Beyond the Sunset | HTTYD (Discontinued)

Chapter Eight

Riona and I coasted silently above Deav and the other's heads as they argued. 

"I thought you said you weren't going to leave until the morning!" Mav complained.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Cody accused. 

"And I don't see a single living flamethrower anywhere," Todd sulked. 

"I cannot believe you," Blythe said. "You even forgot about Merica."

"About that..." Deav started. 

"Who forgot about me?" I asked, having landed on the ground beside him.

Blythe screamed. 

"What was that?" Cody asked. 

"The ghosts have come to haunt us..." Todd whispered. "This is all your fault, Endeavor."

"What?" I was confused. "I'm not a ghost."

"They can't see you, Mer," Deav said boredly. 

"Oh!" I jumped off Riona. My sudden appearance only made them scream louder. 

"She appeared from thin air!" Cody squealed. 

"Definitely a ghost," Todd decided. 

"I'm not a ghost!" I said. "Ghosts don't even exist. Let me explain."

"My great-uncle's brother-in-law's girlfriend turned into a ghost and haunted my fourth cousin twice removed."

"Explain," Blythe said, interrupting Todd with a scowl. She didn't really have any other expression, come to think of it. 

"Everyone, this is Riona," I said expecting her to appear. 

She didn't.

"Mer?" Deav hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Blythe, put your sword down," I ordered. 

"Why?"

"Because Riona will kill you if you don't."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "Let me guess. Some invisible warrior dragon who also happens to be royalty is going to jump out of the shadows and kill me?"

"Exactly."

As soon as I spoke, Riona materialized behind Blythe, knocked her to the ground, and snarled. She used her tail to swipe the sword out of reach and opened her mouth, about to fire. 

"Woah, woah, woah, Ri." I pulled her off Blythe. "Don't kill her." 

"Is that a dragon?" Cody asked. 

"Mhm," I said, trying to calm Riona down.

"What kind is it? I don't recognize it specifically, but it looks kind of like a Night Fury, but I can't tell 'cause she's still kind of invisible--"

"We need to get back to Berk," I interrupted. 

"We just got here," Mav complained. 

"Do you still want that living flamethrower?"

"Duh."

"Then we need to go back."

Mav and Todd tumbled over each other in a race to get to the camp and pack up first. 

The dragons arrived not long after us. We barely had time to explain what was going on before a shadow from hundreds of dragons swept over the island. Dragons dropped from the sky individually or in small groups and landed next to people. At first, the people freaked out and ran away, but the dragons followed loyally.

During all of the commotion, I slipped away and set up shop in an old forge. Now that I had a dragon, I was going to attempt to build something I had seen in one of the old notebooks. 

Riona was a huge help. She donated both her scales and fire for the project, although she napped most of the time. 

I worked through the night, using the fire from the forge for light and dozing off nearly half a dozen times. I wanted to get this done as soon as possible. 

"Someone didn't sleep last night," Deav commented as he leaned against the doorway of the forge. "What is that?"

"This?" I glanced down at the reflective suit. 

"No duh."

"It's an old invention of Hiccup's."

"Who's Hiccup?"

"'Who is Hiccup?'" I was shocked. "Hiccup is the first Berkian to not only train a dragon but train a Night Fury, which was, at the time, one of the rarest dragons to exist. He also explored the archipelago more than any chief before him, made more inventions than any before or after, lead Berk to victory countless times, and--"

"Forget I ever asked," Deav sighed. "I'm guessing you're going to test this thing of your's?"

"Yep," I said, popping the "p." "Wish me luck."

"Don't die out there."

"No promises." I woke up Riona and flew off to the fringes of Berk where no one had gone yet.

I flipped down the mask and swept my hair behind my shoulder. 

"Ready to give this a shot, Ri?"

Riona tilted to the right, which, I'd figured out, was her way of nodding.

I closed my eyes, half out of fear and half out of exhilaration, and slid off of Riona's side. Less than a second later, I snapped my arms out, hit a button on my shoulder, and was soon flying beside Riona. 

"It works!" I cheered. "It actually works!"

"What are you doing?" someone said from beside me.

Seeing Deav on a dragon surprised me so much that I lost concentration and began to fall out of the sky. 

I curled into a ball as Riona used her wings to shield me from the ground. When we finally tumbled to a stop, I lifted her wing out of my face and looked up at Deav, who was standing with his hands on his hips, looking at me disdainfully but hiding a smile under the scowl. 

"What was that?" Deav repeated. 

"Flying," I stated. "And I was doing extremely well before you came along and messed me up."

"You literally just got a dragon and you're already trying to become one yourself?" he chuckled. 

"I'm just trying to implement a few safety measures. What's wrong with that?"

He laughed again and sat down next to me. "I don't think I will ever understand what goes on in that head of your's."

"You probably won't," I said with a grin. "So, what kind of dragon did you get?"

Deav whistled, calling a huge dragon to him. The dragon had wide, strong wings and bright crimson eyes. It was a vibrant purple and had a small fire burning at the wingtips and tail as it flew. 

"Don't get too close," Deav warned. "he bit me earlier."

I gasped when I saw the bite mark on his palm. 

"What?" he asked. "It barely bled."

"No wonder I didn't recognize that dragon at first. Most people think it's a myth."

"What is it, then?"

"It's a Lycanwing," I said, frowning a little in pity. 

"What's a Lycanwing?"

"The Lycanwing is the werewolf of dragons."

"So I'll turn into a Lycanwing at the next full moon or something?"

"Yes."