The Dragon Quest; by KaliAnn

3. Flower Power

By KaliAnn

The questers were uneasy and uncomfortable as they flew on. A freak storm had come out of nowhere catching them off guard. Sheets of freezing rain fell from the sky drenching them. The winds howled and tossed them about. The boom of thunderclaps scared the dragons as Toothless was doing his best to avoid lightning strikes to his tail fin. Hiccup was trying his best to fly as low as possible to avoid the strikes, but the crashing waves of the raging sea forced him to fly higher. The riders had pulled out their traveling cloaks to protect them from the elements, but it wasn't helping much.

"We need to get out of this storm and fast! I don't know how much longer we can survive in this weather!" Astrid shouted. She let out a shriek as a thunderclap boomed right next to her. Stormfly was scared diving down and releasing her tail spikes in all directions nearly striking the others. "Calm down Stormfly, it will be okay."

"Has anyone spotted a rock or an island that we can take shelter on?" Hiccup yelled back. He glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the group. The twins were struggling to keep in the air. Fishlegs and Meatlug were being tossed about. Snotlout was clutching Hookfang who was slightly aglow as he tried to light the way through the storm. Nissa and Ula kept switching positions back and forth trying to keep a protective shield over the group with little success. The Daypeaces were shivering in the rain and looking exhausted.

"Hiccup if we don't find shelter soon were all going to get hypothermia. Worse our inner flame might be extinguished," Toothless said as he dodged another lighting strike.

"What's your inner fire?"

"I think what Toothless is referring to is the methane sack that helps produce their fire. If dragons get to wet or cold their sacks won't work as efficiently. They might even go out!" Fishlegs informed him as he was tossed around by the storm. Meatlug was already looking rather sluggish as her wings started to coat with ice.

"We spotted an island to the south of us about half a mile away! If we can stay in the skies just a bit longer we can reach it in twenty minutes," Barf called out as the Zippleback switched direction. The two headed dragon flew against the wind breathing some fire to melt the ice forming on Meatlug's wings.

"The storm is less severe if we head south! I think we spotted a clear patch ahead!" Ruffnut shouted. She was struggling to stay in her saddle as her brother fought to direct their dragon. "Tuff and I are barely hanging on to our dragon! If we get any wetter we're going to fall off!"

"I don't want to take a salt water bath Hiccup!" Tuffnut added nearly falling out of his saddle only for his sister to grab him at the last second.

"The storm is growing in strength and intensity. It might develop into a full blown hurricane at this rate. The island may be our only hope," Belch said.

"The Zippleback makes an excellent point. Everyone head south for the island. Hookfang, I know this is difficult, but you need to keep a lit to lead us towards the island. Nissa; stay near Hiccup and Toothless to protect them from the lightning. I'll bring up the rear. Hopefully my protection barrier will keep us safe from harm until we reach the island."

"Understood Ula. How are you holding up Toothless? This can't be an easy flight for you considering the lightning."

"I'll feel better once we're safely on the ground and under some cover. Ahhh, dodging all these strikes is not as easy at it seems. I'm more worried about both of us getting struck by lightning and the charge staying inside us. There's nothing in the air to ground the charge."

"With nothing to ground the charge it would stay in our bodies forever. I don't want to become a walking lightning bolt bud."

"Don't worry Hiccup, I'll make sure the lightning doesn't hit either of you. Ugh I'm starting to hate living in these northern lands. At least back home the storms wouldn't be so wild and chilly! The sooner we get to the island the better. Its getting harder to maintain my inner dragon."