Part 2
"Mornin', Astrid." A cheery villager greeted me the next morning on my way through the market-place. I smiled and nodded his way, although I didn't feel all that happy inside. This was the day that Hiccup was to kill the Monstrous Nightmare in front of everyone, and the whole village was celebrating. Except for Hiccup and me. I wasn't sure about him, but Iwas terrified.
I made my way to the dragon arena among hundreds of other villagers. I managed to squeeze through the crowd and then headed toward the main tunnel to the inside of the ring.
"Well, I can show my face in public again!" Stoik joked as he stood in front of everyone in the stands, beginning his speech.
I got to the tunnel and found Hiccup standing at the mouth, his viking helmet in his hands. My heart flopped when I saw him. His back was to me, so I couldn't see his face. But by the way his shoulders were slightly hunched and head was lowered, I could tell he was as nervous as I was.
I would have gone up and stood in the stands with everyone else-Snotlout said he'd save me a spot by him... yay-but I felt like I needed to talk to Hiccup. He needed to know that I was there for him; right beside him. So I stood at the back of the tunnel, waiting for Stoik to finish his address.
"...But, here we are." Stoik said to the crowd, his booming voice echoing through the stadium. His speech was now almost over. "And no one is more surprised-or more proud-than I am. Today, my boy becomes a Viking. Today, he becomes one of us!"
Cheers erupted through the crowd as I walked down the tunnel, running my hand along the cold stone wall. "Be careful with that dragon," I told him.
"It's not the the dragon I'm worried about." Hiccup said, still facing the other way. He looked out as the crowd chanted his name.
"What are you gonna do?"
"Put an end to this. I have to try." He turned to me, looking down. Then he raised his eyes to me, and a worried expression crossed his features. "Astrid, if something... goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless."
Fear and concern began to stir inside of me as I looked into his eyes. "I will. Just-promise me it wont go wrong." I pleaded, my voice trembling on the last few words. I didn't want anything to happen to him.
Hiccup opened his mouth to say something, but Gobber appeared at the front of the tunnel, interrupting him. "It's time, Hiccup." He said, an encouraging smile on his face. "Knock 'em dead."
Hiccup turned to go, glancing back at me one last time before entering the ring. He placed his helmet on his head and walked out as Gobber closed the tunnel's gate.
I watched in nervous suspense from behind the bars of the gate as Hiccup picked up a shield and a dagger from the weapon board. He turned toward the caged door that the dragon was inside of and took a deep breath. "I'm ready," He announced.
A pully unlocked the cage and a Monstrous Nightmare, engulfed in flames, burst through the door. Hiccup jumped backwards, raising his shield. The Nightmare growled at him, then ran along the wall and blew a stream of fire at a crowd of people. It then climbed upside down across the chains that formed the roof of the arena, and then lowered itself to the ground, slowly creeping toward Hiccup.
The crowd leaned in, anxiously awaiting Hiccup's first move. "Go on, Hiccup!" Some chanted. "Give it to him!"
The dragon was slowly advancing toward Hiccup. It was about a foot from him, and Hiccup dropped his dagger and shield, holding his hands out to it.
Confusion emanated from the murmuring crowd. I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better view.
"Hey, it's okay. It's okay." Hiccup said to the Nightmare. Then he lifted his helmet off of his head and glanced up at Stoik in the stands. "I'm not one of them." He said, tossing his helmet to the ground.
Stoik leaned forward with a shocked but angry expression. I looked around at the alarmed crowd. People gasped and protested.
"Stop the fight." Stoik demanded.
"No! I need you all to see this." Hiccup let his hand hover above the nose of the dragon. "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."
The Nightmare calmed down, closing its eyes part way.
"I said, 'Stop the fight!'" Stoik shouted, standing up and banging his hammer on the railing above the ring.
Startled, the Monstrous Nightmare's eyes shot open, and it snapped at Hiccup's hand.
Hiccup jumped back and sped toward the wall, the dragon chasing after him. He managed to dodge a stream of flames that was fired at him, and then he ran, stumbling, to the other side of the arena.
"Hiccup!" I screamed, holding on to the bars of the gate with both hands. I needed to get out there and help him. I grabbed an axe off of the wall and used it to pry the gate open a little at the bottom, just big enough for me to squeeze through.
Hiccup ducked as more fire blew his way, and then he ran to the weapons board and grabbed a shield. The dragon smashed the board as he chased after him.
Inside the ring, I yelled Hiccup's name again as I tried to find a way to distract the dragon. I glanced down at a hammer laying on the ground. I picked it up and swung it at the dragon, and it nailed him in the head. I was panting as it narrowed its eyes and then came after me. I ran as fast as I could the other direction.
"This way!" I heard Stoik bellow from the other side of the arena. I looked around and saw him standing in the tunnel, the gate all the way open. I ran over to him, Hiccup following behind me. The dragon shot a blast of fire at the wall right next to us and Stoik pushed me against the wall, blocking the flames from me.
The Nightmare was headed our direction, so Hiccup skidded to a stop and then and ran the other way. The dragon chased after him and bounced off of the wall and landed on top of him, trapping him with its huge claws. I sucked in a breath, putting my hand over my mouth.
Just then, a high-pitched noise sounded from above us, and a white blast of fire exploded in the ring. A cloud of smoke obstructed the view from above as people panicked and climbed on the chain roofing, trying desperately to see what was going on.
There was clawing and growling as the Nightmare and Toothless rolled out of the smoke. They fought and snapped at each other, and then Toothless threw the Nightmare off of him and snarled. He backed up, shielding Hiccup, who was on his knees, panting.
Toothless snarled a few times and jumped at the Nightmare every time it tried to attack him. He gave one final growl, lunging forward at it. The Nightmare backed away, and then ran back inside its cage.
Hiccup struggled to his feet and ran over to his dragon. "Alright, Toothless, go. Get out of here." He told it, pushing his head with both of his hands. Toothless ignored him when he noticed viking men dropping into the ring, grabbing weapons and shouting.
"Go! Go!" Hiccup yelled as the men came closer. Toothless just glared at the men coming at him and narrowed his eyes.
Next to me, Stoik grabbed an axe from the wall and ran out into the ring. I gasped. "Stoik, don't!" I cried, but he ignored me.
Hiccup's eyes widened as he noticed Stoik running toward him and Toothless. "No, Dad! Dad, he won't hurt you!" He pleaded.
Toothless growled and bared his teeth, then jumped toward one of the vikings who was running at him with a weapon. He knocked the man to the ground and then smacked some against the wall. When he reached Stoik, he jumped on top of him and they rolled, Toothless ending up on top.
"Toothless, stop!" Hiccup pleaded. The dragon's mouth was open wide, ready to blast Stoik. "No. No!" Hiccup shouted.
Toothless stopped and closed his mouth, looking back at Hiccup with a hurt and confused gaze. Hiccup was breathing heavily as he looked back at his dragon, the same hurt in his own eyes. He knew what was going to happen next.
"Get him!" Some men yelled, wrestling the dragon to the ground. Toothless struggled under their grasps, but he couldn't get away.
I ran over to Hiccup and grabbed on to him, holding him back as he tried to go over to Toothless. "Oh, no, no, please! Just don't hurt him!" He begged, struggling against me. "Please don't hurt him."
Stoik managed to stand up and regain his balance. A few men came to his side, and one held an axe out to him. Stoik glared at the dragon for a moment, then pushed the axe away. "Put him with the others." He demanded.