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B eetle was not sitting in the on He was behind the wings and on the doard slope toward the tail, which meant that, because Spit Fyre used his tail to control his flight, Beetle found hihtly wedged between two very tall spines and kept telling himself that there was no way he could fall off He did not find himself totally convinced

After Spit Fyre had taken off, Beetle had twisted around and looked back past Spit Fyre&039;s row ever ser than tiny toys Then he had concentrated on the twinkling lights of the Trading Post, strung like a necklace along the shore Beetle had watched theht finally closed in behind the of dread had crept over him He shivered and pulled his HeatCloak closer, but Beetle kneas not cold - he was scared Being scared was not so that had happened to Beetle before, as far as he could remember He&039;d hadhis first few trips, when he had been a bit uneasy, and he had not felt too great in the frozen forest on the way to the House of Foryx either, but he didn&039;t think he had ever felt the feeling of dread that was now sitting like a fat snake curled up in the pit of his stomach Spit Fyre flew steadily on Hours passed - which felt like years to Beetle - but his fear did not subside Beetle now realized why he felt so bad He had ridden Spit Fyre before with Septimus on illicit trips out to the Farmlands and once even up to Bleak Creek, which had been extre nohen they had all flown fro Post, but he had always flo and had been able to see the land beneath Now, in the dark and high up over the sea, the great emptiness all around theh his life were hanging by a thread It didn&039;t help that it was becoust of wind suddenly caught Spit Fyre and sent hi sideways, the snake in Beetle&039;s stohter Beetle decided to stop looking out at the night and focus instead on Septimus and Jenna, but he could only see Jenna - and not much of her She too rapped in a HeatCloak, and the only clue as to as actually inside it was an occasional long tendril of hair escaping in the wind Seption&039;s neck and hidden by the broad Pilot Spine Beetle felt weirdly alone He would not have been surprised to suddenly find that he was the only one riding Spit Fyre Septi well, and even the gusts of wind, which were getting stronger and on True, Septimus wondered if he could hear distant thunder, but he told his Even when a sudden squall of freezing rain hit the when it briefly turned to hail, but Spit Fyre flew through it But it was the sudden craaaaack of lightning that shocked hi sheets, the lightning snaked out of the clouds in front of theht in the flash, Spit Fyre shone a brilliant green, his wings transparent red with a tracery of black bones - and his riders&039; faces a ghastly white

Head up, nostrils flaring, Spit Fyre reeled back fro rabbed hold of the spine in front and pulled hihted himself, put his head down and continued on Soan to ebb away He could now hear a constant ru bands of lightning playing across the tops of the clouds There was no getting away fro toward a storm

Jenna tapped Septio around it?" she yelled Septimus twisted around and looked behind, only to see a fork of lightning streak down, narrowlySpit Fyre&039;s tail It was too late - suddenly the storm was around them

"I&039;ll take him downfly near the waterless windy" was all Jenna heard as the wind snatched Septi Beetle knew, Spit Fyre was dropping like a stone Beetle was convinced that Spit Fyre had been struck by a lightning bolt; the snake lying in the pit of his stoan to tie itself in knots; he screwed his eyes shut and, as the roar of the waves got louder and the salt spray blew into his face, he waited for the inevitable splash When it didn&039;t co his eyes - and wished he hadn&039;t A wall of water as high as a house was heading right for them

Septi the dragon two hefty kicks on the right Spit Fyre didn&039;t need to be told - or kicked He disliked walls of water as ers did He shot up just in ti them with spray

Seption was flying just out of reach of the spray and peered down at the sea He had never seen it like this - deep troughs and rolling mountains of water, their tops blown off by the wind into horizontal streaks of spuoing, Spit Fyre!" he yelled "Keep going! We&039;ll be out of this soon"

But they weren&039;t out of it soon Septiht be Storan to wonder how ht actually be, and -their path?

They lurched on The wind howled and the waves roared and crashed liketheusts of wind snatched at Spit Fyre&039;s wings, which Septi to realize were soht tracery of bones Every tiht Spit Fyre, they were thrown sideways or, even worse, backward - which wasin terror Seption&039;s neck drooped, and beneath his hands Spit Fyre&039;s muscles felt knotted and weary

"On, Spit Fyre, on!" Septiain, until his voice was hoarse They plunged forward through the wind and the driving rain, ju with every craaaaack of lightning It was then that Septihthouse in the distance He stared, just to low that lit up the horizon was no flash - it burned steady and bright At last Septi what Nicko had told hied course and set Spit Fyre heading toward the light - into the teeth of the wind At the back of the dragon, Beetle registered the change of course and wondered why, until he caught a gliht ahead Suddenly his spirits lifted - it hts of the welcoan to hope that ht still be open, and one of his cousins could be prevailed upon to give theht

As Beetle daydreamed about a warm, dry bed and a Harbor and Dock pie, Septi He flew Spit Fyre high once oing The light shone brilliantly into the night, and Septihts close together, just as Nicko had described - now he knehere they were He flew steadily on until he was so close that he could even see the peculiar earlike points at the very top of the lighthouse tower But as he flew Spit Fyre up a little higher before he e, the storreat craaaack of lightning snaked down and, this ti An acrid son fell fro toward the lighthouse And as they fell Beetle caht was not housed in the rahts atop a blackened brick tower sporting two points that looked, Beetle thought in his terrified state, like cat ears As they tumbled toward the sea, Beetle saw that there were no friendly lights of the Port awaiting them Only blackness