A/N- Edited 5/8/2015 I don't own HTTYD.

Quick rundown of what I plan for this story. This is an adventure tale. It will loosely follow HTTYD 1 for a while before diverging into my own creation. Even after that point events will be influenced by both the films and the TV series. This story is book one of three. It will be able to stand alone. Books two and three will be crossovers, book two with BBC's Merlin and book three with Harry Potter.

This is a Hiccup and Toothless leaving fic, but I have done things very differently than the norm. It is an adventure and a story of friendship, I have wanted to write something like this ever since reading Hitchups, by The Antic Repartee. (If you haven't read it I strongly suggest you do. It is excellent story telling.)

Anyways on to the story! I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1- Of Dragons and Demons

The sun peeked over the horizon. It was time. I gave the signal and the other dragons flew to their assigned positions. Half the dragons steal food while the other half tried to distract the humans by causing as much chaos as possible. I, on the other claw, hung back and kept an eye out for any troublesome developments.

Honestly, I hated my job. Not the protecting and coordinating of the other dragons, it kept more of them alive. I hated serving the queen. She couldn't control me like she did the others. A Dark Wing was too intelligent and magically attuned to be controlled by her mind powers. However, I suspected she had infiltrated my thoughts and influenced my decisions even so. Maybe she controlled me more then I believed…

What was I thinking about? I blanked out for a moment. Seems to be happening more often of late. Oh, right, I was coordinating the raid. I had to make sure the other dragons stayed as safe as possible. Why was I with other dragons though? Dark Wings either flied solo or with their own nest.

A thought crept out from one of the dark corners of my mind. I was protecting the other dragons because if I didn't the humans would kill them and if some of them died, that would mean less food for the queen so she would have to consume other dragons to sate her appetite. And as a Dark Wing it was my responsibility to protect.

Curse the queen and her indirect means of controlling me, but what could I do when she brought my honor and duty into the deal? She couldn't control me through her mind so she had resorted to other methods. Coercing me through blackmail and guilt.

She threatened the other dragons if I didn't comply. Threatened to eat them and make them suffer for my disobedience. And as a Dark Wing it was my responsibility to protect the other dragons. Besides, the firepower that a Dark Wing possessed, keeping the humans' heads down should not be a problem, right?

But after every raid, I remembered. I remembered the screams, human and dragon. Screams of pain and sorrow. I knew the humans were monsters but when they screamed they almost sounded dragon. When we got back to the nest the other dragons would learn of those lost in the fight and would release their sorrow for the world to hear. Always, their cries pierced my heart, as if they had been directed at me, that it was my fault their friends and family hadn't returned.

Lost in my thoughts, I was suddenly yanked back into reality, both by the insistent mind voice of the queen and the cries of a flight of Spine Shooters which had been hit by one of the human's weapons. What did they call them? Catapults, that's right.

That is my cue. I sighed as a set up my run, flying low and fast over the water, faster than any other species of dragon could ever hope to attain. Flying was my last true freedom. The one thing the queen couldn't, or wouldn't, take from me.

As fire and magic began to combine in my body, my distinctive shriek began to build. I took the magical plasma shot that I had summoned and launched it at the catapult with unerring accuracy. At the last moment the human defenders atop the structure jumped to safety. I decided that the tower needed to me completely destroyed, not just the weapon itself, so as to slow their reconstruction. So I came back on another run and blasted the tower itself to Helheim.

Satisfied with my work, I resumed circling the battlefield. The cool night stifled with smoke and the screams of the dying. I didn't hold anything against the humans for defending their homes, but how they seemed to thrive on the combat and "thrill" of battle I found disgusting.

Thinking of how they ruthlessly slaughtered the dragons under my protection, I spotted another catapult and set out to destroy it. Once again I imbued my natural dragon fire with magic and destroyed the devilish siege engine.

And then, out of the dark, a bola wrapped itself around my wings and body. My first thought was how could one of the humans spot me and have thrown their weapon with such power and accuracy? And then my thoughts gave way to terror as the trees rushed up to meet me.

In those few moments, I had a second of clarity, free of any influence of the queen. I relished it, at the same time cursing how it could come only at this price.

And then I remembered. I remembered my friends, my family, my love… All lost to me in a moment of anger. Oh, how I regretted that moment of fury. In that moment, I lost everything.

Tearing through trees, end over end, with no way to differentiate up from down. Branches and limbs brutally slowing my fall, with no real effect on my speed. Then the earth met me with its full force and I ploughed through the earth and launched back into the air only to see a rock rush to meet my head. And then, only darkness.

A/N- Yes, this was a short chapter. Only some 800-900 words. As the story continues and I start to diverge from the film the chapters will get longer. Probably 1,500 to 2,000 words, maybe longer depending on what needs to be said to tell the story.

Please review. I can't become a better writer without feedback. Any and all advice is welcome.