The next day, the villagers were gathering wheat as usual and among the working crowd, a little boy heard flapping wings and looked to the air. And then a high-pitched banshee whistling was heard.
"Father, Father, look!" The boy called to his father.
Close by, his father soon saw he was looking at, and soon ran.
Then everyone ran for their lives as then the dragon, along with Toothless, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch, and Windshear flew overhead of them. But they didn't had their saddles on as the Riders were nowhere to be seen.
And Toothless strangely had his left fin covered by a piece of black fabric on both side. Even though he can't truly fly without Hiccup, but the locking mechanism that is used was on allowing him to fly, but he only do gliding most of the time.
"Dragon!" A man yelled.
The boy rushed to his father as they ran.
"Out of the way!" The dragon said. "Out of the way! Out of the way!"
The team of 7 dragons flew over the fields as Barf and Belch flew and spewed a cloud of gas, and then the dragon blasted a massive stream of fire through his nose. Causing a massive flame as everyone ran for their lives, and the dragon coughed as he flew through the smoke.
They then near a few structures as everyone fled, and then Toothless tucks into a dive, and then fires a plasma blast.
The dragon then snorted a fireball and it hits a small farmhouse as it catches fire.
Then Stormfly dove in and fired a blast at a cart of hay, and then Hookfang lit himself as he fires a stream of fire at some stakes as well as Meatlug firing a lava blast at a wooden beam. Then Windshear fired a blast at a wall sending bricks in the air.
And even a large section slid off after her wing sliced through it.
Rushing out from inside a structure, Felton came out only in pants as he held onto them and saw what was going on. And then some of Stormfly's and Windshear's spines flew by and hit the wall.
And then Bowen appeared on his horse.
"Pesky critters, dragons." Bowen said.
Felton turns to him, and narrows his eyes. "You!" He momentarily pointed and his pants dropped a bit as he quickly grabs it.
Bowen laughed a bit. "Like big rats." He said. "You never seem to get rid of them. Unless you pay me 2 bags of gold, in advance."
Later, Bowen examines a large arrow, and soon placed on a catapult by the shore of a large lake.
Nearby, everyone including Felton watched as Toothless, Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, Barf and Belch and Windshear circled over the lake.
"Come on, Dragon." Bowen said. "Come on, Dragon."
Then the dragon appeared as he flew towards them, and then Toothless broke formation of the other dragons and flew towards Bowen.
And soon, they were both in range.
"Yes!" Bowen said and quickly brought out his sword.
He then raise it up, and slashed the rope as the arrow was launched forward and Bowen turns to the 2 dragons.
The arrow then flew right next to Toothless as it missed by an inch, and he then acted like he was hit.
And the arrow nears the dragon, and he quickly grabs it and placed under his front left leg.
"OW!" The dragon cried in "pain".
Then the dragon and Toothless fell through the air as Toothless played dead, and the dragon secretly lets go of the arrow. And then he dives into the water as Toothless hits the water near him.
Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch, and Windshear saw them hit the water and quickly retreated as they flew off.
The villagers then cheered.
After getting paid, Bowen rides off on his horse.
In the lake, the dragon and Toothless swam underneath the surface as they swam off to a distance.
Once far enough, the dragon and Toothless surfaced poking their heads from the water and looked back as they were far enough away to be seen.
And then they turned to the shoreline nearby, and the dragon eyes a flock of sheep.
"Hmm." The dragon eyed the sheep and smacked his lips. "Hello."
Toothless stared at him.
Later, the Riders have retrieved their dragons as Bowen was busy counting his gold.
"28, 29." Bowen counted and laughed. "Most profitable, Dragon. I should have met you a long time ago. As well as your gang, Chief."
"There is much gold in the world." The dragon said as he flew around. "Perhaps when you've had your fill of it, you'll no longer need me."
"I am a Knight of the Old Code." Bowen said. "My word is my bond."
"No compunctions then?" The dragon said as he twirled in the air.
"About what?" Bowen asked.
"Well, such deception hardly befits a Knight of the Old Code." The dragon said.
Bowen laughed. "Fleecing Einon's lackeys." He said. "That's a service to mankind."
"Is it?" The dragon said flying just above the field. "When you squeeze the nobility, it's the peasants who feel pinch." He lands on the ground on one foot.
"That's not my concern." Bowen said. "Why should I stick my neck out for people afraid to risk their own? Don't clutter up a clever scheme with morality."
"Mmm, so be it... Knight of the Old Code." The dragon said standing on 2 legs and then takes off into the air again.
"If I wanted my conscience pricked, I would have stayed with the priest!" Bowen said. "Huh! And what does a dragon know of the Old Code, anyway?"
"The Old Code?" Fishlegs frowned riding on Meatlug.
"His blade defends the helpless." The dragon said. "His might upholds the weak. His words speaks only truth." He then lands next to Bowen.
"Shut up!" Bowen snapped. "I remember. That's all it is, a memory. Nothing can bring it back."
"So sound like one who tried." The dragon said.
"And failed." Bowen added. "So I no longer try to change the world, Dragon, I just try to get by in it."
"Yes, it's better than death, I suppose." The dragon said.
"Oh, is it?" Bowen said turning to him. "I should think you'd welcome death. You know, the last of your kind, all your friends dead, hunted wherever you go."
The dragon then stopped in his tracks.
"Do you delight in reminding me?" The dragon said. "Yes, Knight, I do long for death. But fear it."
Bowen then stopped as well as the Riders as neither of them would expected something like that to be said by a dragon.
"Why?" Bowen asked turning to him. "Aside from your misery, what's to lose?"
"Yeah, big guy." Snotlout said. "What else you have to lose apart from your misery and loneliness?"
"My soul." The dragon said.
Bowen remained silent as well as the Riders. Hiccup and the Riders were actually touched by what he said, as even Snotlout.
After a few moments, Bowen then heads off on his horse as the Riders followed on their dragons.
And the dragon soon followed them as they walked across the fields.
Towards nightfall, at Einon's castle, guards stood keeping watch.
In the dining hall, Einon and several of his men were eating as Brok seems to be in some kind of pulling contest with 2 men. And then he broke 1 man's fingers in his grip.
"Finish him, Brok!" Einon cheered.
At the end of the table, was Aislinn playing a game of chess with a man.
"Well, are you a man?" Felton asked.
Einon then tossed a piece of meat to a Neapolitan Mastiff dog and it soon started eating it.
Brok soon wrestles the man to the table near Aislinn as Einon laughed.
And soon everyone clapped and Brok pushed the man off the table.
"Should he continue, Mother?" Einon asked.
"Oh, the fields belong to the apparently inexhaustible Sir Brok, my son." Aislinn said.
Brok then laughed as Einon got up and grabs a pitcher refilling his glass. But then he noticed something as he angles the pitcher and saw the reflection behind him and saw Kara sneaking into the castle coming to avenge her father's death the day before.
Einon glanced back for a moment, and placed the pitcher down on the table.
Kara then brought out a dagger ready to finish the tyrant king. And then she jumps down as Einon quickly turns and caught her and pins her down on the table. Brok attempts to take the dagger, but Einon soon held it by Kara's throat.
"The quarry!" Einon said recognizing her from the other day.
Kara struggled under his grip.
"First you beg mercy for your father's fate." Einon said. "Then you try to avenge it. Now, you'll share it."
"In your kingdom, Einon, there are worse fates than death." Kara said glaring at him.
Aislinn watched close by.
"I'll think one up for you." Einon said. "Take her away."
Then 2 guards grabbed her.
"No! No!" Kara yelled.
They then dragged her away.
"No!" Kara angrily said. "He killed my father! He killed my father!"
Brok then follows them.
"He killed my father!" Kara angrily yelled.
Aislinn then turns to her son as Einon then angrily slams the dagger into a loaf of bread on the table.
Early morning, on the next day, a layer of mist gently being carried by the wind drifts through the mountains.
At the top of his castle, Einon stood by some wooden stakes as he jabbed a dagger in them. He was in thought and walks around as he looked at the handle, and then he looked as if he remembered something.
In the dungeon cell, Kara was chained to the wall as then the door opened and she got up as it was Einon.
Einon then entered the cell as the guard outside closed the door as he nears her.
Kara then attempts to lunge at him, but the chains pulled her back an inch from him.
"I remember you now." Einon said now truly recognizing her. "I remember you. Your hair, like fire." He stepped forward as Kara backed away from him. "You gave me this scar." He moves part of his shirt aside revealing the scar on his chest that should have killed him. "Didn't you?"
Einon held the dagger blade, and lifts Kara's chin up with the handle.
"I... owe... you." Einon said.
Towards sunset, among the valley's cliffside, Bowen placed his sword blade on some old grass. And then scraps a rock on the blade trying to light a fire to cook some meat on a stick over it and blows on the sparks trying to start the fire.
Then the dragon appeared and lays down as he rested his head on his right hand. And the Riders were setting up a fire to cook some fish as dinner, as even the dragons watched Bowen trying to get his started.
"I can, uh-" The dragon offered. "I really can."
Bowen continues scraping the rock on his sword as Snotlout turns to Hookfang and snapped his fingers.
The dragon then inhales and placed his pinky claw over his right nostril, and then a stream of fire came out of his left nostril. And Hookfang breathes out a stream of flame as well as both flame streams hit Bowen's firepit as he backs away from it. It took a few seconds before Hookfang and the dragon to finally stopped their flames. And Bowen tries to put most of the fire out.
"Sorry, Bowen." The dragon apologized rubbing his nose. "I hope you like it well done."
Later towards night, after dinner, Bowen most of his things up, and the dragons were cleaning themselves after having their fish. And Fishlegs was busy working on a dragon card of the dragon. The only problem he's having is trying to figure out to place him as a Stoker Class or Mystery Class dragon.
Bowen placed his shield aside as the studs on it look like old dragon teeth.
"You must have hated us very much." The dragon said.
"I hated one of you." Bowen said. "These I killed because I wanted to kill him. But I never found him." He then lays down to sleep. "I never will. If you're the last, he must be dead."
"Oh, yes." The dragon said. "Tell me, what was he like... this, uh, dragon you hated?"
"And why do you hate this dragon?" Hiccup asked.
"He only had half a heart." Bowen said. "But even that was enough to pollute an innocent boy."
"Einon was no innocent!" The dragon suddenly said with fury. "He polluted the heart!"
That quickly caught Bowen's attention as he got up.
"How do you that?" Bowen asked as if he knew something. "How do you know that, Dragon?"
"And what this about a dragon with half a heart?" Astrid questioned.
The dragon looked uneasy as he then scratched the back of his head as if he knew something.
"All dragons know that story." The dragon said.
Hiccup and Astrid turned to each other knowing he knew something.
"And us dragons can save a life by giving half of their own heart to them." The dragon said. "What was to be their hope became their doom. A spoiled, ungrateful child was given a great gift and destroyed it!" He clutched his right fist and made a quick arm movement.
"No!" Bowen denied. "I knew Einon. I was his teacher. I taught him the ways of honor, of right."
"Then he betrayed you... just as he betrayed the dragon whose heart he broke." The dragon said lowering down to him.
"That's a lie, Dragon!" Bowen said refusing to believe it.
"Stop calling me, "Dragon"!" The dragon growled angrily. "I have a name."
"Oh, now you say you have a name." Snotlout said somewhat annoyed.
The dragon then slammed his tail-spade over Snotlout's head.
"Well, what is it?" Bowen asked.
"You couldn't possibly pronounce it in your tongue." The dragon said with a sarcastic look.
"Oh, come on." Hiccup said.
"Try me." Bowen said.
"It's-" The dragon said.
But before the dragon could say his name, he then suddenly strangely acted in pain. And then his left shoulder showed a red glow as then acted up in pain as he fell back hitting the ground and knocks a tree down.
At Einon's castle in his bed chamber, Einon in a night gown was thrown against the wall with a wound on his left shoulder. He held his wound and looks at it.
Kara stood holding the dagger in her hand also in a night dress, and then Einon turns back to her with a madly grin.
"Next time stab more flesh, less cloth." Einon said.
"I'll pierce your heart!" Kara growled.
She then lunges at him, but Einon stopped her as then he wrestled her onto his bed. And then Einon rips the dagger from her grip.
"You already did." Einon said. "A very special heart, like no other.
Kara then sat up. "A black, withered thing without pity."
Einon then had her face him.
"Then teach me." Einon said. "Pity me. I'll give you everything. Even power."
Kara glared at him.
"You're so beautiful." Einon said.
And then Einon kissed her as Kara then pushed him away.
"Even power." Einon repeated. "Even a throne."
Einon then got up from his bed and walked over to a chair, and placed a rode on.
Bowen placed a blanket over the dragon's shoulder lightly glowing red tending him as it sizzled and smoke lightly billowed.
"Oh, dear." The dragon said. "Thank you. It's passed now."
"What was it?" Bowen asked.
"What was that all about?" Hiccup asked.
"An old complaint that acts up now and again." The dragon said.
"Forgive me if anything I said, if I upset you." Bowen said.
"It wasn't you, not you." The dragon said.
The dragon then lies down to sleep, and kneels down near him.
Back at Einon's castle, guards stood at their posts keeping watch.
Kara now back in her normal dress was still trapped in Einon's bed chamber as she looked through a window.
Then a sound was heard as she looked and saw a large stone moving aside revealing a staircase. And then a woman with a candle torch in her left hand appeared heading up entering the room as Kara got off the table.
The woman turns revealing to be Aislinn as she turns to her.
"Don't be afraid." Aislinn said. "I won't you suffer the same fate as me. I've come to help you."
A stone door opened as Aislinn and Kara an underground chamber underneath the castle as Kara followed her.
"This is will bring you out well below the castle walls." Aislinn said.
Aislinn lead Kara to a tunnel that goes outside the castle.
Kara stood over a moment, and then quickly went through the entrance.
After a few moments, she came back. "Thank-"
But Kara saw Aislinn was already gone as the stone door closed.
"You." Kara finished.
She then turns to leave as she heads through the tunnel.
At their campsite, Bowen sat by the dragon who was sleeping as the Riders were still up.
And then the dragon woke up and noticed Bowen.
"Have you been watching over me all night?" The dragon asked.
"I've been thinking." Bowen said.
"Yes? About what?" The dragon asked.
"Many things." Bowen said and got up. "Mostly what to call you. I think I've found a name."
"You say that as though you reached up and plucked it from the sky." The dragon said a bit humorous.
"Finding a name in the sky." Snotlout scoffed.
He and the Twins then chuckled.
"I did." Bowen chuckled a bit.
"A-" Snotlout then frowned. "You did?"
"Up there." Bowen said gesturing the night sky.
They all looked up.
"Do you see that group of stars?" Bowen asked.
The dragon looked up as even Toothless and the other dragons.
Among the many stars casting the night sky, a familiar constellation was seen among them.
"I know those stars very well." The dragon said.
"Me too." Hiccup said.
"Do you see the shape that they make?" Bowen asked.
Then, the purple silhouette image of a dragon was seen.
"Mm-hmm, a dragon." The dragon said.
Astrid then finally saw the dragon shape in the constellation. "I actually see it too." She said.
"Yes." Bowen said. "They call it "Draco". It means "dragon" in the scholars' speech."
"So instead of calling me "Dragon" in your tongue you'll call me "Dragon" in some other tongue." The dragon said.
"You're right." Bowen said. "It's silly."
"No." The dragon said holding his tail-spade by Bowen. "No, I would be honored to be named after those stars. I- I truly would. Thank you, Bowen. Draco. Draco."
They all turned to the Constellation Draco in the sky.
A few hours later, everyone was asleep.
Leaning against Toothless, Hiccup stirred a bit and woke up and then noticed Astrid still sleeping and had her head resting on his shoulder. And he couldn't help but smile.
"She's special to you, isn't she?" A voice said.
Hiccup turned and saw Draco who was up as well.
"She is." Hiccup said. "I couldn't imagine a world without her. And as well as Toothless."
"Odd name for a dragon of his kind." Draco said.
"It just kinda stick to it." Hiccup said.
"Well, I use to see a few dragons of his kind before." Draco said.
"You've seen other Night Furies?" Hiccup asked.
"Many times back in the day." Draco said. "You're Night Fury is the first I've seen in 3 years."
"Do you know what happen to them?" Hiccup asked.
"Sadly, I'm afraid not." Draco said. "40 years ago, there used be a common sight, but overtime they got harder to come across. I'm afraid chances are slim for you to find another Night Fury for your friend."
"Yeah." Hiccup sadly said.
"Hmm. I sense that something else is bothering you, Chief." Draco said. "What is it?"
"I was just thinking... about my father." Hiccup said.
"Ah, yes. You carry the bloodline of a great chief, didn't you?" Draco asked.
"I did." Hiccup said. "But... not anymore. He died almost a year ago."
"Losing a parent is never easy." Draco said. "What was he like? Your father."
"His name was Stoick." Hiccup said. "Probably the greatest chief Berk has seen. And he was... the bravest man I ever known."
"I can actually see it your eyes." Draco said. "He died to save you, didn't he?"
"He did." Hiccup nodded. "I've gotten use to handling the village, but it's still different without him."
"Well, sacrifices must be made now and again." Draco said. "But I'm sure your father's death was not in vain."
"Thank you." Hiccup said.
"You're home you speak of... Berk." Draco said. "What's it like?"
"You would really like it there." Hiccup said. "Vikings and dragons live in peace together. We became the world's first dragon and Viking utopia."
"Hmm. Sounds remarkable." Draco said. "But in some ways crowded I believe."
"No, not away." Hiccup said.
Draco then gave him a look unconvinced.
"Okay, bit a little overcrowded." Hiccup admitted. "Just trying to figure out how to deal with the dragon trappers still."
"Chief, almost sounds to me you're putting the lives of hundreds at risk." Draco said.
"Me and my friends know what we're doing." Hiccup said. "We've been in dangerous problems since we were kids."
"Yes. I see it in you." Draco said. "Stubborn and perhaps overconfident. But, Chief, I'm only saying, there are times were one must make a hard choice... for the right reason."
Hiccup remained silent of what he said.
Draco then lowered his head down to sleep, and Hiccup thought of what Draco said. He then turns to Astrid who still sleeping, and gently kissed her head and went back to sleep.
Author's Note:
Seems even creatures of legend fear death as well. One losing a soul would be a sad thing.