Chapter 3
The next morning the rain had stopped but the sky was still grey and cloudy. The group in the cave were sleeping in before starting to make their way back to Berk. Tenor woke up first. He decided go running before the others got up. He got to his feet and exited the cave. The air was clear and damp. Tenor flew down to the shore below. Once he landed he took off running.
He ran all along the shore of the island. He jumped over rocks and small channels. He saw no other animals or humans. He looped around and started to head back to where he'd started. Suddenly his foot slipped and he fell into a deep crevasse. It was too narrow for him to spread his wings, and the rock was too smooth for him to self arrest with his talons. He suddenly landed on the bottom. He landed wrong and so hard he felt several bones in his front right leg, left wing, and his tail break. He was in so much pain that he eventually passed out.
Next thing he knew voices were talking around him. They were inaudible for a few minuets. But then Tenor's mind focused more.
"Where'd you find this one Fossil?" A feminine voice asked.
"In a crevasse on the shore," answered a young masculine voice. "He must have fallen pretty hard, he's all broken."
"I've never seen one like him before," said the female. "He's almost as odd looking as we are." Tenor felt someone nudge him. "Careful Fossil, as you said he's broken." There was a long silence. Tenor shifted but stopped when it hurt.
"He's coming round," said the young male. "I bet he can those injuries now."
"Poor fellow, probably crashed in that awful storm," said the female. "Our alpha will be very interested in him." Tenor now felt someone running their talons very gently along his wounded wing. "He won't be flying for a while, but he'll heal up just fine." The pain in his limbs lessened a bit. Finally he opened his eyes. He was in a large cave that was lit by a bonfire. Tenor was laying on a bed of leaves and grass. He didn't recognize the place at all. He lifted his head and looked around. There were two dragons looking at him, but they were very odd looking dragons.
One looked like a Skrill, but the the bony armor of a Boneknapper. Its scales were a deep purple with lighter purple highlights. It had pale blue eyes that looked curious. The other dragon was a lot smaller. It had the body of a Speed Stinger, but with the scales, wings, and glow of a Flightmare.
"Hello there," said the smaller dragon, the female. "Glad your awake."
"Where am I?" Tenor asked. "And you are you two?"
"I'm a Skrillknapper," said the bigger dragon. "My name's Fossil."
"And I'm a Dreadstider," said the smaller dragon. "My name's Ghost. Fossil found you in that crevasse you fell into, and brought you to our under ground cave. I've patched up your injuries." Tenor took a moment to process everything. He looked at himself. His legs, wing, and tail had been secured with sticks and vines. Then he looked at his hosts again.
"I'm Tenor," he said. "Are you, hybrids?"
"Yes," said Ghost. "All the dragons that live on this island are hybrids." Tenor looked surprised.
"I didn't know there were other hybrid dragons," he said. "I thought I was the only one, me and my daughter."
"What kind of hybrid are you?" Fossil asked.
"Night Fury, and Blackfang," Tenor said.
"Wow, Night Fury," said Ghost in awe. "That's pretty special."
"Thanks," Tenor said. He stretched any limb that wasn't broken.
"Try to take it easy," said Ghost. "You fell pretty hard."
"I've had worse," Tenor said. He slowly, and carefully got to his feet. He kept his bad leg off the ground. "I should find my friends."
"What friends?" Fossil asked.
"We landed her to get out of the storm," Tenor explained. "I left this morning for a run, and slipped into that crevasse."
"Well come meet our alpha first," said Ghost. "We know she'll be interested in seeing you." Tenor considered.
"And she can help get you to the surface," said Fossil. "The only way in or out is through flying." Tenor took a deep breath.
"Very well," he said.
"Great, follow me," said Ghost. She turned and ran towards a dark tunnel. Tenor limped after her, and Fossil brought up the rear so he could help Tenor stay off his bad leg.
They slowly made their way down the tunnel. The only light came from Ghost's glowing scales. Tenor was quiet, focusing on walking with three legs. Ghost kept pausing to check that he and Fossil were still behind her. Soon a dim light appeared at the end of the tunnel. The three dragons soon entered a cave that ten times bigger than the one they'd left. The ceiling was high enough that several dragons could fly around easily without crashing into each other. At the very top of the ceiling was a large shaft that led to the surface. The walls and floor of the cave were made of dried magma, with stalagmites and stalactites made of both rock and ice. There were large ledges lining the walls at different levels. Roosting on the ledges were more hybrid dragons. Tenor saw one that was half Zippleback and half Timberjack, another that was half Monstrous Nightmare and half Gronkle, another that was half Shock Jaw and half Seashocker, another that was half Wispering Death and half Snow Wraith, another more that was half Nader and half Stormcutter, and many more Tenor couldn't quite identify.
At the far end of the cave was a large throne made of ice spears. Sitting on the throne was a dragon that looked like part Bewilderbeast. It was the size of a large house. It had the body, tusks and crest of a Bewilderbeast, with large wings and a much narrower head. Its scales were pale grey with patches of ice blue, and ice blue eyes. Around its neck was a thin chain that secured a series of black crystals. The big dragon stared down at Tenor, looking as curious as the rest of the hybrids.
"Who have you brought to us Fossil?" The big dragon said with a deep feminine voice that echoed throughout the cave.
"This is Tenor," Fossil explained. "He's a Night Fury, Blackfang hybrid." The big dragon tilted her head. "I found him crashed and broken on our shores."
"That is a pity," said the big dragon. "Welcome to Hybrid Hideout Tenor. I'm the alpha here. My name is Chimeragon, but you may call me Chimera. I am a hybrid of a Bewilderbeast and a Vanahiem Sentinel Dragon."
"I didn't know there were other hybrid dragons in the world," Tenor said.
"Oh we exist," Chimera assured him. "But we stay out of dragon society. The other dragons of the world refuse to accept us. I myself have been dreaming of being an alpha one day. But no matter what I did, no dragon nest would take me as their alpha. I have defeated many alphas and queens, but it proved useless. The dragon nests have said that because I'm not a full Bewilderbeast I'm ineligible. Then that Night Fury defeats one Beweilderbeast, and everyone bows to him willingly. But I soon found these hybrids over time and they allow me as their alpha, since they too have been rejected by dragon nests."
"Tenor says he has friends on this island," said Ghost. "They took shelter from that storm last night."
"Friends eh?" Chimera said, flaring her wings. "Are they hybrids as well?"
"No," Tenor said. "Three of them are humans."
"Ah, humans mean very little to me," said Chimera. "Like pesky insects. Annoying, but not dangerous."
"Don't underestimate them," Tenor said. "Anyway the have two Night Furies, and one Nader with them." The dragons all hissed.
"I only allow hybrids on my island," Chimera said. "The normal dragons have the rest of the world to take over, this is our sanctuary." She gnashed her teeth.
"If I can get back to the surface, we'll be on our way," Tenor said. Chimera narrowed her eyes, as though she didn't like the sound of that.
"You can't fly yet," she said. "Your tail and your wing are damaged. You must rest here. I'll send someone to find your friends." She smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes. "Come, you can rest in my cave." She got down from her throne and waited for Tenor to join her. He limped over to her. Chimera then led him passed the throne towards another tunnel.
"Your friends will be looking for you I imagine," Chimera said.
"They won't ever leave me behind," Tenor said.
"Hmmm, such loyal friends," Chimera said. "They'll stay here until they find you?"
"Or they'll leave and come back to get me," Tenor said. "They won't give up on me." Chimera narrowed her eyes again. Tenor had a nagging feeling he should say anymore. They walked down the tunnel until they reached a large ice cave. It was about the same size as the cave Tenor had first woken up in, except a portion of it was taken up by a small pool in the corner. The floor was made of soft snow.
"Here we are," Chimera said. "You might find it a bit drafty, but not too bad." Tenor entered the ice cave. Once his back was to her, Chimera opened her jaws wide and fired lightening right at Tenor. The black dragons went ridged and went into spasms as electricity surged through his body. Chimera stopped after a moment, and Tenor collapsed, still twitching.
"So sorry about that Tenor," Chimera said. "But I can't have the rest of the dragon world knowing about this place." She then shook her head, making the crystals bang together. They suddenly glowed purple and sent out a sound wave that seemed to penetrate Tenor's weakened mind. Tenor was too weak to fight it, and was soon taken over by the alpha dragon's spell. Satisfied; Chimera turned around and headed back towards the main cave.
Once she was out there, her alpha crystals' took over the minds of all the hybrid dragons. They stood straight and their eyes went wide and emotionless.
"Defend our home," she ordered. At once the hybrids took off and flew out through the hole in the ceiling. Chimera settled herself on her throne. A moment later Tenor limped up beside her, his eyes as blank and emotionless as the others had been.
Out on the surface the Berkians and Draconians had noticed Tenor missing and were searching for him. Serenity rode on Windwalker with Chris, clutching her medical bag. So far Tenor was no where to be seen. They were all worried about him, but Serenity and Windwalker were the most worried. They were calling for him, Windwalker and Toothless were using their sonar hoping Tenor would hear them and answer.
"Oh where is he?" Serenity cried. "He's never gone missing before."
"We'll find him," Chris said. "He must be hurt somewhere." He gently grasped Serenity's hand. Suddenly there came loud roars. From the island below came a large flock of dragons. The small band of riders were greatly outnumbered.
"Incoming," Hiccup called. Stormfly readied her spines. Chris knew they had no time to get Serenity back to the cave.
"Hang on," he said. Serenity wrapped her arms tightly around him, closed her eyes, and buried her face in his shoulder. The three dragons flew at the flock in attack formation. However, once the fight started the Berkians and Draconians soon discovered that these dragons were like nothing they'd ever seen before, as were their attacks. Windwalker was almost hit by lightening from a Skrill-like dragon that wore bone armor. Windwalker managed to dodge its lightening, but wasn't prepared for its clubbed tail. It swung its tail and hit Windwalker in the ribs. She roared in pain, and almost fell out of the sky. Luckily Chris and Serenity were able to say on her back. A flying blue Speed Singer-like dragon shot blue mist at Astrid and Stormfly. The Nader avoided it, but Astrid wasn't so lucky. The mist hit her, and she found herself paralyzed. These strange dragons were very unpredictable, and no one was prepared for them.
"Fall back," Hiccup called. "To Berk." He steered Toothless away from the island.
"What about Tenor?" Serenity asked.
"We'll come back for him," Chris promised. "But we're no good to him like this." He steered his dragon after Toothless. Windwalker was having trouble with flying, but managed to stay airborne. Stormfly came last, balancing Astrid on her back. They headed back out to sea and towards Berk.