Chapter 23

Firefly joyfully led the way, darting back and forth and playfully running in circles as the ships landing party made their way towards a massive rock overhang on the far side of the village. Every pile of fallen stone wall they passed on the way marked the spot where another Viking home had once stood. As he glanced over each one, Blue began to wish he could have seen Berk in the past, back when it was a vibrant village full of Vikings and Dragons. Soon he could see the circular depression of the arena and to his delight, Blue discovered he was right about Firefly having a few friends.

"RROOWRL."

The yellowish green dragon had climbed up on a fallen tree trunk and let out an odd cry. His call did not fail to gain attention as within a few seconds, several other Terrible Terrors had clambered out of holes, emerged from bushes or dropped down from the massive rock. Each and every one of them came a little closer to the group, but still kept their distance as they pondered the new creatures who had appeared amongst them.

Seeing their hesitation, Blue removed a few pieces of wrapped jerky he had in his shirt pocket.

"Hey... Firefly" he called out as he broke of a bite size piece.

The dragon had not yet learned his new name but he still turned at the sound of Blues voice to see the young man holding out the delicious smelling morsel of food. He jumped up and with two beats of his wings, flew over and landed lightly on Blue's left shoulder. Finding he was facing the wrong way, Firefly scampered around the back of Blue's neck to the other side. As soon as he had settled, Blue held up the jerky for the dragon to snatch from his fingers.

The other dragons watched with wonder as the tall, two legged boy gladly shared the small amount of food he possessed without being stingy or protective. After giving Firefly a second mouthful, he broke off a third piece and offered it to the nearest of the other dragons.

"Would you like to try some?" he asked as if he were talking to a toddler.

Blue dropped to one knee as the other dragon took a few steps closer. Although all the terrors looked very similar, there were some variants. The one cautiously moving forward was a tad bigger than Firefly: it had a light brownish body and tail with dusty red spine plates. A small patch of autumn leaf red colouring on the top of its head, gave the dragon the illusion of possessing hair.

"If you don't take it soon, I'll give it to Firefly."

It was almost as if the dragon understood as it scampered forward and sniffed at the jerky before taking out of Blue's hand. Having never tasted anything quite like it before, the dragon was impressed and looked up hoping for more.

"I hope you brought enough for all of them" Haley said as several more Terrors came closer.

"Only if they'll be satisfied with one piece each" Blue replied.

Deciding to get in on the fun, Haley stepped up and held out her hand.

"Can I have a bit?" she asked.

Blue handed over a strip which Haley proceeded to break into smaller pieces. Taking a step to the right, she squatted down and offered one to an approaching dragon. Having seen its friends being safely fed, this Terrible Terror did not hesitate to take what was offered and also found it to be very tasty. Soon all the dragons had come for their portions and in less than a minute, the jerky was all gone.

"Nothing left" Blue said to the small crowd and held out his hands for them all to see.

The dragon with the red patch on its head looked up at Firefly sitting on Blue's shoulder and decided it too wanted to have a pet human. Moving fast so no other dragon could claim her first, the determined Terror flew up and claimed its spot next to Haley's ear.

"Whoa... these little guys are really friendly" she gasped.

"Hey... you're a natural at this" Blue laughed as he rose up again.

"Are all dragons this friendly?" Jack wondered.

"I wish they were" Blue answered "But according to the Ingerman Chronicles, different dragon types have different personalities; there can even be individual differences within each breed. The Terrible Terror is one of the more affable dragons and was the second breed to be befriended by Hiccup Haddock."

Everyone in the group smiled when one of the other dragons walked up and sniffed at Haley's metal leg before licking it. Unfortunately for them, this entertaining sight kept them from noticing four more dragons circling overhead, and they had also noticed the prosthetic limb. Before anyone could react, one of these four have dived down and knocked Haley onto the ground. It was followed close behind by the other three and they all tried to steal away the leg.

"Oh no... Smokebreaths" Blue gasped.

Before he had the chance to fight back, every single Terror had leapt in and started to fight with the Smokebreaths. Being greatly outnumbered, the intruders soon gave up on their sought after prize and retreated as Terrible Terror fireballs exploded all around them.

"Are you okay?" Blue asked as he helped the young lady back to her feet.

"Yeah... I think so" she replied while checking her leg "There's a few light scratches, but otherwise it looks undamaged."

Blue turned to Jack and spoke with urgency.

"Captain, those were a breed of dragon known as Smothering Smokebreaths and they absolutely love metal. You have to contact the One and All, and tell them to be careful. The crew should immediately start to cover or remove all exposed metal on the ship. Things that can be removed should be taken below, and everything else must be covered."

"Covered with what?" Jack asked, somewhat stunned at the request.

"Anything; tarps, sails, dishcloths, old shirts... smaller things can be wrapped or covered with duct tape. As long as the Smokebreaths can't see any metal, we'll be okay."

"Right; I'm on it" Jack said, getting out his radio.

Haley sat down and removed her leg, scrutinising it closely for any damaged she may have missed. Relieved to find there was nothing drastically wrong, she replaced it while her dragon watched with intent curiosity.

"Hey Blue, with that little red patch on this dragons head, I'm thinking of calling it Ginger Nut."

"Hmm... yeah whatever" was his only reply.

Getting back onto her feet, Haley noticed Blue appeared to be deep in thought.

"What sinister evil are you planning?" she joked but Blue did not answer.

With Firefly still sitting contentedly on his shoulder, Blue sat down on a nearby log and held out his hand to one of the other Terrors. The little beast actually smiled as Blue lightly scratched its head before the dragon rubbed its face and neck on Blue's leg in a cat-like manor.

"Did you notice how quickly they moved to protect you?" Blue said at last "We didn't even have to ask... even though they wouldn't have understood if we did."

"Off course they did, we fed them... and we're really nice people" Haley smirked while rubbing Ginger Nut's chin.

"I think it's more than that. Fishlegs wrote extensively of how some dragon breeds are loners, while others form tribes or families; even symbiotic relationships with other breeds."

"What on Earth is a Fishlegs?" Jose gasped at the thought.

"Yeah some of the Dragon Riders did have funny names by todays standard" Blue smiled "Fishlegs Ingerman was probably one of the earliest biological scientists. His observations in the Ingerman Chronicles have taught me almost as much as the Book of Gothi."

"Well all this has been fun and very educational, but maybe it's time we started taking water back to the ship" Jack decided.

"Captain; if I may, I'd like you to consider a change to our plans" Blue asked "I think we should stay here for now."

"What are you thinking?" Jack asked "We have to rendezvous with the other ships and make plans to rescue Abigail and Calla."

"Exactly!" Blue declared "A difficult task that may have a better chance of success with a little help from some fire breathing allies."

Jack, Haley and Jose all looked at Blue as if he had just suggested forming a ballet company for a tour of Europe.

"You want to... use these Dragons... as an attack force?" Jack gasped.

"At the very least, I feel sure they would protect us when Gran's forces try to stop us from taking Calla and Abigail, but I'm sure they could easily be trained to do other things too. If you were one of Gran's guards, imagine how surprising and distracting it would be if little fireballs started flying over your head while you were trying to concentrate on repelling an attack. There is a risk they could shoot someone but I think the chances are low. I noticed they did not try to kill the Smokebreaths, they just drove them off."

Captain Sumner thought about the proposal for a moment before nodding his head.

"You know... I think you're right. If it works, gaining the help of these dragons would greatly increase our chances of success. Maybe the other ships should continue on to Canada and wait for us."

"Wouldn't it be better if they came here to meet the dragons" Haley asked.

"I think so" Blue agreed.

"I guess it would only add a week or two to our return time... and the advantages may be worth it" Jack nodded.

"Great; let's get to work" Blue grinned.

'

'

"WHERE IS SHE; WHERE'S THE GIRL!" Gran barked loudly.

"Oh... I'm sorry Ma'am... she must have snuck off while we were concentrating on installing this beam" one of Gran's workers said nervously.

"We didn't want to drop it" said another.

"But don't worry, we know where she is; she always goes to the same place so I'll go and..."

"YOU STAY HERE!" Gran shouted "I'll go and get her."

Having been told where to look, Gran stormed out of the building being repaired and marched deeper into the canyon. Eventually she saw who she sought, kneeling next to a mound of earth, flower in her hand and her hood pulled up over her head.

"Guilt getting the better of you?" Gran said with venom in her voice.

Without saying a word, Calla placed the flower onto the grave and rose to her feet.

"Just because I don't feel responsible for Nancy's death, doesn't mean I don't miss her" the young girl finally said.

"You're just trying to justify yourself" Gran accused.

Calla raised her eyes to the sky, but did not turn around.

"Isn't that what you are doing?" she said quietly so Gran could only just hear.

The furious woman turned bright red. Grabbing Calla by the jacket, she threw the young girl back in the direction of the town.

"JUST GET BACK TO WORK!" Gran sneered.

"Anything you say Phyllis" Calla replied.

'

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Work is getting busy as we get closer to Christmas, so once again I'm glad I've got lots of chapters up my sleeve. All the kids will be on summer vacation soon so I'm sure I'll get even more written when that happens.

See you all next week, Marty