All around them, the cavern shook. Rocks and dirt fell from the stone ceiling and landed loudly next to them. The ground tremored like an earth quake.
Shadow's hearing alerted her to a large presence to her left. It was a Whispering Death. It's blank, soulless eyes searching for them in the dark, its jaw muscles twisting and turning in its mouth uncontrollably. Shrieking caught her attention. There was another one to her left. And another behind her.
Three hungry, annoyed and very angry Whispering Death hatchlings.
"Oh for the love of everything dark and evil, could this get any worse?" she asked herself. Even Hiccup could hear her voice dripping with sarcasm. The dragons shrieked their response in anger.
Toothless growled in worry for his rider. Those Whispering Deaths looked at him like he might make a tasty snack.
"Hiccup… What's the plan?" asked Shadow, her voice strained.
"We got to get out of here. Now! Run!" he cried. The dragons detected the tone of his voice and lunged for him. Toothless dodged and made a run for it, his first instinct to get Hiccup out of there. Screams of the angered dragons echoed through the cavern, and their snakelike bodies whipped around in the large open space. Those dangerous spikes threatened to impale anything at random.
Shadow needed a plan. A good one. Something better than just: run! The battlefield here would not do. She needed somewhere she could move freely and not be trapped by rock underground.
One of the Whispering Deaths saw her and roared, catching the attention of another one. They cannoned straight towards her, their gaping mouths threatening to swallow her whole. She ran, ducked, dodge and slipped away. Ok, maybe the whole 'run' plan wasn't so bad.
But she still needed to figure something out. She needed to take these dragons out, but in her weaker human form, there wasn't much she could do. She felt momentarily useless.
No, she wasn't going to let that control her. She was not useless. She was the magnificent and deadly Black Moon dragon, the great black beast of the night! She would not run and cower to these sawblade jawed snakes.
One of them came close to her, its white eyes glaring at her in the dim lighting. She hissed as it approached, and socked it right in the face. It screeched and backed off.
She growled in anticipation and triumph. Even in her human form, she was still formidable. And the aftereffects of her previous transformation had left her with a few nasty surprises for these beasts.
The dragon lunged at her again, and she extended her sharpened nails into huge claws, swiping them across its face.
The creature howled in pain. Shadow roared at it and showed her dominance over it, allowing her dragon instincts to take over her body once again. It didn't like being challenged and roared back in her face.
She hit it again. Her claws rakes massive gashes in its flesh. From somewhere behind her, Toothless fired a plasma blast that momentarily blinded the beast.
Shadow turned and ran. She ran straight to Hiccup and Toothless and vaulted onto the Night Fury's back, before he whipped around and sped into the darkness and towards and exit. They could hear the Whispering Deaths following in pursuit. Her blood was boiling and it took all her willpower to prevent herself from attempting another transformation.
She couldn't let the beast take control of her fully. Not while she was still weak. Not while in front of Hiccup.
Toothless flew as fast as possible through the tunnels, using his echolocation to avoid crashing into stalagmites. His wings flapped, creating great bursts of wind that sped them on.
After what seemed like forever, they made it out into the moonlight. Shadow had never been happier to see the moon. Its light and power surged within her. She almost lost focus and let the beast out as the near full moon glowed.
Shadow knew, as well as the Black Moon dragon, that the best and probably only way to defeat these three volatile Whispering Deaths was by using the strength of a dragon. The black beast crooned at her, begging her to let it free to wreak havoc. She was seriously tempted to do just that. But her human form may not be able to handle another transformation. It could very well kill her, if the Vikings didn't when they saw her.
But the moon still called to her, promising power to her. Its silky voice much like a goddess. Oh how she so wanted to: to give in to her desires, transform into the magnificent black beast, to tear these interlopers apart with her fangs. But she couldn't, her body couldn't survive another transformation.
The beast was confined to inside her body for now, where it cannot break free, where it cannot tear her body apart, where it cannot be seen…
Where it cannot be seen…
Shadow's eyes opened as an idea formed. She grinned in barely suppressed dark pleasure. The great black beast was always inside her, why not make that seem more literal?
Toothless continued to fly and dodge the Whispering Deaths, occasionally shooting deadly plasma blast to keep them away.
Shadow needed added strength. Her moonstone: that would help. She wracked her brains, thinking where she put it. She needed it now! It was back at that tree she was laying on earlier.
Without regard for where she currently was, Shadow jumped off Toothless's back, landing hard on the ground rolling to absorb the impact, and ran towards where she left her precious moonstone. Hiccup screamed at her when she jumped, seemingly to her doom, and again when he realised she was leaving him. He was forced to fight against all three Whispering Deaths by himself.
He had no choice but to retreat, and lead them away to the outskirts of the village. There, the other available teens would help with this mess.
Shadow ran through the forest at full pelt, her muscles rippling under her armour. The edge of the village lay ahead, and the tree she had been resting in. her prize lay in the branches. After swarming up the tree like a squirrel, and snatching the bag, she bolted towards the sounds of Hiccup and the Night Fury and the whip like sounds of the Whispering Deaths.
Stormfly the Nadder and Meatlug the Gronkle had heard the wails and growls of Toothless, and had brought their riders to join the fight. They were evenly numbered, but still seriously outgunned.
Shadow halted for a moment by the forge to assess the fight. Each dragon was paired with one of the hatchlings, and were fighting for their lives. The boulder class dragons weren't giving up the fight. They would need backup soon.
Shadow wasted no more time. She pulled out the largest moonstone and held it in the moonlight. It glowed with the moon's pure essence, and pulsed with raw power. Power she readily consumed. She groaned as the energy flowed within her and changed her. She could feel her insides growing and changing to her will.
She clenched her teeth as her muscles grew and hardened into a leaner and strong form, her canine fangs grew in length and threatened to tear through her lips. She grew in height to accommodate for her growing strength and reforming bones. With a mental command, she kept her fire lungs at bay, not needing them in this fight. She couldn't afford to use her fire or lightning breath.
She grasped at the wall of the forge as her head swam. The process was still incredibly painful, and it threatened to knock her out. She stumbled for a moment and raked her claws against the wooden support beam, leaving a large gash.
Her head screamed at her in agony, and a shriek escaped her mouth. Her hand went up go grasp at her head, and she felt something. She froze. Three pairs of horns were growing out of her head, but were still hidden by her hairline. She was letting the Black Moon have more freedom than it should. Using a mental command, she stopped the horns growth before they could become visible.
Her breathing was deep and ragged as dragons blood coursed through her veins. She watched from the shadows as the Whispering Deaths attacked the other dragons, trying to tear them apart.
She growled deep in her throat at the sight. Shadow turned her head towards the forge and noticed weapons strewn around the room. She reached over and grabbed the closest two, not caring what they were.
She set her sights back on her targets and started running and picking up speed. She ran faster and faster towards the fight, her blood roaring in her ears. She snarled and lunged at the closest one, hitting it in the head with her two handed battle axe. Her opposite hand immediately followed up with a second attack, smashing a section of jaw with another identical axe. Its gaping mouth was on her, trying to chomp down and eat her, but Shadow sliced it with the two axes. It screeched and backed away.
Shadow ran for the next one. She hacked away at the offending dragons with her two axes, and used every part of her body in the fight. She never stood still for a moment, and not always on both feet at one time. She jumped and pivoted and kicked the Whispering Deaths wherever she was closest. Spikes and fire were shot everywhere.
She fought with an animalistic ferocity against the Whispering Deaths, slashing, kicking, hacking and punching. She threw everything she had at them. She became the front line of attack against the three, while the others provided an air strike and fired upon the heads of the dragons. They screeched and screamed in pain every time she landed a hit. Eventually, they realised that this human figure was too much for them to fight. She fought with the skills of a human, but with the strength and power of a dragon.
They became frightened and flew away in fear.
Shadow stood still finally and watched them leave. The adrenaline in her system raged like a thunderstorm, and she had so much more to give. But at the sight of the fleeing dragons, she allowed herself to calm slightly. And she let out a bellowing roar of triumph.
woo, finally another chapter. I wanted to update earlier, but I had some exams today and earlier in the week. that and I have been brain dead for a while. I will be speed writing the next scene for the fanfic so I can catch up for this missed time. hopefully it will be good. I realise that I have allowed Shadow to use partial transformations much more than she should have, and I'm going to cut back on that after this next scene. for the next few chapters after that, i will be focusing on Shadow and the gang just getting along and understanding each other.
till next update :) please review, I love to hear what you have to say!