I took a few paces back, noticing that the sky around me had turned pink, evening embracing the day and threatening to delve into night as the fuchsias of the heavens faded to indigo. The dragon had retreated, and the chilly breeze of Berk had already begun to settle, biting softly at my neck. With a last gaze to where the magnificent creature now resided, giving one last fruitless hope that it might reappear, I turned my back and began to walk across the damp, mossy ground back to where I'd entered from.
Still looking at the sky, I felt a disturbance in the ground beneath my feet. Glancing downwards, my heart leapt from my chest; I was standing on the dragon's art piece. This time, however, there was no growl - no baring of teeth nor flat ears, no sounds of warning from the most feared being known to man. No, now there were only the sounds of small birds chirping their goodbyes to the day, and the soft lapping of the lake as vespertine winds breathed ripples over its surface. Even so, I made sure to step over the chaotic scribbles on my way out.
A soft chuckle left my throat as I had to duck under where my shield had wedged itself in the wall. On the other side, I gave another futile tug at the handle in an attempt to free it to no avail. I could deal with that another time.
Now, I turned, finding rock walls at my sides and the vast expanse of forest before me. With that, a sudden need for air overcame me, and I took hold of a boulder as I felt my knees buckle. The Night Fury. The Night Fury! It had every opportunity to kill me today, moment after moment… And yet it had spared me. It had let me get closer and closer, tolerated my presence to the point it had almost embraced it. I'd fed it, entertained it, even gotten as close as to touch it. And it had accepted. This mighty creature - a complete mystery… To everybody except me.
Dragons weren't what we'd thought they were. Yes, they'd raided us and killed us, they'd even taken my mother, but… From what I'd seen today, dragons were amazing creatures. They had unique habits; they were playful and inquisitive; they were amusing, graceful, intelligent, and… Trusting. While they may well have had the makings of ruthless killers, I could now evidence that they also had a heart. My last resort attempt at forming a bond with this creature could well have been an attempt on its life in the dragon's eyes, but it had trusted me anyway. These beautiful, complex creatures did not need to die at our hands.
I took another breath and stood upright again. Tomorrow I would come back. I could gain its trust, I could learn more about it, and perhaps I could even befriend it. I could form a bond with this fearsome creature, and learn what dragons were truly about. My feet took me forward, heading back through the forest with purpose. My father couldn't stop me while he was away, and what he didn't know certainly couldn't hurt him.