Importance
Moonlight streamed down on the volcano known as Dragon Island. A few dragons were out fishing, while the rest were sound asleep. The only non-nocturnal dragon that was wide awake was the Dragon King, Re. He was inside the volcano, in the throne room. He didn't feel the least bit tired. He and his family had just arrived to spend the summer in the Northern Archipelago where the Vikings lived. Most of the viking villages saw the dragon race as a threat or a problem. The only village that saw dragons as friends was this the little island of Berk. The chief, Hiccup, was the first person to train a dragon and ride one. He met his first ever friend, the Night Fury Toothless, when he was just a fifteen year old boy. That meeting set off a chain reaction of events. The fist being the downfall of the former owner of Dragon Island, the Red Death, and the alliance between humans and dragons. Re was very happy with the situation, knowing that he could land in the middle of a viking village and not have to worry about himself or his family.
Re looked down at Aurora. Out of all the members of his family, he had known her for the longest time. They had known each other since they were eggs. Aurora was his best friend, his sole mate, his queen. He wouldn't have been able to rule a country as big as Draconia without her. He gently nuzzled her neck. She was fast asleep with her sapphire blues wings over their two dragonets, Princess Apollo and Prince Apollo. The rest of Re's family were elsewhere. His adopted brother, Tenor, and his family were out hunting with the rest of the nocturnal dragons. Re and Aurora's adopted human son, Chris, and his family were sleeping in a different part of the castle.
A soft breeze flew in from outside, bringing with it the smell of the ocean. Aurora stirred and opened her silver eyes.
"Why are you still awake?" she asked sleepily.
"I'm in too good of a mood to sleep," Re said. Aurora chuckled softly. She sat up and nuzzled his neck.
"You should get some rest," she said. "You'll need all your strength for the race tomorrow." Re stretched his legs and wings.
"I suppose," he said. He settled down and Aurora wormed as close as she could to him. Re laid his head down and Aurora rested her head on top of his shoulders. They both fell asleep in minuets.
The next morning the dragons put on their face paint for the dragon race against Berk. Re put blue spirals around his eye and put the Draconian crest on each wings. Aurora put ice blue snowflakes around each eye and on her wings. Avalon put her maple leaf all over her body and her left eye. Apollo covered his wings with small orange suns, and the rest of his body got orange vertical stripes. He also put a large orange sun on his left eye.
"You guys ready?" Re asked. Both young dragonets nodded, excitedly. "We just have to wait for the others."
The rest of their family arrived a short time later, all with their face paint on. Windwalker had yellow zigzag stripes all over her wings, fins, and down her forehead. Tenor had a white star painted around each eye and the underside of his wings had thousands of tiny white dots, making it looked like the starry night sky. Black Widow had red spider web patterns on her wings and back. Her spider was painted, in red, around the red hourglass shape on her forehead. Serenity and Edelweiss were the only ones not racing. Edelweiss wanted to race, but Hiccup had an age restriction. Though Edelweiss was a great dragon rider already, she had to wait until she was fifteen before she could race.
They all flew in and landed on the floor of the throne room. Edelweiss was not in a good mood about being left out while all her friends raced. She mounted Black Widow and her parents mounted their dragons. The dragons spread their wings and took off.
They landed on Berk where the vikings were setting up for the dragon race. The racers also had their face paint on already. Hiccup had just finished putting bright red stripes on Toothless when his allies landed in front of him.
"Hey, right on time," Hiccup said. "We're just about done setting up."
"Oh, can we go get the sheep?" asked Avalon.
"The sheep are already here," said Hiccup. He pointed to the pen beside the sheep launcher, full of sheep.
"Oh," said Avalon. She looked disappointed.
"I wish I could race," said Edelweiss sadly. "All my friends are."
"Racing is very dangerous," said Hiccup. "And you're not old enough." Edelweiss sighed sadly and gripped her mother's hand, at least she wouldn't be alone.
"Well we should head for the arena," Hiccup said. The Draconians followed the Berkians to the arena. They waited there while the rest of the village settled down in the grand stands. Snotlout was causally munching a salmon, leaning on Hookfang. He looked over at Tenor.
"You know you don't look as terrifying with that paint on," he chuckled. Tenor hissed and turned on Snotlout. He began stalking Snotlout into a corner. He opened his mouth, exposing his venomous teeth. Snotlout stared at him with wide eyes. Tenor growled with his mouth open. Then, quick as a snake, he snatched the salmon from Snotlout and swallowed it whole. Snotlout nearly had a heart attack.
"How about now?" Tenor asked.
"Okay, okay point taken," said Snotlout timidly.
"I may not look terrifying, but I can still be dangerous and unpredictable," Tenor continued, mischievously. "You just bare that in mind today." He licked his lips and walked back to his comrades.
"We should mount up," said Hiccup. The riders did as they were told. All too soon there came the sound of the foghorn and the racers took off.
The first sheep was launched and it was snatched by Avalon. She clutched it with all four sets of talons. She threw it to Re, when she was getting tired of holding it. The racers flew through the course. The sheep was tossed from player to player. When Tenor had it, he suddenly felt something jump onto his back (Hiccup had learned how to walk onto different dragons mid flight from his mother). Tenor was familiar with this tactic and knew the perfect move. He did a rapid 360 spin so suddenly that Hiccup fell off. Tenor then tossed Windwalker the sheep and dove after Hiccup. He caught him with his back talons and eventually dropped him back onto Toothless. Meanwhile, Windwalker threw the sheep into the Draconians' basket. The next sheep was launched. The Twins caught it and flew off. Tuffnut was currently holding the sheep. Suddenly Apollo rammed into the side of the Zippleback. Tuffnut dropped the sheep, but before Apollo could catch it the sheep was snagged by Eret. Black Widow dived bombed Eret, followed by Avalon. The Princess stole the sheep and flew off as fast as she could. She threw it to Aurora, but it was intercepted by Fishlegs and Meatlug. They buzzed through the hanger. Black Widow put on a burst of speed and flew a head of everyone else. She hid in the top branches of the Golden Apple Tree. Then when Fishlegs and Meatlug flew overhead, she shot out at Meatlug. The Gronkle was so startled that she dropped the sheep. Black Widow caught the sheep and flew off.
"Not fair Black Widow," Fishlegs called after her. Black Widow flew into the plaza and threw the sheep into their basket. The crowd roared. This gave the Draconians an idea. While the next sheep was being loaded, they flew in a tight circle and spoke in hushed tones.
When the next sheep was launched the Draconians let it be caught by Astrid. They followed her through the course. Astrid flew into the lead, not weary of the Draconians' plan. When they flew into the hanger, Black Widow jumped out at Stormfly. The Nadder squawked in surprise. She didn't even notice Tenor fly by, stealing the sheep as he went. They flew out of the hanger and around the back of the island. Tenor flew into the plaza and scored.
The Draconians kept up with this strategy. The Berkians were certainly nervous. They knew that Black Widow was going to jump out at them, but they didn't know where or when. They still managed to score as many points as the Draconians. Mostly because, after a while, they were able to dodge the dragon that came at them from behind after Black Widow jumped out. Black Widow herself was enjoying her part of the strategy. She was finally living up to the spider she was named after.
All too soon, the foghorn blew again, indicating the final lap. The Black Sheep was launched and Hiccup caught it. He had a plan to deal with Black Widow. He just had to know where she would be hiding. As they flew towards the weather vane, he looked around for Black Widow. She suddenly sped passed them. Hiccup clicked the stirrup and Toothless shot after her. They stayed right on her tail. Black Widow looked behind her nervously. She was flying at top speed, and Toothless was catching up. She had to out fly him somehow. She suddenly put on the breaks and was suddenly behind Toothless. The Night Fury was taken by surprise. He slowed down and looked over his wings, but didn't see anything. Hiccup was looking around for her as well. But neither of them saw where she went.
"She's a smart one Toothless," Hiccup said. Toothless gurgled in agreement. They flew through the hanger, keeping their eyes open for Black Widow. The other Draconians didn't follow Toothless, because they saw where Black Widow went. Toothless flew over the Golden Apple Tree and into the plaza. Hiccup threw the black sheep towards the Berkian's basket. But suddenly Black Widow came out of no where, intercepted the sheep, and threw it into the Draconians' basked. Everyone was stunned.