Kalavar rustles her wings unhappily, careful not to disturb the air too badly for Castarilan's sake. "I know," she says, "but it hurts."
Helen walks. Pretty quickly, too. The sooner she gets there, the sooner it's over, right?
Kalavar lets out a sigh of relief.
"We did it!" says Helen, to all three of them.
Helen is very shortly visible dashing back across the waste. She tackle-hugs her daemon; Kalavar nuzzles her exuberantly.
"I'll race you!" says Kalavar.
"I'll ride you," laughs Helen.
"Ooh," says Kalavar. "Better plan!"
"Lunch first," Helen says firmly.
And then it is time to fly!
Helen climbs on Kalavar's back holding her cloudpine. It is surprisingly comfortable. The wind is good enough that Kalavar hardly has to run; she just spreads her wings, lumbers into the wind for a few steps, and lifts off.
And flying daemonback is, apparently, even more fun than flying cloudpine.
"Lookit you, button," he says.
"And look at you," says Petaal to Kalavar, running her fingers (she is presently human) along those gorgeous black feathers. "You're just - magnificent."
"Oh!" exclaims Kalavar. "Argentavis magnificens. That's what I am." She stretches her wings out to their full twenty-four-foot span, then folds them again and gives Petaal a nuzzle.
"You are," laughs Helen. "Hey, spinach, can we - go? I don't know, somewhere? I want to go places and see things."
"Sure thing, button," says Kas. "I'll pack up; you tell me when you wanna go."
"I should say bye to my friends first," Helen decides. She gives Ranata a hug and whirls away to go look for Shura or Inkeri or both.
"We did it!" says Helen. "Now I think I'm going to go away for a few months and then come back and find someone to teach me more exciting kinds of magic."
Is this an appropriate time for Exuberant Hugs? Helen thinks it might possibly be that.