Silent Heroes: Wildcat

Chapter 50: Flight and Fight

Waahoo!!

I had thought running in cat-form was exciting.  I had thought controlling the muscle and power of a saber-toothed tiger over an overgrown grizzly bear was exhilarating.  I had thought flying on the back of a phoenix or a dragon was completely amazing, but this!  Absolutely nothing compared to this!

I folded my wings and turned my body sideways, cutting between a pair of sky-scrappers.  I barely fit.  My feathers almost touched the glass on either side.  I saw a blur of faces, staring at my through the windows.  I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror-liked surface.  An eagle with the wingspan of a pick-up truck.  Big enough to carry a full-grown man on my back.  My beak curved and sharp.  Eyes fierce.  Feathers pitch black with a dusting of gold that sparked in the sun like crushed diamonds.

My body leveled out as I emerged from between the two buildings.  I pumped my wings a few times, climbing higher, then twisted my body the other way and shot between another pair of skyscrapers, going so fast that the air around me seemed to ripple in sonic waves.  I folded my wings tight against my body and did a barrel roll, whirling around and around like a top.  Then I flared my wings out and soared straight up into the sky, climbing higher and higher above the jungle of steel and concrete, until I could see all of downtown L.A. sprawled out beneath me.

I leveled out again, my pace slowing, but the heart-stopping excitement still surging through me.  I coasted on warm thermals of air, feeling so alive and free that I thought I might burst.  My eyesight in this form was absolutely brilliant.  I could see everything in microscopic detail.  The cracks in the sidewalk far below.  The amazed expression of every person staring up at me.  The fly buzzing around at least a hundred yards away.

I spotted Kerry and Lucas standing on the same building I had jumped from, their jaws hanging slack, their eyes wide and round.  Kerry's tranquilizer gun lay forgotten at her feet.

Grinning inwardly, I angled myself like an arrow and dove straight towards them. 

Lucas reacted first.  When he saw me coming, the jerk spun on his heels and made a run for the concrete door behind him.  A second later, Kerry was fumbling around for her tranquilizer gun.

I was too fast for them.  I swept in like a feathered bullet and sank my talons into the back of Lucas's shirt.  He thrashed and shouted in alarm, his feet skating across the tiled concrete as I dragged him along behind me.  There was a drop-off straight ahead, a wide gap between buildings.  There was also a pool deck right below. I had spotted it on my way in. 

But, Lucas didn't know that.

He screamed in terror as I dumped him over the edge of the building, his good arm flailing wildly.  There was a big SPLASH! as he struck the water.  An angry, male voice shouted out, "what the hell?"

I laughed and circled back around for Kerry, who was fumbling to reload her gun.

Oh, I don't think so!

I wrapped my talons around her arms, lifting her straight into the air.  Kerry shrieked in rage and kicked her legs like a toddler throwing a tantrum.  "How dare you!  You insolent brat!  I demand that you put me down!  Put me down this instant!"

Whatever you say.

I released my grip on her arms.  SPLASH!  She dropped into the pool next to Lucas. 

"Another one?" the angry voice shouted.  "Are you people drunk or something?"

I cackled wickedly.  Puny horses.

Angling my wings, I glided past the building, catching a brief glimpse of Kerry and Lucas flailing around in the water.  Reza was on the next roof over, at the very top of the big parking garage, whooping and shouting and pumping the air with his fists.