Chapter 8
The storm let out its fury when it hit both Dragon Island and Berk. The dragons all took shelter in the volcano. Most of them slept all through out the storm. Chris, Serenity, and Edelweiss were among them. Then when the eye of the storm passed over, the human family saw their chance to strike. The three siblings snuck into the room where the three Draconian humans were sound asleep. Chris had his arm around Serenity.
"We have to hurry," the brown haired sister hissed. "We don't want them waking up and calling those dragons in here." The blond sister pulled out a strip of cloth, intended to gag Edelweiss. She tip toed over to the crib while her two siblings watched Chris and Serenity for any signs of them stirring. The blond sister quietly tied the gag over the child's mouth. While she was doing that the brother spotted the shiny ring on Serenity's finger. He took his chance, snuck over and carefully slid the ring off her finger. He put it in his pocket just as his eldest sister removed the child from her crib.
"Got it, let's go," she whispered. They snuck back outside and headed to an empty cave where their parents waited.
"We got the child," the brown haired sister.
"Good," the mother said. "It's too risky to head back out now. We'll wait until the storm ends permanently then get out of here Hopefully these dragons stay asleep long enough."
"I also snagged this," the brother said. He held up the ring he stole. "It's pure silver and it has a diamond in it, we could sell if for a good fortune." The father took the ring and examined it.
"Wow, that's a fine looking prize," he said. "Good work." He handed the ring back and the brother put it back in his pocket. They sat down to wait out the rest of the storm.
When the storm ended for good several hours later, the island came back to life. Serenity woke up to bright sunshine. She and Chris sat up feeling refreshed but then Serenity noticed that her wedding ring wasn't on her finger.
"Chris, my ring's gone," she said. Chris became alert.
"Did you take it off?" he asked.
"No, I never take it off," Serenity said. "My fist was closed the whole time so it couldn't have fallen off."
"I'll look for it while you get Edelweiss out of her crib," Chris said. Serenity got out of bed and went over to the crib. To her horror she found it empty. She gasped.
"Chris, she's gone," she said. Chris hurried over to see for himself, and saw that it was true.
"We should tell Mom and Dad," Chris said, grabbing his swords. The two of them ran to the cave where their dragons slept. They woke them up and informed them of the crisis. Black Widow became extremely worried when she heard her rider-to-be was gone. Chris and Serenity mounted their dragons and flew to the throne room where Re, Aurora, and their dragonets were just waking up.
"Edelweiss is missing," Serenity said, worried. The dragons all got to their feet.
"I bet I know who did it," Aurora growled. "Your original family found you. We have to stop them before they get off the island."
"We'll spit up," Re said. "You guys start, I'm going to round up the other dragons." Aurora and her two dragonets took off at once.
"Serenity you should go back to the room," Chris said.
"No," Serenity said, firmly. "I'm going to help find her." She got back on Tenor.
"They'll kill you if they find you," Chris said.
"I don't care," Serenity said. She turned Tenor around and took off. Chris got on Windwalker and took off as well. Re flew all over the island telling the local dragons about the crisis, looking for the intruders in the process.
Serenity and Tenor flew by themselves over the shoreline. They kept their eyes wide open. They kept praying to Lord Draco that Edelweiss was found and rescued in time. Then Serenity spotted the intruders on the other side of the island from the throne room. They were running to where they had stashed their boat. Tenor let out a roar. He didn't dare fire in case he harmed Edelweiss. He swooped down and landed right in their way. The blond sister was holding Edelweiss. She was gaged and crying. Serenity jumped off.
"You!?" the mother shouted. "What do you want?"
"I want Edelweiss," Serenity said, as bravely as she could. "Please don't hurt her." Tenor took a fighting stance, gnashing his black teeth.
"It's not yours anymore," the blond sister sneered. "You cost us our whole lives, you don't deserve this child." She held Edelweiss in front of her body like a shield.
"That dragon better not do anything," she went on. "Our I'll kill her." She unsheathed a fancy dagger and held it to Edelweiss's throat.
"No! please don't hurt her," Serenity begged. "You can do whatever you want to me, just please don't hurt her." Tenor stopped growling. The intruders looked quite surprised. They exchanged a glance.
"Hmm, this is interesting," the father said. "Fine, we'll spare the child if you surrender yourself. If that dragon interferes or tries to get help, the child dies." Serenity took her hat off and put it on her saddle. She bravely walked over to her former family. Tenor moved to stop her but the blond sister pressed the dagger harder to Edelweiss's neck and he stopped. Serenity was instantly grabbed by the father. He pulled her arms behind her back.
"This is for everything you cost us when you went to live with those dragons," said the brother, with more venom than a box jellyfish. They began beating her up. They threw punches and kicks. It soon turned into hitting her with sharp rocks, they were saving the shovel for last. They unleashed all their anger. Serenity didn't scream however, or call for help. She just let it all happen. Tenor could do nothing but stand there, not wanting to risk injury to Edelweiss as well.
The beating lasted for twelve minuets. They used sharp rocks and sticks. Serenity had over a thousand gashes and bruises all over her body. Then when they felt like they had enough, the brother grabbed the shovel which was propped up against a boulder. He walked up to Serenity and used the sharp edge to slice her cheek open, same place as the first time. Then the brother readied it for the kill. He put both his hands on the top of the handle. Then he swung it as hard as he could. Tenor closed his eyes and heard the clang of the shovel hitting it's target. The father threw Serenity to the ground, right in the surf, as hard as he could. He took the shovel from his son and hit Serenity over and over, while the others continued hitting and kicking her. Suddenly the blond sister dropped dead. Tenor turned to see Black Widow emerging from behind a boulder. The young dragonet was hurrying over to calm Edelweiss, who seemed to be unharmed. Tenor let out a loud roar. He unlocked his titan wing and attacked the other intruders. He didn't just kill them, he completely destroyed them. He tore their bodies apart and threw them into the ocean. There was no blood because Tenor's venom had evaporated it all. When the threat was eliminated, Tenor turned his attention to Serenity. She was unconscious and a real, bloody mess. She was laying on her side in the surf, her face was half submerged in the water. Tenor approached her and nudged her gently. She looked dead. Tenor rolled her onto her back, and saw her face. To say she was beaten would be an understatement. Her beautiful face was badly bruised and cut up, her whole head was soaked in blood. Her mouth was bloody as well, indicating broken teeth. The rest of her body was just as bad as her face. Her uniform was badly torn. It was ten times worse than when she first arrived at the Draconian Castle. What bothered Tenor the most though, was that Serenity had willingly taken the beating to make sure Edelweiss wasn't harmed. It was the bravest, and most selfless act of her life, making everything she did before seem minuscule.
"Oh Serenity no," he cried. He laid down beside her. "Please don't be dead." She was in very bad shape, and it didn't look like she was going to pull through. Black Widow was still attending to her own rider. She had removed the gag and was keeping her calm.
Then the other Draconians found them. Tenor got to his feet, really distraught. Chris saw his wife laying as though dead in a pool of her own blood.
"SERENITY NOOO!" he cried. He jumped off Windwalker and ran to Serenity's side. He sat beside her and gently lifter her head.
"No, no, no please no," he sobbed. "Please wake up Serenity, don't die on us. I can't loose you." Serenity wasn't moving and that scared him. He held her body close and just cried. He didn't want to believe he had lost her. She was way more damaged than when she was first hit with the shovel or when she was attacked by wolves. Chris kissed her bloody cheek and held her even closer.
"What happened?" Re breathed out, shocked. Tenor told them all what Serenity just did, and why he couldn't stop it. They were all horrified by his tale. Re was really pissed.
"Gothi will pay for this," he growled. They were all quiet, soaking in the severity of the situation.
"Can you help her Aurora?" Tenor asked.
"I can if she's still alive," Aurora said. "If she's dead, she's beyond my magic." Chris put his ear to Serenity's chest, praying for a miracle. He heard a very faint heartbeat.
"She's alive," he announced. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Aurora stared strait ahead for a few minuets. Then she smiled.
"I can foresee that she will make a full recovery," she said. "All I have to do is heal all the major injuries and Valka can take care of the rest. Of course I don't know when she will recover, could be a long time." The queen quietly approached Serenity. She lowered her head and let out a long, warm breath. Immediately small changes occurred. Serenity's broken teeth fixed themselves, her bashed skill was mended, broken ribs were repaired, and her backbone was fixed. Despite these changes however, she still looked badly beaten.
"We should get her inside," Re said. "Then I'll go get Valka."
"What are you going to do about Gothi?" asked Windwalker.
"Nothing yet," Re said. "When Serenity wakes up, then I'll deal with that." Chris carefully lifted Serenity off the ground and carried her over to Windwalker. The Night Fury knelt down so Chris could set Serenity down on the saddle. He then mounted his dragon behind her. Windwalker got to her feet. Chris held Serenity close to his chest and made her as comfortable as possible.
"Take it easy," he told Windwalker. She nodded and spread her wings. She took off and headed back to her passengers' room. Aurora and Black Widow took care of Edelweiss.
Windwalker landed on the balcony and folded her wings. Chris carefully dismounted. He carried Serenity inside. He gently set her on the bed. He took off her torn-up boots and pulled the blanket over her. Then he sat in a chair beside her head. He gripped her hand in his.
"You'll be okay," he said. "We're going to fix this." He gently cupped her damaged face, careful of the large gash in her cheek.
"Please get well," he said. "I don't want to live the rest of my life without you." At that moment Apollo flew inside. He landed next to the bed.
"Chris I found this on the beach," he handed Chris Serenity's missing wedding ring. It was dirty from being on the ground, but undamaged.
"Thank you Apollo," Chris said. He took the ring and slid it back onto Serenity's finger. Apollo flew back outside.
Chris sat by Serenity's side, watching over her, hoping she would wake up. The other Draconians arrive to see how she was doing. Re flew to Berk to get Valka. She was skilled as a human healer, and doubled as a dragon healer when Serenity wasn't around. When Berk found out what had happened Hiccup promised Re he could deal with it himself as long as no one else was hurt or killed. All Re said was that he would worry about Gothi when Serenity was better. Valka quickly mounted Cloudjumper and flew to Dragon Island. When she got there she politely asked Chris to wait outside, so she could address the wounds on all parts of Serenity's body. Chris knew what she was referring to and stepped outside where the others were. Edelweiss was back to normal and playing happily with the dragonets. The adults decided to wait until she was older before they explained to her what had happened.
They all waited while Valka patched up Serenity. They didn't talk much, all still thinking about the sacrifice Serenity had just given for Edelweiss.
"So what are you going to do about Gothi?" Aurora asked Re. The king considered.
"Well I'm not going to kill her that's for sure," he said. "I'll probably just annoy her into apologizing."
"That sounds more fun anyway," Tenor said. He was haunted by what he saw on the beach and was upset with himself for not being able to stop Serenity from being beaten. No one blamed him though, they sympathized with him, the intruders had had his wings tied. Tenor said that he wouldn't forgive himself until Serenity was better.
Finally Valka came out. They all sat up, feeling very exhausted.
"She's all patched up," Valka said. "It will take quite a long time for all those to go away, and she will still have a scar on her face."
"Thank you Ms. Valka," Re said humbly. Chris got up and went back inside. His poor wife lay on the bed. She was now wearing a plain white dress and wrapped in bandages. There were bandages around both her arms, her forehead, neck, and on her cheek. Chris also guessed there were more bandages under the dress. He sat back in his chair and held her hand.