Chapter 41
The fire popped and crackled, giving the house a cosy glow. The wind outside the house howled in warning, telling everyone not to dare venture out on such an uninviting evening. In front of the fire, four small dragons literally slept on top of each other while their owners sat nearby with their host.
"Is that your family?" Haley nodded towards some photos on the mantle above the fire.
"Yes my wife took our two boys on the first boat out to Alesund in Norway, back when the dragons first made themselves known. The townspeople decided to send the children first with a few men and women babysitters and I was to follow later with those left behind."
"Wise decision" Calla noted.
"So you all actually came to the Faroe Islands to find the dragons?" Simon wondered "How did you know they were here?"
"Educated guess" Blue smiled.
"Educated guess? How do you possibly become educated about dragons? They only appeared here a few weeks ago."
"You are looking at one of the leading dragon experts on this planet" Haley nodded.
"How many could there be?" Simon shrugged.
"Two; him and a guy named DeGroot" Calla smirked.
"But... I don't understand... how..."
"It's a long story but I'll try to make it brief" Blue leant forward "Over a thousand years ago, my ancestor Hiccup Haddock was the first Viking to befriend and train a dragon, ending a three hundred year war and bringing on the time of the Dragon Riders. Not long after, he and his fellow riders travelled to a small kingdom in Europe called Elydonia; a place that has become lost in time, much like the Dragon Riders and the Island of Berk. While in Elydonia, Hiccup encountered a man named Yolon DeGroot; a historian to the King who was in charge of the treasures of Bolthorn Castle. This man took it on himself to start keeping records of the Dragon Riders as well, because they were the King's allies. Over time the dragons went into hiding, Berk faded into history, and Yolon DeGroot passed on his task to his many descendants, who continued to follow the family line of Hiccup Haddock for centuries, and collected many ancient writings of the Dragon Riders. After losing the trail for fifteen years, he finally found me again and told me about my amazing ancestor."
"A bit careless of this DeGroot to lose you after his family had kept track for over a thousand years" Simon shrugged.
"To be fair, I was born on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; my mother was then sent to Mars, and I was locked in a hidden underground base till about eighteen months ago. It is hard to keep track under those circumstances."
"I guess so... but it's such an amazing story... and I'm sure there is so much more to tell."
"You said it" Calla nodded knowingly.
"DeGroot managed to find me, mainly by pure luck, not long after we opened up the underground complex. And ever since that day, I've had access to much of the ancient writings of the Dragon Riders. As you could imagine, that information was very useful when we encountered these little guys" Blue nodded at the sleeping dragons.
"But do you seriously think you'll be able to handle something as big as the... what did you call it?"
"A Deadly Nadder; and I think I'll be able to win it over, with a little help from you" Blue smiled mischievously.
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Blue and Calla decided to get an early start the next morning. They had a long way to go and only their feet to get them there.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Haley asked as they pulled on their boots.
"I think it would be better if someone stayed here" Blue insisted "There's not much chance of the dragon returning but if it does, I want you to try and show it how well we get along with dragons. Take the Terrors out and just be with them, play with them, and feed them. If it shows some interest, play it by ear but don't put yourself in danger; there's no need to rush things."
"Okay, good luck."
"And to you too" Blue nodded "FIREFLY, DAISY, COME ON!"
The two dragons did as requested, although they really wanted to stay by the fire till the sun was up. There was just enough morning light to see the ground in front of their feet as Blue and Calla started to walk to the west. Long before the sun hit their backs, they found the road Simon had told them about and turned north. Just over a kilometre later they saw the top of the same fiord where they had left the Star Runner the day before and so as per Simon's instructions, they left the road to climb down the steep, rough hill.
"Are you sure this is right?" Calla asked as she stumbled on the uneven ground.
"According to Simon, the road we were on gets very hilly and twisty, but if we go this way there's a tunnel that will take us straight to the coast road."
"So this trip will be nothing more than one long game of Simon Says?"
"Pretty much, yeah" Blue agreed.
Soon Blue and Calla stood on the road in front of the tunnel mouth. It may have been the more level route, but the inky blackness did not look inviting at all.
"Ever since the day I met you, I always seem to be going back underground" Calla sighed.
"Just think of it as another great adventure" Blue said cheerily as he stepped inside.
Without even being asked, the dragons both opened their mouths and emitted a faint glow to light the way for the intrepid travellers.
"I hate you sometimes" Calla declared as she followed behind.
"No you don't" Blue smirked.
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Back at the house, Haley finally got around to finishing the breakfast dishes and returned to the front room of the house. There she found Simon rubbing his ankle, while Azrail and Ginger Nut wrestled in front of the fire place.
"If you two are gonna play rough, take it out side" Haley told the dragons as she walked to the front door.
They both ran outside as soon as the door was opened and resumed playing as soon as they were out. Quickly shutting the door to keep the cold outside where it belonged, Haley then went to one of the comfortable chairs near the fire.
"How's you ankle?" she asked Simon.
"Not as sore as yesterday, but I think I'll need my walking stick for a few days yet. Speaking of legs, may I ask about yours?"
"Not bad is it? As prosthetics go, I myself think it's rather impressive" Haley bragged.
"But how did you come to loose..."
The sudden sound of panicked shouting outside brought all conversation to an end as Haley leapt up and rushed to the door, throwing it open with great force. She was greeted with the sight of her dragons dancing around two very upset looking men, who were trying to repel the creatures with hiking poles. Ginger Nut and Azrail expertly dodged each swing as the enjoyed what they thought was a game.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY DRAGONS?" Haley shouted angrily as she walked down the front steps.
"J-just get t-these beasts away from us" one of the frightened men begged.
"GINGER NUT, AZRAIL... COME!"
After taking to the air, the two dragons glided down and alighted on Haley's shoulders just as Simon appeared at the door, leaning heavily on his stick.
"What on Earth are you doing here?" he asked the men.
"We came to let you know the first boat will be back tomorrow" One of them said "You've been put on the list of early passengers so you can join your family."
"I don't think I'll be going yet because..."
"Because of her?" the man said accusingly.
"Hey! I don't like what your insinuating" Haley barked.
"What the hell is going on here, and who's this girl?" the other man demanded.
Simon shook his head and sighed; he had not expected this kind of trouble.
"Listen you fools, yesterday I had a very unfortunate encounter with the blue dragon. It left me unable to walk and I would have died last night if this lady and her two friends had not found me and brought me home. This morning the other two left to find the dragons so..."
"Wait... she can control dragons" the first man gasped.
"Maybe these strangers are the ones who have brought the dragons here... caused all this trouble" the second agreed.
"No we only got here yesterday and..." Haley began.
"You did this Simon!"
"You brought disaster on us all!" the men declared and hurried off as fast as their middle aged legs would carry them.
"Humph... good riddance" Haley sniffed as she turned to go back inside.
Simon watched as his neighbours slowly disappeared across the grass. He was very worried about what may happen next with the remaining townsfolk, and what they may tell his wife.
"Maybe it would be best if you went to find your friends" he said to Haley.
"It's your home so I'll leave if you want me too, but I'm not worried about them" she insisted.
"But I am" Simon replied "If they start spreading rumours about you and your connection with the dragons, things could get messy."
"I still not worried" Haley said confidently.
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The middle of the tunnel contained several wrecked vehicles that were so old, they may have been there longer than Blue and Call had been alive. It took some effort to climb over and around the remains, but their journey went quite smoothly afterwards even though they still had about a kilometre to walk before the far end of the tunnel came into sight.
"About time too" Calla declared as the dragons flew on ahead towards the bright daylight.
"I thought spending so much time with you in a dark place was very romantic" Blue grinned.
"You have a strange concept of what constitutes romance" Calla disagreed.
A little further down the road, the couple came to a junction where they turned left. Their path soon led them to another small shipping port that now contained nothing but wrecked trucks, pushed up to the low side of the road by a very large wave many years ago. A line of large houses dotted the high side of the road so Blue decided to take some precautions.
"FIREFLY, COME HERE!"
He opened his jacket, allowing the dragon to climb inside while Calla followed his example with Daisy. And so, looking like they had indulged in too many deserts, Blue and Calla walked on as casually as possible. Putting the dragons away turned out to be a good idea because as they reached the far end of the house row, they heard someone call out in a language they did not recognise.
"I'm sorry... but I don't understand" Blue answered the man who had called out.
"Oh, are you from England?" the man asked with an accent that reminded Blue of the way Simon spoke.
"I'm from New Zealand actually" Calla replied with a smile.
"New Zealand? Good heavens but you're a long way from home."
"I've been further" Calla winked at Blue, remembering her trip out in space.
"So then, where are you off to? We don't get many visitors in an isolated place like this, especially ones so young."
"We're headed round to the bridge; we want to go over to the next island" Blue admitted.
"Eysturoy? Oh you want be careful if you go there."
"Why?" Calla asked.
"Well let's just say there have been sightings of some pretty strange creatures near the northern coast of Eysturoy" the man said with concern.
Blue and Calla looked at each other with a sly delight, then Blue decided to see if he could push for more information.
"These strange creatures, would you describe them as... dragon-like?"
"Some would, in fact some have; but I think they're being a bit... melodramatic shall we say?"
"I suppose you could say that" Blue nodded and smiled "Well we've got a long walk ahead of us so thanks for your help and I think we'll be on our way."
"No problem... but are you sure you want to walk all the..."
Calla and Blue had almost gotten away without raising any suspicion, but at that very moment, Firefly let his curiosity get the better of him as he poked his head out of the top of Blue's jacked to have a look around.
"What in blazes have you got there?" the man gasped as he strode down from his house.
"Oh... nothing... just a pet lizard" Blue replied while trying to shove the dragons head back inside.
"That head... I'm sure I've seen it before."
"Oh I doubt it" Blue half laughed "Well... goodbye."
And with that said, Blue and Calla ran off down the road before the man could reach them. He watched them go with suspicion before going back to his house to fetch his coat and hat. From there he went back into the village to a house near the crossroad.
"THORSTON, ARE YOU IN THERE?" he called out as he beat on the front door.
"Yes yes I'm here" a voice came from deep inside "Who's that... Olaf?"
"Yes it's me; I need to look at those old paintings of yours."
The door opened to reveal a very large man with broad shoulders and a body shaped like a rain barrel.
"Alright... but do you have to bash m' door in ya daft pudding?"
"Sorry but this is urgent; I think I may have just seen one of them."
"Oh come on Olaf... don't tell you're starting to believe those dragon rumours?"
"Believe me Thorston, two kids just came through town, and I'm sure the boy had a dragon inside his jacket."
"Now I know you're crazy" Thorston said as he led the way inside "A dragon is so big, it could put you inside its jacket... assuming it had one."
Both men walked through to the back of the spacious home to a large comfortable room, lined with north facing windows down its length from floor to ceiling. Due to the lack of sunshine, Thorston had been keeping the curtains closed but when he opened them, a line of small framed paintings on the back wall became greatly illuminated. Olaf started from the western side of the room and slowly made his way along the wall, studying each painting with care.
"Here; this is the one" he pointed at the ninth picture.
"And you think you saw a boy with one of these giants stuffed down his shirt" Thorston smiled derisively.
"Well how big do they grow?" Olaf asked.
"Now you're talkin' like they're real" Thorston sighed "Let me check; each painting had rune writing on the back, someone in the family had it translated years ago."
Taking the small painting down, Thorston turned it over to reveal a piece of paper taped to the back of the frame.
"Ah let's see... it's called a Terrible Terror... and nose to tail they're about..."
"Well... what?" Olaf shook with excitement.
"Just over a meter... this is one of the small ones" Thorston admitted.
"HA! So the boy could have had one in his jacket."
"No... no they can't be real" Thorston fell heavily into a big leather chair.
"Maybe they are, and maybe the rumours about the big ones being seen are true as well."
"No... no they can't... wait, where were these kids going?"
"To the bridge; they said they needed to get to Eysturoy."
"Where most of the sightings have been" Thorston gasped.
All of a sudden he jumped up out of his chair and gave the frame in his hand to Olaf. He then started to take each painting off the wall, also handing each one to his friend who soon struggled with the ever increasing load.
"Get these out to the Land Rover; we're going after them" Thorston insisted
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Hi everyone, how you feeling?
Even though I am not in isolation any more, of course there is no work so I'm still at home and I imagine many of you are too. It is slowly getting cooler down here in the southern hemisphere so hopefully it is getting warmer for those of you who are in the north.
You should see regular chapters for the next two months but in the unlikely case of me catching something, I'll probably post the rest all at once just in case.
Hopefully it won't come to that; good fortune to you all, Marty :D