Chapter 5

Chapter 5
We waited until dusk, when the lights were uncertain, to move out. This also let the meat finish drying. Wolfe was the one to come up with the idea to fly by night and walk by day. Just on the off chance of seeing someone walking to another town. Spying a boulder, I sprinted to it.

“What are you doing?” Wolfe asked curiously.

“Come on, this is the best way to take off.” I said, confused that it wasn’t obvious.

“Elsa, wait… I’ve got one more confession. I… I don’t know how to fly.” She blushed, staring at the ground in embarrassment.

“That’s alright,” I said brushing the problem aside.

“You’re not mad? I thought that you would be screaming at me,” she asked stunned. Weird, she was older and she was going to me for help?

“No, I’d figured that you hadn’t flown, when you said that you had to fit in with the humans. Everybody knows that people won’t fly,” I said, then we both burst out laughing at the irony. “No worries, before yesterday, I didn’t know how, either. I can teach you.”

“Great! What’s first?” she exclaimed. Very happy at the news.

“Learning to flap,” I said, thinking this up as I went. “The wind will naturally sweep your legs backward when going forward. Make sure that your wings always flap perpendicular to the ground. Same thing with lift off.” Hearing this, Wolfe tried, slowly so she wouldn’t move around.

“How about getting up there?” she said, very eager to get off the ground.

“Standing take-off is the hardest. It’s good when you have to go straight up and there is no place to use as a launch pad. Then running. That is great when you don’t have any trees around. Finally, jumping. Just like it sounds, you jump off something fairly high like a tree or cliff. Seeing that there are no trees around here, we’ll do running. As soon as you push off, snap open your wings. They will catch the air below so you can start to flap.” I explained stopping when she looked a little stunned.

“I think I’ll use the boulder,” she said shakily, unsure of what to do.

“Be confident. It’s easy.” I said encouragingly. “Here I’ll demonstrate,” I continued to let her see how it is done. Dropping the pack on the ground, I loosely folded my wings. I sprinted towards the boulder, I had to watch my footing in the moonlight. Unfortunately, it was only a crescent, not giving much light as it peeked over the mountain top. I leaped from the ground to the rock. My thigh nearly touched my stomach as I crouched there for the split second. As soon as I crouched all the way down, I sprang, using the momentum from the run. I snapped out my wings expertly, letting them guide me into the air. As my foot left the rock, my wings pumped hard. Gaining altitude, I circled to Wolfe, folded my wings and dropped. I landed and absorbed the drop with my knees.

“That was amazing!” she exclaimed, clapping, wide eyed.

“That’s just basic, besides, it’s harder to fly closer to the ground.” I said, shrugging off the compliment. “Your turn,” I said, letting her know that she could try now.

Wolfe was clumsier than I was, but on the third try, got in the air. All the while, she was whooping and hollering at her success. The landing was rough and ended in a roll-out, but she was fine.

“Try to lean back and back-peddle when landing,” I called, jogging over. “It will help you keep your balance. Other than that, you were great!” I tossed her pack to her, then strapped on mine. Seeing her confusion, I explained. “Flying with a pack is easy. Nestle it between your wings, and you won’t have to worry about it. I’ll fly behind you so that the draft I cause won’t mess you up. Plus you know where to go. Now, you see where the trees and shrubs stop growing?” I asked. And she nodded, seeing them. “That is about how high we should fly. The air won’t be pushed into the ground, and it is easier to fly up there. That is pretty low, but neither of us is used to the high altitude where it is fastest.” Blurting that all out, I was stunned that I knew it all, and Wolfe was scared of flying too high or low.

“Let’s go before it gets light,” Wolfe stated, shaking off what I had said. Taking off, I soon found that Wolfe was not very good at gaining altitude quickly.

“Don’t go straight up, make sure you are at an angle! Pump those wings hard girl!” I shouted encouragingly. Heading my advice, Wolfe adjusted her angle, and shot up like a rocket. Laughing as I followed, I recalled the look of determination, then surprise, at how fast she ascended. We flew for several hours, navigating the soaring peaks as we went.