But they had another advantage, as well. Both brothers had inherited the magic of the wishsong, a part of the genetic makeup of the Ohmsford family since the days of Wil Ohmsford that had manifested itself in various members of their family over the years. Wish for it, sing for it, make it come alive—that was what the wishsong could do for you. You could change and reshape anything. You could create something new out of something old. You could affect the way animate objects reacted. You could influence life and death.

It was an awesome, terrifying gift—or curse, if you believed some of the Ohmsford family history. Both their great-grandfather and their grandfather had possessed the magic, and it had saved them and many others during the course of their lives but also maimed and killed. It was a dangerous and not altogether predictable power. It had skipped their father, for which their mother was eternally grateful, but had surfaced anew in the twins, for which she was not.

They didn’t use it much or even talk about it. Especially not in front of their mother, who mistrusted the magic and those who used it, particularly the Druids. She knew it was a part of her sons’ makeup—it was impossible to disguise its presence completely—but had no idea of the extent to which they had employed it. They were very careful not to let her discover the truth because their mother, like so many others, had ways of knowing things she wasn’t told.

If they were very good at hiding which of them was which, they were masters at hiding their involvement with the wishsong.

Thinking of it now, Railing stopped what he was doing and looked over at his brother. “Are we going to use the wishsong this morning?” he asked quietly. “Or do we wait for another time?”

Redden paused midway through securing a line. They had experimented only a little with using the magic to enhance the power emitted by the diapson crystals, which in turn would make the Sprints go faster. “I don’t know. What do you think we should do?”

Railing grinned. “You know what I think. One pass without using it, one pass using it. Wasn’t that what you wanted me to say?”

His brother shrugged, his lean face expressionless. “Maybe.”

They went back to work, finishing up with their preparations, making both Sprints ready to fly. When they were done, they leaned over the sides of the vessels and released the stays securing them to the trailers. A last check on the controls, making sure they were loose and ready to respond, and they were ready.

“This should be fun,” Redden offered drily.

“If we survive,” Railing replied.

They lay flat in the cockpits facing forward toward Rainbow Lake, secured their safety belts, and gave each other a final glance.

“A quick swing out onto the lake and back first?” Railing asked.