Hakan smirked. "Essyrn," he said, looking at the morning sky. "There's a beautiful place I live near. Actually, I'm almost always away from home. This place is called Seraj Isa, the glass desert. It's magical, sacred. This place is the one thing that makes me know Hakeshna is real. Anytime I have my doubts or lose faith, I open my eyes to the place Hakeshan touched. That place where one second is now frozen for forever in a flawless, glass masterpiece."
The brother had a sparkle in his eyes and a sudden homesickness come over him. He had never been away from Seraj Isa for so long, and he couldn't wait to be back. Then, another thought crossed his mind. What he said was true... He was almost never at home. His life is spent on Strinti's back, crossing the glass desert to help others on their pilgrimages. If he is never at home, there was a good chance he wouldn't be the most involved father...
Meanwhile below deck, Raukaas suddenly appeared in a fit of terror and just clung to Taiga. What she did to make Raukaas attached to her, she didn't know. Still, children have an innocence that she loved being witness to. She smiled and hugged him tightly. "It's okay," she whispered, crouching to be at the little drakkollis' eye level. "Want to know a secret about nightmares?" She asked with a comforting smile. "Nightmares are just your own brain trying to make you stronger. When something scares you in a dream, you now know how to beat it! So, when something is really, really scary, it means you just became really, really, really strong. Are you really, really, really strong?" She asked.
Raukaas laughed, and Taiga stood up. She pulled a carrot out of one of Strinti's saddlebags and handed it to Raukaas. "Come on. Kaeligar needs his breakfast. Want to feed him?" She watched Raukaas with Kaeligar and smiled. That horse, despite his celestial strength and origins, could tend for a kitten if need be. Raukaas was in no danger.
She walked on deck and saw Kiron wasn't at the helm. "Hakan," she started, "where's Kiron?"
"His quarters with Rima and Kara," Hakan said.
Taiga frowned. Her attraction to the dralf might have been false, but she took personal offense when a soldier, especially a captain or leader, abandoned his post. "What about the ship? Nobody's at the helm?"
"He has it covered, Tai. Smooth sailing."
"Not for long," she said, biting the inside of her cheek. She went back below deck and brought Raukaas and Kaeligar up. She helped the little drakkollis onto Kaeligar's massive back and winked at Hakan, who didn't even bother protesting. The eight-legged horse leapt off the side of the ship, galloping on the sea's surface. Smooth sailing, my ass, she thought, as she thrust her hand toward the ship.
A trail of ice spread across the water, but stopped before it got the chance to collide with the ship. Taiga furrowed her brows, looking through the water. Then she saw it...
"Fuck!" She shouted, leaping off Kaeligar. Leaving Raukaas on the horse, she directed Kaeligar to run out of the area, then raced on ice steps to the ship's deck. She shot ice spikes from her fingertips toward Hakan and Darkhor, immediately getting their attention. "Get your asses up and ready!" She shouted, before running toward the quarters.
Not even knocking, she slammed open the door to Kiron's quarters to see Kara all over him. Putting that out of her mind, she shot more ice spikes at their feet. "Kiron, we have a problem." He looked slightly confused, and Taiga caught her breath. "Just under the ship... We have a problem along the lines of a Leviathan."