Defenders of Central City, Book 1: Journey to Icestorm Island

Chapter 1 A New Species

In the late month of May, 2018, Shannon and her Sand Wraith, Nightshade went to the Training Grounds at the School of Dragons to, well, train. After two hours of shooting targets and soaring along the race courses, the pair went to the main area where the Lab and the Meeting Hall are. They were relaxing on the grass when Shannon heard her name being called. She looked up to see Heyral the Headmaster walking towards her. She stood up and looked at the older man.

"Headmaster, what's up?" The Headmaster looked quite concerned. "Have you seen Trader Yobbish recently?" Shannon shook her head. "Well, I'm expecting a ship of parchment paper and he still hasn't come. Quite frankly, I'm a bit worried about him." Shannon thought for a moment, absentmindedly pulling on a strand of her red hair. "He might be at Berk." She started slowly, glancing around the School. "He was supposed to be there yesterday, but Yobbish is normally late. I'll check to see if he came today." She finished, mounting Nightshade.

When Shannon and Nightshade arrived at Berk, the pair flew around and spotted Yobbish's ship. It was broken in two and covered in ice. The contents of the ship were split out into the ocean. She saw Yobbish standing on the beach and they landed on the sand. Shannon ran over to the trader. "Yobbish! What happened here?" She exclaimed.

"I'll tell you what happened. I was sailing from Berk to the School when something inside my ship just exploded!" Shannon's brow furrowed. "Do you know what exploded?" Yobbish shook his head. "No, Miss Shannon. The explosion came without warning." Shannon walked over to the water and dove into the water so she could swim to the boat. She pulled herself onto the wreckage of the ship and saw the cause of the explosion.

"It's a baby dragon. I'm guessing the explosion was caused when it hatched." Shannon remarked, looking down at the little reptile. Yobbish gasped. "Oh, of course. I acquired an object that I was told was a mythical artifact one could use to see into the future but now it's clear that it was a dragon egg." Shannon crawled a little closer to the baby dragon. It looked kind of like a blue Gronckle made of icicles. He was a friendly little guy, too. Shannon knew enough about dragons to know that this species was not dangerous. She gently picked up the little dragon and swam back to the shore. "I'm gonna bring this little guy to Hiccup." Shannon paused for a moment and glanced at Yobbish. "Go find Gobber. He'll help you get on your way again." With that, Shannon walked off with Nightshade in toe.

She arrived at Hiccup's hut where he was playing with Toothless. "Hey Chief!" Hiccup looked up to see Shannon walking towards him with the blue dragon in her arms. "Look who blew a hole in Trader Yobbish's ship." Shannon placed the baby dragon down on the ground. Hiccup knelt down to get a closer look at the little guy. "I've never seen a dragon like this before, have you?" Shannon shook her head and Hiccup continued to talk. "He looks kind of like a Gronckle made of icicles. Hey, maybe that's what we should call the species. Groncicles." Shannon sighed. "Yes, yes, very clever. But that still doesn't solve the problem at hand. He blew up Yobbish's ship!" She gestured out to sea. "Plus, we have no idea where he came from!" Hiccup nodded. "That's a good point. Don't worry. I can take care of him." Shannon looked at him. "Are you sure?" She asked. Hiccup nodded. "Don't worry, it'll be fine." Shannon sighed and mounted Nightshade. "Oh, alright. Just text me if you need any help." And with that she flew off. Hiccup scooped up the young dragon and brought him inside his hut and Toothless followed them inside.

The next day, Shannon got a text from Hiccup, telling her to meet him at the School. Shannon found Hiccup with the Groncicle and Toothless just outside the Meeting Hall. "Hey. I got your text. What's up?" Hiccup glanced down at the baby dragon and sighed. "Our frozen friend isn't looking so good. I know we don't know much about his species but I have this feeling that something is wrong with him." Shannon knelt down to get a closer look at the dragon. "Maybe he's hungry?" She suggested, standing up and walking over to Nightshade, where she pulled a small fish out of her dragon's saddle bag. Shannon placed the fish in front of the little dragon, but he still refused to even consider eating it.

"He looks kinda sad." Hiccup murmured. Shannon nodded. She pulled a piece of dragon nip out of her pocket and held it out to the little dragon, hoping that it'd help. But still he didn't take it. Shannon sighed and put it back in her pocket. "Maybe he's sick." Shannon started slowly. "I'll go grab some water for him." She came back a few minutes later with a bucket full of water. This time the Groncicle drank the water. And after he drank the water he looked a little better. Shannon thought about this for a moment. "Hiccup, what if the reason why he's like this is because it's too warm for him?" Hiccup looked at her. "You know, you may be right. Since he's an ice dragon he needs an icy region to call home. Shannon crouched down beside the little dragon. "You know where you need to go. Go and we will follow." Se murmured. Hiccup heard this last bit. "W-we?" He stammered. Shannon nodded. "Yes, we." Hiccup opened his mouth to protest but Shannon interrupted him. "And don't even think about telling me that you need to stay here because and adventure like this will do you good. Trust me." Hiccup sighed. Shannon was stubborn so she wasn't gonna take no for an answer. "Fine. I'll come." He said reluctantly.

The Groncicle was as eager to leave as Shannon was. It ran off towards the Wilderness with Shannon, Nightshade, Hiccup, and Toothless in pursuit. The Groncicle stopped when he reached the waters edge. It was clear that this was where they took to the skies. The little dragon didn't wait much longer. He dove into the water and started to swim. However he stopped a few meters away and looked back. He seemed to be waiting on them.

Hiccup sighed. "Well, there's no turning back now. This journey that we're on, it'll be dangerous. Are you up for the challenge, Shannon?" Shannon looked at him as if to say 'do you really need to ask that?' "We've faced worse, Hiccup. And everywhere we go, there is danger. We are Vikings after all." Hiccup shrugged. "That's true. Let's go!" With that, he mounted Toothless and flew over the little dragon in the water. Shannon sighed and turned to her dragon. "This is it, Nightshade. We finally are getting the adventure we've been waiting for." Nightshade dipped her head and grinned the way dragons do. Shannon grinned back and mounted Nightshade. And the pair flew off. Away from the safety of their home. And into the unknown. The vast, dangerous unknown.