Broken Prophecy: How to Train Your Dragon

THE BROKEN PROPHECY Chapter 11

This is a fanfic and I make no money from this. Original copyrights belong to Dreamworks and Cresedia Cowell

Chapter 11

Gypsum's wings flutter in a flurry of motion, as the old brown dragon darts and dashes among the pillars of ice and stone, trying to keep up with her fellow survivors from the arena. Vomi and Mita, the Twin-soul, and Volcus soar on her left, while Asurestorm follows the Shadewing, Tannlaus, on her right. The huge, four-winged dragon, Cloudjumper, effortlessly carries its precious cargo in its taloned arms and feet. She was worried, as they left the small damp island behind, the path they were taking would bring them uncomfortably close to the Queen, but the strange two-leg directed them further east, taking them all well past her realm of influence.

The sun was beginning to rise before them when they came in sight of the most extraordinary nest any of them had ever seen. An island of ice and stone, covered in lush green moss and grass, and the sky above filled with every possible dragon imaginable. "It is soon feeding time," the large dragon intones, in a bass rumble, as he brings himself to hover in front of an imposing wall of ice. "Follow me closely, the tunnel is fairly narrow, but you could get lost down a side path. Tannlaus? I will take your mate to Ryder's cavern, you can show the others to the feeding grounds."

The path itself is long and winding, with branches leading into darkness every so often, but soon the troop clear the tunnel and enter the heart of the nest. The general structure is reminiscent of their old volcano nest, with high shear walls and deep central chamber. The newcomers are taken aback by the warmth and lush growth, despite the entirety of the nest's outer wall being built of ice. Taking a moment to alight on a green outcropping Tannlaus turns to look back at his charges. He has to take a startled step back as he finds himself snout to snout with the warty, brown Stone-biter.

"That young female has been through enough! I don't know what game you are playing, but I won't let you hurt her anymore. You offer her friendship, and take it upon yourself to teach her... Then turn around and abandon her, and THEN tell her you hate her?!"

Tannlaus sits unable to interrupt the furious, brown, force of nature. She continues like this for some time before finally having to take a breath. Taking the momentary silence, "You're right". This simple admission surprises the ranting dragoness into further silence. "What I did is unforgivable..." Hanging his head, he waits for Gypsum to continue her rage fueled rant.

"Why did you come back?" she asks simply, anger in her voice tempered by sympathy.

"It's a long story."

"We have time," says the older dragoness, demanding to not be put off. Even though she barely knows the injured Shadewing, her maternal instincts refuse to let her see the youngling as anything but an adopted daughter. This male, barely older, had obviously been acting on impulse.  A mistake in judgement rather than malice, but still she needed to hear it from his own lips. "If we are going to hear a story, best start from the beginning." She says, hunkering down as she makes herself comfortable.

****

"I HATE you!!" Spinning on his wing, Tannlaus quickly flies from the cove and heads out to sea leaving the distraught young Night Fury alone. Even in his rage, the icy cold grip of fear took hold of his heart. His wings beat the air with all the strength he can muster, trying to put distance between himself and the first dragoness he began to consider more than a friend. 'Why did I tell her that!? Why did I tell her I hated her? I don't hate her!' Looking back, his sharp eyesight sees Kari apparently facing off against the small blond two-leg. 'Jump, Pounce, Flame! Do something! Anything!' He watches helplessly as the broad blade of the axe is drawn up, and with a heart rending cry he turns away, unable to witness her murder. Circling high above, the clouds give him a safe place to hide. His face wet from the chill moisture as much as his freely flowing tears, Tannlaus looks back and finds Kari subdued but not dead. 'They didn't kill her! They didn't kill her!' His relief is short lived as the two-legs take steps to restrain her. Though tempted to soar down and scare off the smaller blond Viking after the larger one leaves, he realizes he would still be unable to mount a proper rescue. 'I need to think.'