Page 82 - Folio Only

suddenly the whirlpools inverted and turned into cones of flowing water,
thrusting Fuocorogo out of the river into the air, at which point an impressive
set of wings arched behind Fuocorogo's shoulders. Fuocorogo rose into the air
incredibly fast, but gracefully, like a circling hawk.

“Say, that was impressive!”
“Merely a matter of maintaining the pressure acting on my back plates
proportionally to the product of the density of the air, the area of the plates, the
square of the velocity, and the square of the sine of the angle of inclination,”
said Fuocorogo and swooped a sort of Upsilon-shaped arc upwards,
downwards, then up again.
“Well now you're just showing off.”
“No, I'm just maneuvering to the right angle so I can --” Fuocorogo
careened through a plume of steam and then snatched up Benito in his talons.
“ -- catch you!”
Benito giggled and cheered. “You're amazing! Teach me how to do that.”
“You'll learn all in good time. First I need to get you back to Heaven.”
“So soon!? No, I want to stay and play with you.”
“I thought you said we were enemies.”
“Well, we were until you rescued me.”
“I could let you drop again.”
“You're funny, Fuocorogo. I like you.”
“You're four years old, Benito. I don't like little children.”

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