. “I know, but please just be careful.”


    They descended below deck to their cabin. Once there, Sinit?a flung herself onto her bunk. Jorvan sat on the edge of his and Meleng sat beside him. The Isyar slumped forward, hanging his head low and breathing heavily. Meleng figured he should climb up to his own bunk and let Jorvan rest. After all, he was pretty exhausted too. It was still early, but with his lack of sleep during the night and all the excitement just now, Meleng was certain that if he lay down, he’d fall asleep instantly. However, Jorvan’s wing was still twitching constantly.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Meleng felt gently along one of the leather-like flaps, then along one of the delicate bones. Despite the lightness of his touch, Jorvan flinched. The entire wing trembled, and Meleng withdrew his hand. At several of the joints, the normally grey skin had taken on a pale pinkish-red colour. Where the bone had broken, it was a much darker, dull red. Meleng reached out again, trying to touch the wing with even less pressure than before. Jorvan flinched again, but this time kept his wing under control. The bones were so fragile.


    “It’s okay. I know there hasn’t been much other choice. Just be careful, okay?”


    Meleng finished stitching the wing, then sat beside Jorvan again. They sat in silence for a while, Meleng watching Sinit?a sleep.


    Meleng chuckled. “That’s not very specific. What was it like with you and your...fomase? Is that the correct word?”


    “It is, but it is pronounced fomase.”


    “We just knew. Isyar just know. When the bond forms, we gain an empathic link. We can almost feel each other’s senses. There is no denying the bond the way some humans deny the attraction they have to each other.”


    The ship was on its way at last—truly on its way to their destination. He was taking a risk doing this, returning to Isyaria with his elispt not even half complete. It would only be a brief deferment; he would not be in Isyaria long. That was what he had been telling himself, and what he would tell his diare. He was confident Davorultumn would accept the explanation, although he would be unhappy about it. Yet there was the possibility he would not. Jorvanultumn was risking great shame.


    What he was doing was necessary. He was convinced of that, and there was no way he was going to change his mind. Yet he could not avoid the worry he would not be able to convince Mikranasta to return with him to Quorge to help Felit?a, and thus he would have broken his elispt for nothing but a fruitless endeavour. He would have disappointed Fevionawishtensen without accomplishing anything.


    Then there was Sinit?a. He looked over at her, the soft glow around her flickering as she slept. It was not that unusual to see humans with magical talent. About a quarter of them had it, and most went untrained. However, with most, their glow was faint enough that it was barely noticeable and easily ignored. In Sinit?a’s case, the glow was too strong to ignore. He had never before seen a human with so much raw talent. Not even Felit?a had as much and Felit?a had more than any other human he had previously seen. Sinit?a’s talent exceeded even his own. It approached the level of Chiansamorkin’s, one of the most powerful—in raw talent—Isyar Jorvanultumn knew.


    Normally, untrained humans with talent would never know of it. At Sinit?a’s strength, however, the possibility existed of accidentally tapping into it without realising. She could burn herself out—literally—in an instant. She needed training. No Isyar would agree to train a human, yet Jorvanultumn doubted any human teacher could handle the power they would be unleashing. He might have to teach her himself—another thing that would ostracise him from his people.


    Jorvanultumn looked at his bunk. He was not going to sleep now. He was much too nervous.