Come Darkness, Come Light

Chapter 30 - A Troublesome Situation

A/N: Um...oops?

galahsrock - "[Narrator] But alas, she did not update soon..."

Disclaimer: If wishes were horses and all that...but nope, not mine.

HICCUP'S POV

"Toothless, dive!" I shouted, but it was unnecessary, since he was already leaping off the ledge. He tucked in his wings, letting gravity pull us down at a high speed. A cacophony of screeches and frantic flapping bounced around the enclosed space as the dragons gave chase, making it difficult to concentrate.

Toothless dodged a myriad of teeth and claws as he weaved around pillars of stone, desperately looking for an exit. His ability to maneuver at impossible angles was the only thing keeping us alive, and I had to simply hold on for dear life. Many dragons flew straight into the walls, unable to turn quickly enough. But where one fell, another one replaced it.

My eyes widened when a Flame-scale opened its jaws wide, spewing a stream of fire directly at us. Toothless, somehow sensing the oncoming danger, performed a barrel roll at the last second to prevent me from getting burned to a crisp. I had on my fireproof flight suit, but my helmet was in the saddlebag and there was no time to grab it.

*Hold on!* Toothless commanded, which was the only warning I was given before he cut sharply to the left, nearly sending me off his back. There was a whoosh of sound as we entered a narrow tunnel. Wind whistled through the tight space, and those few seconds of quiet darkness were the only reprieve we got before we burst into the open air. Toothless zoomed through the sky like an arrow, pushing his speed to the limit.

I risked a glance over my shoulder, dropping my jaw at the scene behind us. Hundreds of dragons poured out of the mountain, swirling toward us as one giant, chaotic mass. More appeared from the fog, slowing us down as Toothless avoided colliding with them.

We flew deeper into the storm we'd been trying to steer clear of earlier, hoping to use the cloud cover to our advantage. Gray clouds surrounded us on all sides, and I had to duck my head as the rain pelted down, unable to see anything at this point. Lightning flashed, illuminating attackers flying all around us.

Toothless turned his head and shot a plasma blast under his right wing, hitting a Spike-tail that had been getting a little too close for comfort. The dragon shrieked at the impact and dropped out of sight toward the sea below. My heart raced as I watched it disappear, wondering how long we could keep this up until the rest of the dragons reached us. Toothless unleashed several more blasts, each one aimed perfectly yet not even making a dent in the crazed flock.

We were both so focused on the dragons behind us that we didn't think about the ones below. A strong force rammed into Toothless' stomach, jerking me up and out of the saddle at the same time Toothless was shoved sideways. I yelped in shock, gripping the saddle with both hands as my entire body was flung outward. My fingers slipped against the wet leather as Toothless wrestled with the other dragon, unable to break himself free. We hurtled downward, exiting the heavy clouds like a meteor. I tried to pull myself back into the saddle, but we were spinning so much that I couldn't even tell which direction was up.

I'm so screwed...

Right as I had the thought, a blur of scales passed by, smacking into my legs and tearing me away from Toothless in the blink of an eye. I gasped at the pain that erupted in my left shin as I spun head over heels toward the choppy sea. Toothless roared my name, but he was unable to come to my rescue. There was no way around it—my dragon was tied up and I had no wings of my own—I was going to hit the water.

I sucked in one last gulp of air, holding out my hands to brace for impact as I plunged headfirst into the frigid ocean. The first thing that registered in my mind was the bone-deep cold. It was like my entire body had turned to ice in an instant, a deadweight at the complete mercy of the currents. It wasn't until my lungs started burning that I realized my limbs had yet to move. I was sinking lower and lower into the dark abyss.