Chapter Six: Kumandra and the Last Dragon

For his first official trip between realms, Toothless had expected Kumandra to be

quite vast in its differences to the Archipelago, yet upon arrival, it appeared to be

anything but. As Charizard led the way towards a stream marked on a map by

Elderess, Toothless could see that almost everything here reassembled the lands he

had journeyed during his time at Dragons Edge. Lengthy trees lined the start of

looming forests, mountains separated the horizon from the sky, even the river itself

didn't seem too surreal, flowing in one direction and even having some fish occupy it.

However, Toothless wasn't feeling too hungry, so he decided to let them go. "Alright,"

Charizard instructed, startling Toothless, as he hadn't said a word since they had

arrived. "Our best way of finding this realm's guardian is by finding the capital of this

realm. However, showing up unannounced may cause some panic or at least

suspicion, so I suggest we find the nearest settlement of dragons, and ask them for

assistance." Toothless considered Charizard's plan, before a thought arose. "What

happens if the dragons here have also forgotten about the prophecy and the

guardians?" Toothless' question only gained a raised eyebrow from Charizard. "We

cross that bridge when we encounter it." Without another word, Charizard began

making his way down stream. Rolling his eyes, Toothless followed behind.

As the two walked in silence, Toothless couldn't help but feel bad by the way he had

spoken to the dragon back in the caverns. Yeah, he had been a bit rude upon

discovering he was the Alpha instead of a giant Bewilderbeast, but to an extent, the

Night Fury could see why. Whoever it was Charizard lost, he saw the prophecy as a

way to avenge them. Dwelling on that gave Toothless an idea. Maybe I should get to

know him a bit better, he thought to himself. Same with the others when we find

them. Maybe if I can get to know and understand them, the prophecy can be fulfilled

quicker or more efficiently. With that in mind, Toothless began to walk up to

Charizard, who had his snout in the map, briefly gazing up to check they were on the

right track. Despite that, Charizard, either didn't seem to notice or care that Toothless

had come up besides him. "Hey, umm, do you feel like talking? I was thinking, if

we're going to find the other Guardians together, we should get to know each other

better, right?" Toothless only received a glance from Charizard, although the Night

Fury could tell he was listening, to some extent. "So, what is your name?" Toothless

started. "Your full name, not your first name." Charizard continued to evaluate the

map. "Charizard," he responded blankly. Toothless glanced away, thinking. Alright,

well that didn't work. He tried another question. "What's your favourite colour? Surely

it can't be orange right?" Toothless jokes, before quickly adding "not that there's

anything wrong with that, of course." Charizard gave him an uninterested look.

"Blue," he responded. Toothless gave a small smile, feeling some progress. "Huh.

You know what, that checks out," Toothless commented, observing Charizard's blue

wings. "How about food? Surely a big guy like yourself must have a favourite

delicacy?" Toothless chuckled in a friendly tone, yet Charizard only looked the

slightest bit annoyed rather than engaged. "Roast fish." Toothless stopped for a

moment as Charizard continued on. "Roast fish? How does that even… you know

what, doesn't matter." Toothless concluded before catching up. "Maybe you could tell

me about your realm. I mean, you probably know a lot about mine, but I'm interested

to hear about where you came from, and who your tribe is." Charizard suddenly

stopped, causing Toothless to almost run into him. "Look, I see that you're trying to

be friendly and get to know me," Charizard growled as he turned to face Toothless."

But can we at least attempt to stay on track. Kandikis probably already knows that

we're here, and unless we find a settlement of dragons sooner instead of later, it's

gonna be a hard time talking about anything when your mouth is made of stone!"

Charizard then turned back and continued walking, leaving Toothless standing in

mild shock. Clearly Charizard wasn't one who was going to connect through talking,

which Toothless probably should have guessed. Sighing in defeat, he continued

behind, remaining quiet out of respect.

After a while of walking, Charizd stopped abruptly, raising his wing to halt Toothless

as well. "Hey what's going… Toothless staggered, before Charizard raised his wing

to cover his mouth. "Quiet", he growled. "Do you hear that?" As the two fell silent,

Toothless could begin to hear what sounded like voices behind a line of trees on the

other side of the river. "Are they human?" Toothless asked, feeling slightly

embarrassed for asking. He didn't know whether or not he should be able to tell the

difference between dragon and human voices. Luckily, Charizard seemed as unsure

as he did. "Wait here," he instructed, before silently but swiftly gliding across the river

and landing in front of the trees. Taking a few moments to peer through, he then

beckoned Toothless to come forward, and the Night Fury did so, landing quietly

beside Charizard in front of another tree. "There appears to be a farm on the other

side of this foliage," Charizard reported. "Two dragons are there, but I can't make out

what they're doing." Toothless peaked through the trees, and sure enough, within a

flat stretch of land stood two dragons.

The bigger one had a long, blue, serpent - like body with a crest, fins, and a mane of

white-bluish-violet hair that started at her head and went down to her arms. She has

a human-like snout, big purple eyes, and two dark blue horns at the top of her

forehead. The smaller one had similar features to her associate, yet she only had

one horn instead of two, and instead of being a light blue, she was more of an indigo

colour. Both had no wings, although Toothless had seen plenty of wingless dragons

in his time, and they appeared to be more cleanly than most of the dragons who

resided in the Hidden World.

After analysing them a bit further, Toothless turned back to Charizard. "So what do

you think? Do we approach them? Ask them if they know of any titans in this realm?"

Charizard shook his head. "Unsure. Even if this realm still remembers the war and

the prophecy, the appearance of two foreign dragons may cause some alarm."

Toothless consider what he was saying, before looking down and noticing some big

leaves on the ground. An idea formed in Toothless' head. "Then let's go out

disguised," he suggested, showing Charizard the leaves on the floor. The orange

dragon shook his head. "That plan isn't sound. Even if a dragon was foolish enough

to pass those off as a disguise, my tail would set one on fire the moment they

collided." Looking away, Toothless could understand the logic, yet there still needed

to be some sort of compromise. "Then just let me go out," Toothless suggested.

"That way, if anything goes sideways, you can remain hidden and ready just in case."

Charizad looked at him for a moment before snorting. "That's an even worse idea

than the one you had before. First of all, you don't know how to interact with dragons

outside of this realm, and second, given your role as the alpha, I'm pretty much

bound to protect you until I draw my last breath." Toothless grumbled in annoyance,

before a loophole flashed in his mind. "Well, given that being king makes me the

boss of you," Toothless smirked, "doesn't that mean I get the final say on matters?"

Charizard looked in confusion before the realisation of Toothless' argument set in,

causing the Guardian to shut his eyes, grinding his teeth in frustration. "Come on,

Charizard," Toothless persisted. "If I am unfamiliar with this realm, isn't this a good

place to start?" Toothless then pointed towards the two dragons. "Besides, I've been

told I'm an everyman's dragon." Eventually, Charizard yielded in his display of anger,

and turned to look at the dragons. "Alright fine," he surrendered. "I'll let you try and

introduce yourself to those two disguised. "Toothless couldn't but grin in success at

convincing Charizard. Progress is being made, Toothless thought, before Charziard

added a word of warning. "However, if anything goes south, or if your plan ends up

being a baby's first plan like I suspect, I'm stepping in and taking charge,

understood?" Toothless rolled his eyes in response. "Yes sir," he responded

sarcastically. Clearly not as much progress, he thought, yet he figured this was better

than nothing.

Out in the field, the two dragons had remained entirely unaware of Charizard and

Toothless' presence. Rather, they appeared to be discussing the purpose of a

farming tool the blue one held in her hands. "I just don't understand," the indigo one

commented. "I thought rakes were only used for gathering things like leaves and dirt.

How could we use it here?" She then pointed to the field they were standing in,

which turned out to be a type of cherry farm. The blue one smiled in response. "Well

sis, you know the saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure?" The indigo

one nodded in response. "Of course Sisu. Everyone knows that saying." Sisu lifted

the rake, holding it towards the sky. "Well I like to think of it as one man's treasure

can be a different kind of treasure." She then lowered the rake to the ground and

began stroking the ground with it. As it moved through the bushes Sisu elaborated.

"I've learnt a lot from plants when swimming through the rivers, Amba. However,

while they may seem different to plants above water, you'd be surprised to see how

many similarities they share." Sisu then lifted the rake up vertically, showing a pile of

berries the rake had scooped up. "Like how objects on plants can sometimes detach

and fall to the ground." Sisu couldn't help but smile as her sister looked in complete

awe. "Holy cow, sis! That's about ten bushes worth of berries right there? We could

increase the hall drastically with a tool like that!" Amba then reached for the rake,

which Sisu handed, chuckling at her younger sister's excitement.

Amba then turned back towards Sisu with curiosity in her, but the curiosity suddenly

turned to shock, as her eyes laid on something behind the blue dragon. Sisu

immediately noticed, as Amba dropped the rake. "What? What is it sis?" Sisu

questions grabbing the rake and spinning around as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, the speed Sisu reacted at didn't allow the dragon that approached her

enough time to react, which resulted in him getting hit square in the jaw with the rake

Sisu was holding, sending him to the ground. The two dragons looked in shock at the

creature Sisu had accidentally whacked, who had black scales and appeared to be

covered in leaves. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" Sisu apologised, bending down to assist the

creature. "I didn't expect you to be standing so close? Are you alright?" The creature

below her groaned in response. "Oooowwww…my jaw!" Sisu couldn't help but wince

at the creature's exchange, before realising what he had just said. "Wait a minute?

You just spoke!"Sisu realised, backing away from the mystery creature. "Are you

people?" she questioned, receiving an injured chuckle in response. "Not to my

knowledge, although it wouldn't surprise me given everything I've seen today."

Giving him space to stand up, Sisu could see that the creature stood on four legs,

with two leaves placed above from his head down to his tail. Realizing what he was,

she gasped.

"You're a dragon!" Sisu uttered in shock, while Toothless gave her a defeated look in

response. "Well, I was trying to get to that in time." Sisu couldn't help but hang her

head. "Oh sorry. It's just when I saw the four legs and the tail, I immediately knew!"

She then pointed towards the leaves on each side of Toothless. "Plus, I'm pretty sure

there are wings hidden underneath those, right?" Sisu eagerly waited for a response

while Toothless let out a puffed sigh, detaching the leaves with his claws. "Were they

really that obvious?" Sisu gave an unhelpful smile. "Yes," a voice responded from

behind. "Do you think I'm stupid when I say a plan isn't sound?" The three heads

turned to see Charizard approaching from behind Toothless, to whom Sisu gasped in

response. "Holy buffalo!" Sisu cried in pure shock, quickly bouncing forward to

Charizard. "You're a dragon too. But not just any dragon! You're a Charmander,

right?" Charizard gave her a raised eyebrow. "You know of my species?" he

commented. Sisu let out an innocent laugh in response. "Know of them," Amba

questioned. "Dude, we fought alongside you until the very end." Sisu nodded in

agreement, before her friendly demeanour suddenly gave way to a look of confusion

and concern. "Wait a minute. The realms were closed once the war had finished.

How can you be here right now?" Charizard opened his mouth to respond, before

Sisu let out a gasp of fear. "Unless… Oh no? Is it the prophecy? Has the prophecy

begun?!" Amba gave a worried look to Toothless, to which he responded with a

helpless nod. Meanwhile, Sisu had begun pacing back and forth, clinging onto her

tail as she stood on her hind legs. "Oh man, oh man, oh man. This is bad. This is

really bad?" Turning towards Toothless with a 'what now' look on his face, Charizard

beckoned him to go forward, clearly thinking their business related to these two.

Sighing, Charizard turned back towards Sisu. "Ma'am, we're looking for a group of

titan wings called the guardians. Do you happen to know of anyone who fits that

description?" Releasing her tail and turning towards Charizard, she thought for a

moment before a look of realisation washed over her. "Of course. We need to take

you to our brother. He'll be able to help." Amba nodded in agreement. "Of course.

Pengu always knows what to do!" Giving her sister a smile, Sisu turned around and

beckoned the two to follow them, but while Toothless complied, Charizard stood in

place, confused. "Hold up a moment," he called out to the two sisters. "Did you say

Pengu? As in the Bringer of Rain?" Sisu spun around and nodded. "Yep. That's our

big brother alright." Toothless walked up to the charizard and gave him a concerned

look. "What's the problem, Charizard?" He looked at Toothless as if he was stupid,

before hanging his head scoffing. "Oh nothing, except the fact that Pengu lived over

500 years ago!" Charizard explained, "No dragon can live that long without the aid of

crystals!" Toothless looked at him in confusion, thinking he was over contemplating.

Surely this Pengu was just a name or a title, right? Before Toothless could speak

though, Sisu stood forward with a guilty look on her face. "Ah yeeaah…about

that…This may sound crazy, buuut…" Sisu began before Amba placed her hand on

her sister's shoulder, and stepped forward to face the two. "We're over 500 years old

as well." For a moment, the four stood in silence, as Sisu and Amba waited for a

response, and Toothless and Charizard stood in shocked silence. As the Night Fury

tried to put together what he had just hear, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by

the roar of the dragon standing next to him

"WHAT?!" Charizard's roar echoed through the fields, causing birds to scatter. Both

sisters squinted at the noise, before looking at each other, realising they had a lot to

explain.

…

Back within his lair, Kandikis was spying upon the four dragons through a sliver of

Drunn that was hidden underneath a couple of berry bushes. "Impossible," he

sneered. "Pengu and his siblings shouldn't have access to any type of crystals,

leatlone regenerative crystals. How in the moons are they still alive after all this

time?" He contemplated the shadow ether briefly before Sentinel arrived behind him

with a couple of troops. "Sir. My men have been dispatched, and are pursuing the

guardians as we speak." Kandikis turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. "Are

they hidden?" Sentinel nodded. "The titans and their associates do not seem aware

of their presence." Turning back towards the ether, Kandikis growled, annoyed that

Elderess was not the only stubborn roach that had outlived his time just to meddle

with his plans. "Hold off on any offense until I give the order," Kandikis instructed.

"Let the two find the third guardian. Then, we capture them and any other dragons

assisting them. There can't be a prophecy, if half of the dragons meant to fulfil it are

stone." While most of the guards nodded in response, leaving the area, Sentinel

remained, sensing a disturbance in his master's commands. "Is there a problem

master?" Sentinel expected a straight no, but instead he was met with a face of

flaming fury. "Is it your job to assess my emotions, Sentinel?" Before he could reply,

Kandikis answered, poking the general with his talon in the chest. "Of course not!

Your post is to lead my military force in the realms!" Sentinel took a step back from

the reaction. "My mistake sir. I just noticed some uncertainty in your command."

Growling, Kandikis decided he should at least his second in command about his

recent revelation. "One of the original guardians is still alive," he explained. "Despite

the fact my pet claimed him over 500 years ago, he as well as his siblings still live."

Sentinel contemplated Kandikis' discovery. "Is it possible that the Drunn wore off on

them somehow? Possibly some magic we were unaware of?" Kandikis annoyance

only grew. He never thought regaining his powers would free dragons caught by his

previous enchantment. "Nevermind that!" he roared, waving his hand away at the

topic. "It does not change our objectives! We will crush them as well as anyone who

stands in my way!" Sentinel nodded and quickly retreated back to his post, leaving

Kadnikis alone, who turned back to face the shadow ether. "If anything, they will

make excellent offerings for him…"

…

It took a while for Sisu to fully explain the story of their realm, but luckily, the walk to

their capital gave her the time needed. Amba had gone ahead to inform their siblings

about their two visitors, and while Charizard insisted on flying, toothless eventually

convinced him to walk, given Sisu nor Pranee had wings of their own. "While, that's a

fair bit to take in." Toothless commented after Sisu concluded her story. "Yet it's

nowhere near as long as the historian I was fed early today." Toothless' joke gained

a chuckle out of Sisu, and an annoyed eye roll out of Charizard. "Still though, being

asleep or frozen in stone for 500 years must have been a traumatic experience?"

Sisu gave a little shrug in response. "Ah well. It's not like we were going to see

anyone again given the realms had been cut off not too long before. Plus, at least

we're here now to help you guys fulfil the prophecy, am I right?" Charizard nodded in

agreement. "Indeed. As much as I sympathize for your tribe and the injustices they

must have endured, your presence with us now will be instrumental in vanquishing

the Drunn and its master conclusively!" Toothless just stared at Toothless for a

moment, to which the orange dragon noticed looking at him in agitated annoyance.

"What? What's the problem?" Toothless shrugged in response. "I've just never heard

a dragon or human spout such a big word salad before. It's impressive." Charizard

let out a snort in response, moving ahead, while Sisu held back a laugh.

By the time dusk had arrived, the three had arrived at the end of a forest they were

travelling through, where they entered a clearing that revealed a long bridge that led

to an island. On top of the island, a lone mountain stood, yet it was unlike any

mountain Toothless had seen in the archipelago. It appeared to resemble a dome, as

a giant hole occupied the inside of the mountain. At its peak, Toothless could see

what appeared to be multiple structures and buildings at the top of the mountain,

which began to emulate light as the day concluded. Did the dragons here build

those, Toothless thought to himself. They don't have wings to fly up there. Or was

that the work of this realm's humans. Whatever answer, Toothless was impressed

regardless. Bringing his line of sight back towards the bridge, Toothless noticed that

a group of dragons similar looking to Sisu were waiting, and the Night Fury

immediately determined that they were waiting for him and Charizard. As the three

approached, Charizard fell back, allowing Sisu to lead as he pulled Toothless in,

"Now given these dragons were around during the war itself, I believe it to be best if

a dragon with extensive knowledge speaks for the two of us." Toothless smirked and

began looking all over the place "Really? Well who do you have in mind?" Toothless

joked causing Charizard to grumble. "Just let me do the talking, smart aleck."

Toothless snickered as Charizard walked forward, to where Sisu had stopped in front

of her siblings and tribe. "Guardians," Sisu introduced, "meet the rest of my family.

Pranee, Jagan, and of course, our big brother Pengu." Out of the three siblings,

Pengu seemed larger than the others, mostly due to the horn on his head being way

bigger that his brother or sisters'. His scales and mane were different shades of

green, and just by looking at his face, he seemed older and more serious than any of

his siblings. Toothless grunted, guessing he would be exactly like Charizard.

"Welcome guardians. I'm glad you've sought out the Guardian from our world first,

despite not knowing our prolonged lives." Charizard stood before Pengu and gave

him a nod of respect, to which Pengu returned "Greetings mighty Pengu, Bringer of

Rain. I am Charizard, descendant of Charidus." Jagan and Pranee exchanged

pleasantly surprised looks while Pengu gave a look of awe. "Charidus you say? Man,

that old torch and I go way back. Although I must admit, I am rather shocked yet

pleased that his plan for the prophecy worked."

Charizard gave what appeared to be a look of pride, yet Toothless couldn't tell, in

part due to Charizard's hard to interpret deminer. "It has," Charizard informed. "My

kind have been preparing dragons in our tribe from birth for generations, all in

preparation for the day the prophecy was upon us." Toothless was only half listening,

given he didn't understand what the two were talking about, until Pengu turned his

attention towards Toothless. "And who might you be?" Pengu's question almost

startled Toothless, as he didn't think he was done with Charizard. "I'm Toothless," the

Night Fury answered a little sheepishly. Pengu looked at him with intrigue. "Toothless

huh? And just what realm do you hail from?" Toothless didn't exactly know if there

was a specific name for his realm, so he decided to guess. "The archipelago," he

responded as confidently as possible, despite being uncertain of his answer.

However, he seemed to be on the money, as now Pengu, Sisu and their siblings, as

well as every other dragon were exchanging shocked glances towards each other

and at Toothless. "The archipelago?! You're the king?" Sisu exclaimed in shock.

Charizard stood forward in response. "I know, I was surprised too, but I assure you

that-" Charizard stopped mid sentence as every dragon besides him and Toothless

had suddenly lowered and were bowing in front of the two. "Uuuh,what are you all

doing?" Charizard exchanged, giving Toothless a confused look, who replied with a

just as confused shrug. "Forgive us your majesty." Pengu apologised to Toothless,

before giving Charizard a judgemental look. "You should have informed us he was

the alpha as soon as you arrived!" Charizard just stared blankly in confusion, while

Toothless raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?" Charizard questioned, while

Toothless asked "Why?" Pengu could see that both were confused, so he stood up

and addressed both in a casual tone. "It is a well known sign of respect that all

dragons address the king with a bow whenever in his presence." Toothless stood in

shocked awe, meanwhile Charizard grumbled in annoyance as his tail flame grew

slightly. "Really? Oh it's not a big deal," Toothless swore, to which the dragons

around him, aside from Charizard, looked at him like a crazy dragon. "I literally only

learned about the existence of this place last night." Toothless caught Sisu looking at

him in fascination, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

An awkward silence fell over the group, one which lasted too long for Charizard's

liking, who decided to break it. "Pengu," he announced, gaining the attention of the

green dragon. "I believe it best for us to retreat to your kingdom's main spot of

gathering so that I may inform you of recent events." Pengu snapped out of his

confused trance and turned towards Charizard nodding. "Most correct. I'm sure

there's a great many things I as well as my kind must be caught up on." He then

turned towards the mountain, to which his siblings and other dragons present

mirrored. "Come, he invited Toothless and Charizard. "Our temple is just at the top of

that mountain. We can gather our tribe and discuss your news there." While

Charizard moved to the front, Toothless stayed behind, gazing up at the temple in

shock. So it was the home of these dragons, yet Toothless still couldn't figure out

how they get themselves up there. Toothless' thoughts were interrupted by Sisu, who

had noticed the Fury's hesitation and had walked over to his side. "Everything

alright?" she asked. "You look as if you're solving the world's hardest algebra

question." Looking towards Sisu, Toothless realised she might have some answers.

"Well it's just… how are you guys able to get up there? You don't have any wings."

Sisu looked at her back and gasped. "We don't?" she remarked in shock, causing

Toothless to panic before the blue dragon burst into a fit of giggles, causing the Night

Fury to shoot an unapproved look. "No, we don't have wings," Sisu confessed,

before pointing towards her brother at the front of the group. "But just wait till you see

what we have instead." Looking with intrigue, Toothless suddenly felt a drop of water

land on his snout, before another landed on his wing, and then one on his tail, and

before long it was completely pouring on top of the group. Waiting for something to

happen, Toothless suddenly noticed that Pengu had seemed to step on a drop of

water, which was allowing him to step in mid air. Before long, he stood on another,

before he launched off the ground and began galloping in mid air towards the

temple. The other dragons followed, including Charizard who flew behind, with his

tail still unfazed by the water. Staring in disbelief, Toothless looked to the side, and

noticed Sisu was standing in the air as well, with a huge silly grin across her face.

"Well, what do you think?" Toothless remained silent for a moment before looking

back towards the group. "Well, it's certainly different from flying." Toothless

commented, before launching into the air after Charizard and Pengu's herd. He

heard Sisu let out a short laugh, before he turned around and saw that the

dragoness was following behind.