Journey of a Lifetime -Third Book in the Journey Series

Chapter Seven

=Elsa=

After the boys left for the hidden world, Mala, Heather, Anna, Rapunzel, Astrid and myself all went to Defenders of the Wing to begin planning how we will complete our circle and receive the tattoos on our bodies similar to the boys. Believe me, it's harder than it sounds. It's even harder when my heart aches the more I think about how much I miss him already. Like someone is sucking the life out of my chest. 

It's not a great feeling to have, let me tell you. Jack's presence, even if he's sitting in another room of my castle or he's right up in the North Mountain messing with the boys, gives me this feeling of calm. He centers me, grounds my thoughts and emotions. Knowing he's closeby helps me think and act clearly and calmly. The assurance that he's there and he'll bring me back to my senses whenever I'm on the edge of losing my cool, metaphorically speaking, it helps me function more productively. Now that there's a long stretch of ocean separating us for miles now, I can't sit still. 

Nevertheless, I can't let this take over. I have to focus. Without him closeby. I have to. I need to keep reminding myself that the sooner we complete our circle, the sooner I focus and think about only our quest, the sooner I can be with him again. It's what he would do, I know it. The sooner I'm with him, the sooner we are all closer to ending this dark battle that lies on ahead. Just think of the endgame, Elsa. Just think of the endgame and how every sacrifice of my feelings of longing and despair would be all worth it in the end. 

We all gathered in Mala's war room. With a huge map of the archipelago laid out on the round table. It was just us, Mala's guards stood outside the door, making sure our meeting is as private as possible. 

"This is a map with all the islands I'm aware of. Only 3 of them, as I recall, have women with royal blood who lead entire tribes. The closest one to our island is Wingmaiden Island -home of the sacred tribe of Razorwhip caretakers tasked by the goddess Freyja to preserve and care for the Razorwhips. We've had a close bond with them, as both our tribes have the same sacred duty to the dragons." Mala began. 

"I remember them. I was just a hatchling and I remember my mother giving me to them to raise me." Windshear gasped. 

"Same for me." Callisto said. 

"Really?" Heather looked at her dragon in disbelief. 

"Yeah. Except, I don't remember much. All I remember are sounds and flapping my wings, while my claws are wrapped around someone's back. Gentle voices of young women, the smell of sea slugs and rain, bumping my nose into rocks and trees while I learned to walk." Windshear got lost in her own memories. 

"Razorwhips are born blind. We were told that Razorwhip mothers would fly to Wingmaiden Island to lay their eggs. The women there would take care of the hatchlings while the mothers defended the island from male Razorwhips. Vesper would attest to this since this is a male instinct, but male Razorwhips turn into cannibalistic beasts in the presence of a hatchling. Our breed almost went into extinction because of it, which is where the Wingmaidens come in." Callisto explained to us. 

"Because hatchlings are blind, they can't defend themselves all that well against danger. The Wingmaidens help us develop strength in our bodies, so we fly on their backs a few days after hatching from our eggs. Once hatchlings gain sight, we return to our mothers and learn how to fend for ourselves before we are old enough to go off on our own." Windshear added. 

"Which is how I found you, wounded after fighting with a Typoomerang." Heather realized. 

"And I am forever grateful that we met that day." Windshear nuzzled her rider affectionately.

It was the sweetest thing ever. 

"I just have one question. When we get there, how would we even know if their leader is someone we're looking for?" Astrid raised a big question which we kind of already asked but never really got an answer.