Heart of a Dragon Whisper (An RTTE Fanfic)

Chapter 20

I was lying back on Leafblender's back, trying very hard to think. 

"The Eruptodon eats lava, the volcano doesn't need to be active for the Eruptodon to eat from it, and they went south, so where could they be?" I thought aloud, placing an arm over my eyes. 

"Hey, Alpha. Isn't Dragon's Edge to the south?" Leafblender asked. I thought for a moment before sitting up, gasping in realization. 

"And the mountain on the island is a dormant volcano!" I exclaimed, nudging Leafblender in the side with my heel, causing him to fly hurriedly in the direction of Dragon's Edge. "Hurry, Leafblender!" We raced as fast as we could in the direction of the Edge, arriving just in time to see the hunters release the chains holding the Eruptodon. I guided Leafblender towards the main ship and he landed on top of the ship's main mast. Leafblender extended his wing down to the sail, letting me slide down from his back to the main deck, touching down skillfully on my feet. 

"I was wondering when you'd show." Viggo remarked from the side of the ship, watching the Eruptodon with his arms resting on the railing. I walked forward joining him at the railing. 

"It took me a bit to figure out where you brought him." Viggo glanced at me. 

"The riders?" 

"They took the bait and attacked my ship. I flew off the first chance I could." I informed. Viggo nodded. 

"I love it when a good plan falls perfectly into place." Viggo stated, turning to walk away, leaving me alone. Or so I thought. 

"Why are you still around?" I turned my head to see Ryker standing just behind me. 

"I'm helping?" I answered, my statement sounding more like a question. 

"Sure you are, Pest. I'll be keeping an eye on you." I rolled my eyes, turning to leave. 

"Okay, Ryk. Have fun with that." I said over my shoulder mockingly. I continued walking until I was under the main mast again, looking up only to see that Leafblender wasn't there anymore. 

"What are you looking at?" I turned my head to see Axel standing beside me. 

"Nothing. I just thought Leafblender was still up there." I answered before sitting by the base of the mast. 

"You mean your Changewing?" Axel asked, leaning against the mast. 

"Well, he's not my Changewing, but yeah." Suddenly, I felt something scaly brush against my arm and I turned my head just in time to see Leafblender uncloak as he sat beside me. "There you are." 

"Woah!" Axel exclaimed, backing away hurriedly. 

"He won't hurt you, Axel." I assured the hunter, chuckling at his actions. Axel calmed down a bit, but continued to keep his distance. 

"Dragon riders, incoming!" a hunter called, pointing out towards the sea. I stood up and looked in the direction he pointed to see a group of familiar dragons flying towards the Edge. 

"Pest, go inform the hunters on the island to get ready." Ryker ordered me. I growled, not wanting to follow his orders, but one glance at Viggo, who gave me a nod, had me jumping on Leafblender in seconds. 

"Come on, Leafblender. Let's do our job." Leafblender took off and we soared over the huts calling out the order to prepare for attack. I had Leafblender land on the roof of Storm's hut as I watched hunters load the ballistas and catapults. "Hold the ballistas and wait for my signal to fire catapults." I called down to the hunters. I eyed the riders as they got closer, holding up my hand. "Now!" I called, dropping my hand. The catapults were fired and I watched as the guys dodged the boulders. I knew that the fastest way to get to the volcano would be over the island which would explain why Viggo had set up a group here, and even if the riders tried to go around the ships would block their path. "He thought of everything." I thought aloud, watching the riders dodge dragon root arrows, boulders, and ballistas. 

"Maybe not everything." Leafblender corrected. I looked down at him confused only to see him looking in the direction of my hut. I turned my head to see Lilac crouching on the roof of my hut, watching the hunters. I smirked, an idea coming to mind. I put my fingers to my lips and whistled a quick, but sharp whistle. Lilac looked in our direction, her ear fins raised, a sign that she was paying attention. I nodded in the direction of the hunters on the walkways, holding up a hand. Lilac watched my hand, positioning herself in an attack ready position. I looked back down at the hunters, seeing if they had noticed Lilac yet before dropping my hand. A sharp ear splitting sound echoed across the base before a plasma blast hit in between two hunters, the power of the blast throwing them backwards. Lilac blasted a few more hunters back, one of the hunters being the one that had been manning the ballista. Suddenly, I felt claws dig into my shoulders before I was lifted off of Leafblenders back. I looked up to see Lilac had been the one to grab me, probably trying to make it look like I had nothing to do with the attack on the hunters. "Great job, Lilac. Now, fly me closer to the ships." Lilac obliged, swooping a little closer to the ships, making sure to fly in a zig zag motion to make herself a harder target for hunter arrows. Suddenly, hunters on the main ship shot at Lilac. She managed to dodge a lot of them, but one of the arrows managed to lodge itself in my leg. I bit my lip, blocking the cry of pain that grew in my throat before tapping Lilac's paw, signaling her to drop me. She stopped mid flight, throwing me forwards, but I wasn't worried. I turned myself in midair, catching sight of Leafblender who shot forward to catch me. He grabbed me with his talons, wrapping his wings around me as he dove. A large thud sounded as Leafblender hit the deck of one of the hunter ships. He unwrapped his wings from around me and released me, letting me sit up. I glanced at Leafblender who stood and stretched before sitting next to me, nuzzling my shoulder. 

"You okay, Alpha?" Leafblender asked. 

"Yeah. Thanks for the save." I whispered, patting his snout. 

"What happened up there, Pest?" Ryker growled, standing in front of me. I looked up at him to see he looked a bit angry. 

"What? It's not like everything was gonna go as planned. We all knew there were going to be some setbacks." I countered. 

"That was your Night Fury! If anything, you told it to attack." 

"Yeah, and I'm thinking maybe you ordered your hunters to shoot me in the leg. C'mon, Ryk. Use your brain once in a while, if you even have one." Ryker growled in anger and moved to unsheathe one of his swords, Leafblender growling a warning at him just as Viggo stepped in, grabbing Ryker's hand. 

"Now, brother. Let's not act out of anger. We have a job to do, remember." Ryker pulled away from Viggo, letting go of his sword as he walked away. I sat, watching him leave before turning back towards Viggo. 

"Thanks, but I had it covered." Viggo scoffed. 

"I'm sure you did." he said mockingly. I rolled my eyes before getting to my feet, wincing when I put weight on the leg with the arrow in it. "Does it hurt?" 

"It's an arrow in my leg. What do you think?" I snapped at Viggo. 

"I meant no disrespect. I was just concerned." Viggo apologized. I sighed, leaning on Leafblender a little. 

"It's not your fault. I'm just a little ticked off with, Ryk. No offense." Viggo chuckled. 

"None taken. I understand your frustration. Especially since he is of my own blood." I nodded before looking out over the ocean. I took notice of the fact that thanks to Lilac, the riders now had the ability to fly over the island to get to the Eruptodon which they seemed to be taking advantage of. 

"I'm sorry that your plan didn't go... well... according to plan." Viggo shook his head. 

"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear." 

"Well, you and I both know that I couldn't just let the Eruptodon destroy the Edge." Viggo nodded, putting a hand on my shoulder. 

"Shall we go below deck and tend to your wound." I nodded in agreement, starting to walk in the direction of the stairs that led below deck only to lose my balance because of the pain in my leg, causing me to fall onto my hands and knees. "You don't have to do everything alone you know." Viggo remarked, kneeling down with a hand held out for me to take. 

"Thanks." I said, taking his hand. He helped me to my feet, wrapping an arm around my waist while I put an arm around his shoulders. With the help of Viggo, we made our way below deck, Leafblender following close behind.