Ten years later…

"Come on, Aria! Go! Go!" I yelled in both excitement and encouraged. The seas splashed around us as I knelt on the giant head of the Scauldron. She winged her way through the waters, faster than most dragons I'd encountered. The island's shores scared the blue landscape of the ocean near us. Mountains rose high overhead and the loving forests dotted the sides. My right hand gripped hard on Aria's nose spine. The curled spine rose up over her head. Glassy pupils the size of my head glanced up to me.

What was I doing on top of the most ferocious water-born dragon in the entire sea?

Racing, of course!

But more to the serious question, why was I even with dragons at all? Shouldn't I be dead? Should I have been swallowed up by that terrible dragon back when I was ten? The answer is no.

I lived, oh what I life I lived. That dragon took me to this island, or more specifically, to the middle of the island and into the arms of a woman named Valka. I was dropped there, shivering and crying. I looked into her blue eyes and sad the same sadness.

"Child, why are you crying?" She asked me. Back then, it had seemed like she was curious as to why I was there. The island had looked unpopulated from above, so she must've been curious as to why I had just shown up at her front step.

"M-my m-momma…" I had blubbered. She wrapped her arms around my thin body and told me everything would be okay.

"What happened to her?" She asked me softly, stroking my hair. In gasping breaths, I had explained everything that went down on the old island that had been my home. I explained that I had been rescued by the dragon and now was brought here.

"I to, lost a son." She murmured to me.

"But how?"

"To misunderstandings." She responded simply. From then on, she had taken me in as her own. We lived in the nest of dragons, ruled over by the Bewilderbeast that rested in the middle of the nest in the mountain. It was home.

Outcast Island had never been home, even though I had been born there and my parents perished on its shores. Valka was my new mother and this was my true home. From the sandy shores where the Changewings like to sunbathe to the rugged peaks of the mountains, I loved every inch of my home.

For the past ten years that I had lived here, Valka had been my patient teacher. We talked about how the dragons were doing, which plants were edible, and how to tame the dragons. It was as if I was in a teaching session twenty four-seven.

Except this lesson was life or death.

One slip up and a Nadder could shoot your heart out. A Nightmare could light you on fire. Speed Stingers could get angry. Anything could kill you, so the rule of thumb was to respect them all.

I shouldn't say that everything was rainbows and cuddly fires around here with the flighted beasts, but I would like to say that for the most part, everything went pretty well. The island was secluded so no one attacked us and rarely anyone visited the waters around our land. The Nadders got grumpy from time to time but otherwise were happy.

Oh, and then there was Argo.

As I was lost in a brief moment of tranquility, Argo made a dive for my head. The raven was trying to get my attention-again. Aria reared up at the bird, slowing down. I yelled more encouragements for her to speed up. The green Nadder on the beach was starting to catch up. It let out a shrill screech and got distracted by something shiny.

I saw the finish line come up. The rocky arch was looming just in front of us. I held on like I was riding Cloudjumper on a warm current. Aria spiraled out of the water, leaping up over the column. Of course we had won!

The Scauldron sent up a warm spray of air and I chuckled as she slowed down. On the beach, Argo was pestering the Nadder who had acquired a shiny metal plate along the way. Aria set her head down on the beach as I climbed off her thick head. She chattered happily as I patted her nose spine.

"Thanks for the race, Ars." I chuckled. She bumped my shoulder and slid back into the waves. Off in the distance, I could hear the rest of the local Scauldron pod spouting and crashing through the waves.

"Chik, chik, chik!" The green Nadder complained. I turned around as Argo landed on my shoulder. He patted my head with his beak as I walked towards a cluster of boulders. Argo chittered back to the dragon. I could've sworn he was being sassy with the large female.

"Hey, be nice." I scolded to the bird. He cooed back in a plea for forgiveness as I shooed him off my shoulder. The Nadder nudged up beside me, curious to what I was doing.

Before the race around the island, I had stored my cloak and sword here. The fabric was as black as the midnight air purified of stars. There was a little bit of silver trimming the edges, but otherwise, it seemed as if it had been pulled out of the night sky itself. There was raven feathers that adorned the edges.

"Come on, let's go back." I suggested. The Nadder took off with the shiny plate down the other side of the beach as Argo and I started back to our home. It would be an hour walk unless I could find my dragon.

Technically, I was supposed to be on watch right now, but it was starting to get late and I needed to get back.

Ever since I was twelve and had learned the basics of the dragon residents here, Valka had put me to work. Sure, we were a fairly secluded island, but we needed someone to keep watch. As Valka helped tend to those dragons that came in injured and lost, I was constantly watching the island and checking for possible invaders, Outcasts, etc…

I trampled on the worn path through the forest. Familiar trees enclosed me like friends. I heard Terrible Terrors play in the distance and felt right at home. Argo cawed lightly as we picked our way to the mountain slope.

Within the falling of the sun, I had arrived at the entrance to the cave and was crawling through the winding passages. When I finally got through the opening, I was welcomed by the familiar sounds of the nest.

"Mom!" I called. Sure Valka wasn't my true mom, but I called her mom as if she was blood related.

"MOM!" I called out again. A purple tinged Nightmare mimicked my call. The dragon chortled as I rolled my eyes at it.

"Hey, be nice Icker." I scolded. The dragon just shook its head and took flight. The wind bustled around me.

The familiar call of Cloudjumper sounded and I looked up. Argo called back. The giant dragon unfurled all four of its wings as it swooped down to settled next to me. Valka stepped off the dragon and patted its head. The intelligent eyes widened at her touch.

"Hello, Freya." Mom came and gave me a hug. I smiled. She had been away for a couple of days.

"So how was the trip?" I asked her. She shrugged and smiled. I saw her blue eyes twinkle. They looked like mine and I really could've passed for her daughter.

"Uneventful." She responded. I sighed. Uneventful was good. That meant there was no attacks or discoveries…

"Wonderful! I say we make Bristlebriar soup to celebrate." I clapped my hands together. My mom's eyes widened.

"Oh, Freya! You always make my day better." She gleamed. I gave her a quick hug before going off to collect Bristlebriars. Valka went to go check on how Gruff was doing. I kind of hoped he wasn't stuck in a corner again. It's happened multiple times.

As I started to wander off, I whistled a tune to myself. It was something I had heard on a trade wind once and I modified the words a little.

"Freya!" A voice called out. I looked up to see Valka atop Cloudjumper. The dragon dropped something into my grasp. It was my mask.

"Remember you mask." She winked to me. I grinned. The mask was beautiful and I took pride in it. I had made it myself. While my mother was adorned in her blue painted, orange spiked garb, I had a raven helmet. It matched the theme of the uniform.

A raven feather cloak, black feathers woven into my hair, and a mask of darkness; I was the embodiment of the dark bird. The mask was completely black with a single silver streak that spiraled down from the right corner of my right eye. It covered from my jawline, stretches across under my eyes, and rides the bridge of my nose. Basically, I made it so that the only thing showing was my eyes up to my forehead. That was all exposed, except for the bridge of my nose. A strap attached it around my head.

As I did the strap around the back of my head under my ponytail, I pulled the hood of my cloak up. Once I was done with that, I took a shortcut from the bushes where I was originally headed, to my workshop. Just north of the bushes was a little alcove with all my tools and stuff in it.

When I was off duty for watching over the island, I would spend hours in my shop. In there, I would lose track of time. I've designed everything from prosthetic legs for dragons to my latest project: Wings I could use.

Did I have a dragon companion? Sure!

Did I want freedom to fly on my own? Of course!

I entered the study and went to the table. My wings were finished completely. I had tested them out and put my seal on the papers. I slid the metal harness around my body and put my hands in the straps. The durable, stretched fabric created a wing that followed my every movement.

I rotated my wrist and the wings suddenly locked into place. I could now easily switch between aerial combat against intruders or gliding, and controlling the wings by flapping them or steering my course.

I could now fly.

And I was the first human to fly by themselves.

My cheeks heated up in pride as I felt the harness snuggly cradle against my back. Everything was falling into place.

As I pulled the cloak around my slim new pair of wings, I grabbed a basket and headed towards the mangle of bushes. Pushing a strand of hair behind my ear, I started to clip at Briarbristles that snarled the ground.

Argo cawed at my shoulder. He jumped to the ground and started to toss extra clipping in the air. I chuckled and stroked his wings. The beautiful bird preened and let me stroke his head.

"Argo, stop playing in the thorns." I chuckled. His eyes peered up at me. His head pushed against my arm and I finished up picking ingredients for the soup. We walked back towards the cave.

That's when I saw a large shadow fly by overhead. I grinned as the form passed me by. I never looked up.

Instead, I started to sing that same little tune I had been whistling earlier. I knew she would come down at the sound of it. In fact, she had probably appeared because of the smell of Bristlebriars. She knew what food we would have for dinner tonight.

"Flying under the midnight sky,

When you watch this misty dream,

Say your last goodbye.

For this is the Raven Queen's

Lullaby." I sang softly to myself. It was in a lilting, almost trance like time. I didn't get more than one stanza into it when the dragon landed in front of me.

It was the dragon that had taken me that one day, the one that looked like liquid night. It was that dragon who had lost her family three years after I had come to the island…

But that was a different story.

This was Darkmoon, the last Night Fury alive. And she was my dragon.