The Silent Forest


The weather was cold.

The midday sun peeked through the puffy clouds sending its golden rays on the dew-covered leaves and fetid earth, making them sparkle like tiny crystals.

Cool misty winds blew through the thick canopies of trees, ruffling them fervently. It occasionally shook the crowberry bushes and planted a light kiss to the jagged edges of the rocky-islets, all the while whistling an eerie note.

But this beautiful mist-covered vermillion hued woodlands was dead silent. Its wildlife almost nil. There was no chirping or squeaking of a single bird. Flocks of raven and geese once flew with the grace of a Wind Walker through the reddish-orange canopies of this mystical forest lands. But not today. They had long fled from the region, never to return to the Silent Forest.

The air resembled a mix of the thick musk of the rotting barks, the misty smell of the dew-covered leaves and the occasional stench of rotten carcasses, ash and charred flesh.

The sources of these smells were hidden under the thick canopies of the forest and shrouded by the fog, masking their existence from the rest of the world and its inhabitants.

The trees had lost their sweet aroma of spring a while ago, instead, they reeked with the horrible stench that forever cursed this once beautiful island.

The stench of death.

The moss-covered ground was covered with scattered leaves, broken trees and the few rotting corpses, battered beyond recognition, which were the main sources of the vomit-inducing stench. The massive corpses were of varying sizes, some burned, others mutilated, the only other signs of a slaughter that transpired in this sacred region.

The witnesses to the above deaths were the trees and the rotting carcasses which once belonged to the natives of this paradise.

It was one of the reasons, this once-thriving diverse land was lacking its inhabitants. And the reason it was silent.

The only inaudible sounds that could be heard were the gentle whistling of the wind, the rustling of trees, and sometimes of a lemming tearing open a nut. One of the few survivors of the carnage this forest was a witness to just yesterday.

The lone lemming was busy trying to crack open a single crowberry nut it had scavenged from the surviving unburned crowberry bushes.

Nothing was more important for it, other than to crack the nut.

Nothing bothered it, not even the corpse lying under the tree it was sitting on.

Nothing carried weight to it at the moment, not even the strange erratic sound of flapping of leathery wings which was growing louder with a steady pace with each heartbeat.

Or perhaps it was deaf.

Why should it care anyway? The nut was all that was relevant to it. Other things can go eat crap for all it cared. It's tiny claws fumbled about the rough surface, searching for the tiniest crack it could find. And it was successful in finding one by the next moment, inserting its claws into it and widening the cleavage.

A small smile spread across its tiny fur-covered face when the contents spilt out of the hardened coverings.

Finally, its facial expression seemed to say.

But Fate decided the joy it was feeling had run out of its rented time, as suddenly and very unexpectedly, a bright yellowish-blue blur of scales, wings and claws crashed through the tree at an unprecedented level of velocity, sending chunks of wood, broken branches and leaves, and a tiny squealing lemming flying in all directions.

The lemming crashed into a bush from where it took off running inside a hole in the ground, with not even a sign of injury. All its interests of the nut forgotten.

That was the last time it was seen alive because as soon as it landed inside the tunnel, it was swallowed by an equally surprised snake which wasn't elicited to let go of a free meal. The last thoughts of it being...Fate was cruel.

Fate was cruel indeed. The same thought rang through the exhausted mind of the winged-shape as continued its way, without so much of concern of the trees it was destroying. Its frame was blurry due to the velocity with which it was tearing through the forest.

After tearing through a couple of trees, Stormchaser finally came to a halt, when he planted his face in a large tree trunk with a little 'oomph'.

His battered body plopped down on the damp soil with a thud.

His bruised face was throbbing from the impact it had with the hard-wood. He just wished it to go away along with the hundred more on the rest of his frame.

"Crap Crap oh...", He groaned. His front paw hurt when tried to stand on it. His closed eyelids deliberately opened, revealing the misty-yellow peridot eyes hiding underneath them.

Even when he was accustomed to pain for the past hours, every new wound stung.

But none of them mattered at the moment, for he needed to run before they caught up with him.

Fate was not on his side, it seemed, for a moment later a thump came from behind him, startling the leaves and branches of the surrounding trees.

Stormchaser spun around, only to get squashed down on the ground, again, when a heavyweight sprung on him.

His wings were trapped under the forepaws of his assailant. It was beginning to sting. There was no doubt that any more force would break them. He tried to turn his head to hit the unwelcomed passenger but they already had clammed their jaws around his neck, the sharp teeth puncturing his scales with ease. Two pairs of sharp claws were embedded in his back drawing blood from the wounds. And that along with the heavy figure restricted Stormchaser's movements to a great extent.

The Flame Skin desperately tried to restrain him so that their companions could catch up with them. Stormchaser thrashed for a while to throw them off when he decided to change tactic.

He made his body go limp. He pretended he was subdued by the big brainless drake who was currently sitting on top of him.

The Flame Skin smirked. He was under the impression that he had won. And his mistake. He lowered his guard.

With the split-second distraction of his assailant, Stormchaser kicked the Flame Skin with all his strength using his front paws and took him off guard. He then grasped the red drake's four paws with his own and rolled to his left, throwing him completely off of his belly and into the same tree trunk which held a Stormchaser-sized dent in it.

This time, the tree gave way as though it were a bush. It proceeded to fall beside the unconscious Flame Skin, missing him for just a paw length.

Stormchaser winced. As much as he hated them, he didn't want to kill any of them. He wasn't a killer and he certainly wasn't elicited to become one soon.

He left the stunned Flame Skin there and with huge beats of his cyan-blue wings, he returned to the skies.

The morning fog was still maintaining its hold over the forest, reducing the visibility to a mere couple of wingbeats. It provided the apt type of camouflage for him.

Weaving through the tall pines and mistletoe trees that nestled on the top of the islets, he altered his course to fly in a north-easterly direction. Twisting his body to fly so his wings tips laid in the vertical position he zipped through the clearings that separated the group of trees from one another.

His lungs were heaving to draw in air through his maw. His breathing was getting ragged, an obvious sign of his deteriorating condition.

He left the forest and trailed just over the water surface, zig-zagging through the maze of sea-stacks compactly placed in the western corner of the area.

He wondered how long could he keep doing this. His body felt close to splitting apart with every muscle in his body choking due to lack of air. At this rate, the chance of him dropping off from the sky into the deep-blue waters that stretched under his belly was increasing frivolously and more than once did he wanted to just sink in the water to end his nightmare.

But he didn't have the guts to do that. His life was precious to him. And he was still too young to leave this world and join the Skies.

His wing membranes were stretched over their limit due to the strain they were receiving. His wing joints had been screaming in agony for the past two hours and the Skies only knew how they managed to stay attached to his back. Every muscle fibre in his wings shrieked in pain, begging him to end his cruelty, but he ignored them. He couldn't stop there. Not when his life was on the line.

The adrenaline coursing through his veins had saved him from the pain he would've experienced an hour ago if he was in normal conditions.

His movements faltered and became sluggish with every breath he took. The stress he gave to his muscles was finally taking a toll on him and even the adrenaline couldn't save him from it.

Stormchaser was shivering, whether it was out of fear or the cold he didn't know. He began to lose hope of ever escaping with his life. He wasn't frightened of getting captured by a group of foreign invading dragons. No, it was the fact that they would take him to IT that scared him the most. In his hatchlinghood, he had heard the stories of IT, and he wasn't really excited to meet this so-called Kin Devourer anytime soon.

A sudden whoosh came from his right, startling him out of his fearful stupor. Out of pure instinct, he banked hard to his left and managed to dodge (barely) the perilous claws which were aimed to rip-off his wings. The sudden manoeuvre nearly sent him crashing straight into a sea stump.

Still, a claw grazed across his flank and provoked a sharp pain in his left side. Stormchaser ground his fangs to keep him from screaming out in agony. He unconsciously let out a low pitiful whimper escape from his closed maw, as he was too busy to stabilise himself to prevent smacking into the sea-stacks that suddenly and inexplicably seemed to be too compactly-placed for his comfort.

He ignored the pain for the moment and threw a glance to his back. The blurred winged-shapes in the fog were still gaining on him and were just a few wing-beat away from the tip of his tail.

He had to lose them in this maze, otherwise, there was little chance of him getting out of here alive.

The slash he received on the was now reduced to a dull throbbing. The heavy coppery scent of blood entered his nostrils, revealing that his wound was heavily bleeding. And it was slowing him down.

Fire flashed by his side, forcing him to veer his to the left yet again.

He was at a disadvantage in his current position, as he couldn't fire back in return without compromising his speed. His heart was beating furiously, threatening to jump out of his chest.

He was having a panic attack as he couldn't figure out which way to go. He whirled his head from side to side trying to get his bearings. But all he could see was dense fog. In any other situation, he would've laughed at the sight of his getting lost in his homeland. But right now, he couldn't even recollect where he was.

In his distracted state, he missed a rock jutting out of a nearby stack. That was a crucial mistake. One he would regret his whole life.

His left-wing got caught in the rock, whirling him into an uncontrolled spin. He desperately tried to regain his control, frantically flapping his wings like a chicken who recently got beheaded. But it only managed to worsen his already doomed flight.

With full speed, he hit the next sea-stack he was going to cross, emanating a dull crack from his right-wing.

Pain flared out in his entire wing making his scream out in agony. The pain threatened his vision to blackout mid-air. In his stunned state, he couldn't think of anything other than the thick burning sensation coming from his mangled wing bones.

Everything seemed to slow down. He was vaguely aware of himself falling from the skies.

Crashing through the surface of the sea, he landed inside the water. Pain flayed throughout his body. It felt as if needles, thousands of them had pricked his whole body.

He thrashed inside the water, panicking. He hadn't been able to breathe a mouthful of air before he hit the water. And whatever he had in his lungs were forcefully expelled due to the force of the impact on his chest.

The waters around his soon turned crimson, mixing with the blood that was flowing freely from his right-wing, which now resembled a mangled mass of bones.

Finally, after an eternity of thrashing, he broke the surface, gasping in large mouthfuls of air in his aching lungs.

His mind was slowing down due to blood loss. He needed to do something, anything! He couldn't remember why he was there, or where there was anyway. He could hardly think straight as he was getting lightheaded. Soon dark spots began originating in his vision. The world seemed to become a rapidly spinning blur of colours.

The last thing he remembered was seeing a pair of paws gripping his limp body before he was engulfed in the unfamiliar black cloak of unconsciousness.


Voices filled his ears.

"They escaped...HOW...need you...what to do of him...wake him up."

He could vaguely hear what they were saying but in his semi-conscious state he couldn't make out all of it. It wasn't as if he was in a hurry to know what they were talking about. For now, he wanted to sleep peacefully; but the dull throbbing in his right-wing made it hard for him to sleep.

Stormchaser woke up to a harsh slap to his forehead.

Annoyed he turned his head to his side to see his assailant, only to get snout to snout with a scarlet Flame Skin.

Squealing in a very suspiciously feminine pitch, he backed away several steps in rapidity before flopping down on his behind. The dragoness would have raised her eyebrow if she had one.

Whirling his head to his right, he came with the sight of a massive cavern. A rather unfamiliar one. He couldn't remember when his Nest moved to a new cave as this cavern was nowhere near as big as the previous one.

Behind the eerie-looking fog, a large looming shadow moved out just enough to make eye contact with him.

Oh.

Now, he knew where he was.

The Q...no ...the monster in front of his peridot eyes had a smirk on her face. It sent a chill down his spine. With a jolt, his memories of the previous day came back crashing down on him. Judging by the shape of IT looming over in front of him, he was in her Nest. Which very well meant that he was dead.

It opened its mouth to reveal big, too big for his comfort, teeth adorning the whole maw, and spoke in a sweet deceptive voice. The one that screamed at his conscious mind to flee at any moment.

But his options were limited. Or absent, he might say.

A quick look on his left-wing had told him of his predicament. The wing was shredded beyond healing. Though he was glad that it had stopped bleeding. It meant he can't escape by flying, and running could get him nowhere as he was currently standing on a rock in the middle of the cavern.

Not that he would ever get the chance as he was surrounded by the minions of the monster.

"So...how was your little run back there? I honestly was surprised that you survived with the way you were bleeding when my servants brought you here." She then started in a low, threatening voice.

"Your fortunate that you have your mental shields strong enough to protect yourself from my control. But I do not have time to break you down. Tell me the location of your hive's hideout."

Stormchaser was terrified to say anything. He was not sure what to do. He certainly couldn't say the answer. But he can't do anything. He outright refused.

"NO" He shouted with all the remaining energy he had. He already knew he would be killed here. His wing was too mangled to heal; he would to useless to her anyway. He took a deep breath to calm him down, accepting his fate.

The monster in front of his huffed out in disgust at his defiance.

The last thing he saw was two jaws closing in on him before he was swallowed by the comforting sight of darkness.


To say she was angry was an understatement. That pathetic Song Weaver was naive enough to defy her. She wanted more. She wanted everyone to fall beneath her paws.

She would make sure of that. She would make sure non of the Wings were left alive. The last protectors of the Veil will fall. And she would give them a gruesome death. Already she could imagine the number of ways she would be killing them.

"Keep hunting down the other Nests outside of my territory. They will make an exceptional collection to my hive." She announced to the onlookers who were cowering in fear.

Caught in her imagination, nobody noticed the dark figure hiding in the dark passage watching everything with worry on her face before she silently fled from the cavern.

She needed to tell her alpha about it.

It was nearing time.


Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD or the characters. The only ones I own are the OCs I will b insert in the later chapters.

P.S. This story is adapted from the Fanfiction 'Promise to the Skies' written by TheNaturalLlama3 on .