Point of No Return [ Sequel to No Turning Back]

Two

Pushing the door, Horas led Megadon inside a dark cavernous room with walls made of stones, adorned by collections of claw marks and lathes of soot.

The room was strangely empty, except for a bon fire in the centre with smothering flames and two large holes above, which shed some light into the room.

Two dragons - both with jagged teeth, long snouts, deep purple scales that shone against the sunlight, and furled bat-like wings - laid asleep by the fire. Their talons were chained by shackles, which were connected to the walls that prevented them from escaping.
Bloodied scars covered their scaley bodies, and one of their horns were broken in half. Bones poked from beneath their skin.
From their current state, the dragons appeared to look malnourished; like they haven't had a decent feed in days. Perhaps even weeks.

Megadon's gaze fell on the dragons, mystified.
"So, what it is that you want to show me?" He asked, intrigued.

Horas drew out his crossbow, dipping it into a vile containing some strange dark substance he had in his coat.
Grinning, he positioned the arrow on his bow; bathed in the substance.
Aiming his bow at the first dragon, he fired his arrow right in its chest.
A roar of agony escaped from the dragon as it toppled to the side, falling unconscious.

The other dragon's crocodile-like eyes shot wide open. It glanced at the fallen dragon in alarmed, then faced Horas and Megadon slitting its eyes.
Outraged, the dragon stalked towards the two men, growling as it revealed its rows of sharp jagged teeth.

Megadon stared at the distressed dragon, wide eyed. He shuffled backwards, feeling a sudden fear latched onto him.

Oblivious to the dragon's snarls, Horas fired another arrow to the beast, who immediately fell unconscious.
Just like the first time, the strange substance penetrated deep into the dragon's body.

"In a matter of seconds these dragons will be under my control." He stood back with an anticipated look.

Megadon shuffled forward, scrunching his brows in thought.
"So your plan is to poison these beasts as some kind of mind control?" He stroked his dark beard, interested by the dragon hunter's scheme. "Not bad at all, Horas. In fact, it's both clever and diabolical."

Horas smirked evily.
"The vile contains mind controlling properties. Once it penetrates deep into the dragons' veins, they will need to my commands. They will be enslaved to conquer and destroy humans and dragons in their paths. These beasts have volunteered to be my test subjects. The rest of my prisoners will have this vile penetrate their bodies soon enough." He inhaled deeply. "Once I have that Night Fury in my grasp," he circled the dragons, trailing his fingers around their scars, "that beast will have a new master. This time, there will be no escape. He will finally become my property." He let out a dark chuckle. "It will certainly be a dawn of a new era. An era where the bruised, battered outcasts like us will gain power."

"I like the sound of that," Megadon murmured.

Cackling, Horas raised his arms and began reciting in a strange language.
"Rise, my servants!"

Megadon stood back, perplexed what was happening. He stood there watching everything unfold.

Suddenly, the dragons' pupils sprung open. Instead of their natural colour, the dragons' eyes glowed to an electric blue that was so bright they almost looked white. Growling, the dragons raised to their full height, talons dugged through the earth beneath them.

Horas cackled wildly. "This is glorious! My plan actually worked. Soon I will have my army under my control."
He cleared his throat, reciting something in his strange language.

"You will answer to me now. Your mission is to conquer man and dragon. Find the Night Fury along with other dragons of any kind and bring them to me. Destroy those who rebel. Now go!"

Nodding, the dragons shot through the makeshift windows, vanishing into the gloomy mid-morning sky.
As Horas watched the dragons' fleeing figures, he hoped they would not fail him. If he cannot fully rely on his men, at least he had these dragons he trusted to do as he asked.

"Do you mind explaining what just happened?" Megadon asked with a frown.
"I don't believe I know the language you spoke just then. And how did those dragons understand you?" He grew slightly weary. "Tell me you aren't a sorcerer."

Turning around, Horas chuckled.
"Don't be ridiculous, Megadon. I do not have sorcery in my blood, but let's say I came to a credible source. And naturally, I have a way with those beasts."

Horas patted Megadon's back, then casually slipped out of the room with a wide grin on his face.

Baffled, Megadon watched him retreat to his room. A sudden thought crept to him; could Horas secretly be a sorcerer?
Though, it wouldn't be wise to make this assumption.

Still, being a very superstitious man, Megadon always believed in curses and the practice of mysterious dark magic used by soothsayers, sorcerers and witches.

Whatever language Horas spoke, and where he obtained that vile, Megadon couldn't help but have an uneasy feeling about it.

Dread suddenly clouded his mind the more he replayed the moment when Horas recited that strange language.

Megadon gave one last look at shackles the dragons broke free from before he followed Horas out of the room.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was dark, but I wanted to focus on Horas' background and his plan. I did say this story will be more gloomy and dark.
Also, Horas' backstory is inspired by Drago and Grimmel's. A bit of Hiccup's too (in a rather twisted version)

Next update will be this weekend.

-JenniferTjandrajana