Talons rapped on the door and Bluemoon called out, "Afternoon!"

Selen was sprawled across the bed. She had leftover spicy Thai noodles in the fridge; she could have those with coffee, check e-mail, and then get back to grading the undergrads' homework.

The scaly skin she felt when she rubbed her eyes, and the feathers brushing along her arm, brought her back to what passed for reality. She sat up and stared at her talon-fingers. Only three and a thumb on each hand, huh. She made herself stand up on her wobbly clawed feet. She hadn't even undressed last night.

She opened the door. "Hello?"

"Time to get you some training! Come along. Did you get the hatchday notice?"

"I did."

Bluemoon trilled, and the feathers on the back of his head stuck up. "I wonder if you really were hatched that day, or if the gods accepted the day you came to us as a good-enough day to mark it."

"I don't know what the real day was. So, it may as well be. I saw a message saying I'm..." She blinked. "I'm sixteen. Huh." She'd been granted a substantial gift of youth, if her mysterious patron had told the truth about the Aves race having a Human-like lifespan.

"Mental attributes, I take it?"

"That's what it said. Learning, Wits, Sanity, Charm."

Bluemoon chirped. "Charm! I would've expected Will to be your other one, but the gods have decreed you a cute bird."

Selen felt herself blushing, but wasn't sure if it was at all visible under her feathers. She scraped one foot along the floor and said, "So, training?"

He took her downstairs to the back courtyard, where they had to wait for a big deliveryman. Selen stared as a small horse emerged from the open basement ramp, and then at the fact that it was no animal, but a Centaur! She'd sort of been briefed that they existed, but it was different to really lay eyes on the elegant blended creature wearing heavy saddlebags full of letters.

Bluemoon dipped his beak and said hello, then led Selen onward. Across a small plaza from the Two Hoots stood a flatter two-story building with people going in and out, including another of the hooved ones. Looked like a tavern with upturned spikes at the corners.

"Nobody stole the ladder while my back was turned," said Bluemoon. "And no wind today. Perfect. Get on up."

"And...?"

"Throw yourself off, of course." He spread his wings and said, "Remember, stretch wide, feet up, concentrate on stability first."

Selen climbed the ladder and crawled out onto a nearly flat roof with several chimneys. Here was what she'd signed up for: being part bird. The masked gatekeeper between the worlds hadn't told her much about her new species, but this race or this particular identity came with a power called Slowfall. She busied herself trying to figure out how to ask more about it.

"Well?" called Bluemoon from alarmingly far below.

"Maybe we should start just one floor up?"

"You can't get good glide practice that low. Try hopping along the rooftop first if you're worried."

She turned around. She jogged along the wooden roof, then spread her wings. It felt ridiculous. Air whipped through her feathers and under them. Her talons clacked on the beams. "Slowfall, Slowfall, how do I do that?"

The far side of the tavern loomed below. She squawked and skidded at the last second. Her mind raced. She'd be happy to start with the baby-level practice! Of course her family assumed she'd already mastered it. So how was she supposed to --

An uneven board tripped her. Screeching, she went sailing forward and crashed onto the roof. But not so hard as she'd braced for. She got up and dusted herself off. Bluemoon probably hadn't seen that. So she could glide? This time she ran along the roof and jumped, holding her arms out. Willing herself to come down slowly. She landed again without injury, but prone instead of on her feet. Okay, third try! Jump, arms, drop, then a staggering landing.

Bluemoon said, "You need to do more than that to make real progress."

She'd made progress and he just didn't know it. Selen shivered, took some deep breaths, and muttered a prayer. Then she ran and threw herself off the second-story roof.

Her wings snapped out wide before she'd thought of it. The dizzyingly distant ground rushed closer, but the wind held her. Paving stones and dirt blurred past.

"Turn!" shouted her tutor.

Selen looked forward and spotted the long flank of another Centaur. She raised one wing to flinch away but the move didn't translate to an actual turn. She crashed into the wall of horse and fell backward onto the pavement with a yellow haze in her vision.

A message helpfully informed her: [Health: 20/25.]

The Centaur wobbled and sidestepped, nearly stomping her. "What? Watch where you're going!" His long ears flicked back angrily.

Bluemoon flew just above the ground and skidded to a stop nearby. "Sorry, sir! She's still training. Won't happen again."

Her target grimaced and rubbed his side. "Ow. Be more careful, kid." He trotted away.

Selen stared at the pavement. The blur at the edge of her sight shifted from yellow to red. When she paid attention to it she got another message: [Stamina: 5/25.] She said, "I almost ran out of Stamina, I guess."

Bluemoon helped her up. "That's something to work on, but basic turning is more important. Remember, dip one wing like so. And while you're at it, why aren't you doing a basic flap?" He demonstrated a circular paddling motion, not just up and down, and the air stirred around him.

Selen climbed the ladder and paid attention to the numbers again, learning to make them appear by reflex. Stamina refilled quickly while she was idle and drained while climbing, which explained the color shift: red for injury, green for fatigue. Her Health was still down but she seemed not to be in danger yet. And she'd survived the drop! She rubbed her talons together. Once Stamina was full again, she made herself run and jump off the roof.

This time it seemed to take longer. She saw clear sailing below, no pedestrians. Sailing, yes, down through the air! Near the ground she risked trying the flapping motion Bluemoon had shown her. It strained her in unfamiliar muscles, somehow pulling her chest tight, and it didn't push her much higher. But she got down safely to an unsteady stop. She spun and stared at the rooftop, then at Bluemoon. "Did you see?"

"Better! Now do it again."

Selen didn't even have to buy tickets for this ride.

She went up, caught her breath, and dropped to an arguably graceful landing. She stood there wheezing, seeing the green glow of low Stamina again, "How high up can I be and have this still work?"

"I wouldn't go more than two stories up until you improve. Now for spending Mana: the first spell!" He beckoned her to join him up on the roof.

Bluemoon spread his wings and said, "The first user of magic was an Aves named Windriser, who learned to tame the air. In his honor the casting is called the Rising Wind, and we will call on him as long as the sky exists. You will tell this story to your own children, one day."

Selen blushed. "How does it work?"

He showed her something completely outside her experience. There was a way of concentrating on the space between her fingers, tapping into some hidden force. Bluemoon sounded impatient as he coached her, but then he gestured with one hand and pretended to hold something in his palm. "Now, touch this space."

She poked the empty air he held, and something invisible prickled along her scaly finger.

"Now, try to hold onto that."

Selen cupped ber hands but felt the odd energy slip away. After a few more tries she contained it and he began coaching her on pushing this potential a little harder, like starting flame from a spark. The unformed energy waited there between he hands, pushing outward.

"That's Mana itself. Now you must learn to tune it." Bluemoon began explaining how it in terms of musical notes or flavors.

But the word "tune" brought radio to mind for her, and the metaphor helped. There were different shades of the texture or pressure against her fingers. Every direction or focus seemed fuzzy, slippery, except one. "Only picking up one station."

"What? Oh, just the single attunement? I'm no specialist, but you almost certainly have Wind there. Now, let it flow along your wings instead."

She shivered as by unknown instinct the hidden power rippled through her feathers, making them feel like they were moving through water instead of air. "And then jump?"

Bluemoon nodded.

She hopped, and windmilled her wings again. This time the downward push worked, vaulting her as though she'd jumped again. And again, with another flap! Not just gliding but a real bounce into the air.

Bluemoon snagged her ankle. "Now glide."

Selen snapped out of the desire to go higher and higher, and instead spread her wings and let herself drift forward, swerving slightly to avoid hitting an oblivious Elf. She hit the ground running, nearly smacked a wall, and pushed off it to come to a safe stop. Her head spun and everything was tinted aqua.

Her trainer hurried over to her. "When your Uncle Meteor was your age, he took off and lost track of Mana until he ran out and crashed. We all teased him about it, and then I did the same thing. You're probably drained, right?"

Selen reflexively thought of her Mana, the blue tinge, and saw, [Mana: 1/25.] "Um, that was maybe 8 per flap?"

"Terrible efficiency, yes, but that's normal. The city isn't the best place for your training, but --"

She hugged him. "That was amazing! I was flying!"

Bluemoon bobbed his head enthusiastically. "Ha, yes. Quick learner. That's got to be your main lesson for the day, though, since it'll take you an hour to refill your Mana at your beginner level. You can still practice your gliding in between. Or get breakfast."

As appealing as another brief soar from the roof seemed, she was hungry too. "Food first, please!"

#

The building she'd been jumping from was indeed a tavern, called the Shrike. It wasn't busy this time of morning but a few birdfolk and a Centaur were sitting around. The spacious room smelled of spilled beer and sawdust littering the floor.

Another bluejay sat here, this one plumper and wearing a sort of turban with an upturned feather that reminded Selen of a quail. "You will surrender the girl to me!"

Bluemoon laughed and nudged Selen forward, saying, "She did great! How did you sneak past us?"

"The canny Tradewind sees all. And you had eyes for nothing but her."

Selen nodded, not sure how to react, and still giddy. She thought to give the lady a good look and saw her labeled as "Aunt" Tradewind. Okay, I have an aunt and an uncle.

Tradewind beckoned her to sit, and shared a bowl of unfamiliar nuts with an orange sauce. "How does it feel?"

"It was great! I can't wait to try the magic again. Can I learn more spells? Can I glide farther?"

"Whyever not? But that brings up a more serious question."

The three birds sat together, and Bluemoon spoke up. "What do you want to choose for your first level?"

Selen had two aliens staring at her, expecting her to be normal and to have all sorts of knowledge about common-sense things she'd never heard of. She tapped one foot nervously and felt it sticking to the messy floor. "I've really been rattled by the trouble yesterday."

Tradewind said, "I heard. It may be best not to speak much of it in public. The Duke is merciful."