“Nice light. Just happened to have it in your pocket? Might have mentioned that earlier.” She said softly, her voice light and playful.
Rolph snorted from the back.
“On a stone I saw him pick up off the ground after you mentioned wanting exactly that kind of magic just before we took off this morning? Right.” The voice didn't sound amazed, just tired and a little proud.
Sam's voice was different, suddenly more awake than not.
“Um, sorry? You created a novel device, while flying through the air and searching for people in the water? In hours? That's… not possible, is it?” His voice had gotten soft.
Tor took a turn to snort and chuckled weakly.
“Of course it's possible. Either of you could do it with practice, and will. There's nothing special about me that you can't match or beat. Don't try it now though, I may need one of you to drive.” Tor yawned and made himself smile, then realized no one could see his face.
“Getting a bit sleepy you know.”
He just drove then, watching the ground for signs of where they were, and distance above the ground, hoping he didn't crash. That would look pretty stupid and besides, he really wanted to get some sleep. Being dead may or may not be restful, but a nice bed had always worked for him in the past. Maybe with a cute girl in it for warmth. He was married to one, if she didn't already have company. Or given the situation, if she wasn't just too busy herself to sleep.
Rolph yawned loudly. It was no fair because now Tor wanted to yawn too. The control indicator in his hand got depressed lightly as he did, his head going back.
“Stop it!” He chuckled, trying not to sound panicked at the suddenly loss of altitude. It was horrible control of the vehicle and Tor didn't really want the already worried farm folk to panic. They all seemed a little uneasy so far. It wasn't like they'd been flying before, was it?
“We’ll be back in a few hours, don't make me yawn though! I don't know, somebody talk or sing, something like that?” They were flying at a crawling pace, light or not. Tor really couldn't risk going faster. It just wasn't safe.
The farmers they'd gotten from the roof of their barn told the story, which took about an hour. It amounted to; “a flood came and we lost nearly everything but a dog and a pig. It was scary.”
Still, if they felt better talking about it, Tor could listen. He made encouraging sounds and fought to stay focused. He didn't want to mention it, but he nearly fell asleep several times before they got back, eyes closing without him being able to stop them briefly. Wensa watched him, but said nothing and didn't seem worried outwardly.
Right.
In her world, Tor was the driver, and as such wouldn't fail to do his job as long as he lived. It was a level of confidence that made him uneasy, but he just nodded and fought harder to make sure he did it. Wensa wasn't his friend really, but she didn't make a lot of overt mistakes either. If she thought he could do this, she was right, and one little Torrance Baker had better just do it.
The whole trip took about three hours and from the gentle snoring coming from the back, it sounded like almost everyone was asleep when Tor saw the lights ahead of them. Wensa was awake, but she had to be, to hold the light for him. Without her doing that, the best he could do was set down as slowly as possible and hope he wasn't over the river or on top of a tree.
“Over there, can you set down in a space that small? It should be easy enough for you.” Her voice was teasing and wry, trying to hide her fear of crashing most likely.
“Not a problem.” His voice was exhausted, but also held focus and determination. Confidence wasn't there, but it would have to do. A smile did come to his face at least, which had to count for something. Even if no one else could see it.
Really, it was only hard because he couldn't see directly below himself. Other than that it was just a matter of going slow and settling instead of powering towards the ground full blast. The craft didn't even bump when they landed. A few more hundred hours of practice and he might even get good at this, he decided.
Then he fell flat on his face when he tried to lightly step out of the craft. Tor had felt his foot catch on the small lip on the floor that made sure the door fastened securely when it had a top, which this one didn't. The fall was only from about a foot up, but he really wasn't ready for it and landed nearly flat on his face. The only thing that saved him from harm was his shield kicking in and sending the force of the impact into the ground. A low chuckle rose around him, a tired sound but not too mean. Tor stood up and even though he didn't get dirty, brushed himself off. Oh sigh. Tor grinned and realized that him looking a little bad just didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The universe wouldn't notice that he'd tripped and wouldn't have cared if it did.
That was oddly comforting for some reason, knowing that ultimately he wasn’t being judged for the little things like that.
Then without acknowledging that he'd done it, Tor helped the family in the back out and handed them off to a local man in a light tan uniform that seemed to be making sure everyone had a place to sleep. That was a good plan, otherwise it would be tempting to just curl up on the ground. There were rows of new magical houses to the left, but Tor and the others were all staying in a decently large, very old, gray stone and wood dwelling off to the right. They managed to find beds and started sleeping almost immediately. Tor wanted to look for Ali, but after only a few minutes gave up and just grabbed a single bed, a device he'd made for sale, instead of one of the things from his emergency pack.
Who would have thought about beds?
Apparently Ali would, and that just showed that she was even smarter and more wonderful than he'd thought before. Tor yawned and then sank into it comfortably, letting it hug around him gently. The bed came with sheets and blankets, and, if you knew what you were doing you could make it grow or shrink. It was handy that way.
Tor wasn't too surprised when he woke up with a few other people sleeping next to him. Alissa was tucked into his front, held together like spoons. Behind him was a warm form curled around him that he feared might be Rolph or worse, Ridley, but was only Wensa. It was odd, but not as bad as he’d thought it would be. Rolph was flat on his back next to her and Trice was laying with her right arm drifting over the edge on the far side, looking like she was slowly slipping off the slick white sheet below.
Tor heard people moving around, but they were trying to be quiet, so it was probably safe to sleep a few more minutes. If they came in yelling then it would be a real problem. Drifting off he dreamed that he was flying, the air beneath his feet tingling for some reason, so he landed on a tomb, one made of pure and glossy marble. Ah, one of those kinds of dreams Tor understood, feeling a little reluctant about the whole idea. Well, he'd been warned by Burks they were coming, hadn't he? Because, even if it was all his imagination, the dead would haunt him, if he killed them at least.
Well, dream time then, goody.
It couldn't be happening in his waking life, not really, but he knew who was there. Tor had only done one thing that would set this up, so far at least. Only killed one person. The dead Count Derring. Ah. Well, this had to come, didn't it? His pattern's makeup, his “genetics”, and innate “programming”, as Burks had said, made it so he'd have to pay for each person he killed, one way or another. Monster or not, Tor had directly paid for the Counts death. With enough gold that decent sized villages couldn't have afforded it, even if they collected up all they had. Most full towns would have been hard pressed.
So no denying it was his fault.