Soul of Furies (Book Three)

Prologue

Seven years have come and gone with no threats. That's almost a record for here on Berk.

I watch my dragons zip through the air; five black shapes and one pure white one flying through the delightfully blue sky. On the back of the largest black shape is a man, laughing as they do a barrel roll. Near them, two smaller figures ride on another one of the dragons.

I open my notebook, where seemingly endless amounts of notes on Night Furies line the pages. I grab my charcoal pencil, placing the end in my mouth for a moment as I flip to a blank page, grasping my utensil once more before starting to write.

"It seems to me that Night Furies become fully grown at around thirteen, when it comes to females. Males, if I were to estimate, reach full size at fourteen or fifteen," I write, pausing to look up at the dragons again, focusing in on the two medium-sized Night Furies, no riders settled on their backs yet. "Emerald is a thirteen-year-old female Night Fury. She hasn't grown for a few months and she's almost reached her mother's size. Her twin brother, Dark Moon, still grows at a steady pace. He will soon reach his father's size."

I sketch out a scale drawing of Nightstar and Toothless, showing the adult sizes. I draw Emerald and Dark Moon beside their parents, comparing their sizes. The sketches are quick, but I can go back and fix them later. I flip the page over.

"Now, an extremely rare thing to see is a white Night Fury. Until recently, it was thought to be impossible to have any Night Fury that isn't black. Stardust, a nine-year-old female, is pure white with bright blue eyes and markings of the same colour. This may simply be a genetic defect or a different adaptation to blend in with winter snow easier, perhaps some minor albinism. Her twin brother, Slayer, is jet black with some red markings. His eyes are also red, not like a demon dragon's, but a beautiful royal shade of the colour. As far as our knowledge goes, these two Night Furies are phenomenons, possibly legendary."

The leathery flapping of wings gets closer and I shut the book, looking to the sky and resting my hand over my eyes. The pack of Furies lands on the ground and my husband climbs off of his dragon, Toothless. He smiles at me and waves. I return the wave, but my smile is weak.

"Mommy! Did you see me? I rode Nightstar!" my eight-year-old daughter, Runa, giggles. She has straight blonde hair and my brown eyes. I assume she got the blonde from my mom's side of the family.

"I saw you. Did you have fun?" I ask, walking over to her and lifting her off of Nightstar's back.

Nightstar growls lovingly and nudges Runa's leg before I set her down. Runa grins and hugs the dragon's wide nose, pressing a kiss to the dark scales. She acts a lot like me when I was younger, at least from what I remember being like. It's nice to watch her grow and wonder whether I would've been the same way if Hermaōr was still around.

My nine-year-old son, Destin, slides off of Nightstar's back. He sneezes, shaking his auburn hair around before running his hand through the shaggy mess in an attempt to tame it. I sigh. He looks so much like Hiccup when he does that.

Stardust and Slayer stretch their wings slightly, looking tired. Runa skips over to them, hugging their necks and whispering to them near their ear plates. The young dragons listen intently.

I can't help but smile at that. Despite the two dragons being Destin's age, Runa has the strongest bond with them. The eight-year-old tells the dragons everything and they listen without fail.

Destin, now nine, is learning the ropes of Night Fury and dragon training. He, of course, will train Dark Moon and Emerald when the time comes. I hope that he'll be prepared to choose one of them as his dragon, the one he prefers to ride, but I'd be fine with him using both of them.

Hiccup wanders up beside me, deftly slipping the notebook from underneath my arm and flipping it open. He nods, skimming over everything and smiling every now and then.

"Nicely done, m'lady. As usual," he compliments, handing the book over.

"Why, thank you," I say, taking the book and giving my head a small bow.

He glances between our children and the Night Furies, looming pensive. "What's on your schedule for this afternoon?"

"Slayer and Stardust could use some more flying and fishing practice," I say. "I'll take Runa and Nightstar with them for a ride."

"I can start helping Destin with Dark and Emmy. They need to learn how to support riders," Hiccup offers. "Is that alright with you? I know how you like the flying stuff."

"That's fine," I say. We fall silent for a moment as my stomach twists. "And, uh...Hiccup? If you can, I'd like if we could talk tonight, just the two of us? There's some...things I need to discuss with you."

His face flickers with a sort of curiosity, then wariness. He nods. "That sounds good. I'll see you then." He reaches for my hand, lifting it to his lips and giving my knuckles a kiss. "Goodbye, until later."

I smile, but it feels forced. The fact that I've kept this secret from him for so long is starting to take its toll on me. I've just never had the chance to bring it up, but with the deadline coming so soon...it's time.

"Until later," I murmur.