The Hidden World
Avalon and her friends were laying on a grassy hillside that over looked Draconia's eastern shore. They were playing a game of marbles. The spring sun shone down on them and the sea breeze passed over their scales.
Princess Avalon was the leader of the group. She was teal green with purple horns, spines, and claws. Her eyes were a rich lavender. Her body, legs, and neck were very slender, more slender than other dragons of her breed, Whippertail. It made her wings look enormous. She wore a silver crown that had was decorated with carvings of peacock feathers, and sapphire stones. She also wore a neck band that was carved in the shape of a peacock feather, with matching wristbands. She had had wrapped tiny starling silver chains embedded with purple gems around her horns. Peacocks were her favorite bird, and always covered herself in peacock feathers and colors. Avalon was extremely excited because that summer, she'd be crowned queen. But that had lead a few cons as well. For one every male dragon her age kept trying to flirt with her, hoping she'd choose one of them to be her new king.
However the only dragon Avalon had eyes for, was Eider. He was a large Whippertail-Blackfang hybrid. He was a complete hulk of a dragon with 6500 pounds of solid muscle, making him the largest and strongest of the group. He had rich purple scales with black horns and spines, and amber gold eyes. His teeth were so venomous that they were solid black. He wore a platinum head plate with green, orange, and red. Which matched the colors of a king eider duck. Around his neck an amber sphere the size of a human fist hung from a golden chain. It had a glowing crystal inside it, that made the amulet glow red-orange. It was the Lunar Eclipse Amulet. It had magical properties such as protecting the group from being controlled by an evil influence and making them unable to be chained or caged.
Avalon's brother Prince Apollo had enchanted it himself. He was a blood red dragon with golden horns, spines, claws, and eyes. Both he and Avalon had be born with ability to do magic. He wore a brown, leather utility vest that had several pockets in various shapes and sizes. They held the various items he'd enchanted. Such as a food bowel that could double anything put into it, a pair of slates that could be used to relay messages back and forth, a piece of crystal that was enchanted to find anything it was told to, and around his neck on a leather string was a river stone that could heal even the most horrific and life-threatening surface wound. He wore a red crown with a gold insignia of a dolphin leaping over a lyre, all surrounded by a laurel wreath.
Black Widow was only half Night Fury. She was a very rare dragon that was half Night Fury and half Blackfang. She had the head, legs, and neck of a Blackfang and like Eider, her teeth were black and very poisonous. She also had the eyes, sonar flaps, body, tail, fins, wings, and black scales of a Night Fury. Her eyes were scarlet red and on her forehead was a scarlet hourglass like the black widow spiders had on their abdomen. She wore a black head plate that had spider webs carved all over it, and a black spider on the forehead that had the same red hourglass on its abdomen. Around her neck was a black spider pendant on a white gold chain.
Edelweiss Dragonborn was Black Widow's half human, half dragon rider and girlfriend. She was now fifteen. She had jet black hair that she wore in a pair of french dragon tails. She had light tan human skin and patches of white dragon scales on her face, neck, arms, back, and legs. She had emerald green dragon eyes that gave her the vision of a dragon. Being Dragonborn gave her the strength, speed, immortality, and sharper senses of a dragon. Even though the white scales didn't cover her whole body, they still acted as a natural armor and made her fireproof. She also had the ability to control fire. The one downside to being Dragonborn was that she could not reproduce. She wore a white beach dress, a pendant in the shape of the white flower she was named after, and her feet were bare.
Eclipse was Black Widow's younger sister. She was the smallest and youngest member of the group. She was still a dragonet but, was almost full grown. She had hatched during a rare solar eclipse, which inspired her name. She and Black Widow were very close, and loved each other as much as they loved their parents. Eclipse wore a black head plate that had a golden ring on the forehead.
They were in the middle of their marble game. Avalon suddenly heard someone calling her name. She rolled her eyes. They were approached by a pale gray dragon with black freckles on his wings.
"Hello Princess," he said.
"Hi Pompeii," said Avalon. She tried to not look annoyed. Pompeii was one of the male dragons that was trying to win her over.
"What are you up to?" He asked.
"Just playing marbles," said Apollo. "Then we plan to go back into town." Pompeii sat on his haunches and looked out at the ocean. The sun sparkled on the waves.
"It's such a nice day," he said. "Nice day for fishing."
"Yeah it is," Avalon agreed. "But, we're not hungry." She took her turn in the marble game. "You can walk back with us if you want to, as long as you don't mind waiting until our game is over."
"Sure, thanks," said Pompeii. He laid down in the grass between Avalon and Eider. The marble game continued. Eider gave Pompeii a sideways glance. Seeing other male dragons trying to win over Avalon's affections made him very nervous. He worried she'd pick one of them instead of him, he worried he'd be kicked out of the group if she did. Eider had been on Avalon's team since they were small dragonets, ever since his parents died. He must have thought over it for a minuet too long.
"Eider, it's your turn," said Apollo. Eider shook himself and took his turn in the marble game, deciding to talk to the others about this.
Soon the game ended with Edelweiss coming out victorious. Avalon packed up the marbles and they all got to their feet. Edelweiss mounted Black Widow and they headed back towards the nearby town, East Harbor City. Pompeii walked up beside Avalon.
"So, what are you guys going to do now?" He asked, too eagerly. Avalon tried to remain calm, and kept from growling at him.
"I don't know," she said. "We're leaving for Berk in about two weeks, so we have to prepare ourselves."
"Oh, to the human world," said Pompeii. "Perhaps I can go too."
"No, no," said Avalon calmly. "It could be dangerous. We've been there a few times, and things always happened. We've been bound, gagged, caged, and almost killed at times." Pompeii looked more nervous. Just then a pale pink and green dragon flew overhead.
"You're sister's looking for you," said Eider. Pompeii reluctantly spread his wings and flew up to join the other dragon. Avalon breathed a sigh of relief once he was out of sight.
"That's better," she said. "Hopefully they'll back off when I become queen."
"You sure you can handle all this?" Black Widow asked.
"Mother went through the same thing when she was my age," said Avalon. "It's to be expected."
They soon reached the town. It looked like a Chinese village with buildings big enough to house several dragons comfortably. The streets were all made of grass and dirt. Avalon and her friends walked between the tall buildings. The local dragons all greeted them. Just then the town leader, Boiler, trotted up to them. He was an orange dragon with a black stripe down his back, and black wings.
"Hello Boiler," said Avalon.
"Good afternoon Princess, and friends," Boilder said. "When are you heading home?"
"Tomorrow," said Eider. "We have some preparations to make before we head for Berk."
"I see," said Boiler. "Well anyway, I was talking to a few other town leaders a few days ago and we were talking about forming a council once your queen." Avalon narrowed her eyes.
"Councils argue a lot," she said. "And can never agree on anything."
"Well we can break up any arguments," said Apollo. "It might be worth a try." Avalon considered.
"Perhaps," she said. "I'll think about it. I'm not queen yet."
"Thank you Princess," said Boiler. "Have a nice night guys." He spread his wings and took off. Avalon led her friends to the large building in the center of town where they were staying. It looked like a large imperial palace, made of sandstone. A large golden eastern dragon fountain stood in the middle of the large room.
"So what are we going to do tomorrow, once we get home?" Eclipse asked. Avalon considered for a moment.
"Well we have to go try on our new armor," she said. "And Edel has to try on her new gear."
"You also promised Edel and I could spend time alone in the vaults," said Black Widow. Avalon sighed and sat on her haunches. She didn't look super thrilled.
"Yes I did," she said. "Are you two sure about this?" Black Widow and Edelweiss looked at each other.
"We are quite sure," said Edelweiss.
"You know Grandfather isn't too pleased with this arrangement," said Avalon firmly. "But he won't try to stop you, as long as word of this never leaves the castle."
"We understand," said Black Widow. "We don't even need to be down there for a week, three days will work fine."
"And we can leave for Berk right afterward," said Edelweiss. Avalon sighed again.
"Very well," she said. "But tell anyone I allowed this, and I'll deny it." Both Black Widow and Edelweiss nodded. The group headed over to a seating area on the other side of the fountain.
"What will you do if some male turns one of your heads?" Eider asked.
"I don't know," said Edelweiss. "I'm sure no male human will want me looking like this." She gestured to her scales.
"We'll just have to see," said Black Widow. The group dropped the subject and talked about their upcoming trip to Berk. They were both excited and nervous. Avalon could detect it.
"Don't worry my friends," she said. She held up the Lunar Eclipse Amulet from around Eider's neck. "As long as we have this, we'll never be restrained."
"I should enchant other items, so we're as prepared as we can be," said Apollo.
"Not too many items," said Avalon. Apollo nodded and counted his enchanted items.
The next day the group left East Harbor City and headed back towards the city of Bluegreen, and their castle. Edelweiss took turns riding each of her dragon friends, and today, she rode Eclipse. They flew over the landscape. They flew passed more dragons, who greeted them. Avalon was relieved when none of the males came up to her. They flew over the Silver Valley Lake, and the Dragon River.
Soon they reached the city of Bluegreen, where their castle was located.
"Lets go try on our armor before we had home," Avalon suggested. "We can get that out of the way." She led them to the town blacksmith shop and they landed outside it. They found the blacksmith, Steel, hammering way at something. Watching her was her young son Tin, who was a grey dragon with gold eyes, wing membranes, and flecks of gold all over his body. Avalon quietly entered the forge.
"Hello Tin," Avalon said softly.
"Hey guys," Tin said, beaming. "Mother's almost done." At that moment Steel stopped hammering and put the piece of metal into the water barrel to cool it town. She set it all aside and removed her helmet.
"Hello neighbors," she said. "Thank you for waiting."
"Is our armor ready?" Eider asked.
"Yes, in fact I just had it delivered to your castle," said Steel.
"Oh," said Avalon, surprised. "Thank you Steel, thanks Tin." The group left the forge and flew up to their castle. They landed on the lawn and went into the entrance hall.
Inside they found their parents waiting for them. The younger dragons smiled and ran up to them.
"How was the coast?" Queen Aurora asked, as she nuzzled Avalon.
"It was lovely," said Avalon. "Though it was annoying to have all those males chasing me." She snorted irritably. Aurora chuckled.
"Better get used to that," she said. "There will be a lot of it until you become queen. Every young princess goes through that, myself included."
"I had no shortage of competition when she was in line to be queen," Re said, amused. "And she had competition as well, I had countless females chasing after me. It goes away after a while." Avalon felt a bit better. She nuzzled Re's neck.
"Your armor is waiting for you in the great hall," Re said, nuzzling her back.
"We should go try them on," said Avalon. They all headed for the great hall.
Inside they found five suits of dragon armor, all attached with saddles for Edelweiss. The dragons went to work trying on their armor. Avalon's was mallard green and peacock blue, with peacock feathers engraved all over it and the eye of a peacock feather on the head plate, along with sapphires and emeralds. Apollo's was dark red with a gold sun on the chest plate and his insignia on the head plate it had plenty of room for his utility vest. Eider's was silver with purple triangles down the back, neck, and tail, and the king eider duck on the head plate. Black Widow had black armor with dark red spiderwebs engraved all over it, a spider on the chest plate, and a red hour glass on the head plate. Eclipse also had black armor, but with gold trim and a gold ring on the hear plate.
They finished putting on their armor, and they all automatically adjusted to fit each dragon comfortably. Edelweiss stood with the elder dragons, and watched them. Avalon looked over at her.
"Well Edel, how do we look?" She asked.
"Very colorful," said Edelweiss. "I love it."
"You have stuff to try on too," said Re. He gestured to a large box near the dragon armor. Edelweiss went over and opened the box. Aurora conjured a changing screen for Edelweiss to change behind. She ducked behind it with the box, and they all waited.
"So when do you plan on heading out?" Tenor asked.
"Well, this armor was finished sooner then I expected," said Avalon. "So we'll head out in three days." She shivered with excitement. At that moment Edelweiss came out from behind the screen. She now wore a sleeveless, white, cotton, shirt that wrapped around her waist and was secured with a leather golden yellow sash. She also wore a pare of matching white trousers, that was secured by a white snakeskin utility belt that had slots for her switchblade swords, and a buckle in the shape of her white flower. On her feet were a pair of white, leather boots with white fur around the tops, and on her hands were white leather, fingerless gloves. She also had a small bronze claw on each of her fingers, that had a different colored gem on each one; yellow, red, blue, purple, and green. The dragons all beamed at her.
"Do you like it?" Aurora asked. Edelweiss looked down at herself. "It's all been enchanted to never wear, tear, burn, or stain."
"I really like it," Edelweiss said. "Really comfortable. This fabric is really soft."
"It's cotton," said Chris. "It's from the eastern countries."
"Thanks," said Edelweiss. She hugged her parents, then her grandparents.
"I bet those guys on Berk won't even recognize us anymore," said Eider.
"They will after a while," said Re. "But yeah, you guys have changed quite a bit." They all left the great hall. Eclipse went up to her parents.
"Hey can I talk to you guys about something?" She asked.
"Of course," said Windwalker. "We'll go for a walk." The three of them left the castle. Black Widow and Edelweiss went over to Avalon. She could already see what was on their minds. She reached into a pocket in her saddlebags, and pulled out a silver medallion with the Draconian crest on it. It was the key to the vaults and dungeon. She handed it to Black Widow.
"Three days," she said, firmly.
"Not a day further," said Black Widow. "And not a word of it will leave this castle."
"Good," said Avalon. "See you later." She left the entrance hall and flew outside.
She landed on a beach near the castle and the city. It was quieter here and there were fewer dragons. Avalon walked along the shore in the shallow water. However it was only quiet for a few minuets. Suddenly she heard someone approaching her.
"Hey Princess," called a bright blue male dragon that was running up to her, followed by a purple and blue female. Avalon paused and acknowledge them.
"Bluejay, Hummingbird," she said, seeing their names in their heads.
"Where are your friends?" Bluejay asked.
"Inside," said Avalon, gesturing to the castle. "What brings you two here?"
"We were here for fresh ocean air," said Bluejay. He looked Avalon up and down. "Is that your new armor?"
"Yes it is," said Avalon.
"It looks lovely," said Hummingbird. Avalon smiled humbly.
"Tell that to Steel, she made it," she said. Just then they were joined by a large navy blue male dragon with gold horns and eyes. Avalon saw in his head that he was their father, EagleEye.
"Bluejay, Hummingbird, don't bother the Princess," he said sternly. "She has enough dragons to deal with."
"It's fine EagleEye," said Avalon. "It's nothing I'm not prepared for."
"You guys leaving for the human world soon?" EagleEye asked.
"In a few days," said Avalon. "We're all excited for it." She looked over at Hummingbird. "I heard you were planning on opening an aviary for hummingbirds."
"Yes, and hopefully make jewelry out of the feathers they shed," said Hummingbird, flushed.
"I plan to do the same with peacocks when I become queen," said Avalon.
"Oh, fun," said Hummingbird. "Bluejay keeps teasing me about wanting to eat the hummingbirds." She glared at her brother.
"I don't think you have to worry about that, hummingbirds aren't eatable," said Avalon.
"I know that," said Bluejay. "I don't mean it."
"Well, we need to head out fishing," said EagleEye. "We wish you luck in the human world your highness, I know you'll do us all proud." Avalon smiled at him. The three of them spread their wings and flew off. Avalon went back to walking along the beach.
The next three days went by quietly. Black Widow and Edelweiss stayed in the vaults the whole time, and no one disturbed them. The rest of the group spent the time preparing themselves for the trip, in anyway possible. Avalon continued to be approached by male dragons. She talked to them, but gave no signs of interest in them.
Soon Black Widow and Edelweiss came out of the vaults and rejoined the group, the day before the group planned to leave for Berk. They all spent the night in the great hall, they planned to head out first thing in the morning.
"This should be so fun," said Apollo. "Though do you think we should stay out of any human dwellings. Last thing I want is to make a mess, and get in trouble for it." Avalon considered for a moment.
"Are none of you comfortable going into human buildings?" She asked.
"They're not really build for our kind," said Black Widow.
"I can go into a human building without making a mess," said Edelweiss.
"Very well, except for the hanger and the great hall," said Avalon. "We won't set food in the human buildings, and send Edel in on our behalf."
"That's a plan," said Eider. He looked over at Edelweiss. "And if they bully you, you can just come back out."
"I can handle myself," said Edelweiss. "I'm way stronger than any of those vikings." She made herself comfortable between Black Widow and Apollo.
"Get some rest guys," said Avalon. "We're leaving at the crack of dawn." She stretched her limbs. She used her magic to make a patch of soft grass grow underneath her and her friends, they all laid down on it and went to sleep.
The next morning they got up and stretched. Avalon made the grass vanish. The sun hadn't risen yet but the sky was getting lighter.
"Well, here goes nothing," said Avalon. "Are we ready?" They all confirmed. They made sure their armor and gear were secure. Just then the big doors opened and the elder dragons walked in, with Chris and Serenity.
"Morning guys," said Aurora. "You excited?"
"Nervous too," said Avalon. "But I think we'll be fine." They all headed outside. Edelweiss was about to mount Avalon when her mother tapped her on the shoulder. Edelweiss turned around.
"You might need this," Serenity said, holding up her medical bag. Edelweiss looked surprised.
"But that's your medical bag," she said.
"You better bring it back then," said Serenity, with a smile. Edelweiss took the bag and put on the back of Avalon's saddle. Then she hugged her mother, then her father.
"Thank you," she said.
"You guys take care of each other," said Aurora. "And Draco will take care of you."
"We will," said Avalon. Edelweiss made sure she had her bow, arrows, and switchblade swords, then mounted Avalon. They spread their wings and took off. They flew over the castle, and over the sea. They headed north towards Berk.