Chapter 16 - A Warning:
Midday on Myrka, in the markets…
No no no! I can't believe it! Why didn't I think of this before?!
Hiccup had a problem. A major one, and he was angry with himself for not thinking of it beforehand.
He was walking through the markets, looking for a sword.
Somehow, in all his preparation for the training, he had forgotten to get himself a sword. A crucial element of training.
He was walking through the markets, scanning every stall and every building. Not a single one sold swords or weapons. The only one he could find, was a store that sold axes for chopping wood. That was it.
He couldn't believe it.
Why aren't there any weapon stores? How are people supposed to fight if they don't even have a sword?! Hiccup thought to himself.
Hiccup wasn't sure of what to do. The only place that he knew would have swords-
"Oh I'm sorry!"
Hiccup had accidently bumped into someone, his shoulder and the other Viking's shoulder colliding.
A short, stubby man with a long and rather frizzly red beard had bumped into him. Wearing a strange Viking helmet that had only one spike going directly upwards from his head. Like a pointy pole.
"No I'm sorry I wasn't watchin-"
"Nonsense laddie!" The bearded man waved his hand. As people kept squeezing past them both. "I was just talking to me good mate Dan and-"
"Hakkon!" Boomed another Viking, suddenly squeezing through the crowd and walking to stand next to the Viking that Hiccup just bumped into. He was also wearing the same type of helmet but carrying a large brown woven bag on his back. He had a short brown beard, and he was also very short.
Hiccup guessed they both were from the same tribe. They both looked middle aged, perhaps in their forties.
"Dan! There you are! It's a ruddy choc-a-block here in these markets! Fair dinkum!" Dan then threw his arm around Hakkon's neck.
So Hakkon was the one who I accidently bumped into. And the other guy is Dan.
"Too bloody right Hakkon! Let's just hurry up and get the stuff before the wives kill us!" Spoke Dan cheerily, as if he hadn't even noticed Hiccup's presence.
Hiccup just started to take his cue and leave to try and find a sword, when a gruff hand suddenly grabbed his back and pulled him back.
"Wait boy! I apologise for bumping into yeh." Said the man named Hakkon. Looking at Hiccup's face with a merrily smile.
"It's fine. No problem." Hiccup replied.
Hakkon released him, and Dan looked at him.
"Hey what's a kid as young as you doing in the markets? You're not a slave. What are you? Fifteen?" Dan asked, looking intrigued at him.
"Sixteen actually, I turned sixteen last week. I'm looking for a store to buy a sword. I can't seem to find a store that sells them. Do you know of one and where?" Hiccup asked, looking carefully at Dan.
Dan laughed and so did Hakkon. "Kid, Myrka doesn't sell swords in the markets! But I tell you what, Hakkon and I make swords together in the forge back on our island to the south-west of here. We sell swords there to our own tribe called the Boonglers and visiting tribes."
"Pop by Boongler Island one day, we'll give you a discount on any sword. But for now I'm afraid you're stuck here without one. Sorry kid." Hakkon spoke.
"Ciao!" Hakkon yelled over all the noise of the markets, and they left rather fast.
Well they are nice people. Good to know there are some nice Vikings in this hopeless archipelago.
After many hours of searching the markets throughout the day, he could not find a sword. And he didn't run into the Boongler buddies again.
Hiccup growled at himself in frustration as he slowly made his way back to his house.
It was early evening now, and some clouds were approaching from the east, looking ominous. He knew the look of those clouds all too well.
With the remaining money in his pocket from pick-pocketing, he ran back to the markets and bought as much food, water and wood as he could fit in his arms.
The acquired items now in his arms, he made his way back briskly to the house. Just as flashes of lightning became visible and a cold gusty chill of wind ruffled his hair.
As soon as he made it back and shut the door, the rain started. Thundering large droplets onto the roof, making rather loud noise.
He ran over to the window, and shut it. Stopping the rain from coming in.
Now in complete darkness, he could still see due to his great eyesight.
Absolutely relieved he had arrived back in time, he put the stuff down, and took the wood to the fireplace. He set the fire place up, and lit it with a fire steel that was in the kitchen.
As he worked throughout the evening to prepare and cook his food, he began to think of what he might have to do to get a sword.
Maybe steal one from someone?
That's risky.
Isn't everything?
True. Or what about sneaking into the armoury?
I don't know where that is.
However I know where the forge is. But I haven't been in there, and I still haven't seen Toothless.
That's a big risk though. Is it worth it?
Let's just see what happens tomorrow.
What if I-
Hiccup was interrupted in his thoughts by a deafening crack of thunder. Making the house shake rather violently.
Gee, that was close. Hiccup thought.
The rain suddenly seemed to become far stronger and harder onto the roof. Hiccup was guessing that the rain had become snow or hail, like a blizzard.
His cooking complete, he sat down at the table with only the light from the fire and began to eat. Listening to the roaring storm above him.
Another crack of booming thunder, and over and over again it kept-
BANG! CRASH!
Hiccup suddenly fell backwards off his chair, something completely unexpected suddenly happened in front of him.
A large dark purple metallic mass had suddenly burst through the window, smashing open the grates and crashed into the wall ahead of it.
A roar of pain, and whimpering of another sound.
Hiccup scrambled to his feet, staring. Leaning back against the wall, terrified.
It was a dragon. He didn't recognise it. What's more, it appeared to have a saddle attached to its back.
"Oh my goodness, not our best landing was it Spark?"
The rain came pouring in, flooding the ground. Hiccup raced over to the window grates and shut them. Hiccup was surprised the grates had stayed strong despite such a brute impact.
The mass of purple turned over and stood on four legs, and appeared to help someone stand up with one of its front paws. The person accepted the paw with a word of thanks, and stood up.
Both the dragon and human were dripping wet and soaking. And also had a tinge of snow in the human's hair, and in between the dragon's spikes.
The dragon turned and faced Hiccup all of a sudden, with an aggressive attitude. It sprinted up to him before he could even move.
"Uhhh…" He muttered nervously.
Hiccup was about to yell and run, but the dragon snarled and put a paw on his chest stopping any movement. With its other paw, it lifted it up and went to Hiccup's right arm and lifted up his sleeve.
Its foggy grey eyes widened as it looked at Night's mark, then the dragon suddenly backed off and bowed to him, extending its head down low.
The dragon looked rather like a Deadly Nadder, or as Toothless called them, Spikes. Except it had spikes between its head and body, on its neck pointing upwards. Like in the same spot that Toothless had his ear plates.
Now that it was close, Hiccup managed to observe it more clearly. The underside of its body was a dark grey, almost sliver, but its back, wings and the upper part of its body was a mixture of mainly purple, but some black and grey splotches.
It had rather small, but triangular and sharp teeth along its triangular jaw. A medium sized tail, with spikes along the top ridge.
Its wings were long, very similar to that of a Night Fury. Hiccup guessed that this dragon certainly was fast in the air. It was built with a streamlined aerodynamic shape, very much like a Night Fury. But he had no idea of what type of dragon it was, he hadn't seen it in the dragon manual.
"Good evening, Hiccup."
Having temporarily forgotten that there was a human presence besides his own in the same room, he turned and looked at the human.
The person was sitting down, appearing to be covering a bleeding wound on the person's left leg.
The person had long grey hair, a droopy face and was holding a familiar looking object in her other hand, a compass. A compass that Hiccup had taken away from him, was being held by the woman who gave it to him in the first place.
"Gothi?"
The old woman nodded, and winced as she put pressure onto her bleeding wound on her left leg.
"W-what happened?" Hiccup gasped, approaching her looking worriedly at her wound, and immediately the dragon growled lowly, but didn't move. Just a low, warning and protective growl. Narrowing its eyes and in a stance positon.
"Calm yourself Spark. Hiccup is the least likely person to attack us in this whole archipelago." Gothi ushered. And the dragon went quiet.
Hiccup looked at her leg. "Here let me help you-"
"No no I'm fine." She dismissed.
The rain and snow pounded the roof constantly while they were talking, making it necessary to talk loudly over the noise.
"No you're not you're blee-" Hiccup tried again.
She shook her head, "I've got it under control," she tried to assure.
"But you'll-"
"She says she's fine, so let her be!" Spoke a new voice.
Hiccup flipped around, surprised by the voice but he couldn't find anyone else who had spoken. Although the dragon was staring at him with a frustrated expression.
"Spark, come now. Be nice." Gothi lectured.
"Oh!" Gothi spoke in a lighter tone, and she raised her other hand up with the compass in it. "I believe this is yours. I took it from the prison guard centre."
Hiccup took the compass off her and smiled warmly.
"Thank you very much. But how and why-"
"Oh yes! About damn time!" Spark interjected, suddenly bouncing up and down with what seemed excitement and anticipation. The dragon was staring at the food on the table. "That smell is killing my nose with hunger!"
"Spark that's not yours! Don't take what's not yours! That's Hiccups food!" Gothi barked, sending an impatient expression to the hungry dragon.
The dragon growled, frustrated, and sat down.
"Um, can I ask how-"
"Oh my I'm sorry dear one. I must apologise for the rude interruption. I came here to give you back your compass, and to give you a warning." She spoke, and stood up.
Hiccup, dumbfounded, just nodded. He watched as she walked over to a seat next to the fire and sat down. She moved the chair as close as she could, to try and get warm.
How on Earth did she know which house I was in?
Why was she riding a dragon?
Was she one of the Six?!
On that thought, "Are you one of the Six?" Hiccup blurted out, instinctively looking at Gothi's arms, but he couldn't see a mark. "If not, how do you understand dragon language?"
Spark let out a grunt which seemed more like a snort. "Stupid human." It muttered.
Gothi smiled, "My dear boy, I am far too old to be one of the Six. I have no dragon mark. And as to how I understand dragon language, that is another mystery you'll find out in time. But speaking of the Six, I hear you have found one of them?"
"How do you-"
"As I said once to you dear," Gothi interrupted, "some mysteries are best to remain unsolved for the time being. You will know in due course. I promise." She beamed at him.
Hiccup nearly shook his head in confusion, but thought better of it. He walked over to sit next to Gothi. Spark's eyes never leaving Hiccup.
"Yeah, I've found one guy. His name is Kormak and he is from Dyflin. He is older than me, and he bears the dragon mark of a Thunderdrum." Hiccup replied, rather proud of himself that he had done so.
"A thunder-what?" Growled the dragon.
"A Thunderdrum. Oh right, hmmm… Oh yes they are called flatsea. Spark, it's a flatsea dragon." Gothi spoke.
Spark nodded.
"Oh I should probably introduce you." Gothi remembered, looking at Spark. "Spark, this is Hiccup Haddock. Leader of the Six with Night's mark as you know. Hiccup, this is Spark. She is known as a Skrill to Vikings, and a Spike Bolt to dragons. She is my friend and dragon of whom I've known for five years."
Hiccup nodded to the female dragon. "Hello."
Spark nodded, saying nothing.
"You've had Spark as your dragon for five years? Even on Berk?" Hiccup asked, astonished. Wondering how she managed to keep that secret from everyone.
Gothi nodded, wincing a little as her hand was still on her wound with a cloth.
"Yes, it's been easy to keep it quiet though as a matter of fact. She stays in the forest most of the time." Gothi answered.
Hiccup nodded, understandingly. He knew it was quite easy to hide things in the forest. For it was so large and dense. And he did remember seeing Gothi going into the forest at times when he was younger.
"How is the village since I left?" Hiccup asked curiously. Thinking of Astrid, Gobber & Stoick.
She sighed and stopped smiling. "It's been better. We had a dragon raid not long after you left. The village just keeps getting them. Most of the Vikings are in pretty good spirits otherwise. Although, there are a few Vikings who have been better."
"The teens your age are generally the same. Snotlout and the twins haven't changed since you left. Astrid has gotten more aggressive and isn't in her best shape. But the one who has surprised me, is Fishlegs. I spoke to him privately the other day, and he says he misses you. He said he never really bullied you, but he feels very guilty for going along with it and not stopping it."
"It seems the teens now bully Fishlegs. He said Snotlout and Astrid are really making him feel bad. I've had a word with the chief, but he doesn't seem to care about much anymore."
Gothi sighed, "Oh Hiccup, your father…"
"He is distraught, furious, confused and scared. Though he only shows anger. I know Stoick very well. He loved you Hiccup, he just didn't know how to show it. He had Valka for that, your mother. Valka was always there. Till the tragic incident happened as you know."
"And as for Gobber, well, he has been missing you. He's been working double time in the forge, making weapons and fixing them. Especially with the more frequent raids. He is looking for a new assistant, but I know he misses your sarcasm and snarky comments."
She smiled at this.
Hiccup leant back in the chair, taking it all in. The village seems to be going about almost as he expected. He was about to ask Gothi what she meant by Stoick being 'scared.' He just couldn't imagine his tough Viking dad being anything like. But Gothi started speaking again.
"Hiccup, we must leave soon. I can't stay long as I must get back to Berk within a few days. As I said, I just came to tell you a warning which I'm about to give you, and I've told you what the village was up to."
"Listen carefully now, I've been doing a lot of investigating with Spark here and from what I know, I want to say this. There is something out there Hiccup, something really bad. I do not know much, but from what I've heard, it's something that knows no peace, light or wisdom."
"It seeks to corrupt, trick and destroy. It has a lot of power, and holds a huge deal of authority. My warning Hiccup, is to be on your guard. As I once said, don't trust anyone except whomsoever is worthy of it. There is something out there, mysterious. Beware Hiccup, beware."
"But do not fear too much, you will experience light and joy and warmth. Things will change. Don't be focused on this negative drama too much, there is a lot of love and compassion in this world too. And it's worth fighting for."
"Okay I think that's enough, come on lets go back." Spark suddenly said, getting to her feet and walking over to the fire.
Hiccup breathed in and out, steadily. Thinking about what he has just been told.
Gothi turned to the dragon, "Yes indeed, time to get back."
Hiccup stood up at once, looking at her wound. "Can I give you an extra cloth or something for your wound?" He offered.
Gothi smiled at him as she stood up too. "No thank you dear. That's generous, but I'll survive."
She limped over to Spark and gently climbed onto her back, being careful with her wound. Hiccup never managed to get a close look at it, but it certainly hadn't stopped giving Gothi pain.
"Hiccup, good luck. I'll see you again someday." Gothi farewelled. Giving him a salute. "Spark, be polite and say good-bye."
Spark groaned and rolled her eyes in an amusing way for a dragon, "Ciao, Hiccup." She affirmed, looking lazily at him as if he was not worth looking at much.
"Thank you Gothi for all this information. That's so great of you. Good luck on your trip back! And goodbye Spark. Nice meeting you." Hiccup smiled at them, as they turned to the window.
Hiccup walked over to it and opened it.
"All the best. Good luck in your training tomorrow- wait it's not tomorrow, it's the day after! Best of luck! Let's go!" Gothi announced, and Spark leapt up and flew through the open window with precision vanishing into the snow and rain in the darkness of night.