Hello, everyone! So sorry it's been so long. Life gets in the way and somehow I can't predict the future. Please know that unless explicitly stated, I will always update eventually! I want to say that hopefully I will be able to update more frequently, but I think we've all learned that my future prediction skills need some honing, haha.
As always, I want to thank UmbreonMario21, TheCatsmith (multiple times), theaugustauthor, picothea, Withewing Tenfeathers, Lightbrightfury, Dwarf, temporary0username, Mr0cznyKisiel, Enlil45, CallMeUrmo, and all anonymous guests for your thoughtful reviews! You guys are seriously my lifeblood. Thank you all!
I'd also like to thank my betas kwizjunior, Dragon Cursader, Anticept, Crysist, Samateus, Dys, LapisSea, and RS for all of your hard work!
That's all for now. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you have a great day!
Chapter 26
Hiccup
Toothless was, to say the least, absolutely gobsmacked to wake up to Saw Through Closed Eyes and I sharing breakfast.
Saw Through Closed Eyes didn't notice, too busy investigating her salted fish. She squinted at it like it was obscene. Her tongue snuck out and tested the fish every few seconds to confirm that, yes, there was still salt there. At one point she even held her breath and tried to swallow it whole, as if she could just force it down like bad medicine. Which would have worked out fine…except that the salt surprised her again, and she spat it out seemingly involuntarily, judging by her embarrassed expression afterwards.
I couldn't hold down a smile, no matter the horrors of last night or the gut-wrenching crack in my magic. She accepted me. She accepted me! The dragon who once looked at me with nothing but fear and cried monster had seen me for who I was, and that…that meant so, so much.
"Good morning," I greeted Toothless. Saw Through Closed Eyes snapped her head up. Eyeing the wounds raking across Toothless' scales and the especially-nasty bite on his leg, I asked, "How do you feel?"
He eased up to his feet, winced, and gave himself a good shake. Dozens of scales pattered to the moss-cushioned ground. "Sore, but better." He limped over and settled down next to me. I ran a hand over his head and to the soft spot below his neck, feeling for any fever. He didn't seem warmer than usual, thank the Dragon of the Sun.
Saw Through Closed Eyes ducked her head, averting her eyes. "Hello," she whispered.
Toothless shot me a look that screamed how the hell did you manage that?! and then tried to smile. "Good morning!" he said. "Trying salted fish for breakfast?"
She prodded it with a paw like it would come to life. Because of the salt. "It's…um…"
"You haven't even tried it," I reminded her.
"…is all your food like this?" she asked, daunted.
"No," Toothless chuckled. "Usually, we eat it fresh. But we stored some in case we couldn't hunt." He nodded at the dense forest around us.
She sniffed the fish—again—and jolted her head back like a cat tapped on the nose. Again.
Toothless opened his mouth, shut it, looked at me, then at her, glared at the growing smile on my face, and finally shook the tension from his shoulders. Finding his courage, he wrapped his tail around both Saw Through Closed Eyes and me. I leaned into him, purring. She went stiff before forcing herself to relax again. "Thank you," he said, overtone earnest, "for coming and saving us. If you hadn't…" He closed his eyes and shuddered.
She peeked up at him. "You're welcome. You saved me, too, after all."
"Is that why you came?"
She cast her eyes away, tapping her paws. "…no," she admitted. "But…the last time I heard a dragon scream, I only watched. In the end, both of us were captured. If I had helped earlier, maybe it would have been different. And you two…" she flicked her eyes between us, "…you went without hesitation. You heard a dragon crying out for help, and you didn't stop to think about it. Even though she wasn't in your flock, or even your own kind, you still risked your lives for a stranger." In a whisper, almost shamefully, she said, "Even dragons in the Shell wouldn't do that. I never thought Outsiders were capable of that."
Toothless and I shared a glance. I recognized the terminology from the dragons we had freed on the ships. The sea-dragon had mentioned a "Shell" guarded by extremely territorial dragons. So had Galewing. Both of them had made it sound like dragons never left it, though.
"So…when the screaming didn't stop, I got up and followed it. I still don't know why. Maybe because it felt right. Maybe because, if it were me, I would want someone to help me. But, mostly…" she curled a little closer to herself, "…mostly, because I didn't want to be alone again." She smiled bitterly. "Isn't that selfish?"
"Of course not," Toothless said. He nudged me with his nose. "Hiccup and I protect each other because we would be lost if we were separated."
She didn't look convinced. Her words from last night, so certain and resolute, echoed back to me: I am cursed. I hurt every dragon around me. I don't want to hurt you.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be cared for," I added softly. "And to want to care for others." I stretched out my arm like it was a wing, inviting her closer.
She stared, stricken. Swallowing, ears and frills flat against her head, she crept closer. Though she kept her head low and her wings clutched tight to her side, she nestled down right against me. Toothless draped a wing over all of us. Her eyes were enormous, at once both cautious and pleading, like at any moment she expected us to exclaim that we had tricked her and drive her off.
"There," I murmured. "I don't know about you, but I prefer this over avoiding other dragons at all costs."
The small, scarred dragon actually managed a shy smile. "I do, too."
We stayed like that for some time, the fog condensing into rain and drawing a deep green curtain over the canopy-shrouded forest. Toothless remained quiet and withdrawn, eyes focused elsewhere. Saw Through Closed Eyes seemed caught between wanting to relax and being terrified to let her guard down. I sat between them, hoping that my presence was enough to calm both of them.
Unfortunately, I was having a pretty hard time staying calm, myself.
My shell of magic, once so warm and inviting, was more of a dangerous, spurting spark now. It rippled like a lake crashing about in a storm: contained, but barely. The shadow-crack was stable, but the calm lie of its exterior did not deceive me. It was like a thin sheet of ice; a footstep an inch in the wrong direction, and it would shatter and send you plunging to your doom.
Was Toothless right? Should I use my magic now, when I was certain it would work? What if I waited until it was too late?
Five long years had gone by with the certainty, the expectation, that I would become a Shadow-Blender again. With a single dart, Grimmel had destroyed that—and it ripped me down to my core. Now, even though I knew we had to go back, that we had to face him and free Dad, Haugaeldr, Farflight, and Toothless' brother, fear sent my heart racing.
I was afraid to see Grimmel again. I was afraid of what he could do to me. It was a chest-gripping terror like nothing I had ever felt before. This wasn't one of the run-of-the-mill, life-threatening shenanigans that we had gotten ourselves into over the years. Even then, even when fear had hit us in those fleeting moments, that was all they were: fleeting. The danger passed, and after we were done licking our wounds, we could laugh about it.
I wasn't laughing now.
Grimmel had a power that nobody else ever had. He didn't just threaten me in the present moment; he threatened my future, the hope that I had been building up to for years. Worse, he'd done it intentionally. When I had been trying to rip the harness off of Toothless' brother, I had caught sight of him switching vials around in his crossbow. Like he knew what it would do. But how did he know?
Which led to the rest of this horrible mess. Toothless' brother, captured and controlled somehow. Grimmel speaking about Haugaeldr by name, proving without a shadow of a doubt that he did have them. On top of that, he had asked specifically about Berk, sneering as he called it a "so-called paradise".
This was a man who was fighting for something. He wasn't just here to hunt Shadow-Blenders. Sure, he seemed perfectly fine with making a pit-stop to capture and torture innocent dragons. But there was something he wanted. And luckily for us, he seemed to have plenty of allies to call on.
If we didn't stop him, here and now, I was certain he would move on to Berk.
That terrified me.
My head began to pound—and this time, paranoia had me scattering my awareness to my magic. Still there, still sealed by Toothless' magic. Still cracked.
I turned to Toothless, and at the very same moment, he faced me. Both of us blurted in unison, "We have to—what?" Then, "You go first."
Both of us grinned at each other. I gestured for Toothless to go on.
He immediately lost all signs of his good humor. "That was my brother, there," he said softly.
Saw Through Closed Eyes gasped. "Oh…"
I nodded, waiting. I had seen glimpses of the large Shadow-Blender through our link and would have recognized him even without Toothless' reaction to him. But this, I dared not prod him about. I had been waiting since we escaped to talk about it, but only on his terms, when he felt ready.
He wasn't. He clenched his eyes shut, pressing against me so much that I nearly fell over. "I…I…," he choked. "I can't believe we left him there!"
"You were going to die if you didn't run," Saw Through Closed Eyes said. "Why wouldn't you run? Look at your leg."
"I know my leg looks bad!" Toothless exploded. Saw Through Closed Eyes ripped away, eyes low and body hunched like a submissive, kicked hatchling, but he didn't stop. "What about my older brother?! What about Galewing, and Farflight, and that poor hatchling? We abandoned them! Some Saviors we are!" Before I could interrupt, he snorted contemptuously and raged on, "And even worse, he has the King and Haugaeldr, and he knows about Berk, and he can somehow attack your magic! He even recognized soulfire! How does he know all of these things? How can we face him when he's in control of everything?"
So we had been thinking about the same things, more or less. I leaned against him. "It is fine, Toothless. Breathe. It is fine."
With as reassuring of a purr as I could manage, I modeled the deep breathing for him. Only when he'd calmed some did I stop. Forcing confidence I really didn't have into my overtone, I said, "I guess that's nothing new for us. We've always gone up against horrible odds. The Queen, Drago, the source…but we always made it through."
He deflated. The venom fled his voice, leaving behind something small and vulnerable. "You're right," he said, "but none of them could ever hurt you that way, or had the King captured, or my brother…"
"I'm scared, too."
Toothless turned to me, his eyes brimming with relief that I had understood where all of this anger was really coming from. I butted my head against his neck. "But we'll get through it together. Just like we always have."
Toothless forced himself through several more deep breaths. He straightened his posture, eyes narrowed. "Alright." He turned to me. "Then let's get to fixing this, then. Our family isn't going to spend another day trapped, if it's the last thing I do."
o.O.o
My headache didn't go away.
The longer I stayed awake, the greater its intensity grew. What started off as a slight twinge in the morning had erupted into a loud ache by the evening. I managed to hide it from Toothless and Saw Through Closed Eyes. I was already stressed enough constantly reaching out to my magic, making sure it wasn't seeping away. If I told Toothless my head still hurt, he would be as much of an anxious mess as I was.
Luckily, a perfect distraction came along.
One moment, a light drizzle speckled against the ground. Then waterfalls came plunging from the sky, bending the trees like weeping vines. The canopy was still so dense that we weren't immediately soaked. Judging by the howling above, the wind was raging as fiercely as when we had arrived in the mountains.
The three of us huddled within the hollowed trunk. Saw Through Closed Eyes lay just next to us, shooting us nervous looks every so often.
"Should we rethink this?" I asked Toothless. I wasn't very eager to go flying into that again.
He frowned. "We are weakened…but so is he. This might be our best opportunity. I say we still go tonight."
We looked at Saw Through Closed Eyes, who did her best to curl into a little ball. She clearly disagreed with our plan, but would not protest.
"You don't have to come with us," I reassured her, not for the first time. "You've already been captured once. We understand if it's not worth the risk for you."
She clawed the earth anxiously, eyes lost on some horizon we could not see. After several moments, she said, "Your brother freed me in that one moment when he was a dragon." She met our gazes. "I ran away then. I have abandoned him, too. I want to make it right." She let out a shaky breath. "And…I am afraid that you will go, and not come back."
"Well, the more, the merrier," I said lightly. She didn't smile.
"Are you sure?" Toothless asked.
"No," she answered honestly. "But I am so, so tired of being afraid. Of being hunted. It's time to put an end to this."
He leaned forward, waited to see if she would draw away, and then offered a reassuring lick to the forehead. She closed her eyes and leaned into it. "We will keep you safe."
"And I, you," she returned. She glanced at me. "I can at least carry you to safety."
I blushed. Toothless snickered.
"He hates that," he said in a stage-whisper.
She hummed, inching even closer to the two of us, enough that I was squeezed between both of them. "All flightlings do."
"I'm pretty sure I'm at least your age!" I retorted, though I could not hide how brightly my cheeks and ears flushed red.
"Mhm," she said in the exact tone of a dragon humoring a raving hatchling. She leaned down, hesitated, and brushed her tongue across my fur.
Normally, I would have shouted and leapt away. But this was progress; she was initiating here. So I grit my teeth, sacrificed my comfort and dignity, and leaned into it.
Big mistake. Saw Through Closed Eyes pressed closer, peering up and down my body, and wrinkled her nose.
"You're filthy."
Oh, gods. I knew that tone. "I'm twenty-one years old!" I protested, trying to scramble up and over Toothless to safety.
She snatched me in her claws, yanking me back down and pinning me. "And yet, you still don't know how to clean yourself?" Now her tongue was like an assault, disgusting and slimy and humiliating.
Toothless burst into laughter. Saw Through Closed Eyes narrowed her eyes at him.
"You should take better care of him!" she scolded. "I can see where he's learned this." She looked meaningfully at Toothless' hide, which was still caked in dried blood, dirt, leaves, old mud, and fresh mud.
He abruptly stopped laughing. I shot him a smug look, which vanished when the little white dragon resumed my bath.
"Toothless, help me," I wheezed, flailing. She merely pressed down harder with her paw, pinning me and leaving me helpless to suffer my doom.
"I think I'm good," he said, getting up and shaking himself. He grudgingly began to clean off his own scales, which I thought were much dirtier than mine. From the corner of his eye, he shot Saw Through Closed Eyes a playful look. "But, you know…you were quite dirty when we first met you, and we didn't say anything!"
I grimaced. Great job making friends, Toothless.
Luckily, she didn't seem offended. She paused mid-lick, making my hair stand straight up. "I was," she agreed softly. "I didn't care any more. But…" she looked shyly between the two of us. "You two…truly care about me?"
The way she said it as a question made me frown. I managed to squirm up enough to bump the bottom of her chin with my forehead.
Toothless, now bashful himself, stretched his neck forward as if to press his forehead to hers. He hesitated and stopped just short when she did not meet him halfway. "If you do not wish to be alone," he murmured, "then we will be here for you."
She smiled, though it was pained. "I still must break this curse," she reminded us. "If…I can."
"We'll help you," I promised. "We know a thing or two about things like that."
Toothless nodded. "Honestly, I feel like all of us have been cursed at one time or another." He paused, gathered his courage, and then leaned forward to nose her shoulder. "But it doesn't define us. And it doesn't define you."
Her eyes widened.
She purred for the first time since we'd met her. Small and rattly, it was barely perceptible. But it was there. I grinned up at her, thrumming myself.
Then she snapped her head down and returned to my bath full-force. I shrieked, wriggling desperately to escape. Toothless laughed.
o.O.o
So that brief moment of calm passed, the storm bellowing on through the evening. The forest dimmed until it was as black as a deep cavern. Once we were sure night had fallen, we stood at the entrance of the tree husk. Standing together, the fear rippling between us wasn't so daunting. In simply being there for one another, we had found new strength.
When I climbed atop Toothless' shoulders, staring up at the rivers of water plunging down in shimmering sheets, I set my jaw and managed to keep my hands from shaking. Toothless took several calming breaths.
"Ready?" he asked.
I hunched closer to him, bracing myself for the slap of wind and cold I knew was coming. Saw Through Closed Eyes nodded, her eyes wide and pupils slit.
Toothless launched away, wingbeats echoing through the still air of the ancient forest. Saw Through Closed Eyes followed, silent as a ghost. The rain above roared like the ocean and the canopy swayed in wild waves, as though we were underwater, beneath the world, racing upwards back into reality, desperate to reach it before the breath in our lungs failed and left us empty.
We breached into the maelstrom. It felt as physical as diving into water, leaden with such wind and water that it ripped down my throat when I couldn't stifle a gasp. Toothless opened his wings, welcoming its force beneath us, and let it wrench us into thunderclouds.
The world dissolved into an unending symphony of rain and lightning.
o.O.o
We streaked within the looming clouds, flashes of amber lightning stalking us like a ghastly predator. Saw Through Closed Eyes seemed to be able to sense when they were coming and would shriek a warning seconds before a bolt flared. We spiraled within the blue-green wall of clouds, bracing against the bone-rattling booms of the storm.
When we had first come to this land, we had been exhausted, flung far, lost, and confused. Much was still the same—except for that last bit.
We knew exactly where we needed to go and what we needed to do.
The light at my forehead pulsed like a flickering ember. Blinding bright, then obscured, then brilliant once more, both too far to reach and so close it burned. The crack in the shell screamed in an unending migraine, worsening with each deafening clap of thunder. Toothless' ward still held. No magic escaped. Always, half of my mind focused on it, reassuring myself that it was fine, that there was still time, time I desperately needed, time I knew I had lost.
The last time I had seen Dad, I had been breaking a promise to him.
I couldn't return to him having broken another: that I would change when I felt ready.
Toothless pitched down. Our home-cave loomed in the shroud of rain as he swept past it and back into the clouds again. He trembled with a low growl that I couldn't hear above the torrent, and immediately, I knew that my prediction had been right.
Anyone who could fly could see our markers.
A flash of lightning blazed across my vision, leaving a cutting afterimage across most of my vision. I struggled to blink it away, but the brilliant white only grew, brighter and brighter…
Saw Through Closed Eyes emerged from the ghostly light flashing across my eyes. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she pulled into a hover in front of us and shouted, "Will we do it?"
Her voice was nearly impossible to hear. Toothless grunted an affirmative. They tucked their wings in and dove.
A snap of wings opening, a blur of darkness, and we swerved into our home-cave. The shock of sudden, dry warmth was like a slap. Toothless came to a sharp landing with a soft hiss, sniffing the air and casting about. I also kept an eye out, watching his tail, making sure the ambush wouldn't come from behind.
I was glad I did, because not a moment after I had turned around, the shadows of the cave bulged into solid form. Toothless' brother let down his Shadow-Blender magic, and from beneath his wings, Grimmel stepped out.
He was grinning, his eyes more manic and electrified than the storm outside. "Well," he said, "let's begin where we left off."
He let out a sharp whistle. Toothless and I tensed.
Nothing happened.
Grimmel's expression grew puzzled. His eyes flicked down the cavern. Down towards the outlet, where he no doubt had his dragons lying in wait.
Toothless smirked, lifting his head.
"Yeah, we knew you would be here," I said. "Did you really think we'd just waltz into your trap?"
"Honestly? No." Grimmel shrugged. "But I thought it'd be worth the try, before I put some actual effort into killing you." His hand caressed his crossbow, already loaded with sickly-orange fluid. Toothless snarled, lifting his wings to shield me better, and Grimmel grinned. "Tell me, how exactly does this work for you?" He lifted the crossbow and held it close to his face, peering at the vial. "I've had enough foresight to test it on myself and anyone willing to try it. Nothing happens to us. But to dragons…to you…" His smile morphed into a sneer.
"You seem to know so many things," I said, "so I doubt that's more than a rhetorical question."
"Truly, it is not!" Grimmel said, spreading his arms. "I am genuinely curious. This poison targets a dragon's magic, as you are well aware. In high enough doses, it induces seizures and stupor, even coma and death. I always thought that the so-called dragon boy was simply waiting for a spell to be cast on him. But this has shown me an alternative…" He stroked the vial like it was a precious object. His eyes flicked up to mine. "You have magic in you," he whispered, like it was the discovery of the ages. "And yet, you choose to remain human. Why?"
My migraine pulsed at my forehead.
"Hiccup, he's stalling," Toothless whispered to me. I pressed my hand a little firmer against his shoulder in acknowledgement, but didn't take my eyes off of Grimmel or Toothless' brother.
"How about this," I said. "I answer your question, and in return, you answer mine. It's only fair."
Grimmel chortled. "Well, normally I would never negotiate with a dragon. But seeing as you haven't given up on your humanity, I'll relent. After all, I am so intrigued."
I ignored his insult. "Put that down, then."
Grimmel somehow managed to sneer and smile at the same time. He held his hands up in mock surrender and clipped the crossbow back into his belt. "Very well, very well," he sighed like a parent humoring a child. He patted Toothless' brother on the neck, still grinning. It was a very clear sign: I am not threatened by you, because I have him.
Toothless rumbled. I hunched a little closer to him, not fooled by the display at all.
"Well," I said, "first of all—"
My brother snapped his head around and blasted the ceiling with a powerfall fireball. It collapsed in a shower of stone and dust, the cave quaking with the disruption. People shouted from the other end, their cries loud and then abruptly, eerily silent as the cavern closed upon itself like an eye blinking shut.
"In case you felt like calling on those humans back there," Toothless growled.
Grimmel's lips twitched, his eyes shimmering with concern for just a moment before he schooled his expression into something neutral. His hand twitched towards his crossbow.
"What about our deal?" I demanded. "Here's your answer. I am still human because I choose to be one." Even to my ears, it didn't sound nearly as confident as I hoped. "Now, it's my turn." I nodded at the trapped Shadow-Blender. "Why do you, the 'Night Fury killer', have a Night Fury?"
He tipped his head a little to the side, as if I'd piqued his interest. "As a reminder," he said. "A reminder of what I have sacrificed, and what I hope to gain for mankind. A reminder of the bright future that I am securing for the generations to follow us. Not to mention," he chuckled, patting Toothless' brother like a dog, "many people are quite willing to negotiate once they see it."
"So you've turned him into a fancy trinket," I said flatly, fighting to keep the growl out of my voice. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the magenta poison in the collar and casting a glow of purple light across Grimmel's face.
Grimmel followed my line of sight and chuckled. "Interested in the Deathgripper poison, aren't we?" He smiled. "Your Haugaeldr was, too. It must be well-acquainted with it now."
Toothless lifted his wings and snarled. "How dare you, you coward! You stand there as though you are so strong, when you can only do so after taking all that a dragon is away from them!"
"All that a dragon is?" Grimmel repeated.
Toothless and I both froze. He burst into laughter.
"Oh, that never gets old," he said. Lightning blazed, and his expression snapped from mirth to disgust. "I'll tell you what a dragon 'is'," he hissed. "A dragon is a creature that fights to dominate man. A dragon is a creature that can inflict horrors upon men with a single thought, a single firebolt, a single act of vindictive rage," he said pointedly to Toothless. "A dragon is directly opposed to man, and is thus vermin not to be tolerated."
"If you can understand him," I said, "then you must know dragons are just like us. They have souls, language, culture—"
"Yes! Yes, exactly!" Grimmel cried, waving his hands around wildly. "That is exactly the point, you foolish boy!"
Despite myself, I was taken aback. Most people who hated dragons did so because they thought they were monsters, mindless demons hell-bent on destroying everything in their path, heedless of reason. They treated them like dumb, destructive animals, even pests.
Grimmel acknowledged the sentience and heart of dragons, and hated them for it.
"Now, listen here," Grimmel said, pointing a finger at me. "Perhaps you have fooled yourself and your tribes into thinking that some dragon-human utopia can exist. But you are wrong. It will fall apart as each species strives for more and more dominance, for what their ideas of the future are. Humans and dragons will always oppose each other in this way. Humans strive for progress, and dragons for the lack thereof. Where we expand and improve our kingdoms and technologies, dragons huddle in their caves and guard their territories and traditions from all change. In doing so, they form great nests that pose monumental threats to all the men, women, and children that live around them. They enforce this stagnance when they integrate into human society," this he said with disgust, "like those in the eastern lands have. But I have seen what happens when dragons finally secure power over man. And I will not allow it."
He squared his shoulders. "Humans are superior. It is my duty to make sure they stay that way. I must keep dragons from learning our ways again. And that means that your ability to become a dragon matters." A blur of motion, and suddenly the crossbow was aimed right at us. He grinned and crooned, "You'll have to forgive me for taking that precious choice away."
He pulled the trigger.
Toothless reared onto his hind legs and answered with a blaze of fire. His brother wrapped himself around Grimmel, taking the flames at their full force. A husk of a bolt pittered to the ground at Toothless' paws, the vial and glass needle shattered from the intensity of the heat.
We didn't waste a moment. Before the flames had even died down, Toothless charged with a deafening roar.
His brother lurched from the flames, opened his wings, and leapt away.
Grimmel, sitting squarely on his shoulders, turned around with a grin and waved.
"NO!" Toothless snarled, racing into the storm. The rain plunged into us like a solid force. He sliced through it, twisting after the vanishing, dark shape ahead of us.
I looked upwards, squinting. Just among the flashes of light, high up in the clouds, a brilliant shimmer ducked between bolts of lightning. Shadows lumbered in her wake.
Saw Through Closed Eyes must have seen or heard us, because the moment we were clear of the cave, she spiraled away from the Deathgrippers and dove to catch up with us. It was clear that they hadn't posed much of a challenge. They struggled to change course in the crosswinds, their bulky armor and spines slowing them to a near-laughable pace.
She swung over us, eyes nearly shut. "There are four dragons," she called, "and many monsters on the mountains! They tried to bite me after you collapsed the cave!"
"Looks like we're leaving them behind!" I shouted. "He's leading us somewhere!"
I could barely see Toothless' brother ahead now. The Deathgrippers had no chance of catching up.
"We need to catch him before we get there!" Toothless snarled. He flared his wings, straining against the sharp winds that pummeled us, and lunged forward.
There was a distant whistle on the wind and an amber blaze of lightning. Toothless' brother blinked out of sight.
Toothless slowed, snapping his head around, ears sticking straight up. "No no no no!" he chanted.
Saw Through Closed Eyes rushed past us, still flying as fast as before. "I can still sight-sound!" she cried over her shoulder. The wind caught her voice and scattered it so that even as close as we were, I could barely hear her.
Toothless stumbled after her. Saw Through Closed Eyes darted, spun, and even looped about, betraying the wild course Grimmel was taking to try and throw us off. Clearly, he hadn't accounted for her remarkable ability to echolocate. Shadow-Blender magic tricked the eyes; it didn't make the body truly disappear.
She dove towards the mountains. We followed—and then she lurched upright, screaming, "Look out!"
She swerved. Something flung past into the rain-shroud. Toothless tucked his wings, trying to dive out of the way—
Something struck him. The force knocked me clear off of his shoulders.
In a single, practiced motion, I curled up, snatched my handholds, and snapped my wings and fins open. "Toothless!"
He screeched as he plummeted, wings tangled in netting, and crashed into an overhang.
An overhang now swarming with hunters, like ants around a corpse.
I bared my teeth, fighting the storm-winds that tried to bat me back and forth. I spun once, twice, curved away from the wrenching winds, and folded my wings into a dive. Saw Through Closed Eyes steered about as well, magenta flames curling between her teeth.
Fire erupted across the overhang—but not hers or Toothless'.
Golden fire.
I gasped, swinging my wings open just in time. The heat filled them and flung me upwards.
There, hollering at the absolute top of his lungs, Haugaeldr erupted from the foliage, ambushing the ambushers. A blur leapt from his back, and before the hunters could register what had happened, the rope binding Toothless had burned away and Dad had neatly disabled every last man and woman. Saw Through Closed Eyes lurched out of her dive, swooping over them.
"Dad! Haugaeldr!" I cried in relief. Toothless gaped at them too, shaking off the rope.
"Away! Now!" Dad ordered, leaping onto Haugaeldr's back. All three of them fled, and not a moment too soon; more hunters were streaming from the forest, having been hiding in wait themselves. Dad and Haugaeldr both spared amazed looks at Saw Through Closed Eyes.
"You're okay!" I gushed, flaring my wings wildly to keep myself relatively stable in the winds. "How did you—"
Their expressions melted into horror, and still below, Toothless let out a scream—
Something huge crashed into me. Claws wrapped around my midsection. Everyone dropped away at alarming speed as Toothless' brother tore me away, fighting the storm with every stroke of his wings.
I whipped around, baring my teeth, and grasped for the collar. My eyes met Grimmel's, shining with unearthly light in the dark, reflecting the lightning around us like something from a nightmare. He aimed his crossbow.
"Goodbye, dragon-boy."
My scrambling fingers found purchase on the thick bindings. I wrapped my fingers around the collar and yanked it down as hard as I could. It didn't move an inch—but I did drag the Shadow-Blender's head down. He obediently followed the movement and plunged just as Grimmel pulled the trigger. The dart skimmed just past my arm and sank into the black.
As the mountains blurred around us, I strained for the latch on the collar, that shining metal I could so clearly see just at the nape of his neck, just barely out of reach—
Toothless' brother spiraled down, down, down, avoiding collisions with no room to spare. Then he snapped his wings out and pulled up almost at a ninety-degree angle. Grimmel was thrown back, saved only by a rope attaching him to the saddle. I also lost my grip, my body flailing in the Shadow-Blender's claws. My migraine roared like thunder, sending sparkling spots flurrying across my vision.
"LET! HIM! GO!"
"UP!" Grimmel screamed, limbs flailing.
A blast of fire came down upon us. It hit the Shadow-Blender's spine, drawing a pained wheeze from him and knocking him aside. He floundered, and for a moment, I braced myself to be dropped. But then he got the wind back under him, threw his tail down, and lunged upwards into a straight ascent. His claws tore into my flightsuit, cracking the scales. I looked down just in time to see Toothless and Saw Through Closed Eyes matching the incredible aerial climb, Haugaeldr and Dad lagging behind in a spiraling ascent.
With his head and neck strained upwards, it was impossible for me to reach the collar now. Grimmel, on the other hand, could easily lean over and level his crossbow at me once he got his wits. Which he was rapidly regaining, reseating himself in the saddle with strange, practiced ease.
That meant that it was time to go.
"Sorry about this," I mumbled. I curled over the Shadow-Blender's paw and sunk my teeth in the soft spot just above his claws.
He hissed out a breath. His paw jerked, the claws loosening just for a second. I braced my feet against his chest and pushed, writhing in his grip.
The muscles beneath my teeth flexed spasmodically—and then snapped open on reflex. I plummeted.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the massive Shadow-Blender just above and the parasite of Grimmel clinging to his neck. I bared my teeth, eyes locked on that damned collar that I'd now failed twice to get off. Then I twisted, thrust my wings open, caught the storm-winds, and sailed away.
"Catch him!" Grimmel's outraged cry drifted on the wind. The Shadow-Blender turned nearly on a pin-point with amazing efficacy, tail and wings working the winds like he was born in them. He halted upright, settled himself back into a streamlined position, and flung back towards me.
I waited, waited, waited—then pulled in my wings and dove just as he nearly got me again. He rolled upwards, spiraled, and charged me again. Again I held until the very last moment before dropping away. This time, I opened my wings into a sharp turn, twirling beneath him as he mirrored my movements, keeping myself almost directly beneath him so that he could not gain an easier angle of attack. Grimmel tried to aim his crossbow at me, but I made myself into a difficult target, opening and closing my wings at random intervals. I caught the wind as fast as I pulled away from it, throwing myself into a dizzying whirl of rain and lightning, terror and exhilaration.
I had spent five years playing "catch me if you can" with Toothless, high above Berk in the mountain-winds. I knew how to avoid a Shadow-Blender that was trying to catch me. Especially since he had no idea how I flew. How much I could take advantage of the winds. How fearless I was to fall.
It would have been great fun, if Grimmel still wasn't trying to dissolve my magic away with those darts.
Such a dart flew just past my nose, heart-stoppingly close. Thunder boomed. My migraine pounded. Bright spots flared across my eyes.
I strained to watch both Grimmel and the environment around me. He didn't bother shooting a dart that would be swept away, but that didn't mean he wasn't a good shot. Twice more, a dart came far too close.
I swept into their shadow again, and at that point, I cried out in exasperation, "Toothless, I could use some help!"
Above Grimmel and the nothing-eyed dragon, a dark cloud solidified.
Toothless dove from above, eyes narrowed in determination. He had snuck behind them, and now it was over—there was no escape for them now, not with his accuracy, not from this distance.
I allowed myself to grin.
Saw Through Closed Eyes shrieked a warning. A bolt of magenta fire exploded overhead. Toothless tore away.
A Deathgripper emerged from the smoke, diving straight for me.
"They caught up!" I shouted the obvious, swerving just before they caught me. The trapped dragon rushed past me, failed to stop, and crashed into the mountainside. From their clumsy purchase, they swung their head, peering into the thunderstorm, nostrils flaring. Above, more Deathgrippers wheeled—two had locked onto Saw Through Closed Eyes, and she led them on a wild chase, spinning and spiraling, taking advantage of their slow flight. The last hovered protectively above Grimmel and Toothless' brother, who had also pulled into a hover. Grimmel had his crossbow up and ready, but he was staring into the clouds, grinning with excitement.
"Hiccup!" came a cry from below. Golden scales glimmered in the heavy rain below. I closed my wings and fell, trusting, reaching out—!
Haugaeldr snatched me up and clutched me to his chest. I gave a great sigh of relief. My shoulders were burning.
"Son!" Dad shouted, leaning over and holding his shield up.
"I'm okay!" I shouted. "Where's Toothless?"
My answer came with the high-pitched shriek of a Shadow-Blender's fire.
Grimmel let loose a high-rattling whistle, and his captive burst forward with incredible speed. The shriek didn't stop, and suddenly a bolt of lightning morphed into a fireball, streaking like a comet towards Grimmel and Toothless' brother.
But Grimmel was watching for it and tugged them both to safety. The fireball roared just past them and exploded onto a mountainside, sending a humongous landslide careening down into the valley. Swinging his tail, Toothless' brother spread his wings and pumped them down rapidly, sprinting through the maelstrom. He tore up one of the rows of mountain-teeth, pulled over it, and dipped out of sight. The Deathgripper followed far behind, as did the one that had crashed.
"Great," I hissed in frustration.
"He's leading us into a trap," Dad shouted. "They've set something in that valley, or he wouldn't be trying so hard to get us there!"
As he spoke, Toothless doubled back to us, diving beneath Haugaeldr. He dropped me onto him, where I immediately clipped my emergency line into place.
"Are you okay?!" he cried.
"I'm fine! He didn't hit me!" I shouted above the winds. I looked above, searching for our final missing member. In between flashes of lightning-light, the remaining Deathgrippers still strained to catch Saw Through Closed Eyes. She seemed only to be half paying attention to them, swaying in the winds as if she was just enjoying the storm.
Then she seemed to make up her mind. She suddenly accelerated, powering in the direction Grimmel had gone, streaking across the furious clouds like a bolt of lightning herself.
"Wait!" Toothless shouted. "Wait, it's a trap!"
Maybe his voice was carried off and smothered in the rain. Maybe she didn't have time to stop. Maybe she heard him and chose to go anyways.
Either way, Saw Through Closed Eyes disappeared over the edge of the mountain and out of sight.
o.O.o
Saw Through Closed Eyes
Rain. Thunder. Shapes blurred by the storm's voice. Burning soreness in my chest, in my heart, in my wings. Darkness, my eyes clenched shut.
That was all that I knew as I surged ahead, leaving the red dragons in the wake I left in the downpour.
Just ahead was the whistle of wind, the sharp rattle of rain spattering across wings. Too far for sight-sounds, but so different in the perpetual chaos that the sound was like a fire lit in the Under: impossible not to notice. Impossible to hide.
The nothing-eyed dragon had saved me. He deserved the same.
I knew it was reckless, stupid, shortsighted to expose my neck for a stranger. But hadn't strangers, and Outsiders at that, done so much more for me? Hadn't these dragons shown me more kindness in a few days than I had ever received from my flock in the Shell? Hadn't these dragons snorted in the face of my curse and declared it silly and powerless, that they would help me break it, when they could have easily rejected me as I had expected?
A deep ache settled in my heart, heavy on my thoughts. Something was wrong here.
But I didn't think the Outsiders were to blame.
A sharp zing tingled against my scales. I ducked out of the way just as the storm breathed its lightning. It spewed angrily, sending static prickling down my spine. Who, or what had angered it? It fought and fought and fought, biting and clawing at my wings and tail. A lifetime of living in the Under had made me sure and strong in the face of currents, and it was easy to brush the tumult aside. I had faced fiercer currents, ones that threatened to suck me down into the depths, never to breathe air again.
Which meant that I reached the nothing-eyed dragon and the liar-monster far sooner than they expected.
My sight-sounds found them, a condensed blur shrouded in the mists of sound. I pushed upwards, seeking shelter above them, wary of the nothing-eyed dragon's tendency to swoop and grab. I knew how difficult it was to escape his grasp.
The clouds closed in on me like protective wings. I could only hope that I was hidden.
I must not have been, because the nothing-eyed dragon pulled his wings in and dove. I gave chase, letting the wind buffet me back and forth. My sight-sounds caught something small flinging up towards me, and with barely a moment to spare, I twirled out of the way. The tooth shrieked past me.
I pulled my lip up to show all my teeth. I would never let the liar-monster bite me again!
A flash battered against my closed eyes. Thunder roared. Far behind me now, I could hear voices shouting; Toothless, I think, but he was too far to understand. It must have taken him some time to catch Hiccup, especially with the mad way he had flown. But if I stopped, I would lose the liar-monster and nothing-eyed dragon; I had to keep going!
The nothing-eyed dragon dove deeper and deeper, down towards the forest. Now I could hear a new roar; there was a large waterfall ahead, plunging just off of a stony overhang.
Another small, sharp object radiated within my sight-sounds. I tucked my wings in and pulled into a sharp turn, sight-sounding as I did so. I could perceive nothing but the towering trees and waterfall.
The nothing-eyed dragon flew straight through the waterfall, heedless of the stone behind it—or that should have been behind it.
I hesitated just a breath before following. The water parted around me, and a vast, empty space opened before me. The mountain was hollow.
The two Outsiders shouted again, and this time, I could understand them.
"Fly away!"
Fear struck me sharper than any lightning strike. I didn't hesitate or question; I backpedaled, spinning towards the closeness of their voices, my heart racing, my weak magic pulsing urgently—
An object exploded across my sight-sounds. I had a moment to recognize it and screech before the monster-vines blocked off my escape, stretching across the entire cavern's entrance. There was a strange clicking sound, and then light and heat bloomed across my eyelids. I swerved away, snapping my eyes open, and was met with the sight of the monster-vines trapping ignited with flames. The waters that should have extinguished them merely made them sputter; they persisted even when completely doused. It was such an unnatural sight that I could only stare, struggling to understand what I was seeing.
The liar-monster made a sound below. Laughter. It echoed in the alcove in the mountain.
I spun, my fire boiling in my throat, and flung it exactly where he stood. The nothing-eyed dragon leapt out of the way, carrying him to safety.
Snarling, I pulled out of my hover and swooped alongside the flaming monster-vines, desperate for an escape. Below, more monsters began to emerge from the stones, poking their heads out from behind straight-edged objects like snakes slithering from a shadow.
To my despair, the monsters were inside and behind the flaming vines. I could hear them outside, though my sight-sounds struggled to find them past the tightly-interwoven strands. I tested the monster-vines, ramming my back against them, but the impossible things held taut and stung. They had spikes on them, unlike the Shell vines.
But they were still vines! I knew I could break them—had to break them. I spun in a circle again, angled myself upwards, and raked my claws against them. It hurt, my claws catching on them and nearly splintering. Instead of the soft give I expected, they were made of stone.
Panic began to surge within me.
The only escape was deeper into the mountain, where the liar-monster and the nothing-eyed dragon patiently waited. Their eerily-calm posture only made my urgent heart beat even faster.
My flockmates and I used to hunt like this, encircling schools of fish so that they could not swim away without going past us. The liar-monster didn't need flockmates; he made the very fire and earth of the world hunt with him. I was trapped, and all of us knew it; now he needed only to wait for me to make that final, desperate rush towards life, even as I threw myself directly into his waiting teeth.
A sharp, familiar shriek filled the air.
"Look out!" Hiccup screamed, so close that hope rose unbidden in my heart. I flung myself aside, racing to the edge of the confined space.
A tremendous BOOM! swallowed all sound, even the raging storm above. A glow like the rising sun unfurled.
Hiccup and Toothless tore through the stone monster-vines, alive with fire and fury, and charged straight for the liar-monster. He lifted a paw in that slow, familiar way that always preceded a bite.
I roared and hurled myself towards him. The liar-monster swung to face me, and on some command, the nothing-eyed dragon sprinted further into the mountain. Behind me, the monsters began to scream and stamp their paws, banging objects together, making my head dizzy with the noise. Hiccup and Toothless landed, fire streaming from Toothless' maw. He did not loose his fire, though, instead holding it there, rumbling with deep fury and frustration.
They knew that they could not strike the liar-monster while the nothing-eyed dragon was nearby; he would simply sacrifice himself.
I blinked.
But…that was it, wasn't it? Like the eye of a storm passing overhead, sudden clarity struck me. The nothing-eyed dragon would always, always, always leap in front of an attack.
Something sharp bit into my side, thrusting the air out of me. With a wheezing yelp, I stumbled to a landing inside the cave. The immediate inside-out burning of the venom didn't come. Instead, something worse replaced it: crushing pain in my chest followed by a sensation of drowning in thin air, each whistling breath leaving a little less air in my lungs.
Toothless was already racing towards me to help. The liar-monster raised his paw again. Somehow, I knew he would not miss.
I forced my eyes open, meeting the chaos in his eyes. "BURN!" I shrieked, lifting my wings, bringing my fire to my maw.
Another bite, this time in my leg. I screamed. A monster behind me whooped. My fire tore astray.
But Toothless' did not.
His body lit with the vibrant blue of the auroras, swirling down his spine, into his wings and tailfins, glimmering in his throat. With a savage snarl, he halted in front of me, shielding me with his body. The otherworldly light burning through him flared. He poured a stream of blue flames upon his brother and the liar-monster. The nothing-eyed dragon, as always, angled himself into the attack to protect the liar-monster clinging to his neck.
I had been waiting for that.
I skirted past Toothless and lunged. The blue fire swirled and coiled like a living thing. The nothing-eyed dragon was too focused on protecting the liar-monster, rearing on his hind legs and opening his wings to block the flames. The fire licked at my scales, and though I felt their terrible heat, they didn't cling and burn. They enveloped me, shielding me, guiding me.
I barreled into the nothing-eyed dragon, sight-sounding within the unnatural flames. He fell backwards, throwing the liar-monster off of him as he did. I ignored the liar-monster even as he scrabbled backwards like a crab. There was a wing, then the wing-shoulder, then the neck…and that hated thing wrapped around it.
Squeezing my eyes shut, gasping breathlessly, I snatched the thing in my teeth and slammed my paws onto his neck, pinning him. I swung my head back, pulling, pulling, pulling!
A creaking sound rang high in my ears. Then something like dry twigs snapping. The thick material held a moment, then another. The nothing-eyed dragon made a horrendous gurgling sound, mouth gaping, eyes bulging. Choking. I didn't stop. I snarled, grinding my teeth, and yanked backwards as hard as I could.
The nothing-eyed dragon stilled, his gums paling, eyes rolling back. But there was no time to stop, and we may never have this chance again, and there was no other way!
And still Toothless' aurora-blue fire poured over us, like a deathly cleanse, like the fires that eat away at the forests and plains so that new plants may grow.
"Let! Him! Go!" I seethed.
SNAP!
My head jerked back, no longer braced against the resistance of the thing. There was a sound like icicles breaking on the ground. The nothing-eyed dragon let out a tight gasp. The enclosing fire faded, sending a chill down my scales.
I stumbled backwards, gasping for breath, and spat out what remained of the monster-thing. It was getting harder to breathe, like the air had fled my lungs, dissolving to nothing inside me.
"There…," I wheezed. Black dots swarmed my vision. "You're free…"
The liar-monster skittered backwards and fumbled with the thing in his paws, real fear in his eyes. He lifted his paw and whistled.
"Attack," whispered the nothing-eyed dragon. Still struggling for breath, he sluggishly rolled over, tried to get up, and collapsed. "Attack…"
As if in answer, a sharp cry came from within the cave, "ATTACK!"
A red dragon came charging from the shadows.
Then Toothless was in front of me, snarling and meeting the poor dragon claw for claw. Hiccup leaped off of him and pelted towards me.
"Saw Through Closed Eyes!" he gasped. He grabbed my head and tried to pull me to my feet. "You have to get up, now!"
"You…" the black dragon rumbled. He began looking around, nostrils flaring. Legs trembling, he rose to his feet and swayed. "You…"
The liar-monster had risen to his feet. He looked back and forth between Hiccup and the nothing-eyed dragon and made his decision. He aimed his biting-thing at Hiccup.
"Saw Through Closed Eyes, get up!"
Oh, right. I was…lying down? I didn't remember that. But the liar-monster—the tooth, with its sickly amber fluid—Hiccup—Toothless was still fighting the red dragon—oh, oh no, no—the nothing-eyed dragon, I'd hurt him, he could barely breathe, too—I had to get up now!
I heaved myself on top of Hiccup, curling my body around him. The liar-monster would not bite him again. He would not hunt his dragon-self. He was a kind and good dragon, and he didn't deserve that fate. The magic-eating tooth bit me instead, but that was okay. The fire erupted at my heart, which beat so frantically I wondered if it would tear itself in half. My vision blackened. A high-pitched ringing sang in my ears—or maybe it was just my scream. I writhed and struggled to keep my eyes open, to watch the liar-monster.
"YOU!"
The nothing-eyed dragon had finally recovered. He snapped his wings open, blotting out the light from the fire. The liar-monster raised his biting-thing, and with a small, precise shot of fire, Toothless' brother sent it flinging out of his hands. A gruesome smile split his maw, teeth glinting sharp against his dark scales. He took a step forward, hissing softly.
The liar-monster's eyes were wild with fury and fear. He let out a sharp cry, turning and sprinting away.
Toothless' brother spun around and leapt just out of the way of a spray of sizzling acid. More red dragons emerged from the darkness, whipping stinger-tails towards him to force him back. One focused only on him, but another snatched the liar-monster in their claws and disappeared into the mountain. The other red dragon sent a final spray of acid at Toothless' brother before whirling and flying after them. The last one—the one fighting Toothless—broke away as well, keeping up with them and guarding their tails.
The nothing-eyed dragon screamed wordlessly, his voice hoarse from choking, and sent a rain of fireballs after them. One dragon let out a pained wheeze and fell. The other two sunk into the darkness.
"Coward!" Toothless howled, racing forward. His older brother followed alongside him, and for a moment, the two of them were united, paws hitting the ground in sync.
"Wait!" Hiccup shouted, having finally squirmed out from under me. "Saw Through Closed Eyes is hurt!"
Toothless skidded to a stop and whipped around. His older brother slowed a few paces ahead of him.
"Oh…" the huge dragon mumbled. "Wait."
He took a step backwards. Then another.
The ground vibrated. A low rumble emerged from deep inside the mountain.
"A—a trap…is here…"
"What is it?!" Hiccup shouted.
Toothless' brother seemed to be staring straight ahead. "Yes," he said after a long pause. "Oil and—and—and explosives…at the entrance, and lining far down the tunnel, up until the…the escape outlet…"
BOOM!
The entrance to the cave, still blazing with monster-vines, blasted apart. The dim light from outside winked out. As the dust settled, most of the flames were smothered, although some still stubbornly blazed on.
Hiccup snarled, full of frustration and fear, and that helped me realize that I had lied down again. I struggled to stand up but couldn't seem to find the ground. It was like I was floating, lost in the thin air, which slowly choked me with every rattling breath I took.
"What do we do?!" Toothless cried. He rushed over to Hiccup and me, tugging me up and shoving his shoulder under mine. I struggled to find my paws, which were suddenly so clumsy and cold.
BOOM!
This explosion came from deeper in the mountain.
The ground buckled like a glacier assuaged by tidal waves. The sound was tremendous, so much so that it acted like a sight-sound. Every single wall and crevice in the cave bounced off of it, giving me a perfect picture of our surroundings.
"Collapsing!" I gasped. "The cave—collapsing!"
The mountain was trying to swallow us. But it sang as it fell into itself, and amongst the chaos of the churning earth, I found something within the sight-sounds. I stumbled forward, leaning hard on Toothless, bearing the pain slicing through leg and lungs. Adrenaline coursed through me, whisking the pain away in desperation, and somehow, I found the strength in me to run. "This way!"
There was no time. They followed. The rumbling increased, so loud that it hurt, so loud that I intimately knew every bump, divet, and scratch upon these caverns. It was consuming, the grinding scream of the world ending, and in that moment I felt so small, so vulnerable, like a pebble before a tidal wave, tiny and helpless.
But we ran, we ran, we ran!
Oh, first ones—oh, first ones!
I rounded a corner and flung myself down a shaft. A miasma of dust and debris roared into the cavern. It was the tide pulling away before the tsunami, the sudden stillness of the air before the tornado. I coughed, squinting as grit filled my eyes.
The tunnel dipped into a pocket with impossibly-smooth obsidian walls. Smaller tunnels branched outwards, like arteries from a heart. There were claw marks upon the stone, stark-white against the black. But its material was somehow just like those of the crystals in the Shell, and those were forever. If anything, this dense, sturdy stone was far stronger than the earth crumbling around us.
I flung myself against a familiar-smooth wall. The others tumbled around me, squeezing in. Hiccup slipped and fell beneath me, and Toothless wrapped his paws and wings around us both. Toothless' brother barely fit against us.
Forgive us, my heart wailed fervently. Forgive us!
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut. All the light was shrouded. I listened in helpless terror as another wave of dust and debris went tumbling past our refuge. I couldn't close my eyes, blind as they were. I was frozen. We were going to die.
I didn't want to die.
I didn't want to die.
I didn't want to die.
A glimmer caught my eye, vibrant in the bleak dark.
My heart stopped.
There, at my paws, were shrapnels of the pitch-black stone, smooth-sided, sharp as claws.
As my paw rested on them, they began to glow.
Survive!
The cave buckled inwards.
o.O.o
Haugaeldr
The fire-lit mountain exploded like a volcano, the enormous force rattling the very forest itself. The entire western edge of the mountain simply folded into itself, tumbling deep, deep into the earth. A wave of dust and debris erupted in the air, shrouding the rest of the collapse from view.
"NO!" the King screamed.
"No…" I whispered, slowing my frantic wingbeats.
So fast. They had flown so fast, and these winds…I…I hadn't been able to catch up, I'd never flown in this before…no…no…
No.
Those were excuses. Hiccup and Toothless had gone after the white Shadow-Blender alone for one reason only: I had been too weak to keep up.
"Go, Haugaeldr!" the King snapped.
Though I knew the anger in his voice was fear in disguise, I flinched submissively and shot forward.
So clever. I had thought I had been so, so very clever. I had felt Grimmel's poison as it crept along the innumerable, winding paths within my body. I had learned how to notice that core at my heart. How to encourage it into life like an ember into a flame. How to use it to fly so fast that nobody could possibly catch us. How to enhance my senses so that even the smallest whisper was easy to find, the faintest scent clear to follow.
I'd found traces of Hiccup and Toothless, and then Grimmel's men, and then their trap. Knowing just who they were hunting, I had insisted we wait there, and I was right! Hiccup and Toothless had come straight into the trap—hopefully on purpose—and we had reunited!
Using the magic for that had felt so natural. It had felt right. Like it was a missing part of my soul that I had never known I'd lost until it wandered its way back to me. I had even made sure to watch my magic-stores, mindful of avoiding too great a depletion. Still, I'd only just managed to reign it in just before I hurt myself. I'd felt confident that I wouldn't need it anyways, that I had succeeded in finding and saving Hiccup and Toothless from the trap.
Had I doomed them by foolishly using all of my magic?
All that joy and stupid pride were gone now as I raced towards the imploded mountain. I prodded at my magic-core. There was nothing left to use—not without risking forever-sleep. I knew this intuitively, easier even than flying, but it was of no comfort to me.
The victorious cries of Grimmel's men rose from within the forests. They had used a very deadly contraption indeed, something tethered into the mountainside that could be drawn back and dropped at a moment's notice. How it had caught fire and stayed aflame inside of a waterfall, I didn't know. I didn't care.
They had trapped Hiccup and Toothless and those other dragons in there, and then pushed the entire mountainside upon them.
The rain washed out the rest of the dust as I swept right over it, and oh, oh, it was completely caved in, there had truly been no escape—!
A rising wail tore itself from my throat, and it didn't stop, I couldn't stop, because my caretakers, those who had helped raise me as older siblings—they were trapped in there, because surely they were alive, they had to be alive, and oh, I hadn't been strong enough, I had been too weak and foolish, and now they were in that inescapable tomb, and it was all my fault!
Hiccup's father let loose a war cry like none I had ever heard. He leapt from my back, barreling with all his power and loss into the forest. There he tore apart Grimmel's men like they were wet paper, roaring with an empty rage. They were running away, I dimly noted, simply trying to escape now that their cruel task was complete. The King was soon left panting, alone in the rain, as the cowards descended into the forest of the valley, disappearing like ghosts in the night.
"No! No!" I sobbed, landing onto the rubble. For a frantic moment, I was reduced to dumb instinct, digging as fast as I could. Then, realizing my folly, I leapt and fluttered about, crying, "Hiccup! Toothless! Can you hear me?!"
The rain streamed down as heavy as a river, washing away much of the loose debris. The thick, gray-green clouds grumbled.
I raced back and forth, listening for even the slightest sound, training my nose on any stone that smelled just a little different from the rest. Water streamed down my neck and into my eyes, blinding me, and I had to shake my head several times just to see.
The ground quaked beneath my paws. The water curled into every minute space between the stones, withering it away. An enormous landslide tumbled down the broken mountainside.
The heavy rain stifled any dust from rising. My throat welled up, for now there were even more stones atop the entrance, it was certainly impossible to dig on my own—
A flash of color caught my eye. Like a star fallen to the earth, it glowed with a soft, warm light.
It wasn't Hiccup and Toothless, but it was something different, and that meant it may be useful. I scrambled over and peered at it. It was some kind of mineral, it seemed—a half-opaque, perfect-edged gem so large and brilliant that it must have been priceless. When I drew near, the glow increased, and the air around it noticeably warmed. Hesitantly, I lifted a paw and pressed it against the stone.
The warmth amongst the frigid cold sent a shudder through me. It was like being enveloped beneath wings, spreading through me, reassuring me…
As my heart calmed and sense returned to my thoughts, I realized that something else had escaped my notice.
The stones were sunken here.
I resumed my frantic digging, thrusting stones and dirt clumps in the air.
"Haugaeldr! Have you found something?!" the King cried from some distance away.
"I don't know!" I shouted. "Oh, Dragoness of the Moon…please no, please no, please no!"
With that final plea, I grasped a stone easily Hiccup's size in both of my claws, heaved, and hurled it down the mountain. I caught a glimpse of something below—sheer darkness—before a stone thrice my weight came lumbering down, smashing directly atop the dip in the rubble.
It dwarfed me. If it had been hollowed out, I could comfortably fit inside it.
That was no matter; that briefest view beneath the earth had been enough to light a spark of hope inside me.
"King!" I shouted, turning back to the forest. To my surprise, he was already halfway up the destroyed mountainside, eyeing the packed stones with despair. "There's a tunnel here! I'm going to move this stone. Look out!"
He got the message clear enough, scrambling uphill and out of the way. With a few flaps, I positioned myself to the side of the stone, put my paws on it, and pushed.
Nothing.
Grunting, I swung my body around until I could wedge myself between the stone and the mountainside. Bracing my hind legs against the cliffs, I strained with all my might, throwing all of my not-very-considerable weight into it.
A pebble loosed itself from the base and skittered away, but that was all. I snorted a puff of hot air through my nose.
Very well, then.
Other dragons had done it and survived, and I had to save them, because they had to be alive, and I had to make my failures right again.
Closing my eyes, I reached inwards towards that warmth within my heart, my soul, that which had so long had hid itself away from me. As weak as it was, it yearned towards me, beckoning. In my mind's eye, I clasped its paw in my own, clutching tightly, never to be broken again.
I whispered my fervent request to it.
Heat and energy pulsed through my limbs. My heart clenched with pain. There was nothing in me left to give, but I would still give it anyways. The freezing rain turned lukewarm on my scales. A rush of power scoured into me. I could fly for days like this. I could breathe fire hot enough to melt metal.
I could certainly move this stone!
With a roar, I threw my weight into it, and the magic guided and strengthened me, roaring with its own internal cry even as it sputtered out. My limbs ached, tendons straining, muscle fibers splintering, but the magic washed over them and soothed them, holding them strong, healing every microfracture the moment they broke open.
The stone trembled. My vision darkened. More pebbles shot down the mountainside. My heart squeezed in painful palpitations.
A sudden shift, and the entire stone plunged down the mountain. It was so large it seemed to move in slow-motion. A tremendous crack filled the air as it met the ground, bits of it exploding into deadly shrapnel. It tumbled down the landslide, crashing into the trees. Several splintered and snapped against the enormous weight, sending the boughs shaking wildly, a cacophony of thunder marking the boulder's path.
A gust of air rushed past me from below, filling my wings and buffeting me off the ground. I pedaled all four of my legs like a foolish fledgling before the wind faded, dropping me back down.
All at once, exhaustion settled deep into my bones. I reluctantly released the magic, unclasping our paws. The immediate drain was crippling. I panted and clung to the mountainside, wings drooping, and craned my head downwards.
The glowing stone appeared to be made of the same material as the tunnel. It must have been a separate piece, pushed next to its twin after the landslide had dislodged it. But where the stone glowed, the tunnel did not. I stared into the yawning black, absent of warmth and light.
Sucking in a deep breath, I stretched my entire neck into the tunnel and bellowed, "HICCUP! TOOTHLESS!"
By then, the King finally fought his way up the mountain until he stood at my side. "Well done," he gasped, clapping a hand on my shoulder. Cupping his hands, he cried into the tube, "Hiccup! Toothless!"
I strained my neck forward, perking my ears. My heart thundered.
Faint and weak, a returning echo, "…dad…?"
"They're here!" I shrilled. I pranced in an anxious circle around the King, tapping all four of my paws. "They're here! Oh! They're here, they're here!"
"SON!" the King bellowed. "OVER HERE!"
"Oh! Oh!" I still gasped like a fool, paws pattering on the stone. Finally, I took a moment to compose myself, taking in a deep, calming breath like Hiccup had taught me to do. I pushed my neck as far down into the tunnel as I could, brought my fire to my throat, and urged it to its brightest. I strained my eyes, searching into the river of dark, as the King shouted with all of his fear and hope.
At first there was a haziness, a graying in the din. I blinked several times, trying to get the rain out of my eyes. But the mirage only solidified, reflecting my light back at me, forming a structure…a shape…a…dragon.
A white dragon, scales catching and taking on my fire's vibrance, limped forward. The climb was steep and the water pouring in made it no easier. Their brilliant blue eyes fluttered with effort, but they dug their claws into the smooth stone and pulled themselves forward. The King backed up, and I spread my wings wide over the entrance, blocking the rain's passage.
When they were close enough to see and smell—a familiar smell!—I gently nipped at her scruff and helped pull her forth.
She tumbled out of the mountain's vein with a wheeze and collapsed on her side, eyes unfocused. When she drew breath, part of her chest didn't rise as much as the other half. I immediately saw why: an arrow pierced deep into her chest cavity. One of her lungs was collapsing.
The King noticed at the very moment I did. He took a step forward to help. The little white dragon met his eyes and lifted her lips in a weak snarl.
A gasp caught our attention, and the both of us snapped back to the entrance.
Hiccup. It was Hiccup! He was there, he was alive!
He was also struggling to climb up, but that was no matter!
"Hiccup!" I wailed, lunging forward. I scrabbled down the smooth stone, sliding and nearly slipping down myself.
"Be careful!" he laughed in breathless relief. Behind him, Toothless emerged from the depths, using his girth to keep his brother from falling backwards.
I snatched up Hiccup's scruff, and for once, he didn't squawk in embarrassed displeasure. Digging my claws in and bracing my wings against the vessel walls, I scooted backwards, carrying Hiccup with me, Toothless right in front of us.
We emerged into the rain, and in that moment, feeling the gentle pitter-patter on my wings, I looked up to see that the storm was fading.
"Boys!" the King gasped, lunging for them, pulling all of us into his arms.
Hiccup laughed, returning the hug with shaking arms. Toothless wrapped his wings around all of us, purring. I bustled in against them all, vibrating with the remnants of adrenaline, fear, and relief.
Alive. They were alive!
The King pulled away. His expression blackened into a stern scowl.
"I know, I know!" Hiccup said, holding up his hands. "And I'm sorry. But we have more important things to deal with now."
"Aye," the King relented. He turned back to the white Shadow-Blender, and with wonder, he breathed, "You found another one…"
"She isn't the only one," Toothless said. He turned back towards the tunnel.
From the darkness came an even darker shadow, a dragon so large that he scarcely fit. We all backed up to give him room as he clawed and gritted his teeth, taking those last crucial steps out into the world. When he finally raked himself out, he gave a great breath of air, like he'd been suffocating beneath the stones.
"Brother…" Toothless whispered, staring at him. The King understood, shooting him and Hiccup a shocked look. I gaped at the stranger, the very same dragon that had once been trapped by Grimmel.
The huge Shadow-Blender swayed, eyes distant. As if tugged along by strings, he jerked his head towards the white dragon and walked stiff-legged over to her. There he stood above her, staring out into the beyond, before bending his neck to sniff her injuries.
"…this will—this will hurt," he stuttered. He clamped his teeth on the arrow in her leg and mercilessly ripped it out, taking a gruesome chunk of flesh with it.
The poor dragon squealed in agony and thrashed. The Shadow-Blender thrust a paw over her wound and closed his eyes, and the pain in her voice only increased in intensity. She writhed, trying to get away, but though he appeared unsteady, his hold on her was effortless.
I crouched low to the ground, tail swaying frantically. He was healing her with magic, I knew, but I wanted to help! Why did it have to hurt her so?
It only lasted a moment. Toothless' brother removed his paw. The wound had closed and scarred. He then jerked like a limp thing towards the arrow protruding from her chest.
The wound gave a ghastly whistling sound with every breath she took. The half of her chest that was discordant with the rest was inflating more and more, putting pressure on the lung, forcing it closed.
"Wait!" Hiccup cried. He stumbled to his feet. "If you pull that out, her lung will collapse more!"
"Yes, please be careful!" I added. "Internal injuries are far more difficult to heal!"
His eyes flickered. "Heal…" the dragon murmured. "Heal…heal…"
He met the white dragon's eyes.
Then ripped the arrow out and slammed his paw upon the hissing wound.
Her rising wail rang inside my ears. I hunched low to the ground and stretched my neck towards her, resting my chin atop her forehead, and tried to purr and comfort her. It was all I could do. Hiccup and Toothless raced to her side, bustling around her, lying close and murmuring to her. Her scales were burning hot, as if she were fevered, and perhaps she was from this deep injury.
There was a pause in the shrill cry. She struggled to breathe, and this time, when she drew in breath, I could peer into the wound, past the blood-coated ribs, and see something there move. Toothless' brother thrust his paw down, squeezing the unwelcome air out of her chest cavity. Sickened, I turned away.
Her breath tore in and out. This time, however, her chest rose and fell normally. Though her eyes were wild and glassy, there was relief there, too.
"Heal…"
Then came the wet, sickening sound of regenerating flesh. I grimaced. The dragoness whimpered and shuddered through this final bout, her breaths coming out in choking sobs. She was doing everything she could to hold still, but her tail thrashed and her claws dug deep gouges into the soft dirt.
"You're almost done!" I whispered in her ear, pressing closer. "You're being so brave, you're almost there!"
The rain steamed when it met her scales. The heat was unbearable, even for a dragon. Toothless' brother would have to end the spell, or she would burn from the inside out! I twisted to snap at him to stop, and—
He removed his paw and stepped away. Where there had once been a gaping wound down to her lung, now was a thickened scar against her white scales.
The little dragon heaved a shuddering breath.
"There," Toothless murmured, eyes flicking between the wound and his kin. "It's over…"
She merely gasped, eyes closed, limp in the mud and receding rain. "Thank you…" she breathed.
I frowned as her body returned to a more livable temperature. "Well, at least the heat should stop infection…hopefully," I said. I looked up at Toothless' brother.
He stood there, staring off in the distance. I glanced over my shoulder to see what he was looking at, but there was nothing of interest that I could locate.
In a series of unnatural jerks and twitches, the Shadow-Blender turned away, opened his wings and tailfins, and crouched to take off.
"Wait!" Toothless said. He raced in front of his brother, flaring his wings to block his passage. Still, his shoulders barely reached his older brother's chest, and the Shadow-Blender loomed far above him. He looked like a yearling shouting at an adult. "Brother, it's me!" he cried. "Don't you remember?!"
His eyes dragged slowly to Toothless.
"…yes."
They both gazed into each others' eyes.
The Shadow-Blender stepped lethargically around Toothless. When Toothless leapt in front of him again, opening his wings to block his passage, he let out a small huff. "Don't want to…to fight," he ground out, as if he had to rip the words from deep within him. He tried to turn away, only to be met with his persistent younger brother again. He took in a deep breath. "Please."
"We don't have to fight!" Hiccup urged, scrambling over to Toothless' side. "Can you stay with us for a little while? Please?"
"Brother…" Toothless took a step forward, reaching his head up towards the Shadow-Blender's. "There are so many things I've wanted to say to you," he said softly, "and I've missed you dearly so. Please, don't leave."
The dragon's eyes were cold. In that odd, flat tone, he said, "Not…me."
Toothless took a step back, ears sticking straight up. "What?"
"…I…" He wrinkled his nose around the word. "I…I…I am not…your brother." He paused, eyes distant, and said with the barest hint of satisfaction, "I am not your brother."
Toothless gaped at him, his ears pinned. "But…you are." He stepped forward, and his brother stepped back. "I-I know you must be…overcome, brother, but I promise you, what Grimmel—"
A snarl erupted from him. He rose on his hind legs, towering over Toothless like the stormclouds above had funneled their ominous strength into him. "You," he seethed, so furious that fire erupted in his throat and spilled between his teeth. "You, you, YOU!"
Toothless crouched low. Hiccup grasped his neck, eyes wide. "W-what?" he asked uncertainly.
Just like that, the rage left him. His snarl loosened into something lost, almost pleading. "You…were…"
He dropped back to four paws, eyes blank.
"We were what?" Hiccup said in the tone of voice of someone bargaining with an insane person.
"You betrayed me," he whispered. "You were my brother…and then you…you–" he choked and jerked backwards.
Toothless crouched low to the ground, eyes wide, ears flattened. His mouth worked for a second, and then he whimpered, "I…I didn't mean for it to happen!"
Hiccup pressed close to his brother, staring up at the black dragon with furious eyes. "It wasn't his fault!" he growled. "He was barely a fledgling!"
"Hurt me," the dragon gasped. "You…you hurt me."
"I–I didn't–" Toothless stammered, sounding so small and unlike himself, submitting there in his older brother's empty shadow.
"Hate you."
Toothless lurched backwards.
"Hate you."
"Woah, woah, hold on," Hiccup said, holding his hands up, glancing wide-eyed between the two.
"HATE YOU!" the Shadow-Blender thundered, ripping open his wings, mouth aglow with flames again. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"
Hiccup stumbled, falling onto Toothless, who was pressed into the ground frightened and small.
"Please, I'm–I'm sorry," Toothless said, his voice high and thin. "I didn't—it was an accident—I was so young, and—and—" he cut himself off. He leaned heavily into Hiccup, who held him to his heart and bared his teeth at the Shadow-Blender. High, keening, he almost begged, "I thought—I hoped—you would understand. You are my brother…please…"
The enormous Shadow-Blender took in a hissing breath.
Amber eyes met green.
"I was your brother."
He spread his wings over us all, crouched, and leapt away. One downstroke, two, three…
Then he was gone, swallowed within the receding thunderstorm.