"So you're absolutely sure that this is the exact spot?" Valka asked.
"I'm confident", Uffe smiled. "I've studied this riddle for a long time. There's no other way to interpret it."
"And if you've already solved it", she continued, curious, "why haven't you gone back to visit her?"
Uffe sighed. "Do you know how far away this island is? My trade requires me to travel constantly, and I don't have the time to make such a long trip. Maybe one day, when I'm retired, I'll go. But for now, I can't afford to. I have to wait for her to visit."
Valka nodded. That much was true. Finding Uffe had been slightly difficult on account of the fact that the man travelled a lot and never stayed for long in one place. Once she actually found him, she had been preparing herself to appear threatening (and be so if required). However, that had been unnecessary. When she was sitting a few tables away from him, she'd overheard a conversation between him and another man, that suggested to her Uffe was fond of riddles. It made sense, then, that Hildegard would leave one for him to solve.
With that knowledge in mind, Valka had approached him quite differently than what she'd originally planned. She'd made up a riddle and pretended to be trying to figure out what it meant, claiming that she'd heard he was excellent at them. Uffe had invited her to his hut, and the conversation had revolved around riddles for a while, until Valka brought up the matter that interested her.
"I remember hearing part of a riddle that went... ah... what is it? Something about 'where the Deadly Nadder once lay'", she'd said casually, and Uffe had stared at her, bewildered.
"How do you know that?"
She'd off-handedly mentioned her encounter with the old woman, and soon enough was able to trick the man into showing her the answer to the riddle. He didn't even need much convincing; it seemed like he was eager to show someone how smart he had been to solve it. Well, she wasn't going to complain about it.
"Anyway", Valka said now, "it's time for me to go."
"Oh, that's too bad. I don't often get to talk about this with other people. Drop by some other time."
She smiled. "I'll try to."
As she walked away, towards the place where Cloudjumper was hiding, Valka thought about this Uffe man and the old woman, and wondered how Hildegard had ended up being an assassin when her role models growing up had clearly been honest people.
Then again, life took many unexpected turns.
Viggo was going over some plans when his brother, in a rather rude manner, barged in.
"Viggo!" he exclaimed, and the younger man sighed in annoyance.
"Brother, can't you announce your presence in a less... invasive way?"
Ryker rolled his eyes. "This is urgent."
"So urgent that you couldn't possibly take one second to call from outside the tent?"
Ryker didn't answer, but rather went on. "It's about Hofferson."
Viggo perked up instantly. His latest plan, getting assassins to go after the Haddock boy as an extra incentive for Hofferson to give up, hadn't worked that well. He'd counted on the Ghost to be a dangerous threat, but he was nowhere to be found lately. Rumour had it that Hofferson had captured him. He didn't know how much truth there was in that, yet one thing was certain: he wasn't going after the Haddock boy. And that was what really mattered to Viggo.
"What is it?"
Ryker poked his head out of tent for a second, and in came Fulk, one of his officials. Not too bright, but enough for him to have a more or less important position.
"Viggo, sir", the man said. "I saw Hofferson three days ago. I got here to tell you as fast as I could. I think she spoke to the Broker, sir."
"What?" One of the reasons why Viggo hadn't bothered putting extra security measures on the things protected by the Broker was that the man didn't deal with women. For him to even agree to speak to Hofferson was preposterous. And if it had actually happened... it was bad news. "Did you see them?" he asked urgently.
"No, sir. But I saw her going inside his house with a man, I think it was the Haddock boy, judging by the drawings I've seen. They were carrying someone who was unconscious."
"So you didn't actually see them talk", Viggo said. Still, the fact that they'd been carrying someone was an ill omen. The Broker was known to accept payment in the form of people, after all. "How can you be so sure?"
"They were inside for a long time, sir. When they got out, I lost them for a while, but I was lucky enough to find them again. I couldn't hope to get close enough to hear their conversation, I'm afraid."
Viggo took a deep breath. "Very well. You're excused, Fulk." The man bowed his head and left.
"Do you think they spoke?" Ryker asked. He sighed.
"It's more than likely. Hofferson knows the Broker's conditions. She wouldn't have gone to him unless she had some way to ensure his attention. And she wouldn't have left without getting what she wanted. I'm afraid there's every likelihood our... asset in Dragon Nesting has been compromised."
"So what do we do?"
"Ideally, we'd switch the asset's location, but sadly, I can't think of a more secure place for it. Plus, now that Hofferson knows of its existence, she'll keep looking for it. There's no choice; we'll have to destroy it."
"Destroy it? But... he's an impatient, unforgiving man. We don't know if we'll get another one."
"True, but we'll have to risk it. Better than it falling it into Hofferson's hands. However, not all is lost. Hofferson doesn't know that we know where she's going to go, so we have the upper hand. Admittedly, we don't know if we can get to Dragon Nesting before she does, but we'll have to try."
"What are we going to do, then? An ambush."
Viggo thought it over. He needed a way to gain the advantage over this woman, so that even if she got the asset, she'd still be lost. He needed to find another way to threaten the Haddock boy's life. One that worked better than the last one. But what could it be?
And then it struck him, when he remembered the last information he'd received on the main chiefs of the archipelago.
"An ambush, indeed. But not from us." He grinned. "Last I heard, the chiefs who are looking for Haddock are actually quite close to Dragon Nesting. If they were to hear that their most wanted person will be there..."
"They can catch him, especially if he isn't prepared for them", Ryker finished in amazement. "Brilliant plan, brother. But does having the Haddock boy in captivity help us?"
"Of course it does. I have men in Meathead island, ready to kill him at a moment's notice, and Hofferson knows this. It'll be the perfect trap."
"I have no idea, Holger. We've searched everywhere. I don't know where else he could be."
"He has to be somewhere", the Meathead chief insisted. "He can't just disappear."
"What if he went far away?" someone else suggested. "To the south, perhaps."
"Could be." Holger turned to him. "What do you think, Stoick?"
The Hooligan chief sighed. These meetings were always the same: they'd go to an island, look everywhere, be disappointed, then go to the nearest tavern and drink mead while discussing possible locations. Stoick could see that the other chiefs still didn't trust him, which was why he preferred to remain quiet unless he was asked a direct question. Like now.
"I don't know. He has always liked exploring, but I'm not sure he would go so far away." Or at least, he hoped so. The real reason he didn't think Hiccup was that far was because Hofferson probably wouldn't go so far away from civilisation. She had her criminal empire; he doubted she'd give it up so easily. No, the truth of the matter was quite simple actually: the people they were after had dragons, and rather fast ones at that, so they could always remain one step ahead.
Stoick had Skullcrusher, of course, but the other chiefs never let him go off on his own, afraid he'd go find his son and... do something bad, he didn't know what. They had let him use his dragon's tracking abilities a few times, but it had always brought them to dead ends. Sometimes, Stoick felt like he was on the verge of losing it, and just leaving to do his own search. But then he'd recall why he had decided to join the chiefs, and the urge would fade away.
Remembering his son's face that fateful day kept him rooted to the ground.
The conversation went on, when suddenly Hoark, who had been out getting some provisions for them, ran in, panting.
"Holger! Holger!"
"What is it, man, what happened!"
"I heard someone talking about Haddock, sir."
Everyone perked up at that. "What was it?" Holger asked.
"I overheard two men at the dock, who apparently sold him some food a couple of days ago. They said that he was planning to go to Dragon's Nesting, in a few days' time."
"Dragon's Nesting? That's one of the most secure storing places in the archipelago. I thought they had requirements for their customers, though. I didn't know any common criminal could ask for space there."
"I don't know, sir. Perhaps he's retrieving something for somebody."
Holger turned to Stoick. "What do you think?"
Stoick had only heard of Dragon's Nesting once or twice, and he knew the same about it as all the other chiefs. There was no way Hiccup had something stored there. Hofferson, on the other hand... he probably was going there on a mission for her.
"I think it's worth checking. But we should move fast. Hiccup has a Night Fury, and we don't know how long we have."
"Right you are, Stoick. Very well, people. Let's get moving!"
As they all got up and rushed to get away, Stoick prayed that this would be the time they'd find his son, and get him to give up.
He wanted his Hiccup back.
Astrid was going over the parchments on her desk, making sure that every little detail in her plans was accounted for. Valka had arrived the night before, with the great news that she'd discovered Deadly Nadder's (or Hildegard's, apparently) exact location. She was glad that the elder woman had had the sense not to try to go after her all by herself.
She'd already been planning the heist in Dragon's Nesting, and now with Valka's arrival, another piece of the puzzle was fitting into its place. She was closer than ever to solving Hiccup's situation, she could feel it. It all hinged on whatever it was that they were going to retrieve, and its importance to Viggo's business.
After a couple of minutes, Heather walked in and informed her that everyone she'd asked for was here.
"Bring them all in", she told the brunette, who nodded and disappeared for a second before coming back. This time, she was followed by Hiccup, Valka, Eret and Einar, who looked confused to have been summoned.
"All right", she began. "You all know why you're here." Well, except Einar, but he wouldn't protest, she knew. He'd find out soon enough, anyway. "If we want to succeed, we have several tasks we need to do, all of them at the same time. First, we need to go get this...thing from Dragon's Nesting. Hiccup, you're coming with me." He nodded; he must've figured it out already. "Second, we need to get this Deadly Nadder woman. Valka, you're obviously going in that mission." The woman nodded. "However, I don't want you going alone. I know you have your dragon with you, but that assassin is dangerous, and I don't want to risk her escaping you. Which is why Eret here will go with you."
Valka looked at the man, who winked at her. She didn't look amused.
"Don't worry", Astrid reassured her. "He's a great operative. Even if he doesn't always look like it." Eret shot her a mockingly annoyed glance, but she ignored it.
During all of this, Einar had been looking more and more puzzled, until finally he spoke. "Hofferson, I'm sorry, but why did you call for me?"
Astrid smiled. "I wasn't done, Einar. You are in charge of the last mission. Once this woman is captured, we need somewhere safe to keep her. She's the key to this whole situation."
"But why is that?" the boy asked without thinking, and then flinched. "Never mind. It's not my business. I apologise."
"It's fine", she waved it off. "Anyway, you are in charge of the safe place. Or rather, of making it. I've selected a nearby island that is isolated enough. Valka here knows the location of a lot of dragons." The other woman had asked her not to reveal the existence of the sanctuary, and she'd agreed. It was too important a secret to tell others. "We need to get some of those dragons as extra protection. And that's where you come in. The dragons like you; you can get them to follow you."
Astrid watched the emotions run through his face: confusion, excitement at being chosen for an obviously important task, apprehension at the responsibility. To be honest, she didn't like the idea of giving him a first mission with so much to lose, but there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that there was no one more suited to do it than him.
"I'll do it to the best of my abilities, Hofferson."
"I expect nothing less of you, Einar. Valka will fill you in on the details of the dragons and where to find them." She saw everyone's faces full of determination, which was comforting. "Anyway, that was all I had to tell you. You can go back to your duties. I'll have people give you the exact information later."
Everyone walked out of the tent, except for Eret. Hiccup had appeared like he was going to stay behind, but seeing this, he left. Astrid raised her eyebrow at the man. "Yes, Eret?"
"May I ask you something, Hofferson?"
She tensed slightly. Eret had a bad habit of overstepping boundaries sometimes, and going too far into personal territory. He was extremely loyal at all times, which was why she kept him, but he forgot basic respect for the person who'd given him his job every now and then.
"What is it?" she asked.
"What's up with you and Haddock?"
Wow, Astrid thought. Straight to the point.
"I mean", he continued, "you're doing all of this, risking so much, all to help him. Why? What has he done for you? Does he have a lot of gold? Or does he have a huge-"
"Eret!" she said sharply, stopping him. "Remember what we've talked about so many times? About my personal life, and how it's none of your damn business?" It wasn't often she got mad at her employees, but Eret had gone way too far.
He seemed to realise it at her tone, because he immediately hung his head. "Apologies, Hofferson."
"Go help Einar get ready."
As he left, she wondered if she hadn't overreacted, and perhaps she had. But if it prevented him from asking such questions again, she wouldn't take it back. Maybe she was a bit too sensitive where Hiccup was concerned, admittedly.
She wasn't apologising for that.
Heather had never been exactly like most girls her age, what with her growing up with pirates and all. But sometimes, she felt the need to do something very teenage-girl-like, such as eavesdropping, which she'd just done. And she was glad for it. Eret's face when he left Astrid's tent was priceless.
"Made her mad, didn't you?" Heather smirked, and he groaned.
"She practically yelled at me. She never yells. I don't know why she got so upset."
"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you shouldn't pry?"
"Oh, but where's the fun in that?" he smirked, then shook his head. "No, but seriously. She's extra uptight about anything concerning the Haddock boy." He gave her an accusing glance. "I bet you know what the deal is, though."
Heather smiled. "I know less than you think." Sure, she knew Astrid's feelings for Hiccup, but she didn't know up to what point he reciprocated them. Nor did she know exactly what they did when they were alone.
"Still more than I do."
"True. Not telling you anyway."
"Not fair, Heather." Oh, he could be so dramatic.
"Life isn't fair, Eret." Then, just to mess with him, she blew him a kiss as she walked away, and delighted in the way his eyes widened.
Astrid was probably right when she said that she should do something about him. For the moment, though, there were more important things to do, namely helping the blonde with her own pressing problem. Once that was done, well... she'd see.
A/N: Sorry this took longer than I intended, but I had two finals and some personal problems that made studying difficult. All of which resulted in not having time to write. But now I have only one more subject to study for, so I'll have more time and we'll be back to weekly updates.
Anyway, things are lining up. Shit is coming, y'all. :P