Chapter 1
Tom Kullersen and his friends were lounging in a secluded cove on the northern shore of Lake Champlain. The early summer sun glinted on the waves. Boats sailed back and forth in the distance. Tom was scanning the horizon for their ride, Alex was playing games on her tablet, Eugene was browsing on his phone, D'Angelo was dozing off, and Jun was scanning the horizons as well with her binoculars hoping to spot the monster of Lake Champlain. However nothing was seen except boats, birds, and a silver float plane that flew overhead.
"Is she even coming?" Eugene asked impatiently. "We've waited all day."
"It's still the morning," said Tom. "I'm sure she's on her way."
"Unless she crashed her boat, and it sank into the abyss," said Alex darkly.
"She can swim you know," said Jun. "I don't think sinking would slow her down."
"Maybe she was picked up by border control or the police," said D'Angelo. "I don't know what they'd do with her, she's got no identification." That worried them. They had seen a few police boats going up and down the lake.
"I'm sure she's fine," said Tom, though not too sure. Suddenly they heard another airplane approaching. They turned to see the same silver float plane they'd spotted earlier flying in low towards the cove. It splashed down and headed for a clear patch of sand.
The plane was an old Beaver. It was a shiny silver chrome, with red stripes, and as it turned parallel to the shore Tom spotted the all too familiar dragon symbol painted white on the plane's red tail.
"That's got to be her!" He explained. Everyone jumped up, grabbed their luggage and ran to the plane as it sputtered to a stop. The door opened and Edelweiss stepped out. She was wearing a cropped white leather tank top, army green shorts, brown hiking boots, and white aviators. She smiled as the riders ran up to her.
"Hey guys," she said. Suddenly Tom, who was first to reach her hugged her. She was stunned for a moment but hugged him back. "I'm guessing you missed me or something."
"I knew you'd make it," said Tom, letting go of her.
"We were starting to think you'd been taken by border patrol," said D'Angelo.
"That's why I brought the Beaver," Edelweiss said, gesturing to the plane. "They'd have a harder time stopping when I'm flying."
"Whoa Dragon Girl, have you always looked that this hot?" Eugene asked, lowering his sunglasses and looking Edelweiss up and down.
"Eugene!" Jun scolded him, elbowing him in the gut.
"Well she is," said Eugene.
"I've always looked like this Eugene," Edelweiss said cheerfully. "You guys are the ones that changed." She smiled fondly at them all.
All the riders had grown a great deal since the last time they all met. Tom was taller and a bit more muscular. He wore a blank red basketball jersey, cargo shorts, and sneakers. Edelweiss noticed the black dragon symbol tattooed on his upper left arm.
D'Angelo had also grown a big taller, but mostly wider with thick muscle. He'd shaved his head giving him a more military look. He wore an army t shirt, khaki shorts, combat boots, and his usual utility vests with dog tags and army ranger badge.
Eugene was pretty much the same, just taller and broader. He had a thin layer of stubble on his chin. He wore a black t shirt and blue jeans. Edelweiss could also smell that he was wearing aftershave.
Jun and Alex had also grown taller, and more like women then girls. They both wore jewelry and makeup. Jun's makeup was glittery, sparkly purple eye shadow, a bit of pixie dust on her cheeks, pink lipgloss and matching nail polish. She had purple and pink highlights in her hair. She wore a dark pink blouse with a sparkly mermaid broach, blue jeans, and her jade pendant around her neck.
Alex had more gothic makeup, and she now wore glasses. She'd let her hair loose and was using an extra long charging cable for a head band. She wore a dark green hoodie and grey jeans. She clutched her new tablet to her chest.
They all had backpacks and duffle bags.
"You guys look pretty great too," Edelweiss said. "I still have an image of you guys as young teenagers." She smiled guiltily.
"Seriously, has your chest really been that big?" Eugene asked, his eyes wide. Edelweiss rolled her eyes.
"Eugene, stop it!" Jun protested, looking embarrassed.
"Never mind Jun," Edelweiss said. "They're just words, they can't hurt me." Tom then looked at the Beaver.
"Nice plane," he said. "You think I can fly it, it'll give me a lot of practice for my pilot's license." Edelweiss considered.
"I'll let you talk off," she said. "Then I'll take over, since I know where my yacht is."
"Deal," Tom said.
"Perhaps during this trip I'll let you practice with my smaller seaplane," Edelweiss said as she opened the passenger door. "You'll find it a bit easier and more fun to fly." Tom looked thrilled. "Now lets go meet up with our dragons." They loaded their luggage into the plane, then got in themselves and strapped in. Tom sat in one of the front seats, and Edelweiss climbed in next to him after closing all the doors. They all put on headsets so the loud engine wouldn't hurt their hearing. Tom studied the controls for a moment, then started the engine. He steered the plane away from the shore and towards the open lake. He hit the throttle and the plane sped across the water. He carefully lifted the plane up and off the water.
"Have you seen Champ at all?" Jun asked, speaking in her headset's microphone.
"No I haven't," Edelweiss answered. "But I'm not really interested in disturbing him." She took over the controls and steered the plane towards the north. "Nice flying Tom, that was very smooth." Tom blushed as he leaned back in his seat. He glanced sideways at Edelweiss he had to admit Eugene was right, she was very attractive despite her strange skin and scary eyes.
They settled into their seats as they flew over the wilderness. Tom and Edel talked a lot about flying, dragons, and traveling. Jun watched and listened feeling slightly annoyed and envious. She distracted herself with the scenery below and think about Wu and Wei waiting for her.
Soon the plane started to descend towards the wide river below. Edelweiss steered the plane in a circle over a large yacht anchored in the middle of the river. It looked a good 600 feet long, with elegant grey hull, triangular bow, large flat stern, and arched superstructure in the very center. The white dragon symbol was illuminated on the side of the superstructure.
"Wow! That's huge!" D'Angelo exclaimed. "Where'd you get that?"
"I scavenged it from the Navy a long time ago," Edelweiss explained. "The dragons back home help turn it from a killing machine to an exception yacht." She steered the plane towards the water for landing. The big floats splashed down onto the water alongside the yacht. They could now read the yach's name on the side of the bow; The Roost.
"The Roost?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, it used to be called the Super Dragon until I decided to change it," Edelweiss said. She steered the plane towards the very back of the ship. A large panel opened revealing a hidden hanger. The plane entered the hanger and up a ramp before coming to a stop. The engine powered down. Tom spotted a smaller seaplane parked next to the Beaver. It was navy blue with the white dragon symbol on the tail, a single prop behind the small cockpit. It's wings were folded so it would fit better in the hanger. The big door closed behind them.
"Well, we're here," Edelweiss said. She opened the door and got out. The others followed glancing around the hanger. It was mostly empty except for the two planes. Just then they heard loud roars above.
"Dragons!" Alex exclaimed.
"This way," said Edelweiss. "They're on the helipad." She led the way to a metal staircase that led up. They passed corridors lit with glowing crystals. They soon reached another hanger that held a black helicopter, and a tiny ultralight that was disassembled.
"You have two hangers?" Alex asked.
"I do," said Edelweiss. "I keep all aircraft in the back and all my land vehicles in the front." She opened a small door that led outside. Tom led the way out into the bright daylight, but was then knocked off his feet by something big and dark. Tom landed hard on his back and the thing he hit towered over him, only to start licking his face. Tom blinked and was met with big blue eyes.
"Thunder!" He exclaimed happily. He jumped to his feet and hugged the dragon. "Good to see you too pal." Thunder gave a happy roar and nuzzled his rider. The other riders reunited with their dragons. The dragons had all grown larger since they last saw each other. Thunder was almost as big as his grandfather, Condor, had been and very muscular.
"You guys been staying out of trouble?" Jun asked Wu and Wei, petting their snouts. They'd grown twice their size. Feathers and Webs were the same size as Thunder, and Plowhorn had grown to the size of a cargo van. Edelweiss watched the happy reunion as she joined her three dragons. She caught Thunder's eye and he looked over at her. He smiled a warm, loving, toothless smile at her, and slowly blinked once. Edelweiss suddenly felt her heart skip a beat and her stomach clench as though something powerful had hit her. She smiled back at him, and slowly blinked back at him.
"You all right?" Black Widow asked, seeing the flustered look on her rider's face, and the hand clutching at her heart.
"I'm fine," Edelweiss said breathlessly. "Thunder's never smiled at me like that before, it seems to have winded me. I guess he's just really happy about today." She recovered herself and went over to her friends. "Right, before I head up to the bridge and get us underway, I'll need to go over the house rules." The riders and dragons gave her their full attention, except for Eugene who was scrolling through his phone. "First rule," Edelweiss began grabbing the phone out of Eugene's hand. "Don't touch any of my ancient artifacts through out the boat. Second; don't jump off the boat for any reason because I won't stop for you."
"What if we fall off by accident?" Alex asked, putting up her hand.
"That why we have dragons onboard," Edelweiss said. "Third rule; no one touches any of my aircraft without permission. Last rule, and the easiest one; if a door says Restricted in big red letters, don't go in. Am I clear?"
"Yeah we're all clear," said Tom, and the others nodded.
"Good," said Edelweiss, tossing Eugene's phone to him. "Well make yourselves at home, there's plenty of food in the kitchen and pantry. I'm headed for the bridge." She got on Black Widow and took off for her private deck which was adjacent to the bridge. The riders and dragons headed up another flight of stairs and came out onto a large deck filled with loungers, tables, sofas, and a grand swimming pool that even Wu, Wei and Plowhorn could fit into. Tall clear crystals rising out of the center. The sunlight shone through the crystals, casting large rainbows across the deck. At the back of the pool deck was a glass door that led to a lounge big enough for all the dragons. Above the pool deck was another deck that was slightly smaller. But there wasn't a staircase that led to it. Suddenly the yacht let out a loud blast from its horn, and slowly started to pivot around like a compass needle. The whole ship vibrated from the force of the thrusters. Everyone ran to the side to watch as the ship faced north. The engine revved up and the ship moved through the water.
Edelweiss sat in her captain's chair on the bridge, steering the yacht up the river. Part of her mind was focused on driving and the other was wondering about the feeling she got when Thunder smiled at her. She'd never felt that before, and Thunder had never looked at her like that. She wondered this out loud to Black Widow who was looking at a map.
"I think he's just grateful that we brought the group back together," Black Widow said.
"Yeah, but why did it effect me that way?" Edelweiss asked. "That's never happened before." She exhaled. "I hope I'm not going crazy."
"I don't think so," said Black Widow. "We'll be spending a lot of time on this boat, so you'll be able to find out." Edelweiss turned her attention back to the river.
The riders and their dragons entered the big lounge adjacent to the pool deck. It was made of dark wood and windows. On the farthest wall was a large mural painting of the Great Alpha, Toothless, blasting at a monster that was so big that Toothless looked as small as an insect. The monster was dull grey and had large tusks. It seemed to be looking at the Great Alpha with fear in it's eyes. Toothless was snarling viciously, his back spins glowing blue. In front of the mural in the center of the large room was a massive round wooden table that looked ancient and withered, but still glossy with polish. Chairs were placed around the table. A few more arm chairs in the corners with side tables carved out of crystals. A spiral staircase sat in the far left corner and a wooden French door on the far right side. Alex sat in one of the armchairs and fired up her tablet. The others made themselves comfortable around the room. Jun studied the old table.
"Where'd this table come from?" She asked. "It looks so old."
"It's very old," said Apollo who sat in a patch of sunlight. "My mother rescued it from a castle ruin and gave it a home in our castle for a time, then she passed it down to us. Jun pulled out one of the books she'd brought from her bag and flipped through it. She read a few pages, glancing up at the table every now and then.
"Wait, this isn't the Round Table is it?" She asked. "From King Arthur's castle?"
"Very good Jun," Apollo said, smiling. "It is indeed. My mother managed to locate the old kingdom of Camelot, and found this along with a few other artifacts that remain in our castle." Tom looked at the book Jun was holding. It showed knights, a king, queen, and magician sitting around a table that was the exact same shape and color as the table in the room.
"Whoa, you mean real knights sat at this table?" Tom asked, awestruck.
"And King Arthur, and Queen Guinevere," said Apollo. "And Merlin."
"Right, Merlin," said Jun. "The greatest magician in history."
"You've no proof Merlin existed," Eugene scoffed.
"He did exist," said Apollo. "We dragons tell the same stories humans do, the difference is we heard them from dragons that were actually there. Now, whether or not he was a real magician is another matter. My mother thinks he might have been a mad scientist like that Einstein fellow. Science often gets mistaken for magic."
"What other artifacts has your mother found?" Jun asked eagerly.
"I'm not supposed to say," said Apollo. "The only reason we let the Round Table be here, is because it is still just a table all things considered." He stretched out in the warm sun.
The Roost headed farther north, towards the St. Lawrence river. The riders and dragon explored the rest of the ship. They found a movie theater, game room, even a sauna. Edelweiss mostly stayed on the bridge. Eugene and Alex were quick to find the pantry and kitchen. They were disappointed to find no junk food. However, Alex found packets of exotic meats like gator and kangaroo; as well as some exotic fruits like guava, lychees, and dragonfruits.
Everyone found cabins to stay in. They were all small and simple, but comfortable. Tom was the last one to find a cabin. He walked down a wide corridor and spotted one room that was open. He paused when he spotted a shiny Viking shield hanging on the wall near the bed. It bore Hiccup's black dragon symbol with on red tail fin. Under the shield was a strange looking sword that had a hallow blade, and didn't look very sharp. Tom figured these had belonged to Hiccup. He entered the room to get a better look at them, and spotted another painting on another wall. It showed Hiccup and Toothless flying together. Hiccup had the shield strapped to his back and the sword, on fire, in his raised left hand. Both dragon and rider had a look of excitement on their faces, like they were flying into battle together. Tom placed his stuff on the narrow bunk and closed the door.