Page 12 of Raven's Dawn

Bumpers lined the edges, almost like a child’s cradle. Leather straps with buckles stretched all the way across it. Every few feet, there was another buckle attached to the leather.

“Are those seatbelts?” I asked.

“Do seatbelts keep you strapped to a moving surface?” Iliantha asked.

Had to love the culture barrier. “Usually, yeah.”

“Then yes, those are seatbelts.” Walking across Kilyn’s back, she pointed to each of them. “I’m sure you all know how to use a buckle, so I won’t go into much more depth, but now you get the idea. It’s a long trip. It’s very cold up there, so make sure that you’re warm before we take off. Then bundle up, lie down, and get as much rest as you can.”

5

GRAHAM

After ten minutes of clapping and pointing at everything beautiful she saw on the ground, Rain lay down and passed right out. She was belted to Kilyn’s saddle around her hips, but rested her head in my lap. I sat cross-legged, looking around from time to time, but mostly answering Ezra’s questions. There were a lot of them.

Was I familiar with that mountain range in the distance? Yes, I had ventured through it by foot on my path to Earth. If we looked hard enough, it was clear that we were flying over a city, but there were no lights. Why? Because lights in the night were a bit of a warning call. If a neighbor lit a lantern, and another lit one, and another lit one, it meant we were under attack. Some people kept a candle or two burning, but on average, our cities stayed dark at night.

That ocean there? Was it too cold to swim in? For most of the year, yes, aside from the beaches near hot springs and volcanoes. Oh, that sounded beautiful. Had I ever gone in a hot spring like that? Many times, I told him.

“I’m sorry.” Bringing his blanket in closer, Ezra blew on his gloved fingers to cover his blushing cheeks. “I’m sure this is getting annoying. Answering all of our questions, I mean.”

It wasn’t. “I don’t mind.”

“Just tell me to shut up if your opinion changes.”

It wouldn’t. “It’s nice, actually. Talking about this place, the way life works here.”

“Really?” Pale cheeks bright red with the wind, Warren stifled a yawn. “With everything considered, I just thought that it was hard for you to talk about it.”

“It’s hard to talk about my folks.” Noticing Rain’s teeth were chattering, I brought heat to my fingertips and held them to her cheek. Within heartbeats, she relaxed again. “It’s hard to talk about the war. It’s hard to talk about where I’m from. But it’s not hard to talk about this place.” Off in the distance, mountaintops peeked through the clouds just below us. “The culture here, the world itself, means everything to me. I love this place.”

“You were just afraid of getting stuck here,” Warren said. “The first time we came here, I mean.”

“Aye,” I murmured, giving a smile. “But there’s so much beauty here. I’m excited to share it with you guys.”

“Respectfully,” Ezra said, smirking as well, “if that’s the case, then why are you scolding Rain so much?”

“I’m not scolding her.”

“Every time she tries to lighten the mood, you make sure to knock it down a few pegs,” Ezra said.

“Because I don’t want her to lose touch with reality in the fantasy of it all,” I said. “Two things can be true at once, you ken. I can love this place, and be excited to share it with you all, and still have a realistic expectation of what comes next. The things we’re about to see? When we get to Vulla? It’s not going to be as pretty as this.”

“Pretty,” Warren said under his breath, wrapping a blanket tighter around his shoulders. “You’re talking to a guy who always flies in first class.”

“Peaceful, then,” I said. “Point being, things are rough in Vulla. It’s a hard place to travel through. A harder place to live. I can’t wait for you all to see the solstice festival, but it’s not all fairytales. That’s all I’m trying to get in Rain’s mind.”

“I think she understands that,” Ezra said. “Suggesting otherwise is a bit of a slap in her face.”

I gestured to Warren. “He’s the one who slaps her face.”

“Only when she asks me to,” he said. “And it’s a figure of speech, man.”

“Obviously.” I knew that I messed up their turns of phrase on a semi-regular basis, but I wasn’t completely useless. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

“But when Rain does the same thing, you have to kill it?” Ezra asked.

My brows knitted. “Did she mention something to you that she hasn’t mentioned to me?”