Howling Echoes - A How to Train Your Dragon Story, The Echoes, Book 1

Chapter 71: Revived Rivalries

   "Bud?"  Hiccup asked.  Cries of surprise, of terror, of anger, split through the air as dragons passed the opening.  

   "Chroma?"  Viggo asked, putting his hand on her neck.  The Death Song raised her wings.  My eyes widened, and I ran onto the icy pillar, Stoick, Valka, Hiccup, and Viggo hard on my tail.

   Ships blasted things that shattered icy spikes.  Nets flung from messes of gears and metal to meet dragon scales and bring them to earth.  Heavy, large rocks met wing membranes, and metal claws and teeth clashed with normal ones.

   "Val, Val!  We're a family now.  What do you want us to do?"  Stoick asked.  I flashed into a dragon for a moment.  "Meet me outside!"  I called, flashing back into a dragon.  Just before I leaped off of the ice pillar, I heard Valka say,  "We have to save the dragons." and Stoick reply, "Got it.  Come on, son!"

   I leaped down, Chroma and Frostflake hard on my tail.  I let out a roar when I noticed gas leaking out of one of the traps.  I grinned.  "Everybody look out!"  I roared to the dragons nearby.  They saw the gas and took a different route.  Suddenly, the Riders broke out of a few of the metal spikes that captured dragons in them.

   "Surprise!  Yeah!"  Tuffnut laughed.  "Ah-ah!"  Eret was attempting to ride Stormfly, and I swooped over to nudge him up with my wing.  "Uh, explanation, please?  By the way, we found Hiccup's mom."  I added before she asked one herself.  "Uh - wait WHAT!?"  Stormfly shrieked.  "Can we talk about this later!?  Please explain!"  I asked.  "Oh, yeah - uh...right.  Eret freed me and saved me, let's kick some butt!"  Stormfly rawked.  I laughed.  "Right with you, Stormfly!"

   Chroma, Frostflake and I rejoined.  I heard a plasma blast shatter some ice and knew that Hiccup had joined the battle.  "The Dragon Master..."  My sharp hearing detected a deep, rumbling voice.  I turned sharply to see someone standing in the middle of a clearing, talking to himself.  He had scars and a cloak made of dragon skin.

   "Drago."  I narrowed my eyes with a low growl.  "Keep going!" I called to Chroma and Frostflake, veering off.  "Wha - where are YOU going!?"  Frostflake asked.  "Just GO!  NOW!"  I yelled, landing behind Drago with a low growl.

   Suddenly, the Bewilderbeast emerged from behind the nest of icy spikes with a fierce roar.  "The Alpha,"  Drago said to himself.  "now we have a fight!"  I snarled at him, and he turned.  He started cackling to himself as I turned into a human.  "KIARA!"  I heard Frostflake shriek.  "The Dragon Whisperer."  He said.

   "So...any chance you want to discuss why you're here...talking...to yourself?"  I asked, raising my brow.  Drago narrowed his eyes and made a growl-grunt noise.  "Fine, let's get straight to it.  You'll never take this place.  It's useless to try.  There are too many dragons, and the Alpha controls them all."

   "Then it's a good thing I brought a challenger,"  Drago smirked, then turned his gaze over my shoulder.  He raised his blank, pointed staff and let out yells.  "Aah!  Ahh!  Aah!  Ahh!"  He yelled.  A giant black Bewilderbeast suddenly emerged from the depths of the shore (that's not how shores work!) with a roar.  "I want to be the Alpha!"  "Then you'll have to kill me!"  The white one roared back.

   "That's racist,"  I muttered, then turned back to Drago, flashing into a dragon.  His eyes widened as he stumbled back.  "What!?"  I narrowed my eyes and growled threateningly, stepping toward him.  Then, I heard two roars and turned.

   The Bewilderbeast's tusks clashed - one's clean and white, the other dusty and unkempt, complete with chains connecting them.  Suddenly, I heard Valka grunt and turned again.  Valka had landed on the ground.  Drago stepped toward her, chuckling.  Her mask was on, blocking her face, but when Drago pinned her to the ground, he flicked it off.  Her expression was terrified as he raised his staff.

   I ran toward them, but Stoick got there first.

   Drago grunted and turned to see what had knocked him out of the way.  Stoick helped Valka to her feet.  "Thank you."  She sighed.  "For you my dear?  Anything."  Stoick said, twirling his axe.  "Val, do you think you can stop them?"  "I'll do my best,"  Valka replied, cutting her dragon free.  "Come on Cloudjumper!"

   "You,"  Drago growled.  "I watched you burn."  "It takes more than a little fire to kill me!"  Stoick yelled back.  I wanted to help Stoick, but as the two punched and fought and wrestled, I found that the risk of hitting Stoick was too great, especially with the amount of fire I had gathered in my throat.

   Suddenly, I heard a roar of pain from one of the Bewilderbeasts.  "No!"  I whirled around.  Please be the black one, please be the black one...

   The white one lay in a cloud of disturbed snow.  The black one let out a roar.  "I have won!"  I saw dragons flying around the area turn their heads to him with their pupils thinning.

   My eyes widened and I quickly turned human, hoping that his command wouldn't influence me if I wasn't a dragon.  Without my will, I turned into a dragon again, and suddenly my senses seemed to be shut down, my will was pushed out, and everything was blurry.

   I took to the air, knowing nothing but the will of my master.