Hello and welcome back to another chapter

Don't really have too much to say this time around

Anyway, let's head into the chapter. I hope you enjoy it :D

Chapter 11 – Smoke in the Shadows

Dear Diary…

Showing a little bit of care for a stranger can be a good thing, even if they don't show any in return because sometimes, just sometimes, they might show that care in return…

The cool December blew into Crystie's face as she and her companions flew over the open ocean. It had been a while since they'd gone out on an 'adventure' together that wasn't just her and Storm; It was likely two months since that's how long it'd been since she had met Vincent, Amber and had to deal with the whole Death Song situation.

Crystie's companions this time around consisted of Storm, Burst and Spark and Flame. Burst and Spark were the only ones that wanted to go out exploring in the cold and Storm went almost everywhere with Crystie. There wasn't currently any snow about, but it was still a bit nippy; she didn't want to put on her parka however, it wasn't that cold.

They were currently flying towards a random island they had come across. From the distance they were, the island didn't seem too big or too special, just looking like a regular basic island with a forest and a mountainous area.

Crystie streched her arms above her head, trying to get the aches out of them. It was early in the morning and it was grey out; not a single speck of blue in the sky, just clouds and greyness.

Hopefully this day would go somewhat well.

Soon, they reached the island and landed in a small clearing in the forest near the mountainous area; the forest was surprisingly lush and green despite being winter which made sense since it was made up of pine trees.

As Crystie got off of Storm and landed on the soft grass, she noticed that the area was surrounded by mist, not very thick mist but definitely noticeable.

"Do you guys sense anything nearby?" the young viking asked her dragons companions who had been stretching. The three of them finished stretching and shook their heads, sending a wave of relief throughout Crystie.

"That's good. Let's get going then" Crystie said, beginning to walk off. She heard the dragons scramble after her which made her chuckle as they walked towards the mountainous area.

The sun continued to rise as the group made their way across the grassy mountainous area, but it was more difficult to walk on, so they had to put more effort into traversing it. After going deeper into the terrain, the group stumbled upon what seemed to be a sink hole; the hole was a jagged shape, looked to be about fifteen to twenty feet deep, around sixty feet long and thirty-five feet wide. The walls of the hole were large, smooth, somewhat mossy boulders while the floor was a mixture of grass, dirt, and stone.

A thing to note was in the hole were, for some unknown reason, were piles and piles of objects; these objects were comprised of various weapons, regular household items like jars and plates and random scraps of metal.

Crystie was feeling cautious but also curious; So, against her better judgment, she crouched down and began climbing down the side of the sink hole, grabbing the edges to help her descend down. A loud squawk made Crystie paused her climb and look back up; Storm, Burst and Spark and Flame were peering over the edge, all three of them sending her a confused and concerned look.

"Oh come on, we'll be fine, I'll be fine. When has any detour of ours every gone wrong?" Crystie jokingly asked.

If dragons had eyebrows, all three of her companions would be raising them at the young viking in a questioning manner.

"Don't answer that" Crystie nervously chuckled as she turned her head back towards the ground and continued climbing down.

Making it down to the bottom, Crystie plopped onto the ground, brushing herself off and turned around. To her surprise, her dragon companions were already on the ground and were already searching the area, sniffing about, and inspecting the piles of objects. Stretching her limbs, Crystie began looking around and searching the area for herself.

A thing Crystie noticed when she was looking around was that there were small holes in the walls of the area; the holes didn't look too big when the young viking walked up to one. Peering into it, the hole seemed just short of Crystie's height and seemed to go deep into the wall, the young viking not being able to see the end of it. Looking around the sides of the tunnel, Crystie traced the claw marks that were there; they weren't deep or very big but there were quite a few of them scattered about. She wondered what kind of creatures made these markings. The young viking shrugged off the thought and wondered away from the wall, continuing to look around the area.

Walking around, Crystie began to inspect one of the many piles in the area. The pile was a few inches taller than the young viking and was about five feet in width. She put her hand on her chin and began walking around the pile, inspecting it. While she was circling, Crystie noticed something about the pile; actually, it was with all the piles; All the objects in the piles were either made of or had pieces of metal in them.

Whatever made these piles really liked metal things. The behaviour seemed familiar to Crystie, but she couldn't quite remember what kind of creature had this type of behaviour.

She made her way over to her dragon companions who were gathered around a pile near a cave entrance. Burst and Spark were sniffing of the pile and Storm and Flame were looking around tensely.

"Hey guys did you find anythi-" the young viking's question was cut off by several high-pitched roars echoing around the area.

Crystie's nerves went on high alert, and she began looking around cautiously. The dragons went on alert, getting into their fighting stances, looking around for the signs of danger. Smoke rolled into the area, surrounding Crystie in a thick mist, obscuring her view of anything else. She looked around, trying to find either a wall or her friends.

"Guys?" Crystie called out but as soon as the words left her, smoke entered her mouth, making her bend over and cough harshly. She looked up again, trying to see her friends but there was nothing but a wall of greyness.

The sound of movement caught her ears, making her stand up straight and looked around, covering her mouth with her arm to try and stop the smoke getting in. It was hard to see so Crystie had to squint.

Several things were moving around in the smoke, but it was too thick to make out any details. From what she could see, they things were some sort of creatures; they had oval bodies, medium sized wings and several spikes sticking out the sides of their long tails.

Suddenly, one of the creatures sped past, knocking Crystie off her feet. She grunted as her back collided with the ground, this was not going well. Another one of these creatures leapt onto Crystie's foot, trying to get into her boot. She panicked and began vigorously shaking her foot, trying to get the creature off. The creature was sent flying and likely crashed into something due to the distant thud she heard.

A growl then a hissing sound were heard and Crystie could slightly make out a green gas spread throughout the smoke. Dread and panic filled Crystie's nerves, and she put up her arms to brace herself.

The explosion was quick and loud. The shockwave was powerful enough to send Crystie flying backwards, her back hitting something in the process. She was sent flying into one of the hole walls, tumbling down it, hitting some small rocks on the way.

Crystie groaned as she came too. Her head and back ached as she lay there, like she'd hit them on something. Something shifted and moved behind Crystie's back. Immediately sitting up and rubbing her head, the young viking looked behind her to see what she had landed on. There, laying behind her, was a small black and grey dragon. It took her a few moments but then it clicked in Crystie's mind that she remembered what type of dragon it was; It was a Smothering Smokebreath.

The small dragon was a similar size to a terrible terror, if not a bit bigger; The body was an oval shape and was somewhat flattened; The was a pair of medium sized wings on the dragon's back; there were grey circles around the dragon's eyes and flat spikes going down it's back; On the end of each of its four legs, were four, thin, long claws; The dragon had a long, thin tail with flattened spikes going down the side of it; The dragon was mainly a coal black colour, the only parts that weren't black were the dragons underbelly and the bottom of its face, the tips of the spikes, the edges of the wings and the bottom of their feet.

Crystie turned her body fully around and crouched, looking over the dragon. The small dragon was laying on their front, their right wing bent in an awkward position. They also seemed to be unconscious.

After a few moments, the smokebreath began to shift and their eyes fluttered open. Looking a bit dazed, they looked around before their eyes landed on Crystie; The two of them looked at each other for a few moments before the dragon sprang up onto all fours and began hissing at the young viking.

Crystie stood up, backing away slightly, and put her hands up, not wanting to anger the small dragon more than it already was. The smokebreath tried to stretch out their wings, likely to use as an intimidation tactic but the moment they tried to stretch out their right wing, they recoiled into themselves, hissing in pain and began shaking.

Edging closer, Crystie crouched down next to the pained dragon.

"Shhh, it's alright. It's going to be alright" the young viking hushed, reaching her hand out to touch the smokey dragon.

The smokebreath stepped a few steps back from the young viking and arched their back like a cat, still hissing. Crystie sighed and slumped back; There was no way she could get the dragon calmed down in their current state. Her mind buzzed; how could she calm them down?

An idea popped into mind.

Reaching into her boot, Crystie unsheathed and pulled out the dagger she had stored in there. She stared at it for a few moments before putting it infront of the dragon. The smokebreath stopped hissing and relaxed their back, eyeing the dagger with curiosity. They slowly crept towards the dagger before grabbing it and happily holding it in their mouth.

Crystie let out a sigh of relief, glad that the dragon was now calm. She shifted into a kneeling position and put her hand out. The smokebreath kept a tight hold on the dagger and eyed Crystie wearily.

"Please, I just want to help. I'm not going to hurt you" Crystie pleaded, hoping the dragon would take her word.

The small dragon eyed her cautiously for a few moments before their body seemed to relax. Crystie took that as her cue and edged closer to she was right next to the black dragon. Carefully grabbing the right wing, she began to inspect it. A soft whimper came from the smokebreath.

"Shh, it's alright. I just need a quick look" Crystie assured as she continued to inspect the wing.

On one hand, there didn't seem to be any wounds which was good; on the other hand, the wing was bent in an awkward position that looked painful. She needed to bend the wing back the right way and keep it in that position till it was healed.

Gently letting go of the wing, Crystie began looking around for something to hold the wing in place; while she did have bandages on her, she wanted something a bit more solid and stable so the wing would stay secured.

Scanning around the area, the young viking spotted some fallen twigs scattered at the base of a tree. They didn't look too big or too thick; they would do nicely. Walking over, she picked up the small sticks and made her way back over to where the dragon was laying.

The dagger was now laying on the ground and the smokebreath was looking at it like it was the most wonderful thing in the world. Crystie smiled as she knelt down, put the sticks down and went to get the bandages out of her bag; Dragons were truly wonderful creatures and she wanted to learn as much about them as she could.

Getting back to the task at hand, Crystie put the bandages on the ground next to her then turned towards the smokebreath. The smokebreath turned their head towards her and titled it in confusion.

"Alright. What I'm about to do will likely hurt, even if just a little bit, so I'm gonna need you to stay calm for me, alright?" Crystie explained, addressing the smokey dragon.

The dragon looked at her for a few moments before nodding and turning back towards the dagger. With that confirmation, Crystie grabbed the injured wing and held it gently in her hands. She then carefully began bending it back in the right direction. A small hiss came from the dragon, but no major indicators of pain were heard so Crystie kept going. Carefully moving it, Crystie bent it back into the correct position which has indicated by a loud popping sound. This caused the smokebreath to whack Crystie in the side with their tail.

"Oi, what did I just say?" Crystie snapped, annoyed that she'd just been hit. It luckily didn't hurt; it was more annoying than anything.

Double-checking the wing was folded into the right position, Crystie then reached for the sticks next to her. She placed one stick on the top side of the wing while holding another stick on the underside of the wing. Keeping the sticks secure with one hand, she reached for the bandages with the other; she then began wrapping each ends of the sticks together to keep them in place. After making sure the sticks were secure, she began to do the other end of the wing. Once everything was done and secure, Crystie put the bandages away and sat back, letting out a sigh of relief.

This was not how she thought her day would go; she supposed it could've gone a lot worse though. She'd had a good time, had a good breakfast, had a good flight over to the island, had a good time with Storm and the others…

Crystie stood up abruptly. She'd forgotten that her friends were likely still in the smokebreath nest and could be in any sort of trouble.

She knelt back down infront of the dragon who currently had the dagger in their mouth.

"We need to get going" Crystie said. The smokebreath turned their head towards Crystie.

"You wanna go back to your buddies, right?" the young viking questioned.

The dragon nodded, standing up in excitement. Crystie put her arms out infront of her.

"The come on then" Crystie announced.

The smokebreath looked between Crystie's face and her arms before walking over and climbing onto the latter. Crystie scooped up the dragon and held them from underneath. The dragon took in a deep breath before sneezing loudly, letting out a puff of smoke. Crystie sputtered and coughed before letting out a light chuckle.

"I think I'll call you Shadow" Crystie commented as she began walking.

Shadow let out a roar of agreement and the two began their journey back to the nest.

The forest was calm and peaceful as the two of them walked through it. Being that they had ended up at the edge of the island, it would take a while for the two of them to walk back. Luckily, the island wasn't as big as Crystie's home island so it should hopefully only take them two or three hours to get back. If she had to guess, they were currently under half way to their destination.

Shadow was surprisingly calm being carried as they walked. Crystie didn't know if she should be surprised by that. Remembering what she'd read about Smothering Smokebreaths, the mystery class dragon were a social species, living in large packs; encountering a pack of Smokebreaths alone was not a good idea but encountering one by itself was better since smokebreaths relied on the presence of the rest of their pack so one by itself wouldn't be that much of a problem. Smokebreaths hunted together under the cover of the smoke cloud they created to conceal themselves from predators; These dragons also scavenged for metal to weld together to make their nests.

Getting back on track, Crystie and Shadow continued to make their way through the forest, stepping over and on dead leaves and twigs.

After walking through the trees for a bit, they came upon a clearing that had very few trees. It honestly reminded Crystie of the patch of forest that had burned down on her own island, it looked similar except this area was, well, less dead and grey. A shiver went up the young viking's spine; something felt off, but she brushed it off as paranoia.

The young viking carefully and quietly made her way across the clearing, trying to make as little noise as possible. Crystie let out a small sigh of relief, there were no problems yet. A loud snap made Crystie jump in surprise, nearly dropping Shadow in the process; the black dragon hissed at the young viking and lightly wacked their tail against Crystie's legs.

"Sorry" Crystie whispered, adjusting the dragon in her arms.

She looked down to try and see what had made that loud snap. There, under where Crystie's foot would've been, was a broken twig. Crystie let out another sigh; It was only a broken twig, nothing bad could come from that.

A loud screeching cry pierced echoed around the area. Crystie mentally cursed herself. She felt Shadow tense in her arms, their back arching and looking around. The young viking tried to take a step forward but was suddenly attacked by something sharp poking her in the back of the head. Holding the back of her head, Crystie let out a hiss; From what she could tell, there was no bleeding, and the impact would likely only leave a bruise, but it still stung.

She turned her head around to see what had struck her. Circling several feet above them, was a flock of gulls; a few of them swooping down and tried to take a peck at the young viking and the dragon. Crystie raised an arm to protect herself and began sprinting towards the trees, wanting to get to cover. Shadow was wriggling in Crystie's arm, trying to get out and snapping at the gulls who got close.

"Shadow, please calm down. You are not helping the situation" Crystie hissed at the black dragon, while trying to swat the incoming gulls away.

Shadow was clearly not happy with that answer as they kept trying to snap at the birds. They then began climbing up Crystie's shoulders and clung to the side of the young viking's head. Crystie sputtered and attempted to remove the arm covering her face.

"What in thor's name are you doing?" Crystie sputtered out.

As she ran, Crystie heard the small dragon take in a deep breath before firing out a hot stream of fire. Even though she couldn't fully see the fire, she still had to scrunch her eyes a bit because it was bright. When the light subsided, Crystie stopped running and turned around. The gulls were gone, no longer chasing after them or circling overhead; some of the gulls were in the distance, flying away, while the rest were… on the ground, looking very much not alive and slightly charred. Shadow must've used their fire to ward off the gulls, cooking a few of them in the process.

The dragon in questioned hopped down to the ground. They walked over to one of the birds, sniffed it for a few moments before picking up the gull by its leg and dragging it over to where Crystie was still standing. Standing there, Shadow looked up at Crystie, holding the bird in their mouth, a proud look in their eyes.

Crystie sighed "Let's just get going".

She began slowly walking the way they were heading before. She felt drained of energy. Shadow followed along at her side, still dragging the bird along. This was a tiring day.

After a small while, the two of them were sitting on the grass by a large pond. They were taking a small break because firstly, they were tired, especially Crystie and secondly, they were starving. The young viking assumed they were close to their destination due to how close they seemed to be to the mountainous area.

Crystie let out a sigh of relaxation as she sat there; she needed this break, she felt exhausted and wanted to rest for a bit before facing any trouble that was likely to come. Reaching for the back of her head, she gently rubbed the sore spot where she'd been hit. The majority of the pain was gone but there was still a numb pain there that would hopefully go away with time.

Sitting up and reaching into her bag, she pulled out a piece of pre-cooked fish and began eating it, enjoying every bite. Next to her, Shadow was laying down and tearing apart the gull they had brought along; they had teared a leg off and was chewing down on that.

After finishing her food, Crystie let out a deep breath and flopped onto her back, putting her hands behind her head; she let her hair down so it would be more comfortable. There was a gap in the pine trees that Crystie was able to look through to see the sky, still full of nothing but clouds and greyness. It wasn't the warmest, or the coldest, but it was peaceful though.

Crystie closed her eyes and breathed in the atmosphere, letting out a relaxed breath. A few moments later, she felt a weight place itself on her stomach. Cracking one eye open and lifting her head up slightly to see what was on her stomach. There, laying on her stomach, was Shadow; They had their paws tucked under them and their wings folded to the side and were asleep; They looked relaxed.

Crystie felt a small smile creep across her face before she placed her head back on the ground and closed her eyes again.

Trudging her way up the hill, Crystie was making her way to her destination; Shadow was hanging over Crystie's shoulder. They were getting close. The further they got to the top, the more large boulders stuck out the ground and were dotted around the area. Crystie sighed in relief, they would soon be able to go home.

Shuffling from nearby caught the young viking's attention; She felt Shadow shift on her shoulder, hissing at whatever was nearby. The noise seemed to be coming from behind one of the larger boulders in the area. Taking a step, Crystie began slowly creeping towards the boulder, being weary but also cautious. Her mind combed through the possibilities of what it could be; more smokebreaths? Wild boars? A gull or possibly a wild dragon? Whatever it was, she was ready.

She pressed herself up against the boulder, Shadow crawling up to sit on her head. Crystie pulled out her dagger, which she'd reacquired when Shadow had dropped it and held it in her right hand, pressing her left hand against the boulder. She didn't really want to hurt whatever was making the noise but she had to be prepared.

Crystie edged herself around the boulder, peering her head around to try and see anything. When the shadow of something moved, Crystie leapt out from the boulder and held her dagger out, clutching it with both hands. She lowered her dagger when she realized what, or who she was facing.

It was Storm, who had a few scratches and burn marks dotted all over her body. Crystie dropped her dagger, letting it clatter to the ground and went over to Storm, placing a gentle hand on the dragon's jaw.

"Oh Storm, I'm glad you're safe and okay" the young viking said as she stroked the blue dragon's jaw.

Storm gave a reassuring squawk and nuzzled into Crystie's palm. Crystie removed her hand and took a step back and looked past Storm; She saw Burst and Spark and Flame sitting a few feet behind Storm, Burst and Spark had a few scratches and burns while Flame only had scratches.

"I'm glad you guys are alright too" Crystie called out to the other two dragons who both gave a grunt of acknowledgement.

A growl from atop her head made her look up. Shadow was growling at Storm. The young viking reached up and pulled Shadow down, holding the dragon infront of her.

"Hey no. These are my friends, please play nice" she scolded the small dragon.

Shadow just stuck their tongue in protest causing Crystie to stick her tongue out in response. She heard Storm sigh and she was likely shaking her head as well. Crystie moved her attention back to the blue dragon.

"Anyway; I'm glad we're all together again. I'll help you get patched up a bit then we can head home"

Storm nodded but then gestured to the dragon the young viking was still holding in her hands.

"Ah yes, them. I'll just go drop Shadow off with their buddies then we'll do the stuff I said" Crystie added.

She turned her head back towards the smokebreath.

"Come on, let's get you back to your buddies" Crystie encouraged.

Shadow looked up at her and nodded enthusiastically.

Plopping onto the ground of the sinkhole, Crystie brushed herself off and began walking towards the center of the area; Shadow was hanging onto the young viking's shoulder. Most things looked the same as before, the difference being a few scorch marks about the place and the metal piles more askew.

Smoke rolled into the area; not as thick as before. Crystie kept her breathing steady and even, trying to avoid breathing in too much smoke. The young viking heard scuttling from around her, the source hidden by the smoke.

Shadow shuffled in Crystie's arms and leapt to the floor. The smokebreath let out a loud, commanding roar at the surrounding area. The scuttling stopped and the smoke subsided, revealing a flock of dragons; more specifically, Smothering Smokebreaths.

The flock were standing on the ground, clustered together and not looking very pleased. A thing Crystie mentally noted was that most the flock were a light grey, while some were different colours like red, orange or even dark green.

A dark red smokebreath stepped out from the crowd and looked over at them with a look of judgement. Shadow sprinted over to them and nuzzled against them, the other dragon returning the affection. The two of them stepped apart and Shadow turned their head back towards where Crystie was standing before walking over to her. The young viking knelt down on one knee and looked at the black dragon.

"Alright, I have to go now. Make sure you rest that wing for at least a week before trying to use it" Crystie said, giving the small dragon a smile.

Shadow just looked up at Crystie with a slightly saddened expression.

"Aww, don't be sad. I'm sure I can come back and visit another time" Crystie tried reassuring her small friend.

Shadow leapt up and hugged Crystie. She was slightly taken aback by the sudden contact but then returned the hug. They didn't hug for long before Crystie broke the hug, putting Shadow back on the ground.

"Go on. Your friends are waiting for you" Crystie said, nudging the small dragon.

Shadow took once glance back before rushing off and into the crowd of dragons. A thick smoke quickly rolled over the flock, obscuring their view before dissipating, along with the flock of dragons, leaving the area empty.

Crystie got up, breathing in and out for a few moments before turning away and heading back towards her companions, so they could heal up, rest and head home.

Aaaaaand that's what happened

Today wasn't the most super dangerous or exhilarating but it was still no easy time. But as I mentioned before, me helping out Shadow allowed me to gain their trust and in turn, they helped me out in return. Granted, I did cause Shadow's injury in the first place but that was purely an accident, so you can't really blame me.

Anyway, that's all from me today

I hope we talk again soon

This is Crystie, signing out

Aaaaaand that was the chapter

Did you guys enjoy it, I had an interesting time writing it due to being sick for like, half of it but I'm fine now.

Anyway, next chapter is going to be interesting and should be out soon so keep an eye out for that.

Like always, check out my DeviantArt for updates and art

Feel free to leave a review as it is very much appreciated

That's all from me today

I hope you all have a nice day

This is CrystieSong, singing out