Chapter 4

The avalanche soon came to a rest. Aurora immediately ran to the pile of rocks where Re had been standing and began trying to dig him out. Serenity helped Chris to his feet. He could feel the avalanche on top of Re, it made his whole body ache. Serenity let him lean on her.

"Are you okay?" he moaned.

"Few bruises," Serenity said. "What about you? You injured?"

"No, I think it's just Dad," Chris said. He sat down on the log which was half submerged in rubble. Serenity then went to help Aurora dig the king out.

It took a long time to dig through all the rubble. Re was at the very bottom of the avalanche. But soon they saw green scales, dulled by dust. Aurora uncovered his head while Serenity uncovered his body and wings.

Re was in bad shape. Several of his scales had been ripped out, the membrane of his wings was torn and bleeding, he had two black eyes, a nasty bleeding bump on his forehead, and his left horn was broken clean off. He lay unconscious on rock and grass.

Aurora nudged him carefully. He didn't stir. The queen grew desperate, she couldn't hear his thoughts.

"Re," she called. "My love, can you hear me?" Serenity ran to get her medical bag. She grabbed it and ran back to Re. She began examining him. She didn't need her stethoscope, she already knew that his heart was still beating. Aurora swished her tail back and forth anxiously. Serenity X-rayed the king using her magic. She saw that his backbone was sprained, and his skull was cracked.

"He doesn't look good," she said. "We need to get him back to my hospital ASAP."

Chris helped the two of them get his father onto a stretcher that Aurora conjured up. They secured him snuggly and carefully. Then they attached the stretcher to Aurora's saddle. Chris and Serenity mounted the queen and they took off slowly. They headed for the village. Aurora used her magic to make sure Re didn't fall off, or get hurt further. Serenity made sure Chris didn't fall off either.

They soon got to the apple tree where the rest of the Draconians were waiting. They instantly grew concerned when Re was lowered onto the dragonnip. Aurora landed. Serenity dismounted first. She helped Chris off, and helped him over to his chair.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm okay," Chris said. "I can move fine, it just hurts." He gripped her hand firmly. She gripped his hand in both of hers.

"Dad needs you more than I do," he said. Serenity kissed his forehead gently, then went over to Re. Aurora had taken him off the stretcher. They all gave her space and quite while she worked. She then cleaned the dirt and dust off his scales. Then cleaned his wounds with Night Fury saliva and covered them with bandages, including his broken horn. She put a special brace on his his back to heal his backbone, he had to lay flat on his back to keep it from getting damaged further. Finally she inserted a thin tube into his mouth so she could give him food and water while he was unconscious.

With her work done for now, she sat back on her heels. Aurora approached her mate and laid beside him.

"Will he be okay?" Aurora asked. "My foresight has gone all fuzzy."

"That's up to him," said Serenity. "I'll help in anyway I can." She gently stroked Re's snout. She gave him morphine to take Re's pain away. Luckily Chris felt the morphine as well. Serenity sat next to him. Tenor and Windwalker allowed the prince and princess to get closer to their parents.

"Be careful," Aurora whispered. "He's hurt bad."

"Yes, mama," said the two dragonets in unison. They laid down beside their mother, she draped her wing over them. The others laid down on the dragonnip. They decided to wait until the next day to inform the rest of Berk what had happened. The atmosphere was dead silent. The Draconians all watched Re, preying to Lord Draco that their king would pull through.

When the sun set Aurora insisted that everyone get some sleep. She made herself comfortable beside her dragonets and her mate. Tenor and Windwalker flew into the tree with Black Widow. The three humans went inside the house. Serenity told Aurora to wake her up if anything changed. When everyone was sound asleep, Aurora used her magic to put a blanket over Re. She still couldn't see if he was going to be okay or not.

That night was a long one for Aurora. She was so worried that she couldn't sleep. When the sun came up she was starting to feel sleepy, but didn't give in. She still had her job as Queen to do. She looked out at the sea absentmindedly. Her mind went back in time to when she and Re were young dragonets, fresh out of the egg.

Their relationship was much similar to Serenity's and Chris's relationship; they became friends from the moment they set eyes on each other. Every heart beating second they were together, and had each other's back. Aurora couldn't bare the thought of losing him.

The other Draconians woke up one by one. Chris was feeling pain again, which told Serenity that the morphine had worn off. She gave Re more, then checked his injuries. Aurora watched anxiously again.

"Well, he hasn't gotten any worse," Serenity said. "That's the only good news I can give at this time." She poured fresh, glacier water into the tube in Re's mouth.

"You should get some rest your majesty," she said. "You look exhausted." Aurora sighed.

"I'm alright for now," she said. She slowly got to her feet and stretched her wings. "I still have to inform the Berkians about this." She shook the dirt off her blue scales. She spread her wings and took off. The two nightly dragons watched her go.

"I don't understand it," said Windwalker. "When someone's sick or injured, their family and friends feel like they have to stop eating and sleeping like that's going to speed up the recovery process." Tenor looked at her.

"You've never been in that situation?" he asked.

"Well, no," said Windwalker. "But it's not like I don't get worried when someone I love is in jeopardy, I just don't feel the need to weaken myself."

"Amen to that," Tenor said. "I bet you never got scolded for believing that." Windwalker looked at him.

"You have?" she asked. Tenor nodded.

"When Re was hit by lighting," he began. "And was in a similar situation then he's in now. The rest of the country had been told o'course. I went off and caught me a small stag 'cause I was hungry. Our old duchess, Alto, thought that was a selfish thing to do. 'How can an selfish mutt like you eat and lounge around when our king could die?' So, I don't do it anymore at times like this. Apparently eating and sleeping shows that I don't care."

"She said that?" asked Windwalker. Tenor nodded again. Windwalker nuzzled his neck.

"I know you're no selfish mutt," she said. "I know I've called you that before, but it was far from true. Besides I would have thought you'd be used to being called names by now."

"You could get used to a broken bone too, but that doesn't mean it's not going to hurt," Tenor pointed out.

"I suppose that's true," said Windwalker. Tenor looked over at Re. His face was scrunched up due to the tube in his mouth. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"If Re didn't exist, all that abuse would have turned me into a ruthless killer," he said. "I would've ripped out the throats of every dragon who bullied me." He gripped the soft dirt in his talons.

"If Re didn't exist, we probably would have lost the Song war," Windwalker said. "Chris wouldn't have been raised like he was, I wouldn't have met him, and we wouldn't have a strong warrior fighting for us." Tenor laid his head on his front paws.

Aurora landed in the plaza. Her face was expressionless. The riders' dragons noticed her almost at once. They stopped what they were doing and went over to her.

"Hello your majesty," said Stormfly. "Where's Re?" Aurora sighed.

"He got hit by an avalanche last night," she said. "He's in critical condition." The other dragons gasped.

"Is Chris alright?" asked Hookfang.

"Yeah, he feels Re's injuries but didn't get injured himself," Aurora explained.

"Well, at least they're still alive," said Meatlug.

"Yes," Aurora agreed.

"Can we see him?" asked Skullcrusher. Aurora sighed again.

"Yes, you may," she said. "As long as your quiet."

"We will ma'am," said Toothless softly. They followed the queen up to the Golden Apple Tree. Edelweiss and the dragonets were off playing in the woods. Windwalker and Tenor were taking turns checking on them. Serenity and Chris were sitting in their chairs, talking quietly. Re was laying perfect still. Everyone looked up when the queen landed with the Berkian dragons.

"Any change?" Aurora asked.

"It's still the morning ma'am," said Serenity. "This will take sometime to recover from. However, I still see no sign of him dying yet."

"How bad is he hurt?" asked Stormfly.

"His backbone and skull got damaged," Serenity said. "Luckily his bones are strong, an avalanche like that would have killed a human."

"What king would allow a mountain to just fall on him?" asked Windwalker. Aurora flinched, she hadn't told the others the details due to the fact that she was so worried.

"The kind that lets the mountain fall on him, rather then let it fall on someone else," she said. "I would have been hit by the avalanche, if Re hadn't pushed me out of the way in time."