Chapter 46

The claws of the Night Fury dug deep into Blue's skin, even through the layers of clothing he wore. The young man did his best to hold on to the dragon's feet in a desperate attempt to keep himself from being torn apart. The flight was long and difficult but at last the dragons had reached their destination, a small rocky outcrop in the middle of nowhere. The Night Fury leader swooped down to an open fissure on top of the rock and without warning, dropped Blue into the dark hole.

He fell a good five meters before hitting a sandy slope and rolling further down into a pool of water. As quickly as he could, Blue clambered out of the water; a task made quite difficult due to the intense pain he felt in his shoulders. He stood shivering on the side of the pool for a moment as his eyes slowly adjusted to the low light. To his surprise there was a bright glow up ahead from deeper in the cavernous hole, but before he could even try to walk there, the Nightmare came down and landed beside him.

The big red dragon looked at the shivering boy and sighed with regret. Back on the island he had not felt any particular attachment to Blue, so why didn't he just leave him there when the Furys arrived? He could now see his foolish decision to attempt an escape with Blue, may have just condemned the boy to death. The Furys would surely take them both to the Alpha, and he doubted the Alpha would be lenient with either of them. The Nightmare knew he could take the punishment for leaving the safety of the hidden world, putting all the dragons at risk of discovery, but he doubted the boy would survive very long on his own.

The Nightmare set part of his body on fire to warm the shivering boy, but the Furys saw the flames as an attempt to start a fight and then all became very angry. Knowing where they were to be taken, the Nightmare once more put Blue on his back and flew down the tunnel towards the light.

Soon the cavern opened out to reveal thousands upon thousands of glowing, multicoloured plants and crystals. Blue gasped as he came to realise exactly where he was. Hiccup had described this hidden world very well, but it still breathtaking to see it for the first time.

As if the light and colours were not enough, Blue was also blessed with the sight of more dragons than even he could identify. There were Gronckles, Rumblehorns, Stormcutters, Zipplebacks, Triple Strykes, Razorwhips and he even saw a couple of Typhoomerangs. Most of the dragons ignored the Nightmare flying by with a boy on its back, but some of the more curious ones started to follow the Furys and their captives.

They flew deep into the cavern until they came to a large, flat, open area in front of an arched cave. The ground was covered by green moss, with small pools of water and bright wildflowers scattered around the edges. The Furys herded the Nightmare down onto the centre of the mossy ground before landing in a semi-circle behind him. Not sure what to do next, Blue dropped to the ground and stood beside the red dragon. As other dragons gathered to see what would happen, the leader of the Furys let out a loud roar.

All was silent for a moment until the cave started to reverberate. Blue could hear something growling and moving inside. Soon he could also see the dark shadow of a creature swaying from side to side as it walked. Then the head of the dragon appeared in the light, causing Blue's heart to almost leap from his chest. It was another Night Fury, but it was nothing like the others who had taken him, for this was a Titan Wing. At least five times bigger and with blue light shining from the base of its dorsal plates, this dragon was clearly the Alpha of the Hidden World.

"Um... hello" Blue said when the massive beast noticed him.

The Alpha growled at Blue, piercing him to his very core as the air around him vibrated. The intrusion of a human into the world of the dragons was something the Alpha had not been expecting, or even thought possible. When the fissure had first opened it had only been big enough for the smallest dragons to get through, but after another much bigger tremor, the opening had become big enough for much larger dragons to get through.

As soon as the Alpha had discovered two such dragons had gone off to explore a world they had never known, he knew the entire colony of dragons was now at risk and they had to be brought back. Now his greatest fear had been realised and although this boy seemed quite harmless, when there was a young human around, there were adults nearby; adults that may want to turn dragons into trophies.

"Err um... it's nice to be here" Blue tried to sound friendly "Beautiful home you've got... love what you've done with the place."

The Alpha started to circle around Blue and the Nightmare, and much to the massive dragon's annoyance, the Nightmare tried to keep itself between Blue and the Alpha. The huge Night Fury was so big, it took over a minute for the entire dragon to leave the cave but when it finally did, Blue noticed something very unexpected and very important; the left side of its tail fin was missing.

"Toothless?" Blue gasped.

The Alpha dragon suddenly stopped moving and held its breath; had he really heard what he thought he'd heard?

"Toothless... is it... is it really you?"

Now the Alpha was sure of what he'd heard; but how could t be? He had not heard that name spoken for over one thousand years, and he certainly never expected to hear it again.

"I can't believe it's you Toothless" Blue declared with joy "I'm a descendant of Hiccup and Astrid."

There they were; two more names the Night Fury never expected to hear again. Hiccup and Astrid, the dragons rider and his mate; surely they both must be long dead by now. Toothless dropped his head at the thought. Deep down inside he knew they could not still be alive, but he had long avoided even thinking about it; about them.

"My name is Blue... actually its Henry but everyone calls me Blue."

Toothless looked around at the young man. He looked nothing like Hiccup, but he certainly reminded the dragon of his dear friend. There was the kindness in his voice, as well as eagerness and adventure in his soul. And who else but a Haddock descendant could find and befriend a dragon so quickly? Toothless pushed his nose close to the young man and took in his aroma; salt water, Monstrous Nightmare and fish.

Blue reached out and touched the giant dragon's nose. He wasn't at all sure if dragons could cry, but it certainly looked like Toothless was holding back the tears. The Night Furys next exhale clearly sounded like a long and mournful sigh and it almost broke Blue's heart. He was beginning to think he should not be there, bringing so much pain to such a great dragon.

"I'm sorry Toothless... I only wanted to help."

Help; there was another word Toothless knew very well. How many times had he and Hiccup responded to that cry? How many people would have perished without their help, and how many dragons had benefited from the Dragon Riders and their willingness to help in return? The simple answer was there were far too many to count. Not only that, but how many times had Toothless needed to respond to a call for help from Hiccup himself?

More than a thousand years had gone by. Toothless no longer knew the land above, but this young man did. Maybe the time had come for the dragons to become part of the outside world once again, but how could he be sure? One thing was certain, Toothless did not want to lead the dragons out if they would be in danger, so what could he do.

While all the surrounding dragons watched, Toothless lay down on the ground and closed his eyes. Blue could see the Alpha was deep in thought and needed his support, so he sat down beside Toothless and placed his hand gently on the side of the giant dragon's head, while the Nightmare stayed close by and watched over them both.

Not far behind the many dragons surrounding their Alpha, Firefly lay flat on a high rock, watching the proceedings. He knew Toothless would be upset about so many dragons sneaking out of their home to explore the outside world, but meeting this young man had certainly changed the equation. The singular Terror had originally planned to wait until the current crisis had passed, so he and Blue could attempt an escape much later on, but now he had a new idea.

As quietly as he could, Firefly slithered away from what was essentially the Court of the Alpha, and made his way back to the surface opening. Upon arriving, he looked around at the grey overcast day, and soon managed to get his bearings straight. The Terror then took off and flew to the south, constantly moving his head from side to side, searching the horizon for his much hoped for reinforcements. He soon saw how successful Daisy had been in her mission, when he saw three more Terrors escorting a Nadder with two riders.

"Did you just hear something?" Haley asked Calla.

"Yes; over there" she replied pointing ahead and slightly to the right.

"It's Firefly! Why do you think the Nightmare you found would bring Blue out here?"

"I honestly don't know" Calla shook her head "But Blue once said that according to the writings of Fishlegs, before a dragon really bonds with a rider, it can sometimes see a human like kind of pet."

"Hmm... so you think the Nightmare just decided that Blue belonged to him now, and took him?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Calla shrugged.

As soon as he was sure they had seen him, Firefly turned back to the rocky outcrop ne had just come from. As they flew in close, Windstorm started to recoil, unsure if they should go inside. But Firefly circled around the entrance calling out so excitedly, that the other Terrors followed him straight in.

"Come on Windstorm, we've got to follow them" Calla begged her dragon.

Still unsure but realising the urgency, Windstorm steadied herself and dove in behind the Terrors. Needless to say, Calla and Haley were just as stunned as Blue had been upon seeing the world of the dragons for the first time. The lights, the colours and the sheer number of dragons fairly blew their minds.

"Is it safe for us to be here?" Haley asked nervously.

"Probably not" Calla said honestly.

The dragons flew on with Firefly leading the way, although Windstorm knew exactly where they were going.

"Oh wow... look at that" Calla gasped.

Even in her wildest dreams, Calla could not have imagined she would find Blue and the Nightmare sitting with an absolute giant, in the centre of a large circle of dragons. Without being guided, Windstorm slowed her flight and touched down only a short distance from Blue and the massive black dragon. Upon seeing them land, Toothless rapidly raised his head in surprise, sending Blue rolling away.

"BLUE; ARE YOU OKAY?" Calla cried out as she dropped to the ground and ran to him.

Toothless watched with interest as Blue stood up and took this girl into his arms. She reminded the old dragon of Astrid, even though she was shorter, had darker brown hair, and scaring on one side of her head. Maybe it was the Nadder she flew in on, and maybe it was because of her obvious regard for Blue.

Unlike the Nightmare, who had been brought in as a captive, the Nadder had come willingly and approached the Alpha with reverence, bowing her head low.

"What happened; why did you suddenly come here?" Calla sounded like a concerned parent.

"We didn't really have much choice" Blue shrugged "You hadn't been gone very long when four Furys showed up and rather insisted the Nightmare and I return with them. I don't think the dragons are supposed to be outside of the Hidden World."

"So this is the mysterious Hidden World of the Dragons" Calla gasped "but why are you wet?"

"Yeah well... let's just say I've had quite a hard time avoiding water" Blue shrugged.

"Oh... so... if the dragons were not supposed to leave here, does that mean we're trapped... underground... AGAIN?"

"I'm not sure Sweetie; things did not look good when we first arrived, but then I recognised this dragon."

Taking Calla's hand, Blue led her around to the front of the giant black dragon.

"Calla, meet Toothless" he smiled.

Calla looked at the Night Fury and then to Blue. Then just for the sake of doing something different, she looked at Blue and then back to the Night Fury.

"Toothless?"

"Yes."

"Hiccup's dragon!"

"Yes."

"Nooooo" she shook her head.

"Yes" Blue nodded.

"But... but..."

"Yes I know; he's over a thousand years old."

"But he's HUGE!"

"He's a Titan Wing now" Blue explained.

"WHAT THE HELL IS A TITAN WING?" Calla threw up her arms.

Blue did not reply, he simply gestured to Toothless.

"Oh I hate you sometimes!" Calla fumed.

"No you don't" Blue smirked.

'

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Okay, it's official; I am a wus!

I tried to watch High School of the Dead and didn't make it much past the opening credits (so much blood). I knew it would be about zombies but for some reason I expected something a bit lighter in tone. I then thought I'd try My Hero Academia but could not find a watchable copy on YouTube, so I ended up watching the first episode of something called CyberSix. Not bad so I'll give it a few more episodes to see if it gets good.

Yes Vin I did watch a low res copy of Snoggletog Log last Christmas, but was not happy when Dylan ended up on Gobber's mutton stew; so I left a lamenting cry in the comment section. Based on the life span of a spider, I figure it would have been Dylan the Thirteenth, which would also account for his bad luck (I must remember to include this in a future Snoggletog story).

I knew Toothless would still be alive for this story back when I was still writing Red Sky Rising, and it has been so hard to keep it to myself for so long.

More story soon, your friend in isolation, Marty.