Confusion

Tired, downhearted, and confused, Thorer lay curled up in the back of his cave. His stomach growled and clenched with hunger, but he didn't seem to have the strength, or even the desire, to go and get something to eat. His chest felt so heavy, like there was a boulder inside of it, and it was weighing him down.

Not to mention, his head was aching terrible. It started to hurt when he and the other dragons were returning back to the nest, just on the outside of the mist barrier. It was almost like some invisible force was trying to penetrate his brain.

However, the headache didn't stop the bombardment of questions racing through his mind.

Why did the dragons just leave Gerda at the mercy of those…creatures? Was it because they were so fearful disobeying their "Queen" that they just left one Gronckle to be slaughtered so Einmyria could get her meal? Why? She didn't care about them, so why should they care about her?

Why do those poor dragons even stay here? Couldn't they just fly away? It was like something was forcing them to stay here. It was almost as if they were almost completely oblivious to the very idea of "freedom".

But if that was so, why was Thorer the only one who could sense that something was wrong in this place? Or…did the others sense it, but were just too frightened of Einmyria to speak up?

Aside from the questions regarding the nest, Thorer couldn't get the questions he had about the little Viking he saw in the village out of his mind.

That boy was as skinny as a twig, and showed to cower in the face of a dragon, yet Einmyria wanted that Viking dead. But why? He didn't show much of being a threat. So why did she want that Viking to be eliminated so badly?

Although Thorer couldn't understand why, he figured that it must have something to do with the fact that the monstrous Queen of the nest didn't want the Night Fuy to come into contact with any of the Vikings on that village. For one thing, all the dragons seemed to go out of their way to keep Thorer at a distance during the raid. And secondly, when he confronted Gerda about it, she never gave him a straight answer.

But why? Why was everyone being so secretive around him?

The only thing Thorer could think of was that this all had something to do with some prophecy he apparently didn't know about until a few suns ago when he confronted Skagi for the final time. After all, that evil Skrill hunted Thorer for two years because it. And it was the whole reason why his race had been wiped out.

Thorer had no doubt that he had something to do with this prophecy, but he still didn't know what it was all about. What was this prophecy? What did it have to do with him and a Viking?

Nothing made sense anymore.

"Father, mother," the Night Fury whispered in a weak voice, "I don't know what to do anymore. I know you're trying to tell me something, but I don't know what it is. Please help me."

Soon after Thorer whispered those words, he heard the sound of paw-steps approaching. He slowly turned his head and saw a blue and yellow Deadly Nadder named Kari approaching him. She carried in her mouth two medium-sized Icelandic cod. Thorer had gotten used to seeing her doing this, as she was the dragon who primarily took care of him while he was recovering from his injuries.

Although he would never say it out loud, she was the only dragon he actually liked seeing in this horrible nest. She never looked at him with contempt or annoyance, and she respected his loner behavior. It was only on rare occasions that she would stay behind to strike up a conversation. They didn't last very long, but they did give Thorer a small sense of company.

When she reached Thorer, Kari lowered her head and put the catches of fish directly in front of his face.

"I thought you might be hungry," she said in a caring voice.

"Thanks." Thorer mumbled.

The Night Fury shifted his position slightly and began to eat up the fish that was in front of him. It was only then that he realized just how hungry he was. Every time he would swallow one fish, his stomach would seem to beg for more.

Unfortunately, his hunger wasn't satisfied by the small amount of fish.

Kari seemed to notice this and became a little concerned for the Night Fury.

"Do you want me to get you anything else to eat?" she asked.

"No," Thorer shook his head, "I'll be fine."

As if wanting to betray his words, the Night Fury's belly grumbled loudly, as if it was angry with him for not filling it up completely. Thorer curled up with embarrassment and scowled at his abdomen.

"You shut up!" he snapped.

Kari couldn't help but giggle, thinking that Thorer was just being silly. However, she immediately stopped when he shot a harsh glare at her.

"Oh, sorry," she quickly apologized. "It's just…I've never seen anyone have a sense of humor like that."

"It wasn't supposed to be funny." Thorer growled. "But it's better then just keeping all my frustration inside. If I can't talk back to Einmyria, then I can at least talk back to by own body."

Kari gave a small, sympathetic frown at that statement while Thorer just turned away.

What he just said sounded extremely pitiful and he knew it. In a nest where dragons weren't even allowed to speak their minds without facing severe repercussions from a horrible monster, the only way they could get their anger and frustration out was by trash talking themselves. Thorer knew that it was only a matter of time before this accursed place would drive him to complete insanity.

"This place," he snarled. "Why do you all even stay here? Don't you know that there's something evil here?"

Kari stared back at Thorer for a moment with a worried expression, as if she did have something to say about the manner, but was too afraid to speak it. The Night Fury gave a small expression of surprised realization. There was no doubt that even she knew that there was something evil here.

But then…why did she still choose to stay here?

The Nadder then looked over her shoulder to the entrance of the cavern before lowering her head down to the Night Fury's.

"Yes, in all honesty," she whispered. "But…what can we do about it? This is the only place we have to go to. There isn't another island like this for miles around. Besides, we can't leave here even if we wanted to."

"Why not?" Thorer asked. "Can't you just fly away and find a new home? There are lots of islands around here and…"

"Einmyria controls us!" Kari interrupted, her voice sounding like she was full of despair. "We can't escape her mind control no matter how hard we try! That's why we are always drawn back here! And if we try to resist, her control only gets harder to escape! We can't escape, Thorer! We're trapped!"

Thorer's eyes widened when the Nadder said that. That was probably the most horrible and vile thing he had ever heard since he came to the nest.

These poor dragons, they were all slaves to a control-freak, one that had no mercy or conscience. That monster was only concerned with how strong they were to serve her. And every day, they lived under the fear of her taking control of their minds. Or worse: devouring them alive.

They didn't choose to stay here; they were being forced to stay in this devilish place!

"None of us can resist her control." Kari solemnly stated. "I'm sure you've experienced it by now. That's what caused of all your memory blanks."

Upon hearing that last statement, Thorer looked back up at Kari with a bewildered face.

"What memory blanks?" he asked.

"Huh?" Kari looked at the Night Fury with surprise. "You mean you haven't been experiencing memory blanks?"

Thorer shook his head. "The worst I felt is a massive headache. I mean it does feel like something's trying to penetrate my brain, but it never quite gets through. As a result, I just get a bad headache. But I've haven't had any "memory blanks"."

After Thorer has said those words, Kari stared at him with a kind of mystified shock.

"You are the one!" she said in a hushed whispered.

Thorer jolted up when he heard the Nadder say that.

"What did you say?!" he said harshly.

"N-Nothing!" Kari quickly stuttered, her expression suddenly morphing into utter terror.

"Kari!" Thorer snarled out of confrontation. "You know something, don't you?! I'm not stupid! I know that there's a prophecy that involves me! I've been hunted my whole life because of it! Everyone seems to know what it is except for me! Please tell me: what is this prophecy?!"

"Thorer!" Kari desperately screeched.

The Night Fury stepped back as the Nadder raised her voice. She looked around the cavern with a fearful expression, trying to see if anyone had heard the conversation that had just taken place.

Although there was no dragon to be seen, she still looked very uneasy.

She then turned backed to Thorer with a hint of regret in her eyes.

"Listen," she whispered, "speaking of that prophecy is forbidden in this nest. If the Queen ever found out I said anything, she'll…"

Kari shuddered with fear as the thought of her possible fate haunted her mind.

"So please," she continued, pleading, "don't bring it up again. As far as you're concerned, you know nothing about it."

"But…"

"Please, Thorer." Kari begged. "For both our sakes, just leave it alone."

For a moment, Thorer just glared at Kari. Once again, the threat of Einmyria eliminating anyone who defied her had prevented the Night Fury from getting any answers.

Still, he couldn't blame Kari from living in fear and wanting to survive. She had lived in this place longer than him, so she knew better than him of the other terrors that monster of a Queen could commit.

Begrudgingly, he agreed to Kari's plea.

"Fine," he grumbled. "We never had this conversation."

Kari let out a deeply relieved sigh. "Thank you, Thorer."

Thorer didn't respond.

Kari then turned around and walked out of the Night Fury's den, casting only one last regretful look back at him before rounding the corner and disappearing.

Once again, Thorer lay back down on the stone floor and curled up into a ball. Only now, he was more confused and discouraged than ever. Even more questions were racing through his mind, and it made him frustrated. For now he knew that as long as he stayed in this horrid nest, he would never get the answers he longed for. He desperately wanted to escape this place and find the answers to his questions, but he had a feeling that Einmyria would only stop him if he even tried. And that could end either terribly, or REALLY terribly.

The fact was plain and simple: he was trapped.

Just the mere thought of that caused an unbearable amount of despair to quickly grow inside of Thorer's heart.

"I guess there's no point in me knowing about some prophecy anyway," he mumbled to himself, miserably. "Whatever it is, it probably won't be fulfilled now. I'm just a slave to this monster's nest. I just need to accept it."

With that awful thought in his mind, Thorer closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, wanting to end the night.