I watched him fly out of there until he had all but gone from my sight. As soon as I could, I turned around and flew back to the island with tears streaming out of my eyes.
He had Alexander. He had taken Alex from me. For that, I hated him.
But the man had called him Toothless. No, his name wasn't that. It was Alexander. It was Alex. I saw him fight for the boy, but why?
No, that boy must've brainwashed the Night Fury. I saw Alvin do it on the island. I used to watch him torture the dragons until they did what he asked him to. That boy must've hurt Alex enough for the Night Fury to attack me instead of him.
He had part of his tail missing. I saw that much of Alex. They must've cut off part of his tail and replaced it with their own controlling machine to make sure Alex didn't fly off. I didn't get a chance to really study the contraption, but I did see as much that it was connected to the saddle and to the man's metal leg. He could control how Alex flew through that peddle.
He was controlling Alex.
And that was enough to make me rage.
Stumbling to the ground, I collapsed in a heap. The wings folded back into place as I sobbed for my lost friend. It was as if fate had let me see my friend long enough to torture me all the more.
For that, I hated fate.
"Chick, chik." The raven cooed to me. Argo nuzzled up against my arm. He must've returned already.
"It was Alex. It was Alex." I whispered to him. The raven understood and nuzzled my arm with his beak again. There was crashing through the tops of the trees as Darkmoon soared low and came right next to me. She looked at me with wide eyes.
"I saw Alex, Darkmoon. I saw him and I saw that he had a rider." I whispered to her. She rubbed her face against mine to tell me that she was sorry. Her flat, angled head grumbled the sorrow. I could tell she was sad as well.
"I only wish I had gotten him this time. Now he'll come back." I said sadly. She grumbled to that. I stroked her nose.
"We'll get him next time, eh Moons?" I laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but it was hard to with Alex still in my eyes. Darkmoon let me get on her back as she took off. She slowly flew through the air towards the nest. I hoped that the chicks were doing alright…
Two hours later…
I arrived back at the nest an hour ago and had mostly been sketching in my little notebook. It had notes, poems, and anything in between. Right now, I was sketching Alex. He wasn't much different than Darkmoon besides the fact that he was a little bigger than her.
"Freya?" My mom's voice came through the cave walls to where I was. She appeared at the entrance in the dim candlelight.
"Hello, mom." I said sadly.
"So how was watch?" She asked. I shook my head a little and explained what had happened. She had a right to know.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry." She came over and hugged me. I sniffed a little. I'm twenty summers old, sure, but I could still use a hug now and then. She glanced over at my sketch.
"Alex?" She asked. I nodded. In the picture, he was biting his tail playfully, like he used to do until Darkmoon swatted his head.
"How about I make some soup tonight? It's pretty cold outside and looks to be cold for the rest of the week." She suggested. I nodded, thanking her as she left. Darkmoon padded up to me and blinked at me with her intelligent eyes.
"How about we go for a fly around tomorrow?" I asked her. She cooed back a yes. Her head bumped my leg playfully and I set down my charcoal sketch. I scratched that one spot behind her ears as they twitched.
"We can check if Aria had her chick yet." I chuckled. Darkmoon perked up and gurgled back in excitement. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day…