Chapter 10: Flying

    Faye spent the night in Queen Thalia's palace, as did Cameron.  Her room was large and her bed was very comfy, but she couldn't sleep.

    Of course this was no great surprise to her, for she had just been through the most strangest day ever.  She had woken up that morning, a citizen of Anoteros, excited to see her first parade.  

    And now she was the very thing she at first feared, she was one of the things all of Anoteros hated and killed.  She was a Beast.  Once she had been younger, Faye had always thought being a Beast would mean you live in fear for your life and hating how strange you were.  But she didn't feel

scared or disgusted with herself at all.  In fact, she felt at peace, with herself and with everything around her.  She had been distracted by all the lies of Anoteros for so long.  She had been drawn in by all their lies and into a worldview that they gave her.  

    It was funny how all of that could change in a day.

    Faye stared out the window in her room and wondered how her family was.

    "Of course they're probably worried, well, Papa at least," she said aloud to herself. "I wonder if Abraham has told everyone about what happened to me.  He probably has."

    Then, a sudden realization hit her.

    Faye sat up straight in her bed.  "If Mama was a Beast, then I might not

be the only Spring with powers."  Faye thought of all her brothers, they could all be in danger.

    She had to tell Thalia so she could get them to the village as soon as possible.  Faye jumped off her bed and ran out of the room.  Thalia's room was just down a small hallway.

    She burst into it and found that Thalia was not inside.  She closed the door and turned, almost hitting Cameron.

    "What are you doing?" she asked, pushing past him. "You shouldn't be up."

    "I was just about to say the same thing to you," he said. "I couldn't sleep.  Then I heard movement outside and found you."

    "Well, you can go back to bed now, bye," Faye said as she ran down to

where Thalia had led them to see the Gemstone of Nature.  Cameron followed her and she wished he hadn't.  His feet were bigger than hers and made much more noise. 

    "Shh," she said as they descended the stairs.

    "How am I supposed to quiet my feet?"

    "Just . . . tiptoe or something.  But if anyone finds us down here it might looked like we are trying to steal the gemstone."

    There was a sharp squeak and Faye looked down to see a large rat staring up at her.  "You will do no such thing!" it said.

    Faye panicked for a second, for she had a deep fear of rats.  Her leg flung out and she kicked the rat, sending it to the bottom of the stairs.

    "Okay," said the rat as she scurried back up to Faye and Cameron.  Her

form shifted into a human with curly brown hair and a brown and gray outfit. "I dare you to try that again."

    "I'm so sorry," said Faye.  "I'm scared of rats.  I didn't mean to kick you, really."

    "Sure felt like you meant to," said the girl, her fists clenching. "Now what did I hear about you two trying to steal the Gemstone of Nature?"

    "What!  Oh  no!  We were looking for Queen Thalia, I mean, I was."

    Cameron just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

    "Hmm," said the girl. "You two are the new ones, right?"

    "Yes."

    "Well, Queen Thalia left the village tonight."

    "What?  Where is she?  Why did she leave?"

    "Calm down!  She is coming back in the morning.  This is something she usually does once a week."

    "What?" asked Cameron. "What is she doing?"

    "Why do I have to tell you guys anything?  If you want to know, asked her favorite person."

    "Who is that?" Faye asked.

    "Isn't it obvious, Captain Denarius."

    "Oh."

    "Anyway.  She isn't here so you two can go back to bed like good guests.  Meanwhile, I will go check the bruise on my stomach to make sure it isn't as bad as it feels."

    "Again I am so sorry," Faye said as she and Cameron started back up 

the stairs.  "Oh, and by the way, my name is Faye, and this is Cameron."

    The girl looked back at them and didn't say anything.  Faye shrugged and started climbing again.  Then she heard the girl say one word. 

    "Julita."

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    The next morning, after Faye ate a strange meal of fruits, Denarius took her out of the village for her second lesson.  This time, instead of walking toward the place where the waterfalls were, he took her to a path leading up a mountain.

    "So," he said as they hiked up the path, "finding out each person's animal is crucial, because it tells us how to train them.  If you were a type of fish or sea otter then we would start with training you how to swim.  Or how to

run on four legs if you were a bear or wolf.  But you're a falcon, so you need to learn how to fly.  Each animal type has different teachers.  I usually train the ones who are dogs or any animals with four legs.  So first you will learn to fly and then I can teach you the rest."

    "Wait, I am going to learn how to fly on top of this high mountain?" Faye asked, looking down at the land far below.

    "Yes.  But don't worry, your trainer is quite excellent.  Ah, there he is."

    Faye and Denarius rounded a bend around the path and walked onto a large cliff where two people were waiting.

    One wore a long golden robe adorned with brown feathers.  His hair was short, brown, and slicked to one side of his head.  

    The second was a shorter girl wearing a pretty white dress with white 

feathers around the neckline.  Her long brown hair was pulled into a low ponytail by what looked like more feathers.

    "Faye," said Denarius, "this is your teacher, Alexander.  And this younger one is the student you will be training with.  Her name is Grace."

    Grace gave an energetic wave and Faye waved back.  Grace looked close to her age, but maybe a year or two younger.

    "Okay.  I must go now.  Queen Thalia wanted to talk to me about something.  Faye, I will be back as the sun is setting."

    Denarius walked off and Faye stared up at the sky.  The sun was just coming up!  How long was this lesson?

    "Now I am sure you both want to get started right away," Alexander said, rubbing his hands together. "There is so much to learn!  But first, I 

want to see what bird you are.  Because each bird has its own way of flying, I will need to see what I need to teach you.  Don't worry though, I have been trained in all the ways of flight for every bird."

    Grace smiled and closed her eyes.  She shrunk into the form of a white dove.  As Faye looked at her eyes, she saw they were a bright sky blue.  Ugh, she had hoped that if she was a Beast then the eyes wouldn't do that.  She needed to be concentrated, not thinking about Cameron.

    Faye closed her eyes and imagined the waterfalls.  Her body shivered and she opened her eyes.  Looking up, she saw Alexander towering above her.  He closed his eyes and a golden eagle took his place.

    "Okay," he said, stretching his wings. "A dove and a falcon.  So, there are some similarities, but falcons have much better eyesight.  Faye and Grace,

you two will follow me off this cliff.  Do not worry, if you fall there is a large bed of leaves underneath us.  But try not to fall."

    He opened his wings and jumped off the ledge. "Catch the wind by expanding your wings fully and flapping them up and down."

    Grace ran after him and opened her wings, she took off into the sky and Faye watched her go, unsure of whether she wanted to follow.  Grace's wings fumbled a little but she kept up in the air all right.

    Faye took a deep breath and opened her wings.  She ran on her two skinny legs and jumped over the edge.  She flapped her wings quickly and Alexander soared down next to her.

    "You don't need to flap that much," he said. "Just remember birds are much smaller than humans are weigh much less."

    Faye stopped flapping and felt the wind underneath her wings.  It caught in between her feathers and she saw she was soaring.  She dived and felt the wind zip past her as she zoomed toward the trees below.  

    Then she spread her wings out again and flew back up.  Grace followed her, laughing  joyfully.

    Alexander called them back to the cliff and said, "That was very good, but you still need to learn a few more things.  Grace, how about I start with you first."

                                  Chapter 11: The Portal

    By the time the flying lessons were over, Faye could successfully swoop, take-off, soar, and use her eyesight perfectly.  Denarius came back up the mountain as they were finishing up and took Faye back down.

    All the way down, Faye explained everything she had learned and all the new tricks she could do. 

    Denarius laughed and said, "Well, if you are as good as you say, beat me to the waterfalls."

    He quickly turned into a wolf and bounded off.  Faye smiled and dived over the edge of the mountain.  Her arms stretched and as she closed her 

eyes they transformed into wings.  Doing what Alexander taught her she lifted her head and gave a few strong flaps.  This brought her up high above the forest.

    Using her sharp eyes she saw Denarius zooming through the underbrush, going quite fast.  Faye dived and zoomed ahead of him.  The waterfalls were coming in sight and she rose back up with a few more flaps.  Then she saw Denarius getting closer.

    Faye tried to go faster but by the time she reached the small island, he was already waiting for her.

    "I thought you were the best flyer ever," he said as she landed, turning human again.

    Faye rolled her eyes and said, "You knew you were going to win.  But 

how did you do it?  I mean, I had no obstacles in my way."

    "Well, once you run through the same forest for your whole life then you learn all of the obstacles and it gets quite simple."

    "So why did you bring me here?"

    "I wanted to show you something.  How much do you know about the humans like us around the world?"

    "Nothing.  All I know is what our history books taught us."

    "And that is?"

    "That they can change into animals as well, but only animals native to that area?"

    "Wow, they actually got something right about us," Denarius said with a chuckle. "Yes, that is true.  But what they don't know is that we can talk

with the humans from all the other continents of Anoteros."

    "What?"

    "OK, so before Anoteros was founded, the world was split into seven major continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceana, and Antarctica.  We live in what used to be North America, but we have a portal to the other parts of the world where the biggest villages of people like us are."

    "Where is the portal?" Faye asked, still trying to figure out what Denarius was saying.

    "Through the waterfalls," Denarius said, pointing to the falling water. "Do you want to see?"

    Faye nodded her head, though she was still unsure.

    "Okay, how about we go somewhere you have wanted to go for a while."

    "Can we go to the snowy place?"

    "You mean Antarctica?"

    "Yes.  I learned in school that it used to be a cold empty place, but now people have built cities on it and have even added huge domes that keep the residents warm."

    "Very well, follow me."

    Denarius waded into the water and Faye followed him.  The water was cold and Faye had begun shaking before she reached the waterfalls.

    They splashed water into her face and she had to close her eyes as the freezing droplets hit her.  Denarius didn't seem to mind and he shouted one word, "Antarctica!" and walked into the waterfall.  Faye decided to do

the same and shouted, "Antarctica!" and followed Denarius.

    The water spilled over her head and then it stopped.  Faye opened her eyes and saw that she was flowing with the water.  But she was much smaller and inside a bubble.  Next to her she saw Denarius sitting inside another bubble.  He looked at her and grinned.

    They shot through the blueness around them and Faye wondered where they were.  Suddenly, they rose above the water and were spit onto land again.

    Faye landed in a bank of soft white stuff.  It was even colder than the water and she jumped to her feet immediately.  She stared around.

    All she could see was an endless desert of white stuff.

    Denarius got to his feet beside her and said, "Welcome to Antarctica!"

    "This isn't what the pictures in the book looked like," Faye commented. 

    "That's because it only shows the large, artificially warmed cities.  This is where the "so called Beasts" live."

    "Oh.  But what is this white stuff?  I've seen it before in pictures, but it is super cold and you can't even walk on it!"

    "This is snow.  It is what covered most of Antarctica before Anoteros moved here.  Now, how about we find the village near this river and get some warmth."

    "Good idea."

    So they set off across the snowy world.  Soon enough, they spotted fires in the distance and a large village.  Denarius already knew people there so they were welcomed warmly.  Faye sat next to a fire to warm her

body, which was not used to the low temperatures, while Denarius went to get someone.  As Faye waited, she looked around at the village.  All the houses were igloos, but a little larger.  The people's clothes looked so thin, Faye wondered how they were even alive.  Then she realized that each person is affected by their animal form.  In fact, she was realizing that after being a falcon for most of the day, her eyesight was starting to get sharper.  So the people must have animals that can withstand low temperatures or else they would definitely freeze. 

    Denarius soon returned with a man with black hair following him.  

    "Faye," Denarius said as she stood to meet them, "this is the leader of the village, Kai."

    Faye shook Kai's hand and then asked, "What's your animal?"