Chapter 10 – Birds of a feather
Apart from my adrenalin-fueled, stomach churning flight two days ago, I hadn't flown since.
Nudge had inspected my wound and saw that it had all but healed up, leaving just a big red mark. Max didn't want to rush me but I felt up for flying, ready to take to the sky. Despite my emotional outburst earlier, I apologized for worrying her although she told me to forget about it, saying "We all have things that we wish weren't true."
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Max had told me we were going to New York or 'the big apple' as she put it. I only presumed it wasn't actually going to be a large fruit. I stood on the cliff's edge, looking out at the glistening, blue water of Lake Mead.
"You ready?" said Max, walking up next to me.
"Yeah," I replied
She unfurled her wings. They shone bright in the sun, her brown secondary feathers fading into white primaries. I shot out mine, enjoying the feeling, their dark colours highlighted in the light. Our wings brushed against each other and she looked at me, her face gleaming.
"Cowabunga?" she smiled.
"Sure, cowabunga," I laughed, whatever that was supposed to mean. She stretched out her arms and let herself fall over the cliff.
I leapt out after her.
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I beat my wings powerfully.
The glory of flight, the feeling of power as I rose above the world, the exhilaration, the thrill, the sense of pure enjoyment was beyond words.
I felt totally free.
I felt one with nature.
I felt fantastic!
We flew high above the clouds in loose formation, up in the bright blue sky where the air felt clear and light. It was great to be soaring majestically with my new friends.
"Hey Phoenix," called Iggy, rising up beside me, "How old are you?"
"Good question. I think I'm 14," I answered.
"Cool, same as me, Fang and Max then."
"What about those guys?" I asked, looking in front of me, where the younger flock members were busy performing spins and dives.
"Nudge is 11, Gazzy is 8 and Angel is 6," said Iggy.
Hearing her name, Angel looped around and glided between us
"Me and Gazzy are the only siblings," she smiled, her blond hair floating behind her. As if on queue, the Gasman swooped round me, tapping his wing against my back.
"Tag! Your it!" he laughed, before barrel-rolling to the side.
"Oh yeah?" I threatened, spinning off after him, my laughter caught by the wind.
I followed him down but he quickly lifted back up, almost crashing into Nudge.
"Watch it!" she cried, as we rocketed past her.
Eventually, we both calmed down and I gracefully moved back into formation with just a couple of wing beats.
"Flying is just so…unbelievably awesome," I struggled to find the words.
"Yeah I know, it's totally cool," Nudge said, as she weaved left and right.
"You can fly pretty well," noted Fang, his dark black wings moving powerfully. "How did you learn so fast?"
For some reason, in that last sentence he sounded kind of…suspicious. I looked towards him but his face gave nothing away, his eyes waiting for an answer.
"I dunno. It just came sort of naturally, I guess," I replied slowly, searching for a reaction.
Suddenly I heard a choking sound and turned around.
"Max?" I heard Nudge scream, just as Max fell right in front of me, her wings flailing uselessly.
"Help me get her," shouted Fang, before shooting off after her.
I just set my sights on them but then my brain exploded in pain. The sight of Max falling, in trouble. My entire body felt numb as I grunted in shocked surprise.
I felt my shoulders stop pumping my wings. And then I fell.
And just kept falling…