Page 6 of Sanctuary with a Dragon
And promptly screamed.
The wind tore past me, ruffling my feathers. I flung out my wings and flapped like my life depended on it—which it did, and hoping like crazy that I could coordinate my wing beats enough to actually get lift.
Somehow, miraculously, my wings caught the air currents. I rose higher than the townhouse as I pumped them hard, and then higher still.
I’d only been doing this flying thing for a few seconds, and I was already exhausted. How did birds to this? I blinked, catching a shimmer that looked like heat haze rising from hot pavement. But, instead of it being on the ground, this one was in the air.
A thermal!
I angled toward it, caught it, and felt it lift me.
Yes! I wobbled, uncoordinated for a moment, then flapped in a loose circle, rising higher, until the thermalstopped carrying me.
Then I thrust my wings out and soared.
It felt a lot like body surfing. A powerful force pushed me along, and if I angled my bodyjust right,I could keep the soaring going for averylong time.
I caught thermal after thermal, soaring longer and longer. First, over Anchorage, then over the more rural areas until I reached mostly uninhabited, wild land. Here, I followed my incredibly keen eyesight, and lined myself up toward the mountain range I felt the call coming from, and just kept going.
My heart slowed. It felt... like I wasmadefor this. Not me as a raven, but me as Everly.
I’d always been afraid of heights, electing to get the aisle seat every time I flew in an airplane, and never climbinganythingI wouldn’t want to fall off of. But as a bird, I wascontrollingmy flight, and Iknewthat I could save myself if something happened. That feeling, it slowly started to change my fear.
I felt... free.
I even closed my eyes for a few seconds, enjoying the feeling of the air moving through my feathers.
Whew, this wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be! I wasflying, and I felt like I was making good time as I continued to head for the mountains.
I just hoped the weather stayed clear.
Because there was nowayI was flying in a storm.
I'd cursed myself.
I huddled in a tree, miserable, fighting to stay on my chosen resting branch as the wind whipped around me and snow flurries gusted hard, making both the branches and the tree itself sway. I'd found a small notch in the trunk, just large enough for my plastic bag, and had stuffed it there immediately. But there was no safe place for me to hide from the storm.
Not cute little dens of friendly animals offering me shelter like in the animated movies, just the relentless wind and snow, with no one in sight.
There were no animals, that I could see, and there were certainly no birds. I imagined all thesensiblebirds were home with their little families, enjoying dinner.
My stomach felt hollow. If I didn’t get something to eat soon, I was going to be in trouble. The only food I’d been able to find so far had been something dead, and that had been an immediate no from me.
Cheeseburgers—yes. Road kill—no!
Thankfully, I’d been able to just get a beak full of snow whenever I was thirsty. Or, when I flew over a river system earlier in the day, stop for a bit, rest and drink my fill before starting again.
I wasn’t a fan of starting again. The effort it required to lift off the ground about killed me.
The rest of that day and night dragged on forever.
Crouched low on my branch, I tried to keep my center of gravity steady and use the trunk and limbs as natural windbreaks. It helped a little, but not enough. Itwasn’t the cold that got me—my feathers were insulated, it was the wind that kept tossing me around like I weighed nothing, and the snow that pelted me so hard it felt like hail.
At least I'd made good distance today.
I clung to that thought as the long night pressed on.
By the next morning,the wind had died down, and the snow had turned to light, playful flurries. The sun peeked out of the clouds again, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was beyond exhausted and sore from my vigil last night. I hadn’t sleptat all. I’d had to cling to my branch to prevent myself from getting blown out of the tree, and everything was sore.
