Page 79 of Ash and Feather

One foot, then the other. The ground seemed a million miles away. Warmth pooled against my back. I closed my eyes, imagining that warmth turning solid and shaping into feathers.

As my wings took shape, they caught more of the heat rolling off my body and started to lift, carrying me up to my tiptoes before I came to my senses and grabbed the column once more.

Mai waved from below, signaling that she was ready to intervene in case of disaster.

Stepping off the edge was always the hardest part. To have solidness beneath me one moment, only to lose it the next…I hated that sensation. So I didn’t hesitate more than a few seconds. I would lose my nerve if I did.

Two deep breaths.

One big step.

Thenwhoosh—I was falling, ground rising fast below me, wings flaring out beside me, body twisting in a wild, ultimately useless effort to right itself.

As my wings extended further, more fiery feathers building upon them even as I fell, my descent slowed. I jerked nearly to a stop in mid-air. My stomach heaved. The sky spun around me.

I was no longer thinking about merely surviving the fall—which should have been freeing. But instead, I became all too aware of every single feather and flame holding me up. Of howlittle control I had over these things. How little I understood the magic that had created them.

I started to sink.

The harder I tried to understand it all, the faster I fell.

The wings resisted my every attempt at control. I was careening faster than ever toward the ground and failure—too fast.

Muchtoo fast.

Just before I hit, I managed to twist so I could break the fall with my wings rather than my body. I rolled across the ground, wrapped in flames and feathers, eventually coming to rest flat on my back.

I stayed there for a long moment, every part of me aching. Heat still blazed against my back, hotter than ever, even as my wings were disintegrating, pieces of them floating away into the sky.

Mai grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. “I thought you were going to properly take off on me that time,” she said encouragingly. “You’re getting closer.”

I sighed, absently twisting my hand through the smoke and embers over my shoulder—what little remained of my wings. “It’s the same problem I had when trying to master the transporting spell.”

“Thinking too much?”

I nodded. “As soon as the wings slow my descent, there’s too much space in my mind for calculating. And by my calculations, none of this magic makes any logical sense.”

“Who needs logic?” she teased.

“Ido.”

“Right.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Well, we just need to find a way to make youstopthinking.”

“Valas suggested I try it in analtered state of mind. It sounded ridiculous at the time, but I don’t know. Maybe I’d be more successful if I was drunk—and relaxed—right now.”

She gave me a crooked grin, shaking her head. “If he offers you something to alteryour mind, I’d strongly suggestnottaking it. It might help you fly, but there’s no telling where to, or what kind of state you’ll be in when you land.”

“You speak like you have experience.”

“An embarrassing collection of experiences I’d rather not talk about.”

I mirrored her grin. “Noted.”

“Let’s take a break,” she suggested. “They should be back soon.”

I wasn’t ready to give up without more progress, but I was eager to see Dravyn and Valas as soon as possible, so I agreed, picking up the coat I’d draped on a nearby tree and slinging it over my shoulder.

We started to set a course back toward the main palace but only made it a few steps before I sensed foreign energies coming toward us.

---