The immortal wizards were the most powerful humans ever to walk the planet Tharia, but the wars between them devastated the planet and the whole world breathed a sigh of relief when the last of them was killed. In an attempt to cheat death, though...
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The crowd milled impatiently around the edges of Graduation Field.
The younger apprentices pushed their way through to the front to see the cordoned off area where the two scout ships stood, their sails neatly furled and the masts folded back in their storage positions against the hull. Most of the fully qualified wizards were content to stand at the back of the crowd, though. They knew that most of the action would be taking place in the air, over their heads, where everyone would be able to see it, and to stand patiently at the back while the apprentices surged around gave them an air of aloofness and serenity that would impress their young charges. A few wizards were nevertheless using levitation spells to hover a few feet above the ground, infected by the electric atmosphere of excitement that permeated the crowd.
Thomas had Derrin balanced on his shoulders to give him a good view. The boy felt a little self conscious about it, being sixteen years old, but the unavoidable fact was that he was small. Only the size of a human eight old, and without the lift he would have been unable to see over the heads of the crowd. He endured it, therefore, and was soon enjoying himself immensely as he lost himself in the occasion.
Thomas held onto one of his son's legs with one hand and Lirenna's hand with the other. "Strange to think we spent all those weeks aboard one of those," he said. "They look so small, sitting there like that."
"They're beautiful," added Lirenna, whose eyes were closed and who was gently massaging her temple with the pale, slender fingers of her free hand. She was using her ring of ESP to see the ships through the eyes of a shayen boy standing at the front of the crowd, a boy who had no idea that his view was being shared in this manner, and the demi shae cursed softly whenever his eyes darted away from the objects of her interest towards a slender shae girl standing beside him. A girl whose long golden hair shone in the morning sunlight.
"It would be a joy to sail on a ship like that," she added. "The stars bright above us, shining in the rivers and lakes below. I wish I could have been with you on that voyage."
Thomas gave her hand a squeeze, then slipped his arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her against him. He'd been overjoyed to learn that she would be with them aboard the Ship of Space as part of the shayen contingent and didn't mind at all that it meant she'd have to keep shayen secrets from him. All he cared about was that they'd be together on a mission that might last months. Well, not together as such. She'd be spending most of her time up on deck one, the shayen forest dome, while he'd be down in the human decks, but they'd be seeing each other fairly frequently and would get to spend the occasional night together. He thought of the tiny cot he'd had in his shipboard quarters. Barely big enough for one man. They'd be squeezed tightly together on it. He smiled in pleasant anticipation.
"You may still get the chance," he pointed out. "There'll be new worlds to scout out, and each ship will have to carry a pair of shae folk to operate the Orb of Levitation. Maybe they'll give you the job, with your experience of wilderness questing."
