Page 67 of The Sundered Realms

She nearly crashed into Shry—on the opposite end of the mat.

Nice.

“I’ll teach you more about why that works and what you should be aware of as we go,” Vhannor said, “but that should do it. Come take a look at the skimmer navigation spells.”

Liris darted back over, accidentally bumping into Vhannor with her speed and bouncing off onto her butt.

More cautiously, as Vhannor’s lips twitched, she stood and bent over his spell pad, studying it.

Oh. That made sense.

He was right, this part was easy for her.

Flying would be easy for her.

She couldn’t wait.

Vhannor wordlessly offered her a hoverboard, and in a minute Liris had it set up: the board floated out of her hand, and she mounted on, testing her balance.

Then zoomed in a circle around Vhannor before coming to a quick stop in front of him with a grin lighting up her whole face.

And then he smiled back at her.

A wide, delighted smile she’d never seen from him for anyone.

And it was all for her.

Vhannor cast his own spell and raised his eyebrows at Shry. “Still think that was too long a delay?” he teased.

Shry faked a yawn. “I suppose I’m not asleep yet.”

Then she spun away from Liris, who’d tried using her augmented reflexes with the skimmer to sneak up on Shry.

Liris grinned. “Worth a try.”

“Careful,” Shry said with a lazy smile. “If I’d tripped you instead and you’d tried to dive, what do you think would happen with augmented muscles?”

“A spinning tumble through the air, followed by a hard landing,” Liris said promptly, then smirked. “But don’t worry Shry. I know a person like you would never really hurt me.”

Shry narrowed her eyes, then looked outraged when Liris started snickering. “You—“

“Which way are we going?” Liris quickly asked Vhannor.

Lavender eyes dancing, he mounted his own skimmer and shot off, and they raced away.

Liris had gotten the hang of navigating tight corridors at speed, and Shry had stopped swearing by the time she caught up with them at an unaugmented run, keeping pace with their speed easily because she was just that fast as they blew past buildings and trees and bugs and everything.

‘Everything’ faded, though the exhilaration of flying didn’t.

When they passed through the Gate into Periannolu, Liris was struck by the vast shipping operation: this was a huge hub. Periannolu had multiple Gates, but they were also a prime exporter of grain, preserved meat, and rare medicines.

A liveried messenger waited there to escort them, and they continued flying through the industrial heart of the transportation infrastructure into supporting towns, where Liris could see distant buildings from the nearest city.

They turned the opposite way, into the extensive grassland Periannolu was famous for. It stretched out forever, like Liris could fly as fast and as far she wanted and never be stopped.

The new landscape was less overwhelming for her brain at high speeds, because she couldn’t make out enough to process details. Still, by the time they arrived at the demon portal, Liris was feeling the mental strain of trying anyway.

Without a guide, Liris didn’t know how they’d have found the site. They weren’t here to deal with a message anchor directly, but a demon portal that had been discovered running a diagnostic on their communications system. Neither the dark glow of the spell burned into the grass nor the guards were visible from a distance.

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