Broken Prophecy: How to Train Your Dragon

THE BROKEN PROPHECY Chapter 4

This is a fanfic and I make no money from this. Original copyrights belong to Dreamworks and Cresedia Cowell

Songwriters: Christopher Neil / Michael Rutherford

Par Avion lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC

Chapter 4

A ring of blue-purple tinted smoke wafts around the pile of grey stone. "Again." The smooth, warm voice prompts. Huge green eyes watch his charge attentively.

"I'm tired Tannlaus... Can't we rest?" Hiccup looks back at his teacher, unable to keep a whine from slipping into his voice. It has only been seven days since he had become a dragon, and the last five have been near torture. Breathing exercises, flapping his wings nonstop for what felt like hours, running, pouncing. These exercises were leaving the young dragon exhausted both mentally and physically.

Using these exercises, Tannlaus watches for form as much as technique. While trying to keep the work entertaining, he had turned many of the tasks into games but even fun as they were, the games were beginning to wear thin.

"I'm sorry Kari, I need to push you past your limits. Your wings muscles are underdeveloped, so you don't have the stamina needed for even short flights, and you were never shown how to access your fire... These are individually hard enough to learn, but everything taken together..." Tannlaus gives the smaller dragon an appreciative gaze. "You have, however, come far in just a few days. By the end of the week, we might start trying to glide. I can feel my tail healing quite well and it should soon be safe to remove the softstone shell, so if you can stay aloft we can try to find a better place to nest... REST I mean, rest.."

The compliment brings a tired grin to her face, and ignoring or missing the slip of the tongue, Hiccup looks at his new teacher and friend. Curiosity finally getting to the former viking, "You've called me Kari for the last couple of days, what does it mean?"

The older dragon fixes his charge with a look. "Kari? It means 'storm wind'. Like a gale, or squall. You agreed I could call you by another name.   I find this one appropriate, as you have a stubborn streak, like an unstoppable storm."

"It's kinda girly isn't it?" he says with an uncomfortable chuckle.

He laughs, a deep warbling chuckle. "It is what it is. Just as you are who you are. Now shall we return to finding your fire, or do i get to chase you around the cove again?"

Thinking back to the last 'game' Tannlaus came up with, he shudders at the idea of being chased around the lake by the fireball spewing dragon again. With a grumble of annoyance and begrudging acceptance, Hiccup, now apparently Kari, takes a deep breath. With a cough of frustration, she manages to belch out a fist sized ball of blue-purple plasma. The ball sails with speed and force enough to reduce a small sapling, just over the rise on the far side of the cove, into splinters.

Tannlaus jumps and bounds with excitement, "You did it!" Happily the larger dragon butts his head into the smaller dragon's side. "That sapling will never grow to terrorize dragonkind!" He teases.

Hiccup feels his face grow warm in embarrassment, "I was aiming at the rocks..."

"Who cares?! You found your fire! Can you do it again?" he asks animatedly.

Confused by his teacher's reaction, 'No one has ever been excited by something I'VE done, at least not happily excited'. "I think so..." Once more the new dragon feels for the knot deep inside. With another cough, Kari lets fly another ball of plasma, more smoke than fire, but fire nonetheless.