Author's note: This chapter continues straight on from the previous one.
Narrator's perspective
"Whoa, hang on Hiccup. Have you seen the time? We won't be able to see a thing." Eret said as he faced Hiccup.
"We have fire. We can use that to help us see."
"But that'll alert them of our location." Astrid said, taking a seat on a bed, glass still in hands.
"She's right Hiccup. We can't go charging in there, dragon forms blazing; we'll get captured ourselves. Let's wait `till morning, then we'll fly up to the base, and scout out the area. Hopefully Valka will be there." Eret said.
Astrid poked her head up, "Wait, since when did you have a dragon form?"
"I'm a Rumblehorn, love. I've got my own story. So, I'm going to bed, and you should to. Oh, and if you two do get up to anything tonight, keep the noise down." The burly man said, snickering and walking to his bed.
Astrid rolled her eyes. Hiccup said, "But there's only one other bed."
"That's why I said what I did. Good night!" He kicked off his boots, took off his coat and climbed under the covers, leaving Astrid and Hiccup standing together rather awkwardly.
"It's ok Astrid, I'll sleep on the floor." Hiccup said, walking over to the other bed and removing one of the blankets and pillows.
He lay down on the concrete and threw the blanket over himself. Astrid removed her shoes and the belt with the knife. She got into the bed and starred at the roof of the bunker, pondering the events of recent days.
"How's your back?" She asked Hiccup as she leaned over to inspect it.
"It's fine Astrid, one mother is enough." He brushed her hand away. "God, it's strange to think that for all these years, my mother has been alive, acting as some crazy dragon vigilante. Living in the desert, up against the Dragon Hunters." His voice trailed off.
"Hiccup, aren't you a little mad that she never came home? She left you and your father alone. And she was like a second mother to me." Astrid lay back down in the bed.
"Oh, trust me Astrid, I'm furious. She left her infant child and husband who had no idea what to do with him alone, and she went off into the bush. I've got a few things to say to her when we rescue her. But, what's done is done; and we should be getting to sleep, otherwise we won't be getting her back."
When the morning had finally come, Eret roused the other two then set about making a quick breakfast. Eggs in the pan, bacon as well. Hiccup dressed himself, then called to the others that he was going for a fly.
He exited the bunker and walked away. A flash of light later and he was in his Night Fury form. A flap of the wings and Hiccup was airborne.
He flew low over the ground, catching a glimpse of the occasional lizard or snake sitting in the shrubbery. A few trees stood here and there, their trunks thin, bark peeling and needle-like leaves scattering the ground around them.
The Night Fury boy's eyes narrowed and he picked up speed, then dodged between two trees. He spun around, the blasted them to splinters. Dust picked up in the air from the blast. A curious Gronkle raised its head in the direction of the sound. Hiccup flicked his vision to the dragon, eyes still narrow. When the Gronkle started to back up, he shook his head then took of back in the direction of the bunker.
At least I got that out of my system, he thought, landing outside the garage. The smell of bacon wafted through the bunker and outside. Hiccup changed back to his human form and walked into the room. Astrid sat at the table, devouring a plate of food while Eret was still at the stove.
"Feel better after that flight Hiccup?" Eret called across the room.
"Not really, I just scared a wild Gronkle when I destroyed two trees." Hiccup huffed, accepting the plate of food from Eret and sitting at the table.
"I've been thinking Hiccup. If we can find the tracks that I used to get back here, and we follow them to the coast, then the map I found should lead us to their base." Astrid said as she finished her breakfast, "I believe the circular building on it to be their center of operation, and if I got my maths right, it should be about 400 kilometres away from where I found the map. So maybe 500 kilometres from here if we're 250 away from the coast. If it's 8:00am now we should be able to make that by sunset, which would give us some light but not enough to reveal our location."
Hiccup looked up from his food, "Sorry Astrid, what was that?"
"Urgh! If we leave after you're finished, then we should get there by sunset. Have you got that through your head?"
"Haha, you guys are like an old married couple." Eret laughed, scrapping the remains of his food into the bin.
Astrid glared at him. "Finish quickly Hiccup, I'm going to start getting ready."
She picked up Hiccup's backpack and began packing food into it. She filled some bottles and stuck them to the sides of the bag. The knife she had recovered from the Hunters was strapped around her waist and Eret's binoculars went in as well. She continued to gather items, the map, a compass and a headlight.
Hiccup inhaled the rest of his breakfast and picked up the backpack Astrid had just finished packing. Eret put on his fur coat and leather boots then walked over to the door of the bunker. Hiccup and Astrid put their shoes on and followed the burly man.
"I came from this direction," Astrid said, point to the side of the bunker, "And that's the way the dragons were going. Hopefully the tracks of resting dragons are still there."
Astrid extended her wings and readied herself for take-off. "Woah Astrid. You're injured enough. That fall won't be good for your organs. And the flight back can't've been good either. I'll carry you to their base." Hiccup extended his hand.
"No Hiccup, I'm fine." She spat back, "I can do this."
"Astrid, I'm sorry to say but you're hardly an experienced flyer! We need to keep our altitude high to avoid being sighted. And the air is thinner up there, so it'll put even more strain on your body." His voice softened, "I can't let you get even more injured."
"But what about you back? Me sitting on it won't be good for it." She retorted.
"Actually, my dragon form wasn't scratched up when we jumped out of the van."
Astrid looked over to Eret for help, but got none. "He's right Astrid. From what he told me about how you were blasted, you really shouldn't be doing this flight again."
Astrid sighed and looked over to a pleading Hiccup. "Fine. But we need to get moving."
Hiccup gave Astrid the bag then turned into a Night Fury and she climbed on. She turned around to look at Eret, but a flash of light temporarily blinded her. Now standing next to them was a beast clad in thick armour. It was all shades of green and red, and two curved horns sprouted from the top of its head.
What? Never seen a Rumblehorn before? Astrid heard inside her head.
She slowly turned her eyes back to the direction they were about to go. Then they were airborne. They kept low to the ground while Astrid directed them. She'd drawn a line on her map from where they were to where the Hunters base was. The compass guided them in the right direction. They had decided to fly high once they neared the coast and get an overview off the base from the sky, but at the moment, the constant thought of crashing into sand-dunes or rock formations kept their attention.
The smell of the salty ocean water mixed with rotting seaweed filled their nostrils as they climbed into the sky. Hiccup and Eret continued to flap their wings, but they were tiring after the mammoth flight to the coast.
Hiccup and Eret finished their climb and levelled out, hovering in-place. Astrid pointed right then put the compass and map back in the bag. The cliffs should lead them the rest of the way. The air was thin, making it hard for the trio to breathe. Eret and Hiccup gasped in every precious atom of oxygen they could, then flapped their wings vigorously, then they repeated the process.
Finally, something appeared on the top of the cliffs. The dragon men climbed higher as they closed in on the construction. From the height that they were, they could see a large circular concrete structure with a smaller square building attached to it. The square building sat right on the edge of the cliff and it seemed like it extended down to the waterfront.
Hiccup started to fly down to the cliff-face, the darkening sky helping to keep him concealed.
"Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid whispered from his back.
We need to go in for a closer look. I can't see much from up here. Astrid heard in her head.
Eret followed the other down to the cliff-face, but he still kept an eye on the base; something didn't feel right.
Hiccup landed behind a sand-dune some distance away from the base and Astrid climbed off his back. She removed the backpack and took out the binoculars. She climbed to the peak of their dune and lay down, putting the binoculars to her eyes and focussing them on the base. Eret landed and transformed back to human form and climbing up to Astrid. Hiccup took a water-bottle from the bag and took a few gulps before passing it to the others. The ocean air parched their throats, so they happily took it.
Astrid looked towards the smaller square building, more specifically the lack of cliff below it. Underneath the building there was a hollowed-out area, like an aircraft hangar. The ground of this hangar extended into the ocean about 20 metres and then sloped down, waves lapping onto the concrete.
Astrid scanned the rest of the hangar. Towards the back there were rows upon rows of pilled up shelves, dragons in cages lining each one.
"Hiccup, take a look at this." She passed the binoculars over to him.
He set them against his eyes and looked down to where Astrid was pointing.
"Well now we know where they put all the dragons that they trapped. What do you think the ramp from the water to the base is for?" He said, stilling scanning around the hollowed-out area.
"Hiccup, I think I might have an answer for that." Eret starred out to the ocean as he directed the other's gazes.
Something was passing under the water out at sea. White froth was moving across the top of the waves created by this thing, each wave being created was enough to cause a small tsunami. Whatever this thing was it must be huge. It was nearing the Hunters base, slowly decreasing its speed.
As it got closer, a thumping vibrated the land beneath them. It was already touching the sea-floor.
Then it reached the hangar and a mountain of water exploded, covering the people in the hangar in water and seaweed. A huge dragon stood there. Black as night, covered in muscle and thick hide. Two horns protruded from its face, each an unnatural grey.
"That's it! That's the dragon that was controlling the others, including Valka!" Astrid cried, leaning over the peak of the dune. Hiccup quickly pulled her back so to not reveal their location.
Then a light quickly flashed from the creature. And it was gone. Standing in the middle of the ramp was a man dressed in a pitch-black leather, possibly dragon hide. He had black hair and a short beard. His head was held high and his arms were crossed behind his back. The man walked over to the far-side of the hangar where another man was standing.
The second guy was taller and had more muscle on his large frame. Strapped to his back was what appeared to be a turquoise-grey sword. One side was sharpened while the other was spiky and uncut.
Hiccup followed them with the binoculars. They walked over to the far side of the hangar where a staircase led up into the ceiling. They seemed to be in deep conversation while they scaled the stairs.
A couple of minutes later Hiccup spotted them enter an open section of the circular building.
He stood up on the dune and ran over to the next one to get a better view of them.
"Hiccup, you'll get us seen." Eret whispered. Hiccup rolled his eyes and refocussed the binoculars. Around the edge of the circular building there were even more dragon cages, but still now-where near the numbers they saw downstairs.
A few cages were populated with dragons and the two men stopped every so often to look at their captives. Hiccup scanned the rest of the cages, stopping on one of them.
"Eret, you said my mother was a Stormcutter?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes, why?" He replied.
"Well I think I've found her."
Hiccup transformed into a dragon and flew low to the ground, landing again behind a pillar of the circular building. He climbed up to the roof and laid low.
"What is he doing?!" Astrid cried to Eret.
He shushed her and pointed back to Hiccup.
Hiccup had crawled along the roof and was now peering over the edge of the roof into the building below.
A voice called out from a tower next to the building, then a flood-light shone on Hiccup. A twang came from this tower and a next ensnared Hiccup. He rolled off the roof and into the construction. 10 men pilled on top of him, placing a muzzle around his face and tying his wings together. He cried out for help, but muzzle heeded this.
"Hiccup! No!" Astrid cried out as she stood up.
Eret grabbed her hand and pulled her down just in time. More flood-lights lit up the area Astrid had just been standing.
"Astrid, if you get caught, who'll save Hiccup?" Eret said firmly, "Stay low or you'll be spotted. I knew there was something wrong with this place."
Astrid peered over the top of the dune, eyes beginning to water.
"Hiccup, no."
Another muffled cry came from the dragon boy.
Author's note: Duh, duh, duh! Exciting chapter here. Please review and tell me what you think.