Another Nightmare book 1

Chapter 4

The dragon wasn't sure what he expected when touching the paw, but it definitely wasn't this. It felt like his mind had exploded outwards till it met the hatchling's mind. It was something like he had never experienced. There were some cases when dragons could reach with their mind to touch others beyond basic communication, especially between parents and their hatchlings or between mates. Then there was the queen who used this to twist the minds of the dragons in the nest.

No one had ever touched Viking mind as far as he knew, till now.

If he had had a clue what was going to happen, he would have expected the other mind to feel small and weak, like its body. He would have been wrong. The mind he sensed definitely wasn't as massively imposing as the queen's, but it held power. It wasn't the kind of brute force that dragon alpha's mind might have had, like what queen used to reach minds of her dragons even islands away, but the mind he touched was skies away above her in complexity.

The moment he felt the touch of that mind it pulled him in. Momentarily he tried to resist best he could but parts of his own mind and memories started to slip from his grasp. He soon gave up resisting as he could also feel part of what the other was feeling and there was no animosity. All he could really feel was surprise and curiosity and then so much more as the other mind met his. Memories and feeling rushed through him as if they were pushed to him.

As the memories and feelings filled his head he guessed why. There was so much loneliness and depression. He didn't pretend to know Vikings especially well, but could understand loneliness. Even under queen's control, dragons still kept part of their free will despite obeying her every whim. Unfortunately each race stayed mostly with their own kind. He was only one of his kind.

This hatchling was the same, except it... he... still had his mind all to himself and lived with his own race. Other Vikings treated him like other dragons treated the night fury, even worse as the small thing didn't have strength. Respect for strength seemed to be something in common between Vikings and dragons. This hatchling's... Hiccup's strength was in his mind. The black dragon could see in hatchling's memories. How he could create things in his mind and then turn them into reality with his paws. No one cared about this strength but...

One of the things this weak bodied hatchling created was what brought him down. It was what took his tail fin. The maimed dragon should have been mad about this, but even if his thoughts weren't one big mess right then, he couldn't have mustered enough anger against Hiccup. Some of the feelings he received from the hatchling were about understanding and quilt about what he had done.

He didn't have much time to give for this realizations as the other's thoughts were already moving forward, and they moved quickly. He saw more of Hiccup's memories when hatchling's thoughts brushed against his, but as this continued he started to feel dizzy. He had listened queen's whispers as long as he could remember, but she only cared what happened on top of his mind. Hiccup took his mind apart and looked at what was inside.

It was too much. If he didn't feel what Hiccup was feeling, he would have lashed out thinking he was threatening him. Instead he held himself back, trusting that the other wouldn't hurt him.

He could sense feeling of surprise and worry moments before everything blacked out could.

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Hiccup's eyes flipped open. He didn't quite understand all that had just happened. When the Night Fury touched his hand, he could feel what it was feeling... he was feeling. All the emotions and memories were hard to comprehend, but it was clear this wasn't just some mindless animal. He could feel and think, and feel pain. Hiccup could see how lonely he was and could instantly sympathise.