Adventures of Elsa Jade ~ Ch 7 ~ Monstrous Nightmares and Lord Zendar
This chapter briefly introduces the villain, Lord Zendar. *evil laugh*
CHAPTER 7
I decided to track my enemies with the help of Fáfnir’s glowing star. Although I hated to abandon my search for the runic Night Fury, I couldn’t ignore this new threat. We flew away from Berk through the night and into the next morning, until the star led us to a large island. Most of its surface was crisscrossed with deep, gouging canyons. Rocky spires twisted into the sky, and a single mountain rose majestically from the island’s center. From the star’s glow, I guessed the prisoner dragon was about halfway up the side of the mountain. Guards would be more likely to spot us in the air, so the best way to approach would be to land at the mountain’s base, and climb up from there.
So much for stealth. There were four – no, five – Monstrous Nightmares rising from the island’s shore, heading straight for us. Guard dragons.
I urged Fáfnir up and away from them, toward the morning sun. The dragons clustered together, trying desperately to close the gap. Wait for it… now!
Fáfnir and I executed a back flip/barrel roll combination, ending up diving straight toward the guard dragons at incredible speed. Between the blinding sun and our unexpected attack, Fáfnir was able to shoot two plasma bolts and get us out of there before their fiery counterattack did us any damage.
If only one human and one Night Fury could take out five Nightmares with a single cool move. We had bought ourselves an instant of confusion, however, and we raced down into the maze of canyons surrounding the mountain. There were enough caves and overhangs that the dragons had to follow us in, or else lose us completely.
It was a roller coaster of a ride. Fáfnir and I twisted and spun through the gorges at top speed, barely avoiding the overhanging boulders and curving canyon walls. I heard a shriek behind me, glanced over my shoulder, and saw one of the Nightmares falling amid a shower of rocks and flame. Another had lagged behind, but three were still chasing us. Fáfnir roared, and looking forward, I saw the cause of his alarm. We had entered a dead end canyon. It gradually narrowed, until the towering walls on either side formed a narrow slit up ahead. It looked like the canyon continued past the slit, but it was too narrow for a dragon. Unless…
After signaling Fáfnir to keep flying forward at top speed, I slid my feet out of the stirrups. Gripping the saddle with one hand, I carefully pulled my feet up and crouched on Fáfnir’s back, stretching out my other hand for balance. I mentally blocked out everything but the approaching slit and the dragon beneath me. At the last possible instant, I let go of the saddle and jumped straight up, as high as I could. At the same time, Fáfnir twisted into a sideways glide, one wing pointing up and one down. The dark walls of the slit rushed past, impossibly close, and then we were through. I reached down for the saddle, but Fáfnir’s glide had been faster than mine, and my hand landed on his tail. Just as I got a grip on one of his tail spikes, he changed direction. The spike was torn out of my grip, and my wrenched shoulder and I were sent crashing into the upper branches of a large, leafy tree.
Luckily, the branches were small and numerous enough to stop my forward motion without knocking me unconscious. Fáfnir circled back around and gently plucked me out of the tree with his claws, and dropped me even more gently on a grassy clearing. Dazed, I located the direction of the canyon slit. No Nightmares had been brave (or insane) enough to follow us through. Apparently that slit was the end of the canyons, for we were at the edge of a deep forest. Above and beyond the trees, I saw the peak of the mountain in the distance. We’d made it past the first wave of guards.
I grinned, loving the feeling of triumph. At the thought of completing a death-defying stunt only to almost get killed by a tree, I escalated into full peals of laughter. Fáfnir stared at me, and I playfully grabbed his head and wrestled with him. We rolled on the grass, Fáfnir letting me push him around and then pinning me to the ground with one foot. Eventually we lay back, panting and happy, and I reluctantly turned my mind to business.
So far, Fáfnir had been a tremendous help. However, it had already been over a day since I’d left the School of Dragons. If I didn’t send a message back soon, the Vikings would be sending out search parties. Also, if Fáfnir’s star glowed more brightly as he approached other Star Furies, it was likely that the prisoner dragon’s star would do the same. In that case, Fáfnir would alert the dragon’s captors to my approach. Digging around in my bag, I found paper and the stub of a pencil, and wrote a note describing what had happened at the cave and what I was doing now. I loaded most of my gear onto Fáfnir’s saddle, keeping what I needed with me in a small pack, and secured the note in a small compartment in the front of the saddle where the others would find it.
It was hard to convince Fáfnir to leave without me, but he seemed to realize that it was important and eventually flew off to Berk. After watching him fly away, I hoisted my pack and set off into the deep forest.
◊◊◊
The cave trip had been costly. Lord Zendar usually didn’t venture that far away from his secret cave chamber in the mountain, but with that fool chasing after Elsa Jade, there hadn’t really been a choice. But Zendar was feeling the effects of the trip now. The special compartments in his mask had run dry, and the pain and confusion had been building ever since the fight. Everything about his life felt wrong somehow, even his name. He couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that he wasn’t supposed to be here, but the vague hints of memories that came to the surface were filled with sorrow. Surely it was better to forget them. Pushing down the vague uneasiness that always accompanied his visits to the chamber, he adjusted the mask over his face and strode purposefully in.
(all 3 pics by goldenfury360 (aka Hyrith))
by SoulStereo
(free lineart base found 
by me
Sefarva blinkie by DuskDaybreak
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Yep, he's an official character now! He was actually behind the scenes for a few chapters... but I hadn't completely decided some details yet so I waited to introduce him. More will be explained about Lord Zendar in future chapters.