Young Dragonblood

Chapter Eleven

An hour later a grey Terror whizzed back to tell you all that the hunters were leaving. Gothi, being the smallest and least likely to be spotted, had been keeping watch on them from afar. By that time you could fly quite well, in your opinion, anyway. You could stay in the air until your muscles tired of the strain. 
    With Hiccup riding Toothless and Gothi leading the way, you decided to follow them under your own power, flapping noisily higher into the sky. The hunters were indeed leaving, Jeger on her Silver Phantom up in front, the two other hunters wobbling along on their Gronckles behind. Luckily for you it was still cloudy, so you could hide in the low, grey cloud away from prying eyes. Phantoms and Gronckles weren't the quickest of dragons, and with the slow pace they set you were soon tired of flapping to keep yourself aloft. At first you rejected the offer of a ride the rest of the way, however far it may be, and struggled on through the air. You soon had to accept it, though, for your wings and shoulders were too sore to move properly and your tail felt like it was on fire from the strain. In annoyance you Shifted to your hybrid form and let the Fury carry you. To save his bud from carrying both you and the Chief, Hiccup showed you how to control the fake tail fin. You made Toothless dip and dive everywhere before you got the hang of it, apologising every time you made a mistake. He grimly said he was used to it from Hiccup. 
    From time to time one of you would dip out from the cloud to see where the hunters were. You took it in turns to do so, momentarily revealing yourself then darting back into hiding and changing your course if need be. An hour in and it was yours and Toothless's turn to check. The Night Fury dove down into open air, keeping as close to the cloud as he could. You spotted the hunters right away, your sight sharper in hybrid form than it would normally be as a human. There was one difference, though. One major difference. 
    Jeger was not there. 
    Toothless whirled in a circle, stirring the cloud above into a frenzy of grey swirls. There was no sign of the hunter anywhere, it was as if she had vanished from existence within several minutes. How long had she been gone? Surely not long, you had checked frequently. Where had she gone? Had she left for another destination? Had she known she was being followed? Questions sparked through your mind as quick as Speed Stingers, each thought darker than the next. 
    You hadn't the time to think of too much. A blue blast, which at first you thought was a plasma blast, shot from the clouds and exploded by the Night Fury's wing. Toothless was thrown off balance and with your limited skills you failed to position the red fin properly. You were flung off into the thin air, your wings saving you from falling. Toothless was not so lucky. He fell, his fin flapping limply and hindering him as he tried to right himself. With a quick, instinctive twitch of your wings you dove after him, but slowed when Hiccup shot past in hybrid form and  reached for his friend. 
    You didn't see if he caught the Fury. Sharp, daggerlike claws dug into your wings painfully, jerking you to a halt. You struggled against your captor and smacked the scaled legs, more damage becoming of your hand than the creature holding you. You looked up, even though you already knew what you would see. The pale underside of the Silver Phantom blocked the view of the clouds, and the hunter, her hair streaming behind her, glared down at you. 
    Gothi screeched and flew at your captors, but it was too late. You had already vanished into the dark clouds.