NOTE:
Hooray, next chapter's here!
I'm going to start making these things longer, as I think just two pages in Microsoft Word is getting kinda small.
Anyway, please leave a review when you finish it, whether it's positive or negative (I can take it :P), and let me know how I can improve.
And as always, reading reviews is probably the best part about making these stories!
See you next time!
"Patches…" I whispered to myself.
"What did you say?" Astrid inquired while advancing towards me.
"Patches. Astrid, flip to the first page of the book, and tell me if there is a mentioning of an author anywhere!"
Cleary confused, she complied and parted the ends of the tattered book. She traced her index finger down the encrusted page, trying to decipher the ink that lay upon it. Stormfly waddled beside her, and peered at the small book in curiosity.
After a few moments of silence, she stated, "Ok, it doesn't explicitly state it, but whoever wrote this refers to himself as 'Patches'."
"Well, Patches here is more than likely dead." I tossed her the limp cloth, which she managed to catch with just one hand while the other secured the book.
Studying the dried blood and sewing work, she said, "Well, I'd say you're right. There's no puncture holes or unintentional slices in it, so it had to have been an impact of some sort. And to procure this much blood, it had to have been devastating. Unless it's someone else's, which I'm sure that we both doubt."
I nodded, and gazed at the steel beams high above us. The spaces between them were just wide enough for a human to fit through, but far from adequate for a Night Fury. They appeared to be covered in snowy foliage, which simulated a natural camouflage. That explained how we were unable to see this place from above. I decided to try to judge how high above the ground we were using my trusty sextant, so I searched for the position of the moon.
I mistakenly traced my eyes towards the gaping hole in the top of the cage.
It was clearly blown apart by force, likely from a dragon's doing. No question about it, this was how the Night Fury was able to escape. The torn pieces of metal folded outwards towards the sky, creating a spike formation around the opening, as well as a creepy feeling when stared at. Nonetheless, it suggested that the breach was from inside of the cage. However, the steel beams were much too thick for a single Night Fury to breach, and would have required a much greater explosion in order to effectively damage.
Astrid had apparently noticed what have captivated my mind.
"Whoa. That's a nice hole."
The immature side of me showed itself for a few snickers, before a sharp glance from Astrid sent it fleeing back into my subconscious.
"Whatever blasted that must have been much larger than a Night Fury. Problem is, if that tunnel was the only entrance before that was created, how could a creature of that stature make its way into here?" I asked as I used my sextant as a makeshift telescope to further inspect the gargantuan beams.
"Could it have been several smaller creatures?" She responded.
"Impossible. A steel beam of this magnitude would need a discharge much greater than anything a group of Terrible Terrors could produce."
"Maybe it was done by an enemy tribe? Like a break in through the tunnel with their own dragons, and then using them to plant some gunpowder barrels on the inside of the beams?"
A few moments of silence and thought overcame us, as we considered the possibility of a raid.
"Definitely possible, although I don't think a few barrels of gunpowder would have been enough. They would have needed half a cargo ship's worth. Besides, why would they want to free the Night Fury?" I replied.
"Probably so they could capture it as their own. I don't think any peaceful tribe would just have piles of explosives lying around. If I were a bloodthirsty tribe, a defenseless Night Fury would sound like a great opportunity to add to the arsenal."
"Fair point. But even then, why would they waste resources creating a small cataclysm and risking their lives instead of just leading the Night Fury back through the tunnel?"
Astrid looked down at the ground for a few moments in thought, before answering, "I don't know."
Silence soon fell upon us again, aside from the light play that Stormfly and Toothless were having together. The excited pattering of their feet and flaps of their wings filled our eardrums, as we attempted to come up with a plan.
"We could try to track down the Night Fury! Or, uh…" Astrid flipped open the book before continuing, "Eclipse!"
I suddenly realized what an oaf I had been. Of course, we needed to track down the Night Fury! Just after making a mental note to start referring to the dragon as Eclipse, I wholeheartedly agreed with Astrid, and we mounted our dragons.
"Where to first?" Astrid called to me as we carefully glided upwards through the breach in the steel.
I replied, "I think our best bet would be to take a peek at the last few pages in the book, and see how she was behaving before she escaped. Maybe her body language could point us there!"
We hovered above the camouflaged bubble, as I navigated through the pages within the decrepit book. They stopped about 50 entries in, and appeared to be spaced by a week between them. Eclipse had been trapped in here for a year?
On the last page there was yet another diagram, just as all the others had, but it was of a rather depressed looking Night Fury in the familiar shackles. Oddly enough, it appeared to be shivering, and surrounded by snow. The fact that someone would take the time to draw in the disparity of their prisoner seemed a tad morbid to me, but I tried to ignore the drawing. I focused my gaze on the faded text, and read throughout the lengthily paragraph with intent.
Week 56, Mid-December. Snow is falling in much heavier than usual, and it keeps covering our floor. Eclipse is extremely moody, and often depressed. Around every hour or so she attempts to take flight in the direction opposite of the left-most wall, only to be halted by the chain. Reason for this unknown. Refuses to eat, avoids all forms of attention, usually curled up on platform and hiding her face in her wings. We've tried to keep her warm, but she bats away any sources of heat, almost set the place on fire twice by accident. Particularly upset with me. Will try to reconnect later.
"Does it say anything about where she was trying to go?" Astrid's impatience was starting to show itself in her voice.
Attempting to give her my best answer, I stated, "Well, uh, it says that she was trying to fly opposite of the left-most wall…"
I ducked my head and peered below Toothless, and gauged which direction that would be.
"Which is that way, I think…"
"Alright, let's ride!" Astrid exclaimed, while proceeding to lurch Stormfly into full speed.
Toothless quickly darted after the two, as I clicked my prosthetic ankle into the correct position. For around 2 hours, we surveyed the area, steadily making progress in the direction the book suggested. It was around midnight when we found something of worth.
Another mountain in the snow harboring a cavern, only the hollow fortress of stone was much wider and much deeper. We were immediately aware of this when we heard the echoes of our dragon's feet return from the depths. What made the cavern stand out was the collection of damaged trees and shrubbery, most of which were now rotted due to the cold. Several claw and scorch marks we laid upon the walls of stone, as well as a couple of blood stains. Recent ones.
A few chills ran down my spine as I remembered how treacherous the journey down would be. The tunnel proved to be monotonously long, how deep would this one go? Nevertheless, we had to press on. I cautiously began to walk into the beckoning darkness, as Astrid's complaints followed from behind. Once again, she had to simply put up with my stubborn quest. It didn't take long for the sound of large dragon feet to start moving behind her as well.
Cool air began to envelope me, as I noticed that the walls were not formed from ice as the previous tunnel. No, for they were just a rigid slate this time. The cavern was rather moist feeling, and dripping water could be heard farther down. Stalactites and stalagmites littered the corners of the echoing chamber, and aside from the droplets of water, nothing could be heard.
I happened to catch a sight of what appeared to be a weapon of some sort off to the right. Though difficult to distinguish in the dark, it was certainly a sword of sorts. Perhaps it was a relic of someone's legacy? I slowly moved towards it, with my hands out to the front of me to prevent bumping into anything. It suddenly occurred to me that Toothless could light our way, and make navigation a lot safer.
I would have called for his assistance, but I don't think he would have heard me for the sound of stone giving away beneath my feet.
"Hiccup" was the last thing I heard before I plummeted through the ground and into the unknown. My panicked yells filled my own ears, as well as the sound of years of still air being disturbed by my flailing presence. It felt like entire minutes passed before I broke the surface of deep water. I quickly shook off my fears, and made a mad swim to the surface.
Fresh, sweet oxygen filled my lungs the moment I made it above the water. I treaded my way towards the shallower area, and found myself standing on yet more stone. Only this time, I was freezing and sopping wet.
I didn't have Toothless with me to light up the area, so I fumbled through my satchel to find the next best thing: A small, yet efficient tallow candle. I personally found candles to be of great use, mostly because they were compact and quite durable. They also provided an emergency source of wax, should the moment require it.
Once again, being separated from Toothless meant that I didn't have a source of flame, so I would have to light the candle myself. I protruded a chunk of steel and a frail piece of flint from the same pack, and placed the candle on the ground. Although they were moist, they should still function. In the overwhelming darkness, the sparks were equivalent to torches.
It took several minutes to light the candle, but eventually the wick managed to catch hold of a spark, and slowly turned to dainty, yet brilliant flames. I righted myself off of the ground, replacing the flint and steel into my pack while holding the rectangular wax block in my left hand. The orange flame splashed against the walls, revealing that this corridor was relatively flat. What appeared to be scratch marks were scattered around them, in groups of 3.
But the pile of fish bones was what caused fear to kick in. Hundreds upon hundreds of sharp, skinny bones formed a heap to the right of me, casually resting against the wall. They were remarkably clean, as if someone had taken the time to wash them off in order to keep them from smelling. I inspected the bones at the top of the pile, and my growing suspicions were correct: They were still fresh in color, and thus recently eaten.
Something lives down here.
As if on queue, a deep, thundering growl sounded from behind me. It practically froze me in place, and my entire body turned cold. I could feel my gut instinct demanding that I should turn around, while my brain screamed that I needed to turn and run.
But, due to me having a pool of water on my right, and the creature behind me to my left, that wasn't really an option. Thus, I cautiously turned my upper body to meet what had caused the noise face to face. I could only stare in awe and terror as I managed to put the dragon in focus.
Piercing violet eyes stared back.
