The shout ripped from my throat, a triumphant, disbelieving roar. “I did it! I actually shot a Night Fury! Did anyone see that?!”
That’s where it began. Not with a bang, but with a clumsy, hopeful arc of a bolt. It was the moment I found a friend, a partner, a confidant in the black scales of Toothless. But it also ignited a shadow, a growing conflict that would define everything.
Eighteen months melted away like snow on warm stone.
“Come on, Toothless!” I yelled, the wind whipping through my hair as we soared over Berk. The familiar landscape spread beneath us, breathtaking in its rugged beauty. We drifted past Astrid’s house, a casual glance turning into a disaster. A flash of blue, a blur of spikes – a Deadly Nadder, impossibly close. Before I could react, the dragon slammed into us, sending us spiraling downwards. We crashed through the air, catching a fleeting glimpse of the Nadder’s rider as we tumbled toward Astrid’s roof.
Blue scales. Spikes gleaming like shards of ice. A rider perched atop the Nadder’s back.
It had to be Astrid.
Why would she force us into a collision course with her own house? The question slammed into my skull as we impacted the roof, the impact stealing my consciousness. Darkness bloomed behind my eyes, and I felt Toothless slump beside me, succumbing to the same oblivion.
The crash wasn’t an accident. It was a deliberate strike, a warning. Small, yes, but a chilling harbinger of the conflict to come.
This is just the beginning.