This was better than a hoverboard. This was better than skiing. Frick, this was even better than coconut ice cream. My outstretched fingers cut through the atmosphere, my body angled to catch the different wind layers, free streaks flickering around my face under my helmet. My skin felt like it was getting cut off my face with an ice knife, but the feeling was far too good for me to consider slowing down.
I folded my wings forward and rushed down to the treetops, opening again only two or three meters before impact. Carried by the momentum, my feet slapped into a tall pine and I hissed out a cussword. Pulling my wings down a few times, I rose up a couple meters, enough to see the last rays of sun light glowing over Long Island Sound. Tiny shapes were playing volleyball on the beach, smoke was rising from the forge where some campers were doing some late-night blacksmithing. The wind was so loud in my ears I couldn't hear anything else, feel anything else than the razor-sharp cold. It was as if the air around me was solid.
Closing my wings, I let myself drop.
My surroundings melted into a soup of colors. Sky, sea, forest, red, purple, green, yellow, I couldn't make out anything as I toppled down with increasing speed, like a broken puppet. My body grew numb.
I was about to fall into the Zephyros Creek (probably slamming my bones open in the process) when I spread my wings again, diving back up into the sky. Stars were starting to glitter in the deep indigo, still faintly streaked with glowing pink clouds. I could keep going forever, just keep flying, never set foot on land again... But my muscles were sore and ached, my shoulders trembled and I felt a cramp approaching. Closing my eyes, I let myself fall backwards and aimed for the Zephyros Creek again, the crescent of water glistening with soft ripples. A few moments before impact I opened my wings, beating them a few times before letting myself drop the last half-meter onto the shore.
I folded my wings forward and rushed down to the treetops, opening again only two or three meters before impact. Carried by the momentum, my feet slapped into a tall pine and I hissed out a cussword. Pulling my wings down a few times, I rose up a couple meters, enough to see the last rays of sun light glowing over Long Island Sound. Tiny shapes were playing volleyball on the beach, smoke was rising from the forge where some campers were doing some late-night blacksmithing. The wind was so loud in my ears I couldn't hear anything else, feel anything else than the razor-sharp cold. It was as if the air around me was solid.
Closing my wings, I let myself drop.
My surroundings melted into a soup of colors. Sky, sea, forest, red, purple, green, yellow, I couldn't make out anything as I toppled down with increasing speed, like a broken puppet. My body grew numb.
I was about to fall into the Zephyros Creek (probably slamming my bones open in the process) when I spread my wings again, diving back up into the sky. Stars were starting to glitter in the deep indigo, still faintly streaked with glowing pink clouds. I could keep going forever, just keep flying, never set foot on land again... But my muscles were sore and ached, my shoulders trembled and I felt a cramp approaching. Closing my eyes, I let myself fall backwards and aimed for the Zephyros Creek again, the crescent of water glistening with soft ripples. A few moments before impact I opened my wings, beating them a few times before letting myself drop the last half-meter onto the shore.