On the beaches of Wyre island, the patrol group is resting. Mulic and Leafwisp are laying on a large rock together. Snips and Spine are sitting in the water, with Raincutter beside them.
Niether is swimming far out in the ocean with Stinger on his back. Stinger is chirping and roaring as his tail wags. But on the beach Rocky is laying against Grandma Drips as she rests her eyes. The afternoon sun shines onto him.
Rocky smiles as he rests his hands on his chest. He feels Grandma Drips warm hide behind him, as her chest raises up and down. He then sits up as Niether swims to shore.
Stinger hops off the purple dragons back and speeds up towards Rocky. Rocky rubs his head, before walking to the Purple dragon that's still floating on top of the water.
"Wanna go for a cruise?" Niether questions.
Rocky chuckles as he takes his sword and satchel off, and sets them beside Stinger. Which the Speed Stinger lays on top of them, protecting them. Rocky carefully climbs onto Niether's back.
Niether then uses his tail as a propeller to swim away from shore. Rocky takes his boots off and dips his feet into the cold water. Rocky lets out a happy sigh as he lays back on his dragon.
"Honestly... Even though today is so peaceful, I can't help but-"
"-a sense of dread? Like something bad is gonna happen? Yeah, I have the same feeling." Niether slowly swims in circles, using his tail.
"It's just been-"
"Too Quiet/Too Quiet."
Rocky sits up as he rubs Niether's neck. "Exactly, ever since the Auction nearly two weeks ago, we've barley seen a Hunter since!"
Niether looks off to the distance as he thinks. "Yeah that is rather weird." Niether rumbles. "Do you think-?"
"No, a deranged Viking like Sigewulf would never give up so easily."
"But what would his next move be?"
Rocky sighs as he crosses his arms. "It can't be good, it makes me rather worried he hasn't done something. Given we've had to deal with him at least once a week for nearly the past month."
"It has to be something big..."
"...But we're ready for it." Rocky looks up to the sky, as he brings up a fist. "What ever he brings, he'll be stopped. Like we've always done."
Rocky then lowers his fist, and the two chuckle. Rocky then lays back down on his dragons back. He looks up to the bright sunny sky. He takes a deep breath in, and lets it out.
He then feels Niether shift, and the human sits up again. Niether swims back to the shorts and climbs onto the beach. Rocky slides off his back, but covers himself as Niether shakes himself dry.
Rocky grunts in annoyance as he wipes water off him, as Niether gives a warbled laugh. Stinger chirps as he walks over, holding Rocky's items in his mouth.
Rocky chuckles as he kneels down and takes the items out of Stinger's mouth. He then pats the speed Stinger on the head, and he chirps happily. Rocky slides the satchel over his shoulder, and attaches the sword to his hip.
Rocky then stands up as he rubs Stingers head. He then looks out to all his friends. He then glances at Niether.
"You know, it feels weird that all of my friends are dragons."
"Well, there's Heather." Niether points out.
"Well, I guess she does count." Rocky crosses his arms.
Suddenly they hear a panic roar, which causes everyone to go on alert. Everyone looks to the ocean to see Sven, the Terrible Terror, flying towards them.
Sven crashes into the sand as he writhes around. Everyone quickly gathers around as the Terrible Terror takes several deep breaths, before looking to everyone.
"Dragon Hunters!" Sven roars in panic. "A large fleet! Too the north! Near Glacier Isle!"
"Glacier Isle, that's rather close to the patrol line." Niether points out.
"We better hurry." Raincutter points out.
"It'll take a couple hours to get there, so we better hurry!" Spine points out.
Rocky climbs onto Niether's back. "Alright everyone, lets go!"
Everyone takes off to the sky and Niether roars.
"We'll be back Grandma Drips!"
The old Gronckle chitters as she walks up to the edge of the beach. "Stay safe kids."
Stinger runs up beside her, and roars. "Bring back some fish!"
Rocky rubs his temples. "Of course something had to happen after we mention how quiet it is."
"Yeah, we jinxed ourselves." Niether points out with a rumble.
Rocky sighs and looks out to the patrol group. "Alright everyone, I know its been a little bit, but remember to keep your heads on a swivel! And to also watch each other's backs!"
All the dragons roar as everyone flies off into the distance.
A couple hours pass as snow falls onto Rocky as he looks around. The dragons hover above an island covered in ice. Large glaciers float around the island and the surrounding waters.
Rocky continues to look around with a spy glass, but can't find anything. He sighs and lowers the spy glass.
"Alright everyone!" Rocky calls out as the dragons look to him. "The ships aren't around, so let's split up to find them! Mulic and Leafwisp, head to the East. Snips and Spine, head to the West. Niether, Raincutter and I will head to the north."
Rocky puts away his spyglass, and holds tightly onto Niether's saddle.
"We don't know how large the fleet is, so be careful if you come across it. Meet back here in a few hours, and if anyone is not back. Look around for a few hours, and if anyone still doesn't show up. Head back to Wyre Isles and wait a few days. If nothing happens, gather an army. Alright?"
All the dragons roar in agreement, and they all fly off. Rocky pats Niether's neck as he glances at Raincutter.
"Are you two ready?"
The two dragons roar with a nod, and the two fly off.
A couple hours pass, and Rocky shivers as he hugs himself tightly. Snow falls heavily around them, making it hard to see. He lowers himself close to his dragons neck, trying to get warm.
"Should we turn back?" Raincutter calls out.
"We still got a little time till we have to, but I'm starting to consider it with this blizzard!" Niether calls out.
Rocky glances around, barely seeing the ocean through the blizzard. He sees a boat through all the snow, seemingly anchored with its sails up.
"Hey, there!" Rocky points down to it as he shivers.
The two dragons rumble as they look down and spot the boat. They both let out a low rumble.
"Alright, let's go in slow and low."
The dragons roar in response and dip down. They slowly fly down and fly close to the ocean surface. But as they reach the ship, they quickly land on the deck and get ready for a fight, but find it empty.
The dragons roar in question as they tilt their heads. Rocky slides off his back, keeping a hand on his sword. He looks around but grunts as the blizzard grows heavier.
Rocky looks around as his dragons stay on alert. Rocky walks towards the hatch of the ship, slow and steady. But as he steps on a plank it suddenly sinks slightly and a loud twang rings out.
Rocky yells in pain as an arrow flies into his leg, nearly making him fall over. His dragons roar in panic, but a pair of bolas fly out from out from a wall of storm off the ship. On wraps around Niether's mouth and the other wraps around Raincutter's wings.
Raincutter roars in panic as she breaths fire where the bolas came from, but several arrows hit her in the chest. She lets out a low roar and falls over as she goes unconscious.
Niether rumbles in panic as he tries to fly, but several nets fall onto him, causing him to fall onto the deck with a loud thump. Rocky looks to the side as intense pain flairs in his right leg.
He watches as nearly a dozen ships fly out from a wall of heavy snow. He sees Hunters all over the ships, laughing as they all point to him and the dragons.
Suddenly he grows fairly dizzy as he pulls the arrow out of his leg. He holds up the arrow head as he sees a large amount of a green substance dripping from the head.
"Oh... it... affects humans... too..."
Rocky drops the arrow as he falls face first onto the ships deck. Niether tries to roar as he panics, trying to get his paws free, but the nets are wrapped rightly around him.
He struggles against his bindings as he looks beside him and sees the knocked out Raincutter, then over to the knocked out Rocky. But he stops struggling as a plank falls onto the ships deck, from another ship.
A group of Hunters laugh as they walk onto the ship.
"Well, well well. What have we here?" A Hunter walks over to Rocky, and pushes him onto his back. "Its the Young Rider." The Hunter looks over to Niether. "And his dragon plus one."
Niether growls at him as he struggles against his bindings. The Hunter points to him.
"Seize the dragons!" All the Hunters walk over, weapons at the ready.
Niether growls as shadows cover him.
After an unknown amount of Rocky comes too, he grunts in pain as the wound on his leg flairs up. He tries to move but he finds himself kneeling on the floor with his hands bound by rope.
He struggles against his bindings, but with little to no success. Rocky sighs as he looks himself over, finding his sword and satchel gone. He quickly checks his Nadder Bracer, and finds his hidden dagger.
Rocky smirks to himself, but he doesn't grab the dagger right away. Instead he looks around his cell, finding that he's in a cell on a Hunter Ship. He tries to stand up, but a pain flares up in his right leg and he falls back to his knee.
He lets out a pained breath, but just grits his teeth as he stands up and limps over to the cell door. He looks out and sees several kinds of dragons in the cells across from him, all chained up in green chains.
"Dear Thor...." Rocky mutters as he looks to the dragons.
Suddenly the boat takes a sharp turn, nearly making Rocky fall over. But then it takes another sharp turn and he does fall to the side. He hears a familiar rumble off to the side.
"Niether?" Rocky crawls to the wall as he hears a rumble through it. "Niether!"
"Rocky?" Niether calls out. "Finally awake, you were trying to cross the boarder right?"
Rocky chuckles as he leans against the wall. "So, where's Raincutter."
A roar sounds off from the other wall. "Over here."
"She's fine..." Niether informs. "I think."
"I'm rather tired..." Raincutter lets out a loud yawn.
"How are you doing, Rocky?" Niether questions.
"My legs throbbing." Rocky rests his head on the wall as he stares up to the ceiling. "I guess Dragon Root in certain doses can also affect humans, which is rather weird."
"Explains why you passed out." Niether sighs as Rocky hears him shift on the side of the wall. "So what's your plan oh great Rocky?"
"Well, I am gonna get us out of here, but I can't right now."
"To dangerous to go on deck."
"Yeah, especially with what, a dozen ships around this one." Rocky as he droops. "We'd be shot back out of the sky before we'd be able to do anything."
"You know, maybe we shouldn't have split up."
The boat turn sharp again and rumbles as ice breaks against it. Rocky sighs as he shakes his head.
"I gotta stop coming up with plans... they mostly end in failure..." Rocky sighs as he droops. "Who'd knew I be a sucky Viking."
"Well, not all your plans end in failure, just most of them." Niether points out with a rumble. "And the plans that don't end in failure, usually end with one of us hurt, or in an awkward situation."
Rocky lets out a groan. "We seem to always take the hard path huh? No matter the world..."
Suddenly the ship lurches to a stop. Rocky grunts as he stands up as the voices of Hunters echo around the ship.
"Alright you two, be prepared for anything. But remember I have a plan... which kinda sounds bad now, but trust me."
Raincutter and Niether rumble as the hatch opens up. Several Hunters walk down and over to Rocky's cage. A pair aim their crossbows at him, as the third opens the cage.
The Hunter points his sword at him and motions out of the cage. "Alright, out of the cage."
Rocky glances at the archers and narrows his eyes at them.
"Don't try anything, we aren't afraid to shot you." The Hunter chuckles.
Rocky rolls his eye as he limps out of the cage. He then gets poked in the back by the sword.
"Move!"
Rocky huffs as he glances to the side, spotting Niether wrapped in chains. Niether rumbles as he nods. Rocky smirks as he moves up the ladder and out the hatch.
He gets briefly blinded by the setting sun, be blinks a few times adjusting to the light. He looks ahead and his eye widens in horror.
In front of him is a massive fortress built into a massive ice glacier in the middle of a large island. He glances around and sees a dozen ships docked around the island.
"How in the world..." Rocky mutters in shock.
The Hunter with the sword chuckles. "Amazing isn't it? Sigewulf had it commissioned about a month ago. We've worked tirelessly to get it done, and the fortress is almost done."
Rocky looks around the ice fortress, spotting catapults, baristas, archer towers and bola guns. He grits his teeth as he also sees nearly a Hundred Hunters moving about the area building wooden structures into the ice glacier.
The Hunter then pushes Rocky forward and he's led down a ramp. He glances back to see his dragons, including the others, get loaded off the ship. Rocky is pushed towards the fortress as he's lead inside, deep inside.
He walks past a large armory, and a map room. He glances inside and sees a large map of the dragon isles, and a large circle around an an island he's assuming is this place. Which is rather close to where he would normally patrol.
He shoved again and they soon reach a large holding cell area. He looks inside a cell and spots a skeleton inside, making Rocky shiver.
Rocky is then pushed inside a cell and the doors slammed shut. The Hunter locks the door and chuckles.
"Get comfy boy, because soon your head will be off your shoulders." The Hunter laughs as he walks away.
Rocky grunts in frustration as he sits on a stone bed. But he smirks as he flips up his eyepatch and his vision splits. He sees Niether get pushed onto the island. He then watches the dragon get dragged into nearly the same route, he took, but they break off hallway through.
He watches his dragon then take a straight path into a large dragon holding area. Neither, Raincutter and the few other dragons are shoved into large green cages.
Niether watches the Hunters all walk away, then he glances at Raincutter. Rocky then flips down his eyepatch and glances to the side, seeing a small window in the ice wall. He walks up to the window and sees the setting sun in the distance.
Rocky hums in thought, before walking over to the stone bed, and lays down. "Got a couple hours, should get some rest."
Rocky closes his eye and quickly falls asleep.
A few hours later, Rocky's eye flutters open. He sits up with a yawn and tries to stretch, but its a little unsuccessful with his hands bound. He shakes his head and stands up.
He heads over to the window and looks out, seeing the moon shining down onto the fortress. Rocky then smirks as he moves his hands around and manages to grab the edge of the dagger.
He pulls it out and flips it around and starts cutting at his ropes. After a few moments he cuts himself free. He rubs his wrists as he shakes his hands. he then walks over to the door and looks over the hatch.
He hums as he then looks side to side outside the cell. Finding it clear, be brings up his dagger and stabs it into the latch. He fiddles with it, before a loud thank rings out.
Rocky smirks as he pushes the door open and carefully steps out. He pushes the door shut and looks around. He finds a nearby table and lights up, finding his satchel and sword.
He runs over as he hides his dagger in his bracer. He slings his satchel over his shoulder, before attaching his sword to his hip. He then runs over to the entrance and looks around, finding a sleeping guard at the entrance.
Rocky smirks as he sneaks over and nabs the key set from the sleeping Hunter. He lets out a quiet laugh as he quietly runs down the hall. he hides in small outcoves to avoid some Hunters.
Then after a few minutes of sneaking he finally reaches the dragon holding area. As he enters Niether perks up and quickly sits up. He looks to the entrance and lets out a coo as he sees the Human.
Raincutter, in the cage beside Niether, wakes up. She lets out a happy chirp as he walks over. He smiles as he drives his sword into the latch of Niether's cage and opens it up.
Niether rumbles as he steps out, shaking himself. Some of the nearby dragons call out.
"Hush, if you want saving be quiet!" Niether orders with a low growl.
All the dragons quickly go quiet. Rocky then gets Raincutter's cage open and she rumbles as she steps out. Rocky looks to all the dragons around him, spotting dozens of them.
He lets out a sigh. "Look, I can't save you all right now. But I promise to come back and rescue you all, I just need you to trust me."
Rocky climbs onto Niether's back. The dragon rumbles as he looks around, and finds a small hole in the wall. He runs over and finds it to lead outside. Niether rumbles as he looks around.
"It would be too loud to blast it..." Rocky mutters.
Niether tilts his head as he stands up on his hunches, which makes Rocky panic a little. But then the dragon slams onto the wall, making it crack. He slams against the wall a few times and it gives outward.
Niether lets out a laugh as he flies out and up into the sky. Raincutter quickly following after them. They quietly pass an archer tower without alerting them.
"Okay bud, we need to head back home and grab everyone." Rocky pats Niether on the back. "But how did we not find this place?"
Niether and Raincutter fly above massive ice glaciers coevering the waters, which would make ship travel near impossible. Rocky hums in thought as he pulls out his map and looks it over.
"...I see..."
"What?" Niether rumbles as he glances back.
"This place is only a few hours from Glacier island, but we thought with all the large ice formations no ship could get through. So we didn't ever patrol this far..."
Rocky curls his fists in frustration.
"UGH!" Rocky yells in anger. "I'm so stupid! I let Sigewulf get a foothold into our territory! STUPID STUPID STUPID!"
Rocky rolls up his map and shoves it into his satchel. He grits his teeth in anger.
"Hey, calm down." Niether rumbles. "Don't blame yourself, alright. It was just a simple oversite."
"But this oversite could've costed us a lot." Rocky points out as he sighs and shakes his head. "Just get us home, alright."
Niether rumbles as he speeds off into the night, with Raincutter following right behind him. As Tomorrow will be the start of the Final Battle.
NEXT CHAPTER
Battle For Dragon isle: Part 1
7-24-2026
3305 words