Chapter nine
Fire of Hope
The Green Death was slowly but surely nearing the island of Huttsgalor, and the whole town was panicking! Even the native Slinkwings and the Songwings had flown the coop, and soon the only dragons left on the island were the Rescue Riders and Toothless. Burpy, Joules, Dak, Leyla and the Chief were all gathered in the Roost, and were trying to think up a plan to divert the Green Death away from the island.
"What did it mean when it said that things were personal with a dragon on this island?" The Chief, who had introduced himself as Duggard, questioned,
"I don't know, Chief," Dak replied in confusion, "the only dragons left here are Winger, Summer, Aggro, Burple, Cutter and Toothless, and how can it be personal with them? Burpy? Do you have any ideas?" Burpy had been rather silent since he relayed what the dragon had said, he was concerned that he would die in battle at some point in his future. He also worried for Joules and Toothless, for goodness sake, Burpy thought to himself, that little dragon even helped take that thing down last time! He shouldn't have to go through it all again…, it then hit him like a ton of bricks! His face filled up with realisation,
"I've worked it out," he said slowly, the whole group looked at him eagerly, "it wants Toothless. He told me and Joules how he had helped take down the Green Death before, and this thing must be that Green Death's PARTNER! And it now blames Toothless for its mates death!". The whole group was silent for a few minutes, it took a while for this news to settle in.
"If only there was someone who would know about how to stop the Green Death" Joules voiced aloud, he wasn't expecting the twins to both smile at this,
"Grumblegard!" They both exclaimed with pure hope in their voices.
They knew it was risky, but they had no choice but to leave Huttsgalor and fly to a nearby island. After a bit of persuasion, Winger, Summer and Toothless agreed to go to see this Grumblegard person. So the other dragons agreed to stay behind to protect the townspeople if the Green Death arrived before they got back. They soon neared the island, heading towards a cave at the centre of it. As they approached, a huge dragon stepped out of the cave. He was clearly old and had an orange back that faded to pale yellow on his stomach which also faded to sea green on his feet. Burpy jumped off of Summer's back as they landed and approached the old dragon. Toothless had taken one look at the old dragon and had instantly hidden in Burpy's hood, he was slightly shivering in terror and Burpy couldn't blame him: first the Green Death and now another huge dragon? It was enough for anyone.
"Grumblegard!" Dak called out to the dragon as he and Joules dismounted from Winger, followed closely by Leyla, "we really need your help!"
"Another baby dragon I guess?" The dragon asked in a low, gravely tone, "I can see it hiding in that human's cloak" Toothless poked his head out on hearing this,
"T-T-Toothless not a b-b-baby!" He complained huffily, and the effect this reveal had on Grumblegard was unexpected to say the least. His eyes widened in terror and he backed away from him,
"Keep that thing away!" He demanded in fear, "don't you kids know what you are dealing with there!?" The whole group was confused at this, according to Dak and Leyla, Grumblegard didn't frighten easily, so why was he afraid of Toothless?
"Grumblegard, what do you mean?" Dak asked, "Toothless isn't dangerous… is he?" On hearing this, Leyla quickly pulled out a book from her bag and started flicking through the pages. She eventually stopped on one page and a look of surprise filled her face.
"Oh my goodness!" She yelped, causing Grumblegard to nod,
"Yes, that dragon is the most dangerous one out there: a Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus! He must be in the hundreds at least" everyone looked at Toothless on hearing this, Burpy and Joules both knew that already, but it was amazing to actually hear that he was around a hundred years old. Toothless however was frowning and glared at the old dragon,
"Toothless NOT a S-S-Seadragonus Giganticus M-M-Maximus!" He huffed, "T-T-Toothless is a C-C-Common or Garde… I mean, a T-T-Toothless Daydream!"
"He's lost his memory," Joules explained, "he was injured in a battle a while ago, he can't even remember me and Burpy" he gestured to his friend at this, and Grumblegard seemed sceptical of them.
"Did you just talk me?" He asked cautiously,
"Yes he did, Grumblegard, they can understand Dragon too." Leyla answered, getting them all back on track, "but what we need to know is, how do you stop a Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus? Because we have a very big one on its way to Huttsgalor" the old dragon thought for a moment, before shaking his head sadly,
"I'm sorry kids, but the only way to stop one is another fully grown Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, and we don't have one" this was definitely not what they were hoping for.
The twins had given up hope and were hugging each other for comfort whilst Winger and Summer checked with Grumblegard to see if any of their powers could work on it, Toothless was sadly sulking in a nearby Crimson Pine tree, and Joules was kicking stones in anger. Burpy was just sitting on the edge of a cliff with his eyes closed, he was just thinking and thinking. He remembered how in the past, a single slug couldn't take down a Ghoul, but multiple slugs at once could! He then remembered how the Rescue Riders had said to them that they had saved many different dragons in their time in Huttsgalor. It then hit him! His eyes snapped open and he leaped to his feet and rushed back to the group.
"I've worked it out!" He shouted in triumph, "Dak, Leyla! You have saved many different dragons, right? All with different capabilities and abilities?"
"Yes, but what are you getting at?" Leyla asked, getting dragged into Burpy's sudden optimism,
"If we can get all of those dragons to join forces, we might just stand a chance against the Green Death! And if we can somehow get Toothless' memories back, then he might be able to tell us how he stopped it last time!"
"That plan is so crazy that it could work!" Dak exclaimed in excitement,
"Well I'm all for it!" Winger announced,
"Me too," Summer added, both dragons smiling at the humans. Joules looked at Grumblegard for a moment before he too smiled,
"Mr Grumblegard? According to the Riders, this island has many untold mysteries, do you happen to know of something that might cure amnesia?" The old dragon smiled and walked over to a tree that was near his cave, he hit it with one massive paw and down fell a single apple.
"The fruit from the Forget-Me-Not tree," he announced grandly, "as the name suggests, it's juice cures amnesia" Toothless was fast to swoop down from his tree perch and snatch the apple with his gums. He bit down hard on it, and the sharp gums tore right through the fruit and the juice squirted into his mouth, it seemed to be more juice than fruit, as the juice flowed down the little dragon's throat. He coughed a bit and spat the remnants of the fruit in front of him. He then blinked a few times, before slowly a smile formed on his face. He opened his mouth and spoke, in pure English,
"And T-T-Toothless is BACK!" He leaped into the air and flew around them, crowing in joy of having his memories back! On seeing the gobsmacked faces of the other dragons and the twins, Burpy smiled broadly at them,
"We will tell you later, but right now we have our small fire of hope restored, and now it's time to turn it into the largest bonfire the world has ever seen!"