Vera's POV
I can't believe that mom's teaching me how to shift. What if I can't do it? What if Blackmoon's right? Oh Thor, please don't let Blackmoon be right!
My mom had shifted into a dragon so that she could demonstrate.
"Okay, so what you're going to do is think about being a human."
"What's a human like, Ma?"
"Well, we have no scales, we're small, and have two legs. Like this." I watched as she shifted. I was just about to try when she said, "Oh wait!"
"What's now?"
"Well, you won't have clothes on when you shift."
I cocked my head sideways trying to comprehend what she was talking about.
"These." She said and pointed to the things she had on.
"Is that's bad?"
"Well, yes, unless you want to be naked and cold."
I tilted my head the other way, "Humans get cold?"
"All the time. Okay, let's head to the cave and we'll get you a blanket and I should have some clothes that I was keeping in case any of you wanted to shift." I watched as my mom shifted back and we flew back to the cave.
Ma found the blanket and 'clothes' as she called them and set them down beside us as she instructed me how to shift.
The first time I tried I felt nothing happen.
Then I imagined having no scales for protection or sensitive hearing or strong nose and I felt a slight ripple, but when I looked at myself I saw that nothing had changed. "Keep trying, Verr, you almost had it."
I imagined the flexibility of my hands and the cold seeping through me and... I fell over in a heap, "Ma! Help!"
She laughed at me, "You did it!"
"I did?"
"Yep! Here, I'll help you sit down." After I had straightened out I heard my mom gasp and mumble, "You even look like him."
"Looks like who, Ma?"
"No-one." I started to shiver and she handed me the clothes which fit perfectly and I immediately started to warm up.
"Much better. Ma... Why's you speaks different?"
"It's called Norse. I'll teach you as I teach you to walk and fight."
I stood up on my four legs, at least I thought they were legs and tried walking which was quite awkward because my back legs were longer than my front legs.
"I guess I have to teach you how to stand first."
"I thought I does just fine."
"Like me Verr. Here hold onto my arms or front legs and try to get your back legs up like mine."
"Whats! That's crazy! Humans walk likes that?"
"Yes, it's much easier and faster than what you were doing."
I tried doing what she asked me and like one hundred tries later I was finally able to get my paws to stay under me, "Nows what?"
"Now you're going to try to move one leg forward."
"Okay."
I picked my left back-leg up and I fell. "Put more weight on me. It'll help keep your balance."
This time when I tried getting up it only took me two tries and I leaned against my mom for support. Okay, okay, you got this. One paw at a time. I lifted my left foot up again and this time, putting my weight against my mom, I stayed up. Okay, next paw. I did it again and again, each time putting less and less weight against her.
I fell down a couple more times and got better at getting up. By the end of the lesson my legs were shaking, "How-w do you doos this every day?"
"Practice, lots and lots of practice. I've been doing this walking thing for 20 years now. You'll get the hang of it."
"Hows I shift back?"
"You think of what it is to be a dragon. Like this." My mom shifted back to a dragon and I fell on top of her.
I imagined my wings spreading out and the rush of air on my face and blending into the shadows and night sky. When I opened my eyes I found that I was a dragon again.
I spread my wings and flopped onto my mom's back.
10 days later
Astrid's POV
Heather's plan had been going along nicely. We took out a couple of ships every few days and the fleet was down to about 20 ships. We'd also freed all of the captive dragons who had all decided to fly away.
We were on our sixth attack run when we realized that all of the ships had stopped and circled around the ones we were attacking.
Shoot! They've figured out our strategy.
"Retreat!" I roared as loud as I could.
We started circling in the clouds.
"I got a new plan!" Windshear said. "Astrid, Heather, and Rowan ride Mist and Eclipse who fly just under the sightline of the ships. Then Mist and Eclipse pull up beside a window and Astrid, Heather and Rowan destroy the ship from the inside, while Stormfly, Forestflame and I distract them."
"Okay! I like it! We'll take a few days break, regroup, gain back some energy then attack again." I said.
We landed on a particularly big sea stack and rested while we still could.
5 days later
We started our attack runs.
Rowan and Heather had entered the previous two ships while entered this one.
I immediately started freeing the dragons. I was down to the last cage when I heard, "I can smell you human-girl." Why is that voice so familiar?
"Good for you."
"Come closer and you'll see what my might can do," I swear I've heard it before.
"I'm sure you can do that with all your chains on."
"I can still kill you." That's when I realized who it was.
"You'd kill your own fiancée, dragon? Or should I say... Hiccup."
???'s POV
I was sleeping when I started hearing growls come from outside my cage. There were blasts and chaos. "Can't a dragon get any sleep?"
A few minutes later I heard footsteps approaching and I growled at the girl, likely one of the ones who had me trapped here.
It shocked me slightly when she said, "Good for you."
I just growled back at her, she didn't know what breed of dragon she was dealing with.
And she sassed me.
"I can still kill you," I told her.
"You'd kill your own fiancée, dragon? Or should I say... Hiccup." She said as she rounded the corner. I watched as she took off her helmet, tears flowing down her face. "What have they done to you?"
I yanked on my chains trying to get to her, my mate, my Astrid.
"Astrid." I purred as she started taking the chains after me. "Look out!" I roared as Viggo entered and blew a dart at us and I whacked it out of the way with my tail.
She immediately drew her sword, but at the same moment I felt metal press up against my scales.
"Move and he dies," Viggo said. Astrid looked between us and made a huge dragon roar, the loudest I've ever heard. "Still doing that?"
"It's useful." She said and dropped her sword.
"All of your weapons," Viggo said. She frowned and removed a second sword, her axe, a knife from her arm and the blow darts she kept at her side.
Viggo looked at her and said, "Throw her in a cell, limited food and water."
They gave her the cell across from me and put my chains back on, idiots.
They left me and Astrid alone, "So how did you survive?" And thus began our conversation.