Chapter Text
It was all Tommy could do to not gasp as Dream removed his mask. Deep, jagged scars of past burns overtook half of his face. Twisting his crazed smile into an awful sneer. Insanity glinted in the poison-green eye that remained.
“I vowed to rise above the fear of dragons Tommy, to liberate the people of this world from their horrid reign.” Dream took a step forward, hand clenched tightly on his spear. Tommy took one step back.
“Then why.. why a dragon army?!” “Well, you see, you need dragons,“ Dream waves his hand toward his Bewilderbeast, “to control other dragons.” He then waved his other toward Tommy’s dragon, Shroud. Tommy snarled, stepping slight in front of him. No one was going to touch his dragon, his best friend.
“Or maybe you need dragons to conquer people, to control those who follow you.. and to get rid of those who won’t.” Rage boiled his blood as he watched Dream tilt and eyebrow, amusement clear as day on his ruined face. “Face it Dream. You just like the taste of power. You’re nothing, nothing I say, without it.”
“Clever boy.. I’ll give you that.”
Second ticked by, both watching each other. Waiting for the other to make a move. Tommy made it, because maybe, just maybe, he could give the other a chance. “The world.. the world wants peace.” His hand hovered over Shroud, beckoning Dream. Hope flickered in his chest, maybe he could end this bloody war once and for all. “And we have the answers back in Artica. Just.. just let me show you-“
“NO.” The golden-haired boy flinched. Dream took several steps back, raising his spear slightly. “LET ME,” he raised it completely up, “SHOW YOU!” He started waving it around, yelling harshly.
That got the Bewilderbeast’s attention. It clambered heavily over warriors and dragons, kicking traps and killing those unfortunate enough that were in it’s path. Raising its forepaws, it roared loudly. The sound bounced across the icy battlefield, raising high into the sky and far over the sea. This creature, was truly an alpha.
The maniac blonde threw back his head, laughing. “No dragon can resist the alpha’s command.” He grinned, canines flashing. His spear pointed at the beast, “So he who controls the alpha,” he lowered it slowly towards Shroud. “Controls them all.”
Eyes narrow, the monster stared down on the smaller dragon. Immediately painful yelps were heard from the Night fury.
“Shroud?”
His dragon wavered back, shaking its head around.
“Hey hey, it’s ok!”
Whines, screeching were all that came from Shroud.
“Shroud..? Shroud! Fight it! You can do this bud!”
Eyes went from dilated to narrow, constantly switching.
“SHROUD! PLEASE!”
“Witness true strength Tommy..” Dream cackled, watching from the side. Watching as the dragon lost more and more of it’s control to the power. “The strength of will over others..” The sounds of pain stopped, Shroud still. “Shroud..?”
“In the face of it,” Dream now pointed the spear from Shroud to Tommy. “You.. are…” hissing noises could be heard from the dragon’s chest. Purple light started to glow within it’s mouth. “Nothing.”
Shroud started creeping over to their rider. No recognition shined any longer, all sense gone. “Uhh.. what did he tell you..” Tommy backed up. The hissing grew only louder. “Shroud! Come on!” Nothing. Not even a flicker of a ear to signal that it heard. “Stop! Snap out of it!”
Dream turned his back, walking away.
The boy couldn’t do anything to stop the man.
The dragon crept only closer, blast nearly ready.
“SHROUD! NO! STOP!”
Everything moved in slow motion.
The rear of his friend’s starry black head. The clanging of steel. The shouts from his dad. Ice breaking and snapping.
Wait Dad?
“TOMMY!” Dark-blue robes flashed at the edge of his vision.
“STOP SHROUD!”
“SON!”
The shot fired.
“DAD!”
The plasma blast echoed in Tommy’s ears, resonating a dark and dreadful truth. Ice clattered down from the skewer above. Everything was quiet, but yet battle was still raging and dragon’s blast still firing. Everything was mute to Tommy. His body ached from getting slammed to the side.
Oh my gods.
Smoke trailer gently from Shroud’s mouth, eyes still slits from the alpha’s control. Everything was moving to slowly yet far to quickly. Tommy could feel his body buzzing from adrenaline.
No. No. No. NO. NO.
He scrambled up, looking from side to side. Blue and white robes laued crumbled beneath a pile of ice. A pale hand paired with pale-yellow hair stretched out from beneath.
“DAD!”
“PHIL!”
Twin shouts were heard. The boy sprinted to his dad, eyesight blurry and cheeks wet as he messily tried to shove the freezing spikes off of him. Within moments a woman with dark brown hair spilling over her shoulders joined him, pulling her husband onto his back.
Resting her head onto his chest, she checked for a pulse. Neither breathed, until all she did was shake her head.
“Mom.. no..”
A stunned gasp sounded from above, and both looked up to see a man staring down at the fallen warrior. Cherry-pink hair waved messily in the harsh breeze, blood eyes wavering with pain and anguish. “Philza..”
The others were gathering around by now as well. Wilbur, Tubbo, Ranboo, Niki, Fundy, Eret, even Quackity was as well. The now former dragon hunter’s eyes were trained on the ground. The grief that heavied the air even managed to reach him.
Slowly but surely, time moved on. Vikings and hunters and traps were loaded onto ships. Dragons of all kind followed their alpha as it trailed behind the fleet.
“May the Valkyries welcome you, and lead you through Odin’s great battlefield.” A lone ship drifted from the shore, sails tattered, wood burned. It carried the wind of death. “May they sing you name with love and fury, so that we might hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla, and know that you’ve take your rightful place.” Hands clenched tightly on their bow, white-knuckles stark in the dying light. “At the table of kings, for a great man.”
It sailed ever so slowly. An arrow was placed into his awaiting hand.
“A warrior.”
By Odin was he mighty in a fight.
“A chieftain.”
He never let down his Clan once.
“A father.”
Salty tears fell down his already-sticky cheeks.
Technoblade’s voice wavered, choking back a poorly hidden sob. “A friend.”
Tensely, Tommy dipped his arrow into a dying fire. Nocking it in his bow, he dragged back the string. Fog filled the air, the small fire on the tip flickering. A weight was released off his tired shoulders when he let out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding. He fired.
One by one, everyone let go of their arrows.
The burning ship drifted away into the fog, carrying the body of a once-great angel.