Chapter 3: Berk

All Jerrick could hear was the wind rushing past his ears. He didn't dare open his eyes for the first ten minutes of the trip, but when he did, he was glad that he did. The sea looked so peaceful far beneath them, and the small sea stacks that dotted the sea looked so calm and inviting. But there was no time for any of that. They had a mission to complete.

And they were flying on a dragon for that.

Jerrick never thought that this day would come. He never imagined sitting on the back of a dragon, flying through the night sky, with the clouds an arms length away. He reached up and touched the clouds. Doing this always made him smile on his face, even though it could have been the hundredth time that he had done so this day. To be fair, he had no idea if the chance to touch the clouds would ever come again after this day. Then again, just a day ago he didn't know that he would be heading on a mission to capture his father's killer. How times have changed!

They had gone back and packed supplies for their mission before their briefing the next day. Immediately after the briefing they had set off on dragonback towards their target island. Berk was its name. It was a small island, made up of mostly forested areas. There was a small river that began from the sea and ran through the middle of the island. The river ended just a short distance inland, and it was there where they would be dropped off. Jerrick had packed a few spare clothes, a small flask for water and some medical supplies. He wore his leather armour and had a sword strapped onto his back. The rest had packed similar items. Kari and Dustin had an axe instead of a sword, and Corey had packed some spare food. Food wasn't a concern though. They were given more than enough. All the items that Scarface had given them were in a bag on its own, and Jerrick reached behind him just to be sure that it was still there. They were given food for a week, a map of the island they were headed to, dragon nip, and items to make a tent. And they had a cage with a Terrible Terror in it.

Bringing along that caged dragon was Scarface's idea. Terror mail was the fastest way to pass information back to them, and this information could very well make the difference. Their mission was primarily a reconnaissance mission. Scarface had reason to believe that Fury was working on a plan to infiltrate his base. Their mission was to find out what the plan was. If possible, they can capture Fury too, but if neither reconnaissance nor capture was possible, then killing on sight was permitted. Scarface remembered that they didn't want to kill, so reconnaissance was the primary goal.

The target was simply known by the codename Fury. In time he would find out the real name of the killer, but until then his only name would remain as Fury. Giving them codenames make them less personal, and so would prevent you from hesitating when you have the chance to capture or kill them, Scarface explained. As though Jerrick would hesitate. He had more than enough motivation to slash an axe straight through his neck without batting an eyelid.

"We're almost there," Yakfeet called from in front in his boring and half-dead voice. Yakfeet was a dull man. He had the build of a typical Viking, large bulky muscles and a tall frame. But the mountain of a man that he was could have easily blended in with the mountains far below them. He was such a dull and boring person that if he vanished from the face of Midgard, Jerrick doubted that anyone would even notice. If the thrill of flying couldn't inject life into him, nothing could. Maybe he was born half-dead. That had to be the only answer.

They were riding on three separate dragons, Singetails, to be precise. Jerrick and Kari were behind Scarface on one, Dustin and Helka were behind Yakfeet on another, and Corey was at the back with another dull and boring Viking named Blondhead. The plan, which didn't make any of them feel safe, was to go as high as possible and dive straight down at the right spot to avoid being detected by any of the Berkian patrols.

Stone statues of Vikings holding menacing weapons stood by the front of the Berkian island, bathed in silvery moonlight that gave it an eerie vibe. Their stone cold eyes stared straight ahead, chilling anyone who stood in their way. The main village was illuminated with small torches, casting an orange glow on the huts and paths. A circular stone pit lay near the edge of the village, surrounded by a wooden seating area. That was probably the arena that they were told about. No torches were lit inside the arena or on the grandstand. The nearest light source, apart from the moon, came from a torch beside a path near the arena, creating a dark shadow inside the arena. Weird shadowy figures could have been completely hidden in the darkness. Or maybe the famed Night Fury lay hidden there.

"Time to dive!" Scarface called, and without any further warning, he directed his Singetail to dive straight down. Jerrick clamped his eyes and mouth shut, preventing a loud and shrill scream from escaping his mouth. His heart leapt into his mouth. He felt Kari bury her face in his shoulder from behind him.

After a few nerve wracking seconds, the wind stopped screaming past his ears and he felt a slight jolt as the Singetail landed on the ground. He opened his eyes slightly, and he heaved a sigh of relief. The ground never looked so inviting before. He jumped off the dragon, and he stumbled a little as he landed on the soft ground. Feeling the ground for the first time after flying for so long felt weird. He began unloading the supplies. He handled the caged dragon with extra care, making sure his fingers did not get snapped off. Within a matter of seconds, all the supplies had been unloaded, and the three dragons took off and flew straight up into the dark night sky. Jerrick had to admit, the insertion plan was good. It happened so quickly, it was impossible to tell that there was any activity at all.

"Alright, now what?" Corey whispered. Jerrick looked at the surroundings. They really were in the middle of the forest. Tall, thick trees surrounded them on all sides, and silhouettes of small shrubs and bushes could be seen on the ground. Dead leaves and small twigs crunched beneath his feet as he walked around. How would they find their way around in the dark? The stars. They had been given a crash course on navigating at night using the stars and the moon. He walked into a slightly open area where moonlight could reach the ground. Pulling out the map of Berk, he squinted his eyes and tried to see the map. They were at the insertion point… hopefully. He had no way to check.

"According to the map, we're about two kilometres south east from the main village of Berk," Jerrick explained. "If we set off now we can make it there in about an hour. We'll scout out the village today, and then we'll work out a way to sneak into the village and capture Fury." They all nodded.

A minute later, they were ready to go. They left most of their supplies by the insertion point. They only brought along the important ones. Each of them had a flask of water and medical supplies, and they had some food and dragon nip in case they encountered any wild dragons.

"We have to head north west," Jerrick said. The first course of action was to find the brightest star among all the stars. That would be the North Star, which would point them towards the north. Next on the list was the moon. The moon rises in the east, and since the night was still young, wherever the moon was would be the east. So, the north west direction would be opposite the moon in the direction of the North Star. After a few minutes, he decided that he had found the north west direction. But he wanted to be sure. He grabbed two medium sized sticks from the forest floor and planted them into the ground. There was a bright star in the sky, and he made sure that the two sticks lined up perfectly with that star. After a few minutes, the star moved to the left side of the sticks and sank just below the tip of the sticks. The movement of the star from the sticks confirmed that the direction they were facing was north west. With a smile, Jerrick waved them along.

The trek through the forest was not easy. There were parts where the forest was open, and not a single tree blocked their path. Other parts however, it was impossible to go through without getting caught on thorns or having to bash through thick bushes or vines. At times like this, they moved off to the side and took a moment to confirm their direction before continuing. The trek could have been a lot faster too, but they didn't want to make too much noise in case a wild dragon heard them. By the time they walked a kilometre, they felt like they had walked ten. A layer of sweat was present on their faces and their wet clothes were clinging to their body despite the night being frigid cold. After about an hour and a half, they were rewarded by faint lights in the distance. Jerrick signalled for them to back off and climb up a nearby hill.

At the top of the hill, they could see everything the village had to offer. Many intricate wooden buildings littered the village. Most of them seemed to resemble an overturned ship. There didn't seem to be any pattern to the design. It seemed like if there was an empty space, they filled it with a structure of some sort. How it would link up with the other buildings would be decided after it was completed. The placement of torches in the village was just as random. Throw a dart at a map of the place, that's where a torch or a building would be placed.

The arena was near the sea at the far end of the village. Coloured banners and flags hung over the arena, flapping wildly as the sea breeze blew them from side to side. Right in front of them was the Great Hall. Even in the dim moonlight it stood tall and proud, boasting of all its glory and splendour. Large support pillars ran up the front of the hall, each pillar filled with intricate carvings. Jerrick realised that they could actually jump onto the roof of the hall. All they needed to do was to be brave enough to jump and they could land on the roof comfortably. Jerrick stowed this thought to the back of his head. It might come in handy. Not now, though. For now, all they could do was head back to their campsite and plan for the next day.

With a soft whistle, Jerrick called the others to begin to head back. They had spread out a little, as he had suggested, so if they were seen, they wouldn't be seen as one large group. Jerrick was surprised that these ideas seemed to come naturally to him, almost as though he had been doing this all his life. Maybe his father had taught him a lot more than he realised. Was this why Fury wanted to kill his father? Because he found him spying on his operations? Jerrick didn't know, but he made it a point to question Fury before he sent him to the grave. He could feel his heart beating even faster at the thought. The next day brought about the prospect of capturing Fury, and Jerrick smiled at the thought. He knew he wouldn't get a wink of sleep that night, but he was fine with that. It gave him time to formulate the perfect plan, a plan that wouldn't fail, and a plan that would put the life of his father's killer right into his own hands.

With a soft laugh, Jerrick disappeared back into the forest.

XX

Everyone rose early the next day, except for Jerrick, who hadn't slept at all. A quick breakfast of dried yak meat was all they ate before they set off for the village again. The others wanted to hear the plan before they set off, but an impatient Jerrick insisted that he will explain the plan as they moved.

"So, what's the plan Jerrick?" Dustin asked.

"We'll sneak around the main village and watch what happens in the arena," Jerrick explained. "From what I saw yesterday, there's a little cliff stretching along the left side of the village." He drew an imaginary line with his finger along the map as he explained. "We'll be heading to the start of the cliff, and then we will hug the edge of the cliff until we reach the arena. There's a small gap between the end of the cliff face and the arena, and we have to hope that no one spots us when we dash across. At the arena, we can hide behind some of the banners or among the wooden seats."

"Sounds great," Corey said.

When they reached the village, they climbed up the mountain which they had trekked up the day before to gain some vision over the village. Jerrick crawled carefully to the edge, being very careful not to expose too much of himself. When he took a look at the village however, he was not ready for what he saw.

Nothing.

The village was empty. There were no Vikings roaming the streets, or any people selling anything by the stalls. Stalls were cleared of any sellable items, barrels lay closed and untouched by the side of the stalls. What happened? Suddenly, a loud cheer arose from the distance. Jerrick whipped his head towards the direction of the noise. In the distance, he saw the arena filled with Vikings moving around in the seats, most of them waving their hands energetically over their heads. He wondered if they were rioting or cheering. Suddenly, a black and a green dragon came flying in from behind a hill. They carried a sheep each in their talons. Loud cheering erupted again when they appeared in sight. They flew over the arena and dropped the sheep into a basket on a raised platform. The cheering rose again. The two dragons flew towards their direction. Jerrick scrambled for cover. There wasn't much cover at the top of the hill. The tree would have to do. He ran behind it and ducked. He looked to his sides. Thankfully, his friends did the same. He felt the rustle of the leaves as the dragons swooped past them. When they had passed, he crawled out from behind the tree and took a look at the sky, trying to see where the dragons went. Did they go towards their campsite? Did they somehow find them? What were they doing with the sheep?

As Jerrick thought of these things, he failed to notice the crowd cheering loudly again behind him. His mind was too preoccupied with getting caught, and ironic enough, that was what got him caught. High up in the sky, a blonde girl riding a Deadly Nadder felt something was amiss. Whether it was a slight contrast in the colour, or some glint in the corner of her eye she did not know, but what she knew was to trust her gut instinct. And it was her gut instinct that led her to look in the direction where Jerrick and his friends were at. She spotted a young boy standing at the top of a mountain, his eyes fixed on the sky. Without a second thought, she patted her Nadder on the head and leaned towards her left. Her Nadder let out a squawk and complied. They flew as fast as they could to the boy, and in the blink of an eye they had landed in front of him. The boy blinked twice rapidly when they first landed. Suddenly, he scrambled backwards and began to run.

But he forgot that behind him was a steep slope, the steepest in Berk in fact, so steep that many passed it off as a cliff face instead of a slope. He failed to keep his balance, and if the blonde girl hadn't directed her Nadder to fly forward and catch the boy before he tumbled all the way down, he might not be alive to tell the tale. She put the boy down on the ground in the middle of the Berkian village. Dismounting her dragon and unsheathing her axe, she asked a simple question, her glaring eyes baring deep holes into the skull of the teenage boy.

"Who the hell are you?"