PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I know, I know I haven't updated AT ALL until now, and I AM SO SORRY! Okay, challenge me now: This story will be finished either by Halloween or on Halloween. Challenge me here! :) I am going to try and do it! Two days to go? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! :) Shout-outs:
Jesusfreak: Whoa. That's a GREAT idea! I'll have to do that! Maybe look for it Friday? Or possibly Thursday afternoon, or something. Love the idea! :) Thanks for it! And I'm SO glad you liked "This is War." It's the second longest story I wrote (for words). "How Not To Ride Your Dragon" still beats it, though, so...yup. :)
Arcaane: Ahh, yeah. I'm kinda a fan for creepy stuff and stuff like that. Just as long as it's not too creepy. :)
AnimeAngel: Everyone always seems to go missing at night. I have no idea why. It just happens. *shrugs shoulders awkwardly* No idea. Have some more candy! :) *tosses monster size bag out to you and everyone else*
xFaerieValkyriex: I know what you mean, although I'd probably go out with them. I've always been a curious girl, and Curiosity killed the Author, so...yep, I'm dead. :)
CHAPTER 3: I HATE LEGENDS THAT AREN'T LEGENDS
They met at the academy for brief rundown of what they were going to do. The twins and Snotlout armed themselves with swords (although Hiccup clearly stated they were going to try to not kill it), and Astrid had armed herself with her battle axe. Hiccup just stuck with grabbing a few arrows and his shield, along with the knife he kept on his belt. Dahlia armed herself with her sai, although she didn't really know how to use it, and she wasn't going with them, since she didn't have a dragon she could fly. She was going to wait at the village and act as a protector.
"You guys ready?" Hiccup ventured.
"Ready!" said Snotlout.
"I wasn't talking to you, Snotlout, I already knew you were ready," said Hiccup. "Dahlia, Fishlegs, Astrid, you three ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Astrid breathed, mounting Stormfly as quickly as she possibly could, almost as if the academy floor burned her feet. "And that really isn't much, to be frank, Hiccup."
"I'm ready!" shouted Dahlia. "Ready to totally take this dragon down once you guys lead it to Berk for me!"
"Guys, I told you, we aren't taking it down unless it proves to be a deadly threat to Berk," said Hiccup. "If I can train it, we're NOT killing it."
"And if you can't train it," said Dahlia, "then we get to-"
"Stop," said Hiccup. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
The others mounted their dragons and looked into the sky. Pitch black, causing the moon to stand out, almost piercingly. It was a full moon, and Halloween, and they were chasing some Incliciar Dragon known more commonly as the "Ghost Dragon."
Whoopity Doo.
"Let's head out," said Hiccup.
"Wait!" said Fishlegs. "Aren't you going to say something encouraging to help us on our way?"
Hiccup hesitated. "Don't die."
...
Not the speech Fishlegs was hoping for.
They flew over Raven Point, searching the ground for any sign of anything. So far, though, they found nothing. Until they saw...IT.
There was something moving swiftly in the shadows. Hiccup was the first to notice it. After he did, he urged Toothless down and dismounted, the other riders and dragons following him and doing the same.
Then they saw IT.
It emerged from the shadows in the blink of an eye. Its body was glowing, its eyes piercing red. It reminded Hiccup of an evil version of the Flightmare...only for the obvious differences.
Its head was flat and like Toothless', although its eyes were solid red. That was it. No cornea, no white, no pupil. Just red. On its tail were spikes, like Deadly Nadders had on their tails. Its body was like a Monstrous Nightmare's, with dark blue stripes streaked across its back, making the light blue color of its glowing skin stand out even brighter. Solid white fangs hung out of its mouth, seven inches long.
And then it roared. It was the most piercing, loud, and screechy noise any of the riders had ever heard. You know that sound it makes when you scratch your fingers across a blackboard? Now imagine that ten times worse and about a hundred times louder.
That's underestimating how horrible this roar was.
The riders clamped their hands over their ears, but it hardly did anything to cut out the sound. It was almost blinding; the riders closed their eyes as tight as possible and gripped their ears so harshly they thought it would leave bruises.
The youths fell to their knees and started screaming themselves; that's how awful it was. The dragons were completely freaking out, running rampid in circles and rolling around, trying to drown out the sound.
And then the Incliciar stopped. Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Snotlout were breathing heavily, still holding their ears, Astrid was whimpering, Ruffnut was crying (strange enough), and Hiccup was hyperventilating. But he was also outraged.
He stood up before the dragon expected him to, grabbed one of his arrows, pulled the trigger, turning his shield into a crossbow, loaded the arrow, aimed, and then fired straight at the monstrous dragon.
It sank into the Incliciar's shoulder, and it roared in fury. It turned to Hiccup and let out a sharp roar, but Hiccup stood his ground. He notched another arrow into the crossbow and fired. It sank into the dragon's forearm, leaving the dragon to roar in fury again.
But then it did something unexpected. It gripped the arrows in its teeth and yanked them out in one swift movement. Then, the dragon licked both arrow wounds. In just an instant later, the two wounds vanished as if they had never existed.
Hiccup looked torn between saying "That's awesome!" or "That's okay, I didn't need my appetite anyways."
They stared in disbelief at the Incliciar.
"That's not...normal, is it?" asked Astrid shakily.
"It certainly is not," said Fishlegs. "Dragons shouldn't be able to just...heal themselves like that!"
"Dragons shouldn't be able to do a lot of things," said Hiccup, "but they do." He turned to the twins. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you two head back to the village. Snotlout, go with them. Don't let the dragon near the plaza."
"And...what are the rest of us going to do?" asked Fishlegs as the others took off in the opposite direction.
"We're going to stop it," said Hiccup with determination. He grabbed one of his arrows and notched it into the crossbow.
"You can't kill it!" shouted Astrid. "We've already tried that!"
"Who said anything about killing it?" asked Hiccup.
He fired the arrow. It met its mark in the dragon's front right leg. The Incliciar roared in fury, gripped the arrow in its teeth, and then yanked it out of its leg. The wound sealed over in another instant, but Hiccup had caught the beast's attention.
"Hey, Ghost Breath!" shouted Hiccup. "I'm over here!"
The Incliciar turned its head and roared. Hiccup fastened another arrow in the shield-morph-into-a-crossbow contraption, pulled back, and fired. It was an accurate shot; just barely grazing the dragon's back.
"Are you gonna fight me or not!?" shouted Hiccup. "Come at me, you horrible BEAST!"
Astrid wished he would just keep his mouth closed, but of course, he was Hiccup, so it was virtually impossible. The Incliciar roared at Hiccup and then chased him as he ran in the opposite direction.
"HICCUP!" shouted Astrid.
Hiccup turned and looked at the Incliciar. He notched another arrow in his crossbow, turned around, and fired long and hard at the monstrous beast of legend. The dragon, though, was able to dodge the arrow. Once it did, it unfurled its wings and flapped into the air.
For a second, Astrid thought the worst was over. Then, the Incliciar swooped over Hiccup and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him into the air.
"Hiccup!" Astrid screamed.
She mounted Stormfly, but then the Incliciar turned and roared again. Stormfly dropped to the ground, unconscious, as did all the other dragons. And then, the riders fell unconscious, the sound of Hiccup's screaming and the dragon's roaring pounding against their eardrums.
