Chapter 40
There were eighteen main islands to choose from in the Faroe Archipelago, and Blue chose to land on the island of Streymoy. Ten kilometres up from the southern tip of the island, was a wide, deep inlet. Halfway up this inlet about two kilometres, there was a long abandoned commercial wharf in an area known as Sund, which was perfect for the group's purposes. They tied the Star Runner to a section of the old dock that appeared to be in reasonable condition and began to take all their equipment ashore.
There were several warehouse buildings in the area, but their condition was not the best. It was plain to see that the islands had suffered from at least one massive wave cause by a meteorite strike at sea, and probably more than one. Fortunately the inner island rose up steadily from the coast so the trio quickly made plans to head up into the hills and search for a good place to set up camp; but before they left, a matter of security needed to be enacted.
"I know it's the right thing to do, but it feels weird" Calla said as she untied the stern rope from the dock.
"At least we can be sure no one will steal your boat while we're gone" Blue shrugged.
"Not boat, yacht" Calla insisted as she let the bow rope out meter after meter.
The Star Runner slowly drifted away from shore, held only by the long loose rope in Calla's hand. After it had gone out about five meters, she took a small remote control from her pocket and pressed the red top button. Instantaneously, air started to bubble to the surface and the yacht began to sit lower in the water and barely a minute later, the hull was completely submerged. This came as somewhat of a surprise to Daisy who was still sitting on the top of the mast. She clearly felt the sensation of being lowered and looked down only to see her perch rapidly getting shorter and shorter.
"You'd better get off now girl" Calla advised; and so the dragon leapt into the air just before the top of the mast slipped below the surface of the water.
"I'm tempted to press the other button now just to make sure it comes back up again" Calla sighed.
"Just make sure the end of that rope is well secured so we can pull her in when we do bring her up" Blue noted.
While the dragons spent their time half playing and half exploring, Blue, Calla and Haley took up some of their gear, leaving the rest well hidden in the ruins of an old warehouse. They started off walking briskly but the hill rose up quite sharply from the coast, so they took care to pace themselves as they went.
"So um... what exactly are we looking for?" Haley asked after about forty minutes.
"Somewhere with a good view all round, and preferably with some basic natural protection to help us shelter from the wind; after all, a tent will only do so much" Blue replied.
"Not much here in the way of firewood" Calla noted.
"I assume by Not Much, you really mean None At All" Haley corrected.
Good fortune however was with the group as just over an hour later, they came across a dirt track leading up to a farm, just below the crest of the hill they were climbing. As they approached, a good sized barn came into view behind the dwelling giving all three the same idea.
"Camping in a barn would be much better than using tiny tents" Haley offered.
"Assuming the farmer lets us to use it" Blue noted.
"Assuming there still is a farmer" Calla shrugged.
The closer they got to the house, the more it appeared that there was indeed a farmer. The home looked well maintained, there were signs showing someone had been working in the front yard very recently, and the sound of chickens could be heard coming from around the back.
"You guys stay here with the dragons while I go knock on the door" Blue said plainly.
"Say please" Calla smiled.
"Pleeese!" Blue replied with the tiniest hint of sarcasm.
Approaching the door with some caution, Blue called out in a way that made him sound like he was a character in a Winnie the Pooh cartoon.
"Hu-looo... is there anybody there?" but no answer came so he knocked firmly on the front door.
He waited for a short time and then knocked again. There was still no response so with some trepidation, the young man stepped over to the window and looked in.
"What can you see?" Haley called out.
"Front room, nicely furnished, a book with an empty teacup next to a big chair... I'd say someone does live here."
"So where are they?" Calla wondered as Blue returned to them.
"Working on the farm somewhere?" Blue postulated.
"Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look around" Haley said and the others agreed.
"Just do your best to keep the dragons away from the chickens" Blue insisted.
As they explored the immediate area, they found more signs that at least one person lived there and possibly more, but as to where this person was, nothing was forthcoming. While they searched, the dragons scurried about and familiarised themselves with the local area.
"This isn't good" Blue sighed when they all came back together with nothing to report.
"So now what; do we move on?" Haley asked.
"I hope not" Calla replied "I know we shouldn't move in unannounced, but I still say that barn looks much more inviting than a tent would be in this weather."
"I think we need a little winged assistance" Blue said and called out to his dragon
Firefly soon appeared and glided in to a soft landing on Blues shoulder.
"I've got a job for you buddy."
Blue took Firefly over to the rear door of the home where a pair of house slippers had been placed on a chair under a small veranda. The young man assumed the homes occupant had changed into his work boots at the back door, leaving the slippers close by for his eventual return.
"Smell this..." Blue offered the dragon one of the slippers "now search; go find the owner."
This was a game Firefly loved to play. He rose up in the air and flew around the farm about ten meters from the buildings, and identified all the paths made by creatures not fortunate enough to possess the power of flight. Swooping down, he sniffed at each one and found that most of them gave a hint of the desired aroma, so he picked the strongest one and followed it by gliding close to the ground.
"Leave your gear by the back door and let's go" Blue said.
While doing as instructed, Calla decided the one thing she did not want to leave behind was her beloved axe.
"Come on you lot" She called to the rest of the dragons.
Keeping up with Firefly would have been impossible if the little dragon had not stopped occasionally to wait for them. The climb was steep at first making it difficult to run, but as they approached to crest of the hill the ground soon levelled out. Blue believed he would soon catch sight of his dragon once more, but instead he heard someone cry out in fear.
"AARRRH! GET AWAY YOU HORRIBLE..."
"FIREFLY; COME!" Blue called and the dragons soon responded.
"Good boy; well done" Blue petted Firefly as soon as he landed on the boys shoulder.
The trio continued on over the hill and found an injured, middle aged man lying a short distance down the other side. He was crawling along the ground trying to reach a shotgun not far away.
"It's alright, Firefly won't hurt you" Blue tried to calm the man.
"Unless you try and shoot him" Calla added as they walked up.
"Wha... who are you... and why is there a baby dragon on your shoulder?"
"Firefly isn't a baby, Terrible Terrors only grow to this size" Blue smiled.
"Terrible Terrors?" the man gasped.
"Don't worry, it's only a name. These guys are really quite nice" Haley smiled.
Just then the man realised there were actually three other dragons running about and soon started to worry again.
"You look hurt, what happened" Calla asked as she looked over the man.
"I was attacked... by a dragon... much bigger than those. I was trying to get my goat herd back down to the house when the beast swooped in and grabbed one of the small ones. I tried to take it back but when I got a hold on it, the dragon flicked its legs and sent me flying down the hill. I don't think anything is broken but I've twisted my right leg and hurt my hip when I landed."
"Do you need a stretcher?" Calla checked.
"I think I could walk back... with some help if you don't mind."
"Not at all; my mane if Blue and this is Calla and Haley" Blue introduced as he helped the man up.
Haley took the other side and together they started back to the crest of the hill and down the other side.
"My name is Simon Lisberg, and I must admit I did not expect to see any strangers out here today, especially with tiny dragons of their own.
"What can you tell me about the dragon you encountered?" Blue asked as they went.
"Fortunately for me, it was the nice one" Simon began.
"So there is more than one?"
"Yes, I've seen two; one looks like a big red monster and the other one is more like a cross between a lizard and a bird."
"Big red monster sounds like our Monstrous Nightmare" Calla noted "What do you think the other one could be."
"There are several with a certain bird-like look to them. Did it have a long snout?" Blue asked.
"No... it was more round with a big chin and spikes on its tail" Simon tried to remember "Oh wait, it shot a few of the spikes at me when I started to chase it. I think they're over there."
Calla jogged over to the spot Simon indicated and after foraging around in the grass for a moment, she came back with two long blue spikes with a dark band around the centre bulge.
"Deadly Nadder; no doubt about it" Blue nodded "You're lucky it was only trying to scare you off."
"I thought it was trying to kill me" Simon declared.
"If it wanted to kill you, you'd be dead" Blue insisted "A Nadder has such good aim, it could take the button off your shirt without tearing the fabric. How long have they been here?"
"Well I first saw them about a week ago, but today was my first real encounter with one."
"Can you give me any idea as to which way it went?" Blue asked.
"Pretty much north" Simon replied.
"Any mountains in that direction?"
"Ya, the tallest mountain in the Faroe Archipelago is on the next island; it's not very far from here."
"You said it was the nice one; what made you say that if you'd never seen one before?" Haley wondered.
"A few other people on the island have seen dragons too. They told me the bird like one is easy to shoo away most of the time, but the red monster can be very intimidating. After the beasts arrived, most of the islands population decided to leave but the boats were all filled very quickly, so the rest of us are waiting for them to come back for us. I thought my home was as good a place as any to wait, but I'm beginning to wish I'd stayed in town now."
Eventually they managed to get Simon back to his home. He didn't want to be put to bed yet, but Haley insisted he rest on the couch while she made some tea.
"Sorry to be a bother, but could one of you fetch some firewood for me? There's a pile near the back of the barn."
"I'll go" Blue offered "and speaking of the barn, we were wondering if you would allow us to camp in there while we search for the dragons."
"Camp in the barn? Never; after all the help you've given me, I insist you stay here. Who knows; I may have been stuck outside all night and maybe even died of exposure out there."
"Well um... thank you... much appreciated... I'll go and get the fire wood."
Blue motioned for Calla to follow him to the back of the house. He stopped at the door, took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. She wasn't sure why, but Blue looked somewhat worried.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"It just hit me" Blue replied "If you hadn't told me off when I wanted to go to the Shetlands instead of here, Mr. Lisberg may have died out there just as he said. You were right about the risk I was taking... I owe you so much."
"Don't worry about it Blue, everyone makes mistakes."
"Except you of course" Blue said in obvious jest.
"Damn straight!" Calla smiled and lightly pinched Blues cheek.
She half skipped back into the main part of the house, turning back at the passage door to blow him a quick kiss. Blue could not help but smirk and shake his head as he stepped out the back door; he definitely enjoyed being around Calla much more when she was in a good mood.
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With all the pressure off now this story is finished, I've started messing around with a couple of ideas for the third book in this series, as well as starting another short story for the Berk; Year Two series. Now is probably a good time to start working on Snoggletog 2020 as well.
The mornings are getting cooler as autumn marches on, so Boo Cat is now spending most of her time curled up in any cosy spot she can find instead of in the garden.
I'll try not to refer to you as Vampire Vin too much and bye for now everyone :D