Inferno
Aurora flew low while rapidly ascending up the mountain. She had been gliding in the clouds when the wind itself began whispering, along with a faint tug pulling to elsewhere below. Flashes of vision, seeing a place she had no reason to go in entire season-cycles.
What was wrong with her? She never before heard such voices or felt a nagging pull urging her to leave.
Finally at the mountain's peak, she dove and landed beside Moon-Dancer. Why was he sleeping? A midday nap under the sun was always nice except for the strange circumstances.
She bounded to him and nudged his shoulder with a paw until he woke up.
"What just-" he groaned.
"Wake up! Did something happen to you too?" she asked.
He heavily got to his paws and shook his head, "Maybe. My head- what happened?"
"I do not know. There were strange whispers which wanted me to go underground."
"Really? We both felt that. What was that whispering?"
She growled, "No idea. I thought something was wrong with me. More than the usual anyway."
"No, it was both of us. Are you sure you saw nothing strange around the island?"
She stood upright and looked to the horizon in all directions. There was still nothing out there. Viggo's boat and stinging-tail hunter-kin had not returned. Nothing strange had happened which could explain the twisted voice.
She dropped down, "I am sure. No boats, no other sky-kin, no threatening two-legs. Nothing."
He looked down the mountain slope toward the distant village-nest, "What about the ground-kin? Do you think they heard anything?"
"No idea."
"Let me go ask the Chief-Alpha without showing myself. There could be two-legs still outside now," he suggested.
"Fine. Be quick. I will be waiting here."
He paused before her, stroked her neck with his tail, jumped from the mountain, and vanished in a flash of flame. With him gone, she paced and growled to herself in worry. Hearing twisted whispers had never happened before that she could recall. Whatever had happened to them could not be simple tiredness, as they had both likely heard the whispering at the same time while far apart.
Perhaps this was related to together-seeing-feeling. They had tried seeing into each other's life-fire earlier. Nothing at all happened in that together-seeing-feeling, but he suggested she had been trying too much to control the experience. Whatever he meant by that. She had never asked her sire-father or dam-mother to explain how to do such together-seeing-feeling.
Was it necessary to do such shared feeling as proof she and he could be good life-mates? No. Surely not. Maybe that only worked well after already sharing life-flights for season-cycles.
What if doing so would reveal secrets or small twistedness which was better to keep to themselves? It was not as though even loving mates had to know everything about each other. No. Having some secrets kept from each other surely helped keep mystery and interest.
Moon-Dancer finally reappeared below, rose toward the peak, and touched down before her, "Nothing happened to the ground-kin. It must have only been us."
"Maybe only sky-kin could hear. The whispering wanted us to go below, so of course the ground-kin would not know or hear. Could our kin below have heard that too?"
He was silent for several wingbeats, "Perhaps. Twisted idea, but what if that was an Alpha? What if our sire-fathers were calling to us?"
While strange, it was not impossible. Their sire-fathers could thought-speak to all the other sky-kin for whom they were Alphas. Maybe Alphas could somehow call to or summon from afar.
Maybe their kin were in danger right now.
"Do you think we should return home to check? We can come right back up here if all is well below," she suggested.
He nodded, "Good idea."
Together, they took flight for the cave to the hidden world.
From atop a flat crystal outside the village, Shadowwing groaned out of frustration. Chaos and noise reigned as New Haven dragons swarmed in disarray. Nightmares roared at each other and the open sky, Gronkles crashed into each other, and Nadders pranced and wildly spun around with their spikes readied to strike at nothing. The calmer individuals of all kinds had landed on large mushrooms, nearby ledges, or the nearby ground, and were looking to him and Was-Grounded for leadership or reassurance.
The sudden, inexplicable confusion had already caused damage to the village, as Nightmares had burst into flame, or wildly-swung tails had knocked into structures. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt as far as he knew, and his relatives and Cloudjumper had quickly herded the more alarmed dragons out of the village to avoid destruction.
But this pandemonium was alarming and hadn't happened before. What had set the other dragons off all at once? Even his relatives reported unexplainable voices or whispers and feeling a nudge toward somewhere else, though he had not heard anything.
Dawn-Singer swooped overhead and corralled several Gronkles which had started fighting by ramming into each other. A roar echoed as Was-Grounded, glowing faint blue, circled on the other side of the clearing where the more destructive dragons were settling. After settling them down, Was-Grounded finally dashed over to him.
Was-Grounded growled, "That should be all of them."
"Finally. Do you have any idea what happened?"
"None. They all became twisted at once, and I did not hear the whispering. Did you?"
"No. Will you take care of this?" he asked.
"Sure, I can. You useless sky-kin," Was-Grounded teased.
Together, he and Was-Grounded roared, their wings outstretched. How long had passed without needing to show such strength? The power and command burned to life at will without delay. A faint blue glow reflected off the crystal they stood on.
All the other dragons fell silent, their gazes fixed on them. He could feel their deference and their awareness.
Was-Grounded stepped forward and shouted, 'Sky-kin! Peace now! Roaring fighting stop! Why roaring fighting?'
None of the dragons moved until Cloudjumper crawled to them and bent his head.
'Alphas ours great. Command confusion fly summons you give no. Obey no. Alphas you yes. Command fear make yes.'
'Command what?'
'Command go fly summons Alpha-place to.'
'Alpha-place where?'
A flash of vision. A massive cavern filled with the most intense crystals where dragons could gather. The same place he and Was-Grounded had presented themselves to both wild and New Haven dragons as Alphas. He knew the place well enough. Why there?
The other New Haven dragons had heard a summons or command to leave, but perhaps they had not obeyed because he and Was-Grounded had not given them that summons or command.
Was-Grounded glanced at him and turned back to the other dragons, 'We command not give. Peace now! Danger maybe! Protect pack maybe! Rest yes go!'
The other dragons gradually departed, flying up to other ledges, the forest, or the stables. As soon as they were gone, Luna, Dawn-Singer, Rain-Eater, Flies-Bravely, Mist-Wings, Hidden-Hope, Rock-Climber, and Hope-In-His-Liver landed and approached after he and Was-Grounded hopped down to the ground.
Shadowwing exhaled, "How are all of you?"
Dawn-Singer growled, "The other sky-kin heard a voice or command? I only heard whispers or hissing."
"Maybe the other sky-kin heard it more clearly. Whatever it was, we did not do it," he answered.
"So what did? They have never lost control like that," Dawn-Singer replied.
"I have no idea. Do you think there is a real threat?" Shadowwing asked Was-Grounded.
Was-Grounded had a shadow of concern in his narrowed eyes, "Remember what I told you about the six-eyed-rock-tail monster and how it controlled sky-kin? It could hiss-whisper commands over great distance."
Could there be a Death out there? No one had ever related hearing about one surviving in the hidden world. The only surviving titanic size dragon he knew about was Drago Bludvist's Bewilderbeast which had fled after he and Was-Grounded defeated it and broke its control over other dragons. Could it have been searching for them and revenge after all these years?
"One of those Monsters could not get into our range though. The path in is too small," he pointed out.
"It could still use its thrall-sky-kin to attack us in here."
"Perhaps. Could it control any of us? Did any of you feel like you had no choice but to go?"
No one said the whispers or mysterious voice were strong enough to actually compel anything other than discomfort and concern. From his own experience, the Bewilderbeast had probably needed to directly see its target, but that limitation wasn't the case with Deaths. The one which had used its nest to attack Berk years ago hadn't needed to leave the mountain on Dragon Island but still seemed to have control.
Hope-In-His-Liver spoke up, "You both probably have more experience than I do, but I believe sky-kin with an Alpha will only obey another if their Alpha does too. As long as you both do not become controlled, all of us and the other sky-kin here should be safe."
A powerful eye staring, piercing into his soul as he stood on a boat years ago. His own pride and ignorance let him get controlled.
He glanced at Was-Grounded, "Good to know the entire pack depends on us."
Was-Grounded huffed, "Not for the first time. We should probably have more of us on guard. Who wants to go with me?"
Dawn-Singer, Hope-In-His-Liver, and Mist-Wings volunteered.
Was-Grounded continued, "We will guard out by the dark ledge. Shadowwing?"
"I will tell the ground-kin what I can, and warn them to be alert. Green-Wings and Flies-With-Sun too."
Rain-Eater spoke up, "What is the plan if thralled sky-kin attack us? Obviously we will fight them, but how should we best defend?"
Was-Grounded glanced over his shoulder, "We lead all our sky-kin to fight and force away or kill attackers if we must. Other than the cave-mouth and waterfalls, the bend beyond the mushroom-forest is the narrowest part of the range to defend."
Shadowwing nodded, agreeing with the strategy, "Good idea. What about if the sky-kin are thralled? Can we do anything for them other than killing?"
Whatever Was-Grounded had done to help him years ago when he was enthralled by the Bewilderbeast likely couldn't work against many enthralled wild dragons.
Luna proposed, "We could try knocking them out. I do not know if that would break thralling, but at least they would not be able to fight us."
"So the plan is to knock out any attacking sky-kin if you can. But do not hesitate to kill if you must. Better for a thralled sky-kin to die than any of you," Was-Grounded growled.
"Anything else?" Shadowwing asked.
No one else had any questions.
"Stay safe, dear ones," he added.
Everyone split up, Was-Grounded leading his group away to take up guard, and Rock-Climber, Rain-Eater, and Flies-Bravely going off on their own. leaving only Luna and Hidden-Hope with him.
He sighed, "There is always something that goes wrong."
Luna softly hummed, "There might not be any fighting at all. Even if there is, we have fought liver-chilling and dangerous fights before. We will be fine this time too."
Hidden-Hope slipped between them, "When was that fighting? Was that in the above?"
He answered, "You were not even hatched. We fought two-legs, many boats, and even dangerous sky-kin. Almost all of New-Haven-pack fought as one flight."
She did not need to know anything about his, Was-Grounded's, and Luna's terrifying encounter.
Hidden-Hope looked down to her paws before facing him again, "If there is fighting, may I help?"
No avoiding it anymore. No point coddling her or being overly protective. While she was not completely grown or mature, she was quick, had full control of flame and fade, and had practiced hard with everyone else at self-defense.
He gave her a lick on the cheek, "You better."
She perked up and held her head high, "Really?"
"Really. Remember your fade is your big advantage. You and Moon-Dancer could have a contest for how many enemy sky-kin you can flame."
She huffed, "He has no chance. Rock-Climber and I have been practicing a lot!"
She dashed away and took flight following after Rock-Climber, Rain-Eater, and Flies-Bravely.
Luna sighed, "Good decision. She needed to hear that from you."
"I just hope nothing actually happens. Better to be prepared for fighting and not need to fight than the opposite."
"True. I should tell my dam-mother and hear what she will do."
"Do you know where Green-Wings is?"
"By the foods-den with the fledglings."
"I will tell her."
She departed for the nearby caverns while he continued on for the village. On the way back, Light-Hunter approached and glided by him.
"Shadowwing, what happened with the other sky-kin?" Light-Hunter asked.
"Follow me. I will tell you in a few wingbeats."
Light-Hunter followed him to the storehouse at the edge of the village. Green-Wings and Flies-With-Sun had been entertaining and protecting the youngest Furies there once the chaos started. Night-Light, Flower-Eater, Wind-Dancer, and Moon-Pinner had tired themselves out and were resting in a pile.
Green-Wings got to her paws at their arrival, "What news?"
While she and Light-Hunter listened, he explained their conclusions. While no one was certain, a possibly hostile Alpha might have disturbed the other dragons from afar, and everyone was going on extra alert just in case of attack.
Green-Wings huffed, "Good idea."
Light-Hunter faced him and softly growled, "I will help defend your pack."
Not surprising at all. Light-Hunter had started to feel like part of their pack anyway, having ties not only to Mist-Wings but also to at least one of the humans here.
"We appreciate that help. Have you ever had to fight before in a real attack?"
"Not more than wrestling or the practice with your kin. I know the risk, but I will help however you want."
He glanced at Green-Wings and back to Light-Hunter, "You could fly close to Mist-Wings and help keep her safe. I am sure several of us would appreciate that."
Light-Hunter glanced at Green-Wings and had to see her clear approval, "Do you know where she is?"
"She went with Was-Grounded, Dawn-Singer, and others to be guards further out," he answered.
Light-Hunter nodded and stepped back, "I will be with them."
Light-Hunter departed. Flies-With-Sun, with little Hides-In-Clouds dozing at her chest, spoke up once he was gone, "What is the plan for the young if there is fighting? Should someone stay behind with them?"
"The young should either be hidden in a cave-den or in the great-hall-den with the ground-kin. The great-hall-den would be safest."
Flies-With-Sun appeared sheepish and nodded down to her sleeping hatchling, "As much as I would like to fight, flame, and spill life-water, I probably should stay with them if no one else will."
Green-Wings did not object, and he knew Luna would want to help in any combat. It made sense for Flies-With-Sun to stay with the young since she had two among those who would be sheltered, including the youngest of all.
"Then you should plan to stay with them. Green-Wings, will you join us?"
"Need you even ask?" she growled.
Having shared the news, he left to find Thorvald and Valka. A thin line of smoke still drifted higher from ahead, though there were no visible fires. He found Thorvald at the stables, overlooking one of the wrecked stables with a few men already working on repairs. Thorvald saw him and approached.
"Rreporrt."
"They completely wrecked a storehouse and a few stables. A barn roof also burned. Nothing too bad. What's going on? Why were they going crazy?"
"They thought they hearrd ssomethinng danngerrouss."
Thorvald crossed his arms, "Something dangerous? Find it and kill it. Easy."
"If we cann. Have everryonne be onn alerrt."
"Yeah, yeah. Retreat. Run away. Hide in the Great Hall while the dragons do the fighting for us."
"Good plann."
Thorvald nodded, "Not happening."
"Yess, it iss."
"Maybe for the kids and anyone who can't fight. Everyone else, we have to fight. It's who we are!"
"Brravado. Wonnderrful."
"It is, isn't it? How else can we please the gods, gain eternal glory, and win a place in Valhalla? You can't expect us to hide while you do the fighting for us. Nope."
He bit back his retort. Expecting them to hide was contrary to what they were. People who for generations had leveled forests and tamed seas would not allow themselves to be completely coddled and protected. Was he treating them the same as he had his own daughter in the past?
He softly growled, "Finne. Jusst make ssurre everryonne nnot fightinng knnowss to sshelterr inn the Grreat Hall. Hide the livesstock too."
Thorvald smiled, "That's more like it. Shields, drums, and hammers to confuse with noise, nets for trapping, it'll be just like old times! Less the killing anyway."
"Unnlessss you musst. Wherre iss Drragonnhearrt?"
"Main square."
He left to find Valka and inform her. She could help lead any evacuation and entertain the children if anything were to happen. He found her helping to reassure people in the main square, though it sounded like most of the complaining was about repair work. A few parents were clutching their children close. Several of the men and burlier women were already carrying weapons. He got her attention, drew her away from everyone else, and explained his suspicions.
"Possibly. The dragons at the Ice Nest always got disturbed when the King summoned them. Who in the village have you told?"
"Thorrvald. You cann tell everryonne elsse."
"I'll tell them our dragons felt a possible threat."
"Thorrvald wanntss everryonne rready to fight inn defennsse. Prrobably nnot onnly him who wanntss to."
"Not surprising. Ever since he won the Games, he's been itching to fight. But you're right it's not only him. If attacking dragons can get past all of ours and all the Furies to get to the village, what difference can we really make?"
She had a good point. Even armored in scale-armor and as prepared as possible, humans would not withstand a true battle. The best they could likely do would be to die bravely. Would death in defense of the village be good enough to warrant Valhalla? Would he and other dragons be allowed there, or was there some other fate reserved for them if they fell? Idle and grim musings, hopefully for much later in life.
"Hopefully we donn't nneed to finnd out."
She went back to the gathered families. A lone white figure got his attention above before he realized who it was. Their most recently arrived guest, Crushes-Rocks, had settled atop one of the Great Hall's landing platforms. He and Skadi had to be the last two dragons who still needed to be told what had happened and what to expect.
He flew up above the Great Hall and landed beside Crushes-Rocks. The male Light Fury immediately bent his head.
"Warm flights, Crushes-Rocks."
"Warm flights, Shadowwing. What is happening down there?"
"The other sky-kin were disturbed, and we are not sure why. Our pack is on alert to protect against threats."
They glanced over the edge at everyone gathered below. Valka was sharing instructions with several families. A handful of people were still carrying buckets of water toward the smoke.
"What threats?" Crushes-Rocks asked.
"Other, dangerous sky-kin. Maybe an Alpha trying to challenge us, but we do not know about any. Do you know where Skadi is?"
Crushes-Rocks grumbled, "She is not back at the cave-den. I just checked for her there."
Their guest was missing? Wonderful. What timing.
"Great. When did you last see her?"
"After you returned from the flight above. She must be here somewhere."
"Can you go find her? I do not want my pack to get another pack's representative hurt if there is any fighting here."
"I can search for her. But- even if there is fighting, she will not be in danger. She can defend herself. And I have plenty of practice as a Fighter too," Crushes-Rocks offered as he flexed his claws.
"Maybe so, but I prefer if you both not need to fight for us. Try to stay safe if there is any fighting you cannot avoid. We are responsible for both of you while you are with us."
On the edge of the ledge in the darker passage to the ranges beyond, Was-Grounded remained alert with Dawn-Singer beside him. They both listened over the constant rumble of the distant waterfalls for any indication of approaching hostile kin. The last attack from hostile kin, a flight of rumble-horns and fire-scales, was easily repelled, and those kin had announced themselves with roars beforepaw. If an enemy Alpha had set its sights on their ranges, for whatever reason, they had to have advance notice so they could react in time.
Hope-In-His-Liver, Light-Hunter, and Mist-Wings were behind them and sharing stories about ranges they had seen in the hidden world. Light-Hunter and Mist-Wings were resting against each other in bonding.
Dawn-Singer stretched and got his attention, "Sire-father, what did you mean about the six-eye-rock-tail monster controlling sky-kin?"
He softly growled, "It was many season-cycles ago. There was a monster false-kin which controlled other sky-kin and made them hunt for it. It could use thought-voice to make other, smaller-thinking sky-kin obey and attack the ground-kin, then two-legs. It even made other sky-kin its own food. You have never seen one of those monster false-kin, and I hope they are all dead."
"What happened to that monster?" Dawn-Singer asked.
His son had no idea what had happened that waking-cycle. None of his children did. The secret would stay with him, Shadowwing, Was-Grounded, Luna, and only a pawful of the ground-kin. He had also kept secret from his children most details about the far-distant past before Hiccup or the Berk-nest. Certain of those details would lead to more questions which were unanswerable without the truth flying free.
"I heard that it died, as it deserved."
Nothing living moved anywhere in view out there. The only motion was the distant waterfalls and the faintest sparkling of dim light-rocks.
Peaceful, quiet wingbeats passed, struggling against weariness. Why did it suddenly feel like being hunted or stalked or-
'Dark wings, light wings, you are in danger. Be ready to fight.'
He shook his head and looked all around, searching for the source of the voice. The weariness faded as he heavily breathed. There was nothing out there. Even a check with life-fire sight revealed no faded Light Furies nearby.
"Did you hear that too?" Dawn-Singer asked in alarm.
"Yes. See anything?" he asked.
"Nothing."
What had happened? That voice, a thought-voice too, did not feel familiar, and it had not been imagination. Had it been what disturbed the other sky-kin? Only Alphas could thought-speak, as far as he knew. On the other paw, a hostile Alpha would not warn him about an attack.
"Stay alert."
He bounded over to Hope-In-His-Liver, Light-Hunter, and Mist-Wings, all of whom had gotten to their paws.
"Did you hear that thought-voice?" he asked them.
Mist-Wings appeared confused, slowly looking about at her surroundings, "Yes, and I feel like I heard it before somewhere."
"What?"
Where could Mist-Wings have met another sky-kin with thought-voice?
Dawn-Singer shouted, "Sky-kin approaching!"
He bounced beside his son and noticed two dark sky-kin off in the distance from the path beyond. Only two approaching shapes would not be a threat. The shapes came closer until he recognized them and called out in relief.
Aurora and Moon-Dancer swiftly approached and landed on the edge of the ledge.
"Back so soon?" he asked, relieved they were safe.
Aurora caught her breath, "We had to come check on everyone. Something twisted happened to us up there. We heard a-"
"A voice or whispering wanting you to fly below?" he interrupted, surprised they had also heard it.
"Yes. Is that why you all are guarding here?" she asked.
How had they heard that twisted-whispering even from in the above? How far could that call have carried?
"It is. The other sky-kin in our pack were alarmed, and some of them flamed or destroyed dens. None of the ground-kin are hurt that we know about."
Moon-Dancer spoke up, "We had to come back and check if there was any danger."
"There might be. You can stay here with us to help guard or go rest. The above can wait for a waking-cycle."
Aurora and Moon-Dancer glanced at each other and nodded once.
"Rest sounds good," Aurora suggested.
"Right before you arrived, we heard a thought-voice warn us about danger. Did you see a sky-kin anywhere in our outer-ranges?" he asked.
"No, sire-father. There was no one and nothing else, but we were not looking for faded Light Furies. We did not see any other sky-kin at all in any of the paths to get here," Aurora answered.
She and Moon-Dancer departed together. What had she meant by not seeing any other sky-kin at all on the flight to get home? There were always at least a pawful of wild sky-kin going their own way or resting in a light-rock's warmth.
He returned to Hope-In-His-Liver, Mist-Wings, and Light-Hunter, and beckoned Dawn-Singer over to him.
"There might be faded Light Furies near us. Be careful. Use life-fire-sight. We should spread out further but stay close so nothing can get past."
Light-Hunter glanced at Mist-Wings and nodded toward a light-rock a short flight away, "Coming with me?"
Mist-Wings purred and followed him, while Hope-In-His-Liver flew to another nearby light-rock. Between the five of them on alert, if anyone or anything tried to enter their ranges, even while faded, they would know.
Was-Grounded stiffed, his gaze fixed on the distant, dark passage. Was there a faint buzzing or echoing of indistinct noise building over the constant drone of the waterfalls, or was that noise only his own worry and a trick? The noise of numberless wings beating at once?
Memories of so long ago in another life-flight when he first followed the other sky-kin after helping them attack the two-legs and take prey-animals. The focus and determination the other sky-kin showed. The encroaching fear and dread as he first heard the whispering command and knew, deep within his liver, that the sky-kin nest hid a monster.
Why did sky-kin so easily fall into obeying a whispering voice or command? Even his own kind could be controlled, as happened to Shadowwing long ago, if the Night Fury was not strong or defiant enough at liver.
The buzzing grew louder until Dawn-Singer bounded to his side, his gaze also fixed ahead. A noise too distinct and clear to be a trick of thought, despite the lack of roars or distinct calls. A flash of motion in the distance. And another set of wings. Another. Tens. Tens of tens. More.
Cold wind flowed across his liver as the flock of sky-kin poured forth. So many kinds all mixed together. Too many to count. No chance of scaring this flock away with warning-flame or roars. Too many for him even to dare use commanding power-light against on his own. There was no fighting against this threat.
With a beckoning roar, he spun around and flew. Dawn-Singer, Mist-Wings, Hope-In-His-Liver, and Light-Hunter followed as fast as their wings could carry them.
The shared-nest would be warned with as much time to spare as possible, which was not much. All sky-kin in his pack would need to fight in defense, if that would even be enough. Nothing had yet stopped him, Shadowwing, and their pack, but they had not needed to fight against so many sky-kin. For everyone else's sake, all his dear kin, he could not let show any hint of the cold circling his liver.
Valka shepherded the dozen children toward the Great Hall. All around, people swarmed in activity, carrying livestock into more secure hiding, bringing supplies or baby dragons into the Hall, gathering weapons and armor, and praying to all the known gods in rapid succession. A nervous energy filled the air, not at all unlike Berk long ago in preparation for an incoming raid, or the Sanctuary Ice Nest when the King commanded the dragons in defense.
A chorus of roars echoed above the noise as Shadowwing and Was-Grounded called to the other dragons from above. Unlike last time, the dragons weren't lashing about in confusion, rage, or fear, instead they were more purposeful and coordinated as they took flight above or began gathering on nearby levels. They were responding to their Alphas. Cloudjumper helped the Furies to rouse other dragons from rest and encourage them to fly. With no riders to concern themselves with, the known dragons could more easily battle, compared to when they had swarmed the attacking fleet off the mainland coast.
This had to happen eventually. The peace could not last indefinitely.
She and her charges arrived just outside the Great Hall. Just outside, Thorvald and Gobber were helping men and stronger women put on scale armor and assigning specific places to defend in the village.
"Get inside, hurry up!" she shouted.
The children joined the flood of people flowing into the Hall. Thorvald beckoned her over once they were all within.
Thorvald grimly smiled and cracked his knuckles, "Great day for a fight! Can't wait to knock some skulls!"
"Pray you don't need to."
"You joining us for the fun? We could use your skills. No one else has your way with wild, angry dragons."
"No, I'll be inside with the children to keep them occupied. Once the doors close, we won't open them no matter what."
"Perfect! No retreat!" Thorvald shouted, a fist upraised.
Other people already in their armor similarly cheered and pounded a weapon against a shield.
She couldn't tell if he was joking, being dense, or just putting on a brave face. Having been informed that hundreds of dragons were potentially about to attack, his reaction could be any of those. Regardless, there was no dissuading him and everyone else determined to remain outside. They were going to fight and possibly die in the village's defense. Hopefully they remembered how to battle against dragons even after several years of not needing to fight such foes.
She turned to Gobber, "You staying out here too, my friend?"
Gobber finished screwing a broad hammer to his arm, "Why not? Someone's gotta keep an eye on our brave knucklehead here."
Thorvald nodded, "Totally. Which one?"
She ignored him and gave Gobber a hug, "Keep yourself safe."
"Don' worry about me. I've survived worse!"
A flash of wings caught her attention after she stepped away from him. Flies-With-Sun arrived and touched down with a gaggle of young Furies in tow or on her back. After a few growled instructions, Night-Light, Flower-Eater, Moon-Pinner, Hides-In-Clouds, and Wind-Dancer dashed into the Hall together.
"Are you going to keep them company?" she asked Flies-With-Sun.
"Yssss," Flies-With-Sun answered.
The Light Fury followed everyone else into the Hall and dashed toward the nearest hearth.
She remained outside the front gate as the last of the stragglers arrived with supplies. With the last of them finally safely inside, she followed everyone else within. At her command, the broad and heavy doors swung shut, groaning on their hinges until they closed. Thick beams and stone braces were set in place to secure the doors shut against any attack from without. They would not open until the battle was decided, one way or another.
Everything was as normal as possible under the circumstances within the Hall. A barrel of drink had been rolled out and opened, meats and soups were already cooking over open fireplaces, people had gathered by assembled family members, and the young dragons within the Hall were almost all sleeping next to open fires. The young Furies had already started piling together by the fireplace.
Whatever would happen next was out of her control.
Beside the hearthfire, Night-Light curled up on himself with his head on his paws. It was not often that the ground-kin had to rush into the great-hall-den for protection, or that hatchlings and fledglings of both ground-kin and sky-kin similarly had to hide while the adults flew off to fight in defense of the range.
Bad sky-kin were going to attack. Sire-father, dam-mother, his older nestmate brother and sister, and all other close-kin were going to fight. So scary, and he was not big enough to fight along with them.
Flower-Eater, Moon-Pinner, Hides-In-Clouds, and Wind-Dancer snuggled together under aunt Flies-With-Sun's wing near the open fire. At least they looked comfortable, not knowing enough to understand what was happening outside or anything of the danger out there.
He noticed Kin-liver approach with a pawful of ground-kin fledglings, several of whom were scared. The ground-kin sat down together on the other side of the fire. Kin-liver began telling them a story, though he could not hear what it was over the soft crackling of the fire.
He blinked in surprise and purred with welcome when one of the fledglings got to her paws and came over to sit by his shoulder. Stella did not appear so scared, though she was fiddling with her blue head-cloth.
"Hi Night-Light."
"Ssella."
Why were words difficult when talking to a ground-kin? They were not difficult when practicing on his own or with sire-father. Frustrating. Would Stella think he was thought-twisted? Hopefully not.
"I wish I could help fight the dragons!" she exclaimed.
She had such liver-fire, but she was much too small, having only eight season-cycles. It was strange how ground-kin grew slower than sky-kin.
"But my mommy and daddy said I have to stay here with them. Can you believe it?" she continued.
He nodded. At least she had her sire-father and dam-mother here as well, so she did not need to worry about them. But his sire-father and dam-mother were fighters. He should not be afraid for them. Should not.
"Hey, are you scared?"
"Ysss."
"Me too," she whispered, leaning against his shoulder.
No ground-kin, her and Kin-liver excluded, had ever shown him comfort or bonding before. What to make of this? Hopefully once the danger was flamed away, he and she could play more games. Could she even be a friend of his? At the thought of having a ground-kin friend, there was at least a little warmth at liver.
With grim determination, Shadowwing flew at the lead of all the larger New Haven dragons, nearly four score in total. His and Was-Grounded's commanding and powerful glows reflected off nearby crystals and the flashes of scales and wings. The other dragons were aware of the upcoming likely combat, flying with purpose and being oddly quiet.
The timing of this imminent attack had to be purely coincidental. There was no reasonable chance Viggo could be behind this strike.
His and Was-Grounded's suspicion that there might be a hostile Alpha out there appeared more likely correct. What else could have stirred wild dragons to attack? But what would it want, if not to take their territory? What kind could the Alpha be if it could command dragons of different types? The only possibilities that came to mind were Deaths and Bewilderbeasts, neither of which could fit into their territory unless it was a smaller Death.
He, his kin, and the other New Haven dragons arrived at the narrowest part of the cavern just before the mushroom forest. With a lower ceiling and various ledges, levels, and crystals to land on, it had to be the best place as any to make a defense and hold back intruders. The New Haven dragons began landing to conserve their strength.
He landed and stood at Luna's shoulder, "Just another waking-cycle in our range. Stay close, my love."
"Where else would I rather be?" she replied.
He glanced around at his nearest family members, all of whom were likely about to throw themselves into unknown but all too real danger. They were all as prepared as possible for real battle, but that was no guarantee they would-
He growled at himself and pushed aside the worry and fear. His son and daughter could use their fade to avoid being targets. His nephews and nieces didn't have that advantage, but they planned to keep close together to watch each other's backs. There was no point worrying whether they would all survive. He had to be completely focused.
The loud buzzing was the first indication anything was wrong. The second warning was the mass of dragons which began appearing ahead. He spared a glance at Was-Grounded and saw, despite his brother's apparent calm, fear.
Hundreds of dragons, far more than had swarmed in the nest on Dragon Island or the Ice Nest, poured forth. All kinds were mixed together without regard for type. There were so many that several dragons even knocked into each other and fell to the ground. At least he did not see any Night Furies or Light Furies among the flock.
New Haven dragons began roaring and flaming in warning, but the hostile flock didn't respond, not even to roar back in challenge. They were completely silent, almost unresponsive or unaware. Something was thoroughly wrong about their behaviors.
The hostile dragons' advance slowed, with their numbers landing on the ground, clutching to spires, or hovering in place without attacking. What were they waiting for?
"Odin help us," he whispered.
Other than the constant buzz of beating wings, quiet gradually fell as the roaring faded into nothingness. The New Haven dragons were visibly confused and looked to him and Was-Grounded.
He had no time to act before a gap opened among the hostile flock, and a singular dragon flew forth to land atop a crystal on its own. The dragon faintly glowed with white light from its wings, spines, and maw.
Skadi perched across the gap from him and Was-Grounded.
His heart sank. No. It could not be. Why would she do this, and how was she capable of commanding other dragons? She clearly had Alpha power over other dragons. Had Skadi been planning to attack them all along? She had to have.
What had any of them done wrong to her?
Throbbing headache and a pounding with each beat of his heart. Lengthening shadows all around him. Nothing remaining except a brilliant light glaring at him. Whispering voices in the encroaching dark. Obedience, submission, ease. They were great and powerful and demanding and he ought to let go and obey them and find his place and forget everyone whom he-
Luna, his brother, Green-Wings, all their children and relatives, and everyone else in New Haven. Forget them?
He shook his head, bared his teeth, and roared in defiance, only for Luna, Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, the other Furies, and all the New Haven dragons to follow his lead. No weakness this time. No confusion about himself or misplaced priorities, only grim determination.
Skadi did not react or roar at them in challenge. There was no warning or indication before the mass of enthralled dragons moved at once, hurling forward in attack.
No time to share instructions or plans beyond what they already had. He, Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, Luna, and the other Furies took the lead along the front lines. The enthralled dragons were easy to tell apart from the free ones, as the enthralled dragons moved differently, almost wavelike, and were eerily silent even when flaming or trying to strike.
Suspicious and with a moment before the battle was met, he looked around for Crushes-Rocks. The male Light Fury was likely involved with Skadi's deception but had already vanished, just one more potential threat for which to remain alert.
As Skadi had not shared any demands, he had no choice but to assume the worst: she had to seek the total destruction of New Haven. No negotiating, no mercy, nothing other than a fight to the death or resistance until Skadi gave up. The enthralled dragons that would die were unavoidable unless they could be removed from battle without undue risk.
Dawn-Singer wove back and forth along the left-paw corner of the passage, leading a flight of spine-tails, Cloudjumper and Pondpouncer, Jingles the bone-grabber, and Mist-Wings with Light-Hunter faded nearby. This was easily the largest battle he had ever been in. Knowing how dangerous this was to all his kin and all other friendly sky-kin made it easy for his power-light to burn in defiance and strength. He had already twice flamed and knocked out an attacking fire-scale. Blasts meant to stun fish underwater could also stun sky-kin if they exploded close enough to the head. Cloudjumper grabbed an attacking fire-scale and hurled it into a waterfall, immediately killing its fire and taking it out of the fight.
Even Mist-Wings had thrown herself into the battle with no apparent reluctance, so different from how she would have been in past season-cycles. Knowing that Light-Hunter was staying close to her for protection was reassuring.
A rock-belly hurled a ball of melted rock and struck his chest, knocking out his breath and burning his hide. He coughed and recovered his breath while spinning away from the attack. He had stopped being attentive for the briefest wingbeat, a mistake he could not make again. Flies-With-Sun would surely kill him if he did not survive this battle.
Hidden-Hope, safely faded, laughed in delight as she spun among the swarming sky-kin. So much chaos! Yes! Finally something fun and wild was happening in her home-range! Admittedly, fighting was dangerous, and there were sure to be sky-kin who were hurt, grounded, or worse, but- it was no good thinking such cold thoughts. Worrying about her kin could not help. All she could do was help eliminate attackers and cause helpful mischief.
At least nothing was specifically targeting her. Sound-sight surely could not work in such chaos and noise, and other sky-kin did not have life-fire-sight, as far as anyone knew.
She fixed her flight on a thralled rock-belly below her. The thrall was a perfect target, completely unaware of her.
She tucked her wings and dove, limbs out to grab. The rock-belly had no warning before she fell into it and closed her limbs around it to hold its buzzing wings still. The rock-belly growled and thrashed, unable to turn its head around to flame at her as they fell. The ground fast approached, and she kicked off from the rock-belly at the last moment.
The rock-belly heavily crashed on its belly and hit its head on the ground with a thump. The rock-belly went motionless, its tongue drooping out its mouth, though it was probably still alive since it was breathing. One less thralled sky-kin to worry about. Only countless more to go!
Flies-Bravely growled to herself out of annoyance. Even with all the practicing she had done since joining her pack, she still struggled to control flame blasts as came naturally to the other Furies. They had been allowed to practice their whole life-flights. She and almost all other females from her foul first pack were not taught flame-control reserved to the Fighters. Worse, such practice had been prevented, it not being part of her place back then. She found it difficult to shape fire shots which flew a specific distance and only afterwards exploded in an enemy's face.
She would not let her life-mate know, but it was scary seeing so many enemy sky-kin attacking. The chaos, noise, flaming and clawing, and the death was horrible. Finding a cave-den to hide in would be much better then being out here and seeing everything.
But that would be weak! She had to keep her chosen-name true!
A thralled fire-scale flamed at Rain-Eater and forced him to dodge. The fire-scale could not see her, which gave her an opportunity.
She flew over Rain-Eater's head toward the fire-scale on his tail. If she could just get the timing right- and a swift kick with her hindpaws struck the fire-scale on the head. The thrall fell and crashed into a mushroom-tree, coming to rest on the ground in a strange position with its limbs splayed. Was it dead? If so, it was not as disturbing as the first time she had killed to defend him.
She settled in a glide beside Rain-Eater.
"Thanks for that," he growled.
"Sneak critical attack?" she shouted.
He laughed, "Sure. That was-"
He dashed aside from her as a rock-belly hurled itself at him, breaking the brief moment. At the same time, she spun away and returned her attention to the other nearby thralls. Even if her shots were not precise enough to down an attacker, at least she could foul their flights and make their aims worse.
Spinning along the front line of the battle, Shadowwing noticed the enthralled dragons became confused, shaking their heads and roaring wildly, whenever he passed. They even fell back slightly, shirking away from him.
Perhaps his Alpha glow somehow disrupted their being enthralled, maybe similar to how he and Was-Grounded had broken Drago's Bewilderbeast's control long ago. The only difference was the enthralled dragons remained enthralled after he passed instead of being freed. Skadi's control over them had to be stronger than the Bewilderbeast's was.
Nadder spines were being hurled, globs of molten rock flew from Gronkles, clouds of Zippleback gas erupted into flames, and Nightmares burst alight. Rogue shots and molten rock had rained down on the mushroom forest and underbrush, catching fires which spread and climbed up the massive stalks.
He dodged around a burning mushroom. Flight itself was becoming more difficult from the growing heat and the whipping winds churned up from the fires. An enthralled Gronkle struck one of his Zipplebacks and knocked both from the sky.
Grim reality set in. As long as he, Was-Grounded, and the other Furies with Alpha glow remained at the front of the battle, the lines would probably endure a while longer, but this was not going to end any time soon. While he and any other Furies might not run out of shots during their Alpha glow, the same was not true for all the other defenders. They were already flying slower and not flaming as much as they had been. Skadi could throw hundreds of enthralled dragons at them and use numbers alone to overwhelm. Dozens of knocked out or dead dragons were already on the ground or waters below.
Time was not on their side.
A crazy and stupid possibility. Fighting the thralled dragons was not enough. Without him and the others with Alpha glow helping to hold back the flood of thralls, the lines could not hold, but they could not hold indefinitely anyway if nothing changed.
They had to take the battle to the real enemy.
Resigned, he roared for Luna to follow him and dashed for Was-Grounded and Green-Wings, both of whom were in the middle of the pass where the fighting was most intense. He winged beside them and got their attention after they tricked a Rumblehorn into crashing against a spire.
"We have to fight her! Coming with?" he roared.
Was-Grounded roared in agreement.
"You are both twisted and death-seeking!" Green-Wings shouted.
With Was-Grounded at his side, and both Green-Wings and faded Luna following them, he turned toward the mass of attackers, within which a faint light burned from atop a crystal. Hopefully their Alpha glows would hold away the thralls long enough to do what was necessary.
Kill Skadi and all the enthralled dragons would be freed.
Aurora gawked in alarm, seeing that her parents, Shadowwing, and likely Luna too had just flown into the mass of thralled sky-kin. What were they- they had to be planning to directly fight Skadi. Maybe that would help. Hopefully they knew what they were doing. Of course they did. They had far more experience with battle and strategy than anyone else.
On the other paw, without their power-lights to help push back the thralls, the attacking sky-kin surged forward through the middle of the pass in greater numbers than before. Reinforcing fire-scales and great-horns flew in from the rear of the defending sky-kin, but there were too many new attackers to completely stop. A gap opened in the defending line, and a pawful of thralled sky-kin got through before the gap closed. They could not be allowed to get to the shared-nest in any great number.
She roared and called out for anyone immediately nearby her to follow. Hope-In-His-Liver and Moon-Dancer answered from nearby. No one else was close enough to hear over all the other noise.
The first three thralls, rock-bellies, were easy enough to catch and down by making them crash. The next group of fire-scales had already used up most of their fire and were visibly slow and tired. Despite their exhaustion, they flew onward with lurching flights, two of them even crashing into each other without her needing to do anything. Precise explosive shots or an unseen paw to the head downed the remaining fire-scales.
The next three escaped attackers were spine-tails which appeared to know they were being pursued. They spun toward her, their tails ready to hurl spines her direction. A quick spin and dodge avoided both their hot flame and their thrown spines. One of the spine-tails dropped unconscious from an unseen strike. Perhaps panicked, if thralled sky-kin could even be aware, the remaining two charged at her without care. She flamed in their faces and struck with a paw as she passed over them, but flaming pain flared in the forepaw. She roared in alarm, carefully landed on her other three limbs, and bit out the spine which had embedded in her paw.
Moon-Dancer landed and reappeared next to her after the other two spine-tails were downed, "What happened?"
"One of those waste-eating, shaken-egg, windless-sky, cold-fire thralls got my paw!"
"How bad is it?"
"Not as bad as what I will do to the next thrall I get my claws on!"
She licked her paw clean to stop dripping life-water. In any other situation, a normal and somewhat serious hurt like that would mean rest and immediate help from Kin-liver, but this was different. Unless grounded, they had no choice but to rejoin the fight and help defend.
A pawful more of the thralls were further ahead, closer to the shared-nest, but it was probably more important to defend alongside all the other sky-kin. Hope-In-His-Liver had already turned back for the main fighting. She took flight toward the fighting and flew with haste and Moon-Dancer at her side. The ground-kin would need to do some fighting of their own against the pawful which got past.
The chaos and noise ahead was, while still intense, not what it had been earlier. A wind buffeted her flight despite there never being strong wind in most of the hidden world or any of their ranges. The stretch of mushroom-forest below and around the battle was completely ablaze, sending tongues of flame reaching up toward the rock-ceiling in places. Above and within the inferno, New Haven sky-kin swarmed in defense to push back the attackers, but the lines looked as though they were barely holding, more and more thralls finding a way through. There was no sign of what had happened to her parents, Shadowwing, and Luna. Death was certain if she stayed here much longer, but if she had to die this waking-cycle, at least she could die alongside those she loved.
She glanced over her shoulder at Moon-Dancer. His gaze was grim and fixed ahead on the fighting to which they were returning. All lingering confusion toward him melted in a single wingbeat. No need for together-feeling-seeing, more intimate experiences with him, or anything else to confirm his place in her liver. She wanted him forever in her life-flight, however long that was.
She brushed his wing and got his attention, "I love you."
He missed a wingbeat but immediately recovered himself, "I love you too."
"If you die on me, I will kill you! Bonding later, flaming enemies now!"
She roared in defiance, and he roared along with her while rejoining the chaotic battle as flames engulfed the entire forest.
