CHAPTER 4

Hakan's POV

As the sun peeked over the jagged, rocky horizon, staining every shadow with tinges of gold and orange, I soundlessly winged my way back to the hidden cove. The Human boy on my back hadn't said a word since we attacked the village, and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't at least a little worried about him. On top of that, he had a weapon now, the crude, iron broadsword clutched tightly in his pale hand. He could easily puncture my heart with it now and go back to the village that he grew up in. It would be quick, just a strong downward motion straight between the wings and into my chest to rearrange my would be a lot of blood, but I don't think that that would bother him too much.

The only issue was that he couldn't fly away to save himself; he'd fall with me, down into the forest below us. Was that the only thing staying his hand? Was that the only reason I was still breathing?

Gently, I lowered us down to the forest floor, my knees bending slightly on impact. I let the young hybrid leap off of me and lowered my head to the ground, whimpering softly. Night Furies, by instinct, were prideful creatures. We owned the sky, ruled the night, and held the stars in our wings. The only exception was with family. Bravado didn't matter with someone of your own blood. That's why I didn't feel the need to keep my head high. This strange boy...I cared for him as an older brother would his sibling.

And I felt horribly guilty for having forced him into this.

Said boy was walking numbly away from me, using his stolen weapon as a crutch, his steps slow and dazed. He would lean heavily on it, forcing it's dullish point into the solid ground, and moving his remaining foot forward. The process looked tedious and painful.

He didn't smell of fear, just adrenaline.

"I-I'm sorry," I stuttered. "I shouldn't have done that before you were ready. I didn't mean-"

"No," he said. His Dragonese was smoother now. It was almost elegant. Strange, considering that he had only picked up the language a day ago. "It's fine.."

I tilted my head to the side, my black ear flaps flopping down with it. "Kid, not to be blunt or anything, but barely a few hours ago, I had to pin you down and force you to come with me. You're telling me that you're just suddenly ok with with it?"

"Hakan," the green eyed boy said, his gaze thoughtful and distant. "I felt something up there. I felt something new." He hobbled over to one of the cove's many large rocks and sat, careful not to land on the remains of his left leg. He sighed. "B-Berk never felt like home to me. You're right. I was a runt. I was something to be stepped on, the mistake, the freak, the abomination." People were supposed to cry during these things, right? A single tear would roll down their face in the dark, making their skin shine with the light of the stars. Perhaps the theatricals were just for the weak. No tears fell from his eyes. His complexion was a sickly pale.

"But now, I feel free. I…" he paused and took a steady breath. "When that blast hit the tower, it made me feel alive, Hakan. It was like I had never felt anything real before then. It was amazing.It... it was amazing."

oOo

Hiccup's POV

And that is how, in a single night, I destroyed myself and built something new, something stronger, from the pieces.

I could've sworn that the look on the Night Fury's face was one of satisfaction. It probably was. He had wanted this.

Although, was that the way to look at it? Perhaps he had simply known that this would happen. Was in inevitable? Was I fated to quench the Night Fury's thirst for a soldier? Was I always destined to be the Demon that the village thought I was? I knew not, but that didn't stop me from wondering.

"I told you," said Hakan. "It is in your blood. It was only a matter of time before you embraced it." He said it with utter surety. It was enough to answer my questions.

"You were right, Hakan. I should've believed you."

The dragon looked at me with calculating eyes, his pupils mirroring mine. Then, he spoke.

"I've thought of a name for you," he said simply, his acid irises not leaving mine.

"Oh?"was my only response.

He stood up proudly, something he did quite often. It wasn't quite arrogance; it was more like loud confidence. "You shall be called Egil."

I chuckled. "Egil?"

"It seems quite fitting. Egil means 'awe.'" His rigid posture drooped slightly, not in disappointment, simply in relaxation. It almost seemed like a sign of trust. "'Awe' and 'Fear.'"

I looked at the ground, my brain still feeling the effects of the blissful high that the raid had put me on. "Egil Haddock…" I muttered to myself in Dragonese. The language came so easily to me now.

"No,"Hakan corrected me, somehow hearing the faint whisper that had left my lips. "Not Haddock. Your name, young Fury, is Egil Nyx."

I looked up at him. "Nyx?"I voiced, the 'x' sounding harsh in the reptilian tongue.

"Yes,"answered Hakan, his huge eyes full of emotion, but I couldn't quite decide what kind of emotion it was. "Now, brother, we need to get you back in the air."

oOo

Astrid's POV

I winced as I felt the sharp end of a feather jabbing into my side. I cursed under my breath, smoothing the rogue flight device back into my crimson wing. The wind today was harsh, and flying in it tended to ruffle a few feathers.

"Yes, but are you sure that there is absolutely no one in the village like that?" I asked another Viking. If the traitor that I had seen the previous night was of the Archipelago, I was determined to find him.

"For the last time, lass," the frustrated man in front of me, a medic, started, throwing his hands up in annoyance. "There are no child amputees on Berk! I would know if there were. I would've had t' chop the limb off m'self!" Evidently growing tired of my charades, he began to walk away. "Ye were probably just tired, Astrid," he said, before eventually leaving, muttering something about 'stupid kids,'and 'late for dinner.'

I wouldn't accept it. I know what I saw.

The figure was male. Had he been wearing furs or something of the sort, perhaps I would've been able to identify him easier. His lack of a leg was only illuminated for a fraction of a second by the glow of the exploding tower, but a fraction of a second was all I needed.

Wings...if only the light of the fire had shone just a little brighter. It would be so easy to pick out the culprit had I just seen the kid's wings. It was obviously a kid; his frame was small, his limbs gangly, too long for the rest of him. Gods, that millisecond had told me so much.

"Astrid!"

I looked up. Above me, a pair of wings that perfectly matched the color of the periwinkle sky fluttered, and the blond figure that they belonged to came swiftly into view.

"Are you still looking for Mr. One Leg the dragon rider?" Ruffnut mocked as she landed, stumbling slightly on impact, but snickering all the same. I couldn't keep myself from grinning at her antics.

"Well, when you say it like that, I sound crazy," I told her, shoving my loose bangs into my headband. Ruff was the closest thing I had to a best friend, and I, unlike most, appreciated her rather twisted sense of humor.

"You are crazy," she assured me, gently ruffling my hair and freeing my previously captured bangs from their bindings. It was kind of a thing we did, screwing up each other's hair, cracking jokes about each other. Y'know, all in good fun.

"I really did see something, Ruff. It's just...no one listens in this stupid village!" Whoa, I did sound crazy. Like some conspiracy theorist or something. Hmm, I'd have to work on that.

"Oh, yeah, Ast, I totally get it." I would've thought that the sentence was sincere, but the hysterical smirk plastered on her face told me otherwise.

I disguised my laugh with a scowl. "Whatever Thorston."

"Yeah, 'whatever'" Ruff laughed with me. "C'mon, Astrid. We have to get to dragon training."

I paused. "I thought it hadn't even started yet! Since when do you care about dragon training?" I said, shoving her gently to the side.

"Since Demon Boy stopped showing up!" she answered, recoiling from my blow and retaliating with one of her own. "Didn't you hear? We would've started training earlier, but the chief wanted to wait until Useless...matured a bit. He's been gone for a while now."

Wait, what? Hiccup was missing? I mean, sure, I hadn't seen him lately, but I really didn't think much of it.

"Well," Ruff corrected herself. "I say a while. Really, it's only been like two days, but the hope is that, if we start now, he won't be able to join." She paused for a moment, before adding: "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"Yeah," I said, quickening my pace. "Let's get to the arena." I didn't let on that my head was swimming. Hiccup was a toothpick of a boy, a mongrel who looked like he hadn't been fed in a good five years. People, especially not that person, didn't just decide to leave. The kid wouldn't last ten minutes in the wild, let alone a night. And then there was the matter of the mystery rider, the traitor atop the beast. People had died last night by the fire of the Night Fury. The rider wasn't above killing. I couldn't doubt that, if he had found Hiccup in the woods for some reason, he wouldn't hesitate to kill him, to murder him in cold blood.

Wait, was I suggesting that this dragon rider person killed Hiccup? If I thought I was crazy before, I must have been insane now.

Ruffnut and I started to run, rapidly gaining speed before launching into the air, our wings catching the wind and lifting us up.

My mind still wondered. Surely, Hiccup had just gotten lost. He would back soon. He had to be. This was just a coincidence, a fluke. Light plays strange, twisted tricks. One had been played on me the night of the raid. I didn't see a boy. I saw a dragon. That was all.

But there was piece of me that still asked, softly, and alone in the dark.

What if?