Goblin

Chapter 1

The first rays of the sun were already becoming bright, the blackness of the sky was being engulfed by blue and yellow of the horizon.. As the sun was rising from beneath the ocean, the moon was beginning to lower into the other side, and the stars became dim and dim until they completely disappeared..

A speckle of deep purple was soaring through the sky, flying away from the island from which he had awakened after a long, cold slumber. Spikes ran down his back, sharp enough to cut with the slightest abrasion. He looked like a slim, medium-sized Thunderdrum, with the head of a Deadly Nadder and locomotion of a Monstrous Nightmare mixed together. He was one of the most feared and rare dragons in the whole world, second only to the Night Fury. His very name could send shivers down the bravest men's spines, his very presence could send Monstrous Nightmare away whining like hatchlings and his roar sent every living being rushing into their homes, looking for shelter.

He was a Skrill.

He had woken up from slumber not too long ago, he estimated about a few hours, and when he looked around he realized he was not in the familiar, lush green island grounds, but in a gray, stone-cold area. He tried to fly away, but something similar to a net made out of metal sent him plummeting to the ground, his body cackling with electricity. He was surrounded by a Monstrous Nightmare, Hideous Zippleback, Gronckle and, surprisingly, a Night Fury. They all told him to calm down, that everything was going to be fine, but how could he believe them when humans surrounded them? Even the Monstrous Nightmare had a human on his back, not with any weapons or form of control over him.

Prey of panic, he fled, this time towards what appeared to be an entrance. The Deadly Nadder tried to stop him, but he shoved her away –in his terror he crossed the line and violently pushed her aside with his wing- before flying away into the darkness of the night. That was a few hours ago, and right now he was heading towards the island that had seen him being born, where he and his mate had their first clutch of eggs. He did not know how much time he had been asleep, but he hoped she would still be there, and their hatchlings would probably have been born by then.

Skrill's mood lightly went up when he spotted the familiar tree-field giant rock that was his home. He flared his powerful wings and braked in mid-air, letting out a call - the mating call he and his beloved mate share-, and waited for a few minutes for her to call back.

Nothing.

Confused, he calls once more, but there was no reply. Wasn't she home? Or maybe she was still sleeping, and didn't hear his call. Skrill flew down towards the island, looking for the cave his mate had found to make their nest. Most of the trees still had their patches of leaves intact, there hadn't been so much changes ever since he last left. Finally, he found it.

The cave they had chosen was located at the side of a cove's bottom, conveniently with a small lake and a few rocks from where they could sharpen their claws. He remembered he would often awake before his mate and catch one or two fish for her in the pond, so that she would allow him to copulate with her.

Skrill landed inside the cove and once more called out for his mate, once more with no reply. He started to worry, what if she thought he would not come back and had left? What if she had taken their hatchlings with her? He couldn't even remember what had happened; all he had were blurs and flashes, faint memories of a battle before everything went black.

A feeling of dread started to engulf him as he slowly walked towards the cavern's interior. He had a bad feeling about this, if she was asleep she would have already heard his call from this close. He was starting to fear she had actually left, and with her, their hatchlings.

Something crunched beneath his talons.

Skrill looked down to shake it off, but what he saw startled him. He had stepped on a pile of bones, a tiny skeleton, the size of a tomcat. He looked around, and found pieces of egg shells scattered around him.