My Ride on Elwind

When we left that morning, we got to climb on the eagles' backs. We would ride them to the Carrock where we would be dropped off. It felt awkward to ride an eagle while its huge wings are flapping. Also there's nothing to hold onto like a western saddle. Gwaihir the Windlord wasn't expecting that many of us. This young eagle flew to him very quickly and offered his assistance.

"Absolutely not! You are far too inexperienced and reckless. I don't want anyone getting hurt or scared out of their feathers. I'm sorry but you will have to go now," Gwaihir told the youngling. The young eagle walked away very disappointed and began to get ready to leave. I felt so sad for the poor thing so I called him over.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Elwind," he answered.

"Pleased to meet you, Elwind. I'm Fawnabelle. I know what you're feeling right now. Nobody wanted me to come on this journey either but Gandalf helped me," I said. But he still looked sad.

"Thank you for the kind words, Fawnabelle. But I'm afraid they won't help me. I've never seen any eagle convince Gwaihir anything," he replied gloomily.

"Maybe an eagle can't persuade him. But I might," I offered.

"You'd do that?! For me?! That's very nice of you, Fawnabelle," Elwind said.

"Well, I'm the one who doesn't have a ride so if I can convince Gwaihir then I'll probably be riding you," I explained. I walked over to Gwaihir and asked him to allow Elwind to take me. He was reluctant but he agreed. So I boarded Elwind and we took off.

"Can you do any tricks?" I asked curiously.

"Of course! Hold on," he replied excitedly. I held on tight and we flew in a loop!

"That's nothing! Ready?!" Elwind asked. 

"Let's do this," I replied. He sped up and we dove down near the water that was underneath us. I looked down at the water and saw my reflection. Then, he twisted upwards back with the group. After that, we zig-zagged between the other eagles then to the back of the line again. And that time, he looped around every eagle in front of us! Finally, he finished it off with a corkscrew loop! It was so much fun! Then I spotted Bilbo in front of us. He looked really nervous.

"Do you go think I could talk my cousin? He's on the eagle in front of us," I asked.

"Sure," he answered. We flew over to Bilbo. He had his head down resting on the eagle's feathery back.

"Are you feeling alright, Bilbo?" I asked happily. He didn't say anything; he just shook his head "no".

"We're almost there. Don't worry," I assured him. Then Elwind and I flew to the back of the line where we started. 

"We're about to land," Elwind said to me.

"Thank you so much. That was really fun!" I told him.

"And thank you for asking me to do it!" he replied. The eagles started to fly in a big circle. They circled down to the Carrock and dropped us off.