Silvia, Princess Silver

7. Airborne

"It's the Count!" Copper exclaimed, pointing at the heavy stone castle that was floating so improbably on a dark cloud right in front of them.

"Where is he?" Silvia asked, looking for a man but seeing only the muzzles of black iron cannons sticking out of holes in the stone walls.

"I dunno, but it's his castle," Copper said. "Which means he must be there somewhere. Come on, let's go find him!"

They were standing on the threshold of the door Copper had lead her to, but, oddly, there was nothing beyond that. The door opened many stories up onto thin air, and Silvia, who never did like heights, was gripping the door frame tightly and trying not to look down. "Uh, why are we on a cliff?" she asked.

"We use this door for flying," Copper said. "Can you do something fierce, like an eagle?"

"Me?" She recalled the little owl she had first met, and realized Copper expected her to change into a bird. "No. Definitely not."

"But you can!" he cried, sounding quite eager and excited. "Now that you've been crowned, don't you feel powerful?"

Silvia checked. Unfortunately, she did not feel at all powerful. Just dizzy from being so high up. She shook her head.

"You're not used to it yet," Copper said. "I'll change you this time, but I can't do eagles." He closed his eyes and whispered, "Earth has its beasts, air its fowls, now please turn us both, into owls!"

A great many very strange things had happened to Silvia Argent in the very recent past, but this was certainly the strangest. She tingled all over, feeling terribly dizzy and confused, lost her grip on the doorframe (in fact, she seemed to loose the fingers and hand that had been holding the doorframe; they were becoming feathers), and fell headlong out the door. She tried to scream, but it came out as a long hooooot. The wind blurred her vision as she gained speed in her fall.

A little brown owl swooped past, chuckling. It had its wings out. It was not falling.

Inspired, she spread her arms. They were wings. They caught the air. She gasped as the wind filled them and she was jerked upward. And then she was soaring, more or less, with some awkward tipping and zigzagging because she was not quite sure how to use her new wings and tail. But at least she was no longer falling headlong toward the ground. "Wow!" she said. "This is a hoot!"

"Stop fooling around and follow me," Copper called as he took off with strong wingbeats in the direction of the floating castle.

She straightened her wings and followed him.