Stumbling over the rubbish on the floor, Merida fell backward into a corner. She couldn't believe her eyes.
"Mum! You're a-"
The creature sitting on its hind legs that used to look like her mother looked at her new pitch black scaly paws in horror. She let out a miniature roar of fright.
Merida could hardly believe it herself either. "-a Night Fury!"
After a minute or two of horrified running about the room on her hind legs and accidentally knocking over furniture with her new wings and tail, and Merida trying to explain, Queen Elinor had realized what Merida had said about a spell. It was almost like her personality had come back full force as she let out a furious snarling roar at her daughter. The natural temper of a dragon was better suited to her fury.
"It's not my fault! That witch gave me a bad spell!"
The Queen Night Fury started to let out another roar but Merida rushed over and clapped her mouth shut.
"Shh! We can't let anyone down there hear you! Come on, mum, we uh, need to get you out!"
She shook her head.
"No, Mum, we have to! Dad's known to the other chiefs as the dragon king! He can't know you're here! None of them can! We need to get you up to the roof."
Her mother stood on her hind legs still and spread her wings, demanding that she was the queen and could do whatever she pleased.
"Mum, you can't stay here! If anyone catches you, you'll be killed! We have to find some way to get you out without anyone seeing. That's our best shot at finding the witch and getting her to change you back."
Reluctantly, Elinor agreed. While the triplets distracted Fergus and the others, Merida managed to sneak her mother up to the top of the tallest tower.
Elinor let out of a small cry of what Merida assumed was Now what?
"Alright, Mum, we don't have much time. We'll make for the forest. I found a circle of standing stones. From there, the will-o-the-wisps led me to that witch's cottage. Hopefully, we can find it again and she can change you back."
Merida attempted to jump onto her mother's back. Elinor recoiled.
"What? How else did you think we were going to get out of here?"
The queen let out a forlorn cry.
"Quiet, Mum! We have to get out of here before anyone finds us." Merida was able to mount the dragon's back. As Elinor prepared for take-off, Merida realized she had forgotten to ask her something extremely crucial. "Mum, do you even know how to FLYYYYY?!"
Before she was even finished, Elinor had tried and failed miserably to get some wind beneath her wings. They were falling fast.
"Up, Mum! Flap your wings!"
WOOSH! For a second, Merida thought they'd been saved but the Queen must have thought one flap of her wings would keep them afloat.
"Keep going, Mum! Keep flapping your wings! Just keep doing it! Just keep going!"
Eventually Elinor got a good enough grasp on the concept of staying aloft that they were able to get a considerable distance from the castle. The ride to the forest did take about twice as long as Merida had anticipated with Elinor still getting used to her wings. Many unexpected dips and dives almost brought up Merida's breakfast. On the bright side, the triplets kept Fergus and the guests at bay long enough for them to get out. Merida had been looking for the circle of stones. Her mother let out a groan of exhaustion.
"We shouldn't be too much further. There weren't any trees around the stones. It was in a sort of clearing. I haven't found it yet but-"
Elinor groaned again and they dropped in elevation.
"ACGH! MUUUUM! Not yet! Just hold on a little longer! Just give me some time to find them!"
The wind rushed against Merida's face and the tree-line approached. Elinor's wings weren't used to this.
"MUM STOP! ACGH! I MEAN DON'T STOP! GLIDE, MUM! GLIDE!"
Crashing through the treetops, Elinor's tail and a few branches smacked Merida in the face, until they crashed into a brambly thicket. The force of the impact hit Merida before the realization of the abundance of thorns.
"ACGH! Mum!"
Thorns dug into her neck and cheeks as she tried to work her way out. She wished she'd brought her sword. Elinor opened her mouth and let out a roar, shooting a purplish glow of fire which reduced the thorns surrounding her to cinders. For the most part, the scales on her body had protected her from the brambles. Still walking on her hind legs, she motioned one of the front legs as if to tell Merida to stand back and obliterated the brambles with another roar of purplish fire.
As soon as the princess was free from the thicket, she plowed ahead, her mother following ridiculously on two legs.
"The sooner we get to the witch's cottage the better."
Hiccup was not sure if Toothless had been flying for one day or two. Many hours ago, a cloak of fog covered all except the blue lights. He hadn't seen the colors of sunrise or sunset.
A pain shot through Hiccup's stomach. He'd tried to stop a while back but Toothless seemed determined to stay on course, possibly worried that the lights would disappear. Hiccup was sure that by now Toothless was tired. The dragon's wings had been beating against the air for too long. Regardless of the Night Fury's feelings, Hiccup hoped the lights would lead them to land soon. He'd had tunnel vision for the longest time with only Toothless' green eyes cutting through the fog and the blue lights.
Finally, the air around the wispy lights began to clear. The sky, full of more stars than Hiccup had ever seen, had grown dark. Ahead, he could see treetops of species far different from those on Berk.
"Do you think we're still in the Archipelago, bud?"
Toothless shook his head.
"Me neither."
The lights seemed to dance along the tops of the trees for miles until the fog cleared sufficiently and Hiccup could see a clearing up ahead. The wispy lights seemed to drop in altitude as they neared the clearing. As they approached this clearing, Hiccup saw a circle of stones, standing on their own, as if a team of dragons had worked together to place them like that. What else would have been able to lift something taller than his own house? But Hiccup was sure that if there were dragons here, he and Toothless would have come across some by now. He dug his heel into Toothless' side and the Night Fury followed the trail downward into the clearing of standing stones.
Toothless landed smoothly. No more orbs of light were in there path. They had been led here, to this circle. But why? Hiccup stepped towards the center of the circle. Toothless shook his head and backed away into the surrounding woods.
"What's wrong, bud?"
Hiccup heard the breaking of a branch on the opposite side of the clearing. He stepped behind the nearest tall stone and held his breath.