Born to Fly

Part 2

As Mory walked home, he thought deeply about his talk with Master Metrion. In ten days he would have to embark on a new journey outside of the academy walls.

So little time, he thought.

In his mind, he questioned if he was truly prepared to face this new reality. The thought of having to survive in the cruel society that treated spora like dirt scared him. For all of his life, he had to endure mean looks from civilians. He had been called horrible names. At times he was even denied opportunities to shop at local markets or receive services from merchants and craftsmen.  He felt that all of these things would only intensify as he grew older.

The glow of the late afternoon sun helped ease his mind. He was relaxed by nature as he walked through a sea of green grass that seemed to have no end. The sounds of crickets and the whistle of the whirling wind were melodic to his ears. The feel of the cool breeze on his skin gave him a small boost of energy to power through his walk. He would just need to pass through the grassland for a few more minutes until he reached the forest. Then he would travel along a short path through the forest which led directly to his village.

Mory's peaceful stroll quickly turned sour when he heard a loud hawk shriek. He turned around and could not believe what he was seeing. His fiercest enemy, Terias, was coming towards him from the sky like a meteor from outer space. Terias had a terrifying look on his face as if he was out to kill Mory. Fear kicked into overdrive as Mory bolted through the field in a desperate attempt to get away, but Terias was too fast. In seconds he grabbed Mory by his shoulders and lifted him off of the ground.

 Mory felt intense pain as talons dug into his skin. He could feel his collar bones being forced backward by the incredible grip strength of Terias's feet. With each passing second, they were going higher and higher into the sky.

"What's your problem? Put me down!" cried Mory.

"I'm showing you what it's like to fly squirrel boy. Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

Soon they were so high up that it made Mory's stomach feel uneasy. He always dreamed of flying as high as the birds but not that way. Plus, seeing the world from that height was not as magical as he thought it would be but more so frightening.

"Terias. Just let me go, man!"

"I'd be glad to. Your wish is my command."

Terias released his grip on Mory in midair. Mory screamed as he fell. The shock of plummeting to the earth made him transform into his squirrel form involuntarily.

"Now, Reni!" shouted Terias.

A bird boy who was flying higher up than Terias zoomed downward like a stone out of a slingshot. It was Terias's closest friend, Reni. He had the manek of the peregrine falcon, the fastest-moving animal on earth. He dove full speed towards Mory. It seemed as though they just wanted to scare Mory, and Reni planned to catch him before he hit the ground.

Mory thought that he would die soon. He lost all hope as the ground came closer and closer. He couldn't believe that after all those years of being held down by the birds, he would be dropped from the sky by one. As he accepted that the end was near, he closed his eyes and waited for impact. That's when he felt a tingling sensation in his arms, and then he felt as if his fall had slowed down drastically. He opened his eyes and his heart nearly exploded.

"I . . . I'm . . . I'm flying!"

He saw that his arms had formed some sort of skin blankets that acted as parachutes. It was a band of tissue that originated from his arms and connected to the space between his armpit and his waist. These fur-covered flaps of skin attached to his vest with no issue.

Paragliding over the grassland, there was no need to think or speak. Mory just lived in the moment as he let air and gravity do the work. It was almost like a dream that he wished would last forever. The dream ended when he reached the ground. After landing on his feet, he dropped to his knees right away and felt the soft grass with his hands. As he breathed heavily and his heart raced, he felt relieved to be alive.

Terias and Reni landed just a couple of meters away from him.

"What the hell was that?" Terias asked, seeming half angered and half surprised with the question.

Mory, still struggling to catch his breath, acted as if the two of them weren't even there. He stared at the ground, trying to make sense of the event that just took place.

"Answer me!" Terias shouted.

Mory looked at Terias and smiled. His manek gave him a light shadow of brown hair along his cheeks and jawline. His eyes were fully black and his nose was rounded and brown. "You know, I should be wanting to kill you right now but . . . I flew. I was actually flying."

"Nonsense. That wasn't flying."

"You saw it. Then what was it?"

"That was . . . It was just falling gracefully."

Mory rose to his feet. "What makes you so sure about that?" He lifted his arms with the connective band of tissue. "Don't you see these wings?"

"You moron. Those filthy flaps are nothing like wings. Besides, the only mammals that can truly fly are bats. Anything else is just lousy gliding."

Curious, Reni asked, "How do you know something like that?"

Terias seemed a little thrown off by the question. "Well . . . that's not important." He turned his focus back to Mory. "If you were really flying, how about you show us again."

Mory deactivated his manek and returned to human form. The membranes for gliding were sucked back into his arms. He looked at Terias with a serious expression on his face.

"Sorry, but I don't feel like entertaining you guys today. I need to get home."

"Fine then, but don't think for a second that this puts you on the level of the birds. You'll always be a low-class spora and nothing will change that. Come on, Reni. Let's get out of here."

The two boys flew off and were soon out of Mory's sight. Mory exhaled deeply. A thought came to his mind.

I need to go tell Marlon about this.