Shatterpoint
Another raid by the dragons and another house gone. Half a dozen in need of repairs, but that does not even start mentioning the ones hurt in the raid or the ones killed. Little Olaf and his mother Ingret were not able to reach the great hall in time and stood in front of the barn the Monstrous Nightmare wanted to get into to steal some of the pigs. What was left were the burned bodies of a mother and her child. Two more dead to mourn in the long and struggle-ridden history of the Vikings of Berk. All for food the dragons could have hunted themselves. But why exert themselves, it was practically all there on a platter.
Just that it is our platter. And that to get to our food the dragons regularly went through us as, if it was just an inconvenience, Hiccup could not help but think.
And what had Hiccup done to help today? He had shot down a Nightfury, at least he believed so, even if he was the only one to do so. In turn he had exposed himself again and instantly regretted it as the other being who might have noticed was a Monstrous Nightmare, that immediately started hunting him through a village. It was a marvel that Hiccup managed to outrun the beast; one might think it impossible looking at his usual behavior and clumsy way of moving. Well, outside the forge at least.
But what luck Hiccup had in running away from his hunter he made up in plowing an aisle through the village and betraying the effort his tribesman had put up in containing the damage done by the raid to a minimum. Several dragons being able to escape near certain death with a load of food in tow, not to speak of the two burning house that caught the fire he dodged and the rather large hole in the ramp down to the docks. And only his luck would have it that that happened, because the place he hid behind, a large torch at that, collapsed, just after his father rescued him.
No, he really had not endeared himself to his tribesmen and how could he hold that against them. With these disparaging thoughts in mind Hiccup went through the village alongside Gobber to check on the forge. Thankfully the building was sturdy and with the most relevant parts of the building made from stone. It would be horrendous for the tribe if a building they so depended on would have been destroyed.
"Seems like everything is still in place lad." Gobber's voice sounded from the other end of the room. "Better if yah put out the tools for nail making. We gonna make a load of them tomorrow and the next few days."
"Seems like the least I can do," Hiccup replied bitterly. "At least I should not be able to fuck that up… and people might actually believe me that I did that."
"Aye, that they might indeed. Shooting something down that nobody has ever seen is a mightily unbelievable claim. Now don't mope around. We are going to sleep now, and, on the morrow, we do what we do best, and you can regain a bit of good will," Gobber said with a bit of strained mirth in his voice.
"I really did…"
"Corpse or didn't happen, lad."
At that Hiccup could only roll his eyes in annoyance. Why wouldn't they believe him? He was serious about that, and it was not like he was being a liar…
Hiccup and Gobber left the forge in the early hours of the morning and the first rays of sunshine enlightened the village. What would have normally been a homely sight with forested mountain in the back was now marred by the burned houses. The village was still bustling though not as much as during and closely after the raid. Who was able to tried to get some shut-eye now and those who were chosen by the chief were still cleaning up the worst of the rubble so that the then rested villagers could get to work quickly. Even a catastrophe could be planned for and resolved with no more chaos then needed if it accrued so often. What a bitter truth.
Thankfully, the villagers were not able to muster much of a disgruntled reaction to him as he walked past the houses to his home. Too much to do and Gobber at his side saw too that. Not that the looks they were able to direct at him left to doubt how they felt about him.
Rather downtrodden Hiccup wished Gobber a good and well-deserved rest as he closed the door to his home behind him and just moments later, he fell into his bed to an uneasy rest.
It was a short rest, as always after a raid. Hiccups father shook him from his sleep and told him rather disgruntled to make his way for the forge and so started a rather strenuous day with no way out to search for the dragon he knew he shot down.
If it is still there, would just be my luck that it freed itself in the time I beat nails into form.
Instead, Hiccup was in the forge and while he was largely in the back to heat the forge and beat the nails into form he had to go to the front and times to take in some of the things the villagers brought to them when Gobber was at work. And with those things came the at best dismissive looks and at worst rather biting remarks.
"Just straighten the sword and sharpen it, even you could not mess that up unlike your flaky contraptions."
And every time he wanted to throw into their face, that it had worked. He would show them! If they had just gone on the search with him. But he had to swallow it. Just from looking embarrassedly to the side there was nothing much he could do.
"Don't take it to heart. Your work with swords is as good as mine," was what Gobber said to cheer him up again. "And if you and I continue in the same pace we have been going today, you will even be able to do something else tomorrow."
And that was exactly what Hiccup was doing right now. Gobber had allowed him to go ahead on his own as the workload ebbed down just an hour before the midday meal. That had been three hours ago and the something was a search. He knew that the dragon had to have gone down somewhere near Ravenpoint. Not that he knew exactly the black dragon had been near invisible and only the missing clouds had allowed him to assume the position and trajectory of the Nightfury in front of the dull light of the stars.
Several positions he had already searched and as they became more numerous, he started to draw a crude map of the part of the island he suspected the dragon had impacted. Not as if that had helped immediately. The numerous crosses of location visited and found empty were telling of that.
Already the sun was sinking and what had been a rather sunny day in the summer that warmed the face with its rays became a clammy one in an astonishing tempo as the shadows of the forest started winning the fight against the strong midday sun. The forest was thick here and nobody walked often in this part. The missing tree stumps from efforts to bring wood into the village told of that. It would be a hassle to bring them into the village from so far away. Forestry work was important to an island with limited resources, but this was so simply too far out of the way.
And so, Hiccup crossed over a hill seldomly walked and as his view leveled from being pointed upwards as he climbed, he saw a splintered tree with the top half of the tree still only loosely connected to the once mighty trunk. His eyes followed the upper half of the trunk to the ground to a long and earthy scar and his pulse quickened.
More hurriedly than before he slid down and into the furrow. It was deep and had unearthed roots and was nearly hip deep. The dragon had come down here and at a neck breaking streak at that, Hiccup was sure of that. So fast indeed that it had plowed through the earth up a small hill. Hiccup took it all in absolutely wide-eyed and started to make for the top of the hill. As he reached the mound his eyes went even wider, and he dropped himself to the ground. There laid a black heap that definitely had the form of a dragon. It was turned away from him and he was hopeful that it had not seen him as it seemed resting.
As Hiccup didn't hear any rustling our something that indicated that the dragon had moved, he pressed himself up from the soggy earth and pushed himself so far upwards, that he was able to see the dragon just barely over the crest of the hill.
Disbelief filled him as he saw the ropes that bound the form of the dragon. Had he done it? Had he truly shot down a dragon with his bola's thrower? The ropes seemed tight, and the huddled form of the dragon did not seem like it was a position that it preferred. It looked unmoving and its form totally slack. Was it dead?
If it was possible, Hiccups heart beat even faster. He might have done it! Or not just might!
He had to check. If he went now and told somebody and on the return the dragon was gone, they would never believe him again. So, he crossed over the crest and nearly went down in a stumble as his legs betrayed him in his excitement. Or was it fear? Hiccup came down behind a rock just a few steps away from the dragon. "Never walk up to an enemy, you know that could and would kill you, unarmed Hiccup", his father had said.
And so, Hiccup nervously started fingering on the inside of his vest for his dagger. A blade that was sooner a knife than an actual dagger, but as his grip tightened around the handle it gave him at least some resolve. If things turned out bad, he would at least be judged by the Valkyries for having died with a blade in hand.
After that thought every bit of gathered courage nearly left his body again. He could burn and die like the others. What was he doing here!
Hiccup beat down these thoughts and turned around the stone with the dagger in hand and poised before him. Beating his doubt by pushing on in a speed that would not allow him to be held back by his speeding brain and wrenching gut. All he needed to do was check.
He came up in front of the scaled and pitch-black torso of the dragon. Gods is it big. Then the trunk of a body heaved, and Hiccups heart nearly stopped. It was not… not dead.
Something needed to be done and fast at that. If the beast awoke and freed itself or just started trashing around it might kill him in its rage that it must surely feel after seeing one of the people that brought him down and undeniably hurt him.
Go for the heart? Where even is that.
Pierce the lungs? Might not be fast enough.
Slit the throat? Yes, it was also probably the least armored place.
The decision taken he turned his head to the front towards the head of the dragon and he took a step towards the neck. And paused. Was he gonna…
The Nightfuries torso heaved again.
Hiccup thrust the dagger in the lower part of the dragons' throat as it lay on its side and the dragon seized together and cried out. It was close to ripping the dagger from the Hiccups hand, but he kept the grip in hand and with a desperate show of strength he pulled the blade up completely severing its windpipe and dousing the hilt of his dagger and hands in blood.
The foot of the Nightfury lashed out and hit Hiccup square in the chest and threw him onto the ground landing on his back and hitting his head. Through his ringing head thumping with dull pain, he heard the dragon trashing in its bounds and prayed for the ropes to hold. As he straightened himself the sound of the trashing stilled, and a wheezing began to fill the clearing.
Still dazed Hiccup turned towards the rattling and gazed into the eyes of the dragon. The blood was beginning to pool on the forest ground and soaked the moss in a deep red like a sponge. All the while he held the dragon's stare. The dragons' eyes went from fearful slits to accusing and something broke in Hiccup. The stress of the past moments, of the past days had taken its toll.
How could it dare!
"Don't look at me as if this is my fault!", he screamed at the dragon that bleed before him. "You brought this all upon yourself. How dare you look at me as if I am to blame for me having to do this, when you come here! When it is you who steal our cattle, torch our houses and burn everyone who stands in your way."
"How dare you?", his rage bleeding into a bewildered quieter question.
The gaze of the dragon didn't wither, and Hiccups legs gave out under him landing on his buttocks. And while body of the dragon began to slacken, and its head sank to the ground it kept Hiccups eye captured. Hiccup saw the fear creeping back into the dragons' eyes and it felt like a lifetime, an unending moment, until the dragon hat breathed its last.
Hiccup pushed himself with his legs towards a big stone behind him. All the while watching the now dead form of the dragon and regaining a sense of time. The sun was still relatively high. What had felt like an eternity and was a longer death struggle had been just a moment in time. Mechanically he made to stow his dagger and noticed the slickness of his hands. They were red and had even started to soak the sleeves of his tunic. Frantically he threw the dagger to his side and started to rub his hands in the grass.
How long he was at that Hiccup did not know and only burning shoulder and hurting knees as he had knelt made him go slower and eventually stop and he sunk back against the stone while stretching his neck back to look into the sky. And slowly came the realization.
He had shot down and killed a dragon.
And not just some dragon – a nightfury!
Hiccup had proof now. He was not some liar and daydreamer. Not useless at all. But how would he show them? Letting it lay around here and somebody else might find it if he returned empty-handed. The corpse as a whole was too heavy though. He might be able to cut off the head and bring that back into village. He could bind two long branches and a short one into a triangle and place the head onto the makeshift pack frame that could be dragged behind him.
His mind made up Hiccup got to work.
If you liked it, or did not, please leave a review. It would be great as I would like to know, if my writing is acceptable (choice of words, flow, etc.) as I would like to improve myself. Criticism of the content is also welcome and happily received. Did I fail in showing what I wanted to show and would you like, if I expanded on it. As of now This is a One-Shot.