flying through trees

Within seconds, Ari’s control broke. Even as I was speeding away, I heard him shouting orders. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a swarm of heavy, clumsy Erasers rising darkly into the air. Only—hello—these weren’t that clumsy.
“Uh-oh—this is a new batch, guys,” I called. “These Erasers can actually fly. Move it!”
“Through the woods!” Fang called, and I nodded.
“Rendezvous at the bat cave,” I added. “Make sure you aren’t followed!”
The six of us dived into the trees, effortlessly slipping among the branches and trunks. We’d practiced moves like this hundreds of times, and it was exhilarating, like playing a video game, only, you know, in real life. In less than a minute we heard crashes and yells behind us. Several Erasers had already misjudged their wingspans and almost ripped their wings off on unforgiving tree trunks.
It was pretty funny.
“No one touches Max! She’s mine!” I heard Ari shout, and thought, Oh, brother.
We split up, each leading a bunch of Erasers on a crazy zigzag path. Together again, Iggy and Gazzy flew in tandem, with Iggy able to mimic Gazzy’s moves within milliseconds. Angel was a blur of white through the green and brown of the forest. I knew Fang was holding Total and hoped that didn’t cramp his style too much.
“This is where it ends,” I heard Ari snarl, surprisingly close. I took a split-second look back and saw that he was barely thirty feet behind me. Okay, time to pour on the power. I sucked in a deep breath and surged forward, putting some of my newfound speed into action.
And practically almost killed myself, because trees were popping in my way faster than I had ever practiced. Get it together, Maximum, I told myself grimly. React faster. You can do it.
Concentrating fiercely, I aimed myself like a bullet through and over and between the thick trees and scrubby undergrowth. All sound faded away as I focused intently on finding a path for myself through the woods. Again and again I flipped sideways, shooting through impossibly narrow gaps. Several times I clipped my wing tips against something and even ripped some feathers out, making me hiss in a breath.
There was no way Ari could keep up with me at this speed, being such a bad flyer, with patched-on wings. I slowed, and time slowed with me. Sound reached my ears again—I was far away from everyone. Uh, too far, actually. I turned around and headed back.


School’s Out — Forever Chapter 93