Of Thorns and Glamour

First Flight

"No!" Kiev shouts and he starts to climb onto the rail while watching me fall below. Then he's gone as I reach out to try to grab something as I fall, and I catch myself on some ivy before I get too far. I look up and I see a window above me that the ivy grew over and I try climbing up to it. I hear wings flapping in a distance but suddenly a knife stick out from the window above me and it slices through the ivy like butter. I scream as I'm falling again unable to grab anything. I flap my own wings trying to fly but to no avail.

Instead I try to adjust myself and casts levitation majick to slow while I beat my wings. It seems to finally work against whatever gravity ruled this realm. It was only for a moment though as I was falling again.

I impact into something and realize someone caught me in their arms. I open my closed eyes and see my own reflecting back at me. "Working on some branching are we?" My father says and I turn to hug him as I was glad to be in his arms. I feel him chuckle a little, his deep voice reverberating through me.

"Oh thank you, I thought I would fall forever!" I cried out as I held onto him. We fly into the garden of the castle and I am gently set down but my knees give out from under me.

He catches me and helps me sit down on a bench, "Careful, my little fledgling. Ground yourself." I take his advice and plant my feet firmly on the ground and take a deep breath. I see other crows fly near but none come down to greet us as my father sits beside me. I feel him brush my hair back and he lets one of my braids fall through his hand. "What is this?" He notices my necklace and a long talon pulls at it as he leans in to take a closer look at the feather.

I swiftly put it into my shirt as my face flushes, stray moths float around me and I brush them away until they disappear. He seems to drop his question and a wave of nausea and embarrassment travels over me. I hold onto my knee and rest my chin on it. "I'm sorry if I'm a disappointment," I tell him and make my wings disappear as I look away from him.

He stands up and holds out a hand, "Come." I hesitate, and eventually I obey. We disappear into darkness and then a rush of light takes us back to the mortal realm. We appear at a cliff at the edge of a forest and a forest is below us in a valley. The sun was near setting and the sky was hues of pink, oranges and blues. "All fledglings must learn to fly at some point." His hand brushes over the top of my head. "I can teach you, if you would like that?" I look at him now as he smiles attentively at me, and I start to glow slightly as I smile and nod my head.

He works on first explain some basic concepts to me and uses his own wings to demonstrate. I try to follow his movements and eventually get the hang of it. I work on them more as if doing a routined exercise while he watches and corrects me. "If I make more medicine, will you not punish those who are injured?" I ask him and he raises an eyebrow. "I just." I cut myself off and look away from him embarrassed for asking, "Sorry. It's difficult to hear them."

He stares at me for a moment, "Do you have a suggestion for correction for those who disobey orders instead?"

I look back at him, surprised he is genuinely asking me. "Chores?"

He smiles slightly, "Tried that, they find ways to make others do their work." He looks back at me, "Continue your stretches." He tells me as he sits down on a boulder nearby. I do as he says and he speaks to me again. "Crowlings are made of usually stubborn and crafty little mortals." He explains, "The main thing that humbles them is feeling mortal again."

I nod my head, "Can you bind their wings temporarily?" I tell him, and he shakes his head smiling again while looking up at the sky as he leans back.

"They tend to lash out at others when they can't fly." I can understand that, "Some even become suicidal." I can also understand that as well. "The medicine isn't usually a problem anyway, I can almost always steal more." Then he looks back at me and rest his head on his knuckles. "Sometimes I must punish those who are not injured as well, such as Kiev."