Runaway reader x hiccup haddock

Demon? No, your biggest nightmate.

Night fell and the moon rose. Sparkling stars decorated the black canvas known as the sky, surrounding the silver orb that shone brightly upon the dark land, acting as a guide for travelers in the air or land. The sea below moved gently along the breeze, sending lapses of small waves before they die down.

It was a calm night, but not for all.

A big ship cruised along the seawater. Whimpers and angry snarls can be heard from the occupied dragon cages that displayed openly on the upper deck, no doubt having more below.

"I'm going to be a rich man." A patrol guard muttered to himself while rubbing his chin in delight, admiring a Hideous Zippelback. Its two heads being weighed down by the heavy chains on their necks and muzzles restricting their mouths, four of its eyes glaring at the guard with pure hatred and anger.

The guard chuckled at its expression, seemingly enjoying the dragon's pain.

"Not so strong anymore, are ya?" He chuckled, a cruel smile still plastered on his face, earning a growl in response. "Went through bit of a hassle to get you. Aww, what are you gonna do? Call for the Night Rider to set you free?" He taunted further.

Their employer had warned the crew about the legendary dragon rider, that they shouldn't say the name too freely, claiming that they were similar to the boogeyman, only that the 'Night Rider' is real. This guy simply couldn't believe it, thinking his employer was just paranoid. Theres just no such thing as the 'Night rider', is there?

"Oh? What a coincidence." Someone said from the shadows, startling the man greatly. In an act of reflex, he threw the candle lamp in his hand in that direction.

The glass shattered into piece as it made contact with the wooden floor, causing a small fire to spread. The light revealed you in a black outfit, with Midnight at your side. You calmly walked through the fire, unbothered by the flames that grew.

"Ahh, demon!" The guard whose legs seemed to be planted out of fear, screamed, gaining a chuckle from you.

"Oh honey." You said while pulling a dagger out of your belt.

"I'm not just a demon." Before the guard can make another sound, you had moved in front of him, stabbing your weapon into his neck.

"I'm your greatest nightmare." You whispered into his ear before pulling it out.

The blood gushed out like a geyser, rapidly flowing out of the wound.

You watched as the guard clasped both of his hands onto the wound, hoping to stop the inevitable, while struggling to breathe. He gasped for air and gurgled out incoherent words. Judging by his hand gestures and scared expressions, he hadn't anticipate your intentions, before his eyes finally roll to the back of his head, choking on his own blood.

Aah, this is why you love what you do. You love delivering karma and watching them suffer from it. Also because of the dragons too, of course.

"Do you always have to be so dramatic?" Midnight growled out, jumping over the corpse, avoiding contact with the sticky pool of blood. She hates having to wash her paws, mostly because of the water.

"Oh cmon, you know you love it too. Don't try to deny it." You teased, wriggling the blood-coated dagger at her. She opened her mouth to retort, but closed it again, rolling her eyes and huffing loudly through her nostrils. You knew her too well to be wrong, and she knows it. After all, you've only had each other for years.

"I'm gonna go do what we actually came here to do rather than to stand here and have this discussion." She huffed one last time before moving forward.

You can't help but to chuckle at her childish behavior, before walking towards the Hideous Zippelback's cage. You unsheathed your sword and brought it down hard onto the lock. The dragon couldn't help but wince when the lock shattered.

"Hey, hey." You sheathed your sword back, then slowly inched forward. Your palms were wide open, bearing no visible weapons for it to see, hoping not to terrify the dragon even more.

"You speak my language." It managed to growl out. It wasn't a question but a simple statement, a confirmation to itself that you were close to its kin, a lace of hope that you were its ally, rather than an enemy.

"Yes, I do." You placed a hand on one of its heads. "And I'm here to help you get out of here. But first tell me, do you want revenge?"You asked, a smirk growing on your face.

———

This ship is huge, undoubtedly one of your largest dragon rescue yet. Thankfully, some dragons decided to help out. You have already freed two-thirds of the dragons, killing a few unlucky patrol guards on the way.

Unfortunately, fate doesn't want things to go smoothly tonight.

You were freeing a Monstrous Nightmare when a loud alarm bell started ringing. You couldn't help but grin before breaking the last chain and moving to the side for the dragon to pass. You were hoping tonight wouldn't need more bloodshed than it already had, but oh well...

"Continue freeing the dragons, I'll deal with them." You ordered the rest, unsheathing your sword.

'Let's have some fun.'

———

You ran quickly towards the center of the ship, stomping your feet as loud as you can with each step, hoping to draw the guards attention towards you. You have to buy the dragons as much time as you can before the guards find out about them.

Just as expected, heavy footsteps can be heard from each direction as guards appeared from the gaps of dragon cages around you. You observed them carefully, you can hear their gasps accompanied murmurs of your 'name'.

There are four of them with swords, six with axes and three with crossbows that climbed onto the dragon cages, the usual. To be honest, you had expected more with how much cargo they've been carrying, but you must have killed a portion of them on the way.

With a daring battlecry from one of them, the fight officially started.