Dark Despair (Book 2: Together Forever)

Memories

I smiled, "I said, are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking."

"You sure?"

He nodded. But over the next few weeks, it happened quite often.

1 month later

Eclipse decided to fly down to a fishing boat to see what it was doing. The male suddenly yelled, "No!" Eclipse looked up confused and then we saw him plummet to the sea.

Our eyes widened and we shot after him.

When we got to dry land Eclipse yelled at him, "What. Was. That?"

His eyes were widened in terror and he muttered, "They took him."

Eclipse and I shared a look and then I realized what had happened, it was just like when he started muttering about Astrid. "You're remembering something, aren't you?" He nodded. "Who did they take?" 

"Th-the Dragon Conqueror. H-he took my brother. H-he took him! And it's all my fault! He was captured because of me!"

"It's not your fault..." I started.

"It is! I went to look at a boat. JUST LIKE THAT ONE. The people on board shot nets and arrows at me. H-he pushed me out of the way. It was ALL MY FAULT!"

"Then why, in the name of every star in the sky, did you plummet?" Eclipse continued to yell.

"Be-because when they took him I stopped flying and the ocean took me. I nearly drowned."

I saw the despair in his eyes. The rage at... himself. "That's why..." He muttered.

I was curious, "What?"

"A month ago I remembered sitting in a cave by myself. I was raging at everything, but mostly myself. I don't know what happened after I took off. But, I think I was trying to find him." He said in a quiet voice full of sadness.

That night Eclipse and I decided not to sleep on him.

After seemingly checking that we were asleep he slipped away and I followed him.

He climbed a tree and sat at the top staring at the stars. Then he roared, "Toothless, wherever you are, I'll find you. I'll save you if need be. Astrid, I love you. I always have and always will. I'll find you. I'll find you because I love you both because you're my family. The only family I know. I won't give up, ever. I promise."

He stopped and continued to stare at the stars. He closed his eyes.

A few seconds later his eyes flew open and his ears popped up. I wondered if he'd heard me, but I quickly realized that he'd heard something else.

He took a few slow deep breaths his eyes once-again closed. When he opened them he had a longing in them. Then he roared. So loud that the birds who'd been sleeping minutes before flew for cover. The bats pretended to be icicles on the trees. And all of the forest animals stopped dead in their tracks.

I heard Eclipse fly through the trees.

When she reached me she said, "WHAT. THE. HECK! Why would you do that?"

When he didn't answer her she opened her mouth to yell more, but I hit her on the head, "OW!!!! Mist!" She whined.

"Just be quiet for a few minutes, would you?"

She again opened her mouth to complain more so I hit her again. She gave me a death glare but at least shut up.

"Hey! You! Up in the tree! Can you please come down so we can have a normal conversation instead of yelling?"

His only answer was, "The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are! Now, can you please come down?"

"The stars remind me of her. She always outshone them all. She always made the night feel like the day." He said.

"We get it! Astrid's beautiful. Now, just come down!" I said losing my patience.

"But, if I do then I'll stop remembering her."

Okay, no more Mrs. Nice-Dragon. "Come down, right now! Or I'll burn that tree down."

I prepared to blast the tree into smithereens when he jumped and flew straight up. He swooped down after reaching the cloud-level. He then turned towards the forest and flew between the trees making me lose sight of him until he landed in the tree behind us and hung upsidedown with his wings tightly wrapped around himself like a giant bat.

I rolled my eyes and Eclipse snorted before we headed back to the cave.