By the time I made it to the mess hall, I was soaking wet. A storm had unleashed itself on our island as I was walking back to the village, and I hadn't been able to escape it in time. As I pushed open the wooden doors, feeling soggy and miserable, I heard chatter and knew the rest of the class was already there.
"Now, where did Astrid go wrong in training today?" Gobber said in his booming voice as I picked up a plate with a lone drumstick on it and carried it toward the table.
"I misjudged my somersault dive," Astrid sighed. "It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."
"Yeah," Ruffnut said in a bored voice. "We noticed."
"No, no, you did great," Snotlout assured her. "It was so…Astrid."
Astrid rolled her eyes.
"No, she's right," said Gobber, pacing behind her. "You've got to be on your guard at all time…" He rambled on, not noticing me. As I approached the table, Snotlout seemed to realize that he had an empty seat next to him, and he quickly put his hand on it to prevent me from sitting beside him. I walked around him and sat at an empty table beside Snotlout's, knowing full well that even if there was another open seat somewhere at the other table, no one would let me join them. I forlornly poked at the drumstick as Gobber rounded on me. "Ah, Hiccup. Where did Hiccup go wrong in training today?"
"Uh, he showed up?" said Ruffnut like the answer was obvious.
"He didn't get eaten," Tuffnut snickered, elbowing his sister in the shoulder.
I felt Astrid's eyes boring into my head. "He's never where he should be," she said in a very cold voice.
"Thank you, Astrid," Gobber said, cuffing the twins on the head. "You've got to live and breathe this stuff." He disappeared for a moment and then reappeared with a think book and dumped it on the table, sending quite a few plates tumbling to the floor. "The Fairy Manual. All we know about every fairy we know about." A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. "No attacks tonight," said Gobber. "Study up." He walked out of the mess hall, leaving us sitting at the tables behind him.
Tuffnut, who was trying to balance his fork on its end, suddenly sat straight up with a look of horror on his face. "Wait—you mean read?" he gasped.
"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut gasped.
"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout whined.
"Oh! Oh!" Fishlegs piped up excitedly. "I've read it like, seven times!" Snotlout stared at Fishlegs like he had sprouted two heads. Fishlegs continued, "There's this water fairy that sprays boiling water at your face! And, and there's this other fairy that buries itself for like a week—"
"Er, yeah, that sounds great," Tuffnut interrupted him. "And there was a chance that I was going to read that—"
"But…now…" said Ruffnut, sounding bored out of her mind.
"Well, you guys can stay here and read," said Snotlout, getting up off his seat and walking toward the door. "I'm gonna go kill stuff."
"Hey, wait for me!" the twins shouted together, trying to simultaneously follow Snotlout and push each other down at the same time. Fishlegs followed them, still talking about all the different fairies he had read about.
I slowly walked up to the Book of Fairies, which was lying on the table beside Astrid, who hadn't made any move to open it. "So I guess we'll have to share—"
"Read it," she said bluntly, cutting me off. She got up and walked away, shoving the book toward me.
I tried to act nonchalant. "Uh, okay then…wow, all for me! Well, I guess I'll see you—"
The door slammed.
"—tomorrow," I finished hopelessly. I sighed and went to get a candle. I had a feeling I would be reading for quite a while.
When I got back to the table, the mess hall had completely emptied itself of Vikings. The hall was so dark that without my candle I'd be lost. I sat down at the table, carefully set the candle holder down in front of me, and picked up the book. I scanned the cover and lifted the cover. "Fairy classifications," I read, "Elemental Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class..." I shrugged and then began to leaf through it.
"Thunderling. This reclusive water fairy inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled the Thunderlings produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." I flipped the page. "Timbers," I read. "This gigantic sharp creature has razor sharp strength that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." I flipped to another page. "The Scauldra. Sprays scalding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous—" Thunder suddenly boomed right outside the door, accompanied by a bright flash of lightning that shone through the cracks under the door like a solar eclipse. I jumped in fright, feeling slightly high-strung. There was something about reading a book about 'extremely dangerous' animals in the dark during a storm that made you a bit nervous. Turning to another page, I read, "Changling. Even newly hatched fairies can spray acid. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." I flipped through the rest of the pages, recognizing a few fairies. "Gardania… Gemini… the Skriller… Bonewhippers… Deathwhispers… burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside out… extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous, kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight—"
I abruptly stopped when I saw the last page of the book. It was completely blank except for a few words at the bottom.
"Night Angel," I read in a hushed voice. "Speed, unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of light and darkness itself. Never engage this fairy. Your only hope: hide and pray that it does not find you…" I trailed off. I hadn't thought that Night Angels were this hated in Berk. I stared at the blank spot that should have had a picture of the fairy and then quickly took out my notebook, opened it, and laid my diagram of the Night Angel on top of the book.
I had met a Night Angel. I had been pressed to the ground, roared at, and then left alone. I had let it see me and yet I had survived.
I didn't bother reading the rest of the book. I knew that every word written was false.