Ok dokay, I have been wanting to write something like this for ages, and it has finally come. yay! this is where Shadow gets to use one of her 'disguises' to fool unsuspecting humans. I just want to make it clear, throughout the time in which Dagur was not in prison, and the dragon riders fought him, he had never seen Shadow or any of her forms. She was helping on the sidelines of those battles, or in the shadow's themselves. Shadow doesnt let anyone not from Berk see her multiple forms, and does her best to stay hidden normally. After I wrote the last chapters or so I realised that I got some of the timing messed up. in the show, Dagur was locked up for three years, in this one it is less than two. but anyway, on with the show... Please leave a review with your thoughts.
Shadow returned in fourteen and a half. Her speed was unparalleled by any other dragon, even despite the weight of carrying Toothless on her back all the way to Berk. She raced after the dragon riders like a starved animal on the hunt. By the time she finally made it, she was tired and puffed out. But despite her long and laborious flight, she was ready to wreak havoc on the Berserker Chief.
It was roughly nine thirty at night when she caught up to the dragon riders on a large-ish island North of the Ship Graveyard. As soon as she touched down silently on the ground in the middle of their camp, she willed herself to change into her half-form.
Astrid approached her. "We've been watching their camp for hours and searched the island as best we could. Hiccup and Dagur are inside the only cave on the island. As far as we can tell, there is only one way in or out, which is heavily guarded. The dragons tell us that they can hear horrible sounds coming from that cave, meaning that Hiccup is being tortured." She said as if speaking to a military captain.
Shadow nodded stiffly at her report, and asked that she lead her to their vantage point where they have been watching the camp. What she saw made her grit her sharp teeth. There were men everywhere, at least fifty, all carrying weapons and on high alert. They were securely guarding the entrance to a large cave, and if Shadow strained her ears, she could hear the sounds of cracking leather, and cries of pain.
She growled in suppressed rage. Hiccup was being whipped. "We need to get inside, and we only have one point of entry. This isn't going to be easy."
"The situation seems hopeless. We cant mount a full scale attack on the cave entrance. If Dagur hears, he might very well kill Hiccup before we even get inside. There is no way we can just walk through the front door." Said Fishlegs.
Not only that, but they were expecting an attack. The only way they could get inside is if they were let in. and there was no way that could happen, maybe if they were scared enough…
The gears started turning in Shadow's head. If the only way in was to be invited and the only way for that to happen was to use fear, then what could they use to provoke enough fear. What did these people fear above all else that they had at their disposal?
Suddenly, and idea came to mind and Shadow grinned evilly. "I might have a plan, but its risky."
"Whats the plan?" asked Snotlout who came to join them at the vantage point. "What is the one thing," Shadow answered, "That all men fear?"
After a few moments of silence she spoke again. "Do you fear the wrath of your gods?" they nodded, not understanding. Shadow smirked cunningly. "Would you say these people would be afraid if a demon swooped in and demanded they return her property?"
Ten minutes later, the riders sat in a circle making a white ash paste, as well as black charcoal paste to use as war paint. Shadow's skin was being covered in the ash to make her look ghostly pale, while the black charcoal was added to make designs on her face and body. Even her wings were covered in ghostly patterns. Once they were finished, Shadow looked like a true demon from Hel. Her black hair was spiked and slicked back away from her face, her face a stark white from the ash, with dark shadows around her eyes and angry black tear lines from her eyes to her face. Her arms were covered too, like white sleeves, and her painted white chest dipped into an arrow shape to where it disappeared under her signature black cloak.
She looked like the embodiment of evil, and her dragon features made her look monstrous. The Berserkers would never stand a chance.
Once she was ready, Shadow transformed into her dragon form, the ash paint still visible on her scales, creating the illusion of a war painted dragon beast. Then she took off into the air, and the riders and their dragons raced to the vantage point to watch.
Shadow flew over the temporary camp with an angry roar. Instantly, all the guard's eyes were upon her, and they stood frozen in fear at the sight of her. Her powerful wings beat, sending the flames of their fires to flicker wildly. Some of them tried to fire arrows at her gigantic form, but the heat of her flames disintegrated them with ease.
Finally, after she was sure she had them all captivated, Shadow shot fire at the ground a hundred meters from the cave, driving them away from that area. With a crash that shook the earth, Shadow landed in front of them, engulfed by the flames as they dies down. Then she changed. Her body went from quadruped to bipedal and her scales faded away, replaced with white skin and war paint. Her face and head shrank into a human skull, while her horns remained the same, situated proudly on her head like a crown. Her wings shrank to a more manageable size for her smaller form, and her tail shortened. Her claws remained long and sharp, and her teeth were too long to sit in her mouth properly, giving her a vampire-like appearance. But her eyes entranced them the most, glowing with the light of a full moon like a beacon in the dark.
No one made a move as she shifted, but many were shaking at this supposedly godly creature before them.
As the flames died down, she stepped forward slowly and deliberately, like a queen amongst peasants. She never made eye contact with anyone except the man in front of her. Savage, if she recalled correctly.
"Is this the way you treat a goddess from Hell? How disrespectful. Bow to me, mortal." She said in a deadly commanding tone. Immediately, the soldiers around her bowed in respect. Savage did not. "I said bow!" she snarled. Savage flinched at the power in her voice, and slowly lowered himself to one knee and dipped his head. Shadow took a few steps closer, and all but growled, "Lower."
Fearing the demon's wrath, he lowered himself so his face was mere centimeters from the ground. Shadow raised a foot and planted it on his shoulder and drove his face into the dirt without a care or a single twitch in her facial expression.
"I have come to reclaim something of mine. A young man descendant of the Haddock lineage. Where is he, and why did he come to you?" she growled.
Fearfully, Savage mumbled his response. That Hiccup was with his leader inside the cave. He warned the demoness that Dagur wished not to be disturbed, but she disregarded his warning. She demanded his opinion, did he think her weak?
Sniffling in terror at his unknown fate, he showered her with all the compliments he could muster, in an attempt to please this demon. But to his great relief, sort of, she simply walked over him towards the cave, determined to be reunited with her property.