"It isn't possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal." — E.M. Forster

Chapter 2

"So... what's the story with you and this Harald fellow?"

I tried to act as casual as possible under Eret's watchful gaze. We were on our way to Auction Island, and apparently my companion thought this was a good time for a chat. "There's no story. Didn't Astrid tell you how he pretended to be our friend on Dragon's Edge and then betrayed us?"

"Yes, I know that story." Eret crossed his arms and moved closer to me. "What I want to know is why you in particular are so passionate about catching him."

"Is it so odd to want to stop him from hurting someone else?"

Eret's eyes told me he didn't buy it. "Come on, Brennda, don't you trust me?"

I looked down at the floor. Perhaps it would not hurt to give him a little more information. "Fine." I took a deep breath and met his gaze. "I am the most 'passionate,' as you put it, because I am the one who became the closest to Harald when he was with us. I don't get that close to people easily, so it was a big deal."

Eret's expression softened. "I'm sorry, Brennda."

"The time we spent together was incredible. I didn't know life could be that good, you know? I thought he felt it too. Sometimes I still think that. But then just when I was happy, he took it all away." I took a shaky breath. "It wasn't just his betrayal that hurt me - though that felt like it would kill me - it was the fact that he left me alone." I examined Eret to see if he judged me for basically admitting that I missed Harald, but all I saw on his face was compassion.

"That sounds awful," he said. "I am sorry you had to go through that. Will finding him again really help?"

"It has to. Maybe I just need closure..." I knew it was not true, but I could offer him no other explanation.

Eret grew silent. After a minute, he softly spoke: "You still care about him, don't you?"

I flinched at his words. "What are you talking about? Of course I don't! He's a pirate. The enemy."

"Why do you speak as if caring about someone is so bad? You can't help how you feel."

I looked away. "It would be easier if I could."

"Life isn't easy, mate. Denying the truth doesn't shield you from its consequences. Take it from someone who knows."

I recognized the pain in his eyes, and I wondered what he was remembering. This could be my chance to reach out to him, but instead I pulled back to protect myself. "I'm not denying anything, Eret. I don't care for Harald, and he certainly doesn't care about me."

"You don't know that."

I turned away from him and stared over the edge of the boat at the water. "It doesn't matter if he does or not. It doesn't change anything."

"It could if you let it."

"You weren't there with him on Dragon's Edge. You never felt the pain of betrayal."

"And maybe that's why I have a more objective view on the situation."

I turned to see him watching me with a steady gaze. "You know we're supposed to be catching him, right?"

"Aye. I am simply thinking about what happens after."

"We'll figure that out when it happens. Are we almost there?"

Eret nodded and pointed to an island that slowly grew closer. We soon arrived and docked the boat. It looked like we had quite a climb to get up to the main part of the island.

"Step lightly, Brennda," Eret said as he helped me off the boat. "You'll never come across a more desperate and dangerous lot than these dragon hunters."

"It's nothing I can't handle," I declared.

Eret looked around with a small frown. "It feels like an age since I was last here. I'd hoped that I would never have to set foot here again, but I guess you can only avoid your past for so long."

For the first time, I considered what it must be like for him to return here. "Thank you for bringing me here. I know it must be hard for you."

A smile flickered on his face. "I'll manage. Follow me, and I'll show you around." He led the way up the long flight of stairs along the edge of the cliff. "So, this is Auction Island. It's full of scum and villainy. Be sure to stay close. Items from all over the world find their way here, as do rare dragons. Up ahead is the trading center." I followed his gaze to an open area where several merchants had tables set up with their wares. We stopped, and Eret turned to me. "Ready? Act like you own the place."

I nodded. "Don't worry, I've done stuff like this before." We stepped into the trading center together. I casually examined the tables as if browsing the merchandise.

"Short Wing Singetail for sale!" a dragon hunter said loudly, catching my attention. "It's fresh from the wild and in need of strong chains around its neck!"

"It's that slimy dragon trader," Eret said in a low voice. "He's been catching and selling dragons to the worst kinds of scum for years. I reckon it's time for his little business to take a dive. Have a word with the dragon trader and find out where he's keeping that Singetail."

"I'm on it." I strolled up to the stall and looked up at the dragon trade. "Hello, good sir."

The dragon trader frowned at me. "Eh? You look a little young to be dragon hunting. You should leave my stand now. I've got real business to attend to." He looked past me and started shouting again: "Singetail for sale!"

I returned to Eret and shook my head. "I think he saw through me."

"Not as stupid as he looks but don't worry, my friend," Eret said. "We'll get another chance. In the meantime, do you see that shifty looking storekeeper to my starboard? If there's anyone here who knows where Harald is, it'd be him. Try to sweet talk it out of him."

I smirked. "I can handle that." I put a smile on my face before approaching the shifty storekeeper. "Hello there. I was wondering if you could do me a favor. Do you know Harald Forkbeard? I have business with him, and I need to know where to find him."

The storekeeper stared at me with a hard expression. "Harald? Yeah, I know that scoundrel. Don't bug me about him; I've got other things on my mind."

"Like what?" I asked innocently. "Anything I can help with?"

"I've made deals all over town with some pretty nasty hunters. If I don't come up with some dragon teeth soon, I'll lose mine. I don't have time for you unless you can get me some dragon teeth. If you get me some, then we can talk about where to find Harald."

"Understood." I swung around and walked back to Eret. I quickly gave him the gist of our conversation.

"Well, he could have asked for worse," Eret said. "Would you let me have a go at him? I have a way with these tradesman. Head back to the docks and ask Astrid if she can help you find some dragon teeth."

As I descended the stairs to the docks, I noted how much I appreciated the convenience of flying on a dragon. Sure enough, Astrid and Stormfly awaited me. I explained the situation and asked for help.

"I've got it!" Astrid said. "Gobber has been cleaning dragon teeth for years, and I'll bet he's got buckets of old teeth lying around. I'll get them for you. Stay here and make sure Eret has some backup."

"Sure. Thanks, Astrid!" As I watched her fly away, I wondered what I should do now. She might be awhile, and there was still a caged Singetail somewhere on the island. Perhaps I should search for it and free it before it gets sold to a vicious dragon hunter. With this in mind, I climbed back up the stairs.

This time, I turned away from the trading center and headed for the trees. Soon, I spotted a large cage with a Singetail inside! Except... it was guarded by a dragon hunter. I probably needed help for this one. I slowly backed away and returned to the trading center.

I arrived just as Eret walked away from the shifty storekeeper. "Hey," I said. "Astrid is getting some dragon teeth. Any luck?"

Eret shook his head. "Sorry, mate. He's a hard lock to crack. The only thing I learned was that Harald wants his gold delivered to a specific place each time. Maybe we can use that against him, eh?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in thought. "That doesn't sound like Harald. The same place every time? For someone with a lot of enemies, that's awfully reckless."

"Maybe he's overconfident?"

I shook my head. "He's confident, but he's also highly intelligent. He's a chess player who has a plan for everything. He has to have a reason for this." But I would not figure it out by standing there speculating. "Anyway, I found the caged Singetail."

Eret smiled at the news. "You did? Well, it's a good thing I'm here. There's not a dragon alive that I can't break out of a cage. Show me where it is."

I led the way through the trees, stopping just short of the cage. I nodded at the dragon hunter guard. "We need to deal with him."

"He's no problem," Eret said. "I can keep him distracted for a few moments. Trust me."

"Go for it."

I waited until Eret walked up to the guard and began engaging him in conversation. I sneaked over to the cage with the guard distracted. While I examined the lock, I could not help but heard Eret and the guard talking.

Eret: "I just have to ask..."

Dragon hunter: "What?"

Eret: "It's about your tight helmet."

Dragon hunter: "What about it?"

Eret: "Does it make it harder to think?"

Dragon hunter: "Let me think about that."

Eret: "Take your time!"

I stifled a laugh as I finished the cryptex to unlock the cage. I slowly opened the door so it would not creek, and the dragon flew away.

"Fine, fine! It's your helmet," Eret said. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "I've never seen someone make such a fuss about a helmet before."

"But you were the one who asked me about it," said the dragon hunter in confusion.

"Never mind your excuses. Some do-gooder dragon rider probably crushed it smaller. If the dragon rider can hear me, he or she had better go running back to their hiding place because Eret, son of Eret, is going to hunt you down!" He then raised his voice even louder: "Do you hear me? Go back to your hiding place!"

I bit my lip to keep from grinning. As quietly as possible, I slipped back into the trees where Eret and I hid before. A second later, he joined me. He put a finger to his lips and nodded at the path behind me. Together, we ran through the trees to the other side of the island. We only stopped when we saw Astrid waiting for us.

"There you are," she said. "Why are you two out of breath?"

"It's a long and epic tale of clever deception and narrow escapes that only Brennda and the great Eret were crazy enough to pull off," Eret said grandly.

I nodded with a grin. "That's right!" I was glad it was Eret with me on this mission. Somehow, he he enabled me to forget about Harald for awhile and even have some fun. We did make a pretty good team.

Astrid gave us an odd look. "I don't think I want to know. But I'm glad you're feeling better, Brennda."

I scoffed. "There was nothing wrong."

Astrid pulled something out of her bag and handed it to me. "Here's a bag of Monstrous Nightmare teeth from Gobber. Give it to that shifty storekeeper and maybe we can finally catch up to Harald!"

I brightened at the thought. "Yes! Thank you." My spirits were high as I waltzed back to the trading center. I let the bag of teeth fall on the shopkeeper's stall. "Here's your dragon teeth." I smirked at his stunned reaction.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "This'll be enough to settle my customers and then some. How did you get so many dragon teeth? You must be the craziest dragon hunter that I've ever met."

I grinned. "That's me. I'm afraid I can't spill my secrets. Now, about Harald..."

The shopkeeper actually smiled. "A deal is a deal! Harald left me this map for the next dragon tooth trade. 'X' marks the spot. Come back any time you've got something to trade."

"Will do!" I snatched the map and headed out of there. I found Eret and Astrid back at the dock near Eret's ship.

"Did he tell you Harald's location?" Eret asked.

"Not exactly but close enough," I said. I held up the rolled up map. "Apparently, this is a map of the location of his next trade."

"That's a little odd," Astrid said.

"I guess Harald is the cautious type," said Eret. "Well, open it up so we can find out where we're sailing to."

I unrolled the map and showed it to everyone. Harald had drawn an island and marked a specific location with an 'X.' The island looked very familiar...

"That's Hobblegrunt Island!" Astrid exclaimed.

I frowned. "The same Hobblegrunt Island where we fought off dragon hunters the day we met Harald and also the Hobblegrunt Island where he wanted his bounty when he stole all our stuff?"

"Maybe he really likes the island."

My eyes narrowed and thought. "Maybe. Or..."

"Or what?"

I hesitated. "Never mind. I just had a crazy thought, and I'm probably wrong."

"I wouldn't say that, mate," Eret said. "You know him best. If you have an idea of what he might be thinking, it doesn't hurt to share."

I looked from Eret to Astrid. "No, we should really be going. I'll let this stew in my mind and tell you later."

Eret nodded. "Very well. Hobblegrunt Island, is it? We'll get there in no time with this wind at out backs. Astrid? Could you fetch Brennda's dragon and meet us there?"

"Yes," Astrid said. "I'll make sure Bolt is there in no time! But afterwards, I'm going to catch up with Hiccup and fill him in."

I smiled at her in thanks.

"Come on, Brennda," Eret said. "We've got a pirate to wrangle. Climb aboard!"

As we sailed to Hobblegrunt Island, I mulled over my speculations. Harald had to know we would be after him to try to stop him, so why would he choose to trade in a location we frequented? Was it possible that Harald wanted us to find him? It sounded ridiculous at first, but it was only a single chess piece. It might make sense if I saw the whole board. And if that was the case, he was up to something far bigger than simply scamming a few dragon hunters.

I had not come up with anything definitive by the time we reached Hobblegrunt Island. Bolt waited on the shore for us, and I immediately ran to him and threw my arms around his neck. He grunted in satisfaction.

"How in the world did Bolt get here before us?" Eret said incredulously. "That dragon must've missed you a whole lot. How could I ever have trapped these amazing creatures?"

"It's alright," I said as I rubbed Bolt's head. "Sometimes it's hard to see the truth even when it's right in front of you."

"I reckon that's so. Well, it's time to round up a pirate. Could you let me see that map for a second?"

I handed the map to him. After looking it over, we started off for the 'X.' Except... the map led us to a beach submerged in water. That was not right. The map must be pretty old. How would we find Harald now?

"Sorry, mate," Eret said. "It looks like we're at a loss."

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. "Or maybe not. It's Harald's dragon!"

"Harald has a dragon?"

Leopold descended from the sky and landed in the grass. I raced towards him with Bolt and Eret at my heels. "Leopold!"

The little dragon looked up when he heard me call him. He let out a squeak and flew back into the air, dropping a rolled up piece of paper in the process.

"No! Leopold!" I shouted. I reached for him, but he slipped away just out of reach. I growled in frustration. I was so close! I turned around to find Eret looking at me with a frown. My heart stopped when I realized my mistake. "Hey, Eret, something on your mind?" I chuckled nervously.

"That was Leopold?" he said.

I nodded.

"The purple Terrible Terror we saw on Snoggletog and you've been looking for ever since?"

Another nod.

"He's Harald's dragon?"

"Yes..."

"And you don't care about him? You said he's important to you."

"'Important' doesn't equal 'caring.'"

"You seemed pretty happy to receive that flower."

"Everyone likes a gift."

"And what about him? If he doesn't care about you, why did he give it to you?"

"To mock me?"

Eret crossed his arms and gave me a hard look. "Brennda..."

"It's complicated, okay? My feelings change by the day, so I'm sorry if I can't give you a clear answer." I was done talking about this, and I needed something to distract myself. I peered down into the valley where the note had fallen. "I'm going to go fetch the paper Leopold dropped. I'll be right back." Before Eret could say anything, I climbed on Bolt and flew to the valley.

"What does it say?" Eret asked upon my return.

I unfurled the note and read it out loud: "'The deal is off. I have a new buyer. You won't get any more dragon teeth from me, you deadbeat trader.'" I frowned. "That's not very helpful."

"Brennda!"

I looked up and saw Astrid flying towards us on Stormfly. She appeared anxious about something. "What's wrong?" I said once she landed.

"Something terrible has happened!" she said. "Skulder, our friend and archaeologist, is sick."

My eyes widened. "Oh no! Is it from the fog?"

"I'm afraid so. Don't worry. Stormfly and I will stay here and keep an eye out for that pirate. You should hurry to Dragon's Edge. He specifically asked to talk to you."

I hesitated. I did not want to leave in case Harald showed up, but Skulder was one of my closest friends. I could not let myself to become too narrowly focused that I lost sight of the big picture like Heather warned. "Of course I'll go see him. Thank you, Astrid."

"I'll follow behind on my ship," Eret said.

I nodded at him. To Astrid, I said: "Good luck." Then I mounted Bolt and was off.

I left Eret behind as I flew quickly to Dragon's Edge. He knew the way and could catch up. I found Skulder in the guest bed in the clubhouse being looked after by Fishlegs. My friend appeared pale and queasy, but he did manage a small smile when he saw me.

"Hey Skulder," I said gently. "How are you holding up?"

"My dear friend," Skulder said. "I apologize for my runny nose and terrible cough. I've faced almost every strange dirt and irritant known to Vikings and this one will not defeat me." He paused and looked me over. "Why are you dressed like a dragon hunter?"

"Oh. I was undercover... But that's not important right now. Did you want to tell me something? What happened to you?"

"Yes, I must speak to you about this fog. I lost track of time on a dig site and I was out there in the fog for too long. I fell violently ill! I've never seen or experienced anything like this before. We need to figure out why this fog made me sick! Can you speak to Heather and look for a scientific way to solve this mystery?"

I hated the idea of returning to Heather empty handed, but he was right; this was important. "You can count on me! But will you be fine here?"

"Don't worry, Brennda," Fishlegs said. "I'll make sure he gets better in no time."

"You need to figure out what the fog's made of so we can stop anyone else from getting sick," Skulder said.

I nodded. "Right. I'll see you later."

Just as I exited the clubhouse, I ran into Eret. "Is your friend alright?" he said.

"He'll be fine," I said. "He's just worried about more people getting sick. I'm going to talk to Heather to see if we can figure this out."

"Then it's off to the school," he said. At my surprised look, he smiled. "I'll go where you go, Brennda. We're partners in this."

I allowed a warm smile to spread across my face. "Thank you, Eret. I appreciate it." It was time for our next adventure!

A/N: I love Eret in the game. His conversation with the dragon hunter is hilarious.