Deception (A Dragons Race to the Edge Fanfic)

Chapter 26

You gradually woke up to the sound of Terrible Terrors singing (or more precisely, screeching) outside. But, that didn't bother you one bit. For once, you felt truly content. The air entering the cave was crisp and fresh, now that the storm had cleared. You kept your eyes closed, wishing to remain where you were a little longer. You were lying on the rocky cave floor, one of Viggo's arms wrapped protectively around your waist, and your back against his chest. The even rise and fall of his chest against you told you he was still asleep. Not wanting to wake him up, you decided to stay put for a bit longer, reminding yourself of the conversation you'd had last night. You still weren't entirely sure if it had been a dream or not, but the way Viggo's hand rested on you told you it wasn't.

You sighed happily, finally deciding to get up. You gently lifted Viggo's hand, as you got to your feet, and placed it on the rocky floor, where you'd been lying. You had to stop yourself from laughing at his slightly tussled hair, as you looked back down at him, before walking towards the mouth of the cave. The fire at the entrance had died down to mere embers. Amethyst still slept soundly near the entrance as well. Both she and Viggo seemed to have been exhausted by yesterday's 'adventure'. You, on the other hand, having rested, were eager to explore the island. In addition, perhaps more importantly, you were starving. You resolved to quickly retrieve some berries and perhaps a fish you could share with the others when they woke up.

The dawn light was refreshing as you stepped out of the cave. Your head felt clearer than it had for months, and the prospect of exploration now excited you. Now that the daylight was strengthening and the storm had subsided, you were able to survey your surroundings a little more thoroughly. The cave you had spent the night in was on a sheer-faced cliff on the southern side of the island, somewhat secluded from the rest of the land. You remembered that Viggo had taken a long time to pick out the shelter. You thought you remembered seeing a small stream, no doubt containing fish, during this search last night on the northern side of the island.

Feeling energetic, you jogged north up a small hill, the steady incline not even making you breathless, as you took in deep breaths of the dawn air. You reached the top of the hill, which gave you an excellent view of  the island. You took a moment to gaze over the landscape. The island was beautiful, with plentiful meadows as well as lush forests. You were sure that dragons of every sort would be found here. Briskly proceeding to continue jogging north, a smile spread across your face. You raced towards the glistening water of the flowing stream.

The journey to the stream had been pleasant, and the heightening sun had intensified as the dawn progressed. By the time you reached the stream, the dawn had almost turned to day. Now, you crouched beside the river, in a sparsely vegetated forest, your fishing equipment at the ready. It was the perfect time for fishing. Just as you were about to lower the bait into the water, you heard a squawk come from the bushes behind you. You turned around to see a Deadly Nadder bounding through the undergrowth towards you, its yellow eyes wide with fear. It hurtled past you, and quickly took to the air. Something had clearly startled it, and it was unlike a Nadder to flee for no reason.

 Leaving your fishing equipment where it was, you ventured forwards to investigate what had caused the commotion. You scanned the trees for any sign of movement, but nothing stirred. Instead, silence echoed between the trees around you. Ahead of you, you glimpsed a clearing. You furrowed your eyebrows at what you saw lying in the middle of it: some kind of orange substance amongst the leaves and bracken. You couldn't quite make out what it was at this distance. You silently crept forwards, searching for hostility from all angles. As you reached the edge of the clearing, you once again examined the surrounding thickets for danger, but found none. Venturing out into the clearing, you picked up a shard of the hardened orange substance, and scrutinized it more closely. It looked oddly familiar... Then it dawned on you: this was Deathsong amber! But, this wasn't Melody Island, so why would there be a Deathsong here?

As you pondered the question, you heard a sharp noise come from the vegetation to your left. You narrowly dodged a rapidly travelling spurt of amber. You instinctively unsheathed your sword, holding it at the ready, as you searched the trees for the owner of the blast. From the undergrowth came several further blasts of amber, all at once. Unable to evade all of them in one go, you dodged out of the path of some, and intuitively blocked the others with your sword. The substance quickly hardened around the blade, however, rendering your weapon pretty much useless. Trying desperately to shake the substance off your sword before it set, you took your eyes from the trees for a moment. As you struggled with the sword, your heart racing, you suddenly felt an incredible force hit you. You were knocked to the ground, as you felt a strange, sticky substance engulf your arms, and quickly cool to trap you in a cocoon of amber. An uncontrollable feeling of panic arose in your chest, as you managed to turn your head in the direction of the blast. There, above you, towered a Deathsong, its teeth bared. Then you noticed it: this wasn't just a Deathsong. The dragon was covered in scars, bound in chains and there, at the dragon's flank, stood a man you'd never seen before, but it was clear that he was no friend of yours or dragons, given the expression on his face.

Stepping towards you, he gave a deep rumble of laughter, as you desperately tried to struggle free from the amber cocoon.

"Try if you want, but you're not getting out of there anytime soon." he sneered menacingly.

"What's the meaning of this? Who are you?"

"Krogan, and the meaning of this is none of your business."

'Krogan?' you thought to yourself. You'd heard that name before - it was the name you'd seen on the letter in Viggo's tent!"

"But, enough questions for now. I'll deal with you later." he said signalling to his men to place you in a cage. You gritted your teeth, as you tried to struggle free, but it was useless. You were roughly thrown into a dragon proof cage, which was soon flung  onto a cart, and brought to another small clearing within the forest. The hunters left you there, and soon returned in Krogan's direction.

'Great'. You thought to yourself. You were stuck in a cage, Amethyst and Viggo were on the other side of the island and you couldn't even move hands to even attempt to tamper with the lock. Luckily, the amber only came up to about chest height, so you could move your head to survey your surroundings, and your knees were free, so you could just about shuffle onto them, to get a better look around. In the clearing, you saw several other cages, with dragons in them. From the looks of it, most of them seemed to be Singetails. You'd never seen these dragons up close before, since they'd been highly aggressive and practically untrainable the last time you'd encountered them with the riders. They were highly adapted dragons, with 360 degree vision, able to propel blasts of flames from pretty much every angle, and truly formidable predators, yet now, trapped in cocoons of amber in cages like you, they seemed...helpless. A flame of anger ignited within you - first Krogan had captured and forced a Deathsong to do his dirty work, and you dreaded to think what malicious plans he had for these Singetails.

There was no way you were going to let him get away with trapping and torturing innocent dragons - you'd make sure of that. That was, when you managed to get out of the amber, which was currently giving no sign of even remotely weakening.

Then, you heard voices coming from the neighbouring clearing. One of them was unmistakably Krogan's, and the other was familiar but you couldn't quite pin-point it. The two figures revealed themselves, as they entered the clearing you were in, with several hunters behind them, obeying their orders with fear.

Then you saw him.

Every ounce of self-restraint you had ever possessed vanished in a second, as his eyes met yours, and you openly gaped, as you saw Viggo standing at Krogan's side. Unable to speak, you stared with astonishment, whilst he simply smirked back.

"There you are, (Y/n). I was wondering where you'd got to - what a delight to see you, my dear." he jeered with artful mockery. Unable to speak, you just stared back, your thoughts swirling uncontrollably, as you realized what was happening.

A/N: It's been a while, but here's a new chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!