Hello there, my name is waveringshadow. Welcome to The Night's Fury. To those who read Fiery Mane and Shadowy Scales, hello again, I hope you enjoy. To those who haven't, I hope you find my writing satisfactory. If not, constructive criticism is welcome.

I am a great lover of fairy tales and am basically a HTTYD fangirl. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourites so, in the way these things do, they blended in my head to form this. You'll find lots of references to my other favourite books/movies too. I found after I started writing this there are some other stories that are least similar, but I wouldn't know exactly how similar because I made sure I didn't read them. Wouldn't want to accidentally steal someone else's idea.

I hope to update this roughly every week, but I doubt that will always happen. So if it has been a while, don't worry, its on its way, I'm just drowning in homework or something like that. Also, the first two instalments will be a bit on the short side, but after that they get longer. I usually average about 3000 words a chapter.

Btw, the cover image is my own drawing. :)

Have fun, I hope you like!

Prologue

The dragon's nest was a place of anger and fear. The anger was sourced mainly from the Queen, a great hulk of a dragon, with grey scales that had begun to decay after so much time spent in the absence of sunlight. She rested in the pit below the rest of the dragons, where her venomous exclamations could constantly be heard by all. Some anger came from the prouder dragons, who knew of the freedom and joys that did not exist in the bleak oppression that was their current life. The rest of the nest emitted fear. Fear for what was to happen to them and their loved ones, for the Queen showed no mercy for no dragon.

The fear was extra potent that night. You could have sliced the air with one hot claw, for the atmosphere was so tense. The Queen was in the height of her rage, for a Seer Dragon had stepped forth. These were mysterious dragons that only appeared for a short amount time every few years, then left, with no acknowledgment of the Queen or her tyranny. The humans called these dragons Flightmares, for their ability to paralyse with one icy breath. They were one of the most powerful and respected dragons in dragon society. What the humans did not know of these dragons was their power of scrying, to receive visions and create prophecies that all dragons respected, for a Seer was never wrong.

This particular Seer Dragon had a vision of the Queen's downfall, which was news that was not received well by the Queen.

"Who? Who is the bringer of my downfall?" the Queen growled icily.

"The Shadow Stalker. He shall come forth and challenge your rule, mounted by a Viking boy."

The Queen raised to her full height. "Who is this boy?"

"He comes from the isle that the humans call Berk. He is the heir to the chieftainship there. The boy with green eyes shall join with the Shadow Stalker, and bring the destruction of your empire."

"No! It shall not be! I am Queen, and I shall always be Queen."

"The spirits have spoken, I am but a messenger."

"Bring me the Shadow Stalker!" the Queen cried, as the Seer quickly made its escape.

There was a murmuring amongst the dragons, before a sleek black dragon stepped forward. He had a proud air about him, like that of a cat, and possessed piercing green eyes with vertically slitted pupils.

"I am Shadow Stalker!" he spoke proudly, no hint of fear in his voice.

"Come forth Shadow Stalker, so I may appraise you."

The dragon leapt down from the ledge on which he was perched, and came to rest in front of the Queen's looming silhouette, gazing proudly into the ruler's piercing gaze.

"Do you wish my demise?"

"I would never think of such a monstrosity."

"As I thought, as I thought. Shadow Stalker, you are a valued member of my empire, and you would be sorely missed shall I have to kill you. No, will give you one night. One night to prove your loyalty. You must go forth and kill this green-eyed boy. That way, the prophecy cannot be fulfilled. If you fail, you will be dead before next sun down. Do you understand?"

"Fully, my lady."

"Very well. Go! I expect you back in time for breakfast. My breakfast. I hope Shadow Stalker will not be the first course. Go my legions!"

Much chaos ensued, as the dragons hastily left the nest, some with longing to escape, others just with fear of what would happen should they stay behind.

"And watch my Shadow Stalker! If he makes any wrong moves, kill him!"

The cavern was filled with echoes of, "Yes your grace, of course my majesty," as the last of the masses left.

()()()()()

The proceedings followed as any raid did. The Nightmares stirred trouble at the watch towers, while the Nadders made for the sheep. The Zipplebacks distracted the remaining angry villagers as Gronckles stole the fish and cured meats. Shadow Stalker was a special operative. His job was to remain in the sky, shooting down important weaponry and enemy constructions, as well as coming in whenever someone needed a back-up. Shadow Stalker never missed, and to date, no human had ever seen him. To them, he was a creature of myth, a reputation he was proud of.

He kept an eye out for the boy, the boy he had to kill before sunrise. Morning was coming, you could almost see first rays of light on the eastern horizon. Shadow Stalker was beginning to become anxious. He had just struck down a nearby tower, when he caught sight of a skinny lad, holding a strange manoeuvrable contraption. And a flash of green, green eyes. The boy of prophecy!

However, Shadow Stalker had little time to process this before he saw something fly towards him, and he was shot down. He fell at high velocities, letting out a screech of shock and pain. His wing were bound, and he felt a searing pain in his tail. He crashed to the ground far from the village, breaking many trees and ploughing into the ground as his trajectory was drawn to a painful halt. He let out a groan of agony, and struggled against his bindings, to no avail.

Shadow Stalker let his head fall to the ground, and he let out a mournful sigh as he watched the sun's rays meet the inky blue sky. He had failed, and he was to die before he saw the next nightfall. How it pained him. He had yet to live his life to the fullest. Since he was a hatchling, he had been in service to the Queen, with no one to call mother, nowhere else to call home. He had hoped to one day escape the Queen's clutches, and live a free life without hatred and terror. Instead, he waited in pain for the other dragons to find him, and take him to meet his death at the Queen's hand. Shadow Stalker had been told that he had been stolen from his nest when he was just an egg, brought as a gift of peace to the Queen before his nest was destroyed. For all he knew, he was the last of his kind. What a sad day this was. The end of Shadow Stalker, and possibly the end of his kind.

()()()()()

As the sun rose higher into the sky, Shadow Stalker was so welled up in his self-pity that he failed to notice the approach of a human boy. The dragon's eyes flashed to that of the boy's as he clambered over the small hill between them. The boy, it was the boy of prophecy. Oh how he wished he could just turn his head and shoot the Viking down, his life would be saved but, alas, his binding prevented even the slightest of movement. The boy had a small dagger in hand, and he held it high, murmuring the last words Shadow Stalker would ever hear, the words of his death. He lolled his head back, preparing himself for the forthcoming pain, but none came. His eyes shot open as he felt a vibration from the ropes around his torso. He flashed a glance at the boy to see he was loosening his bindings. As the final rope snapped free, Shadow Stalker leapt up and pounced on the poor boy. Fear shot through his distinctive green eyes, as he stared into the furious slitted orbs upon him. The eyes of the Night's Fury.

Thoughts raced through Shadow Stalker's head like lightening. He must die, if Shadow Stalker was to live. But the boy freed him. Shadow Stalker would be dead if it were not for him, now he had a fighting chance. Shadow Stalker's mind snapped to a decision, and he let out an almighty roar in the child's face.

"You dare challenge me! I shall curse you, with the power invested in me. I draw upon the power of my kind. You shall be doomed to live the life that I have endured. By night you shall be dragon, by day, a man. You shall belong to neither faction. An outcast you shall be forevermore. So I say it, so mote it be!"

The child stared at Shadow Stalker's face with bewilderment, his chest heaving heavily. Shadow Stalker turned, and left the boy to his doom. The boy picked up his dagger, and went into the motions of walking back to his village before he fainted, the curse taking hold.

Shadow Stalker had to leave, as quickly as possible, before the other dragons found him. He found a clearing in the tree canopy, and leapt up, spreading his wings to take flight. As his wings caught the air, Shadow Stalker was tilted into a cartwheel, his balance escaping him. The dragon cried out in surprise and confusion. He jumped up once more, only to come crashing down once again. Shadow Stalker turned around to his failing tail, and let out a cry of horror to find his left tailfin had been completely ripped off. The dragon let out a woeful keen as, everybody knew, a downed dragon was a dead dragon. He should have killed the boy while he still had the chance.

His cries of shock and horror had caught the attention of the searching dragons nearby, and soon a Monstrous Nightmare and a Rumblehorn landed in front of the keening dragon.

"My tail! That horrible, retched boy has broken my tail! I shall never fly again."

"Shadow Stalker, has the task been done, have you killed the boy?"

"Did you see what he did to my tail?" Shadow Stalker moaned. "Of course I killed him."

"Then the deed is done, we shall bring you back to the Queen. You no longer have anything to fear."

The black dragon continued to cry over his new found disability, as the dragons took him at each wing, and flew him back to the Queen's nest.

Shadow Stalker stayed there for five years, with no hope of escape. He learnt to work the best he could with what he had, but he was never to fly again. He hid in the shadows of the Queen's lair, and bore witness to five years of pain, anger and fear. This does not bare well on a sane mind. The Queen let him live, for he had always been one of her favourites, but his new life was a fate worse than death. Shadow Stalker knew this, and every new day he swore to end the Queen and her reign of tyranny, no matter what the cost. He had nothing left to lose.

Ta da! Pretty please review. We all love reviews. :) Feel free to ask any questions, I'll answer them, either through PM or in the AN. Until next week (hopefully)!