The night was coming to a close as the sun began to rise. The village below slept soundlessly in their houses. In the shadows hid a Night Fury, a human waiting beside it. He was dressed in armor made of both leather and fur. A hood and a mask covered his face, while he watched the village with sky blue eyes. A fire burned in them, fueled by the hatred of these humans. Their mistress was growing restless, more demanding for everything and everyone. Most of their comrades had been lost to the ones they served. The only way to survive was to bring back good amounts of game.

His team of warriors was ready.

"Are you ready?" he asked his brother. The two were the leaders of this hunt. The dragon was their weapons destroyer, while the human was the protector of his brethren. They were the most skilled out of those here.

"Let's get this over with," his brother agreed. "Oh, and Night, remember…" The dragon gave him a bored yet warning look.

"I know, don't get too carried away," grumbled Night, rolling his eyes. He couldn't help it. Sometimes he got so angry when face-to-face with these humans, remembering everything they'd done to his family and dragons in general. The Night Fury that had taken him in seventeen years ago, his mother, had been shot down and wounded by the humans in this very village. She just barely made it back to the nest and died despite everything Night had done to save her.

He could still remember how he wanted to murder every single human on the island that day. But his brother had stopped him, telling him that it wouldn't fix anything. Night's brother, like his mother, wished that there were peace between dragons and humans, but Night knew better. There was too much bad blood between them for things to ever be peaceful.

The Night Fury let out a roar that echoed throughout their part of the island to the others. Immediately, the villagers emerged from their nests, ready to fight. Night partly shared his brother's views that it would be so much easier if they didn't have to fight, but they wouldn't give them a chance to explain why they were doing this. Then again, he would be upset, too, if someone were to raid his home and steal his supply of food. But the Queen demands for it.

The battle was as wild as the last one. It was always the same routine. They raid, they fight, some of them were slain, and they were still able to capture some game. The humans were just as stubborn as they were, and they refused to back down no matter how many times this had happened.

Night mounted on top of his brother's back as he soared through the dark sky. Like always, his plasma blasts never missed his targets. Night kept close watch over everything that was happening. Then he noticed a Nightmare about to be killed by a large (no surprise there) villager.

"There!" Night shouted, pointing to where he wished to go.

"I see them. Get ready!" his brother said.

With a swift motion, the Fury brothers were above them. The dragon flipped upside down, allowing Night to fall down to the earth. Wind whistled in his ears as he plummeted. He loved the feeling of the wind, how free it made him feel. He could imagine there was no evil queen, no dragons struggling to survive, no killing, and no more raids. But when reality came back, he knew it was just a dream that they could never even hope to accomplish.

Out of his thoughts, he landed perfectly between both dragon and man. His sword was pulled from its sheath and blocking the man's death blow.

"I'm indebted to you, Night," the Nightmare said before crawling off.

"Why?" the man asked. Night barely knew what these humans were saying as he had grown up learning the dragons' language, but he had heard that question enough times to know the meaning of it. "You're human, but you work along with these beasts!"

Night remained silent, glaring back at the man who stood waiting for an answer. The man let out a battle cry as he lunged at him. Night blocked and dodged each blow. Sometimes, he was glad for being so skinny. People normally underestimated him at first glance, but when he pulled out his sword of Gronkle Iron, they thought twice. Many even tried to challenge him to become famous.

The man's attention was suddenly averted. "Hiccup!" Taking advantage, Night knocked him to the ground, sword at his throat, a cold, unforgiving look in his eyes.

Then it occurred to him. This man must've had a hatchling. Why else would it matter so much about a random boy? On any other occasion, Night would've slit the man's throat, but then he remembered how he felt once his mother had died at the hands of these creatures. If he killed this man, that would make him just as bad as them.

Still, Night made sure to scratch the side of the man's neck with his sword, not enough to be harmful but enough to leave a scar. Then he pulled his knife back, his eyes delivering the message he didn't know the words to say. Next time you cross my path, I won't hesitate.

Before the man could recover from his shock of being spared, Night ran off through the warring of man and beast, the burning nests, and the villagers running with buckets of water to put out the fire. He didn't let himself feel sorry for the trouble he was causing; they needed to save their own skins from their Majesty's appetite. Most of the dragons were begging to take off. Time to go

"Night!" a Nadder called from above. He was high enough for Night to hop onto his back. Just as he was about to leap, he was suddenly brought down. An axe was brought against his neck. Not her again. Sure enough, it was the annoying blonde who tried to take his head every chance she got. She was about 2 years younger than him, and he kept wondering when she'd give up already.

She said something, but he didn't understand it. His human vocabulary was limited after all. Although from her tone, he had to guess that it wasn't nice.

"That's cute, but no," Night shot back. Sure, maybe they didn't understand it, but he didn't care. She gave him a confused look, and he thrust the hilt of his sword into her abdomen. She gasped in shock and pain as he sprinted to the waiting dragon.

Just as the girl was about to make another attempt, the Nadder was ready and sent his poisonous spokes at her. She dodged, and Night hopped on his friend's back to freedom, or doom in his case.

Once they were far enough from the island, Night searched among the dragons until he was reunited with his Night Fury brother.

"How many?" Night asked.

"Ten sheep, a yak, and a few barrels of fish," his brother replied.

"Loses?"

"Two Nadders, a Zippleback, and a Nightmare."

Night's heart grew heavy at the news. He should've been able to help. He was their protector. Those humans were taking away more and more of his family every raid.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. We're prepared for this," the Night Fury assured him.

"You hate it, too, though." Night pulled off his hood, and he stared at the horizon as they started to approach their island.

"But what can we do about it?" his brother shot back. "We've been at war for three centuries. Sure, we don't all hate them as much as humans hate us. But a war so long filled with nothing but vengeance and hate, how can we turn it positive?"

"I don't think that's possible," Night said coldly. "I just said I wished this didn't happen as much as it did. I hate those humans more than they hate us."

"What about your parents?"

"My mother was the one who raised me, and she was killed," growled Night. "If I had my way, I'd make all of them pay for what they did."

For once, his brother had nothing to say, and Night was glad for that. It just wasn't possible to turn a three-centuries-old hatred the exact opposite. No one on either side was open to change. And even if they were, no one could change that much.

When they made it back home, they were right on time for breakfast. Every one of them was hoping they weren't a part of it. The Fury brothers watched with hope as their brethren dropped the food into the Queen's dinning hole. Night scanned the line to make sure everyone had a large amount or size to give to her Highness. Only one stood out, once again, to his dismay. A Gronkle, a strong, gentle, but slow creature. Capturing food and fighting wasn't easy when you're slow.

The Gronkle dropped a small sheep in, and by small, it means skinny. It was barely more than a sickly bag of bones. Everyone cowered behind the rock columns, knowing full well what was coming next. A large snout emerged from the eerie hole. It opened its jaws to show large teeth. In an instant, the Gronkle was eaten whole.

"NIGHT! FURY!" the queen roared.

The Fury brothers flew out from their spot. She scowled at the two of them for such a lowly meal. Then she groaned with annoyance at yet another loss once Night gave her his report.

"I should've eaten you when I had the chance all those years ago!" she screamed at him. "Lucky for you, I didn't because of that Night Fury!"

Night took the scolding, but it was hard to stay calm at the mention of his mother. She passed away five years ago. Her injuries had been too severe for her to last through the night. That was the day his hatred for humans began. And it grew more and more each day.

After being scolded, both of them went to their nest. It rested in the far back of the mountain. All was dark until Night had his brother light up several torches. The cave used to be plain until he thought in human tools. At times, he was an inventor of sorts, resulting in many of his weapons. Being the only human among an island full of dragons wasn't easy, so he had to learn to take care of himself at a young age. Reaching his desk, Night plopped down on his stool. His body was tired from today's activities and stress filled his tired muscles.

"Don't let her words get to you, Night," his brother said as he went to lie in their nest.

"I'm not," sighed Night. "Let's get some rest. Then we can get breakfast later."

With that, he crawled next to his brother and in an instant, fell into a deep sleep.