The Titan and the dragonriders

91. Excursion to higher areas

The strong acceleration continued for just over a minute before the pressure gradually weakened and finally completely faded. John had completed enough flights in his life to know that this was the sign of reaching the desired speed. And just as he knew Julia and her ambition, she had pushed the albatross to the maximum, which Aidan confirmed moments later. "Maximum cruising speed of 1,097 kilometers per hour. Altitude at 3,543 feet. Calculated arrival time to the first stage finish: 21 minutes plus minus three minutes, captain." the AI remarked analytically, whereupon Robert sighed loudly and he asked Julia slightly disapprovingly: "Was that really necessary Julia?"

"What are you complaining about? The little one seems to have liked it, if I heard the whimpering correctly and alanna also seems rather baffled than disturbed." Julia chuckled amused and pressed another lever, while she let the joystick slide forward again, so as not to let the van rise even further. Miller looked over at Feyth and noticed that the little dragon was excitedly in Emily's hands and excitedly fieping. At the same time, she stared intrigued through the glass right side of the cockpit, where partly low-hanging clouds scurried past them. *We are so fast! Much faster than me or dad! I've never been so quick to rush past clouds!* she said enthusiastically in John's mind, who then had to smile broadly. Alanna, too, seemed to disagree with Stearn's words and also stared out with big eyes, even unconsciously holding a hand to the thick cockpit window. "That's unbelievable," he could hear her muttering softly. "Isn't it? I can't wait to see Shimmerschuppe's gaze at noon today," Julia remarked, giggling, looking over Robert briefly as he detached the seat from his seat and got up to step over to Emily and Feyth, where he went into the squat next to his wife, gently clawed over the little dragon girl's head and then looked out with her.

The Colonel found it extremely touching how his son treated the little dragon girl as if she were his own daughter or little sister. So did Emily, who lovingly held the little one in her arms and tenderly stroked her neck and flanks while holding her hands securely at the same time as the second pair of hands.

John, however, was distracted by Stearn, who wanted Alanna curiously: "How high have you ever flown with your dragon, Alanna?" The elf looked over at the pilot, slightly confused, and did not respond immediately, probably because she herself had to think about it briefly, or did not consult Nirlath. "Well, I don't know for sure, Julia, but we definitely flew over the top of the Dragon Mountain several times. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how high it is, but the equestrian fortress is about 13,000 feet and the mountain is a lot higher. Nirlath strictly claims that we were more than 20,000 feet high several times. " the elf finally answered and had to smile briefly at her own statement, before adding a little more seriously: "But I know from Master Eragon that he and ShimmerSchuppe have already flown much higher, over a violent thunderstorm. It was so cold up there and the air was so thin that he had to cast several complicated spells so that they did not freeze or suffocate. But the view, ShimmerSchuppe claims, was the most breathtaking she had ever had in front of her."

Julia then cut slightly, obviously impressed. "Over a thunderstorm? That would be over 65,000 feet at worst! Woah, okay, that's higher than I thought. That's even 13,000 feet higher than the normal cruising altitude for the albatross here," she said, astonished. Miller also thought about it briefly in amazement, but then remembered that it had really happened in the books. Eragon and Sapphira had flown so high at the time that they could even observe the curvature of the planet.

But before he could address Alanna, Julia put on an expectant grin before kindly asking the elf: "Do you want to see the world from so far up? I don't know how long you haven't flown with your dragon, but if you will, I'll bring us even higher than Eragon was." A mixture of anticipation but also slight skepticism lay on Alanna's face. "You could? But how do you want to protect us from the cold and thin air? I don't dare to apply the magic of Master Eragon, because it's really very complicated and I haven't practiced him very much before." "Oh that just let me be my concern, after all, we have our own magic here, called: technology. So Robert planted your very best again on the seat, you can immediately look at the clouds from above with Feyth," the pilot replied, giggling, after which Robert threw her an undefined look, but then sighed quietly and after a last short clawing over Feyth's forehead sat back on his place at the weapon console.