Chapter 2

Tenor flew through the starlight. There was no moon, just stars. He kept his eyes and ears out for food. Soon he landed on a deserted island. He sniffed the air, and caught a sent of birds nearby. He took off again and followed his nose. He flew over a large pond, full of ducks. Tenor only had duck once in his life. He landed in the trees surrounding the pond and crept up on it. He shut off every noise he usually made. He crouched low to the ground and kept his eyes on the ducks. They didn't seem to sense him. Tenor focused on the duck closest to him. It was an old Mallard duck. Tenor kept his wings slightly open incase he had to chase it. Very carefully he emerged from the trees. Then he fired a plasma blast at the duck and hit it, cooking it on the spot. The other ducks scattered. Tenor roared and took off after them. He put on a burst of speed and was able to catch three more ducks. He gathered them up and headed back to the pond. He picked up the other duck and headed for home.

He landed to find everyone sound asleep. He flew up to the ledge above the house and set his ducks down. He turned around and took off again. There was still so much time before sunrise, he planned to hunt until then. He went from place to place hunting everything he could. He kept within dragon law and didn't kill females or the young. He managed to bring back deer, boars, a few seagulls, and many fish.

When the sun began to rise, Tenor landed with his latest buck. He landed on the dragonnip to find his comrades wide awake.

"Hello," he said cheerfully.

"Looks like you had a successful hunt," Re said with a yawn.

"Yup, what other kind of hunt would I have?" Tenor said, proudly. He saw Windwalker on the branch of the tree, still fast asleep. Tenor decided to leave her be for the moment.

"With all that game you brought back, we won't need to hunt for a while," Aurora said.

"Yes, it gives me some free time on my talons," Tenor said. He looked up at his mate on the branch. He grabbed one of his ducks and flew up onto the branch, landing on it as gently as he could without waking her. He put the duck right in front of her where she would see it when she woke up. Then Tenor flew down to his comrades.

"I wonder if she's ever had duck before," said Aurora. "I haven't."

"I have had one duck in my life," Tenor said. "They can be pretty hard to catch." At that moment Hiccup and the other riders came up the hill. Hiccup was holding the Book of Dragons.

"Still trying to get close to the new egg?" Re hissed.

"No," Hiccup said. "That's just Fishlegs. I wanted to know how old the dragon race is." Re shot a warning glare at Fishlegs.

"Dragons are very old," Aurora said. "Over millions of decades old, far older then humans."

"Who was the first dragon?" asked Eret.

"I believe Berk has met her before," Aurora said. "The big, black sea dragon, Shark."

"I remember that one," said Fishlegs. "It smashed our whole docks with her tail." Aurora chuckled.

"She really hates humans," she said. "There are some exceptions though."

"And what is she to you?" asked Astrid. "A cousin? Or a sister?"

"Shark was created by Draco, like I was," Aurora said. "Some would consider her the closest thing I have to a sister. But I personally consider her the closest thing I have to a mother."

"How many dragons are there in the world?" asked Hiccup.

"Oh, there are many of us throughout the world," Re said. "There are many different cultures of dragons. You could spend the rest of your life traveling the world and you still wouldn't have found every single one. There's the Southeastern Megalania, the Anglo-Saxon Wyvern, the Basilisk, the Greek Hydra, the African Amphisbaena, the Middle Eastern Amphitere, the Tropical Quetzalcoatl, the Polynesian Moo, the Eastern Lóng, and us."

"That does sound like a lot," said Astrid. "And they're all under your rule?"

"No," said Tenor. "We're in charge of the dragons in Draconia, and any other who want us as their rulers."

"Unfortunately our kind is slowly fading into mythology," Aurora said. "Fewer and fewer dragons are seen my humans every year."

"Why?" asked Fishlegs.

"Dragons are being killed by humans," Re said. "And the only way to keep our kind from being wiped out is to fake our own extinction. That's why Draconia exists, so dragons have somewhere to go to escape extinction, without the humans knowing."

"That's sad," said Fishlegs.

"Mmmhmm," said Aurora. "But we will survive, you can be sure of that."

"Any other questions?" asked Re.

"No, I think that will do for now," Hiccup said. "Thanks. Good luck with that egg Tenor."

"Thanks," Tenor said. "Could you do me a favor and keep Fishlegs as busy as possible, so he's not bugging us all the time? The last thing we want, is for that egg to be accidentally kicked off the cliff."

"Sure Tenor," said Hiccup. Tenor gave a nod of graduated. The riders turned and headed back down the hill. Tenor yawned, exhausted after that long night of hunting. He leaped back onto the branch Windwalker was sleeping on. He laid down in front of her and fell asleep. Re turned to Aurora.

"So what do you want to do today?" he asked.

"How about we go scout out Dragon Island," said Aurora. "We should get started planning our summer castle soon."

"Ah, good idea," Re said. "And tomorrow it's back into the arena."

"Apollo! Avalon!" Aurora called. The two said dragonets flew down from the top of the apple tree and landed in front of their elders. They all spread their wings and took off.

Much later that evening, Serenity checked on Windwalker's egg. She could hear the hatchling's heartbeat more clearly each day, indicating that it was getting bigger. Windwalker had eaten the duck Tenor had caught for her. After that Serenity started dinner. Windwalker laid next to Tenor under the tree.

"It seems you lot are more educated then I thought," Windwalker said.

"What are you talking about?" Tenor asked.

"I heard you talking to the riders earlier," Windwalker said. "You're not the only one who can eavesdrop in their sleep."

"Ah, it must be a Night Fury thing," Tenor said. "Toothless has that talent too."

"What are you going to do tomorrow?" Windwalker asked.

"Re wants to do another training session in the arena," Tenor said. "He wants to up his dragonets' fighting skills."

"No sparring?" Windwalker asked.

"No," Tenor said. "We all know how to fight, and they're just getting started."

"Good point," Windwalker said.

"Besides," Tenor said. "If we keep sparring everyday, Serenity will have to spend everyday alone."

"You know the world doesn't revolve around her," Windwalker said.

"No it doesn't," said Tenor. "But everyone deserves to be happy, and what makes her happy is being around all of her family."

"I suppose," Windwalker said. "I wish there was something I could do." She laid her head down on her front paws.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I caught a lot of game last night so the rest of us won't be doing much either," Tenor said.

"Still," Windwalker said. "I don't want to die of boredom."

"You won't," said Tenor. "You can come watch the training tomorrow." This seemed to satisfy Windwalker, for the moment.

For the next few days the Draconians didn't do much. They all helped around the village like the rest of the dragons. Serenity stayed under her tree, keeping Windwalker company. Windwalker could feel her egg getting bigger and bigger. She and Tenor went flying every night to keep her wings from cramping up. They were all getting excited about the egg, especially Fishlegs. Hiccup was keeping him and Meatlug so busy that Fishlegs didn't get a chance to go up to the apple tree. But whenever Tenor was in the village with is comrades, Fishlegs would bombard him with questions. So Tenor spent most of his time with Windwalker. She was getting more and more restless, and itching to go out and do something.

One day, she saw that all the food Tenor had caught was running low. They had only two bucks left. Windwalker thought this was a perfect opportunity to make herself useful. She secretly planned to sneak out the following night and hunt. She would stay around Berk incase something went wrong. She told no one of this, as everyone would try and talk her out of it. She laid low until everyone was asleep. Tenor wasn't planning on going out for a few more days.

When they were all out, Windwalker snuck out from under the apple tree. She quietly spread her wings and took off. She could feel the egg weighing her down slightly, as though it was telling her not to do this.

"I'll just get one or two boars, and no more," Windwalker told herself. "Then I'll go back to sleep, and no one will know I left." She flew low over the trees, looking for prey. Little did she know was that there was another dragon, buried in the sand, on the island that she would soon run into a conflict with.