Once it was morning and a delicious Salmon breakfast, Hiccup and I went to our friends and told them to meet us. "Okay brother let's show them what's on this thing." I said as he lit the Dragon Eye with a low flame, causing the map Hiccup and I discovered last night to appear on the wall. Our friends were in awe. "Woah!" "Amazing!" They say as Fishlegs says, "Definitely worth getting up for." I agree with that, Fishlegs. "Fishlegs, can you make any of it out? Matt, do you recognize this during your travels." Hiccup asked as me and Fishlegs approached the wall. Some of these do look familiar. "They're parts of maps and symbols. Nothing I've seen before and there is writing but it is in a language I've never read before." Fishlegs says touching one of the symbols.
"I've been to some of these islands before. They had many different breeds of dragons almost on every one. As for the language, it seems a mix between two languages. An unknown one and a Shifter language." I say the last part in shock. "What does it say?" Astrid asked me. I observed the writing I could understand before blinking in confusion. "It's encrypted. A secret message. We know this belonged to a bunch of dragon hunters so the shifter who wrote this wanted only other shifters to know about it. This holds secrets within the secrets." "What's the secret?" Fishlegs asked excitedly but I shrugged to his disappointment. "I don't know. The shifter language is ancient and most shifters can't understand it. Maybe if I consult with Wolf I might find out more." I explained, giving my piece of what I know.
"What's that thing?" Snotlout asked as he pointed to what looks like a tribal crest. "That must be some kind of tribal crest or something." Hiccup says as I look closer to the image. "I've seen this image before during my travels but they were on destroyed boats." I said once I recognized the symbol. "Ooh, I like that way better than our tribal crest." Tuffnut says as Hiccup crosses his arms. "Tuff, we don't have a tribal crest." Hiccup said, causing me to blink. "Then what is the Berk Crest?" I asked confused. "It's our island's crest." Fishlegs explained as I blinked again in confusion. "So? We are Berk. We may be the hooligans but we are Berk as well." I said trying to understand. 'Don't try to understand human customs. They're confusing as a terrible terror.' Wolf growled in my head.
While I was arguing with Hiccup, Fishlegs got closer to the map and got our attention. "Hiccup, this map, you realize it…" he stopped letting Hiccup finish his sentence. "Goes beyond the boundaries of the archipelago. Oh I know." He says in excitement. It's nice to see the adventurous side of Hiccup again. I missed it. 'Me too, Nightshift. Me too.' Wolf purred mentally. "So what's our next move?" Astrid asks as I smirk. "Take this to the Berk Council. What else?" I asked with a chortle.
"Look at this. There are maps we have never seen, writing we can't read, dragons that we don't recognize. It's incredible. This Dragon Eye, this is proof that there is a whole other world down there, a world that must be explored." Hiccup presented in the Great Hall in front of the Berk Council. The Berk Council, included Silent Sven, Spiltelout Jorgenson, Bucket, Mulch, Gobber, and lastly Hiccup's father and Chief, Stoick the Vast. "This sure beats normal council business." Gobber mused when my brother stopped the light in the Dragon Eye.
Everyone was silent and Stoick broke the silence. "It's alright lads, you can speak your mind. We're a council after all, that's why we're here." He says as Spitelout speaks first. "We've been at peace for three years, best years on Berk I can remember. I think you know as well as I do, when you go looking for trouble, you usually find it." He explained as I narrowed my eyes at him. Spitelout was Snotlout's father and was an equal idiot but he has a point. Unknown islands can have unknown dangers but what he doesn't see is that there are new discoveries too. "I'm with Spitelout, if that Dragon Eye leads to unknown places and new wild dragons then no good will come from any of that." Sven agreed with Spitelout. Sven used to be Silent Sven but now he's able to speak after… actually I don't know why he speaks now.
Hiccup didn't agree with the two and I was with him. "I completely disagree, Sven. Look around you. How-how can you say that no good can come from discovering new species of dragons. Knowing if they're out there, we have to find them." Hiccup explained as I nodded with him in agreement. Hiccup needs to learn about my kind so he can better understand and protect them as a mental shifter. Spitelout didn't agree with us though but he had another point in his explanation. "If there is anything you and the other riders should be doing is hunting down Dagur and putting him back in jail, where he belongs." Spitelout argues then I joined in the conversation. "Another reason to go explore. He thinks we won't follow him outside our borders. But that's where we'll surprise him." I explained confidently.
Spitelout didn't look convinced and turned to Stoick. "Stoick, anytime you like to chime in, we can put this thing to rest." "You're right Spitelout, let's put this to rest." Stoick replied as me and Hiccup couldn't believe our ears. "Dad…" "Stoick…" Hiccup and Me tried to speak but he stopped us. "Let me speak sons, this is as important for you as it is for them." He says before turning to Spitelout. "Spitelout, you're absolutely right. These have been some of our best years. Nothing is more important than peace, peace among us, peace with our neighbors." Hiccup sighs in disappointment while I whimpered in sadness allowing Toothless to comfort me.
But Stoick's next words confused the both of us. "And peace with our dragons. Having said that, let me ask you this Spielout, when you and I first had Alvin in our sights and everyone was trying to tell us to leave well enough alone, what did we do?" Stoick asked as Gobber answered, "Crush them, that's what you did!" He cheers, slamming his fist on the table in excitement. "Thank you Gobber." "My pleasure chief." He replied smacking his head accidentally. "When Valka was taken, and I went in search for her, could anyone stop me?" Stoick continued to ask as I turned to him in confusion. What does this have to do with anything? 'I think I know.' Wolf purred. "Well, technically you're the chief so no." Gobber replied as Stoick stared at him blankly. "Yes Gobber, fair point, but you know where I'm going. Think of the most important thing in the world to each of you. Ask yourselves honestly, how far would you be willing to go to get it, what would you risk." He continued before turning to us, smiling gently and I finally understood what he was doing as he held our shoulders. "The boys' lives has been dragons. Their lives is dragons. One of them is a dragon for Oden's sake." I chuckled at that. "And will continue to be. We can't stop them from going if we wanted to. So we might as well support them." Stoick finished before turning to us and holding our shoulders as we smiled at him in joy. "Go lads, find whatever it is out there that is pulling on you. You find it, Berk will be here waiting for you." He says as Hiccup whistles Toothless and runs off. Me and Toothless looked at Stoick and he nodded. "Take care of my son, you two." He says as we nod."He is a part of our family. We will protect him with our lives." I say determined before me and my brother take the Dragon Eye and run off following Hiccup.
Once we reunited with the gang, I changed into my night fury form and we went flying towards the ends of our borders and now we are in front of the fog. "You ready for this?" Hiccup asked Toothless and me. "Born ready, Hiccup!" Toothless roared. 'Let's do this!' Wolf mentally spoke in our minds. "Wolf's ready, and I am too!" I yelled in excitement. We are going on an adventure again and I'm impatient! "Blah, Blah, Blah. Why do you have to make a projection out of everything? Let's just go already!" Snotlout complained wanting to get started. I don't blame him, I'm impatient too! "Okay, but if anyone has any reservations…" Hiccup asks but I interrupt him. "Reservations!? No one has reservations! You know why? Watch me! Into the great beyond!" I roared as I started flying into the fog. "The great beyond!" "The great beyond!" Everyone cheered including the dragons and followed me "Okay, no reservations. Let's go bud." Hiccup says as Toothless roared in joy. "Wait for me, little brother." Toothless roared as he followed us. "Someone's been eating Cod again?" "I'M NOT FAT!" Toothless growled as I burst out laughing. This is going to be fun!
...
...
...
This is not fun.
"Into the great beyond." Snotlout says wearily as everybody was in a down mood. "Great beyond." Everybody says tiredly as I yawn on Astrid's back. We have been flying for hours and we were getting tired. I hope we can find land soon because I do not feel like going for a swim. "Oh, come on, you guys. So we had a couple of tough hours. Nothing that's worth anything comes easy." Hiccup tried to cheer us up. "Is that one of your riddles? Cause now is not the time my friends, we have to keep saying great beyond. Great beyond." Tuffnut says tiredly as he and Ruffnut keep saying great beyond. "Keep it down you two. I'm trying to sleep." I say yawning earning a giggle from Astrid. "Aw, is the little shifter tired? Does he want his nappy nap?" She joked as I gave her the big puppy eyes. "Yes big sister. Can I sleep on your back?" I say in my best innocent voice. "Oh gods, Matt! Why are you doing that? You know how much I hate when you do that." She says as I play with her emotions like an instrument. "Because I want big sister's love." I say innocently before bursting out laughing normally as she glares playfully at me.
"At least Matt is keeping us awake thanks to his playfulness." Fishlegs suggested as I continued laughing before I felt a raindrop hit my head. I stopped laughing and looked up only for me to be downpour by lots of rain. "It seems the farther we go in, the worse it gets." Astrid yells through the rain as I jump off of Stormfly and shift into my dragon form. "Hiccup, I think we should turn back. We've been flying for most of the day." Fishlegs says as I shake my head. "We're too tired and there was no land back there. We'll drown out of exhaustion if we turn back. We have to keep moving forward." I yelled before we spotted a bright light in the clouds. "Hiccup, is that…" Astrid asked as Hiccup nodded. "Yeah it is. Everybody, fly to the light." He says as we go towards the light. "Let's hope this isn't a light to Valhalla!" I joked as we entered the light and at the end of it was a large and beautiful land.
"Look at this." Astrid says in shock as I did a barrel roll. "That place is wonderful! Look at the vegetation!" I said in joy. "I know right. We made it Hiccup. We made it." Astrid says in joy to Hiccup. "Guys, can we slap each other on the backs later. Meatlug's wings are about to fall off." Fishlegs says as I noticed Meatlug was having a hard time flying. "You okay, Meatlug?" I purred in concern for my friend. "Don't worry, dear. Just tired is all." She growls as I nod in understanding. We were all tired of flying. "Sorry guys. There's a place up ahead we can set down there." Hiccup says as I cried out of joy. I can rest my wings, even though I was resting on Stormfly's back a little while ago.
Then we heard a beautiful sound. "Woah what is it girl? Don't you wanna rest?" Fishlegs ask as every dragon, including me, started going towards the sound. "Guys do you hear that?" Hiccup asked. "What is that?" Snotlout said in confusion. "I have no idea but the dragons are definitely pulled towards it." Fishlegs confirmed. "It looks like Matt likes the sound too." As Tuffnut says pointing at my trance like state. "The music is so beautiful." I murmured, unable to control myself but to go towards the sound.
Once we landed on the island, the sound stopped and I got control of myself again. "You okay, Matt?" Hiccup asked, concerned for my well being. "Yeah, I think so. I don't know what happened. All I heard was this beautiful music and I just wanted to follow it." I said, shaking my head a bit as Wolf appeared next to me. "It was strange. I never heard that song before. I wasn't able to snap you out of it like I did with the Red Death years ago." Wolf growled as everyone looked around in excitement. "This place is amazing!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "Okay, I'm never going to Berk." Snotlout says as Tuffnut's relaxes on the sand. "Berk. What's that? Cause I forgot." He says in blissed.
Once Hiccup made sure I was okay he turned to the others who were relaxing. "I guess we don't have to vote on where we're making camp." He says with a smile. "Haha. I'll take care of the fire." Snotlout exclaimed, taking out a jar and pouring some green liquid on a bush. Wait, is that Monstrous Nightmare gel? "Hookfang, light it up." Snotlout ordered as Hookfang did as he says and the bush caught on fire immediately. "Monstrous Nightmare gel. Don't leave home without it." He explained as I rolled my eyes in amusement.
After a few hours of making camp it was dark and we were ready to go to bed. I rested my head on the sand with Toothless covering me with his wing. "You were right Hiccup. There's so much more out here and it's beautiful." Astrid says to Hiccup as he yawns. "And this is only the beginning Astrid. Who knows what we'll find out here." He says as they fall asleep and I joined them before hearing the beautiful sound again. Unknown to us that song was heard again and I fell into a trance.
I watch as my bond sister's music made the dragons become entranced as each of them get up one by one. I felt bad for them like many others before them. As a Shifter, it is my instinct and duty to protect all the dragons, Noctis's children but I also had an instinct to cannibalize my kind. I am a Dinok lovaas, translation to Death Song. The Death Song is a dragon that eats other dragons as food. There was a time when me and my bond sister didn't have to eat other dragons, but fruits and animals on our island. But overtime, the fruits of the island became decayed and we ate all the animals. We weren't able to find more food and because of this, our instinct for survival overwhelmed our thinking and we started luring dragons and trapping them in our amber before devouring them. We made sure that they had a quick and merciful death. If only we are able to stop this life and find a different home with fruits and animals to eat instead of our kind.
As I watched the dragons, I noticed one of the humans getting up but they were also in a trancelike state. I gasped in realization. He was a shifter, a fellow brother. I couldn't help but blush at how cute he is and marveled at his scar across his left eye. I wonder where he got it from. I didn't want my sister to devour this shifter because he was one of my species and I couldn't imagine how I feel if I harmed a fellow dragon shifter. So I sing.
Oh Shifter, Oh Shifter
Listen to my Voice
I know you're Scared, but Hear my Song
Let it Sooth you, Let it Calm you
Let my Song guide you
Oh Shifter, Oh Shifter
Listen to my Voice
Let my Song melt your Fears away
I know, I know you're Scared
But Hear me, But Hear me
Let my Song fill your Ears
Oh Shifter, Oh Shifter
Listen to my Voice
Let my Song guide your way
Let your Fears fade away.
Once I finished my song, the night fury shifter was in front of me in a trance. "I'm sorry. You'll be safe." I said before blasting him with my special amber.
When it was morning, I noticed something was off. Really off. The sound was gone. I turned to Astrid and woke her up. "Astrid, Wake up. Do you hear that?" I asked as she tiredly got up. "What, I don't hear anything." She says confirming my suspicion. "Exactly, the sound is gone." I said before I heard Fishlegs gasps. "So are the dragons. All of them, gone!" He exclaims as our dragons were nowhere in sight. "Okay, this could be a problem." I said before Tuffnut gasps in shock.
"Wait! We're missing something!" He exclaims as Snotlout rolls his eyes. "Of course we are. WE ARE MISSING OUR DRAGONS!" He exclaims but Tuffnut continues to look around. "No no. I know we are but I feel like something else is missing. Like a partner in crime, a jokester of Loki, a best friend. A certain person that can turn to man and dragon at will." He says, causing everyone and me to widen our eyes. "MATT!" We exclaimed. Like the dragons, Matt was gone.
We searched the beach and couldn't find any of our dragons or Matt. "Stormfly! Matt!" Astrid yells before she spotted the Twins keep on checking on behind a rock for the last few minutes. "How many times are you gonna check behind that rock? Barf and Belch cannot hide behind there and Matt wouldn't be behind it to begin with." Astrid says, crossing her arms. "Clearly, you are not aware of the stealthiness of one Barf and Belch," Then she looked confused. "or is that two Barf and Belch" Ruffnut says as Tuffnut thinks. "Hmm, excellent question. Two heads…" "One dragon…" Ruffnut adds. "Two brains…" Tuffnut adds. "One body." Ruffnut adds again. "Two bodies, half a brain. Ha ha." Snotlout mocked as he passed by.
"Nothing, I don't get it. Where would they go?" I asked confused and concerned on where our dragons went. Then I had a thought. Could the sound we heard last night somehow put them into a trance and made them fly away? When we heard the sound the dragons were almost entranced by it, including Matt. Actually I kinda felt like I wanted to follow the song but I was stronger. Why was I affected by it but was able to resist? Is it because I'm a mental shifter? Matt says that mental shifters can understand dragons and can sometimes understand certain sounds but they were more close to their independence rather than their instincts. Is that why I was able to resist? I was too human in mind?
My thoughts were interrupted when Fishlegs started talking. "Oh my Meatlug. She wouldn't do this. She would never leave me. She would never do this on her own." He says as Astrid nods. "I'm also worried about Matt. If he ever leaves he always tells me when he's going to be gone. It's not like him to disappear without me knowing about it." Astrid says, very worried about Matt.
I went back to how Astrid and Matt first became friends and how they separated when Astrid started giving me the cold shoulder. Since the day we defeated the Red Death, the two of them started talking and began rekindling their friendship until it came to the point that Astrid calls Matt her little brother which was a surprise to both me and Matt. The two became inseparable like siblings like Matt is to me or with Tuffnut. Matt is the anchor and heart of the team and considers us his family and we are glad to have him. That is why we're going to find him and our dragons.
As we continued searching, I heard a sound in the bushes and before we knew it, it was Toothless jumping out. I was so glad he was alright and hugged him. "Ha ha. There you are bud. Where did you go?" I asked before he started roaring and Snotlout says, "Okay, I think your dragon ate something weird in the forest because he's out of his mind." "No no no no no, I think he's trying to tell us something." Fishlegs added as I nod. Toothless's roars were erratic but I did understand a few words. "Friends... Trapped… Dinok lovaas…" I understood but didn't get the last one. What does Dinok lovaas mean? "W-What is it bud? Is it the other dragons?" I asked trying to be sure if that's what he's trying to say. Toothless apparently didn't have time to talk and took a hold of my metal leg and ran.
The gang was silent before Astrid responded. "How far do you think he's gonna get before he realizes?" She asks as I sit back up. Toothless only took my metal leg. "Hard to say, he seemed pretty committed." I say glancing at my now missing metal limb.
I need to free the others before they're eaten! Hiccup will know what to… do… I noticed I was only holding Hiccup's fake leg in my jaw. "Of course, I only took the leg." I grumbled before running back. Once I see Hiccup and his friends, I sheepishly give his leg back as he pats my head. "That's okay, bud. I like the enthusiasm." He says as I purr in thanks before he turns to the other humans. "You guys say her in case they come back. Toothless and I are gonna look for them from above." He says as he gets on me and we take to the air.
As we take to the air, I heard the sound again but this time it seemed like a song. I was about to head towards the sound when me and Toothless noticed a Thunderdrum running on fours heading where we came from. I looked back where I left the gang when I realized that the Thunderdrum was heading straight for them! I quickly turned Toothless back but he went back on course which surprised me. "What are you doing?" Toothless roared but I know the sound was making him go towards where the sound is coming from "No. No bud. This way." I say straining for him to go save our friends. He was reluctant but he was able to resist the sound and we head back to save our friends.
While we were searching for our dragons on the ground, we heard something behind us and when we looked a purple thunderdrum pounced from the bushes and roared at us. We screamed in terror and run with our lives with the dragon following us. "Oh, Thor! Oh, Thor!" I yelled in terror as the Thunderdrum roars at us. We turned around and found that the Thunderdrum was about to roar causing us to take cover. "Thunderdrum!" I screamed as it roared loudly causing us to cover our ears in pain. Oh Thor help us! I mentally replied before Hiccup came in from above and saved us causing the Thunderdrum to fly away.
Once the Thunderdrum left, we approached Hiccup and Toothless as they landed in front of us. "Anything else you wanna draw towards us? Changewings, ooh Screaming Death maybe, another deadly Shifter. I'm sure there is one of those around here." I barely heard Snotlout say because the attack made each and everyone of us partially deaf. "Snotlout, you're yelling very loudly." I barely heard Hiccup say. "Oh really, I can barely hear myself because that's what happens when you get attacked by a wild Thunderdrum!" Snotlout exclaimed loudly for us to hear.
Hiccup says something but because it was normal we couldn't hear it so we stared at him blankly. "I'm saying I'm going back out there!" He yells so we can hear but we angrily argue about his plan. "No you're not, I will take your other leg." Snotlout threatened. "No way Hiccup. You are not leaving us alone." Astrid says. "We're dragonless and defenseless." I argued. "And we can only communicate by yelling." Ruffnut yelled. "Which although quite enjoyable, is not very stealthy. Are you hearing any of this?" Tuffnut loudly asked. Hiccup says something again but we didn't hear it so annoyed he yelled. "Oh for… I said we'll all go together!" He yells as we give him approved looks. "Why didn't you just say so. Jeez." Tuffnut says as I give him a thumbs up.
Once the gang finally was able to hear normally again, we follow Toothless into a foggy area. It actually became a little spooky. "Uh Hiccup…" Fishlegs asked but I knew what he was thinking. "I know Fishlegs, no longer amazing." I said as Snotlout speaks next. "Can we get a vote for creepy and weird?" Snotlout says disturbed as he raises his hand as well as the Twins.
Once we got out of the fog, we gasp on what we saw. Dragon bones. A hole pile. "Are those what I think they are?" Fishlegs whimpered. "Weirdly-shaped white rocks?" Tuffnut guessed. "Dragon bones." I corrected shocked by the pile. Tuffnut then exclaimed. "Ah, a boneyard. Yes, I like it." He says joyfully but when he noticed Ruffnut's and my glare he changed his mind pretty quick. "I don't like it." He says, nervously puts his hands up in defense.
Toothless approached the bone pile and growled. "We need to hurry." Toothless growled as Astrid picks up an orange… crystal. "What is this stuff?" Astrid asks, examining the rock. "No idea." I say before we heard a distant echoing roar. A familiar roar. "Okay, what was that?" Snotlout asks as Fishlegs added, "That, my friend, is a dragon in trouble." "No, that's not just a dragon in trouble! That's Matt's roar! I recognize that roar anywhere, come on!" Astrid yells as we start running where the sound came from.
When we venture through the island deeper to the source of Matt's roar, we were in surprise and shock to see lots of dragons stuck in the same hard substance that Astrid found earlier. Toothless approached a deadly nadder and tried biting the substance but it didn't even crack. Tuffnut put his hand on his chin in thought. "You guys do know what's going on here, don't you?" Tuffnut asked, looking around. "Yeah. Something is trapping the dragons in its amber rock substance and immobilizing them." Fishlegs says but Tuffnut was thinking that at all. Not surprising. "Oh. Oh, I had a completely different idea that involved oily fish and bud mutton." Tuffnut says."Then it's breaking them out and-" Fishlegs hesitate for a moment. "And eating them. Ohh." He finished, now disturbed by his theory.
"Ah, come on. Who would be doing that?" Ruffnut argued before hearing a loud roar and a dragon we never seen before lands near a terrible terror and roars again in the same sound we heard that was luring the dragons. "How about that guy? Yeah, he looks suspect to me." Ruffnut says loudly before Fishlegs covered her mouth and we took cover when the dragon looked the others way. "What was that?" I heard the dragon growl as it tried to find where the others are while I strained to keep Toothless back from attacking.
I see the dragon about to fly down to find them and I was about to warn them when another dragon similar to this one flew by. "Sister? What is wrong?" I heard a female voice growled. "I thought I heard something. Must be nothing, I'm starving either way." The first dragon growls as she picks up the poor terrible terror and flies off. The second one stays and observes the trapped dragons and I'm surprised to see sadness and a few tears come out from the dragon. "Will we ever be free from this?" I heard her speak in Norse. I widened my eyes as well as the others. She was a Shifter. Once the Shifter was done observing, she picked up a nearby terrible terror and flew away making the same sound again.
Toothless tried to follow her but I snapped him out of it. "No, Toothless! No, bud!" I yelled as he snaps back to normal as the music keeps going. "It's the sound. That song- That's what draws the dragons in." I realized. "Songwing." Fishlegs blurted out to my surprise. "What?" Astrid asks confused. "That's what we should name them." He says but I didn't think this was the best of times. "Now? Really? You need to name it now?" I argued. "We need to call them something." Fishlegs argues as Astrid holds her head in annoyance.
Then suddenly we heard a voice. "Actually it's a Dinok Lovaas translation to Death Song." The voice says from above. We looked up and see that it was Matt! "Hey guys. How's it going?" He says as Astrid sighs in relief. "Thank the gods we found you! Why did you leave us!?" She exclaimed up to him. "You try resisting the song! I have no control of my mind whatsoever!" He argues angrily. "Ok let's try not to be loud." I say trying not to get the Death Songs to investigate the noise. "So how's it 'hanging'? You look 'stuck on something'. Hahaha!" Tuffnut laughs as Matt stares blankly at him. "Ha ha. It's because I'm upside down and I'm stuck to the wall by this amber. Very funny. Very amusing." He says sarcastically and he was right. He was stuck in the same amber upside down and on a wall. But the amber looks different, it was purple.
"What's with the purple amber?" I asked as he glanced at the amber he was stuck to. "It belongs to the Death Song Shifter. Unlike the regular amber, this amber is harder and takes a longer to break. If it was regular amber, I would have escaped. This is not the case… But the view is nice up here though." "Always the optimist. So have any info on this Shifter and the dragon." I asked as he shook his head. "Not much. I can tell you what happened while I was here but you should probably go free your dragons. They're that way and the Death Songs don't take long to come back." He says pointing with his nose. As we search for our dragons, Matt tells us exactly what happened.
"W-Where… Where am I?" I growled, stretching my limbs only to realize that they aren't moving. I was stuck in some sort of purple amber. I tried to break out of it but to my surprise they didn't budge. If it doesn't break from Shifter strength then I have a problem. I also noticed something else. I'm upside down and stuck to the wall. 'Wolf? You there?' I mentally called. 'Yeah? That was some drea- wait where are we?' He asks when he notices that we're not with our friends. 'No idea but I'm stuck to some sort of purple amber.' I mentally replied before feeling the fear off of Wolf. 'Did you say amber?' 'yeah.' I say in annoyance. 'The same amber that's trapping the other dragons?' 'What other drago-' I didn't finish my sentence when I saw lots of dragons in the same position as me. Trapped in unknown amber, unable to move but theirs were orange while mine was purple.
'This is not good. This is not good at all.' Wolf mentally shivers as I look around spotting my dragon friends in the process. 'What? The amber? We'll be fine.' I assured him but I still felt his fear. 'No not the amber. It's-' A mysterious dragon I never seen before roars and lands in front of me and glares at me. 'The Dinok Lovaas. Death Song.' Wolf finished with a whimper. "Uh hi, big scary dragon. I'm Nightshift and I'm uh… the Alpha Shifter soooo you need to let me go or I'll teach you a lesson!" I lamely growled as Wolf mutters, 'Smooth.'
The Death Song licks its chops and I knew that I'm in trouble. Before I was about to become a snack, another Death Song landed between us and it roared at the dragon that was about to eat me. I didn't pay attention to what they were saying because I was trying to escape my amber prison but it still didn't budge. Not even my shadow powers were working! The Death Song 1 roared at the Death Song 2 before flying away to find another meal.
The Death Song that saved me turned to me and approached my amber prison. I growled threateningly but to my shock and surprise, the Death Song form changes into a young woman. She was a Shifter! The Death Song shifter smiled at me and I didn't feel any malice in her Fury's Fire so I stopped growling but I was still suspicious of her. "Greetings young shifter. You may call me Songstress. I am a Dinok Lovaas, a Death Song dragon. I'm sorry about your… imprisonment but I don't mean any harm." She says with a sweet voice. She might make a good singer if she wasn't a kidnapper!
"Where am I and where are my friends!?" I growled threateningly unknowing using my Alpha power. Songstress flinched at the sound and command of my voice. "Your friends are… fine… for now anyway... at least the human ones… the dragon ones… are in the same position as you are…" She hesitantly said as I growled. "Release us." I commanded but she shook her head in sadness. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry." She started to cry which threw me off. As she cried I stayed silent because it would then be awkward for me to comfort my kidnapper.
'Poor thing. It seems her instinct to protect the dragons go against the instincts for survival.' Wolf crooned in pity. 'What do you mean?' I mentally replied in confusion. 'The Dinok Lovaa are… cannibals.' My eyes widened in shock and fear as Wolf continued. 'It's their instinct to lure their prey with music to entrance their prey before trapping them in their amber. Some Dinok Lovaas, though, live without eating other dragons. They eat many fruits and other animals but if they're food supply on the island runs out…' 'Their instincts force them to eat other dragons to survive. It must be so hard for her.' I finished sadly as Wolf nodded mentally as Songstress finished her crying.
"I'm sorry. You must understand that I don't take pleasure in this. You see me and my sister, we-" "You eat other dragons for survival." I said, causing her to lower her head. "I forgot that other Shifters have their own dragon halves but yes. There was a time when we didn't have to eat other dragons. There were once fruits, yaks, animals that we could eat… but overtime the fruits of the island start to decay and we hunted mostly all the animals. We started getting hungry and when we couldn't find anything to eat, out of instinct, we started singing. Soon dragons came in and we trapped them and then…" Songstress couldn't finish and started bawling again and I couldn't help but try to comfort her.
"It wasn't your fault. It's how nature works for your kind." I say as she turns to me. "But as a Shifter it's my instinct to protect the dragons and yet I am devouring them. Noctis blessed our ancestors and us to protect them despite anything. I'm no better than a Dark Shifter! I put shame into our grace's eyes!" She cried before changing into her dragon form and flew away but I could still hear the sobs and I couldn't help but cry for her. I closed my eyes and prayed for Noctis to forgive her. 'I already have my child.' I heard in my mind as I smiled sadly. I will help you find a better place to live Songstress. You and your sister.
"And then after a few hours, you're here and I'm telling the story." I finished as my friends found their dragons. "I feel kinda bad for them. It must be hard for them." Astrid says before finding Hookfang. "Snotlout, look!" She called Snotlout as he runs to his dragon. "Hooky! I am getting you out of there, Fangster." "Yes, please do." He growled happy to see his rider. "Astrid, I've got Stormfly!" Fishlegs yells when he found Stormfly.
I was happy that they found the others before I heard familiar roaring and to my fear it was the first Death Song. "Guys look out!" I warned trying to break free. I watched as my brother, Toothless gets ready to face the dragon but he didn't know it like I do. "Toothless! Get away!" I tried to warn him but the Death Song fires a coat of amber and it struck him before it cools down and makes him stuck. "No! You guys, get your dragons free now!" Hiccup yelled and I tried to tell them how to free them. "No! You can't without-" Then my maw was shut closed by a scale whip wrapped around and I turned to see Songstress holding the whip handle. It was obvious, she was sad to do this but she and her sister cannot resist their instinct for survival.
I was forced to watch as my friends were trapped in amber one by one until it was only Hiccup and Astrid. I watch as the Death Song heads towards Hiccup while he tries to free my brother and I see Astrid push him away but instead gets shot instead and falls to the floor, encased in the amber. I watch Hiccup run between some rocks before hearing screaming. "Hiccup!" I tried to yell but the whip was still holding my maw shut. Please be safe Hiccup. I mentally responded as I watched the Death Song follow where he might be. Please be safe.
As I rolled down the valley, I landed on the hard ground. "Wish I was a Warrior instead of a Mental Shifter, at least I wouldn't get bruises." I mused before looking up and see the same purple thunderdrum that attacked me and my friends. "Oh hey. Hehe. Remember me?" I awkwardly say before the thunderdrum growls. I took out my shield so I won't get exploded into messy pieces. "Okay, so, yeah, I'm thinking… we may have gotten off on the wrong foot." I say before the Thunderdrum roars loudly which I block with my shield. "Note for the Book of Dragons and Matt's experience, Thunderdrums carry a grudge." I said to myself before the Thunderdrum unexpectedly charged and knocked me on the ground. "Missed!" I heard and got up to find the Death Song growling at the Thunderdrum who went into the air but the Death Song whacked him with her tail before pouncing on his belly, pinning the Thunderdrum to the ground.
I ran towards them and before firing some rope. "Don't worry, I got your back." The rope tied the Death Song maw to shut and she tried to get it off. 'Stupid human!' I heard her growl mentally trying to shake the rope off. "That's not gonna hold her for long. Okay, uh… you might not like what I'm about to do, but trust me, it's gonna work out for the both of us." I say before jumping on the Thunderdrum's back. The Thuderdrum, startled by my actions, takes off into the air and spins madly into the air while the Death Song gets free from the ropes but luckily we were already far away.
"Whoa! Haven't we been over this?" I yelled as the Thunderdrum spirals in the air madly. This reminds me when Toothless ate that red eel. "I said I'm trying to help the both of us! Don't you listen?" I yelled before realizing something. "Of course you don't listen, you're a thunderdrum, and Thunderdrums are hard of hearing." I said to myself before the Thunderdrum plunges down to the ground. "Aaaah! Uhh!" I screamed once we crashed into the ground.
"At least we lost the Death Song." I groaned in pain before remembering my friends are still trapped. "Oh, no. I can't believe this is actually happening. I should've left all those guys back on Berk. Now they're cocooned in that crazy rock stuff which is being guarded by a Death Song Shifter, I'm being chased by her angry Death Song sister, and I'm stuck here with a wild Thunderdrum who can't hear a word I'm saying." I said before realizing what I said. Thunderdrums can't hear. "Wait a second. If you guys can hardly hear a thing, then you probably can't hear the Death Songs' call. And if you can't hear the Death Songs, then it can't lure you in. No wonder you haven't been caught and all alone." I say as the Thunderdrum roars as I carefully approached and put my hand out. "You know what, Mr. Thunderdrum? You're gonna help me get my friends back. And I'm gonna make sure that dragon never bothers you again. What do you say?" I say as well as put my thoughts into the Thunderdrum's head. The Thunderdrum instantly relaxed when I touched his mind with calm thoughts allowing him to instantly be tamed and we took to the air to rescue our friends.
"Uhh! Uhh! Where's Hiccup!? I knew he'd leave us! I have to pee." Snotlout says, struggles in his cocoon. Did he have to say to him had to pee though? 'What do you expect?' Wolf said in your mind. "He didn't leave us. He'll be back. If I could just reach my knife." Astrid says trying to reach for her knife. "It wouldn't matter, Astrid. Whatever this is, it's really strong. Uhh! I don't think we can cut through it." Fishlegs explained trying to free himself from the cocoon. "If we can't cut it, then how do we get out of here?" Snotlout asked as I tried to speak but my maw was tied shut. Songstress wanted to find her sister so she left but not before tying her whip around my maw so I can't be able to tell my friends how to get free.
"Yeah, you can't tell me that my last breath is gonna be inhaling her stinky fish hair." Tuffnut complains as Ruffnut's hair dangles down his face. "Oh, yeah, that's real original. You know what? I hope it eats you first. At least I'll have something to watch before I die." Ruffnut growls. "You just stay on your side of the cocoon, missy." Tuffnut says before suddenly I saw Hiccup on the Thunderdrum slam into the cocoon causing the Twins to tumble away for a bit.
"Okay, so that's a negative on plan A… ramming the cocoon open." Hiccup mused observing the twins cocoon. "Please tell me you have a plan B." Astrid asks hopefully. "If it involves cutting, ramming or ripping, you might as well forget it, Hiccup. Once it cools down, this stuff is hard as any rock I've ever seen." Fishlegs added as Hiccup realized something.
"Cools down?" He asks in confirmation. "And hardens." Fishlegs added. Hiccup thinks before turning his sight to me. I nodded rapidly and allowed a little smoke through my nostrils to try to tell him to use heat. "Hmm. Nobody move." Hiccup says and I couldn't help but snort in amusement. "Oh, yeah, that's funny. A real comedian." Tuffnut groaned.
We watch as Hiccup spreads Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare gel all over our coccoons. "What are you doing, Hiccup?" Snotlout says, a bit fearful of what Hiccup was planning. "Just trust me, Snotlout." He replied reassuringly but Snotlout was still a little scared. "Says the man who's about to set me on fire?" Snotlout asks, putting the word fire more sounding. "You said it only stings a little." Hiccup replies. "I was lying. You know I'm a liar!" He exclaimed fearfully as I snorted in laughter. "I'll be okay, Snotlout I promise." Hiccup says.
Then we heard the Death Songs approach and Hiccup hides while Snotlout plays dead. The Death Songs lands near Fishlegs and growls at him before picking up two encased dragons next to and fly off. Fishlegs was holding his breath but once the dragons left, he screamed in fear and started panicking. "Hurry up, Hiccup! They jus took the appetizer. I think I'm the main course." He yells before suddenly his cocoon falls apart from Meatlug's and falls on his back. "Uhh! Oh, Thor!" "Fishegs, relax. It could take hours for them to eat that dragon." Astrid says before we heard the two Death Songs roar before we saw them fly towards Fishlegs cocoon. "Or minutes!" Fishlegs yelled fearfully before they landed in front of his cocoon. "Help!" He yelled as they growled. Fishlegs used his feet to kick his cocoon away from them but instead it just spins him around, and the Death Songs tilted their heads to his movement until they were upside down. "Hi, sirs." Fishlegs whimpered before the Death Songs roared in fury. Female dragons hate it when someone calls them male.
The Death Songs were about to attack but luckily Hiccup riding the Thunderdrum got their attention. "Hey remember us?" Hiccup yelled. "Very Mental Shifter!" Sonstress roared, overcome by her instinct for survival, before she and her sister flew towards them. I watch as Hiccup and the Thunderdrum dodge the blasts of amber before going under them and dived towards us before Hiccup dismounted and used his shield to cause sparks which caused the Monstrous Nightmare gel to burst in fire and spread to our cocoons and broke my friends free.
My cocoon though didn't break but it did something different. 'Nightshift! The cocoon that's dampening your abilities has weakened!' Wolf roared mentally. 'If it weakens… I can get out!' I thought before I focused my abilities on myself before I turn into a shadow and I phased through my amber prison. "Hah! Purple amber? 0! Shifter? One!" I cheered as my friends got on their dragons and flew into the air. I was about to follow them before I felt the whip around my maw being pulled then I felt a strong pulled which the whip cleanly ripped into my scales, revealing the bloody flesh underneath. I roared in pain loudly once the whip was free only to feel a sharp pain to my side and a loud crack in the air. I roared again and turned to attacker and found Songstress holding the whip handle with a snarl. She was clearly out of her mind and letting her instinct take control. I got to end this quickly without hurting her too bad.
Songstress raised her whip in the air before swinging it down with a loud crack but I shifted into my human form and dodged, taking out my weapon, the Fury's Blade, in the process. Songstress raised her whip to the side and swung with a quick strike but I caught the whip with my sword. I pulled with all my strength to put Songstress out of balance but what I forgot that my species was instinctual fighters too. Songstress wrapped the whip around her arm and pulled back before doing an axe kick to the whip pinning it to the ground. The unexpected move caused me to go forward and allowed her to strike me in the jaw then she wrapped the whip around her other arm and went underneath my side hook before she started strangling me.
I felt the whip cut cleanly through my scales so I hardened them to protect myself from a decapitation but I wasn't getting enough air. I tried to get Songstress off me but she tightened her hold on me until I was on my knees. I was running out of air and I knew I will die from suffication. 'Nightshift! Headbutt her!' Wolf roared in my mind. I leaned forward quickly causing Songstress to lean with me before I slammed the back of my head right into her face. I heard a crack in the impact and I felt the whip loosened enough for me to escape my strangler and strike her with a backfist. Songstress's nose was bleeding and clearly broken from my headbutt and her cheek was covered in more scales to heal her from my backfist. Her eyes were slits and she snarled before punching me but I blocked with my right forearm and swung my left arm but she also blocked with her forearm.
She punched, I blocked. I punched, she blocked. Her and I kept trying to hit each other with unnatural speed until she had enough and went for a swinging spin kick but I expected this. I grabbed her leg, she widened her eyes and gasped, before I pulled my fist back all the way then slammed it into her chest. She was launched into the wall and caused it to crack before she slowly peeled off and onto the ground. I flinched at the impact and approached her before she suddenly lifted her head up and unleashed a scream which crashed into me. It was like a Thunderdrum's roar! (Think of the ability the Black Canary uses from Injustice 2 or just Marvel) I was blasted into one of the trapped dragons. "Sorry about that!" I growled before Songstress unleashed another sonic scream at me.
I teleported away a few feet from the attack and smiled cheekily. "Is that all you got?" I asked with a smirk as she snarled. She unleashed another scream but I teleported again a few feet away. "Honestly, I expected better." I mocked causing her to roar in fury and fire her purple amber from her mouth. I teleported away again and handstand with my tongue out. "You can't hit me! You can't hit me!" I laughed, mocking her.
Songstress roared in fury before charging at me with great speed. She went for a uppercut but I did a backflip to dodge her attack. Once I landed, I started realizing that this could go on forever. 'If only I can snap her out of her instincts.' I thought before I heard Wolf speak. 'You can. I think it's time for you to start using your Alpha powers.' Wolf growls as I block and counter Songstress's attacks. 'I don't know if I can use them.' I growled mentally, a bit afraid to influence other minds. 'You can do this, Nightshift. I believe in you.' Wolf crooned as I nod determined. Songstress strikes with both her arms but I countered both of them to the sides before putting my hands to both sides of her head and forced my mind in her.
She screams in mental pain before everything becomes blurry and distorted. I watch as her life passes through me and into my mind. I watch as she is born into a family of shifters, playing with her adolescent Death Song bond sister and singing into the sky. Her memories so far were good but I also saw the bad memories. I watch as her home island withers away in decay, dragon hunters kill her parents in front of her and her sister's eyes, watch as the island's food decay and dies, and the watch as their instincts takes over them for survival and the feeding of dragons. I felt bad for her and her life. She had many hardships like I did long ago and even now she still does. I look deep into her mind until I found myself looking down to a young Songstress who only looks eight years old.
We stare at each other for awhile until she first spoke. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you or your friends." She says sincerely, tears pouring out. You kneel towards her and smiled. "It wasn't your fault. You had a lot of hardships and you can't resist your instincts." You say as she sniffles. "I wish we can. Resist our natural instincts. You're kinda lucky, you're a Chosen Shifter. You were human and are more resistant to following your instincts. I am a Pureblood Shifter, I born more dragon than human and let instinct take control so I can forget the pain, the hunger." She sniffed before suddenly a tree grew out of the ground quickly and hovered above the both of us. "Isn't my mind quite interesting to you, Alpha Shifter? Your first time inside another's mind beside your own? It shows beauty and also pain." She continued while planting the palm of her hand on the tree. I nodded as the young Songstress turned back to me. "Are you going to kill me? Killing me in my mind will only make my body and soul suffer." She says as I shake my head. "No, I just want you to stop fighting and see reason. To let you resist your instincts." You say as she smiles. "You have a good heart. Young and stubborn and perhaps reckless but with a good heart." She chuckled. Her voice was like music to my ears.
"Your singing is pretty good." I commented as she slightly blushed. "It's one of the reasons why my parents named me Songstress." She replied before frowning. "What will you do when we go back to the real world? My sister is still attacking your friends." She says as I frowned before shrugging, "I'll think of something." I say with a smile as she laughed before the world becomes blurry and I'm back where I was in the real world. My hands was still on Songtress head but she was unconscious so I set her down gently before taking out a piece of paper from my shadowverse portal and set it beside her.
Once I put it beside her, I took to the air to search my friends and found them except Hiccup and Toothless was missing. "Where's my brothers?" I asked worried before Toothless and Hiccup unexpectedly zoomed out of a cave and I heard a distant crash within it. 'Must be Songstress's sister.' I thought as I took off to the air, glancing at Songstress's unconscious form before leaving. "What did I miss?" I purred as Wolf appeared beside me. "Don't you mean 'us'?" He growled as I rolled my eyes. "Sure." "What happened to you?!" Astrid exclaimed seeing all the blood and scaleless flesh on different parts of my body. "Songstress had a mean whip, it would have decapitated me if I didn't harden my scales. I finally faced a near death encounter since the last three years." I joked causing her to smack my snout, right on the bloody flesh. "OW! Careful it's still healing!" I whimpered as the twins laughed at my expense.
We watch as the Thunderdrum, that Hiccup was riding, reunite with his child that I saw during my time in my amber prison and flew off to a better place to be free. "If I were you two, I'd maybe find another island. I don't know how long that's gonna hold." Hiccup said to them as Tuffnut looked at Hiccup weirdly "Uh, you know they can't hear you, right?" Tuffnut asked as I chuckled. "They don't need to hear him, Tuffnut. Hiccup's Fury's Fire already did that." I say as Hiccup smiles at me. "Let's get out of here-" "SHIFTER!"
We looked down and spotted Songstress awake and staring at you. "Oh Thor." Fishlegs whimpered as we prepared ourselves but to our surprise she waved her arms rapidly in the air. "Wait! I just want to thank you!" She yelled before turning into her dragon form and flew to our height. "What for?" Hiccup asked, curious of Songstress. "I gave her a piece of paper." I replied, causing the gang to look at me for clarification. "More specifically, a piece of paper filled with island locations marked with animals and fruits that she and her sister can eat and live without eating other dragons." I smirked as Songstress nods with joyful tears in her eyes. "Me and my sister can finally end this life and begin anew and it was because of you. All of you." She says looking at each of us. "It was our pleasure to help." Hiccup says with a smile. "Even though she tried to KILLED US!" Snotlout yelled as everyone glared at him while Songstress looked down in sadness. "It wasn't her or her sister's fault. They were following their instincts to survive. What would you do if you were in their position?" I growled angrily as he looked down.
"I do not blame him or the other dragons that I and my sister have trapped. We deserve it." Songstress whined as I flew closer to her. "They will understand. They have instincts like you so they understand that you couldn't resist them." You purred comforting her before she unexpectedly licked your snout. "Hehe. Thank you for the kind words, Alpha Shifter. You should do that more often." She winked as you continued blushing through your scales. "Goodbye Dragon Riders! Perhaps we will meet again in the future as friends instead of enemies!" She says as you all leave.
"Well that was sure interesting." Toothless growled slyly as I blushed and glared at him. "Don't." I growled as my dragon friends all laugh. "It has been interesting though. Really fun even." I purred in Norse as everyone agreed with me. "There is one thing we need to do, though." Astrid replied as Hiccup turns to her. "I'm all ears." " We need an island, our own island." She says as I nod. "My dear, you could ever be right. We're too far to travel back and forth." I said as I made a spin midair. "What we need is a base of operations." Hiccup said with a smile. "Exactly." Fishlegs added in. "But this time, we don't let the dragons pick it." "What?!" Meatlug growled in annoyance. "Sorry, girl it had to be said." Fishlegs apologized as I laughed. "All right, Snotlout, you're the man of the hour for bringing the Monstrous Nightmare gel. You choose ." Hiccup said as Snotlout made a double take. "Seriously?" He asks in disbelief. "You want me to choose for you?" I asked with a smirk. "All right! What do you say, Fangster!" Snotlout asked Hookfang. "Let's do this!" Hookfang roared. "Ha! Couldn't agree more. Into the great beyond!" Snotlout yelled and flew faster. "The great beyond!" "The great beyond!" We exclaimed/roared to the sky and flew faster than ever. Time for some more adventure!
A mysterious woman covered in black and leather and scale armor observes her island and breathes in and opens her eyes revealing yellow slitted eyes. "It seems it won't be long now. The Alpha Shifter and his friends will come and we will welcome them with open arms. Doesn't mean that we can't scare them. I have my hobbies to have fun. Right, Smidvarg?" The woman giggled as a small white dragon landed on her shoulder and licked her cheek. "Prepare your brethren. We want to give them an extra scare. But we also need to be ready for any changewings. If my clones are right, which they are, they have been more active during the night. Be careful, little one." She says as white dragon roars and takes off before a bunch of similar black dragons follow him and make a bigger dragon. The woman smirks before a bright light appears and the woman seems to split apart then different parts of her transforms into a small dragon until there is an entire swarm of black dragons and forms into a giant dragon but with glowing yellow eyes. The giant dragon looks to the screen, staring into your eyes before winking and splits apart to different areas on the island.
Another chapter in the Nightshift Race to the Edge arc! I wasn't able to keep my promise on working on a few pages per day otherwise I would have published this weeks ago so if I promise something don't listen to me and expect it to take even longer because of my laziness. I will try to uphold my promise but don't expect it to be for more than a month or two or three. Besides that I decide to erase the gift of the night fury and the legend of the bone knapper ideas because since I'm doing this arc there's no reason to do those two unless you want me to. Another thing is that I recently found Wattpad and I'm wondering if I should make stories on this site as well. I also thought I should take a break from this story and work on my other stories. What do you guys think? You want me to take a little break from the Race to the Edge and work on the other stories? And if you guys want me to start making Wattpad stories put it on the comments. Also and most importantly… I would like to thank ErelagonPlays for helping me create the song in the story up above. So please check him out and follow his story, Dragon form, and tell him that I sent ya. Thanks for the help ErelagonPlays. Don't forget to comment and follow everybody!