Worth a try. Sif bit at the inside of her lip. An idea came to her, but it seemed to her to be a bad thing to say with her classmates in earshot. If Leifsson expected her to do better than them… If she went last, maybe he thought it wouldn’t be as intimidating, or maybe that her nerves would get to her.

She said, “I don’t know, Herre Leifsson.”

He watched her like a hawk. “Think about it,” he suggested. “If it comes to you, find me later and tell me.”

She made a conscious effort to look innocent, which probably made it worse. Leifsson waved her toward the poles. She walked up to them. They seemed taller from here.

The others had jumped from the ground straight to the nearest platform. Even Einar had. Very direct. It didn’t fit with the luftsmagiker’s way of thinking.

She backed up a few steps, which earned some raised eyebrows and whispers from the students behind her. She pretended she hadn’t heard, then took a few steps to get up to speed. She jumped, braid streaming out behind her, and as she did, she reached out to feel the weave. A push here, a pull there, and an unnatural wind kicked up, propelling her upward a bit, but also forward. Rather than aim for a platform directly, she aimed for a point on one pole three yards off the ground, leading with her legs. Her feet touched, her knees bent, and she pushed off.

Another pole ahead. She locked her eyes on a point midway between the ground and the platform. The wind carried her into the pillar, supported her as she put her left elbow around it to hang against its side. Beyond the pole, another three yards up, was the ten-yard platform. That seemed like a good place to end up.

She plucked at the threads of the weave, felt the world shift according to her design. A blast of cold wind caught her, turning her around the pillar so that she could jump directly to the next platform. She pushed off. For a split second, before the gust she called caught her, the sensation of falling settled in her stomach. Then she was rising. There was the platform. She pushed her legs forward, got her feet on the wooden disc, and came to a sudden stop. She leaned forward, then left, finding her balance, and stood straight.