Clen Thoran closed his eyes and let himself fall forward off of the tree branch.
Fear. Adrenaline. Instinct. Flight. It was much easier than he'd thought it would be. He needed only to flap his wings a few times to gain an altitude of several dozen feet, and he was suprisingly stable once he figured out that he needed to lift his legs up behind him, arching his back forward. He soared well above the tree line, the lanterns of Mysthaven clearly visible in the horizon beyond the crisp winter night. And there was joy-- pure, unbridled joy, the likes of which he hadn't seen in years. He let out a bellowing laugh as he flew on above the forest, tears streaming from his eyes into his hair and ears. It was truly beautiful. The frosty December air pelted his face as he flew over Mysthaven, north toward his former home. What was once a day's worth of travel was easily gained in about 20 minutes. He saw the fringe of the Throran Estate as soon as it appeared on the horizon. He skimmed the treetops and cleared the forest, coming across the servants' house past the brook. A feeling of dread filled him then. The servants' house was vaccant, and looked like it had been vaccant for some time. The evergreen garden was untrimmed. His old house was unlit, with smoke coming from only one chimney. The roof was tattered, the walk was covered with mud, and Clen saw that the guestroom window was broken. Clen narrowed his eyes as he landed on the balcony outside the master bedroom. This was all wrong, very wrong. But for some reason he couldn't comprehend why. -- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives & Other DMI Lists: http://www.dragonmyst.f2s.com/lists.php3
