Battle Scars | Book 1 (DISCONTINUED)

Ch. 8: Spread Your Wings

As Brenna stomped away from the scene, she clenched her fists as anger boiled up inside her. How dare that mulch bucket Alice betray her?! She had to get to the bottom of this. Alice had acted protective of that one red dragon from earlier; maybe getting that beast could give her some answers.

"Ma'am!" a voice yelled. Brenna stopped and looked behind her as one of her men ran up to her. "We have a limited time before we have to meet their Chief in the main hall. What should we do until then?"

The Alrynian heir sighed, remembering the reason they were on the wet heap of rock in the first place. Vengeance would have to come another day. First she had to get the information her father needed. Making sure no one else was around, she turned and faced the Viking talking to her. "I'll separate the group into two, one will patrol around Berk and get as many information on the species of dragons here and the second will search the rest of the island for any watch towers, catapults, or anything else that could prove troublesome for our fleet."

"And what about you?"

"I will be joining the second group and search the island as well." she answered, walking back to the ship to give out orders to the rest of her crew. "I want to get out of this village as soon as I can..."

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Flash wobbled in the air as he and Alice tried to catch up with Hiccup and Toothless. He screeched as he dodged past another tower, almost losing his balance and falling. Having control of only one wing while someone else had control of your other made flying more difficult than it should've been.

Finally, the pair caught up with the Night Fury, flying a few inches behind them. "Can't you guys slow down?! We can barely keep up!" Alice yelled, tightening her grip on Flash's saddle in frustration.

"We're not even going that fast?" Hiccup yelled back. "I hope you're aware this is no where near Toothless's top speed!"

"Ugh," Alice gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "Well flying lessons in the middle of this huge village was a terrible idea!"

"Where else is there? The arena is currently being used for classes!" The chief argued back, but he seemed more focused on steering Toothless than his conversation with Alice. She saw the Night Fury look back at her and roared something at Flash. The Flightmare tilted his head as Toothless faced forward again before shooting up into the sky. Alice yelped as Flash followed and tried to keep his wingbeats even as the they rocketed higher and higher into the air. They rose above the village, joining the huge flock of dragons that flew over the people of Berk. Alice gulped when she looked down, seeing how high they were. I thought Hiccup said we were staying close to the ground!

The pair continued to follow them, flying thousands and thousands of feet above the sea. Toothless broke into a glide, so Alice and Flash did the same. The wind carried them as they grew further and further away from Berk, until finally a forest was in sight and Toothless started to lean forward. Suddenly, the jet black dragon tucked in his wings close to his body and spun downward, plummeting directly towards the green earth. Alice didn't even have a chance to react when Flash copied Toothless's motions. Her heart dropped when she felt the dragon tilted forward and braced herself, clinging tightly to his neck as gravity caused them to drop out of the blue sky. Icy wind stung her eyes as they fell, but she had to keep her eyes open so she wouldn't lose Hiccup and Toothless. She winced as the Night Fury began getting closer to the forest, certain that this would be the end for all of them. However, just before they crashed, the Night Fury flung his wings back open, the breeze catching them again and allowing him to glide across the forest at amazing speed.

Alice's awe at the stunt was short lived when she realized they had to do the same if they wanted to survive. She shared a quick look with Flash to make sure he was on the same page, and together as one Flash opened his left wing as Alice helped spread out his right. Wind screeching past them, Alice gritted her teeth when they got stuck in a glide that only slowed their fall. Praying to the gods, she risked it all and pressed her foot down in the saddle's stirrup, causing Flash's wing to go downwards as well. Surprisingly, the Flightmare managed to react just on time, and for a split second they spun forward before Flash balanced his wings once more and was following a few yards behind Toothless.