{HIATUS} Éternel: Between Two Worlds (#3)

xii. Dawn of Destruction

Warning: This chapter contains depictions of violence and blood.

Note: Only track 35 has sound effects. I'll admit I got lazy with adding them lol. I'll do better next chapter - sound effects are necessary to the last track of next chapter hehehehe

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³⁵ Cold sweat glistened on my furrowed brow. With my hands clasped tightly on the small bars attached to Toothless' saddle, I leaned down further toward his body, narrowing my eyes on the glow of the island ahead of us. Ships gathered around the shore, and there were faint sounds of dragons roaring and crying coming from the trees.

Toothless growled at the sounds of distress, flapping his wings harshly to fly closer to the island. Against his scales and the night sky, I couldn't even make out the outline of my pitch black armor. Still, I could feel the leather weighing down on me. My hair, partially tied with six braids, fluttered in the wind, a few strands sticking to my sweat-slicken forehead.

I glanced behind me, searching for Levi and Cepheus who were supposed to be following me. After a few seconds, Levi had emerged from the clouds above, his mask tightly wrapped around his mouth and his coal black hair brushing against his face. He gave a quick nod to me, and I nodded back then turned to face the island.

"Let's go, bud," I spoke to Toothless, the dragon snorting in response and diving down to the island, making sure to blend in with the night sky and avoid any lookouts or guards. Meanwhile, Levi stayed back, hovering above the clouds to act as backup in case anything went wrong.

Silently, Toothless landed at the very far side of the island, away from the hunter's activity. I slid off of Toothless, trying to be as quiet as possible when my feet touched the ground.

With careful and calculated steps, I snuck closer to the nearest light source and immediately spotted seven hunters conversing with each other, a torch in the tallest man's hand.

Too many. I can't take them down now.

Toothless huffed quietly as he moved behind me, narrowing his eyes as he focused on the hunters, his mouth rising into a silent growl. I placed my hand on his head instinctively to calm him down, and thankfully, he released the tension from his body at my touch.

"Follow," I commanded, raising my hand into a gesture for the dragon to follow me. The both of us moved silently behind the trees, stopping occasionally to check our surroundings before scurrying into the back alleys of the auction site.

As we ventured further into the operation, we came across more and more hunters, and of course, the dragons being sold in the auction, all locked in dragon-proof cages. Some were sleeping, while others were either throwing a fit or trying to escape. My heart wrenched at the sight of them, so distressed and filled with sorrow. But I knew that this time I would be able to save them. I would make sure of it.

Finally, after minutes of sneaking around with Toothless and listening in on the hunter's conversations, we were able to find the main tent. It wouldn't have been hard to spot, since the entire thing was made out of dragon hides, the sight already making my body shiver. Nevertheless, I focused on the two hunters standing guard at the tent.

I turned around to Toothless and gave him the hand signal to sneak around and attack the left guard. The Night Fury nodded and leaped off, his movements swift but quiet. I then circled around, pulled out my fans and snuck up behind the tent, approaching the guard on the right.

Our movements coordinated, Toothless had pinned the other guard to the ground and crushed his head between his jaws. Before the other guard could notice, I had plunged one closed fan right behind his collarbone, immediately severing his artery. In just a few seconds, all life had escaped the hunter, his body falling to the ground.