Dragon Shifter

A Long Night

I dodged right and rolled into a ditch as a flaming Monstrous Nightmare charged at me. The flaming dragon turned around with a growl and ran towards me again. I grabbed my sword and hissed back at it. I looked over my shoulder out into the cold, dark night. I saw the tall, thick outline of my stepfather watching my every move. I turned my attention back to the dragon in front of me and lunged at the flaming beast. My sword hit the Nightmare's head and the dragon hissed in response. I could feel my stepfathers eyes burning into my back, he would yell at me if I didn't kill this dragon, but I just couldn't do it. This dragon had done nothing wrong, I was the one who startled him on my stepfather's command. I threw my sword to the side and heard my stepfather scream in frustration. But I turned around and ran as fast as I could. The Monstrous Nightmare looked confused then it turned and raced past me. I looked back to see the large dragon crawl into a house and set it on fire. "Destiny! Get back here right now! Do you hear me?" Came the angry yell of my stepfather. I looked back at my him, in one hand he was holding his axe and in the other hand was my sword. He wanted me to be a Viking and kill dragons with him, but I would never let that happen.

As I raced through the village I spotted my younger sister, Autumn, standing in front of a growling Gronckle. I ran in front of my sister and skidded to a holt. "Destiny!" Autumn cried a sigh of relief. "It's okay" I said softly. The Gronckle growled again and took a step closer. I didn't want to hurt this poor dragon, but I knew I needed to protect myself and more importantly Autumn. I picked up three rocks in my hands and threw one at the Gronckle. To my surprise the Gronckle opened its mouth, caught the rock and ate it very happy. Then it seemed to wiggle its lumpy tail. I threw the other two rocks to the Gronckle and grabbed Autumn's hand, pulling her along with me as I ran. I looked back, but the Gronckle wasn't chasing us, it just stood there quite contently. I smiled a little as we entered the woods.

Me and Autumn walked through the mist covered trees towards our usual hideout spot. We reached an abandoned cave and sat inside watching the trees sway with the wind. I heard something crashing through the trees and my stepfather calling for me. I could hear the concern and anger in his voice, he always came looking for me when I ran away. Even if my stepfather wanted me to fight, he still cared about me. I stayed silent until he went away. "Why does he make you fight dragons?" Autumn asked me. "He doesn't want me to be the loser of the village" I told her. Then I impersonated my stepfather's ruff voice; "this is all wrong, you need to fight dragons to survive, especially in this village. A real Viking fights dragons with his pure force! I know you have it in you lass, somewhere deep inside, you just need to let it out." Autumn half smiled, half frowned. I laughed lightly, put an arm around my little sister and tried to comfort her. "Don't worry Autumn, I won't let him drag you into it, I promise" I told her. Autumn looked up at me and smiled before resting her head on my shoulder. I always shielded and protected Autumn from my horrible experiences of the death of both Vikings and dragons in the forever ongoing war between the two species. I didn't want her to have to see that. I was sure there had to be a way of peace. I studied Autumn as I often liked to do, she had brown, almost red hair and deep hazel eyes. She had freckles on her cheeks. She was ten years old, four years younger then me, which made me fourteen. I had dark blond hair and pale blue eyes.

Suddenly I heard a loud whistling sound coming from the sky. I leapt up and ran outside of the cave, dragging Autumn with me. "What is it?" Autumn asked. "That's a Night Fury, one of the rarest and most powerful dragon of all. They're meant to be extinct. They're pitch black and can fly faster then the wind. They shoot a special type of fire called a plasma blast. If you watch the sky carefully you might see it..." I told her. Autumn gazed at the sky and so did I. I had read and memorised every word in the Book of Dragons, so I knew a lot about them. I spotted a black shadow race in front of the stars. I pointed it out to Autumn and we both watched the beautiful, wild dragon.

"Night Fury!" Someone shouted from the nearby village. "Get down!" Someone else said. "No, shoot it!" Came another yell from our chief. I quickly instructed Autumn to stay in the back of the cave until I returned. She nodded and I raced towards the village. All the villagers had gone into their huts in hiding, except my stepfather and the chief. They were good friends. I noticed my stepfather had a clear shot at the Night Fury in the sky. I raced over to him and skidded to a stop. "Destiny, you came. Now watch this!" My stepfather told me. "No, let me do it!" I instructed him. "You've only got one shot" My stepfather told me sternly. I nodded, he sighed and moved away. I positioned the catapult and when I saw the Night Fury, I let it fly. The net flew past the Night Fury and missed its wing as I had planned. "You did that purposely you little ball of yak dung!" The chief  yelled as he grabbed my shoulders and shook me about furiously. My stepfather seemed to growl and pulled the chief away from me. "At least you tried, better luck next time lass" my stepfather told me. I nodded at him then turned and ran back into the woods. I reached the cave and saw Autumn curled up at the back. "Is the Night Fury okay? And are you?" Autumn asked. "Yes, everyone is okay, don't worry" I said as I hugged my little sister. Autumn smiled and cuddled up next to me.