Statera *Chosen At Birth*

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sydney and the group appeared through the forest as the rain stopped. Isabel walked over to Bestienna to provide her with some comfort, "We need to go. Are you coming with us?" Sydney asked looking to Bestienna nodded.

"I'm going to stay here with him until the griffins come to get him. I'm going to call them in a couple minutes." She replied taking something out of her pocket and tapped at the screen, "I'll be in Zungali by tonight." She sniffled as she pressed it next to her ear.

Daniel morphed into his mini dragon form after giving her a quick hug. Isabel hugged her and then jumped onto his back. They followed the path in silence as the fog slowly disappeared as the sun began to show.

As they continued to walk, the grass and trees slowly became replaced with bare earth and boulders. Abruptly the group stopped at a ravine. Carefully they walked around the edge as Daniel flew slowly behind them. As far the eye could see there were vast cliffs and between them, valleys of grasslands fed and nourished by a few waterfalls. After being informed that they were in the air kingdom, Daniel could imagine so. The easiest way to travel the area was to fly. Below them, huge herds of different kinds of buffalo, deer, horses, and other cattle-like animals roamed the valley. Some animals were huge, and others were small and insignificant. Even some extinct grassland animals were thrown into the landscape, some that haven't been seen since ancient times. Wanting to watch the spectacle, Isabel ushered Daniel away like a child and he caught up with the now bigger group. While they waited for the others to pack their campsite, Daniel sat on the cliff's edge and watched the animals graze on the treeless terrain.

"Amazing isn't it?" Isabel asked as she sat with Daniel and placed his hand into hers, "I'm sorry about Alek." She looked at Daniel's face. He went to say something, but the lump in his throat caught his words before he could say them.

"It's fine, I suppose. Nothing we can do now. Him and Bestienna were the perfect match. Best thing that could happen to either one of them. Even though their countries were at war with each other, they managed to fall in love and escape it." Daniel sighed and looked down at their entwined hands.

"Come on." Santiago announced, both of them dove from the cliff and flew around each other in the air. She landed on his back and watched as a heard of pegasi took to the air following the convoy.

The rest of the afternoon drifted on endlessly until a thick barrier of green appeared and got bigger and taller as they got closer to it. Seeing that it was a thick rainforest, Daniel wasn't keen on going in as the sky got dark. Approaching the forest, out of one of the entrances a pack of tigers and wolves emerged and walked towards the group. They turned and served as a guide. With one footstep, Daniel could fell the change in climate as the wind and moderate temperature changed to warm and muggy. Getting a bit too warm, Daniel stretched out his wings and allowed the water dripping from the trees to fall on them.

After an hour they walked into a large clearing with a few tents towards the center but had more space to put more tents up. While everyone settled and began to unpack, some people began walking around handing out folded up tents and sleeping bags for those that didn't have either. Some people groaned but went on their way after receiving disapproving glares from the hosting campers.

"Hello." A man with dark tanned skin and silky long black hair greeted politely.

"Hi." Daniel morphed into a dragon and allowed Isabel to hop off of his back. He shook Daniel's hand as branches rose from the ground. They formed a wooden tent and ivy grew on top of it.

"Can I just say that I have never been able to meet two pure elements in one day. I'm Jovan by the way." He stated excitedly while watching Isabel busy herself with a few minor touches.