Chapter 8

All the riders landed their dragons in the arena. Both Wong siblings were arguing. Avalon ignored them and turned her attention to the baskets.

"Looks like the blue team wins," she said. Tom's team cheered and high fived each other.

"We totally would have won if Eugene hadn't rammed into me," Jun snapped. "Can we race again?" Avalon sighed, looking exasperated.

"Not today," she said. "Perhaps in a few days if nothing happens. You guys can head back to the ship for lunch. We'll clean this all up." She and her comrades took off and began disassembling the baskets.

The riders flew their dragons back to the Roost and landed on the helideck. Tom asked Edelweiss questions about races she'd seen, or heard about back in the Viking age.

"Did you like watching them, even though you weren't allowed to race?" Tom asked, as he took off Thunder's saddle.

"Yeah, I didn't really even care who won," Edel said. "I just like watching the fancy flying they would do." She took off Black Widow's saddle. "I'm so glad I finally got to race at least once." Once all the dragons were unsaddled they headed out fishing. Then Tom noticed that Jun was missing her jade pendant.

"Jun your necklace, it's gone," he said. Jun felt around her neck.

"Oh no, it must have fallen off during the race," she looked sad.

"Avalon can make you another one," Edel suggested. "She's got plenty of jade."

"My grandma gave me that pendant," Jun said reluctantly. At that moment Avalon landed on the deck. Apollo and Eider carried the racing equipment into the cargo hold.

"Hey Avalon, Jun's lost her jade pendant," said Edel. "You think you can make her a replacement?" Avalon smiled.

"Sure," she said. "Not a problem."

"You sure you can make it look exactly the same?" Jun asked her. Avalon nodded confidently as she headed inside. Jun followed her.

Avalon headed down a hallway, towards a wide doorway that was covered by strings of different colored beads. Jun followed her into a large room. The only light came from a long window at the back. Several clear crystals hung in front of the window, casting small rainbows around the room. There were crates of different colored jewels, pearls, sea shells, shiny metals and smooth stones. On wall were spools of different colored strings and chains. A small stove sat in one corner. The rest of the room was taken up by a large work bench that had several tools on it. Hanging on the wall were wooden dragon heads; all wearing crowns, necklaces, or horn bands. The biggest wooden dragon head, in another corner, wore Avalon's peacock feather crown. Jun was mesmerized. She looked at the different pieces of jewelry as Avalon combed through a crate full of unrefined jade.

"So how long have you had that pendant?" The queen asked.

"Ever since I was little," said Jun. "My grandma gave it to me, for good luck."

"That sounds nice," Avalon said. "The Chinese really like jade don't they?"

"Yeah," Jun said. Avalon soon found a chunk of jade that was the right color. She placed it on the work bench. She used a small rock hammer to break off a smaller piece. She then grabbed a small drill that was hanging from the ceiling, and began shaping the piece of jade. Jun admired the rest of the queen's jewelry.

"Do you and Apollo ever argue?" She asked.

"I've never argued with either of my brothers," said Avalon. "My family has been through some pretty hard times, we learned to not take each other for granted."

"Chris is your older brother?" Jun asked.

"Yes," said Avalon. "He may be human, but he's just as much my brother as Apollo is."

"I wish I had brothers like yours," Jun said. "I can't stand Eugene." Avalon sighed.

"No one has the right to drag you down, not even yourself," she said, as she finished shaping the piece of jade into a disc. She started smoothing and polishing the piece of jade. Jun suddenly spotted glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, they formed a constellation.

"What's that on the ceiling?" Jun asked. Avalon smiled warmly.

"Draco," she said. "Our most revered stars. We have our own stores about them, but I haven't got time to tell you all of them." She then held up the piece of jade between her purple talons. It was now a perfect disc, and shone faintly in the sunlight. Jun carefully took it, while Avalon turned to the spools of strings. She pulled black string from it's spool. She used her talons to cut the string to the right length. She took the jade disc from Jun, attached it to the black string using a tricky looking knot. She then secured the loose ends using another tricky looking knot. She finished and sighed with satisfaction.

"There," she said, handing the pendant to Jun.

"Oh wow," Jun said, as she took the pendant. "It does look exactly the same."

"Just with a more secure knot so it won't fall off again," said Avalon. Jun put the pendant around her neck.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," said Avalon. She cleaned up her space and put the rest of the unrefined jade back into the crate. Then she removed her new head piece and her orange pearl necklace and placed both on anther wooden dragon head. At that moment Apollo appeared in the doorway.

"You coming sis?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm coming," Avalon said as she headed out of the room, with Jun right behind her.

While the dragons were out hunting and fishing; Tom and his friends decided to show Edelweiss their favorite movies. They watched them on the retractable screen that was hidden in the ceiling of the lounge. She enjoyed them, some more than others. She had no interest in princess movies, and rolled her eyes at zombie movies. Then they watched Spiderman and she cheered up. However she soon got bored of listening to the villains gloat.

But then they watched Godzilla, and that got her attention. She watched in amazement as the giant lizard swam through the ocean like he had nothing to fear. He fought other monsters, using his powerful breath. Then, when his fight was won he let out a roar of victory, he slipped back into the sea and vanished.

"Now him I like," Edelweiss said. "He fights with such confidence, and waste no time talking."

"You haven't seen any creatures like him have you?" Tom asked.

"I haven't," said Edelweiss. "But Hiccup and Toothless certainly have. I don't think dragons that size exist anymore. What I can't understand is why the humans wanted to destroy him. Godzilla didn't seem interested in them at all."

"He was causing a lot of damage and killing people," D'Angelo explained.

"I've heard of volcanoes that cause more destruction than he did," Edelweiss said. She laid back in her chair. They moved on to the next movie.

The dragons fished a short ways from the island. Avalon drew in a huge school of large tuna with her magic. They each caught a largest fish they could find then landed on a nearby sea stack.

"Do you always fish using your magic?" Plowhorn asked.

"No not always," said Avalon. Thunder looked back in the direction of the ship.

"I wish Edel could come fishing with us," he said, longingly.

"She'll come hunting with us next time," said Apollo.

"What's the weather supposed to be like tonight?" Thunder asked. The other dragons exchanged a glance.

"It's supposed to rain," said Avalon. "Why?"

"I want to ask Edel to mate tonight," Thunder said. "I'm not going to let rain stop me."

"Tonight!?" Wu said surprised. "You have a plan of how it's going to go?"

"I think so," Thunder said. He sighed and went back to his fish, feeling excited.

Later on the ship; Edelweiss had cooked roasted duck and potatoes. They had finished watching movies. They talked among themselves. Edelweiss was very quiet, missing the dragons, especially Thunder and Black Widow.

"Hey Edel, can I practice flying your small float plane?" Tom asked.

"Sure, weather permitting," Edelweiss said. "We can take it to Dragon Island and back. Outside it started to rain. The ship rocked on the waves as they grew bigger. However it's anchors kept it in place.

"You think that island will still have dragons on it?" Tom asked.

"I don't think so," Edelweiss yawned. "Well, I'm heading to bed." She got up and headed for her bedroom.

The room was very dark and a bit cold. Edelweiss got into bed, leaving her blankets off. She knew the dragons would be back shortly. She watched out the windows for them. The big bed felt so empty without Thunder and she wanted him. The rocking of the boat was helping her fall asleep. She closed her eyes, hoping he'd be back when she woke up.

Next thing she knew; she felt herself floating, feeling wind and rain on her face. However she didn't feel cold. Suddenly she stopped floating, and felt solid ground beneath her. She stirred and opened her eyes. She was in the Cove, under the gazebo of tree roots. It kept her somewhat dry from the rain, and the high wall blocked the wind. Edel sat up, and saw Thunder sitting there watching her.

"Thunder? You brought me here?" She asked him.

"Yes," Thunder said. "I wanted to bring you somewhere special, so I can tell you something." He got to his feet, and helped Edel to hers. They gazed into each other's eyes, completely ignoring the rain. "You love me right?"

"Of course," Edel said happily. "I love you very much, like you were family." Thunder purred.

"I love you very much too," he said. "You've always been so good to my family, all the way back to the first Night Lights." Then he took a deep breath. "I've been wanting to ask you this for a while. I've already asked your parents and your king and queen, and they all approve." He lowered his head humbly. "Will you mate with me?" Edelweiss was so surprised she didn't answer right away. She felt blood rushing in her ears.

"Oh!" She gasped when she found her voice. Then euphoria overcame her. "Yes, I would love to mate you." She threw her arms around him. Thunder purred and hugged her back. "Does that mean I'd get you call you my husband?"

"Yes," Thunder said. "You can call me whatever you want, as long as you allow me to do the same." Edel nodded in agreement. She took a step back to look into his eyes.

"Can we mate right now?" She asked eagerly.

"Whoa not so fast," Thunder said. "I want to perform our official courtship back in the realms, for all the other dragons to see."

"Oh, ok," Edel said. She wormed into him. "Can we at least practice?"

"Yeah, Avalon did suggest that," said Thunder. He held her in place with his wing. Edel licked him behind his ears.

They spent the next hour practicing their courtship ritual. Thunder pulled Edel tight to his chest and carried her into the air. They went into spiraling free fall, and would splash down into the pond. After they were satisfied with it they crawled out of the pond, and engaged in foreplay. They hardly noticed the rain at all.

The next morning, it was still raining. Thunder woke up back in Edel's room on the ship. He looked at Edel, still asleep. Thunder saw the many bite marks up and down her body. Their foreplay last night had led to quite a lot of love bitting. He lovingly nuzzled her and she stirred.

"Are you sore love?" He asked. Edelweiss stretched and winced. She glanced down at herself.

"A little," she admitted. "But, I've suffered worse."

"I don't want to cause you pain in any form," Thunder said, holding her close to him. Edelweiss looked into his eyes and stroked his face.

"It's all right," she assured him. "Every time I look at these bites, I'll remember last night." She kissed him before he could say anything else. At that moment the rain stopped and the sun came out.

"The weather's clearing up," Thunder said.

"I promised Tom he could fly my small seaplane to Dragon Island," Edelweiss said. Thunder sighed sadly. He got off the bed and went over to the window. Edelweiss said on the edge of the bed, watching him. "Was it something I said?"

"Tom's going to fly a plane," Thunder said. "It's hard to trust a piece of machinery that can break so easily. I still remember what happened to your helicopter."

"Oh," Edelweiss said. She got up and went over to him. "I plan to ask Apollo or Avalon to see if it'll be safe. If they foresee a problem we won't go." Thunder didn't look convinced. She held his face in her hands. "Try not to worry, you can fly alongside if you want." She put a note of hope in her voice. "I should get breakfast started." She kissed him again.

After Edelweiss put a big plate of hard boiled eggs, bacon, and orange juice; she and Thunder joined the other dragons on the aft helideck. They were eating a large pile of fish that Black Widow had caught during the night. They all looked up when Edel and Thunder joined them.

"Looks like last night was successful for you," said Wu.

"It sure was," said Edel. "We will mate when we get back home." She beamed at the thought. Thunder ate a few fish, while looking out at the horizon. The clouds were slightly gray.

"Your majesty can you foresee anything that might crash a plane?" He asked Avalon. The queen looked straight ahead as she munched a fish.

"I can't see anything," she said, swallowing. She smiled at Thunder. "Don't worry Night Light, we don't trust airplanes either. Especially up here."

"The airplane won't be flying alone," said Apollo. "We won't let anything bad happen." Thunder relaxed a bit.

Once the dragons ate all the fish they went to find their riders. Edelweiss headed to the hanger to prep the small float plane, Thunder followed. Avalon was about to follow too, when she suddenly went ridged. She hissed and rushed towards her cabin. Apollo hurried after her, concerned.

"What's up sis?" He asked.

"There's someone in my room," Avalon growled. She reached her cabin door and burst through the curtain. She found Jun and Tom looking at her jewelry. "What are you two doing in here?" Tom and Jun spun around looking guilty.

"We're sorry your majesty," said Jun. "Tom was curious about where I got my pendant."

"I swear we weren't going to steal anything," Tom said. Avalon stared at them suspiciously.

"Yeah I warned him about the dangers of stealing treasure of a dragon," Jun said. "That it's said to bring bad luck."

"I should say so," said Avalon. "Don't let me catch you in here again." She snorted, then relaxed slightly. "Anyway, Edel's waiting for you in the hanger Tom."

"Thanks," Tom said. He hurried out of the room. Jun followed, and Avalon followed her with Apollo beside her.

When they reached the hanger; they found the big door open and Edelweiss was looking over her small blue sea plane. It's cockpit was open so Edel could put flares and a map in the passenger seat. Thunder watched her anxiously, and they were talking in dragontongue. Edel smiled when she saw her other friends enter.

"We're just about ready," she said. She turned towards a yellow tow bar. While she was attaching the tow bar to the plane's front wheel Tom and Jun got a closer look at the plane's cockpit. It looked more modern and luxurious then the old Beaver next to them. It looked more like the inside of a sport's car, just with different controls.

"Wow, you think I could fly this plane?" Jun asked eagerly.

"No," Edel said sternly, as she backed the plane down the ramp and into the water.

"Please," Jun begged. "I'll be real careful."

"No," Edelweiss said again, sounding annoyed. She removed the tow bar and put it back. "I've seen you try to fly a drone, you're not flying my plane." She pulled a leaver inside the plane's cockpit, retracting the landing gear so the plane was now floating. Jun slumped in disappointment.

"Maybe we can go flying in it after I've had some practice," Tom suggested. He and Jun looked at Edel for her answer.

"Maybe," Edel said, though she didn't sound like she was for it. Tom went to get into the pilot seat, when he heard Thunder growling nervously. He looked at the Night Light and noticed the worry in his eyes. Tom went over and hugged him.

"It's okay pal," he said. "We don't want to crash anymore than you do." Thunder cooed, trying get over his anxiety. He patted the dragon on the nose, then headed back to the cockpit. He got in and donned the headset. Edel lovingly stroked Thunder's neck and rested her forehead against his.

"I love you," she whispered so quietly that on he could hear. Thunder took several deep breaths and inhaling Edel's sweet, floral scent helped calm him.

"I love you too," he whispered back. He then went to stand beside Avalon. Edel pushed the plane away from the ramp, before getting inside with Tom. They closed the cockpit and the plane unfolded its wings. After a few minuets the engine sputtered to life. It turned to face the open sky. It moved away from the ship, moving faster and faster. It glided into the air, wobbling a bit. It circled the ship, gaining altitude. The rest of the riders got on their dragons, and they all joined the plane in the air over Berk's old harbor. Edelweiss had provided all the riders with two way radios so they could all maintain contact with each other.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Edel asked over the radio. Everyone confirmed.

"Where exactly are we going?" Eugene asked.

"Dragon Island," Edelweiss said. "It used to be the home of so many dragons, including us, before we all went underground." The plane turned and headed away from Berk. The dragons flew in formation in its slipstream.

It took over an hour to reach Dragon Island. Edelweiss and her dragons had flown this route so many times, and soon they saw the familiar volcano come over the horizon. They all flew lower as the approached the island. It hadn't changed much since their last visit, the only change was the lack of Viking shipwrecks which had been taken by the sea. The plane and the dragons did a fly over, seeing the island from the air. There were no wild dragons living on it, just sea birds. Tom soon spotted a clear patch of water and brought the plane in for landing. It soon splashed down and Tom steered it towards the beach. The dragons all landed on the beach, in the shallow water. The plane pulled up to them and its engine slowed to a stop. Edel opened the cockpit and jumped out. She took out a tiny anchor on a chain and hammered it into the ground to keep the plane from drifting.

"Nice job Tom," she said, helping Tom out of his seat.

"Thanks," said Tom. "That's a fun plane to fly. Maybe I'll get one like it after I get my license." Edel shrugged.

"It is a good one," she said. They mounted their dragons and went over to the group as they looked around the area. The beach was made of black lava rocks, and sat in the shadow of the massive volcano. A massive cave stood at the base of the volcano. There was a faint scent of sulfur in the air.

"So this is where Hiccup lost his leg?" Jun asked.

"Yup," said Edelweiss. "Fighting the Red Death. We weren't there of course, but Hiccup and Toothless painted us a very vivid picture of that battle."

"The Red Death burst out of the mountain there," said Apollo, pointing to the cave. "It burned all the Viking's ships, one of which had Toothless tied to the deck."

"Hiccup's father, Stoic, tried to distract it from the other vikings," said Avalon. "But he wasn't too successful."

"But Hiccup and his friends rode in on their dragons," said Edelweiss. "Hiccup rescued Toothless from the burning ship." She pointed to the shoreline where the plane was moored.

"They got the Red Death to fly after them, and leave the others alone," said Apollo. "The Red Death chased them high into the smoky sky above." He gestured to the sky over the beach with his wing.

"Once they got the Red Death into the smoke," said Avalon. "Hiccup and Toothless used the dark smoke to their advantage and dive bombed the Red Death over and over, blasting holes in its wings."

"The Red Death fired back and managed to catch Toothless's leather tail fin on fire," said Edelweiss. "Hiccup steered Toothless back towards the ground as fast as they could. The Red Death dived after them. Just before it was about to blast them, Toothless flipped over and fired a plasma blast into the Red Death's throat, causing to burn up from the inside."

"Because Toothless has blasted holes in its wings," said Avalon. "The Red Death was not able to pull out of the dive, and hit the ground over there." She pointed down the beach with her wing.

"When it hit the ground, it exploded in huge fire ball," said Apollo. "Hiccup and Toothless tried to fly out of the explosion, but Toothless's tail fin fell off and they weren't able to escape. They hit the Red Death's tail, and Hiccup was knocked off the saddle."

"Toothless saw Hiccup falling into the fire, unconscious, and dove after him," Edelweiss said. "Once the explosion cleared the vikings found the two of them near death over by those rocks." She pointed to another spot on the beach. "Hiccup was wrapped safely in Toothless's wings."

"Wow Toothless saved him!" Jun exclaimed.

"Saved most of him," Avalon corrected. "Hiccup lost his left foot somewhere in that explosion."

"Dang," D'Angelo exhaled. "Do you know what broke it off?"

"They never said," said Edelweiss said. "Hiccup had no memory of it. But we're pretty sure his leg was accidentally bitten off by Toothless, in a desperate attempt to save Hiccup from the fire and the crash." They all winced.

"Is the Red Death still here?" Alex asked, eagerly.

"No, we have it back home," said Avalon. "We used to spend every summer on this island." She led the way farther inland.

They explored the island, the riders all took pictures with their phones. The Draconians told them more stories of their summers on the island. Soon they entered the massive cave. It was very dark inside, so Edel pulled out her flashlight. The cave was massive; made of dried magma. There were multiple tunnels leading away from the main cave, though some had caved in.

"You lived here?" Jun asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"We did," said Avalon. "We made a lot of good memories here."

"I learned to ride dragons here," said Edelweiss. "Also where I learned to fight."

"We would spend our free time at the tide pools," said Apollo. "Playing pretty rowdy games."

"Ooh, I love tide pools," said Tom.

So they left the cave and took off. They flew to the island's opposite shore where the tide pools were. A flood of memories came back to the Draconians when they landed on the familiar rocks. The riders all dismounted and explored the small pools filled with tiny sea life. The dragons looked around for a bit too. Avalon then spotted a large crab on one of the rocks. She snatched it up and took off running. Her friends gave chase, trying to wrestle the crab from her. Black Widow managed to snag it and took off running, with everyone chasing her. The other dragons soon joined in the game, and it got super chaotic. Water flew everywhere. The riders stayed well out of the way, and cheered their dragons on.

Soon the sun was starting to set and the dragons had to end their game. Edelweiss kept the crab, planning to cook it for dinner. The riders got back on their dragons and headed back to the plane.

"That was fun," Thunder said. "You did that all the time?"

"Yes," said Black Widow. "It was a fun way to home our hunting skills." They landed near the plane. Tom dismounted.

"You think you can fly this plane without me in it?" Edelweiss asked him. Tom looked taken aback.

"Um I think so," he said. He removed the anchor and opened up the cockpit.

"Can I fly back with him?" Jun asked. Edelweiss bit her lip, seeming reluctant.

"All right," she said, moodily. "Just please don't touch anything." Jun looked thrilled and hurried over to the plane. She and Tom got in and closed the cockpit. The plane fired up and turned away from the shore. The dragons took off and circled, waiting for the plane join them. Once everyone was airborne, they headed back towards Berk.