Isildilia.(Book 1 of the White Lily trilogy)

Chapter 19 A Dance for me

(Picture- Old sketch of the dreamfield) 

   "Are you sure this is safe?" Isildilia asked from the outcrop, looking down on Valin standing below. This was the third night now of flight training Valin had tried to put her though, and she had barely made any progress. They'd decided to discontinue the descent down the mountain as this was the best area to practice. She had tried many different ways, but this was the first time he had her standing up this high. It had taken two nights on rigorous practice to even try and get her wings to move, but most attempts so far failed.

"When a bird learns to leave the nest they have to jump from a great height to learn. Some mothers even throw them out of the nest," he shouted up from below.

"And how many of those learn how to fly then?"

"Some do. Some don't."

"That's not very convincing." He didn't respond. "Well come up here and help me then," she demanded. "I'm not jumping off here by myself."

"Can't you learn to do things on your own?"' he asked, suddenly appearing behind her. "I've even made it easier; I've picked a small cliff with water at the bottom, so landing won't hurt as much."

"How did you learn then?"

"I was thrown off a hundred-foot cliff," he said, ending that argument. She leant slightly over the edge, peering down. The sight made her dizzy.

"No, I can't do it!" she said. Valin rolled his eyes.

"Don't make me push you," he threatened. She spun around.

"You wouldn't dar..." The rocks just under her foot suddenly crumbled under her weight. She only had a few seconds to scream, before she hit the water. She surfaced, spluttering, feeling the wind knocked out of her. Valin leant over the top, shaking his head.

"That is not how you do it." She realised what he'd done .

"You did that on purpose!" Valin leapt off and floated down, turning over to land nimbly on his feet. Show off, she thought. 'I know that...and throwing me off a cliff wouldn't help me at all." She hauled herself out of the waters, trying her best to wring the water out.

"I agree," said Dakelo, looking up from a scroll he was staring at, although Isildilia knew that Dakelo couldn't read.

"We have to start somewhere. Get back up again." Isildilia scrabbled up again, taking as long as possible. When she finally climbed back up, Valin was already up there flying around.

"You're not helping," she called out to him.

"Just because you can't do it. It's sad really. It's one of the only things that remain of your origins and you insult it." Isildilia glared at him. This wasn't like him. He did a loop over and continued to insult. "You're supposed to become master of the elements, the sovereign of our kind, and you can't even manage the power of flight." Isildilia crouched and leapt for him. For a brief second, a look of surprise was upon his face, before he managed to shoot up, out of her way. She couldn't move her wings strongly enough to chase him. She ended up gliding for a short distance, before crashing into the tree tops.

She found herself wedged upside down in the fork of a large oak covered in dislodged branches, when Valin flew down in front of her.

"Good, but not good enough," he chuckled.

"I'd rather it be that you do not use insults to try to provoke me," she growled. Valin smiled, reach out and helped her out of the tree.

"Just be lucky that you are no longer wearing a dress," Dakelo told her from below. She blushed.