Another two days of hard work saw them within the final stretch of returning the Dreamer to the air. The rigging had been completed, and the rents in the balloon repaired. The last step, which would be to fill the balloon with hot air, was the most speculative. Although Vervain knew that a salamander had to be summoned and placed in the rune-inscribed cage, which hung just below the mouth of the egg-shaped balloon, she was not entirely certain how the deflated balloon was to be held above it without setting it on fire.
In the end, they did their best to slip the limp balloon into the rigging and spread it out across the deck. While everyone else monitored various parts, to adjust ropes and keep it filling consistently, Vervain sat down cross-legged in the center of deck, the salamander’s cage in front of her.
Unlike her salamander summoning in Jet’s garden, she carefully inscribed a containment circle in chalk before she set about her work. Although she would aim her summons at a mature salamander, there was always the chance that a hungry juvenile would slip past. In that case, she would try to push it back into its home dimension first, but should it escape, at least it wouldn’t be able to leave the boundaries of the circle.
“Get ready, everyone,” she advised, before beginning her summoning chant.
She felt the juveniles first, burning hot and bright, swarming close in search of something to eat. Calling on her long training, Vervain disciplined herself to ignore them, instead letting her perception slip farther into the elemental dimension. Her thoughts focused on slow, controlled burning, on a safe place to sleep and to sluggishly stir, rather than on fuel for a conflagration. Eventually the juveniles lost interest and flitted away, continuing their relentless search for food elsewhere.
A spark of interest touched her consciousness. Not so sluggish as to be non-responsive, as some salamanders grew at the end of their centuries-long lives, but without the eager grasping of the uncontrollable young. Vervain let it follow the trail of her thoughts back, back, back…
With a rush of flame, a good-sized male salamander appeared curled in the basket, blinking at her with curious red eyes.
The air around it heated and immediately began to ruffle the mouth of balloon. “Get it over the cage!” Vervain ordered, all the while bending her concentration on the salamander. In response, its hot skin grew brighter, edging into white.
Dark shapes moved past her, dragging ropes, but she ignored them, intent only on the salamander. Silk rippled, then grew taut with a soft crack. “Keep it spread out!” she shouted, and heard cursing, whether directed at her or at the rigging, she didn’t know.
Slowly, slowly, the great balloon came to life and rose above her. “It’s left the deck!” Kiki reported, and Vervain’s heart leapt.
In less than half an hour, the vast balloon stretched overhead, anchored to the deck by the rigging. The Dreamer itself floated a few feet above the ground, straining gently at the tether lines.
“I can’t believe it,” Briar whispered, peering over the rail at the ground.
Vervain joined him at the rail, unable to keep a grin from her own features. “Neither can I.”
“Congratulations.” Riyu’s hand rested warm on her shoulder, and she leaned her head against it, glad to share the moment.
“We’ll have to wait until dark to open the roof and leave,” Vervain said. “We don’t want to be seen, and an airship rising over the fields would be hard to miss. But, if all goes well, we’ll be in the air tonight.”
“And on the way to Icci,” Amethyst said softly.
Vervain’s hands tightened on the rail. In the excitement of getting the Dreamer ready, she had managed to avoid thinking about the reason they needed such transportation in the first place. “Yes,” she said quietly. “With luck, this is one attack Brighthand will never see coming.”
—
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