Thanks to P-Artsypants for being my beta reader and for her support in writing this story.
So this story is basically my idea of how the dragon world works and will explain from where Toothless got the name Waelise. It will be only a three chapter story.
There will be some violent scenes and minor gore, but not so much in this chapter.
"DRAGON ATTACK!" A viking yelled, running towards his village. Soon the entire village was swarming with vikings trying to light torches and to prepare the defensive for the battle that was about to come.
"PREPARE THE CATAPULTS!" A bulky man yelled, walking through the madness that was unleashed in the village. The dragons hadn't even arrived yet, but the village already looked chaotic enough with all the vikings running around grabbing weapons, lighting fires and making last minute barricades in different key points. A non-viking person wouldn't be able to figure out if those vikings were attacking the village, or defending it. After all, the viking was a very ungraceful creature. They were famous for being fat, hairy, strong and very, very stubborn. Once a viking had an idea, he would never, ever abandon it.
Just like the idea that they found an island and they could just settle in, not caring about the other creatures that inhabited the island for hundreds of years before they arrived here.
A good example in this situation was the moment when vikings first arrived here, on the dragon's hunting grounds, a few hundred years ago; after they settled in, they just proclaimed themselves 'owners'. It didn't matter that the dragons lived and hunted on those islands for thousands of years before the humans arrived here. No, after just a few decades from the arrival of the new creatures, the dragons were now the intruders, they were now the ones that tried to steal from the vikings.
So the dragons did the only thing they could, they raided the new founded villages on their islands, trying to scavenge as much livestock as possible . And in their madness, the Queens ordered more violent and aggressive attacks, in the hope to make those new pests to just go back from where they came from. The Queens didn't care about the dragons that died, about the hundreds of injured servants that would return to the nests, about the different species almost brought to the verge of extinction because of their ignorance. In years, each of the nine Queens would end to 'specialize' herself with only a few species of dragons, the ones that were still under their influence or hadn't died yet.
But as the number of dragons became smaller, so did the amount of food the dragons would bring back to the Queens, in turn, making the power of the Queens to slowly fade. As the Queens began to lose their influence, large numbers of dragons managed to escape and seek refuge in the wildness. Those dragons were known as rogue dragons to their society.
But the dragons were mostly simple minded creatures, so those who managed to escape the Queens, lost their interest in revenge, they ended up forgetting about all those dragons still under the influence of the Queens, they simple abandoned brothers, sisters, friends, family, for a better life, alone. The rogue dragons ended going back to the old hunting grounds, hiding near the viking settlements, still hunting in their woods and fishing in their waters. Others tried to find new islands, uninhabited by the bipedal 'pests'. The dragons that tried to live in the shadow of the humans became to be known simply as wild dragons, feral dragons, if you please, to the vikings. Just small groups of dragons, living in the forests, waiting for unsuspecting humans to wander in their territory, to kill them.
Those dragons lived without a solid purpose except their basic instincts of survival. Over the decades those dragons managed to destroy their link to the Queens for good, allowing them to live without any concerns, except for vikings. The humans still considered them dangerous, even if they stopped raiding their villages, even after they stopped attacking their ships, even after they isolated themselves on some small islands, the vikings would still hunt them, they would still try to kill them. Even after they abandoned the Queens, the vikings still wanted to kill every one of them, to the last living hatchling.
So they fought back. They created small groups, each one of them leaded by a powerful dragon, one who was able to protect them. Most of those groups covered a single breed, like a swarm of Deadly Nadders or Terrible Terrors. But there were also groups with very diversified species. Tens of Gronckles and Hideous Zipplebacks living with small Terrors, or Hotburples while being leaded by a small family of Monstrous Nightmares or Rumblehorns. Those dragons tried to unite themselves against the attacking vikings, wanting only to live in peace with the invaders. Those dragons never attacked unless provoked.
And for the other dragons, those who didn't managed to escape, they got to the point where they almost lost their free will. After the large loss in numbers, the Queens began to strengthen the link between them and the dragons still under their control, wanting to make them lose any wish of escape, wanting to make their only wish to be to serve them. So the dragon world was divided between feral dragons and mindless servants…well, mostly.
"DON'T LET THOSE NADDERS STEAL OUR SHEEP!" The bulky man commanded to some vikings. After the dragons began their raid, the vikings tried anything to protect themselves, anything to protect the animals that rightfully belonged to the Queens. Just as always, the Zipplebacks were supposed to create chaos and confusion, destroying as many buildings as possible, the Gronckles and the Hotburples were supposed to distract the vikings, create minor destruction or problems, even fight if needed, while the Nadders would try to steal the livestock and the food from the village, or to take out small groups of isolated vikings. And in some certain situations, especially on the raids of big villages, there would be Monstrous Nightmares trying to hurt or immobilize as many vikings as possible, making the job of the other a lot easier.
"FIRE THE CATAPULTS! PUSH THOSE BEAST BACK TO HELHEIM FROM WHERE THEY CRAWLED OUT!" The bulky man yelled once again, fighting of a Monstrous Nightmare. The fight was going in the favor of the vikings, so today, just as many times before, the dragons were slowly pushed back, almost to the point where they would retreat, but also today, as many times before, there was a distinct noise, rather distant at first, but it slowly got louder until everyone knew that they didn't stand a chance, until everyone knew that there is no more hope for winning.
"NIGHT FURY!" A man yelled as the village was filled with huge purple explosions, destroying the catapults, destroying the buildings and even maiming or killing some vikings. Just as many times before, the only Queen that still had Night Furies in her army didn't hesitate to use them to assure yet another meal for her.
After the village was almost in ruins, the remaining dragons quickly gathered as much food as they could possibly carry, to bring back to satisfy the hunger of their Queen. They all knew that if they failed at this, the consequences would be extreme. However, the Night Furies were always excused for not bringing food back, after all, they were the most esteemed and powerful dragons known and it was a great honor for any Queen to have them, but the fact that the Night Furies belonged only to one Queen, kind of reduced a lot of their previous advantages. They were still high in the nest's hierarchy, they were still respected and feared by the other dragons, but on many different occasions, the insubordinate or weak members of the Night Fury family were executed. The Queen only wanted the hatchlings that had the best chances of surviving and becoming a strong additions to her army. Any young Night Fury that was slightly sick or weak at birth, would be killed by the other dragons, even if an older Night Fury would dare to disobey her, they would be killed. Those honorable dragons were living under the permanent terror of the Queen. While the Night Furies were humiliated by the Queen, they were still highly respected by the other dragons.
The Night Furies were also one of the few dragons that were able to resist the influence of the Queen. The only reason the Queen managed to control them was because those they were letting her. The last of their species lived in that nest and if something were to happen, they would become extinct, so they needed the protection of the Queen. The mass executions were slowly reducing their numbers, but, it was a necessary evil since the Night Furies were quite the trophies. For vikings and for dragons. Not a lot of dragons could say that they fought and bested a Night Fury. It was a great honor for a dragon to defeat a Night Fury and so was for a viking. So in the end, the Night Furies wouldn't be able to survive on their own because of their fame and prestige. So those dragons needed the power of the Queen to protect them.
For mindless creatures the viking thought the dragons were, they sure had a pretty well organized nest, they had a very efficient hierarchy. At the lowest lever were the dragons that were bringing food and doing most of the 'dirty work', the Gronckles and their relatives, the Deadly Nadders, the Hideous Zippleback, the Terrible Terrors, for the nests that still had the small dragon and the Whispering Deaths. Next in command were the Monstrous Nightmares, the Thunderdrums, for the nests that still had those and the Rumblehorns, those dragons had a little more power over the others because of their somewhat more advanced intellect and physical strength. And the only ones that were in command before the Queen were the Night Furies and the Stormcutters, every other dragon would listen to the orders of a Night Fury or a Stormcutters, those two dragons existed on only three nests, the second species existing in two different nests. Both those species were powerful and prestigious, but they were not rivals, each of those dragons would threat the other with the respect they deserved. But both of those species were also quite proud, so they wouldn't forgive an insult at their name.
Even the dragon families on every nest had a leader. That leader would be the messenger between the dragons and the Queen in most situations. Each group of dragons would chose the strongest and the most respected of their species as their representative in front of the Queen.
The leader of the Night Furies was Hvite Kongen, one of the few dragons that had the honor to carry two names. Hvite Kongen was a powerful Night Fury, bigger than most of his species, but also quite agile and a lot stronger, not to mention his far superior intellect, but his most representative feature was the fact that he was fully white. The only white Night Fury. The only Night Fury that carried the title of Elder Dragon. In almost a century of war with the vikings, he was still unhurt from all the raids he lead and all the battles he fought. Most dragons would die of old age or disease before they reached that age, but Hvite Kongen was still as strong and agile as in his younger days. He was the Queen's right hand, or wing. He was involved in every action the Queen made against the vikings or the other dragons. But as respected and feared he was among the other dragons, the Night Furies despised him. With all his experience and strength he would be able to defeat the Queen and adopt the role of Alpha, but he refused to do such thing. He refused to defend his family when the Queen ordered the executions of their hatchlings, he turned a blind eye when the older members of his family were killed by the orders of the Queen. Most of the times he was the one that carried out the sentence.
One of the few things that kept him going was the idea that he was serving the greater good, that he was serving the Queen that blessed them with her protection. He always thought it was just a small sacrifice to be paid for the Queen's shield. Hvite Kongen went so far to even sacrifice two of his six hatchlings at the Queens orders. In time he stopped to receive any respect and affection from his family. He sacrificed his next of kin for the Queen and the honor of being second in command. He was so blinded by the desire to protect his family that he got to the point of being despised by them. The great Hvite Kongen, one of the strongest and most deadly dragons to ever live, was also one of the most ignorant and foolish dragons.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
As the winter was closing by, so was the mating season for the dragons. All the dragons laid their eggs in the different caves where they lived. Most of the more inferior species would help each other to raise the young hatchlings, living in a very close community, while the more superior dragons were overprotective and wouldn't allow another dragon to get close to their hatchlings, this was no exception for the Night Furies. A few days after the eggs hatched, Hvite Kongen would come and inspect the young additions to the family and later he would give a report to the Queen about their current conditions with the young dragons, later the Queen would decide which of the dragons were too weak or sick to be left alive. Every Night Fury hated that moment. A beautiful moment like the birth of their hatchlings was destroyed be the ruthless leader they had chosen a long time ago and still didn't have the power to dethrone.
As Hvite Kongen slowly walked and examined the young hatchlings, there were a few that got his attention. So he approached the three young dragons and their parents and looked at them for a few seconds, thinking about the best approach about those three young dragons, then he said without any trace of remorse or hesitation. 'They are too weak. They won't survive through the winter.'
'You can't say that! Who are you too judge?!' The male Night Fury growled at Hvite Kongen, getting in an protective position around his hatchlings.
'I was chosen by the Queen. You had chosen me as your representative, so that gives me the power to judge.'
'If you are going to kill them anyway, why did you come to tell us?' The female Night Fury asked.
'I wanted to give you the chance to make proper 'Goodbyes.' I will return after I will inspect the others and carry the sentence.' Hvite Kongen said turning around and starting to leave them.
'YOU'RE A WORM!' The male Night Fury barked, charging at the Elder Dragon. As the dragon was close to Hvite Kongen, the white Night Fury quickly turned and tackled the younger dragon, with his far more superior strength, he brought his foolish opponent to the ground, but he didn't stopped there, he grabbed the neck of his opponent with his fangs and threw the younger dragon into the side of the cave, as he slowly approached to check if the younger Night Fury was still alive, the female Night Fury charged at the old dragon, in a desperate action to help her mate, but Hvite Kongen turned and knocked her down with a powerful fire blast. As he finally arrived at now his injured opponent, he said.
'You still have time to say 'Goodbye' to your hatchlings. You don't have to foolishly waste your life protecting the weak.'
'I won't let you hurt them!'
'Is this your final decision?' Hvite Kongen asked unimpressed.
'You're a worthless worm!' The younger Night Fury barked. The Elder Dragon just brought his right foot on top of the other Night Fury's head and slowly started to press it. He ignored all the struggle and the noises his younger opponent was making and he didn't stopped pressing until he finally heard a crack. Blood started to flow from under his paw and the younger dragons slowly started to calm down. After the younger dragon stopped moving at all, he took a few steps back and looked at the now dead and almost headless dragon.
'Such a shame...' He muttered as he turned around and continued his inspection. As he was slowly departing from the body, the cave was filled with the cries of the young female Night Fury, the young dragon that just lost her mate and would soon lose her hatchlings. But this was rather normal in this period, so no one really tried to help her or at least to try and comfort her.
In the end, from almost fifty hatchlings only six were too weak to survive. The rest of the inspection was pretty uneventful, only a few hatchlings caught his attention, in a good way, and weirdly enough, they were all brothers.
As he was walking through the dragons, watching the young hatchlings, four of those small dragons tried to attack him, playfully of course, what could four young Night Furies that didn't even had claws yet do to him? As he was assaulted by the young dragons, he felt something that he didn't feel in a long time. A powerful feeling of sympathy towards the young dragons, something that almost felt like joy, the need to play with them. So he gracefully faked his death and the four young Night Furies were looking proud at their job. After a small dramatic pause, he gently got up, trying not to hurt the young dragons and actually tried to chase them, playfully of course. He spent more than a hour running after and from the four young dragons. To his surprise, no one wanted to intervene, not even their parents seemed outraged by this. Everyone hated him and he knew that, but never after he was named the Queens right hand had anyone from his species tried to be friends with him. This was a first. And he was hardly mad about it. For the first time in decades, he felt attached to someone from his own species.
The Elder Dragon watched as the four hatchlings grow and sometimes he actually got involved in their training and education. The young Night Furies were overjoyed by this. Of course they heard about his crimes and all the mistakes he made, but everything seemed so far away and insignificant for them. Even if he just killed six hatchlings a few months ago, when they were born, they didn't seemed affected by it. The young dragons were fascinated about Hvite Kongen's war stories and battle experience. They were also quite fascinated by his uniqueness. In the end they spent a lot of time together, playing, telling stories and training. The Elder Dragon would even bring the four young Night Furies to the Queen, or to the other dragons in the nest while preparing for raids or simply inspecting the other dragons. No one would dare to hurt them while he was there and by doing that, the four young dragons grew more curious about the other dragons and engaged in a lot of 'fights' with the other hatchlings from different species.
As years passed by, the four young Night Furies managed to become some of the most efficient dragon fighters that lived in that nest. Hvite Kongen never brought the young dragons on any real raids against the vikings, on a few certain occasions he attacked with them a few fishing boats, so that the young dragons can see the humans and to know what to expect from them. As time passed by, the raids that Hvite Kongen would have to plan became more frequent, so they didn't spent as much time together as before. But when the Elder Dragon was not with them, the four young dragons would go and race between themselves and sometimes they would even go to pick fights with different wild dragons, just for fun.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Baldr was the biggest of the four siblings. He was larger than the average Night Fury of his age, but that also made him the strongest. He was a proud dragon, never refusing a challenge or backing away from a fight and never losing a chance to be in the center of attention or to show off. But just as he was big and strong, he was also rather slow and ungraceful, always preferring the most brutal and direct solution to any problems.
Byleiptr was the smallest of the four siblings. He was the most agile and quick of all of them. What he lacked in brute strength and size he made up in speed and intelligence. With his superior agility he managed to defeat foes way bigger and stronger than him, he always managed to outthink his opponent, quickly finding their weakness and using their strengths against them. He was the equivalent of a genius to his species, his abilities only being exceeded by Hvite Kongen himself. But his greatest drawback was his laziness. He was still proud and would never refuse a challenge, but he always preferred to sleep in the sun rays or feast on food he didn't work for.
Melchior was the third of the siblings. He didn't exceeded nor disappointed in strength or agility. His most remarkable ability was his almost brilliant mind. He would always try to keep his distance, analyzing the situation and coming with the best plan for the most favorable outcome. And in order to be able to maintain his distance, he had an deadly accuracy with fire blasts or with objects he managed to throw. He actually trained himself to throw rocks or large logs with his tail with an incredible accuracy, so that his shot limit wouldn't completely force him to approach the enemy.
Skað was the one that usually caused the most destruction and problems. She was rather small for a Night Fury her age, but that allowed her to be more agile. Her playful, curious and destructive nature usually led to her almost burning down forests or destroying small caves. She was the most aggressive of the siblings, but also the weakest in direct combat; usually being the one that started most of the fights, in the end leading to different problems with Hvite Kongen or other dragons. Even if she wasn't a very strong fighter, she knew how to create disorder and confusion among the enemies, allowing her brothers to help her and in the end, winning the fight.
In the end, by the age of three, the four dragons were quite the team and their boldness and adventurous spirit brought them enough fame to be known by other nests.
The names Baldr, Byleiptr, Melchior and Skað were made by P-Artsypants. And one of them is Toothless :)
Thanks for reading and please leave your oppinion on the story so far.