The boy is easy enough to carry but he is so scrawny and small that I fear I might crush him with my foot. His limp, unconscious body is lying between the pad of my foot and my claws that are wrapped tightly around him to prevent him from falling. I know a fall from this height would be fatal for a human. I honestly do not understand humans; they are such fragile creatures, what is the point of their existence? Although, they have come up with creative ways to protect themselves- of course none of it is strong enough to stop us from destroying it or killing them, but they try. I actually admire their efforts. It's endearing how much effort they put into their survival.

Behind me I can tell Gretchen and Frejia are not happy with what just happened. 

The plan had been to scout the island and report back to our Queen. But that was before I saw the boy. He is so much smaller than all of the others. A runt. I don't know what compelled me to take him. Perhaps it was watching the others push him around. Perhaps it was looking into his wide green eyes and seeing a part of myself reflected in them (not myself literally, but the emotions- the soul). Perhaps it was just the exhilaration of disobeying an order. Perhaps it was this irrepressible sensation that I owed my dead sister. She had been a runt too. Everyone had bullied her, and one day, they killed her...

Banking to the right, I land gently outside of a cave. Sniffing around I only pick up an extremely old smell of a long gone dragon that had rested inside a few years ago. I also pick up the scents of a few nearby dragons, two of which are Gretchen and Frejia who join me on the jagged rock that extends out from the cave, providing a large landing pad for us. I can tell that my friends hope to convince me to leave the human and return to the Queen, but what would be the point of exposing ourselves so boldly to the humans if we did not keep the human? 

"Hookfang," Freijia hisses at me as I carefully place the human just inside the entrance before walking past him to inspect the rest of the dark cave. "Hookfang!" Frejia growls angrily. 

"What?" I call out without looking back. 

"You know what!" Her voice increases to a frantic pitch and I feel her looming form behind me. "We have to go back to the Queen. Leave the human here and let's go before our Queen's patience wears thin and she shows us no mercy." 

I ignore her as I continue to search the dark depths of the cave for danger. The scent of snow lingers in every breath I take and I know that we will soon be greeted by snowfall. "It will snow soon," Gretchen states from behind us. Frejia who is now beside me due to the massive cavern that the cave had funneled into turns to look at her sister. I follow her gaze and see that Gretchen has not moved past the bright entrance of the cave. "Gretch?" Frejia's voice is full of affection and concern. "I don't like it," Her sister responds. "We should go back in case it in't just a light snowfall. I don't want to be stuck here in a snow storm," Gretchen had a point. We were on an island full of strangers without the Queen's protection. But, to leave would be the death of this human hatchling.  "Well, you two can head back. I'm not stopping you."

Frejia snaked her head at me and nipped my face harshly. "You will not remain here for that human freak," I stare into her shining green eyes impassively. "You will not leave your mate, my sister, for a walking skeleton," I frown as she suddenly grins. "Actually, bring the human. The Queen will let you keep him as a pet for a while, I am sure." 

I bare my teeth and growl lowly. "You know very well that our Queen will not let the boy live! The moment he enters the nest he will be a sacrifice," Frejia growls in return and her kind eyes grow icy as she glares at me. "You would really turn your back on your mate - on our Queen -  for this runt? He isn't even a proper viking!"

I can see that she immediately regrets her words but I still cannot fight the rage that boils my blood. I swipe at her viciously with murderous intent glowing in my yellow eyes. How dare she say that! Blood spurts wildly out of the wound on her shoulder where my claws pierced through her scales. She roars in pain and I step back, my burning rage nothing more than ashes. I watch solemnly as Gretchen rushes to her sister's side. "That is exactly why I have to stay," I spit at Frejia weakly. "He is a runt. Defenseless and completely at the mercy to the others of his kind who see him as lesser. As not one of them. He is just like my sister," I whisper brokenly. "I couldn't save her, but perhaps I can save him."

"Fool!" Frejia sneers. "Come Gretchen, we will return to the Queen and inform her of this traitor immediately," I look at Gretchen imploringly, begging her to see reason but she refuses to meet my stare and simply nods at her sister. I watch as my mate's blue and pink scales quickly become slick with crimson liquid while she helps Frejia move out of the cave. 

Sighing, I check on the human. He is still unconscious. Looking down at him, he appears so ethereal that I am concerned that the stone he lays on may break him. I focus on his heart beat and exhale gratefully when I hear the steady gentle thumping of his tiny heart pumping blood through his body. I glance up at the grey sky and inhale deeply. The scent of snow is stronger now. We just might kick off the winter month with a storm.

Feeling tired, I decide to sleep while I wait for the human boy to wake up. Trudging back into the open cavern, I curl up and close my eyes. I focus on the boy's heartbeat again. It is a relaxing sound and I quickly drift off.

I wake up a few times when I sense the boy is in distress and move to  check on him, but every time he is still asleep. The third time I inspected him, his face was scrunched in a strange expression that I couldn't understand. His scent said that he was angry and scared. These swirling emotions reminded me of the scent that swiftly became my sister's recognisable scent after her birth and others began bullying her. Another feeling had joined hers though. Depression. 

As I stare down at the boy, perplexed. I wonder what humans dream about. Do they dream about things that have happened? Or things that could happen? Do they all dream?

~~

The seventh time I got up, I did not expect the boy to be awake. Surprisingly, he was. I approach him slowly so that I don't startle him while he speaks. His speech is so weird that I cannot help laughing at the unnatural syllables he makes. The boy panics and his terror is overwhelming as he quickly stands and attempts to run outside. His foot catches on his other foot and he face plants. I coo at him sadly as the stench of blood and pain mingle in my nostrils. He suddenly, flips over and stares at me in such undiluted terror that I decide to just leave him be. I huff when I realise that it had begun snowing at some point and walk slowly into the cavern. 

As I lay down for what feels like the hundredth time today, I go over our encounter. The boy's fear leaks into the cavern while I think about how I can communicate with him without having another heart attack inducing interaction like that one. Granted I did snatch him from his nest, but I am doing him a favour. That bigger boy who pushed this one around reeked of jealousy and insecurity. Those two emotions together are a dangerous mix. I do not understand what the larger boy was jealous for, but I do know that he felt it toward the "runt". He also had a group that he was showing off for. Showing off how he can push around the weak. I was quite impressed when the thin boy kicked the bully in the place where human procreation organs are. That clearly hurt a lot. The stronger boy's scent has the slightest similarity to the weaker boy's though. Which must mean that they are related somehow. 

The boy was there with a massive group of vikings when I was trying to get the boy in my claws safely. From what Gretchen had told me, the vikings had entered the forest shortly after the skinny boy had. Apparently, they were nearby when the boy screamed and came running. Horror, terror, and bewilderment emanated from the group in suffocating waves. But I still picked up the familiar scent of the bully. I glared at him and stretched my neck towards him before releasing an earth-shattering roar of anguish. I smiled cruelly when the boy flinched. Gretchen landed beside me when the vikings arrived and threatened them while I inspected the child in my claws. 

A second later, Frejia landed dramatically in front of us with her body alight with dancing flames. Her roar was void of any emotion. She was toying with the humans. I glanced at Gretchen as she moved beside her sister and also burst into flame. The humans screamed in terror. I rolled my eyes as the sisters spewed fire at the humans who scattered like ants in rain.

Glancing at the blue sky I decided it was time to get out of there. Pushing upwards with my legs and flapping my wings rapidly, I ascended into the air. The boy in my claws went limp as he passed out. Probably due to the sudden movement and change in altitude that his body would not be accustomed to.  Even though I was so high up I still heard the cry of the viking boy when he saw me retreating with the boy he bullies. Behind his scream, I heard and felt a strange tug of fear and sadness- even something that could be identified as affection. I ignored this unsettling realisation and soared away from the island as Frejia and Gretchen joined me in the sky. 

~~~~

My eyes open slowly, blinking closed a few times before opening completely. I gaze groggily at the wall of rock in front of me. An icy chill seeps into my body through the hard, stone ground. Exhaling, I watch in amusement as it spirals visibly in front of me. I notice a dull roar of sound echoing from the cave entrance. I listen closely and search for the comforting heartbeat of the human boy. I become alert and confused when I cannot find it. I stand shakily, my body still waking up after sleeping so deeply. My claws scrape against the stone as I rush towards where I left the boy. Entering the freezing space I immediately realise two things. One, the boy is not there. Two, if he was here, he would have frozen to death. I roar in anguish at the empty space but it is drowned out by the thunderous sound of the vicious snow storm outside. 

Outside. Which is surely where the boy went. I leap into the storm and begin frantically searching for the defenseless human.