Chapter 2
As I'm returning to my house, I think about the object I pulled out of the baby's mouth. 'I wonder what it was, and how it got there...' I think. This will be a puzzle to think about for the next few days. Suddenly, I hear a cry of 'Watch out!' and before I can turn my head toward the noise, a red winged creature whooshes over my head, knocking off my helmet and leaving me feeling a little shaky on my feet. I hear more shouts coming from the village, and I decide to see what's going on.
'I just saw it go over there, by that tree!' shouts a familiar voice. Its Hiccup, our village's chief. He and his wife, Astrid, are hovering near the tree on their trusty dragons, Toothless and Stormfly. I watch, smilingly, as a horde of excited kids scramble over one another to get to the tree first. 'If I catch it first, it's gonna be MY pet!' yells one especially enthusiastic youngster, who is practically tripping over the tiny net he's carrying. The group charges over to the tree where the creature supposedly landed, and their eager eyes scan the branches. But soon, murmurs and cries of 'Where is it?' 'I don't see the dragon!' arise from the impatient children. I see Hiccup thoughtfully studying the upper branches of the tree. Suddenly he sits straight up, his eyes widen, and he whispers something to himself before announcing, 'It's a Changewing!'
No sooner has the statement left his mouth then a brownish–red form becomes visible against the vivid green of the leaves. The dragon is quite large for one of its kind, and its gaze is narrow and unfriendly. It roars deafeningly, sending the once eager children into a frenzied dash for home. They tumble over one another, yelling for their parents, as the dragon gracefully and quickly climbs down from the tree. It stands at the base of the tree, children scattering in all directions. It crouches low, with a guarded posture, leaf-like antennae twitching rapidly, and whips its head with all 56 sharp teeth around, clearly looking for something. It suddenly freezes and looks at me, or past me, I can't tell. I gasp as I remember that Changewings can hypnotize humans! The thought quickly dissipates as it decides to charge in my direction, and I throw myself to the side to avoid its claws, which are much too sharp for my taste. I hit the ground hard and pain shoots through my right arm and hip, while the dragon continues its mad dash. I realize it's heading for the nursery. A thought crosses my mind at that instant; its highly probable that this is a female, looking for its egg... which must have been the object that unfortunate Gronkle aspirated this morning! I can't remember what I did with it when I pulled it out. I must have just thrown it to the side...
I rack my brain, trying to come up with a solution to the current dilemma. If that Changewing realizes the egg is inside the nursery, not on the roof as it appears to think now, the Bewilderbeast will become enraged and possibly destroy a few things. Meaning entire houses, of course. As the Changewing continues to violently rip tiles off the nursery roof and fling them, with surprising velocity, in random directions, I yell as loud as my worn voice will let me: 'O great chief! Its egg is in the nursery!' Toothless is the first to register what I mean. He roars, and he and Hiccup jump into action, hurtling towards the increasingly agitated Changewing. Toothless fires a blast of searing hot blue fire, just missing the Changewing. While it's distracted with this new inconvenience, Stormfly and Astrid swoop down near the window I'd been looking through earlier, and press their faces to the glass, searching for the glowing blue egg. Meanwhile, a kind villager helps me stand, and walk to a doorway, where it's safer. I realize it's been a while since there was any real danger from dragons in Berk! What an eventful day it's been so far.