A Witch's Way

Chapter 15

After a short, floating session from Earth down to Esrar, they plopped in the middle of a bustling sidewalk.

Shoving elbows and hips jaunted them around and Serena pulled Clark away from the angry crowds of people, next to the river. "I never expected it to be so busy in the morning. It's what, only nine a.m?" Serena complained, glaring at someone.

Clark landed on the metal bar separating Serena from the orange and pink river below them. "Miss Serena, what's on the other side of this river?"

"That's Felport. Surprised to see that they're so close? They're a port town, but people prefer here. It looks nice from Lostrona though, since the sun is rising."

Serena was right. The orange sun cast a glow over the tips of the Felportian buildings, making it  seem as if they were in a fairy tale. Sadly, they weren't, and a certain group called 'The Defiance' wanted to destroy Lostrona and all it stood for instead.

"Hey Clark, you need somewhere to land, right?"

"What do you mean, Miss Serena? I can land right here," Clark said, lifting up his foot for proof. "Unless you could mean landing on your arm? Won't that pierce your skin?"

Serena recalled the first time Clark landed on Jasper. She wondered if he had a scar from his talons. "Yeah. I mean, there's an aviary familiar store right across the street. We could stop there so you can land on my arm as we walk," she said, staring at the name. "Sadly, named Feathers and Beaks. What kind of name is that?"

Clark laughed, flapping his wings. "I suppose we can go, it won't hurt."

After shoving their way past the angry school kids and workers, they stepped into the store. Inside stood a girl with a cheeky grin.

"Welcome! What do you need?" she asked, nodding to her bird familiar. "Cloud here can go get it."

Her kestrel, Cloud, was preening himself in a mirror. He glanced at the two, cawed, and then went back to preening himself.

"We need some kind of glove here for Clark," she said, letting Clark perch himself on the counter proudly.

"Huh, let me see those talons--ouch! Better get a thick one. Maybe a Raptor Glove will do. Let's see here..." the girl said, running a finger through a book. "Cloud! Aisle 58, third row down."

In a few seconds, Cloud had received the Raptor Glove and set it on the counter. Serena slipped it onto her hand and held it out, just as the clerk had shown her while she was waiting. It went up to her elbow, giving Clark plenty of room to land.

Clark gingerly landed on her arm, waiting for a reaction of pain. Nothing happened, and his talons sunk into the thick leather around Serena's arm.

It was big and bulky--but Jasper's hand was larger than hers and she had to make sure it fit for his hand. After paying, she thanked the girl and Cloud profusely before leaving, stepping outside back into the humid air. Masses of people jolted Serena around the moment she stopped walking to see where she was.

"So, I'm pretty sure that Jasper went to Ian's house first before he left, so I think we better go there first," Serena said to Clark, who was peering up over the heads of the people to look for a better spot to stop and think.

"What street does Ian live on? I can fly above and spot it while you wait here," Clark commented, spinning his head around to face Serena.

"Please...don't ever do that again. That's super creepy. Spin your head back around like it's supposed to go on," Serena pleaded. "He lives on Gargoyle Lane, I think."

Clark nodded, spinning his head back around to the front, and took off. Serena flinched as the blast of air hit her face, his feathers mere inches away from her nose when he flapped his wings. In a short time, Clark landed back down on Serena's outstretched arm and pointed with a wing in the direction of south.