Another Nightmare book 1

Chapter 26

Toothless pushed his wings as hard as he could, but it was useless. With his tail out of balance it didn't matter how hard he flapped and strove: He simply couldn't fly straight long enough to get out of the cove. He didn't stop though. He was panicking because he could feel the Queen's presence for the first time in weeks. It was strong enough for Toothless to sense the pressure of her presence even through the shielding Hiccup had built around his mind. The part of his hatchling's mind left in him was still protecting him, the Queen had no influence over him as she couldn't get deep into his mind like Hiccup had, but even Hiccup's shielding couldn't completely block her whispers at the moment. Toothless didn't care about the whispers though; there was only one thing that mattered right now.

The only way he could be sensing the Queen this strongly was, if there was large number of dragons carrying her presence closer. He could already hear the battle: Hiccup was in danger and Toothless, who had sworn to protect him, was stuck in a damn hole! He couldn't even sense if Hiccup was okay! The Queen's presence completely overwhelmed his senses. More pieces of rock fell on the grass as Toothless tried to claw himself up the last few meters. The cliff-side was already full of claw marks but he just couldn't reach the top. The flight gear was laying uselessly behind a rock where it always stayed so that he could rest more comfortably without it in his way.

He could neither fly nor sleep ever again though if anything happened to Hiccup.

Toothless jumped again at the unmoving stone and fell once more to the ground. He was the Nigh Fury that most dragons in the nest were terrified to face, yet his path was blocked by simple stone! A blue glow started emanating from Toothless' throat, becoming brighter every second. He was almost ready to fire when the beats of large wings reached his ears. The battle was already ending. Why would one of her dragons be coming towards the cove? Toothless extinguished his flame and turned around just in time to face the Nightmare that landed in the middle of the cove. Faced with a growling Night Fury the Nightmare immediately lowered into a defensive posture. They circled around each other, ready to pounce, growling in each other's face.

'I shouldn't have believed a Viking. This dragon, willing to help me? What a fat load of Grockle's ass!'

'Viking!? You spoke with Hiccup?!' Toothless approached the Nightmare, he caught a faint scent of Hiccup on the other dragon. 'What did you do to him?! Answer carefully: Your life depends on it.'

'Hiccup, I think that is the same Viking... He did something to me. My whole life seems... wrong.'

'That's because the Queen has been controlling you since you were a simple hatchling. We have all been slaves, as was I until I met Hiccup. His mind is powerful enough to free us. Now, I ask again: What Did You DO TO HIM?!' The threat in Toothless' thoughts alone was enough to make the Nightmare back away several steps. At that moment Toothless didn't mind his old reputation in the nest.

'I did nothing. That Viking came in front of me in the middle of the battle and then... He did something. She was telling me to kill the Viking... but I didn't. He showed me this place.'

'Was he hurt?'

'No, I don't think so.'

'That's not good enough.'

'Why are you so worried about that tiny Viking?' The condescending tone of the other dragon's thoughts was the last straw to the already stressed Night Fury. Toothless bounced at the nightmare. A dark-scaled pawed struck at the red-scaled face before the other dragon could defend against the sudden attack. The force of the strike made the nightmare stumble into the water, but nightmares weren't known for being easily beaten. They were soon back to the same positon they had been in moments ago, at a tense standoff.