Chapter 17: Dominion of the Winds

A slight breeze of wind brushed past Jessica's face as the Air Gormiti planned out a path for her to go across. She observed mini floating rocks place out in front of each other like a jumping stones game she used to play in the forest with the others. Some where big while other were about as small as Jessica's feet. When it was done, the path was clear for her to go despite some of the clouds blocking some of the stones.

"We have created a path for you so you can go to our special Fortress," the light-eagle Gormiti began to explain. "Just step on the floating rocks we have moved and you'll be fine."

Jessica felt pleased by that but she did have one tiny concern. "But what would have if the Fire Gormiti come to attack?" she asked worriedly.

The dark-eagle Gormiti's eyes suddenly had some light into it. "Lucky for us Air Gormiti, most of the Fire Gormiti don't have the ability to fly into our territory expect for some," he answered with caution in a change of tone in its voice.

"My comrade is right young child," added in the light-eagle Gormiti. "Just be mindful on where you go and be careful of any attacks that DO come from the Fire Gormiti."

With that, both Air Gormiti flew through the path so that Jessica can get there on her own.

Jessica watched until the Air Gormiti was out of sight before taking her first step. She had to be careful about dropping her orb in case it slipped out of her hands. So, she started to place one of her feet of the rock, orb still in her hands, and let the other foot land onto the same rock. 'Phew!' At least the hardest part was out of the way, now she had to the same thing with more floating rocks. Taking herself a couple of breaths, Jessica carried on with crossing the stone path.

Down below the clouds, the boys and Razzle were wondering who should go next while they waited for Jessica.

Toby grabbed his orb from the ground and wondered over to the edge of the land. His reflection was the only thing that stood out in the ocean-blue sea.

"Do you think I should go next, little bro?" he asked Nick, who was sitting with his Earth Orb.

"I think you should," he emphasized, patting on Toby's shoulder. "Our elements are both close to where we're currently are and therefore we'll get our-"

"That's not the point, Nick!" Toby shouted. "It's just that…I was thinking…" He began to look at himself once again in the reflection. "What if…I look different in my Gormiti form?"

Nick felt a little bit sorry for older brother. For once, he wished there would be something to cheer Toby up. When they were both little, Toby had his monkey toy whenever he would be upset about something. That was what got him into watching monkey shows. Nick let out a little giggle at the thought but soon focused back onto Toby.

"You know. I'm not sure how to say it but…I think you'll look fine!" he encouraged Toby. "No matter what happens, you'll always remain the same person as you are now,"

Toby wiped away his tears. "Really?"

"Really."

The brothers both hugged it out but then Lucas interrupted them.

"I hate to interrupt your conversation but we got a Lava Gormiti attack coming!" he called from the edge of the stone bridge.

"It seemed that the Lava Gormiti are taking revenge on Lucas but also to look for Jessica!" Razzle added fearfully.

Nick turned towards his brother. "You. Go to the Ocean. Now."

"But-" Toby began.

"I'll go to the Earth Temple and get my powers while you get yours," Nick urged with determination. "At the moment with Jessica getting hers and Lucas fighting off the Lava Gormiti. I don't think we have a choice but to get our powers fast!"

Toby was almost on the verge of breaking down but Nick was right. One Lord of Nature wasn't enough; three more were needed.

With one final soft look on his face, Nick whispered to his brother: "Go," before grabbing his Earth Orb and disappearing into the Earth Nation.

Toby felt a sting in his chest as soon as he saw his brother leave. He hated the fact that he had to go alone on this mission but he also had a hope that he could help Lucas and Jessica once he came back.

He turned to his orb so that it can help him. A blue glow came from it. Maybe it could help him breathe underwater? He hoped so as with one deep breath, he jumped into the ocean, hoping to find something at least…

After a hard time of jumping from one floating rock after another, Jessica finally made to the Fortress. It was the most difficult thing she had ever done, dodging lava blasts from the Lava Gormiti, and keeping her orb safe from being damaged. Still, she had succeeded and by herself nonetheless.

She made her way into the entrance of the Fortress, heart still beating with extreme nervousness. Before she could step inside though, there was a large bang in the distance.

"What was that?" she gasped in shock.

The two eagle Air Gormiti stood in front of her. "It's the Lava Gormiti!" the light-eagle one barked seriously. "It seems that they had found you,"

"You must go quickly into the Fortress and do your thing!" the other one shouted at Jessica.

Jessica felt a wave of concern over her face. "But…what about you two?" she cried out.

The dark eagle Gormiti looked at Jessica straight in the eye. "We can manage by ourselves until you have finished. We can trust you,"

Jessica almost burst into tears at the words being said to her. They almost felt like a spark had just ignited her heart to be more courageous than she thought. She immediately dashed inside the Fortress at once.

Inside, the Fortress was all covered in grey stone which were similar to the floating rocks before. On the walls were carved statues of other Air Gormiti that Jessica didn't meet as of yet. Most of them were birds but others where insects which surprised her considering that most bugs can fly such as butterflies.

In the middle of the Fortress was a whirlwind as the hooded figure had said to her. Hypnotised by it, she walked towards it, her orb glowing a faint sky-blue colour in the process. The more she walked towards it, the more the orb began to glow. 'Could this be a sign?' she wondered. There was only one way to find out.

Jessica placed her orb within the whirlwind. Suddenly it began to spin really quickly that her eyes couldn't see where it was going. Soon she found herself in a tornado of her own, spinning around in circles and almost feeling a bit sick in the process. However, it wasn't the bad sick but the positive kind. It was the kind that produced butterflies in her tummy but more calming than fear. Jessica also felt something grow from her back but she would have to wait until the spinning was over. A light also came into view in which it went up until Jessica could see no more.

When the spinning was over, Jessica could feel herself landing on solid ground again. She slowly fluttered her eyes opened to see that her feet had changed into bright pink bird claws. 'That's odd,' she thought. It did felt weird having different feet but then she looked down at the rest of her body.

She found that her body was now covered with white feathers both on her legs and arms which looked like gloves on her. Her blonde hair had now almost reached to her calves and it was styled more wildly but tame at the same time. This was a completely different look to her than she read in her fashion magazines back on Earth. She felt like a…super girl.

On her back were pair of beautiful but sharp bright pink pair of wings. They fluttered whenever she went which made her gasped even more. She had never flown before and she was amazed by the size of them.

Jessica was shocked and surprised by her transformation into an Air Gormiti. For the first time, she felt that her courage and bravery had risen to 100% after this transformation she just experienced.

Just as she was about to admire her new form some more, the Fortress began to rock. Knowing her instinct, she raced back out of the Fortress to notice that the two Air Gormiti were in the ground in front of her. She immediately went in front of them to guard them both.

"Ah! You're back!" cried out the light-eagle Air Gormiti.

Jessica nodded back at him determined but she was only looking at the view ahead of her. "Are you ok?" she asked.

"We're fine," coughed the dark-eagle Gormiti. "We are glad that you're here to finish the job." It lowered its eyes, looking defeated in the process. "We did the best that we could…"

"That's a good thing," Jessica commanded. "Do you know what happened to the Lava Gormiti?"

"I think down below I saw a Forest Gormiti trying to fend them off," explained the light-eagle. "It looks like he's in danger. You should go and save him."

Jessica squinted her eye and looked down from the floating rock. She could see that there WAS a single Forest Gormiti battling against the Lava Gormiti but none of the boys were there beside it. She could see a tiny greenish-grey speck next to the Forest Gormiti. 'That's got to be Razzle!' she thought fearfully.

"You are right," she finally declared, relaxing herself in the process. "He needs my help straight away." She straightened herself, preparing for her first flight with her new wings before turning her head towards the two Air Gormiti. "I promise I will come back to check how you are doing, ok?"

There were no words that Jessica heard from the Air Gormiti but they both gave a claw thumbs up to assure that they will be fine.

'Phew! At least I know that they're going to be ok,'

With that worry out of the way, Jessica spread her arms out wide. Once she felt the flutter on her wings, she dove down from the rock and headed straight towards where the trouble was.