literature

Here Be Dragons, Chapter 1: Fire and Rain

Deviation Actions

Startoucher's avatar
By
Published:
1.3K Views

Literature Text

He did not know where he was. The only thing he knew was that his entire body was throbbing.

What happened to me?

The stallion lay quietly, listening, and trying to collect his scattered thoughts. Dew soaked his golden coat, drops of water trickled down his body. His dark muzzle wrinkled and his nostrils widened as be drew in the sweet-smelling air. His ears twitched, picking up the sound of rushing water. His throat felt dry and gritty, like he had swallowed sand.

Where am I?

Spirit cracked open his eyes, then quickly shut them again as rays of sunlight hit his face. He blinked slowly, but everything was blurry. As things slowly came into focus, he saw he was in some sort of cove. Light grey walls rose up all around him. Water poured from the top of a large rock into a small pond. On the ground was a scattering of stones.

Spirit tried to get up and look around some more, but pain rippled through his legs and the stallion fell back, clenching his teeth. For a moment he lay still, waiting for it to subside, then twisted his head to look at himself.

The stallion gasped, feeling a bit nauseous. His once-glimmering coat had been splattered with multiple cuts, burns, and bruises. Then he happened to glance at his left back leg, and flinched. It was striped scarlet with several swollen wounds that throbbed mercilessly. Spirit tried flexing the stiffened muscles in his leg, and although barbed pain shot through his entire leg, he found with much relief that he could still move it. At least it wasn't broken.

But what happened to me? he thought again.

Suddenly, a chill swept through him; an image flashed across his eyes. Then another. And another. A portal. Fire. Fear. Something... important. Someone. Spirit squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember. When he did, his whole body tensed.

Rain!


He had fallen through another portal, another pit of green light. This time it had dropped him into a burning village, choked with chaos. People carrying various kinds of weapons were trying to protect their homes from some sort of flying beasts who could breath fire. Shrieks, grunts, and roars pressed at him from every angle, the noises jumbling together into a sort of squealing. As Spirit watched, trying to get a grasp on what was going on, a large piece of burning wood ripped through the air, nearly striking him. Spirit squealed, and broke into a sprint, once again running for his life.

Oh my. What a convenient time to be thrown into this world, he thought sarcastically, inwardly rolling his eyes. He jumped to the side as a human launched himself at one of the beasts, yelling and waving something in his hand. For a moment he simply stared, eyes wide, then began running again.

What is up with this place? Yeesh! I have to get out of here... before I get killed!

Finally, the young stallion managed to get a little ways away, and dropped his head, sucking in the clearer air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a boy, much smaller and skinnier than the other humans, sneak out of a house, some kind of weapon tucked under his arm. When Spirit turned his head to look, his eyes widened, and he gasped. At first he thought the smoke had simply blurred his vision, but when he looked again, the sorrel paint mare did not melt away.

Rain? he gasped. Rain, is that you?

At his voice, the mare jumped, her head whipping around to see who had spoken. Then her eyes met his, and her face lit up, brighter than all the flames that roared around them. Spirit!

Spirit leaped back into the crowds of people and began fighting his way forward, oblivious to anything but his beloved Rain. I'm coming, Rain!

He had almost made it to her when her scream shattered through his ears. A stray spear buried had itself in Rain's shoulder. Her face twisted in pain, and she squealed as she hit the ground.

Spirit! Help me!

Spirit lunged forward, but suddenly something caught around his back leg, jerking him to a stop. Agony exploded through his leg, and he fell heavily to the ground. He screamed, feeling like his leg was on fire, and kicked wildly, freeing himself from his bonds. He bolted up, turned and saw the boy sprawled on the ground, weapon gone. He was staring at Spirit in horror, but Spirit barely registered his expression.

He's the one that hit me, Spirit realized. He-it had tried to kill him. Another had perhaps killed Rain. These humans… they were different, worse than any he had ever encountered before. They were killers.

For a moment, Spirit simply stared at the two-legged, ears pinned against his skull, his teeth bared, his breath coming in short gasps.

I will never forgive you for what you have done to me.


Spirit was snapped out of his memories by the cracking of a twig. He lifted his head, but moaned at the aches that once more rippled through his body. Who had made the noise? Was it one of the fire-breathing beasts? Rain? or... the two-legged. The one who had attempted to take his life.

It was standing near the cove wall, looking curiously at the mustang. Now that Spirit looked closer, he saw that the two-legged looked young, probably about fourteen or fifteen. It had floppy brown hair and wore a green tunic with a fur vest. But why had it come here? Had it come here to finish the job, to make sure he was dead?

Spirit pinned his ears back and squealed at him. The human jumped. However, after a moment had passed, he stepped forward again, hand held out.

Get away from me!

The boy sighed and dropped his hand. "I know," he muttered, rubbing his arm and looking down. "I know why you're so mad, and... I don't blame you. I-I'm really sorry." The boy looked up, his eyes pleading. "I didn't mean to hit you, I swear. It's just... I tripped over something and, the stupid thing, it just flew out of my hands," he sighed, glancing back at the ground. "I... I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

Didn't mean to... Though Spirit couldn't understand all of what the teenager said, he could sense the remorse in the boy's words, and felt some of the tension in his body release.

Don't listen to him, a small voice inside him hissed. He hurt you and he hurt Rain.

"My name's Hiccup, by the way." Hiccup cleared his throat and looked up again, his ears reddening slightly, as if he was wondering why he was talking to a horse.

Hiccup, eh? It kinda suits you, Spirit thought, looking over the teenager's skinny frame. It was hard to think that this small human was the one who had brought him crashing to the ground.

The boy, Hiccup, inched forward, head craned towards Spirit's injured leg. "You've messed up your leg pretty bad," he grimaced.

You mean you messed it up! If he were a cougar, Spirit would have growled, but he made no noise, and simply clenched his jaw.

"Maybe I can do something for it," Hiccup said, looking it over. "That is, if you let me come closer." He edged forward. By now he was only a few feet away.

Spirit pinned his ears again, glaring at the boy, breath blowing out in loud huffs. Don't even think about it. Don't you dare touch me.

Hiccup stopped, his shoulders dropping in surrender. "All right, all right. I won't come any closer, I promise."

He paused for a moment, thinking, then pulled up blades of grass and put a small pile in front of Spirit.

"I'll be back," he said, getting to his feet. "Just... um, lay low, okay?"

Spirit plopped his head back on the ground and let out a sigh. Very funny.


Hiccup ran all the way back to the village. I have to help him. It's my fault he got injured, he thought. If only he wasn't so clumsy... Hiccup sighed and pushed the thought away. Before I can do anything for him, I have to get him to trust me.

He paused to duck into the forge and grab an empty sack.

"Wot'll you be needin' that for?" the village blacksmith, Gobber, asked him.

"Just… working on something."

"Not another one of yer so-called 'dragon-killin' machines'. Ye're going to blow up the whole village. The dragons will think ye're one o' them, an' take ye with them. Then wot'll I do, with no apprentice?" Gobber groaned dramatically, and Hiccup had to roll his eyes as he stepped out of the doorway.

Clutching the sack to his chest, Hiccup ran through the village and entered into the Great Hall, a large building at the center of the village. Luckily, no one was inside at the moment to see him slip inside the small store room.

"Lessee, what do horses like to eat?" he muttered, casting his eyes around the shelves and barrels of food. After a second's musing, Hiccup shoved some a loaf of bread and several apples into the sack.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?"

Hiccup almost dropped the sack. He knew that voice.

He whipped around to see the chief of the tribe, and... his father. He was a huge man, about four times the size of Hiccup, certainly living up to his name, Stoick the Vast. Hiccup's stomach twisted into a knot, and he felt himself shrink away slightly.

"Hiccup?" Stoick asked again, crossing his arms.

"Um, er... nothing," Hiccup stuttered, and hastily backed out the door, but not fast enough to escape the sound of his father's sigh.


---

UPDATE: Rewrote and smoothed out first half

UPDATE #2: Edited second half

UPDATE #3 (last one, I promise! XD): Fixed spelling and grammar mistakes
---

Dedicated to :iconnatybarbosa: who convinced me to write this story.

---

Like the story? Check out the trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpSVCG…
© 2013 - 2024 Startoucher
Comments9
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Wolfblaze9917's avatar
Cool can't wait to read more.