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Chapter Five

Bloodlust

Raven's POV

I stare at Phoenix in shock, unable to move or breathe.

H-how c-can she be a-a-alive? How? I saw… I saw Skurge fly into the Dark Cave that I…forgot her in. I heard her shriek in pain. But I didn't see or hear any signs of life after that. So…I assumed…

Unless…

My eyes, if it's possible, widen even more. Skurge trained her! He turned her into the monster she is now! But…but she must know that I'm her mother, right? Maybe she forgot. Maybe Skurge told her something else and made her want to kill us.

Yes, yes, that makes sense.

All I have to do is remind her of my love for her.

I shake my head, snapping away from the shock. Immediately, I realize that I'm falling. My wings, though still stiff from shock, obey after a moment and flap.

Phoenix watches me and puts back on her bone mask. I open my mouth, but before I can speak, her blood red paw slams into my face with so much force that I lose flight.

Yowling in alarm, I try desperately to regain flight as I tumble towards the sea. But that blow dazed me, and I can feel blood welling up on my temple.

"Raven!" I hear Stormfly cry out as I fall past her.

Confused, I glance down at the ocean and see a Scauldron waiting for me in the waves. She opens her mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and squirts out boiling hot liquid at me.

I shriek as the water scalds my wings. I try to flap them, but they won't listen to me.

Stormfly dives after me, soon joined by Irria. I feel their paws wrap around me and lift me into the sky.

Frostbite's POV

"Infernious!" I call out to my soldiers, "Scatter and regroup!"

Immediately, they stop fighting and zoom in different directions so that the Berk dragons won't know whom to follow. Of course, they're all going to eventually end up on our island.

I watch as the Vikings and their dragons also retreat back to Berk. Narrowing my eyes, I see my mother being carried by Irria and a Deadly Nadder. Nearing her is a heavily wounded Toothless and nearly unconscious…er…Hiccup, I think he said when he screeched his name.

A purr rumbles in my throat. Oh how wrong they were about me.

Skurge and Zylah fly towards me and I grin. Time to gloat.

After a nod, I dive silently down to the docks, my deputy and delta at my tail. A few Berk dragons look up and snarl. "Watch out! Looks like there're a few more stubborn ones." A Viking says.

"Stop!" Skurge barks as we come to a halt in the sky, "We only wish to share words. No more fighting. For now." He mutters the last part under his breath and I smirk underneath my mask.

The Berk dragons look unconvinced, but let us land on the docks. A large, burly Viking, much like Alvin, races towards me, but a male Thunder Drum stops him.

"Thornado?" the Viking exclaims stupidly, "What is the meaning of this?"

In my head, I snort. Thornado. What a dumb name.

"What is this dragon?" the Viking asks to no one in particular. Toothless's rider, Hiccup, walks towards his father while saying, "I don't know, but it seems like it's never met humans before. Why else would it be hostile?"

Oh, trust me, kid. I know way more about humans than you think.

Hiccup slowly walks towards me with his hand outstretched, "Easy, easy…uh…girl? We don't want to hurt you."

As he gets closer, Toothless lets out a warning growl. Hiccup ignores him but stops, his pink hand only inches away from my nose.

I glance at it, bored, and then turn my head and yawn. They all look at me, surprised, and then Hiccup calls back to his Vikings softly, "Well…. At least she doesn't seem to want to hurt us. Maybe we could train her?"

"I don't know, Hiccup." A blonde haired female Viking says, "She seemed pretty hostile a few moments ago."

"She just needs to get used to humans." Hiccup says, "That clan must be hers, and when she saw humans she must've been scared."

My eyes widen. Scared? Of these fish bones?

"And so she ordered her clan to attack." Hiccup finishes, and then turns back to me, "We could learn a lot from you. Hmm…what's your name?"

I smirk, take a step closer to him, and reply, "I am Frostbite, Leader of Clan Infernious."

Everybody gasps, and for a moment just stare at me. I look at Skurge and see him cracking up. "Can you believe these guys?" I snort in human, much to his amusement.

"Look at their faces!" Zylah laughs, "They look like hatchlings dropped in the snow!"

I purr and turn back to the Vikings and their dragons, who are growling at me.

Shaking my head, I say, "Yes, yes, I can talk. Now stop gaping at me like idiots."

They still stare.

Rolling my eyes, I continue, "I have come here with a warning. My clan is growing bigger and stronger everyday, and we're outgrowing our island. Now, we're looking for new places, and Berk just so happens to be the number one island."

"So, what?" Toothless growls, taking a step forward, "You're planning to drive us out?"

I give him a hard stare and reply, "You've seen how strong my clan is, and that wasn't even all of them! But," I say before he can snap at me, "I only wish to get rid of the humans."

I turn back to Hiccup, who seems to have recovered from shock, and he stutters, "W-what? Why?"

"Your kind has softened too many dragons into the pets they are today. Look how easily my clan beat yours, even when you had the upside of humans and dragons together. I wonder why that happened, hm? So, I'm putting out an offer for all the dragons; join us, and live a fantastic life of freedom and power, or stay here, and die as a scourge on the name of all dragons."

I watch them as they process the information. Meanwhile, the Vikings look horrified.

"You can't do this!" the blonde female says, earning murmurs of agreement from her clan.

I turn to face her, "You can be smart and abandon your island immediately. Or you can be stupidly brave and fight. But know this if you do: all blood spilt will be on your hands."

She takes a deep breath and glares at me but says no more.

Suddenly, I hear a shaky, yet familiar voice behind me, "Phoenix?"

I whirl around and see Raven standing next to her mate and children. She looks me in the eye and whispers, "Please…stop."

I bare my teeth in a grin and sashay over to her, "Oh, so you do remember me?"

Toothless glances at Raven in confusion, "Do you know this dragon?"

She gazes at him sadly and nods, "Yes, yes I do. Take off the mask, Phoenix."

I sniff and remove my bone mask, earning a gasp from the crowd.

Toothless narrows his eyes, "Her markings…they almost look like…" his eyes widen and his head whips towards Raven.

"P-phoenix?" Nate echoes, staring at me in confusion, "But…but… you're supposed to be dead."

"Oh-ho-ho, trust me, brother, I am very much alive." I growl, excitement in my eyes, "And very much angry. Do you think I have forgotten all that teasing, and taunting, and, 'your so tiny!' or 'an ant could crush you' or 'you'll never grow as big and strong as us, tiny'?" I begin to speak faster, getting angrier and angrier as I do, "Do you think I could have forgotten all that?! Well, guess what? I DIDN'T! AND NOW LOOK WHO'S BIG AND STRONG!"

I'm shaking now, flexing my claws. Irria steps forward, "P-phoenix-"

"It's Frostbite now." Skurge snaps, slithering up behind me. I shoot him a warning glance and he stays quiet.

"Alright…look, Frostbite," she says, "We're sorry-"
"Oh, now you are!" I snarl, spitting on her paw, "Now you say you're sorry, now, when you realize just how wrong you were about me. Oh, but you have no idea how sorry you'll be when this is over, when I get my chance to tease, and taunt, and jeer, and trust me, Irria, I am not afraid to use my claws like you were when we were young."

"Stop it!"

I jerk back in surprise as a green and reddish brown Terrible Terror runs up to me. He glares at me bravely and I blink. Wow, did not see this coming.

"You stop this right now, monster! Who says you can just come here and do this to us?" he rants, "You're a bad dragon! You're just mad about something that your siblings did to you when they were young and stupid and didn't know any better!" he goes on and on, swinging his head and making dramatic movements with his paws.

I watch him in amusement and sit down. After a few moments I start licking the blood off my battle claws in boredom. But then, he says something that catches my attention.

"If you can't get over it, then you're just as bad as they were. So just shut up and stop it, you stupid little runt!"

Raven's POV

It happens so quickly…in the blink of an eye. One moment, I see Kindle standing up to Phoenix with astonishing bravery. Then, there's a flash of a blood red paw, and Kindle is lying on his flank a few feet away.

We all just stare, for a moment, as Phoenix huffs and gets up. How…how can this be my daughter? What happened to her that turned her into this beast? Was Irria and Nate's teasing that bad?

"Father!" Ambra cries out, running to Kindle's side. Immediately, the rest of her family follows her.

I stare at Phoenix in horror and choke out, "P-phoenix, please, stop this madness. Come home. This isn't you."

She whirls around, fury in her eyes, "You have no idea who I am, mother. You never got to know the real me after you abandoned me in the Dark Cave. This- all of this," she gestures to the wounded dragons and Kindle, "Is because of you. Every death, every single one, will lead back to you, and Nate, and Irria. It's because of you that I am the dragon I am today, and…and I thank you for that, actually. I'm grateful that I'm a real dragon, not some pathetic, domesticated, soft pet for some stupid human."

"Phoenix, you don't mean that." I try desperately, "I love you. We all love you. We want you to come home."

Phoenix snorts and puts back on her mask, "And you don't mean that."

I flinch at her words and watch numbly as she turns to Skurge and a Skrill. She murmurs something to him and he flashes a wicked grin, curls his long tail over her shoulders for a moment, and then takes off into the sky. She laughs and follows him, the Skrill at her tail.

I narrow my dull eyes in confusion. Wait a minute…. are they…are they mates? Oh, my gods.

I feel a nose nudge my shoulder and turn to see Toothless staring at me. "Is she…? Is she the one-"

"Yes," I reply wearily and he gazes at me before turning back to Kindle, who is being crowded by Vikings and dragons. I walk over to him and wince. There's a long gash running from him hind legs to his chin. Blood pools around him and I gaze into his dull, glassy eyes.

Sighing, I look away and squeeze my eyes shut as Ambra's wail echoes in the empty air.

"He's dead! My father is dead!"

Dracen's POV

"You should've seen the look on his face after I scratched him!" I busy myself with applying herbs as Swiftstrike retells her battle story, "You'd think that he's never been in a fight!"

The group of, well, almost every dragon in the clan laughs. They barely had any wounds at all, much to my pleasure.

"Dracen!" I turn to Poppyseed, who is dressing a burn wound on Nixie. She burned herself with her own water. How that happened, I do not know or care.

"What do I use for water burns?" my apprentice asks and I reply, "Soothe it and then use regular burn herbs."

"Okay!"

I listen with mild interest as the clan takes turns telling each other about their fights. Nearby, the apprentices are play fighting, trying to reenact the battle the best they can.

Once Swiftstrike is healed, I look around for more injured. Almost everyone is done, though, and Poppyseed is taking care of the last ones. Nodding my head, I walk to the prey pile, which is heaping with prey caught by the Claws, and snatch up a large muskrat.

"Dracen!" I hear Ash call and turn to see her with Sawyer, Skyflame, and Misty, waving her tail at me, "Quit being a loner in your den. Come join us, it's time to celebrate!"

I roll my eyes in amusement and take my prey over to them. Settling down next to the Smokebreath, I tuck into the muskrat.

"The battle really was great, though," Ash continues, looking at the sisters. Meanwhile, Badger and Silverhawk scamper up to me.

Badger wrinkles his nose, "You smell funny." His sister shoves him, "That's because he's a healer, you fish-brain!"

Silverhawk shakes her head and peers at me with large, clear, sky-like eyes, "Don't you wish you had fought?"

I shake my head and reply, "Fighting's not really my thing. I want to save lives, not end them."

"Huh," Badger huffs, and then sniffs my prey, "Is muskrat good? Misty only lets us have soft fish, like-"

An uproar of cheering drowns out his words. I turn to see Frostbite, Skurge, and Zylah in the distance. The clan cheers and whoops at their return and crowds around them as they land.

"Alright, alright!" Zylah waves her wings, shooing them off, "We'll tell you all about it, but give us some space to breathe! Even leaders need air, you know!"

The clan returns to their places and I watch as Frostbite walks to the prey pile. Everybody already has something to eat, since she figured that she was going to be a bit late and allowed us to eat. The white and red dragon smacks her lips and scoops up a fat carp, "I'm famished!"

She settles down underneath the Leader's Ledge, and is soon joined by Skurge, who chose a coyote.

I sniff and call over to them, "Any injuries?"

"We're fine!" she calls back and then focuses on the clan, "I wish you all had been there to see it. I felt like I was trying to tell a mouse I was about to eat it."

The clan ripples with laughter and listen as she tells the story of what happened when they went down to Berk. We continue to laugh and chat and eat throughout the dusk and into the night. I gaze around happily and hear Skyflame purr, "There's nothing to bring the clan together like a good battle."

When the moon is at its highest, dragons start retreating into their dens. I lay beside Ash, licking my paw lazily and listening as she talks to Zylah.

I hear shuffling across the camp and look up. Frostbite and Skurge are dashing into their den, looking excited.

My stomach churns awkwardly, making me feel sick. Suddenly, there's a loud thump and a purr of delight erupts from the den, followed by more strange sounds.

I glance at my friends, eyes wide.

Ash laughs.

Frostbite's POV

I dash into my den, energy and excitement flowing through me. Skurge follows and I leap into the darkness.

Whirling around, I crouch down and flex my claws. "That was great!" I purr fiercely, and then turn around and claw at a boulder, leaving deep scores on it, "I didn't know revenge could feel this good!"

Skurge laughs and slithers towards me, "It felt great, didn't it? I can't wait for the final battle! I'm going to rip Toothless's guts right out of him!"

I half purr and half growl and prepare to spring, "Ohhh, and when I see Nate again I'm going to bring him to the ground and-"

Before I can stop myself, I pounce on Skurge's tail and sink my teeth into it. He hisses and whirls around. He shoves me hard with his head and I ram into the wall with a loud thump. His muzzle still pushes against me, keeping me on the wall. I let out a purr of delight and clamp my paws on either side of Skurge's head, digging my claws into his temples.

I gaze wildly into his eyes and laugh, "We're going to kill them so hard! Then, you and I," I bring my head closer to his white eyes, "We'll rule Berk and Infernious together!"

He lets out a pleased growl and I shove him away. Then, I pounce on his neck and pin him down. Skurge curls his snake-like body around me and I feel his spikes digging into my skin and spilling my blood. It feels so good!

"Every dragon will fear us!" he hisses and I send a spinning blow to his head. He releases me but then scratches my flank with his pointy tail. I bare my teeth and spit, "No dragon will ever contradict us!"

I rake my claws across his shoulders and he yowls. This continues for a while, us talking about our future and spilling each other's blood. Throughout the madness, I realize that nothing we're doing is making sense, and yet I don't stop. The pain feels too good. The blood…it's glorious.

Of course, we make sure that we don't cause any fatal wounds, because we both know that will be bad. My energy starts to wear down, and by the time I see the sun peeking over the sea, we're collapsed in my now ruined nest.

I lean against Skurge's flank and he curls around me. My bones ache with fatigue and I sigh. Then, I feel Skurge licking my wounds, drinking my blood. I purr, and then his licking and the sweet smell of blood in the air lulls me to sleep.

Just a little inside look of Frostbite and Skurge's insane bloodlust. Yeesh, I just creeped myself out.