A Fading Star Will Rise Again (A How To Train Your Dragon Fanfic)

3- Hide & Seek

Nightfall

Nightfall finished counting for Hide-and-Seek, turning around to see Esteria and Serenity gone. He shook off an odd feeling as he began looking for his mischievous little sister.

"Birdie," He said, peering behind a towering pink stalagmite. He smiled as he did so, expecting to see Birdie there, in her usual hiding spot.

The smile disappeared from his face as a great rumbling sound echoed through the corridors, and the ground itself shook beneath Nightfall's feet.

Nightfall took to the air as a stalactite fell from the cavern's ceiling, almost hitting him. "Birdie!" He called, looking around for his little sister. "Bird!"

His heart pounded as he flew through the corridors. The shaking grew stronger and he had to dodge many falling rocks. He coughed as he inhaled dust.

Nightfall dove through a last corridor to find himself hovering in the main cavern, which had pretty much fallen to pieces.

The once glowing crystals were strewn all over the ground, and more debris was falling. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a small black-and-white dragon flapping around wildly, kicking at random rocks as a flickering blue-green crystal broke out of the crevice above her.

Time seemed to slow as he watched, helplessly, as the crystal knocked Birdie from the air. Esteria was flying towards her, but the second Birdie was hit, Esteria's wings seemed to go limp and she plummeted towards a rocky death.

Serenity darted through the air, wings tucked in at her sides as the air whistled around her. She plucked Birdie out from beneath the falling crystal just before it hit the ground and shattered to pieces. That could have been Birdie... he thought.

Then his gaze flew back to Esteria, who was completely unconscious. Her body was falling towards the ground covered in sharp shards of crystal.

"Esteria!" He screamed. He dove at full speed, stretching out his legs to grab Esteria from the air. He held her tightly and followed Serenity, who held Birdie in her arms and was headed out of the main cavern. He flew after her as fast as he could with Esteria in his arms.

As he flew out of the cavern, he lay Esteria on the ground and pushed Serenity down, stretching out his wings to protect all three girls from the rock that flew through the air.

A deafening sound thundered through the cavernous corridors as the walls of the main cavern caved in. Everything turned to rubble as the entrance was sealed. Crystals and rocks flew through the air, and Nightfall cried out as a boulder landed directly on his unprotected tail.

He held strong, still protecting the girls until finally, the destruction ceased.

Carefully, he folded in his wings that bled from the sharp flying shards. He folded them at his sides, and Serenity looked at him, an astonished look on her face. "Thank you."

Nightfall barely heard her, as pain ran through his body. He tried to hide it, to remain strong. He smiled at her and nodded, unable to speak without letting out a cry of pain.

Serenity eyed him carefully, before hopping up and running to his tail, shoving the boulder off of it. He looked back at his tail, and it bled a little but seemed to be fine.

"We need to get you to the Healers," Serenity mumbled, her voice still shaky.

Nightfall moved his tail away from her, hiding his pained expression. "No, we need to get Esteria and Birdie medical attention first."

Nightfall's expression said case closed, and he immediately reached for Esteria, sliding her onto his back. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest. She's breathing, he thought, relieved. He walked to the Healers caves without giving Serenity the chance to argue.