"Don't believe it..." Kiara said. She was staring in disbelief at the two ships after she landed in a hiding spot on a rocky area near the beach. "Those are VIKING ships! VIKING!" She started pacing about as Whiplash watched her, confused. "Why didn't you tell me? WHY? Y-you didn't tell me that I...not only travelled to a different dimension, but a different TIME!"
"I don't get what's wrong..."
"How the hell. am I supposed to charge my phone? In a civilisation? That hasn't discovered ELECTRICITY!"
Whiplash gave her a 'really?' look and scoffed. "Priorities."
"Oh, gimme a break, girl," she said, slumping to the ground. "This is a big reveal, no huge revelation! I'm... in the iron age..."
"Oh, brother..." The dragon rolled her eyes and stalked away from her dramatically complicated rider to spy on the ships. She peeked her head out from between a jagged rock and some pine trees and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the ships —the first human ships to ever dock at this island.
"A pair of binoculars would've been helpful right now," Kiara said, popping up beside Whiplash and startling her.
"So, you've recovered from your BIG reveal?" she asked sarcastically.
"Yeah..." Kiara mumbled, her attention now directed towards the unexpected visitors.
The two large ships were made from fine wood, but their stem and stern posts were heavily armoured with metal plating and spikes. The boats had three huge sails with an orange emblem. The emblem was a dragon with two swords stabbed through it.
Kiara gasped. "Those are... They..."
"Yes," Whiplash confirmed, "But it only gets worse." Whiplash growled, stalking closer for a better view and Kiara followed. Their eyes raked the beach. There were large box-shaped metal cages littered on the beach, some, to their horror, already occupied by dragons. Lots of burly Vikings with helmets and weapons were rushing about, setting up more cages, dragging nets or doing other jobs.
One muscular man stood out from the rest, the only one without a helmet. The man wore greyish green clothes that looked like dragon skin, a shoulder plate on his right shoulder and a similar guard on each forearm. He had a shaved head, a thin black moustache and a line of thick hair that split his broad chin. Yelling commands that Kiara couldn't make out from that distance, he marched with an air of ruthless authority, clearly their leader.
Whiplash spread her ears, going into hyper-hearing mode to clearly hear the conversations. Kiara used her mind-link to hear what Whiplash hears, a skill she was now an expert in. Her mind immediately filled with the wailing of a dragon. It was a monstrous nightmare trying to make a distress call, and failing as his roars came out faint and slurred.
"What've they done to him?" Kiara whispered this so that her dragon's ears wouldn't hurt while they're extra sensitive.
"I don't know," she replied as they continued to listen to the wailing amongst the bustle of the invaders.
"Shut up, stupid beast!" one of the Vikings yelled and struck the cage with his mallet, then laughed as the weakened dragon cringed from the ringing bang. His arm was immediately twisted into a lock and he was slammed against the nightmare's cage and held there.
"Your job," the leader growled in a gruff accented voice as he tightened his grip, "is to load them up and make space for more."
"Yes, Ryker! Right away, Ryker," the man squeaked.
"And remember, Stein, those 'stupid beasts' as you call them," Ryker grinned like a cunning shark as he made eye contact with the dragon, "are smarter than you.."
The monstrous nightmare lunged at the Viking, making him yelp, but the dragon's aim was off and he hit the side of the cage instead and whimpered.
"Now get back ter work," Ryker ordered the trembling man, who nodded vigorously before he was released, then rushed off.
Whiplash and Kiara sat in dreadful silence for a few moments. Then the sound of flapping was heard by Whiplash. "Incoming," she told Kiara as a blue and orange nadder flew overhead, towards the ships.
"STELLA! Don't go there!" Kiara shouted, jumping up and waving for their friend to change course. Stella hovered in place and turned towards them, tilting her head in confusion. "That's it, girl. Come here," Kiara said whilst waving for her to come over.
"Kiara, get down!" Whiplash pulled her to the floor, out of sight, as several men turned and looked up.
"GET THAT NADDER!" Ryker commanded. At that moment, several green-tipped arrows were fired at Stella. She let out a shriek of surprise and dived. The arrows arched over her and struck the earth near Kiara with uneven thuds. Stella twirled back up, acrobatically dodging more arrows, then countered with a multiple spine-shot. That's when an arrow pierced her belly. Immediately, her flapping became irregular and her flight grew disoriented before she dropped down altogether. She hit the ground with a defeated thump.
Ryker lowered his bow with a smug look. "A nadder," he announced, "always leaves its belly exposed after a spine shot. Now go an' drag it back here. No hunter should be standin' around."
Whiplash growled and started forwards.
"No, girl," Kiara grunted through clenched teeth as she pulled her back into the shadows. "Now's not the time."
She tightened her grip on the saddle ropes in order to not let her anger consume her as she watched the men tie up Stella and drag her into a cage. Purring, Whiplash gently nudged Kiara, which somewhat calmed her down.
She averted her fiery gaze from the caged dragons and her eyes fell on the arrows. Walking over, she plucked one out of the ground and examined it. "Probably drugged," she thought as she remembered how Stella had lost all sense of flight.
"Kiara, I don't think you should.."
"Oops."
"KIARA!"
Kiara stared at the crimson liquid on her thumb where she had pricked it with the arrow and waited... but nothing happened. No delusional druggie side effects. No loss of control, no disorientation. "Huh? I thought these were drugged." She picked up another arrow and pricked her thumb again.
"Kiara what're you doing?" Whiplash knocked the arrow out of her hand and pulled her away as she went to grab another. "Stop! This is self-harm!"
"But it didn't affect me... I must be a once-in-a-millennium-immune-to-green-arrow-poison person!"
"Or the poison only works on dragons."
"Oh. Right." Kiara turned to the ships and Whiplash noticed with relief that she wore her thinking face: she was formulating a plan. "Whoever these guys are, they're out to get dragons."
"No kidding."
"We need to warn everyone, evacuate the island, and gather a team willing to take on our uninvited guests and free the captured dragons."
"But who'd be willing to do that?"
"Who do we know that can and will gladly blow those ships to splinters?" Kiara asked as she put her hood up.
Whiplash grinned. "Thunderdrums."
-
They took to the sky and glided for a bit as the wind carried them. Kiara turned and saw that the ships were still in view. "Whippie, you might wanna fly lower. I don't want them to make you their next target."
"Alright." Whiplash dipped into a rapid free-fall; the swift and sudden movement sent tingles up Kiara's arms. Then she spread her wings again and continued to fly softly at a much lower height, where the treetops rushed past a metre below them.
"Let's land there," Kiara said, pointing ahead to a small clearing in the forest. Whiplash nodded and dived into the canopy. Kiara dismounted and took out her hair catcher, which was beginning to droop anyway. Pocketing the clip, she shook out her hair, not bothering to straighten down the wild windblown mess.
"We'll head to the waterhole," she said, pointing eastwards, "where we'll find most of the dragons, and hopefully Robbie."
"I hope he's okay.."
"Me too...but we shouldn't worry. Robbie's a smart changewing. He'll be okay," Kiara said, trying to assure herself as well as her dragon.
"Yeah, he will."
"Anyway, after we warn the dragons, they'll spread the word while we round up Tony and the triplets. So let's go."
"Wait!"
Kiara furrowed her brows as she watched Whiplash narrow her eyes at an unseen spot in the distance and twitch her ears.
"Someone's coming..."
Kiara's eyes widened and she quickly pulled her dragon out of the clearing and to a hidden spot in the dense canopy. "It's... one of them, isn't it?" she whispered nervously. The dragon nodded.
"And whoever it is... is still heading for us."
"Great," Kiara now spoke through her mind-link, since the forest didn't seem safe anymore. "Any info?" Whiplash nodded, already listening for every movement from the intruder.
"It's one man... lightweight... stealthy.. oh, this one's a crafty predator... and he's... one-legged."
"What?! How the hell can you know that?" Kiara asked, bewildered.
"The metal leg makes a clink with every step."
"Oh, okay." Kiara paused, checking her pockets. Then she turned to her dragon.
"Listen, that guy obviously has info that can help us take out the rest of his fleet. If I can—"
"I? Don't you mean we?"
"No, you need to stay here."
"STAY HERE?! Have you lost it?"
"Whippie..." she silently reasoned, "they can take you down with a single arrow—"
"So you're going to get shot instead?!"
"No, I'll—"
"You may not be affected by the poison, but an arrow wound is not a risk I'm willing to take!"
"Relax, Whiplash! (God, you're sounding like my mother.) I'm not going to get shot. I'll get the drop on him: he won't even know I'm coming."
"OK... Then let me come with you," the dragon pleaded.
"No, Whiplash... No offence," Kiara glanced at her gleaming purple scales, "but you're not the best when it comes to stealth. I need you here to be my back up."
Whiplash groaned.
"Please, Whiplash... I need you to trust me. I'll be safe."
"You better be."
Kiara smiled and gave her a quick hug before slipping away.
Whiplash stared at the spot where she'd been, stiff as she resisted the urge to follow.
"Good luck."
-
Minutes later, Kiara had her back against a tree. She peeked out and received a perfect view of the man's back. And now she wasn't even sure if he was a man, as in, a fully grown man-man. He looked like he was in his late teens. Eighteen, perhaps? Or was he twenty with a babyface?
Unlike the other hunters, he was a skinny fella, though he was fairly tall, and wore no helmet or armour, only thick brown shoulder-pads. He had ruffled auburn hair and, like Whiplash said, had a metal replacement below his left knee.
Kiara noted with slight relief and slight confusion that he was unarmed. And he was just standing there, thinking. Well, Kiara thought as she fished out her Swiss knife, it's time to bring him out of his thoughts.
She sprinted to the next tree, causing a few stray leaves to rustle before she hid. The guy stiffened at the sound then looked around with narrowed eyes. Kiara silently lowered into a crouch and picked up a stone. After a moment she chucked it, aiming for the other side of the Viking. Thump! He swivelled around to face the sound, expecting anything, except an attack from behind.
Kiara pounced on his back and kicked the back of his knees, causing him to buckle. "Gah!" he yelled as she slammed him to the ground, pinning him there as she held her knife at his throat. He stared at Kiara, his green eyes wide with surprise. Kiara stared back, her brow furrowed in confusion.
Why does he look so familiar?
Why do I feel like I know him?
Did I see him somewhere?
She quickly dismissed the uncanny sense of familiarity, deciding that she'd probably caught sight of him on one of the invading ships.
She bore down on him with an icy glare as hatred bubbled inside her —hatred for him and his crew and everything they stand for.
This is a dragon hunter, she thought stormily as she pressed the knife against his throat, and I'm gonna make him pay for it!