The Dragon's Den
Following a blond boy who can run through the forest at full speed isn't what I call the highlight of my day. But when that boy is about to spill your secret that you've kept hidden for Odin knows how long, you don't exactly have any options.
"Come on, Toothless," I muttered. "Just a little bit faster." I tightened my grip on the saddle.
"Why are we chasing after him?" Toothless asked, obviously not happy with the situation.
"Because if he gets to the village, all this will be exposed. And I don't want to know what my father will do if he thinks I train dragons." At this, Toothless sped up. My eyes scanned the ground until I caught a glimpse of Ashter. I pointed down. "There!" At that simple word, Toothless dove down, paws outstretched, his talons just barely unsheathed.
Just as Ashter looked up, Toothless snagged him and dragged him into the air. "Oh great Odin's ghost!" he screamed.
Toothless chuckled a bit. "Maybe this isn't so bad..." he muttered. I laughed quietly and lightly thumped his ear plate. In return to my playful attack, he flapped his wings harder to swat me in the head. Ashter's screams tuned my attention back in.
We flew Ashter to one of the taller trees and Toothless (purposefully) dropped him on one of the closer branches to the top. Toothless landed on the top, the tree bending under his weight. Ashter's screams were replaced with his heavy panting. "Hali, get me down from here!" he shouted, holding onto the branch for dear life.
"You have to give me a chance to explain!" I told him even though I knew he was too stubborn to give in on the first try.
"I'm not listening to anything you have to say!"
"Okay, fine. I won't speak. Just let me show you." I held out a hand to him. "Please Ashter." He looked up at me, then to Toothless, down at the ground, and finally to the branch he was holding on to. Thankfully he had enough common sense to know that it was either come with me or stay on the tree. He swatted my hand away (earning a slight growl from Toothless) and pulled himself up. He climbed onto the saddle and settled down with as little contact as possible.
"Now get me down," he said.
"Toothless? Down. Gently." I readied my foot and gripped the saddle. Toothless raised his wings slowly and then released the tree, leaving us to hover in place. I turned around to face Ashter. "See? Nothing to be afraid of."
Unfortunately for me, Toothless had other plans in mind. Brace yourself, that voice in my mind told me. Without any other warning, Toothless suddenly launched upward and my only instinct was to follow along. Toothless beat his wings with tremendous power, lifting us higher into the sky. Ashter's screams once again filled my ears.
Well someone's got a set of lungs on 'em, I thought wryly. His arms went around me, squeezing the breath out of me. "Toothless!" I shouted. "What is wrong with you? Bad dragon!"
Then, to make the matter worse, he rolled and plummeted towards the ocean waves. He deliberately dove under the froth, causing us to become soaking wet. Once we came up from the waves, he skyrocketed up. Then he began to tumble head over tail. "And now the spinning," I muttered. "Thank you for nothing you useless reptile."
As the spinning continued, Ashter buried his face in my shoulder, not wanting to see this anymore. "Okay!" he said, drained of his aggression. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry. Just get me off of this thing."
Toothless gave a satisfied grunt. "Now we can do things calmly," he said. He stretched his wings out, catching the draft and leveling us out. He faced us toward the sunset, revealing the pink-orange tint in the sky. My jaw went slightly ajar and Ashter's grip finally loosened. His head lifted from my shoulder which allowed me to finally lean into the saddle.
"Really?" I asked Toothless quietly while Ashter was distracted. Toothless turned his head slightly to me to show he was listening. "You did all that just for an apology? What for?"
Toothless scoffed. "He hurt you and threatened you." Then he shook his head. "Look, just focus on the skyline. We both know you need something to ease the tension. You can explain it to me later. Just relax." I smiled softly and kissed his head.
I leaned back up and looked at the clouds. Toothless seemed to take control as he rose above the clouds and leveled back under the starry sky. The Northern Lights flowed around us, giving off an array of colors. The clouds parted, revealing Berk with lights flickering in the darkness, a perspective I never thought I would see. Toothless soon turned around and flew over the open water, leaving the village behind.
"All right," Ashter said, breaking the silence. "I admit it. This is pretty cool. Amazing even. And your dragon isn't so bad either." He hesitantly patted Toothless's side, earning the smallest of coos.
"So what now?" he continued. I groaned. It was a problem without an answer. "Hali, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're gonna have to... kill a dragon." He added that last part in a whisper. I sighed, not knowing exactly how to approach the situation. Soon we flew into low cloud cover, shrouding us from everything else. Toothless tensed and his ear plates flattened, his sign of panic.
Oh no, the voice said. I started trying to figure out who that was but before I could, Toothless suddenly dove, driving us further into the fog. Ashter's grip tightened from the sudden movement.
"Toothless!" I yelped. "What's going on? What is it?"
"Quiet!" he barked. Dragons started emerging from the fog, blocking us in.
"Didn't think we'd see you come 'round here," the Monstrous Nightmare of Toothless's right said.
"Neither did I." We kept flying and soon once invisible dragons, appeared in all directions, hundreds of them. I noticed they were all carrying in some kind of game.
"What's happening?" Ashter asked, leaning in close to me.
"I don't know," I replied helplessly. I bent down, trying to make myself as small as possible. Ashter did the same. Though I tried to explain as much as I could. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill."
A Monstrous Nightmare eyed me suspiciously. That dragon was nothing like Risandera. "What does that make us?" Ashter whispered rhetorically. I tried to ignore the way he said that. The dragons banked all in some sort of formation. They passed through the sea stacks easily. Soon we emerged at the base of a massive volcano, glowing with rivulets of lava. They flew through a crack in the volcano which gave way to an inner chamber, lit red by the lava below.
There were multiple rocky shelves, each harboring dragons of all breeds, some huddled together in hordes. The dragons flying in dropped their kill into the pit, enveloped by fog of its own. "What my dad wouldn't give to find this," I muttered, looking around cautiously. Toothless peeled away from the formation and landed on a hidden shelf, thankfully keeping a low-profile.
Well, it's satisfying to know that all of our food has been dumped down a hole, I thought dryly.
"They aren't eating any of it..." Ashter mumbled. I watched as the rest of the dragons flew in and I recognized one specifically as Risandera. She wasn't carrying much and she looked as if she was in a fight. There were claw marks on her and she seemed to be exhausted. She released the kill, a resigned look on her face. She turned and locked eyes with Toothless and I. For a moment, I saw alarm and then... she was apologetic.
A horrid roar sounded, bouncing off the walls and reverberating in my head. Toothless tensed up. Risandera slowly flew away, but she wasn't fast enough. A head the size of a mountain jutted out from the steaming pit. It snapped Risandera out of the air, eating her whole. My breath caught in my throat and it took all my willpower not to cry out. I put my hand on Toothless's head.
"What is that?" Ashter asked. I shook my head slightly. I honestly had no idea what was happening. The beast sniffed, seemingly aware of there being two humans here. Its head neared the ledge we were perched on. Then it roared. Multiple dragons took flight in fear.
"Alright, love, we gotta get out of here," I said, readying my grip on the saddle. "Now!" Toothless quickly took flight, narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws of the beast. The beast lunged for us and instead of capturing us in its jaws, it snapped a Zippleback out of the air. Toothless blended into the chaotic dragons fleeing the cave.
We glided into the cove, Ashter rambling away, his mind reeling. "It totally makes sense," he continued. "It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers... and that's their queen. It's controlling them." He jumped off the saddle and started towards the village. "Let's find your dad."
No!" I intervened, stopping him in his tracks. "No. Not yet. They'll kill Toothless." I climbed off the saddle and walked up to meet him. "Ashter, we have to think this through carefully."
He eyed me disbelievingly. "Hali, we just discovered the dragons' nest... the thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"
I stood firm, my decision never wavering. "Yes."
He was taken aback. "Okay. Then what do we do?"
"Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out." Ashter nodded and stood there for a second before punching me in the arm.
"That's for kidnapping me," he explained. I held my arm and glanced at Toothless who was currently drinking from the pond. Ashter moved and I braced myself for another hit. But instead of a punch, he was hugging me. He released me and stepped back. "That's for, everything else." With that, he hurried off. I scratched my neck, feeling confused before turning back to Toothless.
Toothless looked at me. "Wanna talk?" he asked. I nodded and walked over to him. He lied down and I sat against his side, leaning my head against his neck. I could tell from the sadness in his eyes that he was grieving Risandera. But he shook his head, not wanting to talk about his dead colleague. "Why were you talking about leaving earlier?"
I sighed then started fiddling with my sleeve. I knew it wouldn't help his state of emotion, me talking about what happened. Though I knew he would get it out of me sooner or later. "I won in the semifinals," I started lamely. "For this dragon training class I was put in. And the winner... gets to kill a dragon. A Monstrous Nightmare." That last part was added no louder than a whisper.
Toothless closed his eyes and nudged his head with mine. "I don't want to," I continued. "But I don't know what else to do. I'm certainly not going to kill a dragon."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Toothless said, trying his best to be helpful. "There's bound to be something in that brilliant head of yours that can help." I smiled slightly at him.
"Thanks Toothless." I scratched him behind the ears, causing him to purr. "There's also something else." He looked attentively at me. "I keep hearing this voice in my head. It sounds familiar but I just can't put my finger on who it sounds like."
I'll give you a hint, the voice said. The owner of this voice is the one you are leaning against. My head shot up and I stared Toothless right in the eyes. He was smirking at me.
"You're the one who's been in my head?" I asked incredulously. Toothless chuckled. "Well, that makes more sense. Now, how accurate was Ashter on the whole 'giant beehive' thing?"
Toothless's expression turned serious. "He was spot on, actually. That thing has been controlling dragons for Odin knows how long. But don't burden yourself with that right now. You've got other things on your shoulders. Go ahead and get some rest. You'll need it." I gave him a small smile and kissed his cheek.
"Goodnight Toothless. I'll come back tomorrow." I stood up, kissed his head softly, then made my way out of the cove, already bracing myself for tomorrow's events.
I am so evil! Any ways, we're finally getting into the climax of the movie now. The exciting stuff. Let's see where this takes us.