At this time of year, good thermals were hard to find. The one that took you higher and higher in lazy circles where you didn’t have to climb yourself hardly at all. In the hotter months, they were ten a penny, but as the year cooled down, they were getting harder to find. It was the only thing that Tertius really lamented about the colder weather setting in. But there was just something golden about finding a good thermal updraft when the trees below were turning the colour of fire. To look upon a landscape that seemed to be burning and just drift on the breeze, it was so freeing. Up on a thermal, there was no one that needed his attention or expect anything of him. There was just him and the sound of the wind in his ears, the feeling of air rushing through his feathers, and the occasional cry of a bird that shared the same airspace.

He had found a particularly sweet one above the vast forest of who-knows-where below and was just riding it out. It wasn’t particularly large and he found himself drifting out of it on occasion, having to glide lower to find it again. But he didn’t mind, it was a rare gem and it wouldn’t last. A sharp screech above him caught his attention and he found himself looking at the underside of a buzzard - correction, two buzzards - riding the same current as he was. They had the same idea it seemed. With a contented hum, he let his legs dangle (screw elegance) and just let himself be pulled upwards in a lazy spiral.

Eventually he noticed the buzzards drifting off and he felt the drag of warm air hitting cold as he hit the end of the thermal and, with a sigh, he let himself drift slowly downwards in a glide. He’d have to land somewhere, but he’d never really got the hang of landing in a forest. Not without getting a face full of tree anyway. He needed a glade or a pond (he could handle getting a bit soggy) or perhaps an outcropping of rock. Failing to find anything but a small hole where there was no trees, Tertius steeled his nerves and began a decent. It wasn’t fast and he had to circle numerous times before he found an angle he was happy with, but he dived downwards suddenly and managed to fold his wings before he broke one or both of them. Momentum took him forward at a fumbling canter and he slammed on the brakes moments before he collided with a large tree. Breathing hard and wide-eyed at the wall of bark in front of him, he slowly regained his wits and broke out in a breathy chuckle. “Nice landing, slick,” he muttered to himself as he backed up and turned back towards the opening he had aimed for. “Note to self, work on forest landings.”