Summary:

I fell forward and pulled my wings in contour with my body, gravity pulling me to the ground. I opened my eyes as I opened my wings, causing my body to be jerked violently up. I smiled and glided over to the weeping willow just outside camp. We weren’t allowed to go out of camp boundaries, but being me, I got away with it. Only because I never got caught, not because the trainers favored me to the other members. Even if I won the war, the trainers probably still would have forgotten I existed.

I took refuge in the very center of its swaying canopy. I breathed in the scent of dew on the long grass below and heard water rushing over large boulders in the nearby river. The noise reminded me of when I was flying and the wind blew my hair back. I sighed and waited for the next horn to play. My eyes closed slowly and I relaxed all my muscles, going completely limp. A sudden noise attracted the attention of my ears. My eyes flew open and I silently slipped to the ground. No one should be this close to camp. Then a strange smell hit me. It smelled like a cat. A big one.