35Author's Note – This is obviously set during and immediately following the Volume III chapter titled 'The Hidden World'.
Ascendant
Shadowwing's roar still echoed off the walls of the massive throne chamber. His head was lifted high, wings fully flared, and he could feel his warm glow of strength and command. He spared a glance over his shoulder at Was-Grounded; his brother looked exactly the same.
Powerful. Strong. An Alpha.
There was no feeling of threat or challenge from the fellow Night Fury standing with him on the opposite side of the crystal. He knew and trusted his brother in all things, and he knew that the same was true for Was-Grounded.
They were both ascendant Kings of the Hidden World now, or at least of this part of it and the dragons who lived here.
Then he looked back out over the swarming flock. All the dragons from Haven, at least those who had humans of their own, were staying on the ground with their wings spread wide as they roared up at him and Was-Grounded.
He knew what was likely to happen eventually. The dragons that did not have humans of their own were certain to fly off after this and go... wherever they wanted to go in this world. Even the bonded dragons would be allowed to fly freely as they wished throughout the Hidden World. They were not pets.
He gave a heavy sigh.
We know nothing about this world. Someone should go map it eventually after everything settles down. Surely there must be an empty cave down here that we could use. I really hope so.
He glanced off into the distance. There was a large flock of dragons soaring away down far passageways and leaving behind the throne chamber. That was also their right. They had been hurt by humans and would not trust them, or they otherwise would not accept him and Was-Grounded as Kings.
They never saw us defeat the Bewilderbeast. We wouldn't be natural Alphas to them.
He also knew that there was another reason why they were leaving. There was nothing forcing them to bow down to new Alphas.
Night Furies could not force obedience on other dragons. Not even when they glowed with power. They could, by thinking their wishes to other dragons, request that a fellow dragon do something, but there was no force of will to compel that action. He knew that he would never use such a power against anyone even if he could.
Having been a victim of such mind-control in the past made that control something that hit close to his heart.
But he gave a warble of curiosity as an idle thought crossed his mind.
I never tried to use that thought-speaking with a human. I wonder if I could link with one? Probably not.
He rolled his eyes and huffed at himself.
There will not be a need!
He had, in all his years of life, not truly tried to talk out loud to a human. That he had never before realized that he could speak aloud in Norse was a sure sign that he was an idiot. It would take a lot of practice to learn spoken Norse, but he knew all the sounds that he needed to make.
That knowledge of what human words meant was something that it was likely that no Night Fury had ever learned before. His own being changed brought over that knowledge from when he had been human. His transformation therefore changed all the Night Furies, Light Furies, and Dawn Furies that would come from his and his brother's families out into the unknown future. They would be bilingual and would better bridge the gap between worlds.
The possibility that their children would eventually pair off together was an awkward one for him to think about. But, as Was-Grounded had assured him in the past, there was something about scent that let dragons know if a possible partner was too close kin to be an appropriate mate. If cousins were too close in their case, they would know about that and would not be attracted to each other. They would have to find other Night Furies and Light Furies throughout the Hidden World.
He glanced back over his shoulder at their families. Dawn-Singer, Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Mist-Wings sat on their haunches next to Green-Wings; the children were attentively looking on and awed at what they saw.
His own Luna had their son Moon-Dancer under a wing as she lay down with her head on her paws. She was gazing up at him while crooning to him, but as he gazed with warmth into her eyes it looked like there was a sadness in them.
He understood why.
There was so much that was unknown about the Hidden World right now. He knew that there was at least one full pack of Light Furies somewhere in the unknown caverns. It was possible that her parents were out there also.
Hopefully they are and we can find them one day... or however we will count time from now on.
He closed his eyes.
It was so strange to be sitting on the same throne where Mimir had sat until recently. That mystical dragon, who could see into his life, had fought the Hunters of Night Furies, had watched over dragons for hundreds of years, and who had magical, for lack of a better word, powers, was certainly gone.
His position had been unclaimed until now.
There was something strengthening about sitting on this glowing rock and watching the dragons all around him. His belly felt warmed by the light, and the crystal rock underpaw burned without any heat. There were still so many dragons all around down below.
Thought faded.
Whispers, emotions, and desires echoing from all around him.
Minds touched and fears and hopes shared.
Pure, raw power unclaimed in the binding unity.
His soul-fire reached out to poke at the oneness.
But...
It...
Recoiled...
The moment passed with a real or imagined flicker of light.
Shadowwing opened his eyes and looked out over the flock of dragons and humans down below; they were all staring up at him and his brother on the crystal throne.
He let out a heavy breath, let his light fade, folded his wings away, and turned to walk to his brother. Was-Grounded opened his eyes, did the same, and started toward him.
They shared a silent moment of trust, remembering everything that had happened over the last few days, and then turned together to walk down the slope to their families.
He knew that it was time to start rebuilding. First would come the search for a place in which to make a New Haven.
No one could possibly know what would follow that.
