Free Lumen by Joseph Eastwood Page B

to see beneath the treetops. There was something hot and sticky following him; his feathers started to stick to the air and slow him down. But he continued to force himself, craning his neck and pushing his wings out that bit further with each flap. He’d pushed, and pushed, finding himself hit with cold air as he made it out.
    Daniel squawked as the ground was lower this side of the mountains, he strained his neck to stop the decline, and swooped closer to the ground. His feathers started to flay from his skin and drift off behind him. He looked back, and then gave in, collapsing into a rolling heap at the bottom of the grassy mound.
    Back in his human form, Daniel lay in his stained clothes, concealed by the long grass. He slowly broke from his foetal position; his arms twitched and his legs kicked from the cocoon of his body. He started a nasty fit of coughs; his face turned red and his swollen eye puffed. “Never again!” he said dryly, thumping at his chest.
    He stood and coughed into a fist, trying to clear his throat one last time. He threw his arms down to his side and shot up into his tiptoes stretching. “Ah,” he sighed, relaxing his body and rubbing at the dirt on his knees. He turned around and looked up; the four mountains cast their shadow over him, famed for looking like a trident. As he rolled his head down, scanning the dip he broke through, he noticed his withered yellow feathers scattered up the hill. “I should go back.”
    Daniel looked the mountains over again.  I need to go . His body snapped back into the bird form. He was hovering and turning on the spot, thinking to himself how he needed to learn how to defend himself, and he only this need only grew the more often he would play another unprovoked scenario with Jasper and Mark which always ended with him being tore limb from limb and being fed to some feral beast. He couldn’t go back now, and he was halfway to Jac, and that was his best bet, he needed to learn how to protect himself and he couldn’t wait until his first lesson.
    Furiously flapping his wings, he crossed over the grey stone flats of the Centrelands; he even fought the want to go home. He soon reached the Lowerlands when the grey became green and full of thick forestry.
    Daniel found a clearing, and soon enough he had bowed his head, aiming for it. He manoeuvred a landing mid-shift, only falling slightly once the wings were off. He sighed and rolled his eyes; bare feet against the cold dirt of the forest floor. It was natural; besides, his feet had developed the calluses that made him immune to the pain of stepping on thorns.
    “Daniel?” Jac said, showing himself from behind the trunk of a tree. His forehead creased with question, and more confusion lay with Daniel.
    “Jac! How’d you—”
    “Weird, I know. Except I don’t  really  know,” Jac said, scratching the top of his head as he walked out of the bushes. “What’s that?” he nodded at Daniel.
    Daniel turned around to see if there was something behind him. He glanced back to see the all-knowing look in Jac’s eyes.
    “Your eye,” Jac said, disappointed to point out the obvious.
    Daniel touched the swelling under his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, stuttering some vowels; he bit the inside of his lip, and shook his head. “Some. Um.” He coughed into a fist. “Well you were right.”
    “I didn’t think they’d do that right away. At least piss them off first,” Jac grinned.
    “I don’t even think I did that,” Daniel replied, “but I did put up a fight.”
    “I can imagine. And honestly, I thought you’d be able to handle it, especially after you handled that panther.”
    That was the worst part—he thought he could handle himself as well; he went away thinking he knew more because he’d been reading about it since he was young. Yet nothing he learnt could match a punch or the pain of ice breaking his skin.
     “So, what are they teaching you?” Jac asked.
    “Only had one