Thirty-Eight Years Later

The large silhouette of Mount Fría could be seen in the night sky. Along the edge of the island, enormous ocean waves raged on a mass of rocks that rose high above, and near the cliffs rested a human village as the sound of an explosion of a shattered rock-throwing tower was heard. Black clouds were spread across the sky in the night.

From where he paced, a dark gray Night Fury with near pitch black wings, tinged with only the slightest hint of light gray, stood on a body of land which led Flashwing inland between the wooden structures. He bolted away from the attackers behind him. "Back off!" he hissed, teeth baring. "I don't want to fight you!"

The humans raised their metal claws and ran toward him. Flashwing flew up, and the humans skidded to a stop. They looked up at Flashwing. One of them tried to grab his tail, but he smacked him away.

Flashwing hovered away and landed in a spot between the structures. Where could the food be? thought Flashwing.

Around him, many dragons were trying to get away with animals in their talons. Humans were throwing flaming rocks at them from their rock-throwing towers and threw wooden spikes at them. A group of Gronckles were blasting their fire at the towers, shattering them into a million splintered pieces.

The Deadly Nadders were grabbing animals in their strong talons and flying away from the island. A few yards from where he stood, Flashwing could see a group of Monstrous Nightmares setting themselves on fire. The humans stepped back from the flaming dragons.

Flashwing heard loud voices from behind and widened his eyes before bolting away. I'd better get something, too, he realized. Once he was farther up, behind the human structures on a hill, Flashwing tilted his head upon seeing a lone nest. Does someone important live here?

Curiously, he walked up to the mouth of the human nest, opening it with a paw. Inside, he could see several objects hanging on the walls of the nest: from the right hung shorter metal claws above a block of wood; to the left was a set of wood that was raised to the next level of the nest.

Flashwing walked toward the set of wood. Once he was on the second level of the human nest, he could see a wooden block at the back of the nest. As he walked to inspect it, Flashwing gasped. Lying in the wooden block was a small human hatchling, sound asleep with a piece of white wool covering its body.

A hatchling! I've never seen one that belonged to a human up close, thought Flashwing. Is it alone?

He heard the sound of footsteps coming from the set of wood. He turned his head and noticed a female human standing, wide-eyed, with her axe in hand. As Flashwing whirled around to face her, he knocked over the wooden block, causing the small hatchling to cry out and roll on the floor.

Flashwing looked between them, panic-stricken. As he moved toward the hatchling, he heard a shout from the female — as he turned, she charged him with her axe raised in the air.

Flashwing formed his wings as a shield in front of him, blocking the swing of the axe and he felt a sting in his wing. He winced in pain, backing off at the next swing. He opened his mouth, gas filled his lungs and — he blasted her off her feet in a purple mist.

What have I done? Flashwing had widened eyes, with realization coming to him as angry, incomprehensible words sounded outside. Flashwing looked out from a hole in the wall and noticed a group of humans charging toward the structure with metal claws raised in the air.

Oh, dear…this doesn't look good. What do I do? If they find me here, then… His thoughts came to the hatchling, and he looked at it. I can't leave it here. I've got to bring it with me. Those humans are surely going to kill me.

He saw a male human with eyes burning like a reddish hot fire, he was staring at the unmoving female before he gave a war cry and charged at him. Flashwing cursed under his breath, "Damn…" He spotted the group behind the first human. Spreading his wings protectively in front of the hatchling, he opened his mouth, gas filled his lungs and — as the humans charged at him, he fired several shots of plasma at them, sending them off their feet and roll down from the set of wood one by one.

Flashwing turned around, grabbed the hatchling in his paw and flew out of the open side of the wall.

Flashwing flew in the air, holding the hatchling in his paw while he was below the other dragons, who had their livestock in the talons and made their way to a large peak that was raised above the ground in its mighty spot in the distance. Its crystalized rocks stretched out of the mountain.

He continued his way through a connected tunnel and finally arrived in the center of the mountain. Around him, dragons were landing on the ground at their nests and dropped their catch to their hatchlings, each one of them squealing in high, delightful sounds.

Flashwing looked down at the human hatchling, who had been asleep through the flight. His mind lingered back to the two humans whom he had killed. Why did they try to stop me? Could they have been…this hatchling's parents? His expression turned from curiosity to sadness. I've killed them. Now this hatchling has no one to depend on, unless…

He hovered in the air and continued on his way. A couple of dragons had spotted the hatchling in his paw and started to whisper amongst themselves, which he ignored and went through a tunnel to a particular area of Dragon Mountain.

Flashwing landed on the soft, earthy ground and looked ahead. In front of him was a nest — a plateau of flat rock where a lone, white dragon lay asleep. Flashwing's heart pounded when he neared the Alpha, and stopped before bowing his head. "I am back, Alpha," he announced.

A stir from the dragon's sleeping form was noticable and a rumbling noise escaped him, making him open one eye to look at Flashwing. "Welcome back, my friend." The dragon finally stood. His white scales shone in the darkness. "I assume you have some food from the human settlement?"

"I…" started Flashwing. Then he shook his head. "I don't have any food with me this time, Alpha Scales."

"That's a shame," said Scales with a sigh. He looked down at Flashwing with a stern glare.

Flashwing's shoulders tensed while Scales stared at him. "What is it?"

"It's about that thing in your paw," said Scales, glaring at the hatchling.

"What about it?" Flashwing asked. He held the hatchling close to his warm, black scales.

"Why did you bring it here?" demanded Scales, teeth baring dangerously.

Flashwing inhaled and let out a breath. "I have brought it here so that this hatchling would be raised by us."

Scales hissed. "A human? Among dragons?"

"Yes."

"Have you not realized what you have done by bringing that thing here?" continued Scales. "You have brought death upon the colony!" He stepped down from the plateau.

"I only wanted to look for food!" Flashwing shouted.

"Then why this beast?" asked Scales.

"He's not a beast!" continued Flashwing, raising the hatchling slightly. "Look at him!"

"I do not want to look at a human," growled Scales heatedly. "You should know this already, Flashwing. They killed my family!"

"And I didn't want to kill humans!" shouted Flashwing.

"But you did it, didn't you?"

Flashwing blinked, realization coming to him. The question hung in the air for a long, silent moment. He looked down at the hatchling, noticing it have been awakened.

"Daal daar bruniik," ordered Scales.

Flashwing held the hatchling close, shaking his head. "No. I won't return it. Dii, Alpha."

"Ful, hi fen dir naal dein nii?"

"No, I won't," said Flashwing, voice firm. "This hatchling might die if I don't care for it."

Scales snorted, smoke coming from his nostrils. "Do you even have any clues on how you can raise it?"

Flashwing went silent.

"Do you see now?" asked Scales. "You have no idea what humans need, do you? Then, it is best to return it to its species."

Flashwing bared his teeth with a growl escaping him. "I insist on keeping the hatchling, Alpha."

Scales hissed, pacing in front of Flashwing and stopped after a few moments, then looked at him. When he spoke again, his clear voice was firm. "There are only a few conditions you must comply about it, if you insist on keeping the beast, Flashwing."

"What are they?"

"I am going to be making this clear: you and your family are to be moved to a solitary cave in the mountain, away from the rest in the colony," started Scales.

"What about Luna? Will she have to see only me and Penumbra?" asked Flashwing.

Scales nodded. "It's for the best. This human is not going to be living with the rest of the colony around it, but only with you and your family." He cleared his throat. "Secondly, I have no responsibility if anything happens to you or any member in your family. You should know that it is your responsibility on raising this hatchling. I cannot guarantee your safety."

"I understand," sighed Flashwing, nodding. "Anything else I should know?"

Scales put a claw on his chin, as if thinking about something. "Yes," he said. "Flashwing, I know it may sound odd from me, but whatever happens, don't let tragedy fall upon your family. It wouldn't be the same if the event that occurred thirty eight years ago happened to you as well. Promise me."

Flashwing blinked, glancing down at the hatchling, who yawned. He looked back up at Scales. "I understand, Alpha." He let out a sigh and continued, "I shall move my family to a different cave in the mountain." He turned and left Scales to himself.

Scales watched as Flashwing left him alone in the cave. He let out a sigh and turned his head over to someone. "Have I done the right thing, Aquawing?"

Aquawing stepped forth from the shadows, ruffling her wings as she stopped beside him. "I believe you have, Alpha."

Scales looked down at the earth. "I am not sure I should have let that human be so close to the Night Fury family. What if…the event that scarred me would happen again to Flashwing?"

"I know you are afraid, Alpha," said Aquawing, her voice soft. "But you shouldn't think about the past. Think about the present and where it will lead you toward."

Scales looked at her. "I know."

"Do you?" she asked.

"Well…" he started, staring out in the distance. "I may have not been able to find the Hidden World. But that doesn't mean I am going to give up on this goal of finding it."

"You haven't given up hope, that's good." Aquawing smiled at him. "But what about the human?"

"What about it?"

"Him," she corrected him. "I think you should give him a chance."

Scales snorted. "Why should I? Those beasts haven't been much help to us. They only brought destruction wherever they went. Why should a human hatchling be any different?"

"Because he is special," was all Aquawing said before she turned and left him.

Flashwing flew through the connected tunnel toward a cave that rested on the second level of Dragon Mountain. He smiled, but frowned. Why do we have to move? He landed on the earthy ground near the mouth of the cave, spotting Penumbra inside with their daughter. "I am back," he announced.

"Drem yol lok, dear," said Penumbra, greeting him by walking over and touched his head with hers.

"How is my little moon?" Flashwing smiled, upon seeing Luna running to him.

"Me fine, Pa!"

Flashwing chuckled. "That's good to hear."

"Flashwing, dear?" asked Penumbra, pointing at the human in his paw. "What is it?"

Flashwing sighed, glancing down at Luna. "Luna, your mother and I need to talk privately. Could you wait over there?" He pointed with a claw to the grassy nest.

Luna nodded, turning around and left them.

Flashwing looked at Penumbra. "This is our son, Penumbra. His name is Bright."

Penumbra stared at the human hatchling with blinking eyes. "May I ask why you brought it here?"

"I had no choice."

"What do you mean by that?" Penumbra glared at him.

Flashwing exhaled a breath. "Penumbra, this human was left alone on the island I was at. I couldn't just leave it there."

Penumbra stared at him. "Tell me the truth."

Flashwing held the human hatchling close to his chest. He let out a breath and explained: "When I arrived at the human settlement, I scanned it for any food. I did not find any, except for this hatchling who was alone in one of those structures. When I discovered him, Bright was left there — or so I thought."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Penumbra, interrupting him.

"I came by an accident to kill Bright's parents," Flashwing admitted, lowering his head.

"What?" she gasped. "Why?"

"It was in self-defence," he said quickly. "They were going to kill me, so I didn't have a choice."

Penumbra glared at him for a moment. "At least you had a purpose for doing it," she muttered. "So, Bright is now alone?"

"Not unless there's someone to be there for him," Flashwing smiled.

Penumbra blinked. "Do you mean…us?"

"Indeed." He nodded. "Think about it, Penumbra. If we raise him, then Bright won't think about killing any dragons."

She stared at him, then glanced down at the awakened Bright. Penumbra looked back up into Flashwing's eyes. "You have another explanation on your mind."

"How'd you know?" he asked in surprise.

"I've noticed on your expression," she said. "You were thoughtful about something. Tell me about it."

Flashwing inhaled a breath. "Alright, Penumbra. You win." He exhaled a breath of air. "I've been talking with the Alpha about keeping Bright, but there was a catch."

"Oh?"

"You see…" Flashwing's tail flicked, "he told me to move our home to a isolated cave if we were to raise Bright as our own."

"What?" she demanded. "You've got to be joking, Flashwing. Why do we need to move?"

Oh, great. I knew she'd ask that. "It was an order from the Alpha. He also couldn't guarantee our safety if anything happens to us."

"But that doesn't seem fair!" Penumbra complained. "What about Luna? Does she need to be left alone all her life without any friends close to her?"

"I did ask about that," said Flashwing with a sigh. "Look, Penumbra. All I need right now is for you to trust me. It's for the best."

She looked at him for a long moment of silence.

"I hope I can make up for it once Bright grows up," continued Flashwing. "Do you promise me, Penumbra, that you will look after him as a mother?"

She was staring at him, silent. Then, she let a smile show on her muzzle. "Only if you promise me to be more careful in the future, my dear."

Flashwing chuckled, rubbing his head with hers. "I will. Thank you, Penumbra." He looked over to the nest where Luna was waiting patiently. "Luna, come and meet your new brother."

The hatchling came over and cautiously approached Bright, sniffing him. "He scent not good, Pa," she said. "He bath."

Flashwing laughed. "Don't worry, Luna. I will give him a bath once he's ready." He looked at Penumbra, who walked up to Luna and lowered down to her level, and Luna got up on her back, confused.

"Where, Pa?" she asked.

"We're going to move, Luna," said Flashwing. "You will understand once you're older."

Dragonese language:

Daal daar bruniik - "Return this savage"

Dii - "Mine"

Ful, hi fen dir naal dein nii - "So, you will die by keeping it"

Dream yol lok - "Hello! Greetings!"