How to Train your Mortals {A Kingdoms of Blood Novella}

Chapter 1

"Hold still. SAM! Hold still, it's just a dress."

"But Darcie, my wings keep getting stuck!"

"Well, if you held still, that wouldn't be an issue," the shifter replied, several wavy strands of her onyx hair falling into her face. Darcia Deville adjusted the tight black dress on her friend, reaching out with a black claw to snap several areas of the cloth in place. Some fresh scars dotted the moon-pale flesh of her half-dragon friend as she tried adjusting her crimson-scaled tail. Business as usual, of course, given Sam often had to fight enemies trying to disrupt the city's harmony.

Darcia, defender of the forest here in Elapid Kingdom and leader of the resident shapeshifter pack, also was covered in scarring on her midnight-toned skin. Though her right eye was glazed over with a cut across it, she still could rend enemies to a pile of bone, blood, and flesh pulp. That, of course, would not be the focus of tonight.

The women were in their mid-twenties and would be intent on celebrating Halloween for the rest of their lives. The holiday season had rendered less battle, at the very least, and there were no reports of recent attacks tonight. If there was, the resident gang The Crows would take care of any messes within Elapid City. For now, the night was theirs.

Finally getting her half-dragon friend to stay still long enough, Darcia zipped the dress up and reached over to help Sam stretch her wings. Normally, the half-dragon would only have dragonic wings from her upper back, black straight horns from the top of her head, and a thick reptilian tail, but today her body was dotted with patches of bright red scales.

Darcia stepped back and admired her best friend for a moment, pulling out her brush and running it through the woman's silky ruby hair for a few moments before giving her own the same treatment. Sam regarded her for a moment, chuckling, "Your hairstyle looks kinda like Ares's, Darcie." The shifter rolled her eyes in response, her woodsy-brown eye glittering with amusement.

"That buffoon? Tch, I'll always look far more badass. Though these side braids took a while, they were worth it," Darcia replied, turning away and grabbing the last pieces of her outfit. They had crafted ebon costume armor with the texture of flat pebbles for the illusion of dragon scales. Tonight, she was going as Hiccup from , while Sam represented her dragonic best friend. The preparation took hours, but at least the friends had each other to help.

Finishing up, Darcia took out her phone and studied it, a smile widening on her face to display a full set of knife-like teeth. "We're just in time. The boys are waiting for us outside. Guess your lover got a limo to the Fae Faire. How fancy. Does Goliath ever know how to uh... tone it down?" she asked, letting out a laugh.

Blush tinged Sam's cheeks as she let out a soft chuckle, patting her friend on the shoulder. "Guess my counter to that is if yours ever knows how to be less edgy. I mean, does he carry that knife in his mouth sometimes just for the fun of it?"

The shifter bumped her friend with her shoulder, laughing as she exited the bathroom. "Touché." The scent of pine wafted into their faces as they wandered through the mansion-like home of the shifter pack. Various shifters of many types of animal wandered about, as this pack was unusually mixed. Darcia gave a nod to a few of her pack mates, still smiling brightly. She passed by several paintings of woodsy scenes dotted with small fauna, as well as the game room where people were playing intense matches on consoles.

Soon, she arrived outside, taking a deep breath and looking at the full moon. A cool breeze tickled her cheek as she turned to look at Sam, tilting her head. "They're going to meet us on the road at the edge of the forest since it obviously doesn't extend to here. You still up to flying us?"

Sam flashed her fangs in a grin and chuckled, giving a nod. "Of course! I'm your dragon best friend in this dynamic, aren't I?!... Hm. Wait. How is this different from normal? I suppose your viking haircut is different. And you don't really wear armor."

Darcia replied, "No, it'd inhibit my movement too much. I suppose it's not different from usual. We need to explore more, Sam. Put aside time from our leadership duties and get out there. Maybe take over a kingdom or five." Sam's eyes glinted as she nodded vigorously. She looked in the direction of the city, and with a flash of blue light, was suddenly a large serpentine dragon with razor-sharp scales patterned like a snake's going down her body. Two jet-black horns jutted out from the top of her head. Her venom-green eyes rested upon Darcia as she motioned with her claws to get her friend to hop on.

The half-dragon spoke in a growl-like hiss. "Well, we're becoming more accurate to the movie by the minute. Though you lost an eye as opposed to leg in our ultimate battle, and I still have my tail intact," Sam said, staying still as Darcia climbed on her neck and held onto her horns.

"Yeah, well, we can always change that," Darcia replied as they took off, earning her a snort from the dragon. Soon, they were flying through the night, stars passing by in a blur as they made their way toward the city. Skyscrapers lit up in a gorgeous display of twinkling rose into the night as they drew closer to their destination. In no time, Sam began circling the pavement below, angling toward a long black vehicle where their lovers awaited them.