~Astrid~

The fortress shook as another blast hit the main structure, spraying scorched stone all over the courtyard. I watched as men were buried by the debris, while others were burnt alive simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was gruesome to watch, but I had to remind myself that this was the true life of a warrior and death and suffering had a central role in that.

Another blast hit my tower, causing it to shake so hard a few of the roof tiles loosened and I had to grasp onto the railing to not lose my balance. It was then that true chaos erupted beneath me as I observed a troop rushing out the heavy wooden doors of the main hall to face the dragons that had landed in the courtyard and were in the midst viciously spewing fire and lava all over the lower parts of the fortress. A large, crimson monstrous nightmare held off the Berserkers with a tall wall of fire as an unusually lumpy gronckle spewed lava like there was no tomorrow all over the walls of the fortress. Could it be that these dragons were ... cooperating?

In my 19 years alive I had never witnessed two different breeds of dragons cooperate, nor had I seen dragons attack anything they didn't know whether stored food or not. That was when it hit me, those dragons weren't out for food, they were simply there to cause destruction.

A fire ignited in my veins as images of the village just beyond the fortress walls flooded my mind. Burning rage filled me as I watched them rebuild their homes only for them to be torn down the next day because of some particularly vicious dragons. Simply knowing that those dragons had no true motivation behind their attacks put me in a certain mood ... the mood for slaughter.

Rage filled me as I clawed my way up to the roof of my tower, my nails digging into the small cracks in the stone as I hauled myself up before burying my axe deep in the wooden roof and using it to help me climb over the edge. I may not have been Dagur's biggest fan, but his people had done me no harm, which was why I felt an incredible urge to protect them by slaughtering these beasts that were wreaking havoc just for the fun of it.

I climbed all the way up to the peak of the roof where I waited, balancing my axe in my hands as I scanned the night sky for any sign of a dragon. Seconds later, a hideous zippleback came flying out of a thick cloud of smoke that rose from the courtyard, gas pouring out from one of its mouths as it coiled it's large, green, brown-spotted body over to my tower. Gaze locked on the monster, I tightened my grip around the handle of my axe, crouching ever so slightly as I prepared myself for a long fall.

It was in the moment that I was going to launch myself off the top of the tower that a loud whistle rang through my ears, the very same one from earlier. Immediately, I stood up straight, brows furrowed as I gripped the handle of my axe in preparation for a fight and looked around in search of the source of the sound.

The tower shook violently as it was hit by yet another blast, the sound of stone crumbling and falling the long way down to the courtyard clung through my ears right before the tile beneath my feet came loose, causing me to stumble and fall face first onto the roof, which I was now clinging to for dear life.

My heart was racing in my chest, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I attempted to calm myself by taking a few deep breaths. Don't look down, don't look down. I had never been particularly scared of heights, but the thought of tumbling off the edge of the roof and having to fall at least a hundred feet before being splattered on the ground like an old pie was not a very tempting one.

My thoughts were interrupted by something that sounded like a high-pitched scream, which in turn made me realize that whatever I had heard moments before was probably coming back to finish me off. Suddenly, the darkness of the night was lit up by a flash of bright purple, which made spots dance around my vision as the tower shook once more, loosening the roof tile that had become my life line and sending me tumbling down the roof. A dozen roof tiles followed as I desperately attempted to slow my fall with the help of my axe, which was of no use. It was as I hit the edge of the roof that my life seemed to flash before my eyes. My parents, my island, my friends and everything I had ever held dear seemed to have been left at the top of that roof, right along with my stomach and as I tumbled over the edge of the roof, I readied myself for a very long and hard fall.

But it never came. I did fall for a split second and yes, I did have quite a hard landing, but it wasn't half as bad as I had expected it to be. I hadn't fallen further than from the edge of the roof onto the balcony. Fortunately, I'd been able to land bottom first, which probably saved me from cracking my skull open, but it did not save my poor behind, which was aching so bad I wondered if I would ever be able to sit normally again.

With a groan I forced myself up into a sitting position — against the many protests of my derrière — and brushed off the tiles that tagged along with me in my fall. Other than a minor headache and an aching bum, nothing seemed to have been broken or otherwise injured, which included my axe, to my great joy. Safe to say, it wasn't the worst that could've happened and that was good enough for me.

Once more, that high-pitched scream from earlier filled my ears as I was reminded of how I had ended up with a broken roof and an aching behind in the first place. White hot fire coursed through my veins as I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to my feet, axe in hand as pure rage filled me from head to toe. Some dragon had attempted to kill me and I was officially out for blood.

"Show yourself, coward!" I roared as I swung my axe menacingly around my sides, hoping I had been successful in taunting the dragon so that it would come after me. "It takes more than a little fire to kill me!"

A moment passed and nothing happened. I was stood on the balcony waiting for something that didn't seem to be was coming, until suddenly a large, dark shadow rose from behind the stone railing of my balcony. Bright, luminescent, green eyes seemed to pierce through my very soul as my legs quivered beneath me. The beast roared, a sound so loud my ears rung for the next minute as I attempted to keep myself from screaming in pure terror.

"The offspring of lightning and death itself," My father's voice echoed through my mind. "If you ever face this creature, run as fast as you can and hope it doesn't follow."

All my life I had heard tales of the night fury, the most vicious, terrible and dangerous dragon known to man. There was very little information on it, speed, size and power were all unknown and no Viking had ever stood face to face with the beast and lived to tell the tale.

It was like I had been drained of all courage, leaving me a shell filled with sheer terror as I — for the first time in my life — was unable to keep my axe upright. My legs shook like a piece of parchment in the wind and as the dragon opened it's mouth, a purple light growing inside it's throat, I found myself completely frozen in fear at the mere sight of it.

This was it, this was the end. The dragon was going to kill me and that would be it for not only Astrid Hofferson, but also the entire Hofferson bloodline, a line of brave warriors who had fought against every terror known to man, except for this. Which is why I'm going to be the first. The thought echoed through my mind, building my confidence and giving me the guts to break out of my state of petrification. An animalistic roar filled with every ounce of rage I had left escaped me as I ran at the dragon, axe raised.

This was my moment, this was the moment I killed a night fury and became a legend, not only in my own village but in the entire archipelago . This was — "Toothless,no!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, my axe sinking as I attempted to piece together what had just happened. Right as we were about to clash, the night fury had pulled away, but not before the sound of what I had thought to be a honking goose at first filled my ears.

Toothless? Had that dragon just ... spoken? With a roar the dragon took off in the direction of the shipyard and it was then that realization dawned upon me, even though the truth was even crazier than what I had fabricated in my head.

Time seemed to slow as the battle died out far beneath me. On the back of the night fury sat a man, a rather lean-looking man in a suit of armor which appeared to have been made from the dark scales of the very dragon he was riding. A matching helmet hid his face but in the moment he turned his head in my direction I caught a glimpse of the emerald green eyes beneath it, which sparkled like a chestful of jewels in the sunlight. For the quarter of a second, our eyes had met and I could've sworn that my heart skipped a beat.

When I was younger my mother had told me that the eyes were a mirror of the soul and that was how she knew that my father had been the right one for her. When I looked into the eyes of this stranger I felt as though I knew him better than I knew myself, it was as if I could see all his fears, his joys, his sorrows and all the love he had to give.

That one moment felt like it had lasted a lifetime, but before I even had the chance to process any of it, both the night fury and his rider were gone, vanished into thin air. I blinked myself out of my daze as I supported myself on the railing, trying to piece together what had just happened. I hadn't even the chance to do that as my focus quickly flitted over to the courtyard, where surely enough, the other dragons were retreating as well and that was when I spotted them: more dragon riders. All the dragons I had previously seen had riders on their backs with armor similar to that of the man on the night fury, made of the scales of the dragon they rode. My head felt like it might just explode with all the new information I had received in a matter of minutes. There were people out there who had not only trained dragons, but they had also found a way to ride them!

Completely baffled, I found myself stumbling backwards from the railing. Gently shaking my head, I tried to make some sense of what I had seen before I turned my gaze to the horizon, where sure enough, four dragons were flying away in formation as I was left with several questions, but only one that could not seem to leave my mind; who was that man?