Academy for the Strange

Chapter 19: Flying

            Fiona leaned against one of the trees that lay near the entrance to her dorm, the thin shade a relief from the summer-like day. Chay stood in front of her, smiling. “I hope you didn’t get too much French homework this weekend since Ms. Griffith decided to hammer us.”

            She shook her head. “Just the usual. Read more Notre Dame. I’m trying to decide if she’s obsessed with that book or if she’s just being lazy about teaching us anything except how to read French. We certainly haven’t been doing any grammar.”

            Chay shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I never had any interest in learning more French than I had to.”

            Fiona chuckled. “What’s your favourite subject then?”

            “Math actually. I like that there’s only one right answer. Of course I like it a lot less when we’ve got a mountain of homework.”

            “Yeah, it makes the weekend a lot less free.”

            Chay nodded before he turned his face up to the sky, the sunlight spilling down his face, making his beak of a nose stand out all the more. But his eyes were locked onto the endless blue above them. After a moment he turned back to her.

            “You’d rather be up there,” Fiona said, nodding towards the sky.

            He hesitated, before he shrugged. “Yes and no. I love flying, the wind through my feathers and having the whole sky open to me. But I also like talking to you.”

            She blushed a little, eyes going briefly to her toes then she smiled. “I like talking to you too. Though I’m jealous you get to fly. I’ve always dreamed of that.”

            Chay chuckled. “I never thought a dryad would dream of the air.” Then he stopped, looking her over. He opened his mouth, closed it, then said, “Do you want me to take you flying?”

            Fiona could only stare at him for a moment. “Yes!’ she cried, pushing off from the tree as the reality of what he had asked sunk into her. “That would be…I mean, that would be the most incredible thing ever!”

            He grinned at her. His face sobered for a minute. “We won’t be able to go up for long. Probably a half hour or so, maybe a bit longer since there are some good updrafts today. But it’s hard to carry someone who isn’t hollow-boned like me for long. My record’s an hour and things got a bit dicey then.”

            “Any amount of time is going to be amazing!” Fiona said, eyes shining as she looked up at Chay.

            His lips curved back upwards. “Alright then. Just make sure you hold on tight, but don’t strangle me. I find arms around my neck and then legs around my waist, below the edges of my wings works best.”

            “Do you take people flying a lot?”

            Chay shook his head. “No, I’ve only taken Perry. Besides my little cousin before she fledged. Now stay right there until I’ve changed.”

            Fiona nodded, watching as he took a few steps back. Chay reached up to his head, grabbing what looked like air and pulling it down in front of his face. A moment later his whole form shimmered, like hot pavement during a sunny day, and seemed to flash as he returned to his proper form.

           Where Chay had stood was now an enormous bird. A deep grey-blue with markings in black and lighter grey, his eyes had retained their colour even as they were huge over his hooked black beak. He shifted, spreading his wings out, enormous appendages that spanned nearly sixteen feet and fluffed himself before shaking and folding his wings back up. He bowed, letting his body drop closer to the ground, almost kneeling. Then he turned his head to look back at her.