For what seemed like a small eternity, the only thing Elsa could perceive was the smell of that warm wind, and the feel of Hiksti's hand in hers. She squeezed tightly, and she could feel him return the handclasp almost to the point of pain.
And then her feet were on soil, and long stems of grass were brushing against her trouser-covered knees. Some kind of insect buzzed by her ear and she instinctively flinched away from it, only to see an enormous bee going about her business of tending to the flowers.
Elsa and Hiksti were in a large open meadow, and directly behind them, dead center, was a door just like the one they'd come through on the mountain. It was attached to nothing other than the earth it stood upon, and as she watched it swung itself shut, sealing again with a resounding bang that sent birds flying into the air from the trees all around their meadow.
"Well, that'll attract some attention," Hiksti observed. "We should probably -"
But what he was going to suggest never made it out of his mouth, as suddenly from the forest to their three-o-clock rose a small flock of dragons that Elsa recognized as being Gronkles. Their wings made a distinct buzzing sound as they made their way toward the door. Hiksti pulled her behind him and backed up until Elsa's back was firmly against the reddish wood. "Don't move," he warned her.
"Okay," Elsa agreed, though she pulled her power into her hands, ready to defend herself if the dragons mistook their intentions. "Hiksti," she said a half-second later. "There's something wrong with my magic."
He gave her a startled look. "What do you mean?"
"It feels… off, somehow. Like - like there's an echo. I can't describe it."
"Well, with Thor's blessing we won't need to use it. Right now, stay very still and do what I tell you, when I tell you. Do you trust me?"
"With everything I am,'' Elsa said instantly.
Four of the Gronkles landed about twenty feet away, and one of them, a reddish-purple color, tilted its great head and blinked its bulbous amber eyes and crooned.
"Hey, there, friend," Hiksti said hesitantly. "I'm friendly. See?" He very slowly pulled his axes and laid them one-by-one on the ground, followed by his sword and arrows. "How are you doing? You're not gonna hurt us, are you?"
The Gronkle crooned again and opened its mouth, letting its huge tongue hang out of its mouth like a dog.
Slowly, Hiksti edged nearer to the great beast, keeping his body low. When he was very, very close, much too close for Elsa's comfort, he stopped where he was and turned his head away, keeping his hand extended with his palm toward the dragon.
For a long, breathless moment Elsa's heart was in her throat and she didn't dare to even breathe. She imagined the massive beast biting off his hand, or belching lava upon him. Frost slowly started to cover the door and the ground immediately around her.
But it wasn't necessary. The Gronkle closed its eyes and gently nudged its nose into Hiksti's hand, letting out a contented, rumbling sigh.
Hiksti opened his eyes and grinned at Elsa. "It's okay," he told her. He looked toward the Gronkle and started to pet it, using those long fingers. "Look at you, girl, you're gorgeous!" Elsa was of the private opinion that this lumpy creature, covered in large wart-like protuberances, was anything but gorgeous, but she kept that to herself.
The dragon's eyes started to slide shut and her club-like tail wagged like a dog's, and she flopped onto her side to give him better access, which he took advantage of to find a spot beneath her chin that made her practically melt.
The other three Gronkles were watching this closely, and one of them approached Elsa, this one a dun color with forest green spots. "Hiksti," she said nervously.
"It - it's okay," Hiksti said. He came over to her and stood just behind her. He slid his hand along her arm, extending it toward the dragon, and his other hand slid around to rest on her hip. "Crouch down a little," he instructed. She did so. "Now, open your hand and look away," he murmured.
She crouched, and looked away, though every instinct in her was telling her to run or fight or pass out, she wasn't sure which.
"Now," he said, dropping a kiss to her shoulder. "Unfreeze your hand." She glanced at it and realized that her hand was almost white, it was so covered by her panicked magic. "Trust me," he said again. "You're safe."
She took a deep breath and let the magic recede, and closed her eyes. She turned her head away again and waited.
A few moments later, just when she thought her heart would burst from her chest, she felt the hot, pebbly skin of the dragon gently settle against her hand.
"Now, you can pet him," Hiksti said. "Like a cat or a dog."
"This is so… weird," Elsa said, but she scratched and petted, following Hiksti's directions until the Gronkle was on its back looking like it was in heaven. "But also very neat."
"There," Hiksti said. "Now we're all friends."
Elsa stopped petting the dragon and he popped up and shook himself, then leapt into the air with a flurry of his little wings, where he hovered and stared at them curiously.
"Can you guys show me where the Night Lights are?" Hiksti asked them. He pulled out his notebook and opened to the page on which he'd drawn some Night Lights, and showed it to the reddish-purple female he'd tamed. She tilted her head to look at it, then sprang to her feet and lifted into the air with a backward glance at him, as if to say Follow me!
"Well, let's go!" Hiksti said, enthusiasm shining from his emerald eyes. He held out his hand to Elsa, who took it, and they started running across the meadow to follow the Gronkle. The other three Gronkles followed at first, and then buzzed ahead, soon outpacing the female and disappearing over the tops of the trees.
After a couple of miles Elsa was too tired to run any longer and covered in sweat. Her husband looked like he could have gone another few miles without any issue, but of course he stopped and rested with her. The Gronkle circled their little clearing before landing with a heavy thud, and then she nosed around a bit before unearthing a large stone, which she slurped into her mouth and began crunching on.
Elsa cringed from the sound. "Oh, my god, that's loud," she said. "I should have expected it, but still…"
Hiksti chuckled, watching the Gronkle fondly. "Yeah, I'd forgotten about that."
"How much farther do you think it'll be?" she asked him. "Before we reach the Night Lights?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," he said with a shrug. "This is my first time in Avalon."
Elsa looked at the Gronkle and couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips. The creature was just so… dog-like, with its lolling tongue and affable expression. "What do you say, girl?" she asked. "Are the Night Lights much farther away?"
A buzzing sound made them look up, and there were the three Gronkles from before… and they had company.
A nearly coal-black dragon, with just a bit of white at the tips of its paws, wings, and tail, followed them into the clearing and landed majestically. It looked critically at them with eyes the color of a tropical bay, before lowering its head to stare at Hiksti's leg.
"Oh…" Hiksti said. "This? This is just… well. I lost my leg a long time ago -" he stopped when the Night Light lowered its head and stalked toward him. "Don't move," he told his wife. She was already still as a statue. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Hiksti looked away and held out his hand, and waited.
Elsa watched as the Night Light circled her husband, sniffing and peering closely, especially at Hiksti's leg. Finally, it butted his hand as if to say, Yes, yes, we're friends. Hiksti relaxed and grinned widely at it. "Hey there, girl," he said. "Don't worry, the leg can't hurt you. It's not a weapon."
The Night Light huffed dramatically and then used her long tail to sweep away a portion of the leaves covering the forest floor. She paced around it a few times, removing any flotsam and jetsam, smoothing the ground, and making sure it was perfect. Then she grabbed a stick in her mouth and quickly sketched Hiksti. She tossed the stick aside and stared at him, a challenge in her eyes.
Elsa gasped at the sight, for there was no mistaking Hiksti in the dragon's drawing.
Hiksti looked at the drawing, wonder on his face, and he had to take a moment to wipe away a few tears. "That's me," he said. "You drew me… just like Toothless used to do." He laughed a little bit and touched the image. "Here, I… I've drawn him, too," he said. He took out his ever-present notepad, and flipped to a page within it. "See?" he said, showing the Night Light a picture of the Night Fury. "This is Toothless." He flipped the page to show more portraits of the Night Fury. "He was my best friend, my dragon. A very long, long time ago. We flew together and… well, he was your ancestor."
The Night Light looked long and hard at the picture, then she crooned and backed away.
"Oh, don't leave, please," Hiksti said. "I was just getting to know you." Elsa's heart broke a bit at the desperation in her husband's voice.
But the Night Light wasn't leaving. She was giving herself room. First, she swept herself to her full height, reared up on her hind legs. Then, she slowly descended to all fours, spread her wings to their widest breadth, and bowed.
"She knows who you are," Elsa said, suddenly realizing it.
"What?" Hiksti asked, glancing at her, then to the bowing Night Light.
"She was asking you if you are him," she said, pointing to the drawing in the dirt. "And you proved that you are with your drawing of Toothless."
Hiksti's eyes widened in realization. "You're right," he said slowly. "It's an honor to meet you," he told the dragon. "This is my wife, Elsa. We don't mean you any harm at all."
The Night Light leaped up and quickly placed her muzzle near Elsa's hand, and the Snow Queen touched it. That was enough for the dragon, and she started bounding around them, looking for all the world like a playful kitten, until finally she crouched down and glanced from them to her back and them and her back, over and over until even Elsa got the idea that she wanted them to climb on.
The idea of riding a dragon was terrifying and thrilling at the same time, and Elsa wanted nothing more than to see what it was, exactly, that had made Hiksti yearn so much for those bygone days of glory.
"Just a second," he told the Night Light. "Can I tie a rope around your shoulders, so we have something to hang onto?"
The Night Light rolled her eyes but stayed where she was, which Hiksti took as consent. He brought out a soft rope from his pack and slung it around her, making a temporary rein.
"I could… make us a saddle?" Elsa suggested. "It'll be cold, though."
"I don't mind if you don't mind," Hiksti told the dragon, who looked at Elsa curiously.
Elsa leaned forward and petted the dragon's surprisingly soft hide. "I'm magic," she said. "I can make things with ice and snow. Including a saddle. Is it okay if I make one for us, so we don't fall off?"
The dragon just tilted her head quizzically.
"Alright, I'm going to try it," Elsa said. "Don't be alarmed, dragon. This won't hurt a bit." She conjured a rather nice two-person saddle, modeled after the one she'd seen in Hiksti's drawings of himself and Toothless, minus the fancy tail-fin gears. It formed in her hands and she held it out for the Night Light's approval. As she looked down on it, a passing thought came to her that it would be nice if it were leather instead of ice… and suddenly it was. Elsa was so surprised that she nearly dropped it, and Hiksti gasped.
The Night Light was clearly astonished to see Elsa's magic at play, and gave her a long, careful look before sniffing the saddle carefully, giving it a cautionary lick, and then apparently accepting it as just fine and dandy.
"How did you do that?" Hikst asked, touching the gleaming saddle cautiously. "This is not ice."
"I - I don't know," Elsa admitted. "I just… it just happened." She looked at him anxiously.
He gave her a reassuring look. "This is good," he said. "It's useful. Is this because of that echo you were talking about?"
"Must be," Elsa said, looking down at her creation.
Hiksti's hand lay atop her own. "Welcome to Avalon," he said with a little grin.
Hiksti took the saddle from her and carefully settled it on the Night Light's back, buckling it securely. He mounted the dragon, and Elsa carefully clambered on behind her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Alright, we're ready," Hiksti said to the Night Light.
And with that, they were flying.
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Reviews! Thank you everyone who leaves reviews, it really makes me excited to keep writing!
Hilko Salomons: You and I know she doesn't need her hands, but Helmut's Ugly Brother doesn't. :) It's interesting to think how she would cope, though... I think that the cold of a magical ice prosthesis wouldn't bother her, and we've seen that she can make very pliable snow, so it probably wouldn't be terrible, but would she be able to feel with them? I want to say yes, as Olaf clearly can feel things with his stick-hands (not even snow, but part of Elsa's enchantment) and the rest of his body. Hm. What a fascinating thought!
Jiang-sama: Dragons, whee! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! Let me know what you thought.
KeiZiahKnight.1886: Thank you for leaving a review!