They stretched to either side of him, strong and glorious, shining in the sun, patterned with strange colors. As if by instinct he knew how to move them, make them work. And as his uncle cried out in rage and longing behind him, Justin Jones worked his wings and flew, rising swiftly above the house, above the trees, his heart lifting as if it had wings of its own.

Justin flew for a long time, as far from Barker’s Elbow and the home of his brutal uncle as he could manage to go. He changed course often, preferring to stay above isolated areas, though twice he flew above towns, swooping down just so that he could listen to the people cry out in wonder as they saw him. Once he flew low over a farm, where an old woman stood in her yard and reached her arms toward him, not as if to catch him, but in a gesture that he knew meant that she wanted him to catch her up. He circled lower, and saw with a start that tears were streaming down her face. Yet when he flew away, she made no cries of anger as his uncle had, only put her hand to her mouth, and blew him a kiss.

And still he flew on.

Though Justin had no idea where he was heading, he could feel something pulling him north, north and west. After a time, he saw a cloud ahead of him. It was glowing and beautiful, and without thought, he flew into it.

The air within seemed to be alive with light and electricity, and as Justin passed through the cloud he felt a tingle in his skin—a tingle much the same as the feeling he had had just before he found the magic shop.

When he left the cloud, he had come to a different place. He had been flying above land when he entered it, a vastness of hills and forest dotted by small towns that stretched in all directions for as far as he could see. But though it had taken no more than a minute or two to fly through the cloud, when he left it he was above water—a vast sea that, like the hills and forest, stretched as far as the eye could reach. Panic-stricken, Justin turned to fly back. But the cloud was gone, and the water stretched behind him as well.

Justin’s shoulders were aching. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay aloft.

And then he saw it ahead of him: a small island, maybe two or three miles across, with an inviting-looking beach. The wide swath of sand gave way to a deep forest. The forest rose up the flanks of a great mountain that loomed on the island’s far side.

With a sigh of relief, Justin settled to the beach. He threw himself face forward on the sand to rest.

Soon he was fast asleep.