Chapter Twenty-Eight: Books, crazy royalties and an escape
On Berk, Hiccups bed considered of a wooden frame, wooden planks, a small pillow and a blanket.
It was never really comfortable but he'd gotten used to it.
Then he'd run away. Loki might have given him a bed but it wasn't that different from his old one.
After that he'd started his journey. There, he usually slept in caves, tugged firmly under Toothless' wing and cuddled in a blanket with a small pillow.
He'd gotten use to it too.
But now he lay in a King-Size bed with thousand pillows and a hundred blankets, a soft mattress and he hated it!
His whole life he'd asked for such a comfortable bed. And now that he had it, he didn't want it any more.
Maybe due to the fact that he'd been tossing around for nearly an hour now, tiered, but not able to sleep.
His conversation with the King and all the information he'd gathered swirled around in his head.
His ancestor, Hiccup the second, had brought peace to this land by training the dragons. But Berk had banned him for doing so when he succeeded. Why?
His Ancestor had a connection with the gods, just like him. And he could speak dragonese. Just like Hiccup could speak any other language. Plus he was supposedly the exact twin of his ancestor. Why them and how?
The King was an immortal soul with all kind of sets of memories. How?
Next the king didn't believe him. And Hiccup doubted that even if he consulted his war-council, they would agree with him.
So what now?
He turned again onto his side and starred at the white wall.
The book.
All his thoughts went back to that book. What had the King called it? "A hero's guide to deadly dragons." He mumbled. Hiccup sat up. He needed that book. For sure.
Then he laid back. Even if he managed to find his way back to the library, would it guarantee him that it was there?
He sighed.
Something dry and scaly pressed against his arm.
He looked into Toothless' big green orbs.
"Imagine that bud. If I could speak dragonese… I would be able to understand you even better. And with that book! We could train every dragon. Oh, that would make so many things so much easier."
Toothless cooed and licked his cheek. The message was obvious to Hiccup. 'You don't need to speak my tong to understand me.'
"I know bud. It's just…something tells me this book is important."
The next morning, Hiccup was woken by the same servant that had showed him his room the evening before.
He brought him breakfast and told him that the King sent his greetings and that he was busy with kingdom issues. Hiccup should feel free to explore the castle and the library.
Hiccup couldn't hide his grin. That was nice.
But he had to realize it wasn't as nice as he thought. He somehow found the library but when he entered and saw the place, fully lighten with daylight, he swallowed. Gods above, this place was huge!
Try to find a book here.
Luckily there was a librarian. He was scrawny, thin and with no apparent reason armed with two swords.
"Excuse me. I'm looking for a book." "Then you're right. This is a library, you know?" the man sneered. Hiccup fought the urge to roll with his eyes. He knew that!
"It's called 'A hero's guide to deadly Dragons'. You don't happen to know where it is, do you?" The man looked at him with small eyes. "Yes, I do." Hiccups heart skipped a beat. "But I'm not telling you." Hiccups heart sank.
He sighed. "Why?" "Because it's the king's property. And you're not the king." "Obviously. But my ancestor wrote it." "Everybody could say that." "Pretty please?" "No."
Hiccup sighed and left.
He was somewhere deep inside the labyrinth of bookshelves, reading some book about different breeds of dragons.
It was interesting. Many of those dragons Hiccup didn't know. And unlike in Berk, here they were raised and sold. Like sheep and horses.
He was reading the chapter about rare species, when someone next to him said: "You know, I tried many time to get my father to let me read that book. But he won't. No one is allowed to read it except him. Everything we learn for training dragons is transferred by word." Hiccup shrieked and let the book drop.
He bent down and scooped it up. When he straightened again he saw Princess Joanna standing in front of him. He bowed.
"Don't do that Hiccup. I feel strange if you do so." He shifted his weight awkwardly. She just looked at the books and while pulling out this and that she talked on.
"Which is a good thing if you ask me. I assume my father told you all about your ancestor." Hiccup nodded. "What he did was great. But as you probably know, knowledge is might. And who is mighty can be dangerous." "For your father?" he asked. "For the kingdom." She glanced at him. "You maybe not know this Hiccup but that book…it brought also a lot of sorrow with it and the one who wrote it. And what it says is not necessarily good." Hiccup arched an eyebrow. "When has knowledge ever been bad?" "When it was abused for power." "Do you fear I would use the book for such things?" She turned to face him. "I don't know what you want here, nor am I sure I want to. But you have to be more careful." "What do you mean?" "I'm not sure I'm the right one to tell you. Just don't tax my father's patience longer than necessary okay?" "You want me to leave?" "Not exactly. More to retreat. Yu don't belong here. None of you does." Hiccup was confused. "You aren't the first one to seek the book Hiccup. Over the years there were many attempts to steal the book. A few times those people succeeded. We always got it back. But always there were fights over the book. Many died getting it. And horrible things happened because of it. Don't be angry if my father won't give it to you." "But can I at least read it? It was written by my ancestor. It's practically my property." She pierced him with her dark eyes. "Is it?" He swallowed.
"Look, I need the book to do, what I was chosen to do. I can't tell you all of it. But if you don't help me, we're all going to die." "I'm not sure I would ally with someone who is not going to tell me the whole truth." "A few things don't need to be told and a few things mustn't be told." Hiccup tried to reason. The he sighed. "Would you talk with your father about it?" Joanna shook her head.
"I'll have to think about it. And I'll be honest, I'm not so sure."
With that she disappeared in the rows of shelves.
Hiccup felt defeated.
In the rafters over him, something moved.
He looked up but saw nothing but darkness.
He shook it off as some kind of stress.
Back in his room, he walked up and down like a trapped tiger. He needed the alliance of Derandolia in this. He needed the book. He felt he did. On the other hand how things were going he might as well leave now.
He was torn between wasting his time and travelling on. Maybe come back later.
He sighed.
He sat down on his bed and looked at the sleeping form of Toothless. He wasn't sure why, but ever since he'd heard about his ancestors ability, he started to wonder, what Toothless had to say sometimes or what he talked with other dragons about.
Hiccup spend the whole evening in his room until a servant called him for dinner.
Again they sat together, all four of them.
But other than yesterday there was silence. Joanna kept looking at her plate. Hiccup could tell that she was still bothered by their talk this afternoon.
After a while the king cleared his throat.
"I've talked to my council this morning. And they agree. This is nothing we will go to war for."
Hiccup felt how all hope shattered inside him.
He looked into the kings eyes.
"I see." He said and got up. "Where are you going?" Joanna asked. "Packing my things. There is no reason for me to stay here." He bowed to the king. "Thank you your majesty. It was worth a try. I hope you see that everything that will happen from now on will be your own fault."
"Hiccup, wait!" He didn't, as he strolled down the corridors to his room. Joanna ran behind him, her long dress slowing her down.
He pushed open the doors to his room. Toothless looked up, annoyed by the sudden disturbance.
"Hiccup you can' just leave!" Joanna panted. "Why? You said it yourself, I don't belong here. I only will bring sorrow." "That's not what I meant." "Then what did you mean?" She threw her arms in the air desperately. "Not this." "I really don't see why you suddenly care." She sighed. "Maybe I've come to lie you." She muttered.
Hiccup froze dead in his tracks. "You…what?" Joanna's face was bright red. "I…I think I like you Hiccup. I've never got meet many people from outside. Only people my father wanted me to meet. And you…when you came along, you were…you were so…" "So what?" he demanded to know.
Joanna lunched forward and crashed her lips into his.
Hiccup stood there frozen like a stature.
The awkward moment was disrupted by the sound of a loud bell, rang through the night. They broke apart.
"That's the warning bell. Something happened." Joanna said, their kiss totally forgotten. "But what? Did a criminal escape?" "We currently don't have any in the dungeons."
She looked at him with a frown. "Stay here, I go and talk to my father. And please, don't leave."
With that she was gone.
Hiccup stood there like ordered and never picked up.
But that was before the door to his room burst open again. But it wasn't Joanna. It was the king and a whole squared of knights and guards.
Hiccup rose. "What's the matter?"
The king snarled. "You are you treacherous snake. It's just like before. You are like your ancestor. A lair, a thief!" Hiccup raised his arms. "What are you talking about?" "You stole the book! I don't know who you found it, but I want it back and I want you gone!"
"What book?" Hiccup cried. "Don't play stupid boy, you know which book. The book of dragons!" Hiccups eyes widened. "Somebody took it?" "You took it!" "No, I didn't!" "Arrest him men!"
Looking back at it, Hiccup was sure it was a stupid move but he was in panic. He reached for his backpack, whistled sharply and set the room on fire.
Within seconds smoke blocked everybody's view. Flames rose and burned everything in their reach.
Hiccup heard shouting, cries, commands and coiffing.
Toothless was at his side and together they managed to escape from the room. The flames were as usual no problem and even the smoke had no effect on him.
Outside the smoke was not so dense.
The hurried down the hallways.
"This went really bad." Hiccup said to Toothless.
They heard shouts behind them and loud footsteps. "Damn it, they found out we're not there anymore."
Hiccup had the feeling there were steps coming from everywhere around him.
He directed Toothless into a smaller corridor and ran along.
But then there were shouts from ahead. Panicking he looked around but even from the direction they had come from, footsteps closed in on them.
They were cornered, done for, doomed, their fate was sealed…
"In here you idiot!" someone hissed next to him.
Hiccup, again, jumped.
Out of nothing stood a figure, dressed all in black next to him. The voice under the tight mask was muffled and Hiccup couldn't make out a single feature.
Next to him/her was a black hole in the wall. A secret passage.
"In there or they will find you."
Hiccup didn't disagree.
A small part of his mind warned him that this might be a trap but he was desperate. And desperate times call for desperate actions.
He and Toothless dived into the blackness and the secret door closed behind.
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Hiccup could only hear his fats beating heart and his erratic breathing.
Then there were sparks in the darkness and a torch blew to life.
The masked figure stood there, in what seemed to be a tunnel.
"Thanks." He said and wiped the sweat away.
"Follow me. And don't make any noise."
For a few minutes they ran through the darkness.
From time to time Hiccup could hear shouts through the walls.
"Where are we going?" he whispered. "Somewhere safe to open a door and get you out. Now shut up." "What's your name?" "Which part of 'shut up' didn't you understand?" he/she hissed. Honestly, Hiccup couldn't make out the gender of his savior.
But he obeyed and shut up.
After a while they stopped at a dead end.
Hiccup thought they might have taken the wrong way but the figure pressed a hand against the wall and it slid open.
"Come on." The corridor was dark, empty and silent.
They tiptoed along, avoiding the bigger corridors.
But Hiccup wasn't a lucky person.
Suddenly there was a "There they are!" and it sounded like a whole football team of Hairy-Hooligans was coming their way. Petrifying.
Hiccup looked at the figure in black.
"I'll distract them. Just follow this corridor; it will lead you to the main hall. Be careful there they will probably have set up guards to keep you from escaping, should you make it that far. Just wait that the end for me, okay?" Hiccup nodded. "Okay. Now throw me." "What?" "You heard right. Throw me up!" He/she pointed at the low rafters that decorated ceiling above them.
He didn't ask, he folded his hands together and the figure came running at him, stepped into the folded hands and Hiccup pushed him/her upwards.
He/she sailed through the air and caught the rafter. A moment he/she hung there, then he/she managed to climb on it.
Quickly he/she got to both feed and what came next make Hiccups heart stop.
The figure jumped.
It landed on the next rafter probably four meters away and continued jumping, somersaulting and cart wheeling to make his/her way up the corridor.
Hiccup had never seen anything like this before. There was no sound, just a brief shadow, blending in with the shadows around.
He didn't see the men but he heard surprised shouts and angry calls, followed by the sound of metal against metal.
He looked at Toothless. "Should we follow?" The dragon shrugged. Suddenly all noise died down.
"Or not." Hiccup decided and started running down the aisle.
The end of the corridor was quickly reached.
They peaked into the great hall. The figure was right. Over there dozen guards alone guarded the entrance.
Not counting the ones patrolling around.
Suddenly there was the figure next to him.
He/she hissed. "Well done Haddock. This won't be easy." "Won't be easy? There are over thirty armed men guarding the hall. And more probably coming our way!" he shrieked.
The figure looked at him though it was hard to tell, the Mask had no holes for the eyes. That must have been what it was like to be starred down by an earthworm.
Concentrate Hiccup. Loki? No, now concentrate or I skin you alive.
"…they should be distracted and we go, okay?"
Hiccup shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. "What?" he asked. He could've sworn that the the figure rolled with its eyes under its mask.
"Just follow my lead. How do they say? Offence is the best defense?"
With that he/she stormed forward, charging at the nearest guard, two wickedly long and sharp curved knifes in hands.
"Whoever that is, he/she has totally lost it! And me apparently too."
With that he charged too.
Everything was a blur. Sidestep, slash, duck, stab, roll, hit, parry swing. For a while it went on like this.
Men fell from his strikes or fled.
But most of the work did the mystery figure. He/she fought like a daemon.
At one point he/she looked up and saw him looking at him/her in awe.
"Don't just stand there." He/she called. "Do something you lazy…" the insult never followed. Hiccup saw someone creeping up behind him/her and he called out: "Behind you."
The figure swirled around just to see the blade coming down.
Hiccup grabbed instantly for his two throwing knifes.
He'd never used them before but now they flew through the air and hit their target. He ran for his savior and grabbed his/her arm and hauled him/her to his/her feet (gods above, this is getting annoying. Just find out which gender he/she is! :-p) but then he made the mistake and looked down. His two knifes had hit the guard in the throat and the head.
He felt nauseous. He'd killed a man. A man who might be a father or husband, who was a son and a friend!
The figure had to slap him to wake him from his trance.
"Hiccup! We have to get out of here!" He shook his head. "Right. Toothless!" The dragon was at his side. Hiccup helped the hurt warrior onto his back and climbed behind him/her. "Let's go!"
With one plasma blast Toothless shot the giant double doors open, ran outside, opened his wings and with two mighty beats they were airborne, flying over the city.
Below them were shouts and something whistled past Hiccups cheek. "Damn it. Toothless, up!" They clinched to the saddle as the Night Fury honored his name and shot up, fats as a lightning bolt.
All lights and shouts died behind them.
They had made it.
Toothless landed them far away in the woods.
The moon was directly above them and illuminated the clearing. Hiccup helped his…associate… down from Toothless' back.
But imminently he/she collapsed in his arms.
He carefully laid him/her down and kneeled next to him/her. "Okay, where did he hit you?" "I'm fine." "And I'm the princess." He/she punched him in the arm. "Aw!" "Tight." He/she whispered.
Hiccup looked down and saw blood oozing down the leg.
"Okay. Stay low, don't move too much. It doesn't look to deep." It looked pretty deep for him. "Toothless, give us some light buddy." The dragon purred and set some dry leaves on fire. Within a few minutes Hiccup had a nice fire burning.
It light the place nicely and warmed them both.
He turned to face the figure. "I'm going to treat your wound if you let me." He/she just nodded.
Hiccup hesitated. "Can you…take off… your pants maybe?" "Just cut it. I patch it back together later." "Okay." Hiccup carefully cut the material and set to work.
Everybody learned the basic skills in healing wounds and illnesses.
He had a little supply of pain-killing leaves and other herbs as well as bandages.
"Here chew the, the dull the pain and stop the bleeding." "Thanks." He smiled. "I have to be the one to thank you. Without you, I'll be dead." "Probably. But you didn't have to safe me. Yet you did it. Thank you." "Well, now we're even at least."
He set to wrap the bandaged tightly around the leaves and the wound. When he was finished he sat back. He looked up to see that he/she was still holding the leaves in hand. "Go on, you'll feel better." He/she hesitated. "Maybe you should know something first." He/she asked. "And that would be?"
He/she finally took off the mask.
Brownish-blond curls fell down her shoulders and light green eyes looked at him.
"I saved you." Katrina said, a bit guilty.
AN: Hello there world. Yes I know, been a few days/weeks but honestly. I had no clue how to write what was in my head. But now I have it again and let me tell you, it's going to be great, if I say so myself.
This probably won't shock you but because I'm going still to school, I have to write exams, who would have thought it and so I'll of course have to prepare for it. Especially where I'm collecting points for my graduation from school. So I will write but yes, not so much. Once the holidays are back and I have time, there will be more.
See you around and please, send me reviews! I love it when I read those.
