It was just like any other night. Her majesty wanted more. It didn't matter what it was as long as it satisfied her pit of a stomach. The dragons flew out to the usual markets, resulting in an unwanted battle with the humans. Yet they'd rather die at the hands of man than to meet their queen's jaws. Being the strongest of the group, the Night Fury had to lead her fellow reptiles. The island they were to raid next was unlike any other. This island held a village of highly experienced dragon killing Vikings, the most stubborn of the human species.
Deep down, the Night Fury leading wanted it to end. The raids, their mistress, everything. She had recently become a mother, with two hatchlings. Or at least she used to have two. One of her young ones had irritated their queen with his sudden appearance while playing with the other hatchlings. She ate him. The Mother Night Fury's heart had been torn apart by that. That's why she needed out, before the Queen thought about eating her only hatchling left.
Her kind was going extinct. There were only a few of them left. Although they were one of the more intelligent, strong and stealthy of reptiles, many humans hunted them to become famous, or other dragons felt threatened by them. The only reason she was still safe was because of the Queen's control over her and by keeping out of the humans' range.
The raid was a hassle as usual. The Vikings swung their weapons, attacking any dragons that tried to make off with their food supplies. Dragons clawed and slashed their jaws. It was all chaos. The Mother Night Fury was in the sky, aiming her plasma blasts at the boulder and net throwing weapons. She never missed her targets. As she continued her mission, a small wail echoed from within the forest. Curious, she followed the noise to a clearing. In that clearing was a female human, her body lying unconscious on the ground. She had been struck from behind by a dragon, a Monstrous Nightmare as the humans called them.
He stood above her, his scales ablaze with rage. The Night Fury knew him well, well enough to know that he hated humans with a passion, especially those in this village. Killing Monstrous Nightmares were symbols of being a dragon killer. His kind was killed more here than anywhere else. Her eyes scanned the clearing when she spotted it. A human hatchling wrapped in animal furs lay a few feet away from its mother.
"Stop, Nightmare," she ordered the other dragon. "This human has a hatchling."
"So did some of my kind, but that didn't stop them!" the Monstrous Nightmare roared.
The Night Fury shook her head. He truly had every reason to hate humans more than most dragons indeed, but what would this solve? Killing a defenseless mother and orphaning her hatchling? The dragon approached the little one. It was plump, small and adorable. For a moment, it stopped crying, looking into her eyes with its sky blue ones. He then laughed, reaching up for the Night Fury. At that moment, she grew attached to it.
"Leave her," the Night Fury repeated. "Killing her while down will not be fair, especially while defenseless."
With a huff, the Nightmare flew away.
Taking the human hatchling into her paw, she began to take flight. The sun was beginning to rise, and they needed to head home. As she led her group back, she was given questionable looks from her fellow comrades about the hatchling, but none spoke against it. They glided through the never-ending sea of mist where rocks grew from the chilling waters and men lost their lives.
Many tried to find their home, most likely to destroy them. Yet of course, they always failed. Their home was a large island where a mountain stood high and strong. Inside was where they remained in the tunnels while their mistress rested within the heart of it. Once they entered, they dropped their stolen and hunted prey into the crimson pit. The Night Fury didn't need to deliver any of the sort but a report of the raids, most likely who survived and who didn't. When one has been lost, the Queen used her mind control in to call in another to replace the fallen.
"Nadder," the Night Fury whispered to her friend. She too had fallen victim to losing a hatchling to the queen. She trusted her more than anyone on this island.
"Yes, Fury?"
The Night Fury had the Deadly Nadder take her new foundling, knowing full well that the queen would not hesitate to try and devour it.
"Fury, report!" the queen demanded.
Flying over to where the queen was, the Night Fury recited, "Two Gronkles, four Zipplebacks, and five Nadders, your Highness."
The Queen sniffed the air. She smelled a human in their midst.
"Fury, why is there a little human in my Kingdom?" she demanded.
Thinking quickly, the Night Fury came up with a lie. If she told her the real reason why, she'd eat it for sure.
"A new recruit, ma'am."
"Recruit? A human?"
"Yes," the Night Fury continued."What better way to raid a human village when you have one of their own attacking alongside us? The human will know what we don't. It will help us with battle strategy, survival, and most of all, more meals for her Highness to dine on."
Her Highness thought about this. Her eyes looked the Fury over for any signs of a lie. "This wouldn't happen to be something about your loss of that annoying hatchling, would it not?"
"No, ma'am," the Fury answered.
With that, she agreed to let it stay as long as it served her.
After that, the Night Fury took her new hatchling to her den where her son rested in the warmth of a burned rock. He sensed his mother coming in and stretched before he ran to meet her. He stopped suddenly when he saw his new sibling. Gently, she placed it on the den floor, allowing it to crawl towards its new brother. At first, her son was skeptical of the new arrival, but when the little one reached out its little paw, her son sniffed it before purring and rubbing his head against it. The new addition let out a little noise, a sign of happiness.
Picking it up, the Mother Night Fury went to her nest to sleep. Both her little ones fell asleep in an instant by each other's side. She knew then that they'd be the best of siblings.
She could only hope they'd protect each other, for she worried she might not be around for them in the future.