Sorry about a short chapter, but at least you didn't have to wait too long ^^;

TRIGGER WARNING; splattering blood.

Out there on the dunes

The silver dragon was a myth that most people in Arendelle knew about. It was a bedtime story to tell children, like Merida's own mother had done to her as a child.

"Once upon a time, when the world was warm and the Ice queen wasn't born, the land was protected by Freya, the silver dragon. He was good and wise, the earth thrived and prospered under him. The humans were free eat anything they wanted and however much they wanted. Freya let there be day and night all year round, and the cold snow was kept away by his fire."

"So where is he now?" young Merida had always asked in a huff, because having an abundance of food and fire sounded especially good to a freezing, hungry child.

"Unfortunately, one day, the Ice queen came. Her ice overpowered Freya, slayed him and buried the world under layers upon layers of ice and snow. But one day, certainly, the descendants of the silver dragon will find a way to slay the queen, and melt the snow."

That's the story Merida was familiar with, but this was a lot different from what she might have imagined the dragon's return as.

Sitting under a table at a bar in the underground village, Merida was stalking her first target. Because an old myth was only an old myth, but the royal vizier was real, and so were his threats. Right now, Merida hoped with all her heart that the vizier's promises were just as real.

It took a year.

For a whole year Merida felt like she could be happy. The royal vizier, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, was a dream. His promises were real, and he came by with food and his body and allowed Merida to have a taste of both each time she'd figured out new information about the silver dragon part and its location. It made her greedy for more of him.

It made her dangerous.

It had taken a year, a total of twelve lives and many sleepless nights of questioning what the silver dragon really was, but tonight Merida was finally going to meet Haddock on the dunes. After tonight he would finally give her all of him. And all the answers.

Merida's obsession had made her more daring, but also much sharper. Haddock hadn't asked for it, but this trait was clearly something he valued in Merida, so she'd honed that skill, the one that made those green eyes glint in approval. She imagined it was appreciation. She wanted it to be desire.

Merida took out the other half of the silver dragon she'd obtained only yesterday and studied it in the faint starlight. It looked exactly like she'd imagined; simply a copy of the one Haddock had. The silver was the only thing about it that made it worth anything, though not to Merida or anyone else from the bottom of society. She highly doubted the silver dragon from the story was real, but maybe something about this thing really would melt the ice? It sounded as unlikely as it looked from Merida's perspective. So what could it be really?

A key, Haddock had said. The drunkard she'd obtained it from had said it was a map.

Breathing out a huff of impatience, the thief lit an orb of dragon fire, placed it in the snow and hid in the shadows of the dunes, the constant wind covering her tracks in the matter of minutes. Light out on the dunes could attract attention, even though people didn't like to wander into the desert. Every family had their own ghost stories. It didn't stop the thief from being paranoid. If the glow attracted anyone or anything other than Haddock, Merida would slip away in the darkness immediately.

To her great relief, after about twenty minutes, the face of a familiar riding dragon and her even more familiar rider silently entered the ring of light.

Merida stared at Windwalker, Haddock's riding dragon, and could still not comprehend the vizier's choice. Windwalker was an almost pathetic thing; always trembling, limping and huddling in on herself as if she wanted to hide. Even so, she rarely left Haddock's side no matter what happened.

It didn't cover Merida's disappointment every time she saw the trembling beast.

"You are here early," the vizier said. "Are you cold?"

Merida smiled through the veil that covered her face. "Of course not. These dragon scale clothes you gifted me keep me warm."

Not that she was flashing such an intimate gift. No, Merida wore the dragon scale clothes like undergarments, closest to her skin. It had taken some getting used to, but they really did help keep her warm.

Haddock liked it when her body was warm. He touched her more in those places.

The royal vizier slipped off Windwalker's back, rubbed the dragon under the chin when a terrified tremor went through her, and walked up to Merida.

She almost mistook his outstretched hand for what she wanted it to be. Luckily a green dragon poked its head out from underneath Haddock's cloak with his half of the silver dragon in its mouth.

Merida hastily took out the one she had, but kept it in her hand and stared Haddock straight in the eyes. He liked it when she was cunning before.

"What is this, really? You said before that it's a key. To what?"

Haddock's eyes narrowed, and pain shot through Merida's hand and wrist, making her cry out and drop the silver piece.

"You love to forget my dragons, don't you?" Haddock mocked when two snickering creatures landed on his arm. These were all shades of brown, from sand coloured to umbra, their pattern almost identical.

Merida held her hand, knowing it was bleeding under her glove but wasn't stupid enough to check the damage. More than that, she stared at Haddock in shock. He wasn't betraying her, was he?

"Don't worry, my sweet. Without you I'd never have found the other half, or know what was said about it. You deserve a great reward."

In the faint light of the orb, Haddock put the two dragon-halves together, and jumped away in surprise when it unexpectedly lit up with a bright silvery light.

It took off.

"After it, Windwalker! Merida!"

Reacting fast, the thief grabbed Haddock's hand and swung into the saddle behind him. She'd never ridden a dragon before, and only now did she realize why Windwalker was the vizier's favourite. She really was as fast as the wind, and moved smoothly between their thighs. The tree small dragons hiding in Haddock's clothes were chattering and whistling like they were upset.

Behind them, the castle that always stood over Merida disappeared between the dunes. If Haddock abandoned her out here she really would die.

In front of them the silver dragon shone like a falling star, not even wobbling when a gust of wind blew up a cloud of snow. Windwalker dashed through the snow without slowing.

Suddenly a shadow appeared at the horizon, blocking out the stars. The closer they came, the higher the shadow grew, until it was a wall in front of them.

The silver dragon flew straight at the wall, but Haddock suddenly held in Windwalker.

Before their eyes, the silver dragon split into two halves again, and hit the shadowy wall with a sound of breaking ice.

Before their eyes, the small twin lights grew into glowing orbs, and the light seeped into the rock. The wall in front of them cracked and groaned and glowed like gold when a creature suddenly pressed forward, bigger than anything the thief had ever imagined a living thing to be, and it opened a circular mouth full of teeth and showed a brightly shining maw.

"Whispering Death! How fitting as a Guardian of the Cave of Wonders!" Haddock breathed deeply. "Finally!"

Merida hadn't grasped what had even happened yet. "Is that the silver dragon?" she asked dumbly. If it was, she could understand why the queen would be afraid of this creature. It was certainly big enough to melt a lot of ice in a single breath.

But Haddock laughed. "It's just rock, not an actual dragon. Wait here with Windwalker and the twins."

All three dragons let out noises of protest, but Haddock was firm.

"Where are you going?" Merida demanded and jumped off Windwalker, just to sink down to her chest into the snow. Damn Haddock and his magic that let him walk on top of it!

Haddock was already heading towards the enormous dragon with long strides when a warm wind from within it unexpectedly pushed him back, and the mouth moved.

"Who dares awaken me?"

The voice was echoing all around them with the sound of rock grinding against ice. Windwalker started trembling like a leaf, and Merida managed to catch her tail when she against all of her instincts pushed forward to press against Haddock's back.

"I… I am Hiccup, a humble magician," the royal vizier called, and it was the first time Merida had ever heard fear in his voice. She grabbed his arm, hoping to sooth them both.

"Know this; only one may enter here. One whose value lies hidden. A warmth within the cold."

Merida heard Haddock breathe deeply. Repeating the stone dragon's riddle under his breath. Whatever he wanted to find in this magic cave, if he lost it, Merida didn't know what would become of their relationship.

Gritting her teeth, Merida pulled herself onto Windwalker's back and used her to leap over Haddock and onto the lip of the cave.

"Merida!"

She turned around and smiled at the vizier.

"I'll find it for you."

"IDIOT! COME…"

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock had no time to reach the thief and yank her out of the way. The cave closed with a sound of crumbling stone and a crushed body. Windwalker covered him from the blood that splattered over them as the rock groaned and rumbled. The light faded and the two orbs of light shrunk until they were once again two halves of a small silver dragon that fell off the cliffside and into the snow.

Silence and darkness embraced them once again. Hiccup pulled Windwalker's shivering wing aside. The cave was gone, and so was Merida. The snow was red in front of them, forming a half-circle around where the Cave of Wonders had appeared.

Hiccup wanted to scream, but the stupid girl couldn't hear him anymore, so what was the point?

"She must have really liked you," Tuffnut snickered.

"Or really wanted your dick," Ruffnut added her opinion as the twins flew to retrieve the silver dragon halves.

"How s-s-stupid," Toothless stammered happily.

"What now, master?" Windwalker asked timidly.

Hiccup held out his hand and accepted the silver dragon from the twins.

"Now… we find the one who may enter the cave. This warmth within the cold. Let's hope it's a living person."

"Yeah, dead ones can't be seduced," Ruffnut cackled as the vizier swung his leg over Windwalker's neck.