"It's okay!" Melanie calls down, Johnny's evident terror belatedly reminding her of what a sight they must be. "He'll get smaller in a minute!"

Niko carefully lowers her to the ground, then lands beside her with a clatter of wingbeats. Then, noting Johnny's little rabbit and endeavoring to be something less alarming, he takes the shape of a fluffy white lemur and clambers up onto Melanie's shoulder. "It's all right," he says, peering anxiously from Johnny to his rabbit. "We're safe. I'm Nikolaos."

"How did you get all the way up here?" Melanie asks, eyebrows raised. She'll be impressed if they climbed it. She's pretty sure she could have managed it if she had to, but flying had been much easier - and more fun.