Eclipse lands in front of the Great Hall and I jog up the steps.
The drop off took longer than I thought. I tried to help Lillian bond with a couple of the dragons, then I ended up in a swarm of baby Deadly Nadders licking my face.
I open the doors to find my mom standing in a circle of Vikings I recognized partially.
"Sorry I'm late, I got caught up with...", I speak up but I couldn't finish my sentence upon recognizing the Chief and Queen of Berserker-Defender Island themselves.
"Mala! Dagur! It's so good to see you!", I run unprofessionally and hug them.
"Gosh Zeph, you are so grown!", Dagur smiles.
"And beautiful!", Mala adds.
"Thank you", I smile and bow before her.
"And you remember Gunnar don't you?", my mother steps in, lifting a hand.
A tall, muscular, strawberry blonde-headed boy turns around from speaking to Uncle Eret.
His wild eyes were blue and deep with a Berserker spirit that, if I'm not mistaken, was deranged in a good way.
Flashbacks begin to roll into my mind of simple times where he, Lily, Nuffink and I would play in our room as our parents would talk battle tactics in the living room.
"Oh yeah! Hey Gunnar, how have you been?", I ask him with a warm, Haddock smile.
"Pretty crazy with this dragon thing happening!", he chuckles.
"I know right. It's been insane trying to learn how to ride one", I say exhaling deeply.
"You're riding already?", he gaps with big eyes.
"Uh, yeah?", I say shocked at his question. His parents DID ride dragons right?
"Oh. I just... I'm just..."
"Oh Gunnar, a Berserker doesn't get scared", Dagur butts into our conversation.
"No. But a Defender has a respect for dragons", Mala raises a finger.
"Yes, but...", he tries to speak up.
"I think it would be good for Zephyr to show her fellow-future-chief her dragon and possibly how to interact with one", my mom swoops in to save the day.
"Good idea, come on Gunnar", I say taking his hand, not really knowing why I did.
—
"So you're close to being chieftess huh?", he asks as we walk with Eclipse to the training grounds.
"Eh, I may have another year or two. I'm only 19. What about you?", I say lifting a hand to pet my buddy.
"I'm 20 now. Some days I feel like they could hand it off tomorrow, and some days I feel like I'm a kid again, not knowing anything", he says picking at his nails.
"I get that too... especially with learning how to handle dragons...", I sigh.
Eclipse growls from his throat and shoots me an irritated glare.
"Not you Eclipse. You're okay, the others are hard to handle", I giggle petting him. He purrs again deeply with a thin smile.
"Yeah... I guess that's where I'm at... How did you bond with him? Was it difficult? Did he choose you? Is it scary to fly? I'm sorry, am I asking too many questions?", Gunnar begins rambling and my head begins to spin.
"Whoa whoa, just... let me show you", I say as we jump down in the dirt pit that has the walls lined with tools and saddles for training.
Over in the shady corner, I recognize a black and white fury watching us sleepily from his spot.
YOU ARE READING
Night Light Brigade - {Sequel to "Until They Can Return in Peace"}
Fanfiction|| No longer updating, but don't have to unpublish! || 20 years after the migration of the dragons. Peace has been made and dragons return to the Archipelago. Zephyr and Nuffink are now teenagers and are going to learn from the masters themselves...
