What Next?

Chapter 13 Blast from the Past

    In the midst of the snow storm I suddenly regret all my decisions. We were not prepared from snow. Though we should have been in hindsight. No way we were giving up now however, we were too stubborn for that, which is why vikings didn't leave all those years ago. That's why my father's generation didn't leave when they were being attacked by dragons on a near nightly basis.  I blame them for us being this destructive and hard headed. Comet suddenly called out to me. I knew he was close by, but because of the storm he sounded hundreds of feet away. "How are we even supposed to find this Flightmare?" He asked. 

"You don't find a Flightmare," I shouted back. "it finds you!" A dragon's roar could be heard from the distance.  To be honest, I didn't even know if this dragon would show. We left it behind when it still needed us. I was almost worried that what we were hearing wasn't the Flightmare at all, but a different dragon, gods forbid the Screaming Death. "Wait I have an idea! Spike, hold some fire for me will you?" 

  I could see Spike grow a ball of flame in the back of his mouth while I ran to the nearest tree. I had to do a lot of running around like a headless chicken just to find a low hanging branch. Eventually I found what I was looking for. I came back to the group, being led by the mouth full of fire, and presented a large icicle that I felt begin to stick to my hands. "An icicle?" Comet asked as he inched closer to the hot fire. 

"Yeah. Flightmare algae is blue right? So I'm wondering if we hold an icicle to the flame, if through the snow.." I began to explain. 

"If it will act like a sort of flare to draw in the dragon!" Salmonfoot finished for me. 

"Exactly!" As I put the point end of the icicle up to the flame, out of the other end came a dull blue light, that made just enough difference through. We stayed there for a few minutes in the blizzard in udder silence, until suddenly a roar pierced through the snow that sent chills down my spine. In the blink of an eye the Flightmare stood before us, making me drop the large icicle in fear. 

She stood on her hind legs and snarled at me. "Okay, girl, I know you're mad at us, but.." Before I got a chance to say another word the dragon curled around me in a hug. I could feel her claws gently press into my back and her low purr in my chest. I looked back on my friends who all hung with their mouths open. Even Stormcloud was awe-struck. "Is anyone going to help me?" 

"Oh, right."  Comet said, snapping out of his trance. He crept up to the dragon and tapped it on the tail. "Hi, um, we were wondering if you could help us. We need to find some Speed Stingers."  The dragon tilted its head. "Please, if we don't then we my all be in grave danger." 

The Flightmare lifted her head towards the north and lifted her wings. We all took this as a sign to mount up and follow her through the storm. With the help of Stormcloud's echolocation and the occasional dragon war we were able to follow the dragon off the island until we eventually left the blizzard behind us, although that didn't keep it from reaching temperatures that felt below freezing with the wind in my face. I ended up laying my face in Stormcloud's neck while Zeus warmed my back. 

 I was so focused on not losing my fingers to frostbite I almost didn't hear Buffnut say, "It's winter like 9 months out of 12 over here how did we not pack?"

You could hear Scythe's teeth chatter when he responded with, "we were made for the cold, stop whining."

"Oh, yeah, tough guy? Why are you shivering?" Comet tested him. 

"Watch it wimp, I can still kick your ass," Scythe almost muttered back. 

"I will fight you on the back of this dragon right now!"

"Is that a challenge?" 

"Freya!" Salmonfoot whined as he hovered over me with Quake's buzzing wings. "They're fighting again."

I swung my legs around so that I was facing the back, my face twisted into a scowl at the two immature idiots. "So help me gods, I will knock you into this freezing water and have Glacier freeze you in it!"

"Glacier?" Bottonlout asked. 

"It is what I named the Flightmare, " I responded, "but my threat remains heavy."

"Oh, calm down. I think that we are all tired and in need of some..." Scruffnut somewhat logically began. 

She might've been right because all of a sudden something in me snapped. "You too, Goldilocks and the three dragons!"

"That's it!" Scruffnut stood on her saddle and lunged at unexpected speed at me. She went as far to knock me out of the air and send both of us tumbling down into the water below. Only it wasn't water. The only thing I felt on my back was the sharp sting of pine needles and branches until falling in a pile of freshly fallen snow. 

I didn't know if I was alive or dead. The wind was knocked out of me and there were hints of tears in my eyes. I finally gathered enough of my voice to whisper, "Scruff?"

"Yeah?" She responded in a heavy voice.

"Did you kill me?" 

Without a word she raised her fist from her slide and let it fall into my gut. I let out another gust of wind along with a grunt and I think I puked a little in my mouth. "Did that hurt?"

"Yes!"

"Then we're good?"

Suddenly I felt heat. But it wasn't a good type of heat, it was like getting too close to a wet boar after it rolled in dragon dung. Actually, it smelled a lot like a boar. Almost exactly. My eyes slowly drifted to my side to see the slimy gray nose of a boar with sharp yellow tusks.