by C.L. Mozena
*****
Over the next few days, Kelia brought Orion and Joshua out to practice bicycling. Rick joined them, but stayed on his horse with the telblec warriors. Kelia said that he didn’t need to learn how to ride a bike to help with flying, so he didn’t. Orion and Joshua were getting better every day, and by the end of the third day, they were both speeding down the bike trail with the warriors galloping behind them.
“Wonderful! You two are doing great!” Kelia exclaimed as the princes stopped in front of her, “Now comes the part that will help you fly.” Orion and Joshua exchanged excited glances. Neither of them knew how riding a bike would help them fly, but they were eager to learn. “You remember how, when you jumped off the cliff the first day, the wind resistance prevented you from opening your wings properly?” Kelia asked. Orion and Joshua nodded. Orion couldn’t forget the painful crash landing in the sand below the cliff. “Well, you get almost as much wind resistance when you’re riding a bike. What I want you to do is start peddling - but don’t go too fast - and spread your wings as if you’re soaring. You’ll get the feel of the wind above and below your wings, and through your feathers. Once you’re comfortable with that sensation, you can go faster.”
She demonstrated what to do by starting out slow, Orion and Joshua following, leaning forward, and spreading her wings. Orion thought she looked pretty silly, but tried it anyway. He found that at such a slow speed, he could extend his wings fully, with no problems. The wind tickled his feathers, making his wings itch, but he kept them out.
“Alright, good,” Kelia ninmisned, too far away to be heard, “Listen, we’re coming to a bend in the path. As you round it, you want to force one wing higher than the other to turn, but not too far. Ready?” Orion saw the bend and folded one wing down while he brought the other up. He did so nicely, but a little too soon. The bicycle swerved off of the path and into a ditch. Because his wings were still extended, he soared over the handlebars, tumbling to a stop in the mud. Joshua, on the other hand, had altered his wings at the right time, but too much, swerving off the path and into a tree.
“Geez, you two make it look so easy!” Joshua said, lifting the bike off of him and picking himself up.
“Yea, I agree with Josh,” Orion said between winces. His wing was bent at an odd angle and hurt something fierce. Kelia walked over to where he lay.
“Looks like you broke your wing, Orion,” she said, holding up the loose end.
“Ow! That hurts! Stop it!” Orion cried as she pushed him onto his stomach and forced his wing out.
“Oh, hold still you big baby,” she said, aligning the broken pieces of bone and healing it. “There, you’re wing’s fine,” she let his wing drop. He immediately folded it back into place.
“Yea, thanks,” he muttered, standing up.
“Alright, you two,” Kelia announced, getting back on her bicycle, “Get your bikes, we’re going to try it again.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Orion grumbled, brushing some of the mud off.
“You’re never going to learn if you quit, Orion,” she replied.
“See, this is why most people learn to ride a bike when they’re little,” Alex snickered.
“Oh, shut up,” Orion snapped.
