Where Frost Meets Fire

28: A&S

Dear Diary,

You don't have a lot of pages left, so I'll try to sum things up.

I don't really understand why Sseschni decided to come back with me, but she did. I kept asking her if she was sure, until she got cross and smacked me with her tail.

I worked for passage back to Jorkeld again. The good part was the ship had a lady captain who was not a creep, though she was probably a smuggler. The bad part was we ran into a storm. I thought we were all going to drown, but Sseschni helped me create a sort of wind slip around us so the sails weren't completely torn to pieces. I couldn't do a thing about the waves—they were much too big. But luckily we didn't capsize, and nobody died. The captain even said I'd done better than she expected. It sounds like their last "Seithkona" was a total fraud.

~~~

Da yelled at me when we got back. He dragged me inside by my ear, and made a lot of bloody threats. I almost believed him, but Ma started crying, and then he just got huffy and said I was never to scare Ma like that again. Which I wasn't planning on, anyway.

I tried to explain about Sseschni. They didn't believe me at first, but they could tell I was serious. And that worried them, because they figured I was losing my mind. They took me to see Papar Orvar to see if he could figure out what was wrong. He actually listened to me, and did some tests with us, like showing Sseschni some runes I couldn't see, so she had to tell me what they were. It was actually kind of fun, especially since Sseschni seems to like runes. We could have done even better with a bit of practice. After a few tries, Sseschni could tell me several runes at a time, though they were a bit hard to read—sort of squirming in my head. And I was impressed with how many meanings she had picked up from watching me do homework.

I think Papar Orvar was impressed too, though he didn't say as much. He said I shouldn't tell anyone else about it, because it could be dangerous for the other fire lizards.

Sseschni and I have extra lessons with him after school now. Everyone at school thinks I'm being punished for running away, which is sort of true. But I would rather be learning things with Sseschni than kissing up to Dagma and her cronies. A right coven they are, these days.

So, it's going to be a boring winter—except not really, since I'll be learning things with Sseschni. And Papar Orvar said that he's been writing to his teacher in Vergisk, who is friends with a wyvern (!) and we might be able to meet them in the spring!

Sseschni said she wants to read this. I'm much too embarrassed to read it to her, but I don't think it will be long before she can read it herself. The other day she left me a note on Papar Orvar's wax tablet:

FAST  GOOSE  UP  STRAIGHT  FRIENDS   
V

I didn't dare laugh. I think she was trying to help me with the air current stuff we were learning, but I'll need a closer look at some geese to figure it out.

(Sseschni, by the time you read this I think you'll smile about it too.)

Well, I guess that's it! You've been great, Diary. Hopefully I'll get more paper for Yule. 

~~~

This marks the end of our tale, but not the end of our adventures.
May we face our next year with wiser hearts and stronger wings.

~A&S