She didn't make a showing at the big festival, according to gossip.

[Hardly out of character for Aella, who seemed to enjoy being as feckless as the wind and about as dependable— or so they said. But Skan knew full well how dependable thin air could be, and this was no mere absentia.]

When great mages die, their spells die with them! I'm worried something has happened. And if it has...

[As they gain distance, it becomes more and more obvious; how low the city is floating, and at what angle. How deep the shadow underneath it might soon be seen to grow.]

...This could get very, very bad.