Zebulun, Davion, and Quinn wound their way through the mountains led by Zebulun’s intuition. Somehow, he knew the way.

On the second day of travel, an ear-splitting cry filled the air. The three of them looked up to see a raptor soaring over them.

"What kind of bird is that?" asked Quinn.

"Looks like a zone-tailed hawk," said Zebulun. He turned his gaze back to the way ahead. Silence reigned for a moment.

"How big do those hawks get?" asked Quinn, his gaze skyward.

"They’re around twenty inches long, with a fifty inch wingspan," said Zebulun. "They only weigh a couple of pounds."

"Why does this one keep getting bigger?" asked Quinn.

Zebulun and Davion looked at Quinn, then up and back. The raptor grew larger and larger as is swooped down from the sky at them. Zebulun turned Othniel around and drew his sword. Seeing this, Quinn readied his sling.

The predator came at them and went for Samson. The hawk had large talons — large enough to wrap around the huge mule — and its wings blocked out the sun.

It almost had Samson in its grasp when a sling stone bounced off its beak. It shook its head, a look of bird surprise on its face. Quinn looked the creature in the eye and said, "Leave my friend Samson alone, you big bully!"

Othniel reared up and kicked the bird square in the chest, causing it to squawk. Zebulun slashed open one of its talons, causing it to shriek.

A ball of lightning hit the bird square, shocking it and sending it flying off.

"Ha!" yelled Quinn. "Not as easy prey as you thought!"

Near sunset, the hawk returned. It swooped at them again. Davion turned in his saddle, looked the great bird in the eye, and focused his mind. Seeing him, the bird’s eyes widened in shock. It froze in midair, stumbled, and flew off to the west.

"I’d say you earned it’s respect," said Zebulun.

Davion gave him a sheepish grin. "I think I’m getting better at this."

At noon on the third day, they came to the mountain of Zebulun’s vision.

"That’s it," said Zebulun. He turned to Davion. "Can you get us up there?"

Davion frowned, his brow furrowed. "I don’t think so. It’s too high. I don’t think I could target a portal with any accuracy that far away. I can probably get us past some obstacles on the way, but we’ll need to climb."

"Okay," said Zebulun. "Let’s go."