CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Gwendolyn flew on Lycoples’s back, Argon behind her, the two of them soaring over the Great Waste as they had been for hours, and she could hardly believe where she was. It seemed like just a moment ago she was trapped in the Ridge, that all had seemed hopeless; but now, flying on the back of a dragon again on the way to see Argon’s master, to learn about Thorgrin, to discover the secret, she felt liberated again—and filled with hope. She felt as if the world were hers.
As Gwendolyn flew she looked down at the endless Waste spread out below, the ever-changing contours of the Empire lands, so deadly and yet so beautiful. From up here, the land seemed like a giant work of art, the sprawl of the red sands of the desert stretching in every direction, rising and falling, n
