Howling Echoes - A How to Train Your Dragon Story, The Echoes, Book 1

Chapter 87: The Light of New Berk

   (A small, 3-second clip of something I'm working on for Take Flight on a Dragon that I decided to share here.)   

I was a dragon.  As usual.

   We were flying to (hopefully) the Hidden World, with several things hauled in most dragon's talons.

   Then I heard a plasma blast, similar to Toothless'.   I glanced at him, and he looked up toward the clouds.  "Crystal?"  He called.  I narrowed my eyes and spotted a white dragon in the clouds - similar to Toothless, but more regal.  Her eyes widened at all of the people and she blasted a plasma blast, then vanished into it.

   Toothless flew after her.  I didn't see what happened next, but apparently it was funny.

   I spotted an island in the distance and narrowed my eyes, then sped ahead.  I soared around it, studying the waterfalls that spilled from lakes underneath the sturdy land.  The island was fairly huge, and I decided to notify Toothless that there was an island that could work.

   "Hey, Toothless!"  I called, flapping up to him.  "Yeah?"  Toothless burbled, glancing up from the sea where Seashockers and Scauldrons swam.  "There's an island in the distance that could work as a temporary base."  I roared.  "Thank goodness!  My wings are getting tired."  Toothless said, soaring toward it.  I chuckled and flew after him, silently agreeing.

   When we landed, mostly everyone immediately started making plans for a new village, simply put.  "We were making camp, not a new village,"  I whispered to Hiccup, becoming a human again.  "Right?"

   "Hey, uh, guys, I said make camp, not...build a new village."  Hiccup pointed out.  I sighed and rolled my eyes, then went to wander in the forest.  

   Along the way, though, I heard a voice.

   "Why wouldn't he let me free him?  Doesn't he know these humans are brainwashing him?"  I crept through the ferns carefully to spot the same white dragon I had seen before.  I let out a breath of awe, and accidentally lightly rustled the fern in front of my face.

   "Who's there?"  The dragon snapped, jumping to her feet.  "J - just me."  I stammered, carefully coming out of the ferns.  "Freya?"  The dragon seemed to be taken by surprise.  I winced, remembering the name of the dragon that Viggo had killed.  "Could it be?  I thought you were dead."

   "N - no, I'm not Freya."  I shook my head.  She narrowed her light blue eyes suspiciously.  "Then who are you?"  She tilted her head, and I spotted small, sparkling scales shift in the light.  "I'm Kiara...a Fire Wraith,"  I said, widening my wings out non-threateningly.  I decided there was no use in a name lie; if someone else used my real name and she heard she wouldn't trust me.

   "Kiara?"  The dragon tilted her head.  "That's an unusual name."  She hesitated for a brief moment.  "Pretty, though."  She admitted right after.  "I'm Crystal...a Light Fury."  My eyes widened for a moment.  "Another Fury?"  I sputtered.  "B - but - the Furys are -"

   "Extinct?"  Crystal snorted.  "I know.  Because of those...HUMANS Toothless is so attached to."  She spat.  I winced slightly at the harshness in her words.  But if humans had killed so many dragons that she loved, well, then...she had a right to be mad.  "The Night Fury?"  I asked.  She nodded thoughtfully, then shot me a suspicious look.  "How do you know him?"

   "Well - uh - you, you see -"  I stammered.  "You're with them, too!"  She snarled accusingly.  "Because I believe not everybody should be judged by their kind's actions."  I snapped.  "One of them has a father that was a Dragon Hunter - she fought tooth and claw against him every time they met."  

   "Or maybe that's just what she WANTED you to think!"  Crystal spat.  I winced again at the harsh blast that edged every word of her accusations.  "Crystal?"  Toothless's voice came from the shadows.  We both glanced back at the ferns that I had hidden in, momentarily distracted by our argument.  "Kiara?"  He looked up at me with startled, emerald green eyes.  I shook my head frantically with a pleading look in my gaze.  He nodded slightly.

   "Toothless?"  Crystal said, tilting her head as he moved around me.  "What are you doing here?"  "Wondering what she's doing here."  Toothless replied, flicking his tail at me.  "What are you doing here?" "Coming to see if you wanted to go on our first Courtship."  Crystal said.  "Before SHE got in the way, preaching that humans are more than just mindless animals that kill for fun and have compassion and pity."  She snorted at me.

   "But they are!"  Toothless quickly jumped in.  "Do you want to go on our first Courtship or not?"  Crystal snapped, tilting her head.  "I mean...well..."  His wings lowered as he glanced back and forth between me and her.  I grinned.  "Have fun you two,"  I said, turning and jumping away into the ferns.