“You'll think this is a bit silly, but I'm a bit--well, I have a thing about birds."
"What, a phobia?"
"Sort of."
"Well, that's the common term for an irrational fear of birds."
"What do they call a rational fear of birds, then?”

- Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys

"Please stay safe," Suho's mother said with saddened eyes, "I don't want to receive a letter informing me that my son and his friends were involved in some freak accident with a herd of rabid Efski or something." Her husband sighed and held his head in his hand, massaging his temples. "My love, Efski's don't live in the Hawk's Eyes. They live within the mountains of Corath." She turned to him with the sassiest look you had ever seen, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she cocked her head to the side. "Haven't you heard of the Efski attacks within the tribe of Kahma? I'm telling you, there's something wrong going on up in those summits," she said with a grim expression before turning towards Suho, "You will stay safe, right? Promise?" He nodded, light brown hair bouncing everywhere as he smiled at her and held her face gently in his hand. "Of course mother, I'll come home safely. I promise," he said as he her cheek to reassure her.

"Travel with caution, especially when you enter the Eye. It's good that you are taking some dragons since that will level the playing field a bit," Suho's father added. Kris nodded his head and stuck out his hand, causing the older man to grin and do the same. They gave each other a firm handshake. "We will. Thank you for your hospitality once again," Kris answered with an intense gaze. The older man nodded his head and said it wasn't a problem. "You are always to come whenever you are in the area," he said with a smile as he looked at each of you with bright eyes. You looked back at him and his wife affectionately, smiling shyly and bowing your head in gratitude towards them. They reminded you so much of your family; always happy and always hopeful of a brighter future.

"We will come visit again," you pledged. Suho's mother smiled sadly at you, and moving closer, brushed a stray hair out of your face. "I will be waiting. Till then, make sure all these boys make good decisions, okay? You know how men are, always trying to act all strong and brave without thinking first," his mother giggled, causing you to beam happily back at her. "Hey! I do think before I act!" Suho's father hollered, his hand holding his chest with an insulted face. "Mhm, sure you do sweetie," his wife said sarcastically, causing everyone to erupt in laughter. The grown man's shoulders hunched over in defeat as he sighed, his lips curving up in a slight smirk before he pulled his wife into a side hug.

"See you soon," Suho said as he hugged both parents one last time, squeezing them tightly. He then released them and turned his attention to Oric, who held the reigns to the orange scaled dragons that stood behind them, which had been named Bilaz. "My brother, may the Maker Spirit bless you tenfold for that which you have blessed us with," Suho grinned, ruffling the tan boy's hair before pulling him into a hug. Oric held his friend tightly, patting his back to be released before handing the other the reigns. "The Elders have announced that they are going to keep the Library Passageway open to the public, but as a sacred place of prayer, as it was intented. I'll keep you updated on how things are going here. And with that I am also expecting more letters from you, brother," the younger laughed, his eyes turning into crescents as he beamed brightly. Suho nodded and gave Oric a firm hand shake before turning about and climbing onto Bilaz. 

"All right, we better get a move on," Suho said, motioning for the others to mount the dragons. "I agree, we need to make sure we arrived during the day," Tao stated as he followed Suho's example and climbed onto the creature. Luhan tilted his head to the side as he jumped onto the third dragon, a sapphire blue one named Chu. "Wait, why don't we want to get there at night?" the Musan asked as he settled himself onto the large dragon saddle. "Because," Kris answered as he pulled you up behind him on Aeyow, "It's better see the danger you're getting into than letting it take you by surprise."

-

Several days into the flight you began realizing how grateful you were for Oric. Without him you would have had to travel by foot. And looking down at the terrain which laid below, that would have defiantly resulted in several more days of physical and mental exhaustion. Not to mention that it would have nearly tripled the amount of time it would take to get to the Hawk's Eye in comparison to how long it was taking on the back of dragons. This mean of travel was much more efficient and comfortable, despite Baekhyun complaining that the saddle continuously bunched his pants up.

"No, Baekhyun, we are not flying down so you can switch dragons again. You've been on all three of them," Kris groaned as he shot a glare at the Rossen. Baekhyun had insisted on switching the seating arrangement every time you took a break to rest the ground. This time, you were in the front of Chu, with him and Luhan behind you, Kris was with Aeyow with Lay in the back, and Suho held the reigns to Bilaz with both Tao and Kai behind him. The light haired boy whinnied and began shifting more violently on the saddle. "But it's so freaking uncomfortable man!" he complained, moving every which way to find a comfortable position. You turned your head back, looking at the cumbersome look on the his face. "Baekhyun, stop moving, you're going to fall off if you keep moving like that," you told him before you turned your attention back to flying Chu. You felt some pity towards him, but at the same time the constant movement was beginning to annoy you.

"Kora you don't understand," he said and began shifting positions again, "This is the most uncomfortable position I've ever been in. It aches so much!" Kai rolled his eyes at the other and called to him from the back of Bilaz, "We get it! You're uncomfortable! But so are the rest of us Baek! We've been flying for almost a week, but we're not saying anything because complaining doesn't help the situation!" Luhan nodded his head and smacked the back of Baekhyun's head. "Yeah, just shut up for a few minutes!"

"Wow, can't believe I'm saying this, but for once I agree with the Musan. Baekhyun, you need to shut the up or I'm going to come over there and punch your face!" Tao yelled, having been riled up by the constant whining of the other man. "Ugh, fine," Baekhyun groaned, leaning his head against your shoulder in defeat, "Kora, everyone's being mean to me. Do something." He tugged at your sleeve as he made some puppy whimpering noises. You exhaled and gave his head a light pat. "There there... everyone's just like that because you're being a child." The others began laughing and whooping loudly at your comment. "You tell him Kora!" Luhan shouted, a lazy smile on his face. You smirked as Baekhyun began groaning, "Kora you're supposed to be on my side!" You shrugged. "Sorry, I call it as I see it," you told him, causing another whine to escape his lips as he nuzzled his face into your shoulder. "You're so mean to me," he told you as he wrapped his arms around your waist. "I know, I know," you chuckled.

"How much longer is it going to be till we get there?" Kai asked as he laid back, resting flat against the saddle since he sat in the back of Bilaz. "We should be approaching it in less than a day," Lay answered as he looked through the map Suho had loaned him. The quite man was sitting behind Kris on Aeyow, but backwards in order to lay the map our flat on the rest of the saddle. Kai stared across the clouds at him, wondering how on earth the guy could read the map even with all of Suho's illegible scribbles. "Well is there a landmark or something I can keep an eye out for?" he continued, drawing patterns on the blue dragon's scales as he stared up into the vastness of the sky.

"Oh yeah," Tao said as he turned his head back towards Kai with a smirk, "Just let us know if you see any giant birds coming to attack us." Kai blinked and tilted his head, his eyes fixed on something in the sky. A bright red object appeared to be moving in the atmosphere above. All Kai could make out was that it was traveling at an accelerated s