HTTYD: Dragon Girl

Chapter 13: Let Me Show You

I let Keegan have a little bit of a head start. It doesn't seem like much of a fair race, dragon wings against human feet.

"Down," I tell Brightwing when we catch up to him after only a minute or two. "We can't let him tell anyone. But be nice."

Keegan lets out a high-pitched scream as Brightwing wraps her talons around his body. If I wasn't so terrified he'd tell the whole village about Brightwing, I'd never let him live this down.

At my direction, Brightwing releases Keegan at the top of a thirty-foot-high tree, then perches on a limb next to him. Something tells me this tactic works pretty well.

"Astrid!" Keegan shouts furiously, hanging onto his branch for dear life. "Get me down from here!"

"You have to at least give me a chance to explain!" I say.

"I am not listening to anything you have to say!" Keegan yells.

"Then I won't say anything," I promise, and Keegan seems surprised by this. "Just let me show you. Please, Keegan."

Keegan seems to seriously consider staying in the tree, but eventually he climbs hand over hand to me and Brightwing. I offer him my hand, but he slaps it away and instead mounts Brightwing on his own, looking very uncomfortable. "Now get me down," he says, nervously peering at the ground far below.

"You heard him," I say to Brightwing with a pointed look. "Gentle."

Brightwing spreads her wings, catching the air before takeoff. "See?" I say to Keegan, not noticing Brightwing's hard, stony stare. "Nothing to worry about."

Mood Music: Astrid Goes for a Spin

Brightwing swoops off the treetop-- hard. She soars up into the air with greater speed than I would have thought possible. I yelp, but gather myself quickly. Keegan, on the other hand, screams wildly.

"Brightwing, what are you doing?" I shout to her.

My dragon ignores me. She tucks her wings in, and my stomach flips as she plunges toward the sea below. She stops just an instant before we hit the water and bounces unevenly.

"Cut it out!" I yell to her as Keegan clutches madly at my collar. "We need him to be on our side!"

But Brightwing isn't finished. She gains more height and does about a dozen barrel rolls as we zip up to the clouds.

"Wow," I say as calmly as I can with Keegan shrieking and squeezing the life out of me. "I really overestimated your intelligence, didn't I?"

As Brightwing dives down again, Keegan relents. "I'm sorry," he gasps. "I'm sorry. Please, just-- just make it stop!"

This seems to be exactly what Brightwing wants from him. She stops suddenly and thrusts out her wings, the abrupt jolt quickly transitioning into a smooth glide.

Mood Music: Romantic Flight

I can feel Keegan's face, pressed tightly against my back, slowly move as he hesitantly looks up.

Brightwing slowly gains height as the sun sets in the distance. I smile as Keegan reaches out with a tentative hand to touch the clouds that hover just inches above our heads. As the sun disappears under the horizon, Brightwing tilts upward and soars through the clouds. Above a sea of foamy white, the Aurora Borealis twinkles in the night sky.

The touch of Keegan's arms around my waist becomes soft and gentle as he rests his head contentedly against my shoulders, and I feel my face redden.

"Okay, I'll say it," he finally says. "This is incredible." He glances down at Brightwing, a soft smile on his face. " She's incredible."

I don't respond. My grin is too wide for speech.

Then Keegan frowns. "Astrid, your exam is tomorrow. What're you going to do?"

"I don't know," I say quietly. "That's what I was trying to figure out before."

Brightwing suddenly tenses. Her ears perk up, and she sniffs the air carefully.

"What is it, girl?" I ask.

My question is answered when a fierce-looking Hydra soars out of the fog toward us.