Flight of the Shadow Lord (Completed)

[mrjop2]

just to update: I am definitely hard at work researching for my next story which I am entitling: How to Train Your Dragon: The Outcast Lands. I am growing with excitement how the story is developing! The only teaser that I am going to give, is that in this story, you can expect Toothless to fall in love.

[Toothless11]

Hahaha. Another night fury? I would love to read it!

[nightfurymaster]

Wow, another story already?! THAT'S impressive Haha I never would've thought of something like that lol

[mrjop2]

Yeah, it takes me several months to research, storyboard, and plan a story. My intention is to be ready to start writing the story immediately after this one is finished.

[nightfurymaster]

Awesome! That's gonna be interesting to see how Hiccup handles it

[Toothless11]

What Toothless falling in love? Lol. I wonder if he'll fall in love with a wild night fury, or another tamed one.

[nightfurymaster]

I hope it doesn't affect their friendship!

[Toothless11]

Yeah like warisin's idea of possible sequel plots.

[mrjop2]

I won't say much so not to ruin it, but I think you all will enjoy the story tremendously. The Outcast Lands is going to be quite different than this story, but I am sure you are going to like it. It's going to be slightly darker, but exciting, funny, and whole lot of fun.

It's also going to be chalk full of dragons from the books that have yet seen their time on the big screen. I would not be surprised if you would end up seeing some of the dragons in the story in the next movie or the movie after that. Unlike this story, which only has one new dragon, and it is a fan created dragon at that.

While I'm here, the next post will be up probably around 8 or 9 PM United States Eastern Time.

[Toothless11]

Oh ok. Well, IDK what time it will be over here by then lol.

[mrjop2]

Chapter 11: Dragon Hunt

The sun was starting to rise, which meant it was time for Wolfbane’s friends, Bonetoss and Snakewhisp, to start luring a dragon towards the other side of the Island. Bonetoss sneaked through the surrounding forest until he could reach a part of the stream without being seen by the dragons. Bringing only a spear with him, he waited at the bank until he could see a large trout swimming through his strike zone. Using his superb fishing skills, he jabbed his spear through the fish and pulled his catch out of the water.

Now that the bait had been caught, they were ready to look for a dragon. The dragons were just starting to wake up, and the first thing they were going to look for was food. They took a minute to watch the behaviors of all the dragons to determine which one was the least intelligent. They came to a decision to set the bait for a Gronckle.

The unsuspecting dragon snorted and grunted as it sniffed through the grass. His small wings flapped similarly to a hummingbird, which allowed his over-sized body to hover over the grass. The morning dew dampened his nose as he sniffed around, which occasionally resulted with a sneeze. The tantalizing smell of fish grabbed his attention, and he began to follow the smell to what he hoped would be his morning meal.

He found the fish right on the edge of the forest, just laying there, enticing the chubby dragon to eat it. Letting out an excited snarl, he flew awkwardly towards the fish. Just as he was about to gobble the fish up, it moved closer to the forest. Thinking nothing of it, he was willing to fly the few extra feet to his breakfast. The fish moved once again, and this time into the forest.

Bonetoss and Snakewhisp chuckled at the humorous sight. “Hehehe, stupid dragon!” Bonetoss whispered to his pal who was behind him.

When he looked back around, the fish was gone. The two dumbfounded Vikings looked up to see the Gronckle finish off his free meal and then look straight at the two of them. “Wh-wh-what are the dragon’s weaknesses? I forgot!”

“I don’t remember!” Snakewhisp snapped.

The two petrified Vikings stood still as the Gronckle sniffed them. After a few seconds of sniffing, the dragon let out a playful groan; and if the Vikings did not know better, the dragon was also smiling.

“Uh, come this way! We’ll take you to some more food!” The two Vikings cautiously stepped backwards, encouraging the dragon to follow.

The dragon was more than willing to follow. After having a nice sized fish digesting in his belly, he was all for some playing with these nice Vikings. He followed the Vikings into the forest. Most dragons would not be able to maneuver through the thickness of the forest, but luckily, the Gronckle was known for its maneuverability.

Further in the field, Toothless let out a giant yawn, waking up from a very restful sleep. His leg was a little tender, but it would not affect his walking. He looked around to make sure everything was at peace. Most of the dragons were just waking up as well, but over by the edge of the forest, he noticed a Gronckle playfully following after two Vikings into the forest. He let out a curious moan and tilted his head, wondering what was going on.

Stranding and stretching his legs and back, he decided to follow them to see what was going on. Perhaps, the time had come for them to return to the village. If that was where they were going, he decided that he would give Hiccup a big surprise. The only problem was that he could not follow directly behind them; the trees were too close together for him to fit through. He decided to take another path; one where he would be able to walk through and keep an eye out on the Vikings and the Gronckle without being seen himself.

* * * *

Hiccup’s heart was racing in his chest. Every nerve in his body was on edge as he dragged his feet towards the edge of the village, where he was to meet with Ivar and the hunting party. He began to question this whole plan, and doubt began to creep into his soul, whether or not this weapon was going to work. It felt like he was walking towards his execution.

As he neared the meeting location, he spotted a sea of large, bulky Vikings. Any sane person would have turned the other way and run from this terrifying sight, especially if they were Roman. Dozens of eyes were all pointing at him as he drew closer. His father stood beside Ivar as if he was the elder Viking’s apprentice. He never imagined anyone to be more frightening than his father.

Walking up in front of Ivar, Hiccup could not muster enough courage and strength to look up at the legendary chief in the eyes. Even with his eyes to the ground, he could feel his eyes piercing down on him like spears. “So, show me this weapon of yours.”

Hiccup raised his assembled crossbow that he and Gobber spent all yesterday afternoon and evening on. A few chuckles came from the group of Viking warriors, as Ivar raised his eyebrow. “A crossbow? Are you serious? This is a weapon of those Roman dogs.”

“Well, I did make some adjustments to it, making it a little deadlier."

“Ha, this weapon's a joke. If an ax or a spear cannot penetrate the Shadow Lord’s scales, what makes you think an arrow would do any better?”

“Uh, will it kill the Shadow Lord... no; but seeing the dragon first hand, I can assure you, that the dragon does have some unprotected areas. With the forest burning, the rain, the lightning, and a very lucky shot, I think it was enough to cause the dragon to retreat," Hiccup responded with a boldness that he had never shown before. He had no idea where it came from, but the smile and the nodding of his father’s head, gave him a warm feeling that he had done right.

Ivar seemed to be impressed that the boy was standing his ground against him, though he refused to show it through his demeanor. “Very well, let’s see what this crossbow of yours can do. Let’s go kill ourselves a Shadow Lord.”

* * * *

They were well on their way on their journey, retracing the steps that the group of young Vikings from the day before. Hiccup was forced to stay up front along with Ivar, Stoick, and Wolfbane, who dwarfed over him. He could not help but pray to the gods that the Shadow Lord had left the island.

They came to the part of the trail where the confrontation had taken place. The trees were scorched, and there was a distinct overwhelming smell of burnt lumber. “This is where the dragon attacked us.”

Ivar raised his hand to signal for the hunting party to stop. He stepped forward and inspected the area. The grass was muffled and torn with definite signs of a large dragon walking around. To his dismay, there were no scales to be found. After he was satisfied, he turned to face his fellow Vikings. “Let’s continue on, and see if we can find its nest.”

“Chief, look!” Wolfbane announced, pointing forward.

He turned back around to see a single Gronckle flying around, sniffing the unfamiliar territory. It was not the dragon Ivar was hoping to see, and that fact that it was here meant that there was a very small chance of encountering the Shadow Lord today. Ivar was not going to kill the dragon, to do so would almost be insulting to his fine reputation. It would not even stand a shadow of chance against him.

He looked over at Hiccup and the weapon in his hand. While this was not the test he had imagined giving the boy, it was better than nothing. “Hiccup, it appears that the gods have shown you some favor. You have an easy test subject for your invention. Show me what this weapon of yours is capable of.” Ivar walked up to the boy and shoved him forward.

“Y-y-you want me to kill the Gronckle?”

“This is your chance, boy, to prove to me everything that you and your father have been claiming. Kill that dragon.”

Never had he been so nervous in his life. If there was any time for the gods to stop playing practical jokes on him, now would be the time. If he killed the dragon, it would solve all of his problems, but his conscience would haunt him for years to come. If he refused to kill the dragon, who knows what he and his father would endure under Ivar’s wrath.

He prepped the crossbow; the shaking of his hands made it very difficult to hold the weapon, let alone prep it. He would have had no problems shooting this weapon at a Shadow Lord, knowing that it would not kill the dragon, but a Gronckle was an entirely different story. It would be easy to kill a Gronckle with the type of arrows that he and Gobber had created. He aimed the crossbow at the dragon, as his soul and mind were at war with his body.

* * * *

Toothless walked through the woods, having followed the two Vikings and the Gronckle. He noticed that the two Vikings were hiding behind trees, but where did the dragon go? He walked forwards a few steps and found a giant path up ahead. He could see the Gronckle flying around and exploring the area.

Letting out a confused moan, he was ready to join the dragon into the field when he looked to the left to see a crowd of Vikings. Up in front of them was Hiccup. He was pointing some kind of weapon at the unsuspecting dragon. His fury raged as he realized what had happened. The two Vikings had brought the Gronckle here to be hunted down. This could not be allowed to happen.

He was ready to pounce when he saw the two Vikings, who had brought the dragon here sneak away and made their way back towards the other dragons. Toothless growled angrily; he was not going to let them get to the other dragons.

* * * *

“Kill it!” Ivar screamed.

The Gronckle looked up towards the Viking, distracted him from his exploring. He was ready to fly over to greet them when he noticed that the smallest of them had something pointed towards him.

“Oh, man, what do I do?” Hiccup mumbled to himself; his hands barely able to hold onto the crossbow with all the shaking.

He looked down at the weapon in his hands, and through all the shaking, he noticed something about the looks of it that did not seem right. “I-I-I think there’s a problem with it. Let me make a few adjustments and—”

Ivar was furious; he was tired of the delay tactics. He stormed up to Hiccup and ripped the crossbow from the boy’s hands. He looked back to one of his own Vikings and called him forward. “You, kill that dragon with this weapon. I want to see this weapon in use.”

The Viking grunted with approval and he gladly accepted the crossbow and took a quick second to see how it worked. It did not take him very long, as he pointed the crossbow at the dragon. His hand found the crank and he began to rotate the crank. The string began to pull back, as it was supposed to, but then some unseen error occurred. The rope snapped forward without throwing out an arrow, and the violence of the malfunction caused great pain to strike his fingers. “Yow!” He yelped as he dropped the weapon to the ground.

“I told you, I think there is a problem with it!” Hiccup defended himself.

Ivar huffed, no longer caring what words came from the boy’s mouth. In his opinion, he had been tricked by a deceptive lie concocted by the boy and his father to embarrass him. “Wolfbane, kill the dragon, and let’s go back to the village.”

“My pleasure,” He replied with a grin, carrying a large battle ax in his hand as he stepped forward.

“No, wait! I think I can fix the crossbow!” Hiccup ran over to grab the weapon from the ground, hoping to buy the dragon enough time to escape.

He grabbed the crossbow and began to make some quick modifications. When he tried to reseat the string, it again snapped violently forward, causing him to stumble backwards. He tripped on a rock, and as he fell backwards, the crossbow went flying straight into WolfBane’s face. “Ah, you clumsy oaf!” He yelled, dropping his ax to the ground and covering his bloody nose with both of his hands.

“Uh, oops?” The familiar feeling of shame and embarrassment was quick to reintroduce themselves. He could feel all the angry scowls upon him, as he wished that he had the same powers of the Shadow Lord, and could turn himself invisible at that moment. This whole thing could not have gone any worse, but he did find some comfort as he noticed that the dragon had disappeared into the forest.

Ivar’s face was red with rage. “I have seen enough. We’re heading back.”

Chapter 12 coming 4/13/11

[Toothless11]

Oh yay! I'll read it I a bit or later.