A Dragon Rider's Heart

Chapter 14

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Astrid sighed as she and the others, weary from their interrupted night, flew through the chill of the northern section's air. Hiccup's mood had gone south fast when not only Kari, but Calder had shown up on his balcony. The girl's father and chief had been furious at Kari's decision to accompany the young Dragonmaster. Their argument had echoed through the compound and Astrid could see how torn Hiccup was. She knew he'd rather Kari stay here, safe, but knew his blooming relationship might be in jeopardy if he took her father's side so openly.

Indeed, she'd turned on him, face red and awash with angry tears when he mentioned that she could always come along with them later and on a less potentially dangerous incursion. It was more than an hour after they'd originally meant to head out, that the argument had wound down. She looked at the girl's stiff form on the back of Toothless behind Hiccup. She'd gotten her way in the end, but was still very upset. Astrid couldn't really blame her, but she knew Hiccup would be in just as foul a mood as she and they had more important things to worry about right now. Her peaceful morning with Heather seemed like a distant dream.

In a preplanned order, they each landed one by one and sent their dragons away before the next rider landed. Hiccup had agreed with her that the ship might not hold all their weight at once in the state it was in. She watched as Hiccup wordlessly lit a few torches with his Firestarter and hand them out.

"Alright. You guys know the drill. Don't touch anything unless you have to. We still have no idea what could have incapacitated the crew. It could have been any number of things so be careful. And no experiments!" He said to Snotlout and the Twins firmly.

Snotlout rolled his eyes but said nothing as he and the two slender blondes moved towards the abovedeck cabin. Astrid tried to smile at Heather as they followed Hiccup and Kari down below deck, but she knew her expression was grim. The dark-haired girl smiled back, but it was just as forced. Today was not shaping up to be pretty.

Most of the water below deck had seeped out through wide cracks between the boards of the ship's hull. It looked as if they'd stuck something fairly hard and hadn't had time to do more than smear tar and pitch in the cracks and hope they'd hold. She took it to mean the ship had been struck at a time that landfall was impossible, either because they were out at sea or in an unhospitable place. She didn't know which would be worse. All of the supplies were ruined. Bags of grain and salt were sodden and most had split at the seams. Boxes and barrels had been dashed apart in the motion of the ship after their waterlogged ties had given way. Astrid was sure she saw the damaged parts of what had to have been a catapult and there were weapons lying haphazardly around, the worse for wear after their exposure to seawater.

"It doesn't make sense." Heather muttered. "All this weaponry and yet, no sign of a struggle other than dragon marks."

"You're right. No Viking would stay his weapon if he could lift it." Kari agreed quietly.

Hiccup grunted in agreement before sighing. "Astrid. You and Heather search the back-storage compartments. Kari and I will check the crew quarters. Maybe one of them kept a journal or something."

His voice implied he didn't think it was likely, but she knew he wanted to keep Kari away from any possible danger. Despite her still being annoyed with him, she hadn't made to move from his side. At least she wasn't avoiding him. She nodded and Heather followed her as they carefully made their way over the waterlogged debris towards the back of the ship. The further back they got, the more debris there were and they saw two more catapults packed away. All but one of the doorways were open. She dismissed it at first and made to check the open ones since they were closest, but, after a few minute's search turned up nothing more than some broken chests of gold and other valuables, she and Heather moved towards it.

As they approached, Astrid stopped. The door was bolted and a chained and the area around it was covered in even more debris. Strangely though, it seemed as if the mass of boxes and chests here was more deliberate than the rest of the ship. Most of them were still intact. It was almost as if they'd been placed to hold the door closed. She experimentally reached down to test the weight of one of the chests and was surprised when it barely budged.

"That's weird." She whispered. "Could you hold this for a second?" She asked Heather, holding out her torch.

Heather nodded and took it. "What is it?" She whispered.

Astrid bent to open the lid. Her brow furrowed as she saw that it was filled with stones, like the kind used for the smaller catapults they'd seen. "Ammunition. But why is it back here? Surely it should have been near the catapults. Why would they make the effort to move all of this stone way back here out of the way?"

She looked up to see Heather look just as confused. "Makes no sense."

Astrid looked back up at the door, narrowing her eyes. "I want to see what's behind that door."

"Should we get the others?"

"No. What if there's nothing there? What if it's a coincidence?"

Heather arched an eyebrow at her. "What if it's not?" She muttered, but put the torch in one of the nearby wall holders and moved to help the blonde move the heavy crates.

Both were panting and sweating despite the chilly air when they finally cleared the door. Astrid drew her axe and put it to the chain. With and apprehensive glance at her girlfriend to see if she was ready, she drew back her axe and struck. One blow was all it took and the chain coiled to the floor. They both jumped back, weapons at the ready, but nothing happened. Astrid gave Heather a sheepish grin. She couldn't understand why she was suddenly so jumpy. She shook it off. I'm just not used to Heather being here and close to danger, she told herself as she moved back towards the door, knowing the thought was foolish.

"Stay back." She whispered as Heather made to move with her. "Just in case one of us needs room to move." Heather opened her mouth to argue, but then closed it and shifted her grip on her axe. Astrid knew she'd be on eggshells and ready to move at a moment's notice.

As she reached for the handle, the back of her mind registered that the frame of the door looked odd, almost melted. She dismissed it. Wood doesn't melt, she thought to herself. Some sixth sense made her skin prickle and she tightened her hold on her axe as she slowly turned it.

"Maybe we shou-" Heather started to say when Astrid pulled it open.

A wave of purple gas immediately rushed out, hitting Astrid like an almost physical force and a loud, terrifying clacking sound filled the air. "Go!" She screamed to Heather, throat and eyes burning madly.

Astrid tried to cover her mouth and back away, but her head was swimming and she could see nothing. She tripped backwards over something, her breath leaving her in a rush. Instinctively, she inhaled and it felt like she'd swallowed acid. She immediately coughed as her lungs tried to remove the bad air and kept coughing. She felt her skin burning and tried to stand, to run, but couldn't move. Her ears were ringing, her head pounding and chest aching and there was nothing she could do. She felt herself begin to twitch, her muscles no longer in her control. She couldn't even cough anymore; her lungs simply wouldn't work. A strange numbness settled over her and, distantly, she thought she heard screams over the pounding of blood through her ears.

Heather's face swam through her mind. Please. Please let her make it out. She knew she was dying, there was nothing she could do. All she could do was hope that her lover and friends made it out.

She dimly became aware of movement through the fog. As if a hundred tiny things were moving through it. It didn't really register until one of those small forms moved to her. Her muscles had stopped twitching and the purple fog was fading to grey in the sputtering torchlight. She couldn't even be afraid as the little creature, a tiny dragon no bigger than a Night Terror climbed onto her chest. It seemed to have too many legs, and watching them all moving in tangent was unnerving. Its head was small, supported by a slender neck. All along its head and back, prominent scales stood out. It rustled them, and she knew the source of the terrible clacking.

Then it was gone. The side of the ship suddenly exploded in a flash of purple, blue and orange. Her body was thrown sideways with the force, but it didn't hurt. Nothing hurt. She'd never been more relaxed. Sounds were distant and the new, brighter world she found herself in was grey on grey. Shadows moved towards her and then, she then was floating.