"Are you ready?"
Amalek’s avatar stood before Davion with his hand placed on his real body. Zebulun had shown Davion the ways and means of Amalek’s harness, but Davion still blanched at the thought of flying.
"I’m afraid I’ll be ill," said Davion.
"I’ll be gentle," said Amalek. "No dives or barrel-rolls for you."
"Are you sure we can’t do this on the ground?" asked Davion.
"Not unless you wish to set the forest ablaze," said Amalek.
Davion sighed, took a few deep breaths, and said, "Okay." He climbed into the harness. Zebulun handed him a sack.
"Ugh," said Davion. "It’s heavy."
"Why lift with your arms, mage?" asked Amalek. "Lift with your mind."
"Oh," said Davion. "Right. I forget, sometimes."
Amalek’s avatar grinned at him. "Hold on tight," he said, and vanished.
Amalek took to the air.
Davion felt his stomach lurch. A wave of panic began to form as the Earth fell away before them. He gripped the ropes of the harness until his knuckles turned white.
Amalek eventually leveled off. You can open your eyes now, he whispered. Just don’t look down.
Davion opened his eyes. They flew at least one thousand feet above the ground. "It’s like looking off the top of a mountain in all directions," he said.
We’ll fly for a time so you can grow accustomed to the motion, said Amalek. It’s like growing accustomed to riding a horse, or being on a ship.
"Alright," said Davion. He still felt queasy.
Amalek flew for an hour, soaring on rising waves of warm air. He then stopped and hovered in place, slowly flapping his wings.
Zebulun blessed you? asked Amalek.
"He did," said Davion.
You may as well use all of it. From what the star folk say, we need to do more than just melt these things; we need to vaporize them.
"What will that do to the forest below?"
The metal will cool and solidify rapidly, then rain little drops of iron into the forest below, nourishing the soil. We need the initial reaction to be energetic enough that no large clumps of iron remain intact.
"Alright," said Davion. "Let’s do this. It’s the least I can do for the star folk, after all they’ve taught me."
Toss them in front of me. I’ll move them to a safe distance and hold them in place.
Davion removed the iron spheres from the sack, one by one, and tossed them into the air before them with his mind. Amalek caught them with his. When all eight spheres floated before them, Amalek sent them racing to five hundred yards away. They hovered in the air.
It’s difficult, at this range. Take your time aiming.
Davion took a deep breath and focused his mind. He sensed the energy all around them, and the spiritual energy Zebulun had granted him. He channeled said energy into physical form, triple-checked his math, and sent eight beams of intense radiation towards the hovering spheres.
There was a sound like steam coming from a pot when the lid is lifted. The irons spheres turned into vapor. Even at their distance, Davion felt the wave of heat wash over him. After the metal cloud faded and fell to Earth, a score of angels appeared.
Michael manifested before them. "Davion! You have freed us?"
"I have," said Davion. "This is Amalek. He helped."
"The dragon is your friend?"
Davion paused for a moment before saying, "Yes. He is my friend."
"Then he is our friend too. We are grateful to be free.
Our kind can be trapped in iron for thousands of years."
Happy to make your acquaintance, said Amalek.
"I never expected to befriend one of your kind."
And I never expected to meet one of your kind, much less befriend one. Life is full of surprises.