Once in a Nightlight

Chapter 11

Within an instant another Scauldron leapt out of the deep blue and lunged for Toothless who thrashed his wings violently to thrust him upwards, the seadragon screeching at it's failed attempt to pull him under for it's next meal. The wind picked up again harshly at the wrong time too.

"There's so many!!" Toothless screeched over the roaring wind as the dragons below in the water slithered around. Thunderhorn was lucky to get a few scratches on one of their faces, an ear-piercing hiss of fury echoing from the Scauldron as it retreated back into the ocean. The rest remained blood-hungry beasts that stopped at nothing to get a juicy Night Fury leg on the menu for their breakfast.

"Quick!! Fly as fast as you can! The wind is too rough to go up!!" Wildfang roared over the blasting wind and quickly took off with Toothless and Thunderhorn. He could hear the sloshing of the water below him as the Scauldrons followed their every move, hurdling themselves out of the water and snapping at Toothless's tail which caught him off guard and he plunged downwards.

Straight into the water.

"TOOTHLESS!"  Wildfang shrieked when the Alpha plunged right into the water, his dark body was invisible against the froth of the sea where the Scauldrons quickly dived for his body.

 Toothless was frantically trying to swim up to the surface but he felt one of the dragons slam into his body that bulldozed him out of the way, making him flip a few times before he managed to trend water so he was upright again. Emerald eyes widened when he saw a Scauldron coming right at him so he thrust himself upwards and dodged the snap of jaws that almost caught his foot, giving a few rakes of his claws down their tail. The dragon backed off a little to tend to the wound that leaked blood up to the surface of the water. 

"Is that his blood?!" Wildfang's eyes grew large with worry when he saw the blood surface the water, his heart hammering in his chest. What if the King had died? What if he drowned? What if he was struggling? All these thoughts made his mind go crazy as he attempted to dive in after him but Thunderhorn grabbed him by the scruff. 

"Are you crazy?! There are six Scauldrons down there! We have to stay here before all three of us turn into their breakfast!" Thunderhorn hissed through a mouth of skin as Wildfang relaxed and whimpered for their Alpha, the two patiently but anxiously waiting above for any sign that Toothless was alive.

Toothless was fighting off the Scauldrons one-by-one. He attacked one of their faces and clawed at their eyes so they struggled to see, hearing the high-pitched hiss of outrage as it backed off and retreated back into the deep blue where it was safe. The five others kept coming, one snapping at his foot again and managing to grab hold of it and digging their honed teeth into his ankle making Toothless bite down on his lip, but if he dared to screech in agony he would lose the air he had to save. With a violent plunge of his free foot, he slammed it into the Scauldron's face in attempt to pull them off but they fastened their grip and bit down harder, if they bit down even more his ankle would come clean off. The Alpha looked around in the ocean helplessly and saw one Scauldron ready to charge at him with slimmed pupils of pure wrath in their golden eyes, and with a quick thought he knew what he had to do.

When the Scauldron propelled its way towards Toothless he waited with narrowed emerald eyes of focus for his next move, an ear piercing caterwaul echoing through the vast ocean as their jaws parted ready for the kill. Just before the Scauldron had time to finish the King off, with a powerful thrust of his haunches he heaved upwards and the jaws of the Scauldron snapped on the other that had his ankle locked in their teeth. The two dragons mingled with screeches of outrage as they squirmed helplessly, tangling together as their prolonged necks intertwined, forming a wriggling ball of green. The three other Scauldrons had fled in fright when the others were defeated while the battle was laid out, leaving Toothless to weakly paddle his way back up to the waters surface, his head appearing with a loud and croaky gasp for air when he finally managed to trend to the surface.

"Toothless!!" Wildfang hollered in relief and dove down to the King who was weakly keeping himself afloat from plunging down any further, being grabbed quickly by his friend who hauled him out of the icy ocean.

"Oh thank Thor you're alive!!" Thunderhorn rasped in solace after thinking their King had died with the battle of six Scauldrons. Together both Wildfang and Thunderhorn helped the Alpha by holding one arm each, his ankle oozing with crimson blood that dripped from his talons, a few slashes here and there on his face. "How did you survive??"

"F-Fought them off.." Toothless choked as he continued to try and regain oxygen after being trapped under for so long, coughing a few times and heaving his lungs as he struggled.

"We'll land as soon as we get up North, you need to tend to your ankle and rest for a little while." Thunderhorn murmured sympathetically when he saw his bleeding ankle before commenting as they rushed. "You were so brave, fighting them off like that.."

"O-Only three..The other's fled.." Toothless croaked, the salt from the sea making his voice grind like grit against his throat. Thunderhorn was still in awe at him and continued to fly with his compeer at his other side. The wind of the early morning had died down slightly so it didn't rock them as they flew like what happened to Toothless, resulting in him having to fight off a pack of Scauldrons hungry for the flesh off his bones. The arches in the distant were much closer now and you could see them more clear, little dragons were perched on the cliffs that stuck out of the slimy rock, their wings tucked in against the wind with their noses in their chest while they rest. The arches looked old and ancient but they remained strongly standing in the middle of the ocean, unmoved by harsh waves that lapped at the sides and the heavy wind that blew a few of the dragons who screeched in aggravation.

"The islands are right here. We'll stop and let you rest while we hunt for something to eat to keep us going." Wildfang murmured softly as they flew through the arches where numerous scattered islands stuck in the ocean like shipwrecks with a few trees angling on the edges. This place is rough, Toothless thought to himself as they travelled towards one of the larger islands that was covered in fields and trees. As they passed the other islands he saw a few bodies on the cliffs and the ridges of the islands, they were just scraps of skin and bone and looked like they hadn't been fed a proper meal for years. Toothless saw a mother dragon raking her tongue over a cub's head and she spotted the three passing by, hunching her back as she suddenly ran to the ledge and hissed at them furiously.

"...See? They're dangerous, always thirsty for a good battle." Thunderhorn growled in response to the female's anger and landed on the edge of the island where they placed the King down to rest his ankle. Toothless rasped his tongue over it to stop the spread of infection and the blood flow that stained his toes in scarlet liquid, laying down in a dry patch of grass where the trees overshadowed them to keep him dry. There was light drizzle and the sky grew darker with fog, the sun not being seen from any direction. "We will fetch you something to eat." Thunderhorn dipped his head with Wildfang. "We'll also bring you something to stop the stinging of your ankle, keep giving it a few licks." The two bounded off as the King was safely hidden in a circle of tall reeds that kept him concealed from any danger in the forest. Toothless gave his ankle a few more vigorous licks before he laid his head down on the dry ground with his ankle outstretched at his side, his stomach growling to remind him of his hunger. 

In front of him he spied through the gaps of the reeds, seeing a few Northern dragons up on their paws and prowling their islands. They were thin and frail, walking on shaky legs that were nothing but bone and muscle, the females taking care of their young and grooming them for their morning wash and feeding them, though to him it seemed like the cubs didn't get much out of their mothers from how poorly fed they looked. Toothless felt a pang of commiseration for them, living in such a wasteland where food was limited and warmth was not an option, thriving on little scraps of meat they could find for their young and themselves, the only warmth they had was the young buried in their mothers while they shivered, even to death. His heart ached softly as he watched one of the females get up and stagger her way to a body that laid on the ledge of the cliff, and pushed it off with her muzzle, and with a crack of bones the body landed on the ocean where Seashockers instantly feasted on the clearly dead dragon. Must have recently died, maybe from the cold or lack of food, Toothless thought to himself softly and saw the disheartened expression on the scrawny female's face before she turned to tend to her cubs once more. That gave Toothless a little bit of hope to see that she felt emotion pushing off her friend or relative off the cliff to be fed to the dragons that stalked them below, believing that they were not just heartless monsters.

But dragons in need of comfort and a good home.