29 To Lose One Ally
(may be regarded as a misfortune)
"It worked for us before and it will work this time too" Hiccup stated "so unless anyone has a brilliant alternative..."
The Vikings and sailor were all silent.
"Seriously; I would love to hear any ideas" he encouraged.
"Umm... it's not a new idea" Mulch offered "more of a warning... but are you sure you want to go in with so few people?"
"Definitely; if we all fly in together in one massive attack, then every soldier will be concentrating on stopping us" Hiccup pointed out "and the prisoners will all be executed before we break through."
"But if we split up" Astrid added "and take in a small strike force in while you commence a false attack, many of the soldiers will be distracted by the dragons outside the city walls; then we stand a much better chance of success."
"Exactly" Hiccup nodded "So the general order is the same as it was with the ships; stay out of enemy firing range and keep hitting them with hassling cover fire... and we don't want the enemy looking up and seeing the strike force, so keep low just like we did in Bolthorn."
A few of the Elydonian sailors were with the Dragon Riders on that day when they attacked their own capital and were able to reassure their shipmates of the validity of Hiccup's plan.
"So we will soon have rescued everyone" one of them declared "then you will have your Chief back, and we will have our King and Queen."
The Vikings cheered in agreement with the sentiment, but the sailor's optimistic comment brought something disturbing to Darius's mind.
"WAIT!" he quieted the noise of the cheering "Isn't your King here with you?"
"No; he was taken on the clipper with the main body of prisoners" the sailor noted.
"Oh... I am so sorry everyone" Darius apologised "I was so distracted when I heard about my apprentice... my son..."
"What is it Darius" Hiccup's heart skipped a beat "Is Joric alright?"
"I don't know... I mean... I hope so but... his presence was discovered on the ship, and as soon as we made port he was removed and kept back there to be presented to the Emperor."
"In the palace?" Astrid asked.
"No... on the dock; Scias left the palace as soon as word got to him of the impending arrival of a ship full of dragons."
"Oh no" Hiccup realised "We just blew up a pretty big chunk of that dock."
"We have to go and look for him" the Elydonians insisted.
"Yeah; wouldn't it be better if we attacked the city at night anyway?" Ack asked.
"No it wouldn't" Fishlegs pointed out "nobody in the city is expecting us at the moment, but if one messenger gets through and informs the palace of what has happened at the port, you can bet they'll go onto high alert and we'll have no hope of catching them by surprise."
"That's true" Hiccup sprung into action "Starkard; take a patrol and look for any one headed to the city on the port road... and stop them at all cost."
"Right" the Viking nodded and started choosing the riders he wanted to take.
"What about the King?" some of the sailors were getting impatient.
"Good point" Hiccup agreed "Any ideas?"
"I've got a great one" Snotlout grinned "Send Ghost; he'll understand what we want and with his camouflage, he'll be able to look around the dock and sniff Joric out in no time."
"Snotlout... that's brilliant" Astrid smiled.
"Of course it is; I just wish you wouldn't act so surprised about it" Snotlout huffed as he sauntered over to the Changewing.
"Hey Ghost" Snotlout petted the dragon as he closed his eyes and pictured Joric and the dock in his mind "We need you to fly back to the dock where the ships blew up; find King Joric and bring him back to us."
"Will Ghost know who Joric is?" Hiccup asked Astrid.
"Oh yes" she nodded "He was fascinated with Ghost; a dragon that could make himself almost invisible. They became good friends back in Staggshund."
"Something's wrong" Snotlout informed them "he doesn't seem to understand."
"Let me have a try" Fishlegs stepped forward.
"Be my guest... but I'm tellin' ya, something is definitely wrong" Snotlout declared.
Fishlegs had no more luck than Snotlout did in trying to get the poor confused dragon to understand what they wanted him to do. It may have helped if they had been aware that Dylan the psychic spider, who was the one really responsible for Ghosts amazing ability to understand, was no longer present on the Changewings head; he was at this very moment sitting in a web, singing Gobbers Troll song in an inaudible voice. He was only a few feet away from Tuffnut and his Elydonian friends as they waited for rescue on top of one of the palace towers.
"I suppose this means you're just going to leave our King to his fate while you go and rescue your own people" one of the sailors sneered before his shipmate's floored him.
"Sorry Lord Hiccup" one of Joric's officers apologised "sorry everyone; he's new."
"I'm glad you decked him" Kara sniffed "it save me the trouble."
"You know what you've got to do" Astrid squeezed Hiccups hand.
"I was just trying to avoid it if possible" he sighed and kissed her cheek "stay safe."
"Wait a minute" the argumentative sailor picked himself up as Astrid climbed up into her saddle "you're only sending one... one girl?"
Nobody hit him this time, but his face soon turned red when everyone began laughing at him.
"WHAT?" he protested.
"It's debatable just who is the better tracker; Astrid or Stormfly" Ack slapped the sailors back just a little too hard "and Hiccup is sending both."
"And I'm going too" Victor piped up.
"NO!" Darius cried out "I've already lost one of my boys today and..."
"Master please" Victor begged "I don't want to live my life in fear because of Master Fotherington's death... please sir... I want to help; you know that I can too."
Darius Gershwin sighed wishing he had not protested so loudly "As Hiccup said... stay safe m'boy."
"Hurry up Victor or I'll leave you behind" Astrid called out.
"Well... I may as well join the fun" Darius announced as he watched Stormfly and her charges disappear in the distance "I've got an idea as to how I can help too."
Gossip and rumours about the captured dragons had been making their way around the capital ever since the first messengers had arrived from the Clipper ships a few days prior. And when the prisoners had been marched through the streets, the citizens of New Loran had gone dragon crazy. Many wanted to see one of these mythical creatures and were waiting impatiently for them to arrive, while a few believed that this was the beginning of the end and it was only a matter of time before they were all eaten alive.
Up on the city walls, soldiers patrolled while lookouts looked out for any sign of a procession or even just another messenger with news from Emperor Scias, but the only traffic in or out of the city was from the farmlands around the capital; that was until a man of some years, wandered up to one of the guard posts outside the main portcullis.
"We're gonna need some help lad" he informed officer in charge.
"What are you talking about old man?" the officer sneered.
"With the Emperor's dragons; and who are you calling old?"
"Th-they're here?" the officer stuttered.
"Well they're on their way, but several have escaped" he informed the guards "Look... there's one over by the forest road."
The officer's eyes narrowed as he peered into the distance at a large animal that appeared to be grazing.
"You mean that cow over there?"
"That's no cow sir" the 'Not as old as he looks' man declared.
"Don't be silly; of course it's a..." the officer stopped arguing when the 'cow' rose up into the air and moved about twenty yards to the east before settling back down to the ground again.
"I think I heard someone say that it's called a... Granckle? no, a Gronckle; that was it... a Gronckle!"
"I don't believe it" the officer gapped in wonder.
"So you need to grab about fifty men and some heavy nets..."
"You expect me to send men out to catch that... that..."
"Gronckle" the old man nodded.
"WHATEVER; you think I'm going out with fifty men just because you tell me to?"
"I could always send word to the Emperor that you let some of his dragons get away."
"Sergeant; get word to the Seventeenth Imperial Platoon to mobilise at once" the officer ordered.
"Yes sir" the sergeant saluted.
"And tell them to bring nets."
"Yes sir."
Darius smiled to himself because nothing had changed in his old hometown; everyone was still very nervous about upsetting the Emperor.
Astrid brought Stormfly in to land just outside the northern side of the dock complex in some thick trees and observed the remains of the main Naval Dock and the New Loran Imperial Shipyard. The wild panic that had swept the area after the two ships had exploded ceased long ago, and a concerted effort to clean up the docks had begun.
"You stay here with Stormfly while I go see what I can find" Astrid ordered Victor but he grabbed her arm before she got away.
"I didn't come here to hide... and besides, we should work to our strengths" Victor protested "You're the tracker, so you should circle the area and look for any sign that King Joric has escaped this mess into the forest. I on the other hand am a trained spy, so I should go out there and find out what we need to know."
"Darius will murder me if anything happens to you" Astrid sighed.
"Nothing's gonna happen; I may have been in Elydonia since last summer, but this is still my home country" to Astrids surprise, Victor took her hand and did a bad imitation of a girls voice "you know what you've got to do."
"Don't use my words against me" she snatched her hand away "You're as bad as Hiccup... and I don't sound like that."
"I'll meet you on the southern side in an hour or so" he grinned and sauntered off before Astrid could protest anymore.
The first thing Victor noticed was that anyone not badly injured was busily doing something or other to help clean up. So he quickly picked up some smouldering wood so he would look busy, and just as quickly burnt his left thumb.
"So much for my highly trained powers of observation" he mumbled to himself as he licked his tiny wound and looked for something without so much heat in it to carry.
As he wandered and observed throughout the destruction, an opportunity arose in the form of several men doing temporary repairs to the Imperial Coach. It was now upright again and a frustrated man was trying to refit one of the heavy wheels with one hand while feeling around on the ground for the hub pin with the other.
"Let me help you with that sir" Victor offered as he dropped the plank he carried and rushed over.
"Thank you lad" the craftsman smiled as the tapered pin was placed in his hand "Can you see a wooden mallet behind me somewhere?"
"Here it is sir" he handed it over as the man inserted the pin into the hub.
"Thanks again."
Victor slid under the coach and pulled back on the upper wheel spokes to help hold it firmly in place while the craftsman hammered the pin home.
"Happy to do what I can to help Emperor Scias" Victor smiled before climbing out again.
"Oh... haven't you heard boy? Emperor Scias is dead" the man declared.
"What? No... it can't be" Victor was genuinely surprised "was he too close to the dock when the ships struck?"
"No, it happened afterwards" the craftsman wiped his hands on a rag as he spoke "That rat Joric of Bolthorn escaped and murdered Scias."
"Oh... have they caught him yet?"
"Not yet... the new Emperor told us what happened; it was just over there... in that warehouse" the man pointed.
"New Emperor... already?" Victor was even more surprised now "Who is it?"
"Borges of course; he told us Scias himself appointed him before he died."
"I'll bet he did" Victor mumbled.
"What was that?" the man asked.
"Err... I said Joric will pay for what he's done" Victor spoke clearer.
"Oh all of Elydonia will" the man smiled "it was Emperor Scias's last order... apparently."
"Well... I better go and find my sister" Victor waved and ran off.
He knew he should be searching more intently for the King, but the naval port and shipyards were so big and Astrid needed to know what had happened; he just hoped he could find her quickly.
I know most of you are enjoying summer sunshine at this time of year, but down here in Adelaide it is a cold and depressing 10-15 C (about 55 F) and this means less work for mini-bus drivers (as not as many people want to go anywhere) and no time in the garden for Marty. The up side of this is... more writing (and a sore butt – I have to get myself a new chair).
