And the 'wing wobbles and shifts forward slightly, scraping along the ground...

"Steady, steady," Helas comments. "You are trying to go forward, not up, right now. Try to go up if you can."

Okay let's see if 'up' is going to happen.

...let's see if visualisation will help.

She's transformed from feet-on-ground-lunar to flying-bird before. She pictures that shift in centre of gravity, that shift upwards in space. Does that help?

(how the heck is this working at all)

That does help. It's accompanied by a distinct shift in the pattern of Essence-flowing-through-metal beneath her. The sliding stops and the Lunar, the witch, and the big metal thing go up a couple of feet.

However it works, it's not working like Lunar powers usually do, but it is working. It's almost a sort of constant draw, like a taut muscle. If her concentration slips, they'll fall towards the ground again.

Well she's going to keep concentrating then, isn't she.

WHY IS THIS WORKING

It's certainly not like using a charm! Up and up and up... "Good, good, steady. You are okay?"

"This is deeply weird but I think I am fine," she says, lying through her teeth.

"It's much like flying a regular broom, like usual. Just... Easier to go in the wrong direction. You are doing fine."

Ahahaha yep she's definitely flown a regular broom, yep for realsies.

"Okay."

"Well, go forward now. Practice. Unless you do not want to learn and work?"

"No, I can do this."

Okay, let's see about going forward --gently-- while still staying up.

They go forward, but dip and wobble slightly. Behind her, Helas pushes a trickle of magic into the 'wing, stabilizing it.

It's like the first time riding a horse. 

...This essence-pushing feels a lot like doing something complicated with muscles you've never used this way before, actually.

"Steady, steady. Okay. When you feel okay, slightly turn right."

Yeah, still feels weird, but it's getting less actively freaky.

--Here's hoping she doesn't run out of Essence mid-flight. That would be bad.

Let's see about this whole 'turning right' thing.

She can successfully turn right! She can even successfully make two big circuits of the yard! And then Helas says, "Okay, try to land now. I will catch us if you can not."

Okay, gently does it. Like a teensy songbird landing on a teensy twig without disturbing it.

She tries to land.

It's a little wobbly, and it's kind of a hard landing. But it's a landing!

"Not so bad, yes?"

"Yeah! We didn't die!"

"Hmph. I would have caught you if you were going to kill us. Can you do that for one hundred miles, though?"

It definitely used Essense, but not that much?

"I should be able to?"

Not that much on the grand scale.

...On that note, her Essence is filling right back up almost as fast as the flying around drained it.

"Is your head. You want the money, I want to not make two trips, good deal all around, hokay. I go grab my canteen and then we go."

Hey, sweet, more Essense! If she doesn't quite have enough in her tank, she can always make an emergency landing, sit around for a minute to get more Essence, and then go back up. --That's maybe not the most sensible plan, but it is a plan.

"Sounds good to me."

"If you want snack, get now. Once we fly, follow me, okay? Okay."

And Helas slouches off into one of the side buildings for a minute, then comes back.

Food can wait till money.

Postal workers load up the two 'wings with various boxes and bundles. And then it's time to go. Helas waves jauntily as she rises over the city and banks left, towards the sea. She keeps relatively slow, which about matches a horse going very quickly. They can shout at each other over the wind still.

Marena is going to try and keep steady and not wobble about everywhere.

And memorise the route. That seems like a good idea.

The route is west-northwest. It's apparently not that hard to fly these things (in a straight line) once you get used to it. It wants to keep moving in the same direction.

The route takes them over the ocean, though. That might be a bit of an issue for the 'land for a bit' plan.