Down on His Luck

Chapter 4

Dagur sat up against the icy rock behind him, blocking the mysterious dragon circling at the edge of the light from sneaking around behind him. His hands shook as he gripped his knife, both from the cold and his own nerves. The dragon's face poked into the light, revealing a narrow snout like that of a crocodile, off-white with striking royal blue spike and spots on the jawline, along with black slitted cat's eyes of the same hue. It was beautiful, but it also had its lips pulled back in a hungry snarl, revealing long, sharp teeth meant for tearing prey to pieces.

Curiously, the dragon had no wings- much like the Bewilderbeast, it instead sported vestigial fin-like structures on it's back and sides. It also had a long, whip-like tail, which it lashed back and forth as it stared at Dagur. The berserker raised a hand as it came closer, hoping that it would react as most dragons did to Hiccup doing the same thing, but it made an odd groaning whine and shrank backwards, unsure of how to react.

"It's alright, I won't hurt you. Want to make a deal? You leave me alone, and I'll never come down here again. Sound good?" Dagur smiled at it nervously, a strangled laugh echoing from his frozen and cracked lips, but the sound of his voice spooked it and it snapped forward in one fluid motion, closing its teeth on the boot on Dagur's good leg. He screamed as it dragged him backward, jarring his injury, and the sound was enough to make it drop him.

Dagur waved his knife at it, vision swimming alarmingly. "That's... right! You stay away! Away you... dragon..." The berserker swayed and caught himself with one arm, confused. He had had worse than a broken leg before, why was he so weak? It must be the cold finally getting to him...

Refusing to give up, Dagur looked around and saw that he was closer to his spear; rolling onto his side with a fearsome battle cry, Dagur seized it and stabbed it in the dragon's direction. The berserker didn't want to kill it if he could avoid it- the dragon was defending its territory and looking for food just like any other creature. Unfortunately it had chosen to hunt Dagur, and he would do what he had to in order to survive. The dragon reared and shrieked, then suddenly turned tail and vanished into the darkness, leaving Dagur to wonder when it would return.