
Part 6
"Then who is it?" Windshear asked Zahnlos about who Hiccup was helping the three-Specter people with. Hiccup had just finished with the Fury's head and moved out of the way, allowing Zahnlos to see who it was.
"It's Penumbra." Zahnlos informed her with a sad tone of voice. She could tell it was painful for the Night Fury standing next to her to watch a close friend and fellow rare dragon in pain and not be able to help. It was at that time that the Specter Night Fury walked up to the pair. Windshear, still not used to or even wanting to be close to any dragon Specter than Zahnlos, back up and tried to hid being the Fury.
"Don't worry Zahnlos, he'll pull through he always does." The Night Fury informed his younger companion upon seeing his worried expression, "Now who is this?"
"This is Windshear, Hiccup and I found her injured about thirty minutes flying away from here. Hiccup fixed her up and we came back here, it seems that she has put her trust in the two of us." Zahnlos informed him as he scooted to the side so that Windshear would be forced to meet the dragon.
"Well then, hello Windshear and welcome to the Sanctuary, my name is Specter." He said to the dragoness. Windshear simply nodded her head in affirmation that she had heard him. Specter turned to Zahnlos once he had introduced himself to Windshear and spoke only to Zahnlos so nobody else would hear what he had to say.
"Zahnlos, I need to talk to you about something important." Specter stated in a serious tone as he motioned with his head for the younger dragon to follow, which he did.
"What's wrong? What happened to Penumbra?" Zahnlos asked once they had cleared the crowd that had gather to see what was going on.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. How much do you know about Drottning?" The question caught Zahnlos off guard as he was not expecting to be asked about her. Before answering he ushered the other Drake into a small side cavern nearby.
"I know more about Her than I would like too," Zahnlos said with a defeated look, "Though I know if She was the one who hurt Penumbra, then there will be no stopped her till all three of us are under Her control. Why would you even be that close to that monster?"
"You know the scouting trips we go on?"
"That's where you go!" Zahnlos shouted at his fellow dragon, "why would you go there?"
"The king could sense her power growing and he has been having us scout out her raiding parties to see if they have been getting bigger or their tactics smarter. He had us going due to us being stealthy and due to us having our riders, resistant to Her call." Specter told the Night Fury standing next to him.
"Then how did Penumbra get those wounds? Some of those wounds came from a normal dragon, not Her."
"You're right, some of them came from normal dragons but most of the burns are from Her. We followed a raiding party back to the nest after the last raid on Berk." Came the response.
"WHAT WOULD POSSESS YOU TWO TO DO THAT!" Zahnlos exploded at the older drake standing next to him. Even though Specter was the older and had seen much worse than another dragon yelling at him, the younger Night Fury who was now extremely livid frightened him immensely.
"We thought we saw somebody on the back of a Nadder and that gave us reason to follow and confirm what we had seen." Specter meekly responded. The answer didn't seem to help cool down Zahnlos much, but it piped the interest of somebody.
"Zahnlos, calm down. Penumbra is doing fine." Hiccup said as he came rushing into the area they had gone to. "Specter, did you confirm what you saw?" Zahnlos was surprised when Hiccup came into the area, but he did calm down once Hiccup walked up to him and rested his hand on the dragon's head.
"We uh, we did find something interesting." Came the shaky reply, as if even he wasn't sure of what he had seen.
"What did you find?" Hiccup asked him before Zahnlos could. Hiccup could sense that his bonded was in a foul mood from what the Night Fury standing before them had said but he couldn't see why due to the tight mental shielding he had thrown up around a few certain memories. While he had learned how to easily slip past most of Zahnlos's mental shielding, the shielding the dragon was using was far beyond anything the boy had even tried to get through before.
"We only caught a passing glance before we were found out and had to leave but it looked like another rider, maybe more."
"That's impossible, there is no way She would let any humans in Her nest." Zahnlos authoritatively said, while Hiccup just stood there listening, deep in thought from what he had just heard.
"I don't know what to say, both Penumbra and I saw the same thing. There was definitely a rider on the back of the Nadder and when they went to a cave we tried to sneak near the entrance to see if there was more. We thought we heard five voices but we were found out before we got near it." Specter stated, as he hesitantly explained what had happened, "Unole and Penumbra quickly rushed for to see inside before we left but couldn't. Dragons from all over the nest were coming to protect it as if it was the nursery and there was a Nightmare, Nadder, Gronkle, and Zippleback blocking the entrance to the cave."
"Is that why he got hurt worse than you?"
"Yes, he had rushed away from out hiding spot and they all focused on him. I tried to help but they were like wasps swarming on one target. He kept spinning around to protect Unole while climbing out of the volcano. It was then that She appeared." Specter suddenly just stopped talking and was now laying on the ground trying to forget what had happened, almost defeated by the fact he couldn't protect his fellow Fury.
"Who is this she you keep talking about?" Hiccup asked, now speaking up as he transitioned to try and comfort the depressed Night Fury. The two dragons locked eyes and Zahnlos gave a slight nod and proceeded to explain who She was to the boy.
"Hiccup, She is the Queen of the nest near what you know as Helheim's Gate. It is from that nest that the raids on the villages originate from."
"Why do they raid the villages? You guys prefer fish, don't you?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes Hiccup, dragons do prefer fish but She forces all the dragons to raid the villages to feed Her. Most of the dragons in the nest barely get enough food to survive as they must go and fish for it when they are not raiding. Only her favorites are kept well feed as the other dragons have to bring them food when not raiding for the Queen." Zahnlos said with a guilty expression for the final part of the explanation.
"That sounds awful, why don't the dragons just revolt against her? If they did, then there would be no raids and they could fish for themselves and live in peace." Hiccup said idealistically.
"It's not that simple my dear Rider. Many have tried to lead rebellions and insurgencies against Her but none have gone far. Not only does She keep them as slaves under mind control, She also eats the ones who dare go against Her." Zahnlos unenthusiastically explained to Hiccup. That shocked the boy, what thing would even think to eat one of its own species for trying to have free will?
"Then we need to do something about it! We can't just stand by and let it happen bud." Hiccup said as if it were a call to arms.
"That's not a good idea my Rider. There is no way to beat Her, many have tried and all have failed."
"But we have to do something Zahnlos, we can't leave all those dragons there under Her rule." Hiccup argued, not believing that there was nothing his friend would do to help his fellow dragons after seeing how much he had helped and cared for them around the Sanctuary.
"There is nothing we can do. No matter how many dragons we bring it will never be enough as She will simply take them over." Zahnlos replied, trying to get his rider to forget about it.
"What if I protect them? I know I could." Hiccup persisted.
"Hiccup, please; there is nothing you can do. She has been doing this for hundreds of years and will be doing it long after we are gone." Zahnlos pleaded with the boy, a hint of defeat evident in his voice,
"Then it's time for her rule to come to an end. I will not, cannot stand by and do nothing knowing that this is going on. Plus, what about the person that is in the nest?" Hiccup tried to reason with the dragon. Unknown to them, Specter had slipped away to get Unole in hopes the man would help Zahnlos in showing Hiccup how wrong he was. Before Zahnlos could respond, Unole came into the entrance of the small cave and tapped Hiccup on the shoulder to get his attention.
What's wrong? The man asked Hiccup, who just quickly signed nothing before turning back to Zahnlos. Though before Hiccup could say a word Unole grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around so they were staring at each other eye to eye as they were about the same height. It was then that Hiccup noticed that Unole's eyes were grey and almost glowing, as if he was trying to hold back his emotions.
Tell me what's wrong. Unole once against asked Hiccup, releasing his shoulders so the teen could sign.
I want to go and kill the Queen, freeing the dragons under her rule. Once Hiccup was about halfway through signing, Unole's eyes started to glow fully.
No! Why would you think of doing that? Unole asked, surprised and frightened by the statement.
The dragons need to be free! Hiccup argued.
Yes, but your life is not worth loosing just for a single nest. Came the response, with Unole's eyes stop glowing but staying grey.
But I have Zahnlos and can protect dragons from her call. If I can free the dragons from her control they will flee or help me fight back. Hiccup once again tried to convince somebody to agree with him.
I'm sorry Hiccup, but that's not what will happen. You saw what happened to us when the four of us where in there. Unole signed at him, trying to change the boys mind as his eyes changed from grey to a green almost like Hiccups.
I can do it, I know I can. Hiccup signed, more forcefully this time. Suddenly Unole's eyes switched to an almost golden amber color and where glowing while he started almost yelling at the boy, forgetting that Hiccup was deaf. While Hiccup couldn't actually hear what he was saying, he could tell that it was serious due to the man's eyes and how energetic he seemed to be yelling. Hiccup waited for Unole to calm down before signing at him.
I get it, you don't want me to go but this is something I must do though. Hiccup signed in a last-ditch effort to garner some support before sneaking off on his own. Unole just seemed to give up on trying to change the boys mind.
Fine, but before you to dethrone her, at least go on a scouting trip first. Just to see what you will be up against.
Fine. Hiccup responded, finally soothing the fears of Unole and Zahnlos, who had snuck into Hiccups mind to understand the conversation.
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Hey there everybody! So ya, this is an odd place to end the chapter but honestly, I ran out of motivation and I'm tired. I hope this made sense, if it doesn't just drop me a review and I will try to answer it for you. So for Unole's eyes, that section is back in chapter four if you need a reminder.
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