Imbalance

Chapter 1

Berk was coming out of yet another violent winter and facing yet another busy summer. Hiccup and Toothless were overlooking the operations of restocking the food storage hut for the next winter. The summer window on Berk was a short one and the Vikings needed to stock up on food immediately. They got right to work and the dragons helped out. While they worked they watched the skies for their allies the Draconians. They were due to arrive at their summer home on Dragon Island. The Berkians had spent the previous summer on their turf.

Draconia was a large country filled with dragons and other creatures of mythology, such as unicorns, giant eagles, ferries, and mermaids. Re and his comrades ran the country as a team and lived together in the castle as a family.

Re was a handsome emerald green with kelly green under scales, and blue eyes. He was a Whippertail, the last third of his tail had no bones just solid muscle. It could be used as a whip and as an extra hand. It had barbs that were smaller than a human eyelash and sharper than fish hooks. Re was as tall as a draft horse. He had the body and legs of a dog, the talons of an eagle, the head of a monitor lizard, and the eyes of a crocodile. He had lost his left horn in an avalanche and it had been replaced with a metal one.

Re's soulmate was Queen Aurora. She was also a Whippertail. She was sapphire blue with tropical blue under scales and silver eyes. She was one of the very few dragons that had the gift of magic like her father Lord Draco the Dragon God. She owned many magical antiques of mythological value and that were too dangerous for mankind.

The third royal dragon was Tenor. He was an extremely rare dragon. He was a Night Fury/Blackfang hybrid, the very first one in dragon history. He had the sonar flaps, eyes, wings, fins, body, tail, and glossy black scales of a Night Fury. He also had the long legs, neck, narrow snout, talons, and black poisonous teeth of a Blackfang. He had the firepower, instincts, and abilities of both breeds.

Tenor's mate was a golden-eyed Night Fury named Windwalker. She had seen much tragedy in her lifetime. Her parents had been brutally murdered when she was very young, by a friend-turned-enemy that happened to be Tenor's older brother. Then Windwalker lost most of her friends in a war with the Song Dynasty, they had destroyed her nest. However, things went uphill from there. Re and Aurora had given them a new home on one of Draconia's volcanic islands, where they could recover and rebuild in safety.

All of them had had children. Aurora and Re hatched two dragonets; Prince Apollo and Princess Avalon, both of which were born with magic. Avalon was teal green with purple horns, talons, and spines, and lavender eyes. Apollo was blood red with gold horns, talons, spines, and eyes. Tenor and Windwalker had one daughter named Black Widow. She looked like her father, half Night Fury and half Blackfang. She had red eyes and a red hourglass shape on her forehead.

In their midst were three humans. Chris was Re and Aurora's human son. He had been abandoned as a baby and found by the dragons. They raised him as their own. He was a tall, muscular man with tan skin, brown eyes, large ears, and short black hair. He had half of Re's heart beating in his chest. It was the only thing keeping him alive. He was Windwalker rider, and had helped her win the war with the Song. His wife, Serenity was the second human to come into the family. She was a beautiful, young woman. She had light skin, light golden brown hair, vivid emerald green eyes, and a beautiful round face. She was a Dragon Healer as well as a rider. She had dragon's blood running through her veins, which made her stay young and beautiful forever. Their daughter and Black Widow's rider was Edelweiss. She was the perfect combination of her parents; black hair, large ears, tan skin, green eyes, a lovely round face, and dragon's blood in her veins. She loved riding dragons as much as she loved her family.

Hiccup was in the blacksmith shop mending saddles. He had just finished a project he'd been working on all winter. He wanted to test it out on his allies when they arrived. Suddenly there came the roar of a dragon from outside. Hiccup and Toothless went outside to see who it was. They expected it to be the Draconians, but it was just one dragon. The sunlight flashed off the dragon's polished silver scales. The dragon riders recognized the dragon at once. She landed and her rider dismounted.

"Hey Heather," said Hiccup. Heather removed her hood and scarf. She smiled pleasantly as she stroked her Razorwhip, Windshear.

"Hello friends," she said. "Just stopping by for a visit."

"Great, you're just in time too," said Hiccup. "We're expecting our Draconian allies pretty soon." Windshear turned to Stormfly in surprise.

"The king is coming here?" she asked. Stormfly nodded excitedly.

"All the royal dragons are coming," she said. "They'll be here at anytime." Just then Astrid came approached. Both she and Heather hugged each other excitedly.

"How've you been?" asked Astrid.

"I'm good, how are you?" asked Heather. Hiccup and Toothless rolled their eyes at each other.

"Well, a lot's happened over the years," said Astrid.

"Yeah, I heard about the Bewilderbeast," said Heather, turning to Hiccup. "I'm sorry about you father Hiccup." Hiccup blushed.

"Thank you," he said humbly. "Why don't you come inside and catch up while we wait for the Draconians."

"Sure," said Heather. "You think your dragons could keep Windshear company?" Toothless stood up at his full hight and crooned importantly. Heather laughed.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said. Windshear beamed at Toothless. The riders turned and headed for the great hall. The dragons went up to the Golden Apple Tree.

They sat in its golden shade, munching apples. They told Windshear everything that had happened over the years. That conversation took up most of the day. Still there were no signs of the Draconians.

"So Tenor finally found a mate," said Windshear. "It's about time something good happened to that poor dragon."

"Amen," said Stormfly.

"Oh, what's keeping those guys?" Hookfang moaned.

"Patience Hookfang," said Toothless. "It's not the easiest thing flying over the ocean. They'll be here in their own good time." Then right on cue there came another loud roar from the skies. All the dragons either ran of flew down to the plaza where their riders were waiting. The Draconains were just landing in the plaza. Chris, Serenity, and Edelweiss dismounted. The dragons weren't wearing their armor, just their crowns and saddles.

"Hi Re," said Hiccup.

"Hello," Re said. His sharp eyes were quick to notice Heather and Windwshear. "This must be Heather."

"That's me," said Heather. "And this is Windshear."

"Tenor's told us about you," said Aurora. "Good to finally meet you in person."

"Good to see you too," said Heather. "Especially after all the things I just heard about you." Re looked at Windshear.

"You're a Razorwhip," he said.

"Yes your majesty," said Windshear, swinging her tail around. "And you're a Whippertail." Re nodded. He swung his tail round.

"It's such an honor to have kin on the Draconian throne," said Windshear. Re looked at the riders again.

"The Razorwhip and the Whippertail are cousins," he explained.

"Oh really?" said Hiccup amazed.

"Yes, we have the same ancestors," Re said.

"Wow," said the rides in unison.

"That would explain the similarities," said Fishlegs. Re grinned and cracked his tail like a whip.

"Hey, I wonder if I could borrow you for a minuet Re," said Hiccup, beckoning him towards the forge. Re hesitated, looking at Aurora. She nodded in encouragement. As Re headed towards the forge and the rest of the crowd disbursed, Windshear saw Windwalker. Something about this particular Night Fury was very familiar. She decided she would investigate this later.

Re entered the forge behind Hiccup. It was fairly empty except for Grump. Hiccup took out what looked like metal dragon gauntlet with large, steel blades for talons. Hiccup took out two pairs of these, one for the front talons and one for the back. Re looked surprised.

"I've been working on these all winter," Hiccup explained. "I figured you'd be perfect to test them out." He picked up the first gauntlet. "If I may?" Re nodded and held still.

"What do you call those?" he wanted to know.

"Battle claws," said Hiccup, as he put on the first one. "Since dragons can't really use swords, I thought these would be a better alternative."

"Hmm," said Re. "Very clever." Hiccup secured the last set of battle claws. Then he stood back. Re sat on his haunches and admired the battle claws on his front talons. They were no heavier than his crown. Re got to his feet again and tried walking. The metal talons made a clinking sound when ever they hit the ground.

"Fine work," he said finally. "Are these the only ones you made?"

"Those were the only ones I had time to make," said Hiccup.

"Ah, of course," Re said in an understanding tone. Suddenly he heard his comrades calling him.

"You better run along," said Hiccup.

"You want these back?" Re asked, holding up one paw.

"No, they're yours," said Hiccup. "I have the blue prints to make more."

"Thank you," Re said. He turned and left the forge. He spread his wings and took off.

He joined his family under the apple tree. Edelweiss and the dragonets were climbing on the rocks. Re landed next to the tree.

"What did he want you for?" asked Aurora. Re held up one of his front paws, showing them the battle claws.

"He wanted show me these," he said.

"Whoa," said Tenor. "Those look sharp."

"Hiccup said they were a dragon alternative to swords," Re said. "These were the only ones he had time to make however."

"Steel can make more," said Aurora. "She's got plenty of time." Re laid down beside her.

"That Razorwhip looks familiar to me," said Windwalker, changing the subject.

"Really?" said Tenor.

"Yeah, I can't quite place her though," said Windwalker. "I know she's not from the mountain-nest."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to find out," said Aurora. "Didn't you ask this Razorwhip to your mate Tenor?" Tenor flinched.

"A fool's errand," he growled bitterly.

"She said no," Windwalker guessed. Tenor nodded sadly, the memory was still a painful one. Windwalker nuzzled his neck.

"Your suffering's over now though," she said. Tenor purred and returned her gesture. Then she yawned and wormed closer to him.

The sun soon set. The nocturnal dragons were feeling jet lagged enough to sleep with everyone else. Windwalker had an old nightmare. She was standing in her old cave where she used to live with her parents. She watched yet again as Syrik murdered her parents. The floor of the cave ran red with blood. Windwalker roared in outrage and pounced on him. They rolled around, clawing and biting at each other. The nightmare changed abruptly. They were outside on a high cliff. Syrik pinned her down and suddenly she was being forced to watch the Song blow up the mountain-nest and slaughter her friends without mercy. Windwalker roared in desperation and tried to wriggle free, but Syrik held her firmly. Then his scales glowed blue. He roared right in her ear. He was about to go in for the kill. Windwalker didn't care after seeing so much death. But, then Syrik was knocked of his feet by a powerful force. Windwalker quickly got to her feet to see who had saved her. She saw Tenor fighting Syrik. They circled each other, gnashing their teeth. Tenor's scales were glowing with red lightning.

"You want to pick on a dragon younger than you?" he hissed. "Well, go right ahead."

"I'm going to make you sorry you ever hatched brother," Syrik said venomously. Tenor snarled and pounced on him. They suddenly became a blur of red and blue light. Seconds later Tenor pinned Syrik down. He sank his teeth into Syrik's neck, killing him instantly. Then he turned to Windwalker.

"Windwalker, wake up," he called. "You're dreaming, wake up." He approached her and nudged her roughly.

Windwalker's eyes snapped open and she sat up much to quickly. She felt her head hit something. Tenor grunted in pain. Windwalker turned and saw him clutching his muzzled. She guess that she had hit him by accident.

"Oh, sorry Tenor," she said, calming down after the nightmare. "I was having a nightmare."

"I figured," Tenor said, wiping the blood from his nostrils. "What was this one about?"

"You were defending me from Syrik," Windwalker said. "And you killed him." Tenor seemed surprised.

"Hmm, shame I missed it," he said casually.

"Really Tenor, was your only sibling," said Windwalker.

"Wrong," said Tenor. He looked over at Re. Windwalker sighed. "Re's the only brother I want." Tenor laid his head back down, now that his nose had stopped bleeding.

"Besides, Syrik's dead. Not point in arguing about it," he said.

"Good point," said Windwalker. "And since I didn't get to say it in my nightmare, so I'll say it now; thank you." She nuzzled him. Tenor beamed and returned the gesture.

"You're welcome," he said. With that they both fell asleep.