Mysteries Beyond (Dragons RTTE Fanfic - Sequel to Deception)

Chapter 19

Darkness swirled around you. You couldn't tell what you were standing on, or even if you were standing at all. You were there - that was all you knew. The only thing you could see was far off in the distance, but you couldn't tell how far exactly. You just glimpsed small, flickering waves of color - mostly deep purples and blues, fluctuating in a cloud-like haze. You couldn't help but stare at it. It was the only thing to look at, after all, besides the dizzying darkness. Suddenly, you felt a sharp breeze against the left side of your face, as if a wing had swept past you, narrowly avoiding your cheek. It was too dark to see anything, but you could now hear the whistling of arrows, speeding towards you, the high-pitched calls becoming louder as they approached. You could now see them hurtling towards you, glowing a bright gold. Panic rising in your stomach, you instinctively shielded your face with your wrist-guards, waiting to feel the arrows being deflected off your armor. But, the feeling never came. Instead, you cautiously lowered your guard, and watched as the arrows seemed to scintillate before disintegrating into thin air, just before they reached your face. The sparks from the arrows lit up the space around you just long enough for you to see a wing glide over your head. You only saw it for a few seconds before it was again enveloped by darkness. 

You'd never really liked the dark as a child - you found the notion of not being able to see what was directly in front of you disconcerting. The fact that anything could be lurking in shadows and you wouldn't even know, made your stomach churn with uneasiness. This type of darkness, however, was different. You couldn't quite grasp why you felt so calm in this particular scenario. You knew there was something there - right there in front of you - just beyond the region of certainty. Yet, that didn't alarm you for some reason, as though your subconscious knew something else - something that meant this wasn't a threat. 

The darkness was thick with mystery, as though it was trying to tell you something you felt incapable of deciphering. From the depths, and among the ongoing whistling and glittering of arrows, the sound of rippling water echoed all around you. The rippling was only a soft noise, yet it seemed to overwhelm your senses entirely. As you listened harder, you realised the ripples were intermingled with the silky whispers of an unfamiliar voice. You weren't even sure if the voice was human - it sounded almost like a serpent - but you strained to make out the words. The hushed whispers continued, almost tauntingly, as you tried relentlessly to at least put together some of the words, but it was no use. Looking around you, you tried to find where the winged animal (you assumed it was a dragon) was. Judging by the swirling air around you, you were being circled. You wanted to speak, call out to it somehow, but your voice failed. Instead, you pushed your hand out, trying to gain some tangible proof of what was surrounding you. But, as you did so, you felt the air jerk around, as the creature changed its flight pattern, and the flapping of wings disappeared into the distance, until you could hear them no longer. The air around you felt still, the arrows had vanished, and all that remained what that purple haze up ahead, fluctuating like a spitting flame. Silence prevailed, with only the whistles of the arrows that had been around you just a few moments before, ringing in your ears. You fixed your eyes on the purple haze, trying to move slowly towards it. In a split-second, the air filled with a glow of a supernova, sending out a burst of incredible energy surging against your face, and making you squeeze your eyes shut. Your curiosity taking over however, you automatically reopened your eyes, which were watering with the intensity of the glow, to look at the gradually dimming, yet nevertheless strikingly penetrating glow of a pair of eyes in the midst of the haze.

"What are you?" you voiced, realizing you could now speak. The sound of your voice carried through the air towards the dragon, which hovered in mid-air some distance from you, only its eyes and occasionally the tips of its wings visible through the cloud of indigo haze. The creature made no reply, yet its head and eyes tilted towards you, as though listening to and interested in what you were saying.

"I know there's something you're trying to tell me!" you ventured, taking another step forwards. Then there came a fiery roar, followed by a green flame that burned effortlessly through the air and towards you. It raced intently towards you too quickly for you to be able to dodge, not that dodging it would have done you much good - it was everywhere! The crackling of the emerald fire sounded all around you, but you kept your eyes still fixed on the glowing eyes of the dragon, remaining unnerved by the searing heat that erupted all around you, and  the striking flames that were now beginning to make your face sting with the heat they radiated. Although the springing forest of flames all around you was more vivid than ever, you could tell everything else was starting to fade. The dream was ending - you needed answers now!

"Who are you?!" you shouted forcefully, bearing your teeth in an almost animal-like way.

The growls and hisses of the fire simmered away slowly, making you lose your balance and begin to fall backwards into consciousness. As you fell, the faint whispers returned. Slipping away, back into reality, you heard the growl of the flames whisper the word 'Vulcan'.

There was a small moment of serene darkness before you opened your eyes, to see Amethyst looking down at you with wide, yellow and inquisitive eyes. You pushed yourself to sit up next to her, and rubbed your head slightly, trying to understand what had just transpired. It had all been a dream? But, it had felt so real. You didn't usually have dreams like that...Somewhere inside you couldn't help feeling worried about it, but you were going to suppress that thought for as long as you could. Right now, Amethyst was hungry you thought, tossing her a mackerel, and taking a few bites of  a salmon you had cooked last night. You had been optimistic, you supposed, in trying to get all the answers you desired straightaway, but you hoped it wouldn't be too much longer until you finally understood at least something about what was going on.

Peering across the shore of the island you had spent the night on, you could see a small group of island up ahead, that seemed to be connected by a series of tombolos. That must be the stretch of land the map on the dragon sword (you thought you should give it a name, at least), was directing you to. Whether your dream was any sort of warning, you had no clue; but you were pretty sure would get into a perilous danger anyway. That seemed to be just about the only thing you could certain of now.

A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Thanks to @Mythical-Beasts03 for suggesting the name for the Dragon Sword! So, here I was thinking that this sequel would just be a short story about what happens next to Viggo and Y/n, but nope! I just keep getting extra ideas about stuff I can add in, so I'm pretty sure this is going to end up being a similar length to Deception! Also, I just wanted to say to any Star Trek fans out there, I'm sorry to say this is not going to be a HTTYD and Star Trek crossover XD (although that would be cool!). But, I assure you there is a valid reason for 'Vulcan'! Wow, I don't usually write this much in the author's note. That's all for now! :)