After a moment Samheed started running again.
“Wait!” hollered Lani. “Don’t try just yet.” She pulled an origami fire-breathing dragon from her pocket and looked at it.
Samheed slowed, and both he and Alex turned to Lani. “What is it?” asked Alex. “Did you think of something?”
“Remember when we created these?” Lani said, holding up the origami dragon.
Alex nodded. “What about them?” He and Samheed walked over to where Lani was standing.
“Do you remember what happened when we tested them out?”
Samheed took the dragon and looked at it. “No. What happened?”
“Oh!” said Alex. “We had to give them eyes.”
“Yes,” said Lani.
“But Samheed already has eyes.”
“Right, but then we had to tell it where to go,” Lani said. “We had to give it directions.”
Alex grimaced. “Of course. How are we possibly still alive after being so stupid?” He looked at Samheed. “You have to tell the wings where you want to go.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that,” said Samheed, shaking his head and walking away.
“We’re nothing without you,” Alex said to Lani as Samheed started running once more.
“It’s true, I know,” said Lani.
Samheed jumped into the air, shouting, “To the jungle!” And this time, the wings flapped and Samheed began flying forward instead of straight up. He hovered about ten feet off the ground, then gained altitude when he figured out how to pump his wings harder.
The scales caught the light, and the wings shimmered as Samheed worked them up and down. The ride was a bit jerky at first, but then it smoothed out into a beautiful, fluid motion, like the way Claire Morning conducted musicians.
Alex and Lani stood side by side and watched as Samheed flew toward the jungle with the wind rippling through his hair and a huge grin on his face. A few people on the lawn paused in their activities to watch as well.
“It’s working great,” said Alex.
Lani nodded. “I wonder how he’ll land.”
“Hmm,” said Alex. “Good question. I hope he doesn’t fall from that height.”
“That would be tragic,” Lani agreed. “Maybe we should get Simber out here.” They couldn’t take their eyes off Samheed.
“Nah,” said Alex after a moment. “He’ll be fine.”
As Samheed neared the jungle, he began to lean to one side, making a wide turn. Soon he was flying toward Alex and Lani. He held his arms bent in front of him and moved his shoulders to keep the wings flapping.
“How am I supposed to land?” Samheed screeched when he drew near to Alex and Lani.
“Slow down your flapping!” Alex called out, though he had no idea if that would work.
Samheed slowed his movements and he lost altitude.
“That’s working!” shouted Lani.
In fits and starts, Samheed dropped lower in the air, sometimes gut-wrenchingly fast, other times gently, as if he was starting to get the hang of it. He leaned again to curve around, stretching the wings out and soaring slowly, and then, narrowly missing his friends, he neared the ground, folded in his wings, and crash-landed a third time.
After he rolled to a stop, he looked at Alex. “Well, they work. I’m not so sure I’m the right person to have wings, but I imagine with a little practice, the water dragons will pick up the necessary skills better than I did.”
“Not to mention,” said Lani, “they’ll likely land in the water, which is a bit softer than the ground.” She reached out and helped Samheed to his feet, then planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’m glad you’re not hurt.”
“Had enough?” asked Alex.
“Definitely,” said Samheed. “Get these things off me.”
He turned around, and Alex released the meld spell that held the wings to Samheed’s back. With a squeak and a whoosh, the wings’ suction released, and Alex and Lani each pulled one off.
“Aaron really did a good job with these, you know,” Lani said.
“Yes. He’s surprisingly good at a lot of things,” added Samheed generously. “He’s all right.”
Alex nodded. It was true, and he was genuinely proud of Aaron, even if his natural ability was annoying at times. Alex was going to miss him. As the three friends walked back to the mansion and the regular activities on the lawn resumed, he grew melancholy. The wings were ready. “I guess Aaron and I will leave in the morning, then,” he said. “We’ll stop at the Island of Dragons to attach the wings, and then I’ll deliver him to the Island of Shipwrecks.”
Samheed didn’t say anything, but Lani placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder as they walked inside the mansion together, each of them with a dragon wing tucked under one arm. “It’s probably for the best,” Lani said. “It seems like he was really happy there.”