Electrified

Chapter 1

It's summer in the Archipelago, making the sun beat down with the force of ten scauldrons blasting a man to death. The temperature of the water and the air right now are probably the same as well.
I wipe glistening droplets of sweat off my forehead as my skrill veers right, wing skimming the water. He flaps three times, quickly accelerating as well as flying up. Flying isn't as enjoyable in the summer, the wind rushing past my face is merely gusts of hot air. But, if I don't fly with Lightning Storm, he'll leave me behind without a second thought. Well, maybe a third. As loyal as he may be, his free spirit clings to the open ocean and stormy skies, no matter who or what is with him. I pat his scaly neck, grateful I don't have to ride Lumina while she migrates.
     Storm levels out, rumbling as he blurs past sea stack clusters. An island comes into view, no vegetation visible from the air. My hair whips in the wind, and hot air quickly dries my eyes. Storm charges up, but I don't feel anything atop the blank part of his electric body; his neck. The skrill fires an enormous bolt of lightning from his mouth, the fire glowing blue as it obliterates an unlucky sea stack. I grin, loving the adrenaline-fueled moments I can share with my dragon. Others may think of him as a monster, an evil tyrant who can summon lightning, but like wolves, skrills are very misunderstood.
     Storm slows faster than even a night fury and lands, evening his weight on the ground on his two, small back legs and the enormous single claw on each of the folds of his wings. I slide off of him, trailing my fingers up and down a spike on the crown of his head. He rumbles again, closing his bloodshot-red eyes. They turn white when he opens them. His colors shift from black, blue, and green to the normal stormy gray and dark purple.
     "Alright, Lightning Storm, are you up for searching for another village?" I say, half joking. He shrieks, the high-pitched banshee cry making my ears ring. I cover my ears as his message is made clear to the shift in colors and how he rears, wings spread in the air and mouth wide; no.
     I pout. "Come on," I whine. "I heard that you went neck and neck with a night fury on some faraway village." This only makes him puff out his chest in pride. I roll my eyes and shove his head, earning a zing of harmless shocks racing up and down my nerves. His pupils dilate to round orbs.
     I turn around and rest on one hip, crossing my arms. Storm comes behind me, charging up enough to cause my hair to stand on end. He chirps a few times before shoving me over, taking me by surprise. I giggle and pretend to swing at him, he dodges his head and lifts a sharp clawed wing, gently poking my chest. Powerful charges move through my nerves, temporarily paralyzing me. I gasp as Storm rumbles in laughter, rolling over.
     My thoughts wander to the awe this massive dragon puts me in. I'm only as tall as his shoulder, being 5'5. He was feared and abused and used for so long, then completely turned around when I defended Lumina when I first met him. He respected the fact that I risked my life for another. Lightning Storm truly is amazing. I've heard that he's the only skrill seen in the past forty years. If skrills can hibernate in ice, then that may be where the rest of his kind are; trapped in an ice land.
     I sigh contently and sit on the ash-barren ground. Enormous bones are scattered around, I recognize them as the remains of the legendary Red Death. People say the present chief of Berk and his night fury killed it too. It seems as though the pair are quite legendary. When I've been to many islands to trade or rescue dragons from fights, their names are whispered like vows throughout the Archipelago; Hiccup, Toothless. Well, if I ever come face to face with the chief, I'd punch him square in the nose; payback for harming and trapping Lightning Storm.
     I snort at the thought.
     Storm shoots small lightning bolts at small clusters of rocks, each one ending in an abnormally loud thunder clap. I look around seeing footprints all around. They are mine, of course, but there are others nearby, deep footprints that look fresh. I narrow my eyes and whistle. Storm freezes and changes his colors to the Night combo.
     A few moments later, a small flock of terrible terrors fly away, shrilling and chirping. Something isn't right.
     I never knew what hit me until it, well, hit me. Literally.
     Someone tackles me, pinning me to the ground by my wrists. I snarl, baring my teeth at my attacker. But when I open my eyes wider, I can only be shocked.
     A guy about my age, twenty or so, with dark brown, curly locks of hair is on top of me. His blue eyes bore into my brown and sky blue eyes, his attractive face twisted in a scowl. One scar over his left eye gleams in the sunlight, and fresh scratches dot his face. A well muscled body easily pins me to the ground, knees straddling my hips. I'm tempted to nail him where it counts, but before I can even blink, Storm has slapped him off of me with a massive tail.
     I can't help but chuckle, the angry skrill towering over the now cowering man, shrieking. "Lightning Storm," I say in a firm voice, standing up. Storm's eyes have shifted into purple slits, and his skin is now of the Lightning combo. Dark clouds gather overhead.
     Storm backs up, still snarling. I hold up a hand as I walk to stand in front of my previous attacker. He's trembling as I help him up, Lightning Storm breathing heavily. Sparks have erupted from his scales. When the man opens his mouth to speak, Storm booms, spreading his wings. The man ducks behind me, but he's taller than I am.
     "Storm!" I shout. Lightning Storm stops and shifts colors to the Storm combo. He saunters away, letting loose a threatening grumble.
     I exhale sharply and turn to face my attacker. His clothes seem to be in tact, but his alarmingly attractive face says otherwise. A black eye tells me he's been wrestling terrible terrors. He glances at me and my skrill every once in a while.
     "So," I start, "what brings you to this particular island?"
     He wrings his hands. "I came for a dragon." He glances at Storm chasing away a flock of vultures. "Where did you find that?" he asks, pointing at my dragon.
     "Classified." I narrow my eyes. "What's your name and where are you from?"
     Now, a wolfish grin spreads across his face, making him look younger. "Classified." He puts his hands on his hips and puts all of his weight on one leg. "But if you must know, I am Kendrick Howard Haddock the First, chief heir of Berk."
     I lift my head. "Howard rhymes with coward. Care to explain why you were looking for a dragon but when you found one you hid behind me like a coward?"
     Kendrick purses his lips, his mouth tugging upwards. "Actually, Howard means 'brave heart.'" I huff.
     "Well, there was nothing 'brave' about hiding behind someone," I mutter.
     "What?"
     "Nothing."
     We fall into an awkward silence, watching Lightning Storm blow up sea stacks.
     Suddenly Kendrick studies me. "What's your name? And where did you find that?" he asks yet again, pointing at my skrill.
     "I am Anais, and once again, the origins of the skrill are classified."
     He furrows his brows.
     "I have heard though that the present chief of Berk defeated two Alpha species and locked him" -- I point to Storm -- "up in ice. Besides, shouldn't being the son of the Dragon Master himself already have a dragon?"
     Kendrick scratches the back of his neck. "Well, yes. I came out here by a rowboat and was stranded on this island. I tried to tame a dragon so that I could get back home, but, you could probably figure that one out." He looks back toward the main part of the island. "I need a ride back to Berk and, since you were fortunate enough to find a skrill as a dragon, I need you to help me with someone I think is trying to overthrow my dad -- and me."
     My eyes widen. Why in the world would he ask me of all people? "But you barely know me," I say, more confused than anything else.
     He sighs. "Well, no one believes me, so why not get a stranger who has one of the deadliest dragons in the Archipelago as their companion to help?" Kendrick thinks for a few moments. "And you can help me find a dragon."
     Storm must've heard him, because the next channel of lightning strikes a rotting log right behind him.
"Lightning Storm disagrees, but I will only comply if I'm not sucked into any tribe drama." A lightning bolt barrels into a stone dangerously close. I groan at my skrill as Kendrick -- more like Coward -- ducks behind me.
"Storm!" I yell. He jogs up to me, Night combo colors flaring on his scales, head ducked, softly rumbling. Lightning Storm glares at Kendrick.
Kendrick peeks around my shoulder, his chest cornering me from behind a lot closer than I'm comfortable with. I grab the collar of his shirt and yank him toward Storm, letting go. He yelps as he collides into my dragon. Storm growls and sparks, pinning Kendrick to the ground with an intense, charged stare.
"Listen, Coward--"
"Howard--"
"-- if anything happens to my dragon, I'll be the one who tosses you into Valhalla." He shuts up immediately, curls over his eyes.
"And," I add, "tell your father that he messed with the wrong dragon."