Chapter 2

The Draconian family finally reached Berk. The sun was up and the village was awake. The dragons landed and Chris and Edelweiss dismounted. The dragon riders gathered in the plaza to greet them. Edelweiss went up to each of their dragons like they were her aunts and uncles. The dragons nuzzled her in turn. The Berkians soon noticed that Serenity wasn't there.

"Hey guys how was you flight?" asked Hiccup.

"It was pretty quiet to be honest," said Re, stretching his wings to prevent them from cramping up.

"Where's Serenity?" asked Hiccup, spying Tenor's empty saddle.

"She had to stay in Draconia," Aurora said. "She has a habit of making herself sick or hurting herself every time someone spars or fights. It wasn't good for her. So we built her a house on the sores of Silver Valley Lake where there's almost no fighting."

"Oh, okay that makes sense," said Hiccup. But he could tell that the Draconians were really missing their healer. He wondered if they would actually get through the entire summer without needing her and her skills. He also felt bad for Serenity; all alone without her family.

"You guys sure you're going to survive the whole summer without her?" asked Astrid. "I recall occasions when someone would have died if she hadn't been there. That seems to happen a lot up here."

"We'll manage," said Aurora. "We may not be as good as she is, but she taught us all basic first aid in case she isn't present."

"And you don't miss her at all?" asked Hiccup.

"We do," said Tenor. "But she'll still be there when we get back."

"Okay," said Hiccup. The Draconians made their way up to the apple tree to rest after their long flight. The young ones still had energy to spare so they ran around the edge of the woods. Edelweiss rode on Avalon to give Black Widow a break. The dragonets were about three or four years away from being full grown. They were currently the size of a moose calf.

They played tag for about half an hour before laying down to rest. Edelweiss dismounted and laid down as well, her head resting on Avalon's back. The dragonets could tell she wasn't entirely happy. Avalon nudged her.

"You miss your mama don't you?" she said.

"Yeah," said Edelweiss.

"We miss her too," said Apollo. "Lets face it, it's because of us that our parents are doing this to her. They have to train us to be fighters and that leaves them next to no time to hang out with her."

"They spend time with her during the winter," said Black Widow. "My mother isn't cruel."

"No she's not," said Apollo. "She's trying to keep Serenity safe."

"Isn't there a way to keep her safe without her ending up alone?" asked Edelweiss. "I feel safer while training, knowing that if any of us get hurt she's there to help us."

"Same here," said Eider. "I don't feel safe trying to unlock my titan wing without a healer nearby."

"I'm training to be a healer," Edel pointed out. "So you still got me."

"Yeah, but do you have your mother's medical equipment?" asked Eider. Edel realized that she didn't.

"I know, we can refuse to train without a healer," Apollo suggested.

"And I'll refuse to unlock my titan wing without a healer," said Eider. They all agreed.

With this decision made they headed back to the tree where their elders waited. They were all worn out from flying for 24 hours. So they decided to sleep off the jet lag. They found that they couldn't stop thinking about their left behind dragon healer. They each started to come up with ways to keep her safe and happy, that didn't involve her being alone.

Back on Silver Valley Lake, Serenity felt the days go by very slowly. Every night she dreamed of her family returning early, or that they had never left. She dreamed of flying all over the world on her dragon. She was never alone in her dreams. But when she woke up and found that they were still gone, she would cry for hours until the sun rose. She missed them so much.

Everyday she took her canoe out onto the water. It helped make the days go by a bit faster. BlueSky brought over the seeds Serenity had asked for. Serenity planted them at once. She planted corn, potatoes, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, watermelon, and carrots. She also planted several flowers such as: snapdragons, poppies, sunflowers, roses, daffodils, violets, daisies, irises, tulips, zinnias, forget me not flowers, honeysuckle, moon flowers, morning glories, and of course edelweiss. She planted the vegetables on one side of the house, and the flowers on the other. In just a few months her whole front yard would be covered in tons and tons of flowers. It satisfied her, now that she had things to do. But she still couldn't ignore the urge to fly. If the dragons couldn't find time to take her flying, then she would have to build her own wings like Hiccup did.

She didn't know how to build a flight suit by herself. But she remembered reading books in the Castle Library about flying machines. She'd seen pictures of the flying machines, with big dragon-like wings and complicated steering mechanisms. She had doubts about being able to build a working flying machine. Serenity decided to look through those books again, to see if there was anything in them about flying machines that were easy to build and easy to fly.

When she was done watering her garden; she got in her canoe and paddled it over to Arson's cave. She hoped that one of them could fly her to the castle to get those books. But she was disappointed when she found the cave empty. She began to think, letting the canoe drift for a minuet. She supposed she could paddle the canoe all the way to the castle, but it was a ten day journey round trip by boat. She shrugged it off though. It was still the beginning of summer and she had a long time before her family came back, plus it would keep her from thinking about them.

She paddled back to the house to gather supplies. When she got there, she tied the canoe down and ran into the house. She still didn't have any food, her crops hadn't grown yet. This was a problem. She was loosing a lot of weight. She planned to stop in Silver Valley City and see if there was any food there. She gathered up her camping gear and her medical bag and went back out to the boat. She got in and paddled away. Her garden was in good hands. There was plenty of water and sunlight for it. She steered the boat out of the cove and up the lake towards the city.

It was almost sunset by the time she reached it. The air was filled with fireflies, ferries skipped across the water like insects and glowing as brightly as the fireflies. Dragons flew overhead. They didn't pay her any heed. Serenity ignored them as well. But suddenly Arson and BlueSky landed on the water near the canoe.

"Hey Serenity," said Arson. "Where you off too."

"The Castle Library," said Serenity. "There's a book on flight that I want to get. I went to your cave to ask for a ride, but you weren't there."

"We were out hunting," said Arson. "You still want a ride? It's a pretty long boat ride to the castle."

"All right," said Serenity. "Let me dock this." She paddled over to a nearby fallen tree. She jumped out and tied the boat to the tree. The two dragons glided over and landed beside her. She mounted Arson and they took off again.

They flew to Bluegreen and landed on one of the stone bridges of the castle. Serenity dismounted and went inside. She made her way to the library. She went inside and began looking for the book on flight. She remembered where she'd put it last time. She found it and pulled it off the shelf. She left the library and rejoined the two dragons out on the bridge. She mounted Arson again, and they took off.

They landed back at Silver Valley, where the canoe was waiting. Serenity got off and got into the boat.

"Thank you," she said. Suddenly her stomach rumbled, drawing the attention of the two dragons.

"When was the last time you ate something?" asked BlueSky. Serenity thought back.

"Day before they left," she said. "There's no food in that house and my crops haven't grown yet."

"Well, some friends they turned out to be," said Arson. "Leaving you behind with nothing to eat. We'll bring you something when we get back to our cave."

"Okay," said Serenity. "I'll meet you there." She untied the boat and paddled back down the lake towards her house, happy that she didn't have to paddle all they way to the castle.

She reached her house and pulled the boat alongside the jetty. She tied it down and got out, taking her gear with her up to the house. The sun was well set by now and the moon was out. Serenity went inside the house and set her gear down in a nearby closet. She went downstairs to the Round Table. She sat in King Arthur's throne and set her book on the table.

She scanned the book for several hours, not feeling the least bit sleepy. She lit the glowing crystals so she could still read. BlueSky stopped by with smoked ham, cooked halibut, and bison jerky. She brought enough so Serenity wouldn't go hungry while she was stuck there, at least until her crops grew. Serenity was very grateful. BlueSky left telling Serenity to contact them if she needed more. Serenity ate the ham and jerky, and saved the fish. She only just realized just how hungry she was. She continued to read the book while she ate. She soon came to a diagram of a basic hang glider. It looked like a big triangle on top of a smaller triangle. The book included blueprints and interactions. Satisfied, Serenity marked the place in the book and closed it. She decided to start building it after she got some sleep. She went upstairs and went to bed. She made plans in her head to get the materials from Bluegreen. Being stuck here alone, wasn't so bad now. But she still longed for her family to come home.

The next morning Serenity wrote a letter to Alto, the dragon in charge of Bluegreen when the royal family was abroad. Serenity included what materials were needed and how much was needed. When finished, she sent the letter on its way with a Hermes Dragon. Serenity felt a bit silly, she could have sent a Hermes Dragon to get the flying book. Overlooking it, she ate much needed breakfast.

When finished she went outside to check on her crops, and did a touch of weeding. When she was done with that she went back out on the water in her canoe. She planned to stay out all day. It helped to distract her from her longing. She watched the activity around, over, and beneath the lake. It was mostly dragons, with the occasional giant eagle. They paid little heed to the canoe, and fished around it. Suddenly something silver swam under the boat, followed by another turquoise something. They were human sized and Serenity knew what they were at once, mermaids. Another one swam by that was midnight blue. Serenity was not afraid of them and continued paddling. Then the mermaids came back and surrounded the boat. There were five of them. They seemed to be talking to each other in a dolphin like language. Serenity kept paddling. She was careful to not hit the mermaids with her paddle or the boat.

She stopped paddling for a while and let the boat drift. She watched the activity around the lake. Dragons and giant eagles dove into the water and caught fish. Lord Draco had enchanted the whole country so that all the fish and game never ran out, that there would always be plenty of fish and wildlife to hunt.

Serenity also watched the Lake Dragons come up for air, mermaids swam right beside them. No one was fighting or arguing and that made Serenity slightly happier. But she wasn't completely happy like she was when her family was with her. She watched the dragons and other animals, being with their families. It seemed to corrode her heart away, seeing all the lucky creatures who got to be with their loved ones. Not being able to take the pain any longer, she turned the canoe around and headed back towards the house.

She reached her jetty and tied the boat down. She got out and went towards the house, her hands in her pockets. Suddenly she heard dragons landing on the jetty behind her. She turned around and saw Arson and BlueSky standing there. On BlueSky's back was a baby dragon. He was a rich ruby red with black almond-shaped patches around his pale gold eyes.

"Hey Serenity," said Arson.

"Hi," said Serenity quietly. "You guys are very lucky you know."

"What do you mean?" BlueSky asked.

"You guys have each other," said Serenity, her voice breaking. "No one's trying to separate you." The two dragons exchanged a glance. "Seeing all those creatures with their families, no one trying to separate them. It hurts too much to watch them." Arson nuzzled her shoulder gently.

"You'll have your family back," he said. "They will come back to you."

"But then they'll leave me again," said Serenity. "They have more important things to do, than hang out with me."

"Doesn't mean you're not important to them," said BlueSky. "They really love you and they don't want to loose you." Serenity wiped away her tears.

"I suppose nothing would have made them stay, or take me with them," she said. The two dragons shook their heads. Serenity wrapped her arms around herself.

"You okay?" asked BlueSky. Serenity sighed sadly.

"It hurts," she admitted. "A lot. Everyone around here has someone, and I don't."

"Don't worry, things will change," said Arson. "It'll get better." Just then about five Hermes Dragons flew towards them, carrying some big wooden sticks wrapped it canvas. They set their burden at Serenity's feet.

"For you from Alto," said the one in front.

"Thank you," said Serenity. The Hermes Dragons took off.

"What is that?" asked Arson, looking at the thing.

"A distraction," said Serenity. "You'll see when it's all put together."

"Okay, you going to be okay now?" asked BlueSky.

"For now yes," said Serenity. "But I don't think I could be completely happy without them."

"I don't think I could either," said Arson. "If I was separated from my family."

"We'll let you get to work," said BlueSky. "Let us know when you need something." Serenity just nodded. The two dragons spread their wings and took off. Serenity dried her eyes again and got to work building her hang glider.