It was clear to Iona that the girl had been rattled, coming so close to stumbling over the edge.  However, there was something else in the filly’s expression that the painted mare just could not place, something far beyond just fear.  It rattled the normally distant woman down to the core. 

Again empathy for the girl flared hot in her chest.  She had taught herself how to use her own wings, having been rendered all but an outcast by her own mother.  The only constant in her own life had been her sister.  Even then, Aly always had been more drawn to the earth.  The skies had always screamed Iona’s name.  She remembered the isolation of being earthbound when her pureblood family swirled in the skies above.  All she had wanted then was acceptance.  She assumed that mastering flight would be the first step towards gaining there respect.  But no matter how adept she became, no such acceptance came from her family.  

Iona took a step towards the girl her own eyes flickering over her injuries to ascertain whether or not they needed attention from her sister or another healer. “Chin up, Snowdrop,” Iona said, easily, “You aren’t the first one to take a tumble learning to figure your wings out, trust me,” she added, with a wink.  “I’m a spy in the herd, but my sister is a healer if you want that knee looked at, she added, with a gesture to the girl’s foreleg.

She beckoned the girl follow her and moved about 50 meters inland from the edge of the cliff before again turning to the face the sea. “Alright, Erthë,”  Iona began, slowly unfurling her great wings.  ”You can’t fight the wind – It will always be stronger than you, even when you’re grown.  You can, however, make the wind work to your advantage.  Iona lavished in the feel of the breeze rushing over the cliff edge threading through her feathers.  ”Always take off into the wind, and when the wind is strong like today, you hardly need to use any energy at all.  Iona looked over to the girl to make sure she understood before demonstrating what she meant.  She adjusted her wings just so to maximize the amount of lift and sure enough the wind picked her front feet off the ground before she again shifted and found the earth. ”If I were to pick up my hind legs, the wind would have carried me backwards, that’s when you put your wing muscles to use.  Small beats of your wings will keep you in place, larger ones will carry you forward against the wind until you can turn and let the wind carry you.”

”Think you can try?” Iona asked, curious to how the girl would react after her brush with death.