Chapter Four

Since Freya's accident she wasn't riding with Astrid anymore, making Rayden's journey much more enjoyable during the past few days of flying. With Freya holding her arms around his waist, it had been pleasing to him for her to be so close. They were still being pushed by the powerful wind that was escorting them, though, it was slowly but surely dying down. When they stopped for the night on the sixth day of flying, they were well ahead of schedule. Hiccup brought their attention to the map, laid out on a rock next to a stream that encompassed part of the camp.

"We crossed the Archipelago and hit mainland here. Now we are around here." he pointed out "Another couple days of flying and we should hit the sea here. Then we have to cross it and keep moving south. According to the charts, we won't have to go far after that."

Rayden was impressed, he couldn't read maps and charts at all, and he trusted Hiccup to keep them on the right course. The day didn't go without a hitch, though. Rayden had tucked the old leather target into his saddlebags for later knife practice. He needed to keep up his skill level, and he hadn't thrown a knife in almost five days, which was unacceptable for him. So, he hung the leather on a sapling that was growing next to the stream.

After a few repeated strikes in the same location near the middle of the target, the weak leather couldn't stand another hit. Rayden's throwing knife went through the target and he swore to himself as it tumbled into the stream. He stomped over to the target trying to control his self-inflicted rage. Happiness re-entered him as he glanced down and saw the knife being tumbled across the bottom of the stream. He snatched at it, but missed. The current was rolling it across the streambed just out of reach.

He followed it, and the stream spread out until it was just a few inches deep, tumbling through piles of rocks. There was his throwing knife, anchored against a rock, a few metres away. He stepped on rock after rock, making his way out. Then he made his mistake. As he reached for his knife, he stepped onto a rock covered in wet, slimy lichen. He slipped, and reached his right hand in an attempt to catch himself, trapping his wrist in between two sizable rocks. Then as he rolled into the water he heard a vague crack! He hissed in pain as fire burned up his arm. Even the current gently pushing against his wrist sent stabs of pain through him. He staggered up, walking in the water. He didn't care if he got wet anymore. He just wanted his stupid knife back.

A minute later Rayden walked back into camp with his right arm pressed against his side. Every step jostled his wrist, no matter how lightly trod.

"Rayden!"

Freya had seen him walk up to the fire, holding his arm.

"What happened!?"

"I hurt my wrist."

"Well, I can see that. I meant how, you lamebrain!" Freya snapped, angered by the nonchalant answer. She was only concerned, and the brittle reply she had received did not appeal to her.

"I fell."

Apparently that was enough of a good answer, and Freya went to get her supplies. When she got back Rayden was sitting by the fire, being invaded by a dominating throb in his wrist. She held out her hands, and Rayden allowed her to look at it. He shouted indignantly as she rolled it over.

"Hey! That hurts!"

"It's either a major sprain or a minor break." she assessed her examination. "You won't be able to use this hand to lift much for the next few weeks at least to avoid permanent damage to your wrist. Got it?"

Rayden let out a resigned sigh.

"Got it…"

She took a salve and rubbed it on his wrist, then straightened it with a few straight pieces of wood that she cut into the appropriate lengths. She bound the splint in a bandage. The whole process took only a minute, but Rayden was being bothered by something other than the pain. He had no skill at all with his left hand. He couldn't throw his knives or wield them with any consistency. And obviously he had to forget his bow. He needed two hands for that. He couldn't hunt, he suddenly felt useless. He knew Freya would probably love the opportunity to mother over him, but his pride didn't want him to sink that low.

But she was already hovering around him. She pulled off his boots and socks and set them close to the fire. She ignored his protests that he could do it for himself. Freya helped him take his sodden, wet shirt off and she covered him in warm furs. He thanked her, though it considerably hurt his pride. He sat by the fire, watching it die down and occasionally adding another branch with his left hand.

Hiccup and Astrid had gone flying together, and when they came back they were surprised to see a splint securely fastened on Rayden's wrist. Nobody commented on it, further than asking how it happened. Rayden wasn't in the mood to dwell on it and continued to sulk and tend the fire.

I'm useless, he thought. I can't do anything anymore. I can't fight, I can't lift anything with my good arm, and I can't saddle my dragon. For Thor's sake I can barely even get dressed. Why couldn't it have been my left arm! I could still throw my knives at least!

It had only been three days since he ruined his wrist. It still throbbed at the slightest provocation, a small movement or something brushing against it and it annoyed him. Oh, it annoyed him to no end. Eventually he resigned to his fate and just let Freya take care of him. He hated every moment of it. She helped him pack all of his things, he couldn't get his arm through his shirts without her assistance, and she saddled his dragon for him, too. He remembered the day before when she had scolded him for an hour when he tried to put up his tent by himself. She was off fetching water, so he thought he'd make himself useful in the meantime. In a few moments, she arrived back and saw Rayden using his right hand. Though Rayden stopped using his injured hand to do anything when she told him that should he continue, he might not ever use a bow again. Whether or not she was telling the truth, he would not take that chance.

They were supposed to get to the coast tomorrow to cross another sea. It was all forest and grassland that they had flown over so far, Rayden holding on with his left hand while Freya acted as his right hand. Her left arm was around his waist, and her right hand was holding on where his right hand should've been. She supported them both, and if it wasn't for her he would've fallen off the dragon in the first minutes of flying. But he would never tell anyone that.

They stopped for the night on a grassy hill. It was scenic, with the sun lowering over the hills, a nearby river winding its way along, and even some wild horses. Rayden sat, watching the other riders unsaddle the dragons, who went right to sleep, and he was starting to wonder if they were pushing their mounts to the limit. It would be productive for everyone if they stay here for a day or two, he thought. He would bring it up to the others over supper.

Rayden cooked dinner with Freya's help, who told him that if all went well, he would be able to take off the splint, and just use the heavy bandage. It gladdened him greatly to know he would soon be back to normal. As they served the meal to Astrid and Hiccup, they heard a great commotion in the fields where the dragons had been sleeping. They all left their meal, a warm soup instead of thick stew, on the ground next to the fire and went to see what was going on.

In the field, the three dragons were sleeping peacefully when a wild Nadder interrupted them. Rayden was relieved to see that his dragon was only play-fighting with the other one, not brawling to the death. The wild dragon seemed to fancy her, and she him. They frolicked around in the fields, careful not to hurt each other with their many spikes and horns.

They went back to the fire and resumed their meal. Rayden was incredibly bored, so he tried to find something to do. He was on the left side of Freya, and the fire right in front of them pretty much ruined their vision. So nobody noticed as Rayden's hand slipped out of Freya's pocket. He looked down at his prize. It was a smooth green scale that he originally thought was a stone. Rayden lifted it up in front of her.

"What's this?"

"Hey! Hands off, sneak thief!"

Rayden laughed as she snatched it away, but her expression was not joyful at all. She glanced in Rayden's direction.

"It's a Zippleback scale."

"Oh."

Astrid and Hiccup both saw hidden meaning in the exchange, but they were wise enough not to mention it. I guess she doesn't want to dwell on it, he realized. The meal soon ended and they decided to stay until Rayden could at least use his injured arm a little bit. They had made plenty of progress, so there was not much of a problem to let their dragons rest for a few days.

The next day passed without many interesting events, but the affection between his Nadder and the wild one was growing substantially. Rayden never intended to keep the dragon, which was the reason why he refrained from naming it. So, after the midday meal, he released the Nadder into the wild. The others had some qualms about it, but as he watched the two fly off into the forest together, he knew he had done the right thing. Besides, he had a day and a half to find a new dragon and make saddle adjustments, if required.

Hiccup and Rayden had gone into the woods together with a few fish they got from the river, with the help of the dragons. They were hoping to find a dragon for him to ride, but even when Rayden yelled into the woods, nothing had shown itself. It was odd that there were no dragons in the vicinity, but hopefully their luck would be out better in the morning. What they didn't know yet was that they would soon need to get a pencil and the dragon books from the bottom of their bags of belongings.

The next morning Rayden was fetching water from the stream when he saw it. Well, not all of it. Up the river a ways, there were trout jumping into the air. Then, as a noticeably sized fish jumped out of the water, a large, blue head came up from the depths and snapped up the trout before slinking back underwater.

"Hiccup! Get down here with Toothless!"

"What for?"

"Fish. Lots of fish."

It took the better part of an hour to plan it all and put it to action. Trout, salmon and bass were laid out in a trail, the first fish half in the water, and the last one half inside Rayden's tent. He calmly waited inside, while Hiccup, Astrid and a concerned Freya cleared the vicinity, instructed to come back in an hour and a half. So time passed little by little, and after like forty minutes he heard it, outside of his tent. Then the bass perched by the opening was suddenly pulled out of view, and the dragon snaked its head into the tent. It was light blue, and rounded, not unlike Toothless, but much more pointed. He slowly offered the last fish to the dragon, a middle sized salmon. The dragon looked at him with large, bright orange eyes. Then it bared three rows of razor sharp, pointy teeth, and pulled itself out of the tent. Rayden heard it slink away and slip back into the river.

Rayden was not the type to give up, and he couldn't swim across an entire sea. So he decided to play a waiting game. He took the salmon and walked down to the river as the sun was high in the sky, beating down on him. He sat by the river and placed the fish on the ground in front of him, and closed his eyes. It was mere minutes until he was rewarded. The blue beast rose out of the water and onto shore. It was slightly smaller than Toothless, but had somewhat the same shape, only it had no front legs, only clawed wings like a Nightmare. It crawled closer to him and he saw on its back another set of wings, folded beside the spikes along its spine. It has four Wings! The lower pair must serve as really good fins, he thought. Its scales were glistening, a distinct and bright blue. But as the dragon drew closer, Rayden's attention was drawn to its menacing claws. He slowly picked up the fish and held it out to the dragon, who slinked ever closer… and took the fish in his jaws and swallowed. Rayden reached forward and the water drake allowed him to touch his snout with the palm of his hand, with no small amount of soft crooning from Rayden. The dragon breathed in his scent. Then did something very much unexpected. It licked Rayden so hard in the chest he was brought off the ground.

When the others returned they found Rayden and his new friend at the camp, while he was attempting to fit the saddle on the dragon with his one good hand. It took a good ten minutes for Hiccup to stop gaping at the amazing creature before he assisted Rayden with the saddle. Then they stepped back and admired their work before Rayden noticed that the dragon no longer had lustrous scales. They seemed to be drying out. He noted it for later, and went about catching more fish for supper. They had no mutton left, and there was no game in the area. So fish it was. At least the dragons enjoyed it, but the riders were no longer fond of it. When the day came to a close and Rayden was crawling into his tent he realized that he would be able to take off his splint tomorrow. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Make sure to review! Feel free to throw questions, comments or ideas!