soaked to the skin. Eventually the wetlands ended, and they were coursing over firmer ground, but still couldn’t find a place sheltered from wind and rain. Then, as if laboring through a bad dream, they entered a dense and nearly impenetrable fog.

    Unable to see ahead, Speckarin led them to a higher altitude. Suddenly, through a break in the clouds, Diliani caught sight of a grove of trees to the south. She called Speckarin’s attention to it, and just as he saw what she was pointing to, it disappeared again into the haze. He gave signals for a change of course. They turned their ilon to the right and flew blindly for a long while. But all at once the grove was there again, and they landed on a relatively dry patch of ground under trees affording some protection from the rain.

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