Race Against Time
The dragons' homeland of Draconia was currently facing a very rainy week. It came down like boiling water out of a Scauldron. Lighting and thunder were constant, as was the wind. None of the dragons were out and about, it was far too windy for flying and there was too much lighting. All through out the country dragon families were in their caves around their fire pits, sleeping through the storms.
The royal dragons in the Draconian Castle were no exception. They were supposed to head to their summer home on Dragon Island, but had been grounded by the storms. Just before he fell asleep, King Re had sent a Hermes Dragon to the Isle of Berk explaining what was keeping them and that they would take off when they had the chance.
King Re laid on his bed fast asleep next to his mate Queen Aurora. Their two young dragonets, Prince Apollo and Princess Avalon were asleep next to them on their own bed. Elsewhere in the castle Re and Aurora's eldest son Chris, his wife Serenity, and their daughter Edelweiss were in their room. They were the only ones in the castle who were awake. Serenity was reading a new book Queen Aurora had gotten with her magic; The Ugly Duckling. Edelweiss was sitting in her lap. She was five years old now and learning to ride a dragon. She was taking lessons on Tenor since her own dragon, Black Widow, was still too young for a rider.
Finally the sun came out ending the storms. The dragons all woke up, feeling refreshed. Re, Aurora, and their two dragonets were among the last ones to wake up. Re opened his blue eyes and sat up. He yawned and stretched. Aurora sat up and smiled at him.
"Hello," she said as she stretched her wings.
"I thought that would never end," Re said. Aurora got off the bed and stretched like a cat.
"We can head to Dragon Island now," she said.
"First I want to check the Dragon River," Re said. "Just to make sure it's not going to break its banks after all that rain." Aurora flapped her wings to keep them from cramping up. Then she stared straight ahead, her face went blank. Then she smiled.
"The river is fine," she said. "It did rise a few feet, but it's far from overflowing." She then turned to Apollo and Avalon and nudged them. They opened their eyes and got to their feet.
"Are we going to Berk now?" asked Avalon.
"As soon as we round everyone up," said Re. He opened one of the many windows that made up the wall of the room. He spread his wings and flew out into the moist air. The others followed him and they went to where the rest of their family were.
They landed on the balcony. Chris and Serenity were saddling up their dragons. They looked up when Re entered.
"Is Eider coming with us?" asked Avalon.
"Yes," Aurora said. "They're meeting us there." At that moment Black Widow came out of nowhere and pounced on Apollo. They rolled around on the balcony. They ran passed Aurora who stomped on Apollo's tail to restrain him.
"That's enough you two," she snapped.
"Yes Mama," Apollo said. At that moment the others came out onto the balcony. Serenity put Edelweiss onto Tenor's saddle and secured her with a safety harness. Then Serenity mounted Tenor behind her. Chris mounted Windwalker. They took off and flew over the lagoon.
They flew over the Golden Gates. Just as they cleared the gates Avalon looked over her wing, and got a big surprise.
"Mama look," she said. They all followed her gazed and saw a huge rainbow arching over the castle.
"Wow, that's the biggest rainbow I've ever seen," Apollo said.
"Rainbows are always worth a thunderstorm," Aurora said. "Come on."
"Do we have to Mama?" Avalon said, still looking at the rainbow.
"There will be other rainbows," Aurora said. She thrusted her wings back and resumed flying. The others followed and they headed for Berk.
It took them 24 hours to reach the waters between Berk and Dragon Island. It was evening the following day when they reached the throne room of the Dragon Island Castle. They landed on the ledge throne and folded their wings. Chris and Serenity dismounted and Serenity helped Edelweiss down.
"Ah, that's better," Re groaned. He laid down on his cushion.
"Can we go to the tide pools?" Avalon asked.
"Yes, but you can't stay out long," Aurora said. The dragonets spread their wings and flew to the tide pools.
When they got there they found Eider already there. He looked up from the crab he was snacking on.
"So, you've finally arrived," he said. "I was getting lonely. How was your flight?"
"Uneventful," Apollo said. "We saw a rainbow over our castle on the way out, but apart from that nothing."
"How's Edel?" Eider asked.
"She's great," Avalon said. "She's learning to ride."
"We should bring her out here," Black Widow said. "So we're all around these tide pools. But I'm too young for a rider."
"We may be old enough," Apollo said. The others looked at each other.
"We would need a saddle that fits," said Eider. Apollo smirked. Then he shook himself and flapped his red wings. When he stopped Edelweiss's saddle was on his back. He had used his magic to put it there and shrink it down to his size.
"That'll work," Eider said, impressed.
"That reminds me," said Black Widow. "We're almost adults, when are we going to get a chance to earn our thrones?"
"Mother wants us to build teamwork first," Avalon said. "But we'll get our chance."
"Meantime I want to see if we're old enough for a rider," said Apollo. "I mean, how heavy can they be?"
"Let's go find out," said Eider. They spread their wings and flew back to the cave Edelweiss shared with her parents and their dragons.
They landed on the balcony. Edelweiss was outside by herself, her parents were inside turning her crib into a small bed. She looked up from her fake china tea set when the dragons landed. She gave them a big smile.
"Hi," she said.
"Hello Edel," Black Widow said. She laid down beside her rider. The other dragonets laid around the tea set.
"I thought you went swimming," Edelweiss said.
"And leave you with no one to play with?" said Avalon. "That doesn't seem fair." Then Edelweiss noticed the saddle on Apollo's back.
"What's that for?" she asked.
"I was wondering if the three of us were old enough to have you on our backs," Apollo said.
"I'm not supposed to fly without adult supervision," Edelweiss said.
"Well then we won't fly, we'll just walk around the balcony," said Apollo. "Besides it would probably not hurt as much if you fell of one of us, than if you fell off my uncle."
"Good point," Edelweiss said. "Okay." She got to her feet and the dragons followed suit. She walked up to Apollo.
The dragonets had grown a lot over the years. Avalon, Apollo, and Eider were now the size of clydesdale foals, while Black Widow was the size of an Arabian foal. There wing muscles were fully developed. Black Widow's shoulders were not developed enough to carry a human, not even one as small as Edelweiss.
Apollo knelt down and Edelweiss mounted him. After a second Apollo heaved himself onto his feet. Edelweiss clung to the saddle. Apollo didn't find her that heavy. He began walking around the balcony. He walked at his normal pace which was quite fast. Edelweiss enjoyed it. The riding lessons she had in the past paid a big roll. Apollo soon sped up into a trot.
"Let me know if I get too fast," he said.
"Okay," Edelweiss said. Apollo sped up his trot. The other three dragonets watched in amazement. Apollo had just sped up into a canter when Re and Aurora landed on the balcony.
"What are you two doing?" Re asked sternly. Apollo slowed down to a halt.
"Just riding," Apollo said.
"Do your parents know you're flying without supervision?" Aurora asked Edelweiss.
"We're not flying," Edelweiss said. "We're just riding around the balcony. Watch." She steered Apollo around the balcony. He sped up to a trot, then a canter. The king and queen watched quietly. Finally Apollo slowed back down to a halt. Re and Aurora couldn't help but be impressed.
"It seems our minds were so stuck in the past that we didn't realize how grown up you all are," Aurora said. The dragonets beamed.
"Chris, Serenity, will you guys come out here a second," Re called. Chris, Serenity, and their dragons came out.
"Edel wants to show you something," Aurora said. She then nodded at her granddaughter and youngest son. Apollo did more laps around the balcony. He went from a walk, to a trot, to a canter, then back down to a walk. Apollo then pulled up alongside his fellow dragonets. He knelt down and Edelweiss dismounted. She ran to her mother and Serenity picked her up.
"I can ride now Mommy," Edelweiss said.
"Fun isn't yet?" Serenity said.
"Yeah, can I fly?" Edelweiss asked. "Please?"
"Not today," Serenity said. She set Edelweiss down.
"You can't keep them kids forever," Re said. "Sooner or later you just have to let them grow up." They all murmured in agreement.
They all turned in for the night. Edelweiss now had her own room that was created by a Whispering Death. It was linked to her parents' room, and their dragons' caves. The bed had turned from a crib to a small wrought iron bed. The iron was twisted into the shapes of dragons. On the head board was a large edelweiss flower. The pedals were made of white gold and the middle was made of regular gold. Hanging from the ceiling over the bed was an enormous net made of white rope, so when Black Widow went to bed it looked like she was sleeping in a large spider web. The bed had been made by Hiccup and Gobber, Re sent them a Hermes Dragon shortly before the storms hit. After they said good night to their parents, Edelweiss crawled into her bed and Black Widow curled up in her net web. They both fell asleep in seconds. Like most dragon riders, Edelweiss dreamed of flying.