Chapter 6

Astrid

It only took a few moments of searching when she reached the Chief's house. In a patch of soft earth was the imprint of a large paw unlike anything she had previously seen on any of the dragons she was used to. That black dragon she thought she had seen last night, she had never seen that before either. A memory flashed unbidden before her eyes. She recalled Hiccup's words, so long ago they seemed, after the last raid had taken place;

"Ok but I hit a Night Fury."

Could it really be possible? Had Hiccup seriously managed to bring down the elusive and destructive offspring of lightning and Death? No one had believed him. Of course they hadn't, who would? But, around that exact same time, Hiccup had started disappearing during the day. And! She gasped. He had also started to dramatically improve in his performance during dragon training a little after that! What was he doing? Studying it?

No. She had seen it last night standing free and easy beside him. She saw no human tracks beside those of the dragon. Perhaps it was the other way around! Perhaps the dragon had captured HIM! Perhaps it had some form of mind control or something! There were a couple of species in the dragon manual which had command of limited hypnosis, but something of this magnitude? To lord over a human mind so completely, that it obeyed and followed at a single glance? She shuddered. That would require the demons to possess far more intelligence than she was comfortable with considering.

Just standing here speculating was not going to get her anywhere. She eyed the tracks. They seemed to be heading in a generally westward direction, toward Raven Point. Exactly where Hiccup had claimed the Night Fury had gone down! She began a brisk westwardly jog through the forest. The trail was easy enough to follow. The beast had not made any attempts to conceal itself. As she ran she noted scraped bark on tree trunks, trampled bushes and more prints in the soft earth.

However, as the trees began to close in and she was forced to weave her way among them, the signs became more scattered and difficult to follow. The beast had slowed and there was far less indication of its passing, in fact, it wasn't for the odd patch of flattened grass, she would have thought she lost it. Then she noticed something. She knew this part of the forest. Just a few days previous she had been here, letting off some steam by using a tree as target practice for her ax. She could see the tree from where she was standing in fact.

Astrid slowed her jog, feeling the breeze play across her sweating brow. She slowed her breathing too, allowing it to become deep and even, rejuvenating her as she stepped over toward the tree that had so stoically born her wrath. The vertical wounds in the bark were deep and sap had congealed in the floor of each chasm. This was the destruction that her ax would wreak on the dragons that threatened her home. She noticed a few strikes that had been farther off the center than they should be. She'd even missed once.

Her heartbeat had slowed now and her chest rose and fell steadily without effort. Anger was not strength. Anger distorts your view, and that means your aim. When she found the black dragon, she would need to think calmly and clearly.

She turned to continue on her search, but as she did the scene before her suddenly flashed as she was reminded of the day she'd been throwing her ax. Hiccup had stood there, between those trees before her and stared as she stopped herself from throwing her blade into his face. He held a bundle of leather tied together with straps. Silently as she stared at him, he took one step away, then another and finally he took off into the forest.

Whatever was going on with Hiccup and that dragon, it was happening very nearby. Astrid walked forward now, slowly and carefully, ensuring that wherever the reptile was, it wouldn't be alerted of her presence before she could see it. She also freed her ax from its bindings, hefting it slightly as she went.

After only a minute, she was met with an enormous pit. The ground before her became rock and quickly fell away into a sheer cliff.

As she peeked over the edge, her first thought was how very beautiful the place was. The walls were all made up of smooth gray stone, the floor was covered in spongy looking moss and grasses with large boulders occasionally interrupting the tones of green, and covering most of it was a large deep blue lake that played the light of the sun so that it sparkled like a rare jewel. She was just starting to smile, when the beautiful scene was interrupted. Near the edge of the lake, a dark mass of scale was evident.

At this distance, the shape and size of the dragon was entirely unclear. What she could see was the pale glow of Hiccup's sickly skin against the black of the scale. He was reclining against the mass, facing out across the sparkling water. Astrid knelt beside a large trunk, ready to dive behind it if anything moved. She stayed for a few minutes, noting each individual feature of the cove. Each moss covered boulder that presented the opportunity for concealment, and the places where the ground sloped and dipped.

She did not sacrifice stealth for speed. When she finally did move, she did keep one eye on the dragon below at all times while the other along with her hands sought the path that would take her around the rim of the cove toward the fissure in the eastern side that was clearly the easiest access for anything without wings. All the while, neither Hiccup, nor the dragon moved. Perhaps Hiccup was unconscious. He hadn't seemed to move for the entire time she'd been watching.

When she finally stepped foot on the mossy floor, she got her first sign that the dragon was awake. There was a scraping and a groaning. Astrid dove to her left and dropped down behind one of the boulders she'd noted from above. Immediately she peaked around the rock's opposite side.

The mass of black scale had gained some definition. A single wing reached up toward the sky, while a tail was lashing on the right side. This quite clearly revealed on the left, a triangular head on a relatively short neck. This dragon would not have reach with its teeth. She'd need to watch especially for a more powerful shot, as well as those long wings and tail. After a small time of groaning and flexing, the beast rolled slightly and brought its head back to rest its snout in the crook of Hiccup's shoulder. Its tail draped itself across the boy's lap.

And to Astrid's disgust, she was able to make out Hiccup's face now. His eyes were closed and a dreamy smile was smeared across his lips. As the dragon pushed into him, Hiccup's head turned giving the dragon better access to his shoulder and throat.

Astrid felt her stomach roll and she had to stop to make sure she wouldn't vomit or belch. Shivers ran through her body as she thought of having a Dragon's teeth that close to her head. As the shivers stilled, she began to make her way to her next piece of cover, following the course she'd planned from the rim, around the lake shore and toward the demon.

Neither the boy, nor the dragon moved in the thirty minutes that she took to tread carefully from boulder to boulder, always keeping cover between herself and the dragon, lest it open its eyes. She was not entirely sure where its eyes might be, which encouraged her to take her time. When she finally came within throwing distance, she stopped again.

Now that she was closer she could see even more of the dragon's profile. The head was vaguely spade shaped, the back of which separated into four points, two of which had to be ears. And she could see that the legs, while a bit short and stubby, were packed with strength. The wings were folded behind it but she remembered the dragon's stretch. They would reach a frightful span when unfolded. The tail was long and sinuous. It also held strength. All in all, this dragon would be a frighteningly formidable adversary in close combat.

A ranged strike was her best chance. The best was lying on its side like a cat, with its tail across Hiccup's lap, and its head now resting on the ground near his thigh. From where she stood, she had an open avenue directly to the side of its neck. She knew that she could hit that target. So long as Hiccup stayed still he would not come to harm and she could inflict a mortal wound. Once the ax hit, she'd have to charge in and grab Hiccup so that he wasn't crushed by the beast in its death throes.

Her course set and ready, she stood and stepped around her rock. With her feet planted, stance wide and lined up perfectly with her target, she lifted her ax and pulled it back over her shoulder. To her surprise at that exact moment, Hiccup's eyes flickered open. He caught site of her at once, but had the good sense not to cry out or move too much. His eyes were foggy with sleep and he stared at her as if she was a strange creature from a dream. Astrid took a moment to mouth, 'stay still' before she brought the ax forward hard, releasing it to fly spinning toward the dragon.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Hiccup's eyes cleared the moment the ax left Astrid's grip. He leaped to his feet and moved, not away from the dragon and the airborne ax, but in between the two spreading his arms wide. In that brief, tiny millisecond of time, as the boy stood with his arms outstretched, his eyes locked with hers and she saw hatred in them. Hiccup looked like he would happily rip her throat out and crush it in his fist.

Then the ax buried itself in flesh, not scale as it was intended, but into the inside of Hiccup's right shoulder, just where his arm met his body. She heard the sickening crunch of bone splintering as the ax forced it's way through living tissue. Behind Hiccup, the dragon's eyes snapped open. Two pale green lanterns that shown from the dark silhouette of its head, gashed by vertical pupils. It let out a horrible, howling screech that sounded like pain. Hiccup grunted and was carried backward with the momentum of the weapon, landing on his back with the handle of the ax protruding into the air from his limp, immobile body.

XXX

Hiccup

There was no choice. He had simply acted. He would not allow Toothless to come to harm. His body responded automatically. Using itself as a shield to protect his friend. He didn't feel the bite of steel in his shoulder, only the heavy impact that drove him backwards. And as he fell, he felt pressure begin to build inside his skull. It was as if every headache he had ever endured were rushing into his head at once.

The speed with which the pain built was incredible, and he knew that he was still falling toward the ground. It felt as if his skull were about to crack open and spill his brain across the moss. And as he hit the ground full on his back, he felt the pressure disappear, as if it had been released all at once. And with the pressure's disappearance, came the sound of a voice. One that he had never heard before, yet still sounded as familiar to him as the back of his hand. It was rich and tenor, with an undertone that could almost have been a growl. And it was shouting.

"Hiccup! Hiccup! Dammit you bitch! I'll kill you! I'll kill you where you stand!"

Wait! Hadn't he just taken an ax to keep someone from harm? Who was shouting? Couldn't they just incapacitate Astrid or something? And with that thought, the shouting and cursing ceased. There was silence.

And then

"Hiccup? Is that you?" Hiccup couldn't find the strength to speak, or even open his eyes. He thought; Of course it's me. Who else would it be? And why was that voice talking to him when he wasn't talking to it? Then his strength gave out, and he fell into darkness.

XXX

Toothless

True horror filled his heart as he watched Hiccup begin to fall backwards. He screamed his rage to the sky as the small boy fell through the air, and finally came to rest with a muffled thud on the mossy ground. Toothless raised his eyes from the scarlet stained form of his rider to stare at the human hatchling, which was standing wide mouthed, seemingly frozen in shock at what she'd done.

She had harmed what was precious. And now she would die. He opened his mouth and let his slits open with it. The whistle of his charging shot reverberated around the cove. The walls of the cove would be stained by what was left of her.

Then Hiccup's voice had interrupted him.

"Must you kill her?"

Toothless stared down at Hiccup. He still lay with blood pooling around his shoulder, eyes closed. He seemed to be unconscious. Sweet and gentle Hiccup. Unable to destroy even those that were intent on his destruction.

Toothless obeyed the boy's wish. Stepping over Hiccup's body he whipped his hind quarters around toward the small human female, bringing his tail to bear in a devastating blow to the side of her head that sent her spinning, tumbling, landing in a jumbled heap on the loam. With that he returned to Hiccup's side. The girl didn't have a chance of regaining consciousness for a long while.

Hiccup lay sprawled where he had fallen, the ax still protruding from his arm. With as much delicacy as he could muster, he nudged the ax shaft, until it finally abdicated the wound with a sickening squelch. He nosed at it until it was a far distance from his rider, and then set it to his flame.

He immediately returned to Hiccup's side and began licking the gash in his shoulder. It was deep. Very deep. He had no idea how a human's wound was to be treated. When his kind was injured, the wound was bathed in fire, but his Hiccup's flesh would be destroyed by such cleansing. Desperately he continued to lick the blood away. If Hiccup regained consciousness, he would know what to do, and he could help.

Then to his astonishment, he felt the skin beneath his tongue, twitch. He brought his head away from the wound and looked on in amazement. The surface of his Hiccup's flesh was rippling ever so slightly, like the surface of the lake. His sensitive ears picked out small grindings and crunches within his boy's shoulder. Then the blood that had previously been welling out of the wound, began to congeal and turn black.

Eventually the entire gash was covered with a dark reflective crust. That was when he realized something even stranger. Behind his riders closed eyelids, he could see a green glow. As if his eyes had become luminescent. Eventually the shoulder stopped twitching. And a few minutes after that the glow behind the boy's eyelids faded. This, he knew, was not normal human behavior. He didn't want to wake Hiccup. But the wound smelled clean now, and it seemed as if he were merely sleeping.

With a snort, he curled himself around Hiccup's body, and raised a wing over him to protect him from the sun. He then set his gaze to the body of the Viking girl. Just in case, she regained consciousness.