SFFS 13/2/2016 Sorrel Swordless - part 2

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this group - you can find the information here.



This is part 2 of a complete short story (in snippets) set in Sorrel's world. For those who have already read the Sorrel novels (and if you haven't, you should - they're good books!) this is set after the end of Sorrel in Silver - but you don't need to have read the novels for it to make sense, and it doesn't contain too many spoilers for the main trilogy. Part 1 is here, in case you missed it last week. A giant horror has crept up on our hapless heroine...

 

    I was further north than I had ever flown before. Almost a thousand miles from Tolgrail, assuming I was right in guessing the wind speed. The Swan bobbed on the water of the lake, slight ripples disrupting the glassy surface so that the reflection of the cream biplane was crumpled. The bulbous windowed front of the Swan gave excellent visibility, though when it was in the air it felt as though I was sitting in a bubble of glass. The propellers were silent, much to my relief. It had taken six hours to get this far. The constant roar of the engines had left me temporarily deafened, which is probably why I didn't hear the brute until it was between me and my aeroplane.

    I was unarmed – my sword was in the 'plane. So was my coronet, which meant I couldn't cast sorcery. Yes, alright, I was stupid to leave both behind. The stretch of scarlet grass on the bank had looked comfortable and peaceful, and there had been no hint of ravening monsters in the vicinity. Kelhene had gone looking for fruit on the bushes, and I had intended to sprawl for a few minutes and get the kinks out of my spine.

    Which was when tall, violet and hungry crept up. I knew that an ordinary ruzdrool could run faster than I could, so this was definitely going to beat me in a straight race. I had a sneaking suspicion I was about to find out what it felt like to be a giant ruzdrool's dinner. 

 As always, comments welcomed!