Swamped

"Did you see a symbol like this while you were downstairs?" he asks. He traces it out with his hands. By the time he's halfway through, you're pretty sure you recognize it.

"Yeah. Carved into the floor in the room where I found those two kids. And glowing."

"I thought so," he says. "That's a rune of flight. It's making the ship raise, but something must be interfering because it keeps lowering to the water again. I imagine you've noticed things have been rather unstable."

"So are you going to do something about it?"

"Well, I'm going to have a look at it, but I don't plan to disable it until I can work out the cause of the interference. Otherwise it might push us under the waves."

That does sound pretty bad.

"I'll come with you. I have a lot of questions and you seem like my best bet to answer them."

He frowns.

"As long as you stay quiet when I'm doing my work, I suppose I can lend you an ear."

It's a reasonable request, but you can't say you care for the attitude he's putting behind it. Still, not like you're very picky right now.

"Of course."

"Then let's get going. I may need some help from you, too."

He starts walking, and you follow closely behind. As you start walking to the door, you think about what to ask him first.