Journey of a Lifetime -Third Book in the Journey Series

Chapter Six

=Jack=

We left Arendelle with barely any sleep, humans and dragons alike. The journey ahead was too daunting to even sleep a wink. That dread looming over us over how long it would take was hard to ignore. Even with Elsa's help of all us communicating easily despite the distance as assurance, it was not enough to even get a few minutes to rest. 

Wings were up before dawn cracked over the east. No words were exchanged. The sun rose as silence loomed over the castle. The guys and I are headed to Berk with Hiccup's parents to get the journals and maps which could help us in finding the hidden world. The girls are first headed to Defenders of the Wing since Mala is needed on royal matters and to figure out a plan to find their missing links. All of us needed to split up and start putting things into motion as quick as possible. Our mirrors safely tucked away in our pockets, Elsa made sure that they'll only respond to its rightful owner, to avoid any possibility that we be breached by the enemy. As a wielder of the element of protection, she sure is doing her job to a t. One of the things I love so much about her, and one of the things I'll miss the most about her while we're apart. 

No goodbyes were exchanged. None between family. None between friends. None between lovers. It can't be a good bye. Even if it feels like it. It just can't. No two words have ever been more unbearable than it did in that moment. The time we're apart, not knowing when it would end once we left, it left us speechless somehow. You could feel it in the cold autumn air. Tears being held back, sobs choked down our throats, and the tremble in our bones as we all hugged each other tightly. One last time. 

'Until we are together again...' each hug felt that way. 

Hope was hard to maintain as we flew northwest, only then did the tears fall. It was like life slowly pulling away towards you. Even though we flew in the same direction, our paths were wildly different. My heart was pulling towards Elsa in the opposite direction, like I was drowning in air. I didn't know whether I could survive that kind of pain. A kind of grief that I never knew existed until now. 

When we landed in Berk, the tears have almost dried up on my face. But that feeling never went away. I just stared blankly into the sea while I waited for Hiccup and his cousin to come back with the stuff we need to begin our journey. Deep breaths, I took so many I lost count. I couldn't let this pain get to me now. The amount of times I told myself that the more I put my whole self into this quest, the closer I would be to being with Elsa again. After all, this is what she would do if she felt the way I felt. 

"Jack." I hear Hiccup call me from behind. 

"Are we ready?" I asked without looking back. 

"Yeah, everything's all set. We're headed northeast, straight until we see the smog bank. After that, we start looking." He only told me. 

"Okay." was the only thing I could say. 

Iceblade nuzzled up next to me, brushing his nose against my legs. The cold feeling of his metal scales brought some comfort. Enough to give me the strength to mount him and follow the others into the sky. I couldn't dare look down at the ground. I just faced the line between the sky and the sea, trying to stay focused on what we're doing, where we're going, and channeling this pain I feel into the energy I'd need on this journey. The only thing I can do in this state that I am in. 

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"I can see smog, up ahead." Snotlout called out. 

We've been flying for hours, straight northeast. Time lost its essence when you've been gliding above the water for so long and see nothing but blue everywhere you look. I even took a few hours to just fly on my own and let Iceblad stretch his scales from having me on his back for so long. So, you can image how much of a relief it was to see dark gray separating the sky and the sea. Though, I don't think I should be relieved from the looks of that smog bank.

"What do we do now?" I asked Hiccup. 

"Dad said my grandfather never made it past the smog. The waters became boiling hot, pulling with a mighty current and the weather went insane that his ship had to turn back before they sank and stewed like lambs in the water. His journal notes did say there's a lot of roaring and strange noises that come from inside the smoke, and they seem to be coming from beneath the water." He informed us. 

"Beneath?" Eugene repeated, confused. 

"That's what the entry says. Beneath the water, not underwater." Hiccup was just as confused. 

"So, we just fly right through the fog bank and hope we see something beyond it?" Skylar guessed. 

"Or under it, from the looks of our grandfather's journal." Aaron took a closer look at the notebook his cousin was holding. 

"We may need something to light our way through the smoke." Kristoff advised. 

"Snotlout?" Nikolai suggested.

"Bad idea. The smoke is mixed with Zippleback Gas. I've been on the wrong end of the twins' pranks one too many times to know that the smell coming from the smoke has Zippleback Gas in it." Snotlout shot the idea down when we were close enough to the smog bank. 

"He's right. If I flame up while we're in that smog, you humans may lose all the hair exposed on your bodies. Eyebrows included. And I do not want to see Snotlout with his eyebrows burned off again. The image is too creepy." Hookfang sided with his rider. 

"Do you guys know what's beyond the smog bank, by any chance?" Dagur asked his dragon. 

"I wish we did. The Hidden World has been as much of a legend to you humans as it is to us dragons. Mothers of all breeds would search far and wide for this place that's described as a utopia for all dragonkind. We only know what our mother's would tell us before we were old enough to fend for ourselves." Sleuther replied. 

"Maybe they told you something that could help us find an opening or even a sign that we're close to it?" I tried with Iceblade. 

"Only that when we reach the fog bank, let our instincts take over and follow the crystals." He replied. 

"I doubt we'd be able to see any crystals from here. The smog is too thick." Whiteout groaned. 

"Nevertheless, let's go with that. We go in and let the dragons do what instincts tell them. Hopefully, we get something even close to what we're looking for." Hiccup decided, and we all agreed.

Until I looked up at the sky and saw lightning bolts getting dangerously close to Hiccup. 

"Umm boys? We may want to land or take shelter somewhere. A lightning storm is getting dangerously close to us and I don't think any of us are ready to take on Mother Nature and the might of Thor combined." I told them, gulping. 

"Can you find any islands closeby?" Skylar asked his dragon. 

"Hang on. I'll see if I can find something." Midnight said before she projected a sound towards the fog bank.

Her jet black ear would flick and flap, trying to find any trace of land. 

"There are no islands, but there's this giant sinkhole in the middle of the ocean that's full of caves. Strangely enough, it's not underwater. It's like this big gaping hole in the ocean that goes on forever." She informed us. 

"I guess that's what grandpappy Haddock meant by beneath the water." Nikolai chuckled nervously. 

"And yet, it's either the big hole in the ocean or electrocution." Aaron said sarcastically. 

"Lead the way, girl." Skylar told his dragon, and we all followed their lead into the smog. 

Flying as fast as we all could before a lightning bolt hits us in the butt, literally. 

"Man, it stinks in here." Snotlout's complained echoed across the hole. 

"Funny you should say that, Snotlout. You haven't bathed since Spring!" Hiccup fired back at him. 

"Will you both shut up?! I'm trying to concentrate on not getting all of us terribly lost and possibly drowing!" Midnight roared in frustration, and it was a silent descent into, what looks to be, the center of the world. 

If this is how it's gonna be from now on with just guys on our quest, I can only wonder what the girls will go through on theirs.