Chapter 6

Early the next day Black Widow woke up after a troubled night sleep. She kept having terrifying nightmares about being taken over by her past life and forced to kill her mother as an act of revenge. The nightmares seemed so real. It didn't surprise her, since her past life was psychotic killer. She began panicking, she was just waiting for the dark entity to take over her mind. She was so sure that it was coming and she didn't want to be anywhere near her mother, or anyone else, when it happened. She quickly and quietly got out of bed and went to the entrance of the cave. She spread her wings and took off heading for Berk. She flew at high speed over the ocean. She arrived at the village of Berk and landed in the shade of the Golden Apple Tree. She climbed up into the topmost branches of the tree and hid in the shadows. She figured being this far away, her mother wouldn't be harmed.

Back on Dragon Island Windwalker and Tenor woke up to find Black Widow missing. Nightwing and Firefly woke up shortly afterwards.

"Oh, like father like daughter," Windwalker said frustrated. "Taking off without a word."

"Oy, I said I was sorry," Tenor said. "Maybe she's off with Apollo and Avalon, wouldn't be the first time they started playtime so early?"

"No, I get the felling something's wrong," Windwalker said.

"Do you want help looking for her?" asked Firefly.

"No thank you mother," Tenor said. "We'll have a good look around first before we ask for help."

"Maybe while we're out looking for her you two can get more acquainted with Chris, Serenity, and Edelweiss," Windwalker suggested. Nightwing snorted in annoyance.

"At least talk to them," said Tenor. "I promise you they're okay." Both older dragons sighed.

"All right, we'll try," said Firefly.

"Come on, we better hurry," said Windwalker. "We'll be back later tonight."

"Good luck," said Firefly. Tenor and Windwalker went to the entrance of the cave and took off. Nightwing and Firefly watched from the entrance.

"Ah, he's turned out to be a better parent than the two of us were," said Nightwing.

"Well, we can make up for it by being better grandparents," Firefly said. "Now, about these humans. I'll go down and see if they're as good as Tenor thinks they are, and if they are I'll report it to you."

"Alright," said Nightwing. "Be careful." Firefly nodded and flew down to the balcony of Serenity and Chris's room. She landed on the railing and saw Serenity siting in a deck chair reading quietly. She looked up when she heard the thud of a landing dragon. Firefly folded her wings and stepped onto the floor.

"Good morning," said Firefly.

"Hello Firefly," Serenity said in her honey sweet voice. Firefly looked around.

"Where's that man of yours?" she asked.

"Re woke him up for an early training session," Serenity said. "With Apollo and Avalon."

"He's a fighter?" Firefly asked.

"A knight," Serenity said. "At least that's what we see him as."

"What about you?" Firefly asked.

"I'm a Dragon Healer," Serenity said. "I don't like fighting. I believe there's a better way to save lives than fighting with weapons." Firefly considered for a few minuets. Serenity looked back at her book.

"What's that you're reading?" Firefly asked.

"It's called Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret," Serenity said. "Aurora uses her magic to get a hold of books that won't be written for decades. This one is one of my favorite books."

"What's it about?" Firefly asked.

"It's one book in a series of five," Serenity said. "They're about five young dragons who work together to end a war between their own kind. This one follows one of the young dragons, a NightWing named Starflight. He discovers a secret plan that his fellow NightWings are hatching to take over another dragon species's territory because their lands are poisoned by a volcano."

"Interesting," Firefly said. "And what was the name of this dragon breed?"

"NightWing," said Serenity. "Here's a picture of one." She flipped to the front of the book to a one of the pictures and showed it to Firefly. It showed a picture of a bulky black dragon with thick muscles and a thick neck.

"Humans in these books are nothing more than wildlife to the dragons," Serenity said. "They're called scavengers and occasionally a dragon keeps one a pet."

"As a pet?" Firefly said with a loud chuckle. "Never heard of such an idea. You say this is book is one of five? What's the first one?" Serenity marked her place in her book and put it on her lap. She reached into a bag next to her chair and pulled out another book with a big brown dragon on the cover.

"This one's called the Dragonet Prophecy," said Serenity. "It follows a young MudWing named Clay. I can read it to you, if you want." Firefly considered again. She looked out at the ocean. Then she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Well, I suppose there's no harm in hearing a story," she said. "I'll ask Nightwing if he wants to listen as well." She spread her wings and flew back to the cave where Nightwing waited. He looked up when she landed.

"Well?" he asked.

"Serenity wants to read a story to us," Firefly. "About dragons, I wonder if you wanted to hear it too." Nightwing thought for a few minuets.

"It will kill time until Tenor and his family return," Firefly said.

"Alright," said Nightwing. He got to his feet and followed Firefly back to the balcony. Serenity had gone back to reading The Dark Secret. She looked up when they landed.

"What's your name again?" Nightwing asked.

"I'm Serenity," Serenity replied. She marked her place again and closed it. She pulled out The Dragonet Prophecy. She opened to the first page and began reading aloud in Dragontongue Firefly and Nightwing listened quietly.

Tenor and Windwalker flew to Berk hoping one of the Vikings or dragons there would have seen Black Widow. They arrived at the village and landed in the plaza. They were approached by Astrid.

"Hey Astrid," said Tenor.

"What brings you two here?" Astrid asked.

"Have you seen Black Widow?" asked Tenor.

"Yeah I saw her heading for the Golden Apple Tree," Astrid said. "Is there something wrong with her?"

"That's what we intend to find out," Tenor said. "Thank you Astrid." He and Windwalker took off again and flew up to the Golden Apple Tree. They landed on the soft Dragonnip and looked around.

"Black Widow!?" Tenor called. "Are you up here?" He went under the tree and looked up into its branches. He saw something silhouetted against the golden shade.

"Black Widow?" he said. Black Widow opened her red eyes and looked down to see her father looking up at her with worried eyes. Her mother joined him and saw Black Widow up in the tree.

"There you are," said Windwalker. "What are you doing up there?" Black Widow looked afraid.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," she said. "Especially you Mama." Windwalker and Tenor looked at each other. Tenor climbed up the tree to Black Widow's branch. She seemed to cringe away from him.

"What's wrong Black Widow?" Tenor asked. "Why are you so scared?" Black Widow took a deep breath.

"Here, how about you come down and we'll talk about it," Tenor said. "We just want to help." Black Widow seemed to calm down a bit. She nodded quietly, she was starting to get sore from being in the tree for so long. She and Tenor flew to the ground where Windwalker waited. They sat on the soft Dragonnip. Black Widow laid in between her parents and told them about her nightmares. They listened to every word without question.

When she finished Windwalker and Tenor looked at each other.

"I ran away because I was scared that my past life would take control over me and make me hurt you," Black Widow. "I'm still scared." Tenor nuzzled her.

"You don't have to be afraid," he said. "That was just a nightmare, it won't really happen."

"I'm the reincarnation of a killer," Black Widow said.

"But that doesn't make you a killer," said Windwalker. "Syrik was a completely different dragon from you."

"You'll make sure I don't turn out like him?" Black Widow asked.

"We promise," the two adults said in unison. The young dragon took three deep breaths and calmed down.

"Why don't we head back to Dragon Island?" Tenor suggested. "We can go back to our nocturnal routine."

"Okay," said Black Widow. They got to their feet and took off. They headed back towards Dragon Island.

"I wonder how your parents are doing with our riders," said Windwalker.

"Serenity smells like Dragonnip, I'm sure that's enough to win any dragon over," Tenor joked.

"Why does she smell like Dragonnip?" asked Black Widow.

"It's a Dragonnip perfume that she makes herself," Tenor said. "She wears it all the time. That's why you sometimes see a dragon put their head in her lap, because she smells so nice." At that moment they landed on the balcony where Serenity was still reading The Dragonet Prophecy to Firefly and Nightwing. Chris, Avalon, and Apollo had returned from training and were listening as well. Edelweiss was sitting on Chris's lap playing with her swan toy. Firefly and Nightwing didn't seem to mind them, as they were very intrigued by the story. Re and Aurora were there also there listening to the story. Serenity paused when Tenor, Windwalker, and Black Widow landed.

"Well, looks like things turned out better than I thought," said Tenor.

"Yes, it seems you were right about these humans at least," said Firefly.

"Are you going to move into the castle with us?" Black Widow asked her grandparents. Firefly and Nightwing exchanged a glance.

"Your majesty, are there still vacant homes near your castle?" Firefly asked Re.

"Oh yes," said Re. "There's plenty. But you are more than welcome to live in our castle."

"We appreciate that your highness but we prefer to live under our own roof," said Nightwing. "But we do wish to live as close to the castle as possible."

"Very well," Re said. "Once we get home we show you all the vacant houses close to the castle."

"Thank you sir," said Firefly. "But we can worry about that later. I'm dying to know what happens in this book." Everyone murmured in agreement. Tenor sat next to his comrades, Black Widow sat next to her friends, and Windwalker sat next to her rider. Re nodded to Serenity for her to continue. As she continued reading Tenor looked around at the group on the balcony. He felt happier than he had in along time. He finally had all the members of his family around him, all because he answered the call of the night.

THE END