The younger Grimborn (sequel)

Chapter 2: The Island

The dragon looks at him, broken. This is not the majestic, fierce, fire-breathing animal it was before. It's merely a shell of what it used to be. And Krogan enjoys it. He says something, I can't hear it, but Midnight starts to growl. Then he moves his foot, and pushes his boot down on the Singetail. The Singetail obeys and lowers his head, completely left at Krogan's mercy. He has no energy left to fight.

I clasp my hand for my mouth. Krogan trained a dragon, well, tamed is a better word. And if he did it with one, he can do it with more. That's why he needs the Death Song. To capture dragons, and break them so much that they become mindless war machines. But for what war?

I don't want to see any of this anymore and quickly jump on Midnight. She seems eager to go. Before I fully sit down, she takes off. she's flapping her wings fast, faster than usual. I would be concerned, but I know the cause. I don't mind the quick flight, in fact, I think I might need it. Most humans feel the urge to run away, I fly. 

We fly high, soaring through the clouds, diving down to maintain speed, and never once do we stop. I have a tight grip on Midnight's saddle. Gods, I feel so useless. Maybe I should go back to Hiccup, to the riders. Maybe I should help them...

I look back at the island beneath us. It's nothing but a small dot. I feel a pang in my chest at the thought of leaving Viggo. Again. I know I can't. The others will be fine without me, I need to find Viggo. If he's working with Krogan, then maybe he can stop him. 

Midnight slows down, the adrenaline and anger out of her system. I'm still angry, but I don't want to tire her too much by keeping flight. So I point down. I need more oxygen anyways, and it's freezing up here.

We land in the forest and keep strolling around until we finally find something. It's a cave, not a very deep one, but a pretty well-hidden one. Camouflaged in multiple rocks. I call for Midnight and check if her moss earbuds are still in. She can hear me, dragons can hear extremely well, but we're far away from the camp and the Death Song, so his song won't affect her.

Midnight doesn't bother to warble anything of a goodnight like she usually does. She doesn't play or smile. She just wraps her tail around me. Then she seems to think and decides to pull her wing over me too. That's how we lie. Midnight, in the back of a cave, and me, in her wings. 

The sun was rising when I found the cave, it must be up now, but Midnight's wings block every ray of light. They only show me the endless night sky with stars. I slowly doze off, hoping for a better day tomorrow.

The better tomorrow I was hoping for is not as great as I thought. It's been a week already, and it only got worse. It's depressing, really. I have been scanning the entire island. I know every corner, every inch, but I haven't seen Viggo. He's been in the camp all the time, must be, it's the only place I haven't fully seen. 

It's too dangerous to enter, so I decided to move around it. The hunters don't enter the forest much. Now and then they pass through to get or store some Ice Tail Pike, but the fish is the only reason so far. I've been raiding their storage, they don't even notice. Midnight is content with the Pike. I find other things in the forest, like berries, to have a bit of a change in my diet.