In this chapter of Claris that I'm writing now (I'm typing up what I wrote today, although I'll likely run out of energy before I finish since I wrote quite a bit), there's a scene in which Cadmiel teaches Sean to fly. Thus, I'm doing a little research on the mechanics of flight in vertebrates (namely birds) so that if I need to I can explain some things, though I probably won't. It's just nice to have the knowledge for development of all my theories on angels. I'm not going to try too terribly hard to be physically correct on this, since obviously angels are creatures of magic and thus can use that as an excuse as to why they can fly despite not having bodies that are at all suited to do so. But I would like to still have some basic theories for it anyway.

For example, obviously the angels have wings that are absolutely gigantic, in order to support the weight. In general, the taller the angel, the larger their wings, since weight increases with height. Sean is a freak when it comes to height (he's 6'5), so his wings are mammoth. In order to get off the ground in the first place, they have to generate some lift, which is done by beating their wings quickly, then jumping into the air and holding themselves aloft with the continued beats of the wings. The bones in their wings are hollow and, since they are so large, have millions of feathers, but due to the magic of angelic-osity, they're still quite easy to move, especially if you've had millions of years of experience (like Cadmiel). Once in the air, they manuever their wings much like birds, though they have a harder time soaring because most thermals aren't powerful enough to affect their big wings. They are able to fly at incredible speeds and dive even faster (much faster than most cars, for relation), BUT, flying sucks up a lot of energy (especially if you're inexperienced and don't know how to use your wings to their proper advantage). This is why Leliel and Ireul didn't fly through the entire forest in the fourth chapter--they would run out of energy doing that (though it would be easier on their feet :).