‘How are you holding up?’ Nim asked. They had been flying for the better part of the day and were only halfway there. Nim had set a hard pace. They needed to get there that night before the country club closed. ‘I’m fine,’ was Ann’s reply. She was starting to get tired, but just. During the past week, he had taught her how to conserve energy, soaring, and catching thermals. It helped. It would be a while yet before she needed to stop and rest. ‘How are you doing?’ She asked Nim. ‘I’m fine. I fly all the time. You let me know if you need a rest,’ he told her. She wouldn’t. She had been pushed until she dropped before. If that’s what it took today, so be it. ‘You know what I do need a rest from?’ She asked. ‘What?’ ‘This constant headache,’ she told him. ‘Your head hurts?’ He asked not understanding at first. Then he realized what she meant. He flew closer to her. “Telepathy still hurts, even in true form?” He asked aloud. “Not quite as much, but yes,” was her reply. Then she asked, “How can my dragon form be my true form when I’m only half dragon? Isn’t my human form just as true?” “I suppose it is. I didn't mean to scorn that half of you. I was speaking from habit.” “I know. I’m just trying to understand myself. There are no other half-dragons to look to for examples.” “No, there haven’t been for centuries. It’s hard to be different.” He spoke from experience. He and Andy were the only two known Augmenters, and he’d only met Andy recently. He’d lived most of twelve hundred years as the only one. They flew in silence after that. Finally, they reached the gate to Andy’s world outside of Paosij. They landed. When they took human form, Ann stumbled from exhaustion. Nim caught her. “Ann, I told you to let me know when you needed to stop.” “You said need, not want. I don’t need to land until I’m falling from the sky. You’d be surprised how much you can push yourself,” she told him. “Especially when the alternative is a slow painful death,” Nim guessed. She looked away, and he knew he was right. Pt’this had pieced things together. She had been put through much worse by Lyra than anyone guessed.