Jim will hear Felix gasp at his side. The conjurer isn’t as brave as he, but where Jim goes he must go, and so he’s been dragged closer too. He has a spell coiled defensively in each hand, and both feel hopelessly inadequate. The dragon(!) has a presence that goes beyond the physical; he doesn’t doubt in this moment that such creatures are children of Akatosh. Puny mortals, indeed.

He hopes Stratos is close by…