Dragon Master

A/N: Okay, so my first shot at this was absolute rubbish. I completely took it down with the idea I'd get around to do some serious editing. Instead, a new and improved idea came to me, so I completely rewrote it. Only the title and cover art is unchanged. Hope you guys like this one better! (I do.)

Discord. Chaos. Complete and utter anarchy. Such words hardly describe the mass mutiny Ruiner recently experienced- that is, my red death subordinate- just before his untimely death. This was a shame. I was quite fond of Ruiner.

I had other subordinates at my disposal of course, but Ruiner's nest had been the largest external base under my authority. I had lost not only thousands of subjects, but worst of all, the last known night fury. A powerful creature, to say the least. Reports informed me that the black-scaled fool had led the revolt himself, alongside the humans no less! The very thought of stooping so low sickened me.

But somehow, they had won.

This rebel was now known as "the Black Terror."

Such boastful titles; Ruiner, Black Terror. But who am I?

My heart is as cold as the frigid winter air, as unmoving as a rock. My very presence instills fear in all who dare linger in my shadow. I am the ever-present entity. For my followers, I am the only reality. I am the King of all dragons. I am Umbra, Lord of the Ice and all dragonkind. I am the last true bewilderbeast, and I will yet take my rightful place as Alpha.

The weak fool Aegis took these titles from me. The coward is not worthy of any of them. He lost the right to list himself among my mighty race when he allowed that human into his sanctuary.

I'd heard rumors of the dragon rider, but surely even Aegis would not ally himself alongside the human-filth? I'd never been so wrong.

…

My fellow ice-spitter arrived unannounced at my doorstep and laid siege to my nest. I had not heard from any of my subordinates in some time. I could only assume Aegis had found their lairs and assimilated their- my- armies. I would have to challenge Aegis for the supreme right as Alpha if I wanted my dragons back. This declaration of war had quickly escalated to a "winner-takes-all" duel.

Aegis was said to be a wise, compassionate leader. He could keep his wisdom; I had strength. I was better trained for battle. I would win.

Aegis' glacial roar shook the very foundations of my ice fortress. I returned the challenging howl with a blood-curdling shriek of my own. Aegis' massive tusks bowled through spiky, aqua green pillars. Admittedly, his demonstration unnerved me. He had plowed through my creation as though it were as insubstantial as a human nest. But it also reminded me of what I would do to him. Eyes narrow, tusks readied, I faced off with my competitor.

Aegis glared at me through icy blue eyes, but made no move. No matter. This gave me the advantage. I slowly rose to my hind legs, towering over the white beast. Still, Aegis didn't move. With a rancorous screech, I came down on my opponent, tusks aimed at his head.

In a brown blur, a four-winged stormcutter and a human wearing strange, dragonesque attire swooped past. Wildly swinging her staff and mimicking the shouts of my tongue from atop her dragon partner, the human pointed to me. Aegis finally snapped like brittle ice. He bellowed furiously, and uncoiled impossible lengths of his never-ending body. The lethal ivory spears he called tusks shot for my neck.

For the first time in my life, I experienced genuine fear. Contempt oozed from every nook and cranny like a disease. But it especially radiated from Aegis' piercing gaze. It penetrated my thick armor and seeped through my bones. All my life, my tyranny had been undeniable, unchallenged, and undefeated because I was the best. I snuffed out all opposition with a mere whuff of icy breath. But here was an opponent I could not freeze. An opponent without an ounce of fear flowing through his veins. He was so confident, so calm, so fixed.

Fixed on killing me.

I lost sight of the sharp, dagger-like points of Aegis' tusks as he slipped them under my jaw. Shortly, bone met bone, and the impact send reverberations through my entire being. My claws scored deep gouges in his tusks as I scrabbled for traction. Aegis wasn't fazed. He plowed on, and I felt my grip begin to slide. My entire body was beginning to slip. I was toppling down. As my perspective changed, the dragon rider again came into view. She aimed her staff at my exposed underbelly. It was at her command that Aegis prepared the death blow. A cry of terror escaped my maw; I barely had time to redirect myself to fall into a cushion of water. I sank into the icy depths, defeated.

I had lost.

This was a new concept to me. Umbra never lost. I was the dragons' Lord!

No more. Aegis now had complete and total authority to rule all dragons. I was nothing.

I finally understood why Aegis and the Black Terror had both aligned with the humans. They were ingenious war generals. Every move Aegis made had been thought out and planned by the human. She had translated her orders to him through the mesmerizing movements of her staff.

An untouchable deity such as I defeated by the likes of men… even the darkest depths of the ocean were not deep enough to bury this shame. But were taking orders from a human not more shameful?

Not if you are victorious.

In two instances, the alliance of humans and dragons had proved greater than dragons alone could handle. I wanted my kingship returned to me, but it appeared the only way I could do this with a human war general of my own. But how to choose?

Human numbers could be likened to a swarm of mosquitos. No matter how many of the annoying pests you smothered out of existence, there was always another swarm to take their place. How was I to know which one would lead me to victory? And how was I to convince one to work with me? Most human leaders despised dragons.

The solution came to me on the frothy ocean waves. I would have to create a war general, instill memories in the darkest reaches of his soul that would leave him no choice but to work with me and at the same time, separating the strong from the weak. To do this, I would need a few dragons under my headship.

…

I spent weeks cowering in the icy depths, scouring the farthest reaches of this miserable archipelago for any strays and rogues that did not belong to Aegis. Such dragons were not plentiful, and progress was painstakingly sluggish. I only needed enough dragons to form a small nest, nothing that would attract Aegis' attention. At the same time, my skeleton army would have to obliterate an entire human village with little to no resistance.

Even after months of collecting dragons, locating one of their smaller, weedy settlements was proving difficult. I grew impatient as scout after scout returned with negative reports. Under normal circumstances, I would have eaten them to give the rest incentive to bring me better news, but I barely had enough dragons as it was.

…

It took nearly a year, but a scrawny little nadder finally identified a suitable target. I congratulated myself on the success with a tasty tidbit that didn't taste like fish.

My swarm headed north, where the settlement had been sighted. And indeed, it was a pitiful sight. The puny island housed a derisory number of homes, and as luck would have it, most of them were still charred and smoking from the last dragons that had come through to pillage the sad heap of rock.

I stood in the shallow waters, blessing the expanse with my presence. It was greeted with shrieks of terror and fright from the human-scum. I huffed in distain. What ungrateful creatures these beings were! I rose above them, allowing the moon to silhouette my horrifying form. I spread my war-torn wings, and beams of moonlight filtered through the sliced membranes and onto puny individuals below. I considered each of these faces highlighted by my spotlights, wondering which one would be lucky enough to become my war general. Given any survived, that is.

"We've got dragons!"

"Ready the nets!"

Fools. I give the initial command.

An ear-splitting cry resonated through the crisp night air, and my militia gushed forward.

I crashed back onto all fours, rocking the entirety of the island. Humans toppled like dominos, giving my soldiers even more of an advantage. Flames washed over every building, and a chorus of agonized screams erupted as violently as a volcano. I gleefully watched, pacing anxiously in the shallow water as my armada wreaked complete and total destruction. I was back in control.

By dawn, the entire island glistened with red. Thick clouds of smoke still billowed from the blackened debris. I had lost a few dragons in the barrage, and their corpses could be counted among the mangled human remains. But it was not a significant loss. They were expendable. Soon, with my human general, I would have dragons to spare. Speaking of whom…

My bloodshot eyes combed the devastation for any sign of life. Surely at least one had been strong enough to rise above the ruin?

The humble cry of a raincutter sliced the air as it glided to the cliff nearest me. After warbling its miserable odes and praises, it surrendered its offering: a young human boy.

The thing was barely alive, and hardly recognizable under layers upon layers of dirt and soot. It had black, stringy hair, and sunken-in brown eyes. Fresh scars streaked its face, and its nose was crooked due to a recent break. Blood spattered his entire body, namely around his left arm, which was missing entirely. He was barely alive, but somehow summoned enough strength to lift its head and glare at me.

I took in a deep whiff, acquainting myself with the scent of this human, and instantly snorted in distain. He reeked of blood, soot and cooked flesh. He didn't appear to enjoy my aroma any better.

The boy staggered to his feet, clumsily adjusting to a new center of balance. He did not maintain his poise for very long, and again sprawled on the blood-stained ground. I rumbled in irritation. This was to be my war general?

The boy found a sizable stick to be in reach of his one remaining hand, and scrabbled for it. Despite his previous staggering, he whipped around and hurled the club at my raincutter. Winded when the object collided with its throat, the dragon faltered. This gave the boy opportunity to grip its scrawny neck and attempt to asphyxiate it. While I admired his enthusiasm, I did not want to lose any more dragons than I had.

GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I screamed to bring him back in line.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" he indignantly, perhaps fearlessly screamed back. I snorted approval. Perhaps this youngling wasn't a complete waste. I snorted to the raincutter to bring the boy.

…

One day, he would come to be known as Drago Bludvist, the Dragon Master. I permitted his use of these titles for the time being. After all, he did not know that he was merely a pawn. Drago would come to believe he was in control of the dragons, but in reality, I was in control of him.

I am the true Dragon Master.

A/N: I had someone point out to me that the timeline doesn't fit in the 5 year span from the movie. Who says this takes place in just 5 years? Valka has been missing for 20, and we don't know how old Drago is. But I didn't see any gray hair in his dreadlocks, indicating that he's probably younger than her. If he's a teenager when all this is happening (closer to the beginning of Valka's time with the dragons), that should put him about 30-ish, younger than Valka and older than Hiccup. So the math does work out.