Camwyn flung a frantic prayer for help—Gird! Falk! Camwyn!—even as he moved, even as he knew he was too far away, too slow … and then he was flat on his front, his right hand around Aris’s wrist, his left fisted in Aris’s shirt. He had a moment to realize that he was lying on nothing but two handspans of air, and then he settled to the roof as gently as the dragon had settled back to the stones of the courtyard.

They were not falling to their deaths. They were not even sliding down the roof … here, out of the chimney’s shadow, the roof had dried and the pitch felt less steep than it had looked. Face to face, eye to eye, they stared at each other. Camwyn could feel his heart pounding, his blood roaring in his ears, and he could feel—separate, distinct—Aris’s pulse in the wrist he held.

“You … flew…” Aris said.

“I jumped,” Camwyn said.

“You saved my life.”

“Maybe. Let me see…” Very cautiously, without letting go of Aris, Camwyn squirmed a little uphill, using his hips and his toes. The roof under him felt rough, lumpy, and awkward, but stable. “I don’t know if I can pull you, Aris, but I can steady you. Can you push with your feet? Squirm upward?”

It was an awkward retreat because Camwyn wouldn’t let go of Aris at first.

“At least let go my wrist,” Aris said. “Grab my shirt on that side—”

“It’s an old shirt. What if it tears?” Camwyn could not believe their voices were so calm.

“I’ll feel it; I’ll grab for you. But I need both hands.”

It took much longer than either wanted to get back up to the chimney and its ladder—where the roof was now dry—and then they were in the dark, with the trapdoor secured overhead and a long climb down a vertical ladder to the passage below. Their bare feet made no sound on the rungs, but the rungs started a cramp in Camwyn’s left foot. He tried to use only his right foot, but he missed the rung and slid, banging Aris on top of the head and setting off another panic.

Then they had light. Camwyn stared at his hand, wondering what else could possibly go wrong. Light and heat glowed from it, and when he looked down, he saw the light reflected in Aris’s eyes.

“You—” Aris began.

“Just don’t say anything,” Camwyn said. “My foot’s cramping, and I can’t get it to stop while I’m on this ladder.”