In her dreams, Zephyr flew on Shadow Streak amongst puffy clouds as white as snow. Water drenched Zephyr and Shadow Streak as they gracefully drifted through the clouds. The water was nice and refreshing. They glided higher, above the clouds, and saw the beautiful night sky decorated with arrays of stars, all taking turns twinkling.

"Come on," Zephyr said to Shadow Streak. She gently pushed on Shadow Streak's neck and they descended. Suddenly, an arrow whizzed towards them. It struck Shadow Streak in a front leg and she instantly collapsed. Shadow Streak plunged towards the sea, Zephyr gripping her neck, ducking down low along her dragon's back.

"Wake up!" Zephyr yelled.

The sea below transformed into red and burst into flames. The fire roared as they approached and Zephyr felt heat brushing her forehead. The fire was right under them…This was it…

The dream vanished. Zephyr thought she heard a door open from a long distance away. Then she heard the sound of her father's tapping metal leg.

"How's she doing?" he asked.

"She stirred a little this morning," she heard her mom say. "She didn't get up though. How's the search going?"

"We hit a dead end. There are only a few options left. Both aren't…"

Zephyr slipped into a dream again. This time she was in The Hidden World. Except it was filled with Nightlights. Thousands of them. How would she find Shadow Streak in here? Zephyr saw Toothless flying over the Nightlights. He growled and they started to follow him.

They shot through a cave that led to the sea. A fleet of hundreds of ships was heading towards them. Toothless and the Nightlights tore through the air towards the ships. A Nightlight bumped Zephyr and knocked her into the ocean.

She caught sight of Shadow Streak! Her dragon was drowning, tail caught under rocks. Zephyr tried to swim, but found she couldn't move her body. She had frozen up again. She had failed again. She strained her muscles. They wouldn't move…

Her dream faded.

"…for a week," her father said. "I don't know how my father managed it when I was only asleep for three days."

"Well, we did have a lot more to worry about than just you waking up," her mother said. "It took three hours to sail back to Berk before Gothi could see you."

"Three hours isn't that long," her father said.

"With your father's battlefield treatment it is. There was blood everywhere."

"I don't need a description. It's bad enough just losing…"

Zephyr fell into a third dream. Ashes covered the ground. The air was filled with smoke. Broken ships littered the expanse. A few fires burned brightly in the dark of the ashes and smoke.

"Shadow Streak!" Zephyr called, coughing. "Shadow Streak!"

Zephyr saw a form move in the distance. She ran up to the creature. It was Shadow Streak. She was breathing heavily, and let out a little, pitiful rawr. Pink crystals started growing out of the ground. The crystals became larger and larger until they towered far above them. Then they started spreading outwards. As the crystals closed in on them Shadow Streak opened her eyes desperately. Zephyr hugged her.

Zephyr's dream ceased and she moaned. She just wanted the nightmares to stop! Everyone was fine, so why was she even having nightmares?

"Zephyr." She heard her mother's hopeful voice. "Zephyr, can you hear me?"

Zephyr's eyes slowly lifted open. She was in her room. Her mother was crouched down beside her bed, holding her hand. Her father was sitting in the chair by Zephyr's desk.

"I…I can," Zephyr said, sitting up. "Where is everyone? Is the battle already over?" She was dizzy but didn't feel too bad. She placed her hand to her head.

"Yes…" her father said.

"Did you already take the dragons back to The Hidden World?" Zephyr asked. "I was hoping to see Shadow Streak…"

Her mother let go of Zephyr's hand. Silence.

"Listen. I know I disobeyed you by taking the dragons. But it all turned out for the best," Zephyr explained. "After all, we're all still alive…right?"

"Zephyr," her mother said. "You know you endangered the dragons by taking them from The Hidden World."

They were still going to ground her? But even she could sense that wasn't what her mother really meant to tell her. Something was off. Had someone gotten hurt in the battle? Did one of the dragons go berserk on an allied warrior?

"Whatever it is," Zephyr said. "It can't be that bad."

Her mother huffed a sigh. "Shadow Str—"

"She just woke up," her father said. "Maybe wait a little?"

"Shadow Streak?" Zephyr stood up. "What happened?"

"She was captured, Zephyr," her mother said. "We warned you about taking dragons out of The Hidden World for a reason!"

Zephyr's stomach twisted. Her vision blurred and her breath was flung out of control. She rushed through her bedroom door and down the stairs before she knew what she was doing. Her parents shouted for her to stop, but she didn't. Nuffink was in the living room.

"Zephyr! You're finally awake!" he said.

She hardly listened. Instead, she barreled through the front door. Outside, it was freezing cold. Snow had fallen and continued to waft through the air onto the ground. How long had she been asleep? Zephyr didn't turn back. She ran down the path towards the cliffside. She stumbled once, but dragged herself back up, taking no time to wipe the snow off her skirt.

She ran past the village, which didn't look took bad considering the fighting. Her dragon riders must have stopped the attack, but she didn't care. She skidded to a stop at the cliffside above the docks. This was where she had last seen Shadow Streak, wasn't it?

"Shadow Streak!" Zephyr called. She cried her dragon's name over and over until she collapsed, bitten by cold and defeat. A tear slid down her cheek and soon she was sobbing. She hadn't cried in a long time, and she didn't want to. But Shadow Streak was gone. Taken away from her, possibly forever…

Once she had stopped crying, she stared blankly at the horizon. All her joints were numb, sore, and frozen. Soon her parents arrived and pulled her away from the cliff. She didn't struggle, but she didn't follow either. She couldn't drag her eyes away from the cliff. She kept on staring even when the trees blocked her sight.


When dinner time came, Zephyr wasn't hungry. She ate, but with little appetite. She and her friends were supposed to be celebrating after they had defeated the enemy attack…which had been a whole week ago. She had been able to gather that information from her parents on the way back to their hut. She'd been asleep, not knowing about Shadow Streak, for a week. Now, she was stuck with her family, eating a dinner that seemed ice cold

At least Fourlegs, Spearhead, and Booboo were okay. Although, her parents had also informed her they were in as much trouble as she was. At least they weren't hurt…or captured.

Hollowness made a nest inside Zephyr. The pain of losing Shadow Streak was too much. This wasn't supposed to happen. How did it even happen? She had trained everyone to fight. But training hadn't been enough. Their battle was supposed to be an easy victory, without a single loss. It hadn't been.

The only people talking at the table were her parents. They were discussing what to do with her and Nuffink. At least that's what she assumed. All she did was stare at her empty bowl with a vacant mind.

By the time dinner ended, they were grounded and would have literally no free time to do anything. They were commanded to just clean and study. Zephyr heard Nuffink groan and beg. She should have found that amusing. The person always on top of things begging. But she couldn't laugh, not with Shadow Streak gone. She couldn't even feel depressed about her punishment. Nothing was worse than Shadow Streak getting captured. Nothing ever would be.

Zephyr went upstairs, and then quickly to bed. She couldn't sleep. All she could do was lay in bed helplessly and cry. Shadow Streak had been captured, and it was all her fault. Instead of she being right about everything, she was wrong. So, so wrong. She had disappointed everyone. And she might never get to apologize to the one who deserved it most.