"O fortuna... velut luna... statu variabilis..." - Carl Orff – O Fortuna

Everything You Love

The scout flew back at midday with news of the approaching armada. The fleet would reach the nearest small island in two days sometime around dawn at the pace the ships were sailing. Chief Thorvald immediately called an all-tribe meeting at the Great Hall.

Everyone gathered together into a very impressive assembly. All the younger dragon riders were in their flight suits, various preferred weapons at their sides. Other, bigger men were clad in much of their armors, bore their helmets, and had various weapons at their sides. Perhaps they were being a bit overzealous since there was another full day of feasting after today, but no one wanted to begrudge them their own family ceremonies or personal preferences.

The food was brought out. Massive plates of meats, freshly slaughtered from the herds, wheels of cheeses, loaves of bread, and barrels of mead were distributed for the feast.

Stories of old battles and great deeds echoed from the corners of the Hall as everyone feasted and sang.

"Ho Ho Ho to the bottle I go!" "I've got my axe and I've got my mace!" "Till we feast in Valhalla!"

Chief Thorvald stood up with a glance to the Night Fury standing at his side. Shadowwing roared aloud and got everyone's attention as all voices silenced.

All eyes turned to the Chief.

"What are we?" he roared.

"Hungry?" "Thirsty?" "Ready for a fight?" "Nords?"

"Aye! We are Nords. But is that all we are?"

He stepped away from the table and started walking among the tribe.

"We are fighters! We have stubbornness issues!" Gobber shouted out while waving a chicken leg in the air.

"AYE!"

"We had to leave our homes once! We set out for a new world when we left Berk and the other tribes that we came from! Now we face a new kind of enemy! They want to take all our dragons and kill the Night Furies!" Thorvald shouted.

"Never!" "Let them come!" "Their face, my axe!" "Over my dead body!" "Let them hide and get down!"

"It is up to us to put an end to it or there won't be any dragons left!"

He put his hands on his hips and laughed.

"I will not lie, there are a lot of them out there. Lots of ships filled with angry fighters! But do you know what I see here?"

"WHAT?"

"I see a lot of angry fighters here!"

"YEAH!"

"We will fly and strike them at night with fury! All of us who are of age, ready to fight, or have a trained dragon! The Furies..." he glanced at Shadowwing, "will lead the wild dragons and will take care of Grimmel!"

Shadowwing's roar was echoed by a resounding roar from the audience.

"And I will lead the riders on an attack on the Dragon Hunters! Dragonheart and others who are best with the wingsuits will free any trapped dragons. We will burn the flagships, kill their leaders, and return here victorious."

A wild roar went up.

"And the world will hear that we are not weak! That they cannot threaten us with their armies and armadas!"

"NEVER!"

"Because we have the dragons!"

"DRAGONS!"

"They will know that we are not Nords anymore!"

"No?" "Huh?" "Wait, what?" "I think I missed the memo..."

He smiled at them all in their confusion.

"We are Dragon Riders!"

This final proclamation was not met with any initial cheering. Instead, people in the crowd looked around at each other in surprise, as if for the first time meeting each other and noticing the strange attire many of them were wearing.

Grins broke out across the entire assembly as they all thought about it. They were no longer who they had been once. Their very identity had changed sometime over the last few years. They raised their mugs high in a salute and drank in the solemn oath of unity that could not come from shouted words alone.

Shadowwing excused himself as the feasting continued into the night.

They will keep going on into the night, maybe rest some tomorrow, and pick up again until we leave. Me, I would rather get some sleep after that meal. Nothing quite like some chicken to give that extra little bit of energy.

He walked outside and went aloft to enjoy some of the remaining peace and quiet. Dragons were resting on their perches or laying about on the ground.

Everything was very quiet, almost abnormally quiet even.

I wonder if they have any idea what is happening. They must know that their humans have been worried recently.

A worried growl followed as he looked out to shore and the distant, dark horizon. He hung his head with a sad warble.

How many of us will not come back? This should be a clean raid. It will be late at night, a surprise attack. As long as nothing goes wrong, this should be easy. What could go wrong?

He was forced to consider the terrible possibility. Underestimating an enemy had turned out so horribly once before, and he was determined to not make that mistake again.

Grimmel is probably far more dangerous than he looks. He has several Deathgrippers, probably trained to protect him. That Viggo could be trouble. He is definitely planning something unexpected. I really wish I could have gotten to know him under different circumstances.

He sighed.

Well, no point waiting for this now.

He flew the short distance to his brother's house and let himself inside. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were quietly whispering words to each other and gently gnawing on the other's ears when he arrived. The children were all gathered together, curled up together somewhat closer than they usually did.

"Can we talk?" he whispered.

Was-Grounded got up and followed him outside.

"What are the two-legs doing now?"

"They are having their before-fighting eating-ceremony to flame their livers. The ceremony might be until we all fly."

"That is good. What do you think about this coming fight?"

Shadowwing sighed and looked up at the clouds.

"I think that it will be the last fight we ever need to fight. If we kill the bad Alphas and break the flight, the other two-legs that might want to hunt us would know that the danger is too much and we are much strong."

Was-Grounded turned and stared out to the horizon.

"Yes, they should know that."

"And the ranges will remember why we are called Night Furies!" Shadowwing chuckled.

Was-Grounded growled happily at that. He wondered at something he remembered his brother say as part of an agreement between them.

"Can you do it? Can you kill a two-leg?"

Shadowwing sighed heavily.

"You know that I do not want killing, but for this two-leg, for this Monster, I will be warmed in my liver to kill it."

His words earned him a warm shoulder bump.

"You always had the liver of a Night Fury."

Shadowwing hummed softly and turned to his brother.

"There is still danger on this flight. I want to ask you... if I die-"

"No! Do not say that!" Was-Grounded growled.

"If I die, will you be as a sire, a father, for Moon-Dancer? Would you make him as your own for me?"

Was-Grounded almost answered but paused as a pained look came over him until he gave a worried warble.

"You know that I would. But I do not think Luna would stay here. I think she would take him and fly for the hidden world. And to speak liver-truth, I think we would."

"Wait, what?"

Was-Grounded sighed and did not look up to meet his eyes.

"I do not know what our place is in this mixed nest. We know that the two-legs try to be warm and good to us, but I do not think that they see us like themselves."

"They are not without twistedness, true, but that is not a reason to turn tail on them. And they are learning even if they have rock-head problems."

"What if the fighting does not stop with us grounding this flight? What if bad nests will always come here to fight us? It was easier to think about making mixed-nests when it was only you and me, but now I have all my little ones. They are more important to me than all the two-legs of this range," Was-Grounded continued.

He gave Shadowwing another brief nudge on the shoulder.

"What about Luna and Moon-Dancer? What if something happens to them because of this flight or a future one?"

"I cannot think that way. That is thinking like our wings are failing us..." Shadowwing moaned.

"Maybe. But I keep thinking about what we might have to lose to have that vision-hope live. I do not think this is a world-range for kin anymore."

Shadowwing barely stifled the whimper that rose from within.

Sigh.

"Will you do the same for my little ones and Green-Wings if I die?" Was-Grounded whispered.

"Yes, I would. You know that I hold them in my liver as if they are mine."

Was-Grounded purred at that.

"I know that you would. My little-ones already know you as their second sire-father. You would be able to make Green-Wings warm again as a dam-mother."

"Yes, I... wait! What?" Shadowwing exclaimed in alarm.

"Yes, you could give her new eggs."

"No!"

"What? She knows that you are a good, warm sire-father even if your liver will always be Luna's. I would do that for Luna if she would want it. You do not want Night Furies to stop being, do you?"

Shadowwing groaned aloud and sighed.

"Let us not die and not have those... skies need to be flown."

Was-Grounded huffed and chuckled at that.

"I like that better. Tell me about this attack-flight one more time. What else must I know?"

"You know how we will burn the bad-Alpha's water-walker. The bonded kin will carry the fire-air holding-things. You will use your fire to burn the water-walker."

"Yes, I will."

"The only other thing is the bad kin that the hunter-two-leg has. You saw them?"

Was-Grounded hissed at the mere mention of them.

"Yes, I saw those bad kin. I do not like them. They look like kin-hunting kin."

"Yes, the two-legs call them death-grabbers. Kin-liver said that they fight kin and eat kin. I do not think that they are true thralls. They might have a twisted life-bond with the hunter Alpha two-leg," Shadowwing explained.

"Even if they do, we are both Alphas. We can fly faster than they can. They want to hit their prey with their tusks and their sharp tails. They will not be a true threat to us if we fly well."

"No, they will not be, but I still think that I am missing something. That there is something I should know that is sliding through my claws..." Shadowwing sighed.

The door to the house opened, and two Night Furies bounded up to them with grumbles of dismay.

"Why not us?" "We can fight for the nest also!" Dawn-Singer and Aurora cried.

Was-Grounded slowly walked over to them both and sat down before them.

"First two of my liver, you do not know fighting like I do. I have used my fire against bad two-legs, bad kin, and two Alpha-Monsters. I have many hurt marks. You do not."

"But I have fire also!" Dawn-Singer objected and shot a burst of fire into the ground.

"And I can fly very fast!" Aurora echoed.

"True, but I need you both to do something else for me. Something of much weight."

"What?" they both grumbled.

"I need you both to stay here in this range and stay in the sky. Watch for bad two-legs on the ground or the water. Your dam-mother, younger nestmates, and Moon-Dancer will be staying here together as one nest."

He stepped closer to them, sat back on his haunches, and put a forearm on both of their shoulders at once.

"I trust you both to keep watch over the nest and protect them. Shelter them and all others staying here under your wings and watching eyes. Can you do that for me?" Was-Grounded purred.

"And for me. I trust you to help your dam-mother watch over my little one. Will you do that for me?" Shadowwing added.

Dawn-Singer and Aurora glanced at each other and hummed softly.

"We can fly and watch the nest. And we will let dam-mother know if we see anything bad," Dawn-Singer answered.

"If you do see anything bad coming into the mixed nest, you tell your dam and you can all fly away and hide. Fighting is to protect the nest and the little ones who cannot fight for themselves. You are not fighting, but you will be protecting the nest. You see?" Was-Grounded explained.

They both purred their understanding.

Was-Grounded followed them back home, and Shadowwing returned to his own home as well.

"Sire-father!" Moon-Dancer bounded for him upon his return.

"Little one, my son!"

He chased after his son for a minute until he caught him and carried his squirming son over to Luna's side.

"No eating me!" Moon-Dancer protested.

"Nohmn ermmng mmuh!" he mumbled back past the little one in his maw.

He gently dropped Moon-Dancer on his son's favorite place at Luna's side on the warm sleeping-rock.

"You will go play with Mist-Wings and Rain-Eater over at the other cave-den. And you will sleep there," she whispered.

"Why there?" Moon-Dancer's little ears rose at his question.

"Because I and your dam-mother are going flying on a long flight with many other kin. Green-Wings will shelter you as your true dam-mother would," Shadowwing answered his son.

"That is good. I like them. We are one nest."

"Go to sleep now little one, we will take you to the others when it is time," Luna hummed.

Moon-Dancer curled up and pulled a wing over himself as he lay at Luna's side. They waited until they were sure he was asleep.

"Luna? How are you, my life-mate?"

"I still think that this is fighting that must not happen or be, but it is the choice of the Alphas to lead the nest into a fight," she softly groaned.

"Do you think that the kin will listen to your voice?" he asked, trying to change the subject slightly.

"They know that I can speak for an Alpha. I am very much like you, and they know that we are a pair. Why?"

"We should leave the fighting fast once we win the fight and kill the bad Alpha. You could help by flying down the fighting-line and calling to the other kin while none can see you. You could tell them to fly back to this range."

"I will do that. If my Alpha asks it of me..." she whispered and looked away from him.

He groaned at her words.

"Alpha... never an Alpha to you," he whispered.

He jumped up to her side and leaned against her.

"Will you hold me, my life-mate?" he asked after briefly nuzzling her nose.

She locked a forearm and her tail around his and leaned against him as he did the same. A very short peace followed until the fear and chill crashed down on her like a flash of sky-light, fouling his warm and gentle embrace.

"Do not make me lose you," she whispered, fully letting the circling chill around her liver seep into her voice.

He crooned softly to her and nuzzled her nose again.

"My Luna, I promise you this, we will win this fight, we will find peace, we will have more eggs and little ones than we can count on our paws, and we will live long as one until the end of our life-cycles."

"That is good, I want that," she weakly whispered.

They fell asleep to their shared purrs.

Roaring and shouting from outside awoke them later on at night, nearly a couple hours before dawn.

"Wait, what?" Shadowwing groaned as he got to his feet.

There was the sound of an explosion, and a flash of light erupted from beyond. Screaming of fear and alarm followed.

Luna snarled as she coiled closer around Moon-Dancer.

"Stay here," Shadowwing barked.

"I will."

Shadowwing bounded outside and froze for an instant when he saw what was happening. He hopped up on top of his own house and growled at the growing destruction. Fires had sprung up all over the far side of the village. Several dragons flitted closely over the roofs of houses and perches and rained shots down below them with abandon, shots which burst into fire moments after striking. But this was not the innocent flaming of the occasional wild dragon. Several familiar and terrible red dragons with tusks and shrieking cries were the sources of the attacks.

Deathgrippers! Grimmel hit us first! But what are they doing?

He roared aloud while gliding over to his brother's house, and Was-Grounded jumped outside a moment later.

"Death-grabbers. We fly now!" Shadowwing growled.

They took to the sky a moment later and burned brightly in command. The wild dragons that had been scattering and flying wildly recovered themselves somewhat at the appearance of their Alphas and turned on the nearest Deathgrippers, driving them into the air and away from the village.

Ok, looks like there are three of them. And they are just trying to cause as much destruction as possible...

Other dragon riders started reaching their dragons and leading them into the skies to aid in the defense by chasing after the marauding dragons. Dozens of buildings were now on fire with no fire-response teams to react yet. Everyone had been at the feast when the attack began. Roaring, shouting, and confusion began to spread as parts of Haven began to burn. The orange glow made it look as though the sea was burning as well.

Shadowwing narrowed his gaze on the nearest pair of Deathgrippers.

Alright, time to see what these Deathgrippers can do... it won't be enough...

"You take that one, I take this one," Was-Grounded shouted from next to him.

They split apart, flew toward the two nearest Deathgrippers, and roared aloud to get the hunters' attention. Both of the Deathgrippers looked up at the approaching Furies and turned for the wild.

Shadowwing briefly noticed that Valka and Cloudjumper were harassing the other Deathgripper using the Stormcutter's far greater size. His own quarry hissed at him and continued to fly off down the shore as he pursued it.

Odd, why is it flying away? Maybe it is smarter than I thought and knows that it cannot win this fight.

A glowing, explosive shot flew ahead and struck the Deathgripper's back, briefly disturbing its flight and hastening its departure. It was not as fast as a Night Fury and was quite outnumbered. It snarled once more and rolled to turn its hasty flight out toward the sea.

He turned back for Haven after following the Deathgripper out to shore and over the sea for several minutes. There were a couple other distant dragons barely visible in the moonlight and far out over the sea. The attackers were routed.

Everything seemed to be settling down a bit with the Haven dragons helping to put out fires wherever possible. And there were many fires, perhaps a couple dozen still burning, with flames spilling into the sky. He stifled the whine at the sight of the destruction as he too helped however he could by ferrying buckets to the ocean. Some of the burning homes were certainly beyond recovery. A few of the burning perches, unattended for too long, began to collapse in place. Too many of the people had been indoors at the celebration to be able to react in time to prevent the worst of the damage.

He spotted his brother winging in at the head of a small flight. They joined flights and glided.

"What happened?" Shadowwing asked.

"I drove my death-grabber away!" Was-Grounded snarled viciously.

"They all flew away!" Shadowwing answered.

He spotted Hookedfang and Cloudjumper outside the Great Hall. Valka and Thorvald were standing together with Gobber, clearly all in council.

He landed and bounded up to them.

"Shadowwing! You ok?" Thorvald asked.

Yes, he nodded.

"Anyone dead?" Gobber asked.

"Not that I know of. And what just happened?" Thorvald groaned.

They all glanced overhead as riders and their dragons were doing whatever they could to carry water to the burning structures and contain the fires.

"Grimmel sent his Deathgrippers to attack us," Valka snarled.

"But why? What good did this do other than burn stuff?" Thorvald wondered.

I do not know

"Cloudjumper and I drove ours off. Didn't Grimmel have five of them?" Valka asked.

Yeah, he did. We saw only three of them though.

"I only remember seeing three in that fight. What about the other two?" Thorvald answered.

Valka started pacing with her hands clasped behind her back.

"This makes no sense. How did his dragons know what to do? Why would he risk his dragons to do this?"

"There are a lot of fires," Gobber offered.

"We're getting those under control. No one died as far as I have heard," Thorvald replied.

"Yes, but what would Grimmel gain from..." Valka paused.

Valka spun in place, an expression of wary shock on her face.

"Is Luna safe?" she hesitantly asked.

'What about the other two?'

Is Luna safe?

'It could have been useful to me...'

Is Luna safe?

'I always wanted a white hide...'

He spun on his feet and jumped for the orange sky, sheer panic driving all other thought from his mind. A quick thrust of his wings carried him over the nearest row of buildings, and he saw the two large, adjacent homes that were so different in appearance from the others.

It all made perfect sense in that instant. Three Deathgrippers causing random chaos far away on the other side of the village. Leading the dragons away from the village and out over the wild for a few crucial minutes. Enough time for another subtle mission in all the confusion. It had all been a trap, a very clever one, a diversion, that he had fallen for. He had underestimated his enemy one more time.

Useless to protect her as he promised. One more failure of his.

"Luna! No!" he screamed as he glided down before the ruins of his burned, broken home.

The faintest scents of Deathgrippers and of one human hovered around the place. How Grimmel and his Deathgrippers had found these houses did not matter. Had he walked inside with a poisoned dart and shot Luna in cold blood?

'I fear that flying above will be my death one sun.'

Pure dread coursed through him as he remembered that Moon-Dancer had been here too.

Oh gods! No! No!

"MOON-DANCER!"

He dashed forward toward the burning wreckage and jumped through the open door and smoke into the fire. All the meager furniture, scrolls, and papers within had burned to ash. Half of the building had collapsed, leaving a wide open hole through which the Deathgrippers had probably taken her at Grimmel's command. Deathgrippers were very strong dragons, and the nets he remembered them carrying could easily hold the weight of an adult Fury.

A burning beam fell and struck his back, though it did no more than bruise him.

'If any two-legs try to claw at my nest again.'

The flames whipped up through the hole in the wall, the heat suffocating his breath as raw, unrestrained panic began to seize him.

'This would not have happened if we were somewhere safer.'

The love of his life had been stolen from him by a dragon attack at night.

'You will not fail us again. I trust you.'

His son was gone.

'They are hunters that will try to kill... and eat other dragons...'

The crackle of the flames was the only audible sound.

'I will destroy everything you love.'

"SON!"

"Sire..." a terrified voice whined.

He spun around in alarm and stared at where the voice had come from. There, in the corner of the burning house, was a barely visible shimmering where the wooden walls looked bent. As if something was hiding in plain sight. He bounded over to his invisible son in profound, heartrending relief without questioning how it was possible.

"Son! I am here! Hold on!"

He reached out and picked up the unseen Moon-Dancer, holding him tightly to his breast as he quickly darted outside to escape the burning building. Out into the chill night air lit by a pervasive orange glow.

The first thing he noticed when he got outside was that his brother had arrived too and had brought out the rest of the Furies from next door. None of them seemed harmed, nor had their house been hit. Grimmel had only had the time or intention to hit one of the homes.

Green-Wings covered her two youngest children under her wings and stared toward him in fear and alarm. Dawn-Singer and Aurora were nowhere to be seen, though he had seen them earlier helping to combat some of the fires. Was-Grounded jumped to his side in open shock. His brother's tail thrashed as a deathly snarl burst from his jaws.

"What happened?" he gasped.

"The bad Alpha had his death-grabbers... grab Luna from the cave-den..." Shadowwing whined as he coiled partly around his son.

"Moon-Dancer?" Was-Grounded fearfully whispered.

"I have him. He can... hide from eyes too."

"Little one?" Was-Grounded stared in surprise.

Moon-Dancer only whimpered from his place of hiding.

"Son, can you let us see you?" Shadowwing hummed, trying to contain his panic for his son's sake.

A few moments passed before Moon-Dancer appeared again, somehow knowing how to make himself seen. Shadowwing craned his neck around and gently nuzzled his son's quivering nose.

"Son, what happened? Tell me."

Moon-Dancer trembled softly for several moments before speaking.

"A bad two-leg... It threw something... small at dam-mother... and made her sleepy... She told me to hide... and breathed hiding-fire on me... so I hid... She fell asleep... Bad kin broke the den and... grabbed her in ropes..."

Shadowwing breathed a brief sigh of relief at something his son had said. Something that had not happened. He nuzzled Moon-Dancer's head again and tightly held his son.

They did not kill her. Not yet at least.

"Why did it do this?" Was-Grounded growled as he stared at the fire.

The question pierced through Shadowwing's panic and fear as he did his best to seriously consider it. Why would Grimmel make an attack like this? What would he gain by taking Luna? Surely it was not to kill her immediately. No, he had to have another purpose.

'And I will always protect you. I promise you, Luna.'

How many pieces could a heart break into? One more repeated failure to do what he promised.

A useless failure as a father and mate and a protector, just as he had always been in both lives.

Shadowwing looked up at the dark sky out over the sea and pitifully whined. The stars twinkled overhead, oblivious to the wrongness of the world and his own self-loathing.

"The Monster two-leg... wants me to fly after her... into a trap..."

Was-Grounded stepped closer to him and put a wing over his back in silent comfort. A quiet moment, only broken by the crackle of the fires and the occasional roar of a dragon above, passed between them as they stared into the sky.

Valka arrived as well and stared at the burning building in shock after noticing Moon-Dancer safely between his arms.

"Shadowwing?" she gasped as she bounded over to his side.

He whined and wrote nothing.

"Grimmel took her?" she seethed.

He could only nod. A moment of silence passed between them until Valka turned to him with a baleful expression that he had never seen before on her face.

"And what are we going to do about it?" she snarled.

Shadowwing only whimpered and closed his eyes.

"I failed her... Again," he groaned.

Was-Grounded nuzzled his neck while purring softly.

"No, you were defending the range, and you did nothing wrong in the flight. That most bad Alpha thinks that it is the great hunter. What did we say we would do to it?" Was-Grounded answered.

"Turn the hunt on it..." he gasped.

"Yes, you and me as one flight... always. But we are not flying alone," Was-Grounded hummed.

Shadowwing opened his eyes, looked up at that comment, and saw everything around him in that moment. And even despite the pain in his heart, he was still struck by what he saw before him.

What looked like half of Haven, dragon and human alike, had gathered around them on the safe buildings, in the sky, and on the ground. Well over two hundred unbonded dragons were circling above, disturbed by all the fighting and clearly ready to follow their Alphas into battle. The dragons with riders were waiting on the ground as their humans stood nearby or were busy giving their dragons basic armor as each needed. Nadders, Zipplebacks, Nightmares, Gronkles, Rumblehorns, Raincutters, a couple Timberjacks, one Bonenapper, one Stormcutter, and more were represented. Riders were fitting on their wingsuits and gathering weapons to themselves.

A defiant fire sparked to life in the emptiness in his heart at the sight. Something changed in that instant. A final reluctance fell away and was replaced by grim certainty. He lifted his head and took a very deep breath as he stared up at the white moon partially hidden behind the heavy cloudcover.

So this is it, the doom of Haven will be decided now. We will strike back as we planned, just a day early.

"Follow me, my son, I will take you to the other nest," Shadowwing softly whispered.

Moon-Dancer hopped to his feet and followed after him as Was-Grounded did so as well.

Shadowwing felt the dirt underfoot as his claws dug in at each step. Would he ever feel dirt again after what was to come?

He stopped before Green-Wings as she stood partly coiled around Mist-Wings and Rain-Eater, both just outside their home. Dawn-Singer and Aurora had just returned from helping combat the spreading fires.

"Green-Wings, will you watch him for me now?"

"Little one Moon-Dancer," Green-Wings bent down and nuzzled Moon-Dancer as she received him.

"Green-Wings?"

"Shadowwing?"

Two pairs of green eyes stared deeply into the other.

"You will watch him as your own, truth?"

"I will," Green-Wings purred.

"Even if I and Luna... do not fly back here?" he whispered.

"Brother," Was-Grounded whimpered.

"It might happen. I want to know that he will have a warm dam-mother, if the most-bad happens..."

None of them said anything for several moments. Green-Wings slowly got to her feet, stepped over to him, and softly nuzzled his nose.

"I will shelter him with my wings the same as if I made and sat his egg. And you..." she butted his head, "you will bring my life-mate and also my nest-kin Luna back here or I will eat your liver."

Her voice was still filled with a deep worry and solemn hum.

"And I will have Aurora and Dawn-Singer fly to watch the range for us," Was-Grounded added as he bounded over to his two oldest children.

Shadowwing grimly nodded and returned to meet the gathering crowd. Chief Thorvald strode forth from the gathered humans while holding a torch aloft.

"They took her, I hear?" Thorvald growled.

Shadowwing only bared his teeth with a snarl.

"We are flying now. Same plan. Any last words for us?"

Stick to the plan and leave when finished

"Yeah, you don't need to worry about us. Plus, we have Dragonheart to help us," Thorvald chuckled and nodded to Valka.

He turned away and addressed all gathered before him.

"We fly now to protect our home and our own! Grimmel took Luna! Some of us might not come back, and we will remember them and celebrate them as they look down on us from Valhalla."

"AYE!" "Death and glory!" "Valhalla!"

"No light, no torches once get out there over the waters! We have a couple hours or so until dawn! We will make the Dragon Hunters fear us after tonight! We only have one shot at this! We fly now!"

Both Night Furies roared aloud, and the dragons rose to follow the command, gradually separating slightly into two flights. One bore riders and the other one did not. The dragons with riders flew outside the village to where the barrels had been stored, grabbed the loaded barrels in their claws or had them tied down with ropes, and turned for the horizon. Thorvald and Valka took up the lead of the bonded dragons and the two Furies led the wild dragons. Shadowwing and Was-Grounded glanced back toward Haven one last time and could barely see two circling Furies flying patrol in the sky as instructed.

The flights passed silently out over the waters until none of the remaining fires of Haven were visible. All were flying up near the clouds where nothing would be visible in the darkness.

The nervous anticipation built all throughout as dragons seemed to remember this activity from long ago. They knew a raid when they saw one.

Hold on Luna. I am on my way.

His brother brushed his wing in a silent reassurance. A solemn, grim look passed between them without any words.

This will be the first time that we have flown into the start of a battle together.

They turned their attention to the skies ahead and settled into the repetition of flight.

'And I will always protect you. I promise you, Luna.'

Leagues of water passed down below.

The beat of wings filled the sky.

The flash of moonlight emerged from behind the clouds.

Shadowwing's heart had at some point stopped breaking as he flew.

For all the trust that she gave to him again and again in leaving the hidden world and in moving down into the village, he had still failed her.

He had not kept his promise.

For the last time.

Confusion was all she knew.

'The cave-den's mouth had opened and a two-leg had appeared there. That was bad-wrong. Two-legs do not belong in her cave-den...'

Darkness and floating, the wind on her belly.

'The two-leg aimed a throwing-thing at her and threw a thin-tooth-stick at her. It pierced her soft belly as she had been laying down on her side in her surprise.'

Tail up and head down toward the water, ropes all around her.

'The thin-tooth-stick was making her sleepy. Fear not for herself. "Hide... hide... Moon-Dancer... hide..." Her hiding-fire poured out over her dear little Moon-Dancer, and she saw as his scales, so like her own in shape, hungrily drank in the fire until he vanished from her eyes. Safe.'

Body motionless and not responding to her wants in her exhaustion.

'The side of the cave-den was torn apart as two bad-wrong-tusked-kin-hunting-kin appeared.'

Dropped onto a large two-leg water-walker but not seeing much of what was around her. A mouth-closing thing over her mouth to stop her from biting or burning.

'The two-leg bad-Alpha approaching her as her vision failed and her legs gave out.'

Sleep... Sleep... Sleep...

She blinked wildly and shook her head to get the bad-twisted thinking out. And she realized what she was being dragged to after so long being free of one.

A trap on a water-walker!

A big trap filled with strong-metal bars. The thrall-maker two-legs carried her to the big trap on the water-walker's back. Her limbs were too weak still to let her claw at the Monsters. But she could still snap at the Monsters. They had taken off the old mouth-closing thing and they were not looking at her.

She spun around and flashed her teeth toward the nearest Monster, her jaws closing around its nearest paw. The paw came off and was lost to her belly, so very like many season-cycles ago when she defied the thrall-makers on an island.

But the screaming of pain was followed by many Monsters piling onto her, kicking her, and hitting at her head with their whip-vine-rope hurting-things.

Was this now or true or bad-false-memories?

Pain, biting pain.

So real.

A commanding Monster voice called out and stopped the hurting.

They pushed her into the trap and closed the mouth of the trap.

TRAPPED!

Suffocating closeness in the trap, too tight to stretch her wings.

Trapped.

Old memories of being tied down in another trap as thrall-males were brought over and forced on her.

Trapped...

A weak whine escaped from her.

Left in the dark, all alone. It became comforting to be alone.

All the two-legs around the trap... no, all the Monsters around the trap... were looking at her. Now or in the bad-memories?

Where was she? Were there thrall-kin males here also to force-mate her now? Do these Monster two-legs kill kin to take their scales and hides?

She put her paws on her head and whined softly, only to be disturbed by motion around her. The Monster two-legs were moving.

One of the Monster two-legs came over to her trap while carrying a fire-burning stick. It was a normal height two-leg, not impressive in any way except it was wearing a false-hide made of a Night Fury's hide. That, its twisted-bond with the bad-hunter kin with tusks, and the deference the thralls were giving said that this was the two-leg Alpha whose life-flight was to hunt Night Furies. To hunt her life-mate.

But what did this Alpha want with her?

It put its paws on the trap's bars and smiled at her. She stepped back slightly from it with a growl-whine and narrowed eyes.

The Alpha bared its tiny teeth and pointed a finger at her.

"You will kill them," it hissed.

She hissed back at it and showed it all of her far more impressive teeth.

I will kill you when I get out!

The Monster-Alpha turned away from her and called away its thralls, two-leg and the tusked-hunter-kin, leaving her alone in the trap as it was lowered into the water-walker's belly. Down two levels the trap was slowly dropped and dragged into a far corner of the belly.

There was a deep cave that went deep along the ground into the water-walker's belly. Within that cave were seven smaller side-caves, one of which seemed filled with random kin-trapping things. The others were where the tusked-hunter-kin were left to roost in their own little dens.

Something about the place felt especially life-chilling and weak-tired making, in addition to it being a water-walker with kin-traps. It was an oppressive feel, almost as though something was watching her even if there were no eyes now looking at her. The few fires the Monsters had burning almost seemed to give off less light than they should.

The trap and everything around her threatened her with old memories. Torn wings and no life-fire. Two-legs... Monsters trapping her and laughing at her.

She was stronger against the past, and all the Monster thralls had left her alone now. The bad memories were still there, never to be lost, but there were good ones also now. So much warmth in her life to balance the bad.

But such fear now. Her little Moon-Dancer should be safe and hidden, she had seen him fade from her own sight. Shadowwing, she had no idea, but he should be safe against the bad kin that had attacked the range.

She lifted a claw to the mouth-closing thing to try to work it off her jaws. It was something she had been able to do before with the other Monster-Alpha's thralls. These ones did not know how strong and sharp-cutting her thinking was. It was only a curiosity now that her paws had a small bit of her own spilled life-water on them. The whip-vine-rope hurting-things had bit at her head.

But the mouth-closing thing would not come off. She could still do what needed to be done though. She turned to her belly and started licking the bite that the small weapon had made. It was possible to get enough mouth-water on her tongue and lick the hurt.

The bite was not deep or a life-threat, but it must have been how she was made to fall asleep. There had been a cold, numbing fire that had spilled through her after being shot.

Once that licking was done, she licked a paw, got as much mouth-water on it as she could, and tended to her head. The stinging bite on her forehead slowly faded. Feeling the comfort from licking the small hurt and tending to her small head hurt, she lay down and started thinking about how to get out of the trap.

Her claws scratched the wood ground underpaw, and her tail thrashed as she looked around. The metal bars were too strong for her to push apart. The strong wood ground could maybe burn some, but she could not flame now with the mouth-closing thing on her. It was a strong trap.

She saw something that made her freeze, ears swept back and her lips curled. Next to the trap were ropes, a stronger mouth-closing thing, and a back-sitting-on thing.

No, I will never let any of you on my back!

As much as she wanted to pace, snarl, rage, burn, and bite, doing those would not help her now. They were impossible to do. There were no Monsters within her snap now. Instead, she lay down, closed her eyes, and flew her thoughts to the coming fight with a warm snarl.

Her thoughts were filled with getting her teeth and claws on that Alpha and tearing its body apart. Even scorching it with her white hot fire would be good.

But the words from the Alpha put a chill in her liver. The Alpha was sure that Shadowwing and Was-Grounded would fly here to this water-walker to find her. That was certain. There was no chance for peace after this first strike, and they would both come to free her. But why would the Alpha think that she would hurt them?

They will kill you if I do not first! You will all burn!

[Oh Fortune... like the moon... you are variable...]

Author's Note – I took some small liberty with the Deathgripper's offensive capabilities relative to their canon abilities.