Adventures of Elsa Jade ~ Chapter 4 ~ Dragon Riders (Part 1)

This chapter turned out about twice as long as Chapter 1 (which I'm using as my goal for length) but the story is definitely a single chapter so I'm splitting it up. Releasing the 2 parts at the same time, though, so you don't have to read half a story :)

CHAPTER 4 (part 1)

I spent the next several weeks exploring the island, which I named Rúndalr (meaning “secret valley”). I found no signs that humans had ever lived here, but I knew there were large wild animals – possibly other dragons. Sometimes I caught glimpses of their moving shadows in the rocky caves high up on the valley wall. They never attacked me, though, and I was content to leave them alone. I did find a lookout post which I could reach by flying most of the way, followed by a short climb. I checked there at least twice a day to make sure no Vikings sailed too near the island. As a native of Berk, I was an enemy of the many outcast rogues wandering through the wilderness. As a dragon trainer, I was an enemy of the dragon hunters I once called friends. Needless to say, I couldn’t allow my new refuge to take the edge off my alertness and fighting skill.

Most of my time, however, was spent developing my bond with both the dragons. Flying the Night Fury was much different than flying the Chilling Horror, and required more skill since Fáfnir was smaller and relied more on my shifting weight to guide him. I made sure to always fly lower than the top of the cliffs, so no one would see us from the outside.

It was a gorgeous day. The sky was bright blue and completely cloudless, and the soft breeze carried a salty tang from the ocean. I approached Fáfnir, who was in dragon form, and stroked his head until he stood still. Still petting him, I worked my way around his side and slid onto his back. He shifted around and raised his head, clearly ready to take off. His tail flicked back and forth as I secured my rope around his body as a makeshift saddle – ironically, the same rope I had used in my fight with Fire and Ice, the night we almost killed each other. I made Fáfnir stand still a few more seconds; then I gripped the rope, leaned forward, and squeezed my legs against his sides. He took off with a slightly terrifying jolt, and by the time I caught my breath we were almost to the top of the rocky cliffs. I forced myself to relax and leaned right, trying to get Fáfnir to pitch and turn. He veered a little, but we were still headed up. I reached forward with my left hand and nudged his head in the direction I wanted to go. He snorted and complied. At least I thought he was going to. Apparently I had pushed too hard, because Fáfnir clearly thought I wanted him to spin. I looked up – sky, ground, cliff, sky, cliff… I straightened into an almost-standing position, pulling back on the rope. We spun a little slower, but the ground was still approaching too fast. I was preparing to crash-land when Fáfnir abruptly spread his wings, jerking us out of the spin into a nice slow glide. I leaned forward shakily and petted him. “Thanks, pal. I wasn’t really looking forward to landing on the rocks with you on top of me.” He glanced back, and I could imagine him rolling his eyes at the strange human who had told him to spin into the ground.

I eased us into a gradual turn, and we practiced more basic flight skills. In spite of today’s adrenaline-pumping start, we were getting better at working together to fly with control. I wanted us to become skilled enough to handle combat as soon as possible, but I knew that rushing Fáfnir’s training too quickly would do more harm than good.

Suddenly Fáfnir sniffed the air and growled softly, staring off to the right. I turned and saw them. A group of dragons was flying toward our island. And they were carrying… riders? For some reason, the possibility of other dragon-riding humans had never occurred to me. But even if there were other people who had discovered that dragons could be trained, wouldn’t they be random and isolated like I was? There had to be at least twenty headed toward us. And they were coming fast. I signaled Fáfnir, and he dived toward the ground, where Fire and Ice was waiting for us. I had no idea who these people were, but if they wanted a fight, they would get a Chilling Horror.

I mentally ran through my options. They had probably already seen me flying Fáfnir, but they would have no idea that Fire and Ice was here as well. She was a Chilling Horror, one of those dragons whose strong point is its stealth. Better to have her hidden in the trees, ready to attack the riders from behind if need be. Fáfnir and I would stand somewhere a little more obvious, so the riders would see us and land with their backs to Fire and Ice.

The Night Fury and I stood ready, our backs to the rocky valley wall, as the dragon riders approached. I normally disliked having my back to a wall in a fight, but I would also rather not be surrounded by dragon riders. As they drew nearer, I saw many kinds of dragons: Nadder, Zippleback, Gronckle, Monstrous Nightmare, Scauldron, Skrill… even another Night Fury. This should be interesting. And their riders… surely I wasn’t mistaken at this distance. They were all teenagers. Most of them looked a year or two younger than I was. They spotted us, and made a slow, cautious landing on the grassy hill in front of where I stood. Perfect – Fire and Ice was directly behind them. Their masked leader dismounted his Night Fury and stepped forward.

The sonic cry reached us an instant before the plasma bolt exploded in the strangers’ midst. I caught a glimpse of black and glowing blue flashing by, and opened my mouth to call Fáfnir back – but he was standing right beside me. Some of the strangers’ dragons roared, and one of the riders swung his axe over his head with a battle cry. This could quickly get out of hand. “Hold on,” I tried to speak reassuringly, “I had nothing to do with – “ We were all silenced momentarily by Fire and Ice’s eerie, deafening screech. Most of the Vikings turned to face her just in time to be blinded by her chilling breath. Some managed to avoid it by pure luck, but one actually dodged to the side and covered his eyes. We heard the sonic cry again, and the rogue Night Fury sent another plasma bolt at us. The Vikings remounted their dragons and took off, trying to escape the apparent ambush and regroup. I called Fire and Ice to me and jumped on. Fáfnir flew beside us. We had to take out that rogue Night Fury before I could convince the dragon riders I wasn’t trying to kill them.

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CLIFFHANGER!!! But don't worry, I posted Part 2 :)