Learning from the Masters
A How To Train Your Dragon Fanfiction
Based of Le'Letha's "Nightfall"
Alekt gave a last, appreciative pat to Sangrida's shoulder and left the mare's side to return to one of the roughly put-together feasting tables.
Around him, the men danced a drunken off-beat step and sung their jollies into the night, echoing off the cave walls. Others were less rowdy, preferring to sit and eat as they told each other accounts of their valor against rival tribes and exaggerated war stories from their youth.
It was an older man with a greying beard that he chose to sit with, a few odd lines to his face where hair refused to grow in the wake of several long scars that crossed his nose, lips, and chin at an angle.
"The horses are restless," Alekt reported softly under his breath as he came to sit, picking bread and cheese from his plate and taking a bite of each. When the tame crow on his shoulder croaked demandingly, he broke off a crumb for it to devour, every other piece going to it. "I think we are watched."
The grizzled man glanced at him and took a swig from his tankard, droplets of mead catching on his beard like morning dew.
"And have you got an idea as to what we might be watched by?"
"I couldn't be certain," Alekt shrugged slightly. "It could be spies from another tribe. 'could be a dragon waiting to pounce."
The older male nodded his head slowly. "Seems a bit odd to me that a dragon would only watch and not pounce by now. Dragons aren't the most restrained creatures I've ever had the displeasure of meeting."
Alekt nodded his head slightly, his blue eyes wandering from beneath brown bangs without moving his head. They first scoured the shadows on the ground, but he couldn't make out movement or a shape of anything that hadn't already been there before. They traveled upwards, but it was hard to make out anything in the darkness of the cave's ceiling, where the firelight didn't quite reach.
If something was watching them or waiting to strike, it was well hidden.
"The horses could have simply caught a carried scent on the wind," he murmured, though he wasn't sure he believed the idea. "Still, it pays to be cautious."
"Aye," the man nodded. "It's good instincts. Many a man lacking them has lost his life for being none the wiser." He paused to grumble incoherency in the back of his throat and wipe lingering beads of liquid from his lips. "So, what do you want to do about it? Should we raise the alarm?"
"No," Alekt hummed slowly. "I don't think that will be necessary. Tell the other men that we might have company soon and to be ready if anything appears, but not to change anything they are doing now. If we are indeed watched, then whatever it is, it's smart enough to hide and wait, so it's probably smart enough to notice if we all go on the alert," he decided. "Whoever they are, let them think they can catch us unawares. We'll have the advantage before they even know we do."
The man nodded, easily able to appreciate the well-calculated forethought that came so easily to the young man, where others might be quick to pick up an ax before even knowing if they'd need it.
"I'll be sure it gets passed along," the grey-bearded man assured, rising from his seat and moving to join the group that sat telling stories as if to casually join them.
Alekt returned to eating, another short caw sounding in his ear impatiently and beak nibbling sociably at his lip. He nibbled back and uttered a low warble of affection in return, before distracting it with another offering of food from his palm.
The festivities faded as the night wore on, not long after Alekt had sent a message along to be prepared for potentially hostile intruders. The songs, stories, and drunken shenanigans were tossed aside earlier than most had probably originally planned in favor of turning for bed.
Many settled down with a weapon ready at their side, though it was hardly a first and wouldn't be the last time a Norsemen slept with a hand still on their sword or ax.
He himself bundled into a blanket of wool and fur on his side, one eye cracked faintly open towards the opposite side of the cave where the covered cages sat. At his side rested a crossbow, just beneath the folds of his blanket, ready to fire if anything showed itself after all.
Soon the only sound that could be heard was the faint crackle of the fire in the middle of the cave, which they had stoked before turning in for the night, and the occasional huff of half-asleep horses further to the side. Nothing stirred, not even the men, some who truly weren't awake – as was apparent by the low snores – and some who were lying in wait for an enemy to appear just as he was.
Then he heard a soft, nervous, equine nicker and a shuffling of hooves, thinking he saw something, faintly, from the shadows on the opposite end. Something moving, though slowly, and near-perfectly blended with the backdrop of shadow-cast rocks. Something big.
Changewing, maybe? he wondered curiously to himself. That would be problematic. Changewings were tricky dragons to deal with, on account they could almost appear to turn invisible, with how they changed their colors and shapes.
He quickly dashed the idea, though. Changewings weren't a local species, and this creature didn't move like one. Changewings moved like lizards, in side-to-side leg motions. This one prowled like a large cat on the hunt, stretching long and forward, like pumas he had seen in the far northern mainland, but it was too large to be a wild cat and too dark in coloration, light reflecting the faintest ebony sheen of a night-black form.
For a moment, it melted perfectly into the shadows, disappearing like a phantom. He waited for several minutes before he was rewarded by the silhouette of the beast appearing again, slowly. He could make out a pair of large, cat-like eyes, but too large to simply be a feline. He could almost guess that they were green or gold, but it was hard to tell.
It placed a paw forward, stopped, and waited. Watching. Listening.
When it seemed satisfied that its presence was unnoticed, it took another step forward, and another.
Alekt was steadily making out some of its features. It was a dragon, but small, in the way of most dragons. What it lacked in overall girth though, it made up for in sleek compactness and a sturdy build. Tucked close to its body were a pair of long wings and other fins on its tail.
It wasn't a species he had ever seen before. Apparently someone else had though as he heard a very faint, barely audible, hissed, "Night Fury".
He had heard plenty of stories. Every Norsemen from the western mainland to the far, ice-crusted islets across the sea, much further than they were now, had heard of Night Furies, but rarely any a man had ever actually seen one, and most of those that had only caught a glimpse of one jetting away after unleashing a devastating blast onto a village or ship of unprepared Vikings.
The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Your only chance is to hide and pray it does not find you.
He had heard that more times than he could count in his lifetime, but he had no plans of hiding. A Night Fury was still a dragon, and dragons could be caught, and injured, and slain. Inside the cave with only limited room for such a beast to fly, and having surprise on their side, they had the advantage. Such a mysterious, fast, powerful beast was too valuable to simply let walk in and out without even attempting to capture it.
His crow companion gave a low, barely heard croak of alarm, but he uttered a quick, near-silent "Hush" before it could carry on into a raucous of cawing and scaring it into either fleeing or fighting.
The beast paused, what looked to be ears or horns of some kind perking and rotating slightly, as if listening, but it didn't turn to flee or look as though it was about to attack. It slunk forward again carefully and came to stop in front of one of the cages, at the doors where it wasn't covered by cloth.
He thought he heard soft, dragonic vocalizations, but he couldn't be entirely sure. He paused as he saw something else move. At first he mistook it for the creature's wings, but realized it wasn't the Night Fury at all, but something else. Something smaller, on its back.
Was that… another dragon?
It was difficult to tell. The creature blended almost perfectly with the black scales of the Night Fury. Maybe it was a baby dragon? Did Night Furies carry their babies with them? Maybe they only had one chick, as opposed to most other species that had at least three or four babies per nest… maybe that was part of why they were so rare.
The more he looked, though, the less it looked like a Night Fury. True, it had black scales and claws, but its build was entirely different. It almost looked like the form of a human.
He watched it climb down and noticed that it was human. It was a human, riding a dragon. Wearing its scales. Touching it and he thought maybe even talking to it like it was a common pet, holding no fear or hostility of it.
But they didn't move right, walking in an awkward, almost animal way. They seemed to know what they were dealing with though, with the cage, and were already working to unlock it and steal away the captured dragons.
He'd never have believed this had he not seen it himself.
The Night Fury sat back and watched the person in dragon armor work, neither seeming terribly concerned about being caught. To be honest, had he not been so perceptive to the sudden nervousness of the horses, and really had gone to sleep unaware of the presence of the lurking Night Fury and rider, they likely would have succeeded in their mission to get the captured dragons out with no one the wiser until morning was in full swing many hours later.
Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing, and they were probably ready to flee at the first sign of danger too. He was going to have to ground them before they made any bold moves.
It was with that in mind that he moved very slowly and carefully, positioning and aiming his crossbow at the very base of the wings at the shoulder, and fired.
A second before the bolt landed, the dragon perked its ears alertly, but not fast enough to see or stop him from hitting the mark.
The Fury yowled profusely and jumped, flaring its wings. Twisting. Turning. Trying to attack whatever thing had attacked its wing and stayed there. He heard a similar sound from the dragon boy, a sound that wasn't even remotely human, but filled with a sense of alarm and perhaps worry rather than physical pain, running a circle to see the creature's side as it spun in place trying to reach the bolt with its teeth furiously.
Alekt flung the blanket off, rolling to his feet. The other men who had been simply waiting for their cue took the moment to leap up as well.
"Do not let them escape! I want them alive!"
The cave filled with a mix of battle-cries and vicious dragon roars as the men charged and both the Fury and dragon-armored man whirled on them with snarled fangs.
One of the men immediately went skidding somewhere off to the side as the dragon whipped its tail into him. Another was sent sprawling as he was head-butted, charging too close, and the dragon pounced at him with a roar. Seemingly losing his nerve, the man scrambled back on all fours like a crab and ducked behind one of the tables.
Three men at once were ready to attack, but hesitated as the dragon whirled on them, shuffling a few steps in any direction as though debating whether to attack or turn and flee. When they settled for attacking, it was with notable fear and half-assed assurance, getting easily knocked away by the monster's tail or bulky legs.
Those that attacked the smaller man weren't having much better luck. Alekt watched one man dive straight on top of him, only for the dragon-armored man to roll onto his back right as he would have been pinned, all four limbs flipping the man through the air as though he weighed nothing, and then rolling back to his feet, ready for his next assailant.
He didn't have a weapon such as an ax or sword, but Alekt now noticed the clawed gloves on his hand that easily managed to slash at the second Viking stupid enough to attack him head on, quickly gaining the upper hand and advancing while Alekt's own subordinate retreated with shaken resolve.
The third to attack wasn't quite as stupid as to charge in from the front, instead coming behind and grabbing him in a bear-hug, but that proved about as effective as most everything else when the rider bit his arm and drew blood. The man howled and foolishly released, screaming in a voice reaching a higher pitch with shock, "He bit me!"
He didn't recover from his surprise fast enough to avoid the dragon-man whirling on him and launching another attack with his claws, leaving slashes not only on flesh but leather hide as well as the teeth marks on his arm.
Alekt had had enough of watching his men flounder about so uselessly, whistling shrilly from where he stood.
Sangrida nickered in response and trotted to his side where he mounted bare-back in one fluid motion, kicking her side. She bolted forward obediently, galloping around the tables and towards the fight, already trembling with excitement.
Both intruders heard and saw the pale Fjord horse's charge and snarled, the dragon-man leaping onto the Fury's back and roaring a challenge in unison, both sounding equally dragon and not at all human.
Sangrida faltered a few steps in preparation and reared, kicking outward with both front legs, the war-horse lunging teeth and both hard hooves forward like a big cat attacking smaller prey. Both dragon and rider were seemingly caught off guard and retreated just out of range of its kick, looking uncertain, as though the attacking mare was something completely alien and unnatural and wrong.
Alekt took full advantage of their surprised confusion, signaling for Sangrida to keep up her advance and drove them back towards the wall, chattering and growling to each other as if trying to make sense of what in Helheim was even happening.
For a moment they turned to dart one way and bolt away, but Alekt steered Sangrida into cutting them off. Then they tried to slip past the other way, and the horse and rider blocked their escape again, front hooves audibly slamming the stone underneath her and making them flinch back.
Having been cornered to the wall and tiring of being attacked and chased, the dragon snarled angrily and reared itself up now, splaying its wings and turning the tables to lunge, a blue fire alighting its throat with a keening screech that warned of it about to unleash the deadly lightning firebomb it was known for.
Sangrida whinnied in alarm as Alekt sharply tugged a fistful of mane and spun around, kicking back as the dragon leapt forward and making its jaw snap back on impact, swallowing its fire back down.
Alekt and his faithful steed danced several yards away as the dragon fell forward and shook its head dizzily, groaning in disorientation and blinking rapidly.
The dragon-man roared in warning at Alekt as he rode closer, arching his back like an angry cat and curling his lips back to show all of his teeth, though they were woefully much less sharp and intimidating than those of his dragon.
He made an odd series of noises that Alekt couldn't quite make sense of at the same time he yanked up on the straps of a saddle, but he could tell the dragon did as it got a knowing look in its eyes and spread its wings, launching into the air. Whatever plans it had fell short as the black creature shrieked in pain and wobbled in the air, one wing twitching more than flapping and the whole dragon came careening back down onto the top of one of the cages, shaking itself off.
It still had yet to remove the bolt in its wing and, while it may not have been enough to do lasting damage, it was certainly causing enough pain to make flying difficult, if not outright impossible.
The dragon-rider keened a noise of alarm and question, suddenly searching over his mount's form for the source of the hindrance.
Alekt's men had recovered by now, ready to take another jab at taking down the dragon, and ran towards the cage swinging bolas' and chain lassos overhead.
The dragon and rider were distracted by their hunt for the crossbow bolt as one of the men lassoed the dragon's neck with a chain, both screeching their hatred and pulling away, trying to get free. Another looped around its swinging tail.
Trying to plant its claws into the top of the cage proved fruitless when the men heaved, trying to bring it back to ground level, since it was covered by a large cloth, instead only further helping the men as the dragon slid without purchase and toppled to the ground.
The dragon-man screamed an animal sound of horror as both dragon and human became tangled in chains and the folds of cloth, fighting vigorously to get free. Several men jumped onto both, not sure what they were grabbing or pinning down but intent on restraining the thrashing beast.
Even as they were, the smaller form of the dragon's rider crawled out from the cloth and snarled rage at them, going to attack the nearest man that had his dragon pinned. He didn't get that far as Alekt lassoed him with a chain around his chest and kicked Sangrida into a slow gallop, pulling the feral off his feet and dragging him several yards.
The young dragon-man only screamed and fought harder for his freedom, struggling with frustrated, scared frenzy. Alekt pulled the chain in and leapt down off his horse, tackling the intruder just as he started to stand.
He heard teeth snap, limbs both free and pinned kicking and struggling to hurt him. Even partially bound, his opponent was strong and fought well, using his own strength and momentum to try and flip Alekt onto his back and bite his neck like a wild predator, as if he didn't even fathom the very idea that he was human.
He heard a loud medley of screeches, howls, and roars, but he couldn't be sure if it was the dragon or man, or possibly both, as he and the dragon-rider tumbled across the stone floor, both trying to pin the other. He thought he felt a pair of teeth grab his shoulder, but it only managed to bite into leather armor, too dull to pierce through to flesh.
Alekt kicked the feral man off of him and both managed to stagger to their feet, with Alekt recovering only a moment faster to charge in and pin the other man to the wall, just long enough to knee him hard in the gut.
He heard another screech but knew for a fact this time that it was the dragon, its rider gasping breathlessly and crumpling to the ground.
Alekt drew in several ragged breaths and sat over him, pinning the winded stranger with his full weight as he pulled the chains loose, only so he could remove the dragon-claw gloves and twist his arms behind his back, tying them together tight. He didn't want to take any chances and made sure his legs were tied as well. Somehow he didn't doubt, tied limbs or no, that the man would still prove a bothersome captive.
He was still trying to regain his breath by the time he had finished securing the human intruder, sitting up and brushing newly messed hair out of his eyes. His eyes wandered to the dragon which his men had, for the most part, managed to restrain as well, though with continued difficulty as it continued to writhe and growl.
"Get that dragon into one of the cages, and I want it heavily secured to one side of the bars," he ordered crisply. "And you there-" he motioned, to one of the others closest to his age that stood more toward the sidelines. "Embrik, correct? Help me with him."
Embrik eyed the man whom he had seen fight as if he were dragon in all but shape himself, wary to step close.
"Now," Alekt commanded impatiently as the dragon-man began to stir, recovering. Embrik huffed reluctantly and jogged closer, helping drag their captive partially upward and towards the cage where the other Norsemen were securing the dragon, tying it snugly against the bars on one side of the cage and muzzling it as Alekt had instructed.
Alekt set the dragon-man down and ordered them to keep him pinned there as he approached the Night Fury. The other men scattered as soon as it was fully secured and watched in aw as Alekt approached it without any fear.
Even tied down, the other men were terrified of the beast named to be the child of death and lightning, and for good reason.
He eyed the dragon with care, and it eyed him back, curling scaled lips away from fangs in an uncomfortable growl of warning.
"Very few have ever seen a dragon quite like you before," Alekt mused. "Much less so close."
The men held their breath, the beast snarled contempt and twitched away, and the dragon man howled his own hatred and disapproval, as Alekt reached a hand out to touch its side. It shuddered a breath under him as if utterly revolted at the contact, what part of its tail it could move smacking the bars of the cage like an angry feline, narrowing faintly glowing eyes on him in pure loathing of his very existence. It clearly wanted nothing more than to snap his hand clear off his wrist if only it could move to do so.
As his fingers traced to the bolt still lodged in the shoulder of its wing, he heard a worried moan from the beast and spiteful hiss from its rider, who thrashed against the other men keeping him pinned.
He grasped the metal bolt where it disappeared into scales and dragon flesh, bracing his other hand around it, and oh so careful, pulled it free. The dragon whined deeply and squirmed like a child trying to stay tough and restrain themselves from crying, but soon enough, the projectile was free and he tossed it aside.
"Bring me a bucket of water and a cloth," he ordered as blood dribbled from the puncture. Several men looked about uncertainly, as though waiting for someone else to do so.
Hartvig, the grizzled man with the claw-scared face, rolled his eyes and went to fetch the things Alekt had asked for, since no one seemed ready to get anywhere near the dragon again.
When he received them, Alekt wet the cloth and dabbed away the blood, checking the wound. It wasn't bad. Likely it would close within days, and be fully healed within a week. Either way, it wasn't bad enough to completely prevent flight even now, once the bolt had been removed, though the muscles would be inflamed for likely another two days and cause it discomfort.
He was satisfied that that was all it had taken to capture the beast though, not wanting to cripple or kill it, despite that he could tell such a sentiment wasn't shared by his men, judging by the looks alone that they were giving it.
He gave the dragon a last reassuring pat, which was met with a snarl, and stepped back out.
"Close the cage, and put him in another," Alekt ordered with a motion of his head to the dragon's human companion. "I don't want them together in the same cage. I'll figure out what to do with them in the morning. I want them given just enough water to survive on, but nobody feeds or touches them for any reason until I order it."