It was a dragon, but not just any dragon… It was a light dragon. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III could not make sense of where he was–a forest of some sort. Different tones of blue and green gave it a mystical feeling. The forest was foggy.
Hiccup tapped his left, prosthetic leg on the well-nurtured dirt. He lost the lower half of it after a battle with an enormous dragon, the Red Death, three years ago.
Hiccup followed every sound and movement the Light Dragon made. It hid in the fog, much like a Mystery class dragon, and circled him. Its red and blue, heterochromatic eyes bore into Hiccup's soul, but the feeling was soothing.
He reached his hand out to the creature. "Who are you?" he asked as a gust of wind blew his medium-length, brown locks.
The dragon flapped its white and yellow crystalline wings and lifted into the sky. It started up and towards the deeper fog. "Come with me, my boy," the dragon hissed telepathically. "I will take you to a world where you'll never have to worry about anything ever again."
Hiccup considered his words. "Not even becoming chief?" he inquired. He couldn't help but to feel like Stoick the Vast, his father, wanted to train him a lot more lately.
"Two shall find my crystals. Once you do, I will take you beyond the rainbow," the dragon explained.
Hiccup clutched the shoulder pad of his brown vest. "Crystals? What crystals?"
"I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, am the Prism of all Dragons."
Toothless's salivated tongue licked Hiccup awake. His tail wagged behind him.
"Ahh, Toothless!" Hiccup pushed him away from his bed. He friendlily tapped his dragon's nose. "Why would you do that? I just had the most incredible dream." He rested his hand on his wooden wall. Though small, his hut was rather comfortable. Toothless had his very own mat to sleep on. He only did that when he didn't feel like heating the rocky floor.
Stoick's eighteen-year-old son grasped either side of Toothless's cheeks. "The gods are telling me that there is a whole new dragon species to discover." Finding new dragons was his and Toothless's favorite hobby. That was how he and his friends found Dragon's Edge. Temporarily, they were back at Berk to stock up and visit family.
The dream was fresh in Hiccup's mind: the enchanted forest and the Light Dragon. There was no doubt about it… It was a sign from Valhalla. Hiccup almost wanted to skip breakfast; he was too excited.
"Hiccup!" a female voice suddenly shouted from the other side of his hut's door. Astrid Hofferson threw it open. Her braided, blonde ponytail flopped behind her as she rushed inside. "Hiccup! Hiccup! I have an idea for our adventure today!"
Hiccup and Toothless fixed their eyes on the young woman. It was rare to see her that jumpy.
Hiccup smirked. He slid out of bed. "Well, well, well. It looks like somebody's excited."
"Of course, I am!" Astrid clapped her hands together. "I had an amazing dream last night. You won't believe this, Hiccup, but I was in an enchanted forest and this light dragon spoke to me."
"Really?" Hiccup looked both amazed and a little weirded out. "I had a dream just like that."
"Really?" Astrid ran her fingers through her bangs. "What did the Light Dragon tell you?"
Hiccup shrugged. He leaned up against his bed so he could pull on his prosthetic leg. "Nothing much. Just that he is apparently the 'Prism of All Dragons.'"
"Whoa, creepy." Astrid scratched her chin. "We had the same dream, Hiccup. I wonder why." She tapped her foot, thinking. "Maybe we should ask the others about it."
Hiccup immediately gave in to her suggestion. He placed his hands on his hips. "Yeah, maybe we should."
Toothless rolled his eyes. He sometimes felt like Hiccup relied a little too much on Astrid.
"What? Light dragon?" Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs (Hiccup and Astrid's friends) asked at the same time during breakfast. The six friends had their own little table in the corner of the vast dining hall. The gentle, orange glow from torches wrapped them in what looked like a blanket.
Hiccup and Astrid were too excited to eat. They pushed their plates off to the side.
Hiccup impatiently tapped his fingers on the table's splintered wood.
Big man Snotlout groaned and asked, "Aw, why do Hiccup and Astrid always get the cool dreams? The only dreams I have are of me staring into the blank unknown." He had a soft spot for Astrid, but she was clearly not interested in him.
Tuffnut, the jokester of the group, got up from the table. He approached Hiccup and Astrid and pulled their heads close together. His Viking helmet shook slightly.
Tuffnut smirked, saying, "Because they are meant for each other."
Hiccup and Astrid blushed.
Hiccup choked on his cup of water. He coughed and spat it out all over Fishlegs.
Fishlegs, the cool, calm, collected teen jumped. He closed his eyes against the liquid.
"Sorry, Fishlegs," Hiccup apologized. He looked over his shoulder to Tuffnut. "You know, you're hilarious, Tuffnut."
"What? I'm serious." Tuffnut was a little too amused by his own joke.
Astrid was also put in an uncomfortable situation. She picked up her axe, which she had leaned up against the table, and banged it on Tuffnut's helmet.
He stumbled and fell onto his back with his arms outstretched.
Glaring, Astrid threatened, "And let that be a lesson." She twirled her axe in her hand and put it back down, facing her friends. "Anyway, after breakfast, Hiccup and I were going to search for the Light Dragon."
"What?" Snotlout leaped to his feet. He banged his fists on the table. "You're just going to look for dragons without even inviting us? This is unacceptable!"
"We-Well," Hiccup stuttered, "we just thought you guys were getting tired of doing the same thing every day."
Now Fishlegs jumped up. "Are you kidding?" he asked. "We love dragon seeking."
Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout were too cool to admit that they were on his side.
A new joke in his mind, Tuffnut got up. He bumped Hiccup with his elbow and flashed his eyelashes. "I think Hiccup and Astrid just want to spend some time 'alone.'" He bent his two index fingers to emphasize on "alone."
Again, Hiccup and Astrid blushed. They weren't meant to be together. They were nothing alike.
Luckily, the voice of Berk's blacksmith, Gobber the Belch, interrupted the awkward moment. "What are you kids talking about over here?"
Stoick the Vast was close at his heels, even though Gobber only had one.
Gobber brushed his hammer hand against his mustache. "Are you heading out to look for more dragons?"
"Is that okay?" Hiccup asked politely. He shivered when he got a sudden chill. It was as if a ghost just entered the great hall.
Stoick sighed. He was much bigger and stronger than Hiccup. He also brushed his hand across his beard. "Well, Hiccup, I did want you to help me with a few things around the village today. You know, to get ready for your chief training and all." Hiccup was almost at the age to become chief, but he still had so much to learn.
Hiccup froze at his father's words. His entire face turned white.
Astrid's lit up. "Chief? Oh, my gods, Hiccup!" She punched him in the arm. "You're going to become chief soon!"
"Ow!" Hiccup massaged his throbbing limb. Since when did Astrid's punches become a lot stronger? "Can we just talk about this, Dad?" he asked his father. "Somewhere out there is a Light Dragon just waiting to be tamed."
Now it was time for Stoick and Gobber's faces to whiten. "Light Dragon?" Gobber asked.
"Sure," Hiccup replied with a nervous nod. "Astrid and I had a dream about him last night."
The older adults shuffled uncomfortably. "The Two Heroes," Stoick mumbled under his breath. "Is it really time?"
Two heroes? Time? What was he talking about?
Hiccup leaned back in his seat. "Um, should I be concerned, Dad? You're acting strangely." Without warning, his feet slipped out from under him, and he tumbled to the ground–right in Tuffnut's old position.
Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs laughed, but Astrid yelled, "Hiccup!" She swung her feet out from under the table and grabbed Hiccup's hand. She helped him up. It was sometimes difficult for him to stand on his own because of his leg. Astrid placed her hands on his chest to steady him.
Stoick turned stern. As chief, it was partly against his will to ask if his son was all right. He gestured with his head for the six teens to follow him and Gobber. "Come with us. It's about time we show you something."
"Um, okay," Snotlout nervously responded. Even though he was a showoff, he was also somewhat of a pessimist.
Fishlegs was always up for an adventure. "Ooh, an adventure," he said.
A few trickles of sweat ran down Hiccup's temples. He had no idea why he suddenly felt so clammy. What were Gobber and his dad about to show him and his friends?