Al
"Good morning, Al," Sire said, a smile on her face, though it wasn't her usual one. There was something different about it, as though she was trying to hide something. I noticed something else, too: Her hair was significantly shorter than normal. She was wearing it in two braids, similar to the ones her mother wore. She had a kraken around her forehead, and she wore a light blue robe with long, draping sleeves.
"Good morning, Sire," I said, rubbing my bare arms. It was cold out here, and while Siren seemed pretty warm in her robe, with Toothless behind her, I was simply shivering.
"Do you wanna pick your dragon?" she asked. "That way, you don't have to rely on me to get you to Dragon's Edge."
I thought about it for a moment. I learned a lot from Siren in the past two months, even if she gave me a lot of work. I could only imagine how much work the kids were getting.
At this point, most people would've been surprised that the kids managed to keep Siren a secret for so long, but the adults were so obsessed with winning the war with the Celts, it almost felt like a world without adults. Pop was shoving it down my throat that I had to keep the honour of the Meatheads, even though he never bothered teaching me to be chief properly.
There were so many Celts, I told Dad that maybe it's best to end the war and just get a treaty. I'd been on the battlefield before, and just the sheer number of Celts horrified me, as well as the way they looked. Sire described it to me, but nothing prepared me for the actual warriors. Every single one of us were lucky to escape with our lives. I'd be amazed if we even won this war, given that it would take three Vikings to fight one Celt.
It was pointless going against these kind of warriors.
"Sure," I said. She grabbed my hand and we mounted Toothless. Soon, we were flying.
There was a cave, and it was hollow, with the end, if there was one, being covered in complete darkness.
"You'll come with me. The one who seems most attached to you will be yours," Sire said. She turned to her pet dragon, Toothless, who was scratching his armpit. She reached out and touched his nozzle. He purred softly.
Siren grabbed my hand and led me into the cave as soon as she lit a lantern, using Toothless' flame. Her dragon continued itching his armpit as she led me into the cave. All around us, Monstrous Nightmares, Gronckles, Deadly Nadders, Stormcutters, Zipplebacks, Hotburples, Thunderdrums, and so forth were all around us. Not once did I see a Night Fury.
The cave grew darker and cooler as we went through, only being illuminated by our lantern. I heard a thudding sound behind me. Siren and I turned around, the lantern held high in her hand.
In front of us was an enormous purple Monstrous Nightmare. It was breathing, and teeth jutted our from her lower jaw like rocks on a beach. Her pupils were dilated a little, and she seemed to be sniffing me.
Siren gripped my hand tighter and led me closer to the dragon. She put her lantern to the side and held out her own hand. The dragon came closer and closer until it came into contact with Siren's hand. Siren put my hand on top of hers, then pulled her hand out from under mine.
Her skin was soft, but also scaly. If you rubbed your hand up, it was rough, but when your rubbed it down, it was smooth.
The dragon purred, and her eyelids dropped. It was like she was happy.
For some reason, I began to laugh. I felt a thrill go through me as my hand remained on the skin of the dragon. I felt in awe of my new dragon. I wanted to name her now. I thought of the name I'd give to a pet, if I had one.
Well, I did now.
"Valkyrie," I said out loud. Odin would be proud to hear a dragon being named after his Valkyries.
"She's yours now," Siren said, lifting her lamp up to see us. "Bonding's important because it helps you tame a wild dragon more easily. It also helps you heal an injured dragon more easily."
I put my forehead on Valkyrie's nozzle and closed my eyes.
I could feel Valkyrie do the same.
