Come Darkness, Come Light

Chapter 7 - Getting Smarter

A/N: I was not planning on writing today, but I'm going out of town and I figured I'd post one more chapter before then, so here it is! P.S.— I keep having to re-upload previous chapters to fix mistakes. I loathe grammatical errors and plot inconsistencies. I'm sure the rest of you do, too :) I can't rest unless the story is absolutely perfect. It's my fatal flaw.

Disclaimer: HTTYD is not mine. Boooooooooooo!

VALKA'S POV

Cloudjumper landed in front of the cavern entrance a little rougher than usual. The flight back from the neighboring island had been a long one, and his exhaustion made him a little off balance. The winds had worked against us the entire time, so half a day's flight turned into a full day. The trip was necessary, though. It was the only island with Changewings—hence me naming it Changewing Island—and I had been running low on their acid, which I needed for rescue missions.

After sliding to the ground, I turned to caress my poor dragon. "Rest now, Cloud. You've done plenty," I assured him. He didn't need to be told twice, and he dragged himself to a large patch of moss to take a nap. I readjusted my satchel and briefly checked inside to make sure all the bottles of acid were still intact. I've had a few break before—it's not a pretty sight.

I glanced around the nest as I approached the tunnel, but Hiccup and Toothless weren't out flying around. They must be in the cavern or their room, although I thought that was a bit strange. It was still daylight, and daylight meant playing outside. I hurried down the tunnel, anxious to check on my son. I more than trusted Toothless to take care of him while I was gone, but Hiccup was still only five. I couldn't help but worry at least a little bit.

When I got to the cavern, there was still no sign of them. If Hiccup was in here, he'd almost definitely be at the desk drawing. It was his second favorite activity—his first, of course, being flying. Weird. Maybe they're taking a nap? I put away my satchel in one of the chests for safekeeping, then head to their room. Once again, it's empty. Where in the world could they be? They weren't allowed outside the nest while I was away, so they had to be somewhere.

I decided to search the tunnels. I'm not nearly as familiar with the layout as Hiccup is, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I carefully made my way through, every now and then pausing to listen—only silence. Luckily, there were spots where the ceiling was made of ice and light filtered through, so I wasn't completely blind during my search.

"Hiccup?" I called out, receiving no response. I gulped, starting to grow tense. That's it. I'm never leaving the nest again. I thought resignedly.

Before I could fall into a state of panic, my ears suddenly picked up the sound of a dragon roaring. I paused in confusion, my eyebrows furrowing. The sound came from deeper down the tunnel I was currently in. In all the years I've been here, I didn't think any of the dragons could fit this far in, besides hatchlings and Terrible Terrors. The tunnels became more narrow as you approached the center of the mountain.

I shook my head, moving through the tunnel as fast as I could without tripping. What I wouldn't give for a dragon's ability to see in the dark. After a few minutes of walking, the sounds of multiple dragons got louder and louder. When I finally saw light ahead, I took off at a sprint.

I exited the tunnel, and immediately ground to a halt. It was another open cavern, except this one was huge. The walls rose high above me, with ledges sticking out every couple dozen feet. On each ledge, there was a nest with a mother dragon and her hatchlings, which is what I'd been hearing. There were tons of dragons, more than I could count in a hurry. A big hole in the roof explained how they even got in here in the first place.