Featherlight (15 page)

The
second thing I saw was John. He was standing a few feet in front of us,
waiting. He had changed out of his grey shirt and was now wearing a clean white
one. Beside him were two lullary
.
The taller of the two was a man with golden
wings that were spread out behind him. He was older, but he was also lean and
muscled. He wore loose brown pants and a white shirt.

“Jacque,
this is Omar Morels and his wife, Jane Morels,” John said, introducing us. He
smiled at me. “This is our folium
,
Jacqueline Winters.”

I
did not like the way he claimed me with the word “our”, but his look dared me
to protest. I decided not to take the bait and kept my mouth shut.

Jane
Morels was almost my size. She was short, slim, and brown-haired. For some
reason, I liked her immediately. Her curly hair was in a ponytail, and she wore
the same outfit as her husband. Although I couldn’t see her wings, I assumed
that they were the same shade of her light brown eyes. I decided that Jane and
her husband were about 40 years old.

Jane
spoke first. “It’s so wonderful to meet you, Jacqueline!”

She
beamed at me, and I said with a small smile, “Please, call me Jacque.”

“Well,
Jacque, I’m sure you’re exhausted. Let’s get you settled.”

Omar
and John had begun talking quietly while I followed Jane to the house.

“I
hope you like it here.”

“I’m
sure I will,” I said sincerely.

The
outside air was warm, but I hadn’t noticed it until we stepped inside the cool
building. The ceiling was high and the room was open. I spotted a huge kitchen
to the right and a living area to the left, complete with a fireplace (although
why anyone would need one in this warm weather was beyond me).

Just
like the tower, the walls contained windows that coupled as doors for rooms on
the higher floors. Who needed hallways when you could fly? Unfortunately,
this
girl did.

I
found that the architecture was growing on me, even though I couldn’t reach the
upper floors. The open building style made everything feel homey and safe.

Jane
must have seen me look at the upper stories, for she said, “Don’t worry. We
have a temporary room for you downstairs.”

“Thanks,”
I mumbled, embarrassed.

“It’s
this way, if you want to see it,” she told me.

I
nodded, and she began walking across the room, stopping in front of a door connected
to the living room. My room was small and quaint, with white walls. It felt as
snug as my bedroom from home, with its little bed and white comforter.

“I’m
sorry. It’s not much, but this is the only room on the first floor and we
didn’t have much notice,” she hastily said, clearly distressed.

“It’s
perfect,” I told her, stepping inside. It was simple and comforting. Right now,
comfort was what I needed after a long day of learning and fleeing.

After seeing the bed, sleepiness overcame me. My stomach growled, but
I decided that food would have to wait.

“Get some rest. You’re going to need it for training tomorrow,” she
said. Those were the only words I wanted to hear.

I nodded and thanked her before she closed the door. The lack of windows
plunged the room into darkness. Unbothered by being blind, I efficiently
stripped off my clothing and climbed into bed. My body responded to the soft
sheets by instantly falling asleep.

Part XV

I awoke to the smell of sausage. Completely irresistible. I habitually
leaned over for my glasses before realizing they were no longer needed. I stood
up and let my nose guide me to the kitchen. My stomach grumbled, and I almost
opened the bedroom door before I remembered that I was naked.

Before putting on my discarded clothes from last night, I stretched my
wings to their fullest. It felt wonderful to use the muscles, and it took my
body some coaxing to return my wings to their usual position behind my back. In
a way, it was almost beginning to feel natural to have them.

The food continued to beckon me to the kitchen, and I complied.
Opening my door, I saw John lounging on one of the couches, Omar cooking in the
kitchen, and Jane setting out plates. Rene suddenly landed to my left, and it
startled me so much that I jumped sideways a good foot. She had apparently
flown down from one of the window-doors.

“Good morning,” she told me, kindly ignoring my frightened response.

“Morning,” I replied.

John was watching me from the couch. I felt angry at myself when I
worried about my appearance.

“How did you sleep?” he asked.

“Good,” I said, avoiding his eyes and making my way to the delightful
food.

“Sit, sit. I hope you slept well,” Jane said immediately.

“I slept great, thank you.”

After sitting down, she brought me some pieces of meat and flat bread
that resembled pancakes and then set down a pitcher filled with honey-colored
liquid. Too embarrassed to ask about the liquid, I began devouring the meat and
bread. Needless to say, it tasted amazing. Omar, it turned out, was an amazing
cook. Well, either that or I was just extremely hungry. By the time I had
placed the last piece of meat in my mouth, every eye was on me.

Feeling uncomfortable, I said, “Sorry.” It came out sounding like
‘Shorey’ because my mouth was crammed full.

“Did you ever feed this poor girl?” Jane accusingly asked John.

He laughed. “Guess not.” Now
he
was the one looking
uncomfortable.

“The change takes a lot of energy. It’ll take a few days to balance
out,” Omar said. His voice was deep and crisp, an odd combination.

Silence settled upon us, and I asked after swallowing, “Where am I,
exactly?”

“This is the Sentinel Camp,” Rene replied, walking into the kitchen.

“Why am I hiding here?”

“Because John and Marshal want you on the same training course as the
Sentinels.”

I wondered what kind of training it would take to make someone a
Sentinel. Torture, perhaps. Whatever it took to make a person completely
desensitized. I wouldn’t allow myself any fear, so excitement took its place. I
was finally going to learn how to fly.

Rene said, “When you’re ready, Omar will begin your training.”

I stood up and said, “I’m ready,”

“Follow me,” Omar ordered and started towards the lodge’s back doors.

The backyard, if you could call it that, contained rope courses, bars,
weights, and a flat climbing wall. I swallowed loudly and regretted eating all
of that food.

The
air was much cooler than it yesterday. Only one sun was in the sky, but the top
of the other one was beginning to peek shyly over the dry horizon. Any other
day, the sunrise would have calmed me. Today, it only served as a reminder of
my current predicament.

Omar
stood silently, examining the training yard. My heart was beating thickly, and
there were no doubts in my mind that he could hear it. Speaking of which,
everything was silent. No chirping birds and no buzzing insects. The world was
holding its breath, waiting.

Suddenly,
Omar spoke. “Open your wings.”

I
complied immediately. The sun warmed the petals, and I stretched, letting my
wing muscles flex. It was hard to explain, but moving them was almost like
moving an arm or a leg. Of course, it was much harder to control and required
conscious thought.

Back
on Earth, nothing had made me stand out from the crowd. I was terribly normal,
except for my screwed up childhood. We weren’t wealthy, we weren’t important. I
had average looks, glasses, etc. It was hard to believe that something as crazy
as wings was what suddenly made me different. Here, on this planet, I was
one-of-a-kind, and a small part of me loved it. Even if this was all some crazy
dream, it had been one of the best experiences of my life.

Meanwhile,
Omar was slowly circling me. The back of my neck itched uncomfortably when he
was at my back, but I held still.

“Nice
muscle development,” he said, completing his circle. “Try moving them.”

Now
this was the tricky part. The muscles to expand my wings were different from
the muscles that moved them back and forth. At first, I concentrated, trying to
wave them. Nothing happened after a minute or two, and I started getting
frustrated.

“It’s
an instinct,” Omar said calmly.

I
took a deep breath and relaxed, letting my new body take over. I casually tried
again to flap my wings, and there was a tiny feeling of movement.

The
muscles soon danced out of my grasp, and it took me two or three minutes to
find them again. This time, my wings moved a whole foot. They slanted downwards
on the upward stroke, almost paralleling the ground. My stomach flipped as my heel
was lifted slightly into the air. I could actually do this! My grin surely
stretched from ear to ear.

Omar
simply nodded. “Again,” he said.

More
than happy to repeat the experience, I tried again. This time, my wings moved
several feet in either direction. Within two or three small wing-beats, I was
completely airborne. My feet were a few inches from the dirt, and I couldn’t go
any higher. I landed back on the ground with a dissatisfied
thump
.

“Do
that 20 more times,” Omar told me.

Half-way
through, sweat was running down my face and my back was on fire. By the last
rep, I was lucky to get my wings to move an inch.

My
stomach churned as my lungs attempted to suck in the sweet, dry air.

“You’re
out of shape,” Omar commented.

I
wanted to say,
But I was a cancer patient going through chemotherapy! What
did you expect? Besides, let’s see you use muscles that you’ve only had for a
few days, and then see how it feels!
Luckily, I was too out of breath to
reply, so I simply nodded and put my hands on my knees.

This
lessened gravity would not help me any if I couldn’t even stay in the air for
more than 10 seconds.

“Don’t lose hope. You’re doing well, for a child,” he said.

I could not stand being called a child. No amount of physical
tiredness could keep me from arguing that point. His next words silenced my
response.

“Do 12 laps. Don’t walk. It needs to be less than 15 minutes.” He led
me to the dirt track while I was still speechless. Omar clicked a device that
must have been a timer, and I began to jog.

For the record, I would have finished in 15 minutes, but it was
extremely hot and I hurt my ankle. Okay, so maybe I didn’t exactly hurt my
ankle, but by the end of my run, everything was hurting. The second sun had
fully risen, and it was beating down on me. If we were on earth, I wouldn’t
have made the 12 laps in 30 minutes. On this planet, even in my bad condition, I
could run faster than I ever could on Earth.

The track looped around the entire training camp, and each lap felt
like 100 miles. Truthfully, I was betting that 12 laps were around 4 or 5 miles.
By the last one, my body was almost completely numb. My breathing had evened
out into a rhythmic gasp, and my wings hung limply from my back.

“Not bad,” Omar said, looking amused. “17 minutes definitely isn’t the
record, though.”

“What’s the record?” I wheezed out.

“4 minutes and 12 seconds,” he said.

If I had some breath to gasp with, I would have. A record of 12 laps
in 4 minutes was
insane.

“Don’t you worry! We’ll get you up to that in no time.” With that
terrifying statement, he slapped me on the back. It was quite an effort to stay
upright.

“Grab some water from that table and catch your breath. We’ll start on
the weights next.”

At that point in time, I was nearly positive that Omar enjoyed
watching others suffer. He had pointed to a large table in the shade. A glass
and pitcher of water quickly held all of my attention.

That pitcher of water didn’t stand a chance against my thirst. Before
I could stop and reconsider, I was completely waterlogged.

Omar had carefully avoided his eyes during my thirst quenching
adventure.

“Ready?” he asked once I was done.

“Yeah, totally,” I replied, managing a normal tone.

“Then let’s begin.”

I followed him over to the massive weights. Omar effortlessly lifted
two barbells and handed them out to me.

“Take these,” he said, and I did.

“Twenty reps with each hand, alternating.”

This man was on drugs. The gravity might’ve been less here, but these
weights definitely made up for it.

On the bright side, I didn’t quit. Unfortunately, it took every ounce
of strength in me to lift those weights for the final few reps. After
completion, I immediately set them down on the nearest wooden bench. I swear: the
bright suns were directing their rays straight to me.

“Do I need… Sunscreen?” I asked with the last bit of energy I had
left. Normally I wouldn’t worry about sunscreen, but I didn’t need to add a
sunburn to the list of tomorrow’s pains.