“They launched from the stable's upper exit—a wide opening in the roof designed for emergency scrambles—and climbed fast, Agni's wings working with the powerful, rhythmic strokes of a creature built for speed and altitude. The palace dropped away below them. The city was dark—oil lamps in windows, the occasional temple fire, the slow-moving torches of the night watch—and above, the sky was enormous, cloudless, scattered with stars that were so bright at this altitude they seemed close enough to touch.”