Chapter Four: Treacherous News
"Come on Midnightfire, it's been three days and Cloudjumper has been driving us crazy!" Hiccup complained. Midnightfire honestly thought that Astrid had been through enough trouble as a Stormcutter, but she feared that Astrid would still be driven to treat her as if she were a human baby.
"I know, and it's helped Astrid to keep her claws off of me." She replied.
"Midnightfire, I'm begging you, please turn Astrid back into a human." Hiccup told her.
"Promise me that you won't let her make me be treated like a baby, and then I'll change her back."
"I promise that I won't let her handle you like that, now change her back!" Hiccup demanded. Midnightfire tapped the stone set in her gauntlet and zapped Astrid. She barely had the time to take a breath before Hiccup started showering her with kisses. When he finally stopped, Astrid gave him a playful punch to the shoulder telling him: "You're a hopeless romantic."
"Isn't that the case with all men? I'm just glad to have you back to your normal self!" He replied.
"I'll be back to my normal self when the baby is born!" Astrid told him.
"I'm really looking forward to meeting him or her. I'll bet they'll share your strength, and my love for dragons." Hiccup replied.
"And they'll lose a foot by the time they're twenty." Astrid added, holding up her stump.
"Oh gods, your foot! I'll go get it for you!" Hiccup exclaimed. He ran off to grab Astrid's false foot and was quick to put it over her stump. Sometimes it was easy for Hiccup to forget that Astrid lost her foot. The being that'd cut it off had changed so much that it was difficult to make that connection. There was also the fact that Astrid typically wore a boot over the false foot, and therefore hiding the fact that she was wearing it.
"Let's go for a walk." Astrid stated.
"Did you want to go anywhere in particular?" Hiccup asked.
"No, I just want to be moving." Astrid told him. He linked his left arm with her right, beckoned the dragons to follow them, and stepped outside.
They made their way to the cliff overlooking the docks and sat down looking at the sea and the horizon. It was a relaxing and romantic view, and Astrid laid her head on Hiccup's shoulder. They stayed like that for ten minutes, when a Timberjack caught Hiccup's eye.
"Is that Blade?" Hiccup asked. Blade was the dragon that bonded with Alvin the Treacherous when he and his tribe aided Berk in the last battle with Drago. While Alvin lost an eye, Blade lost a portion of his tail, but was still a fierce fighter.
"It does look like him." Astrid stated.
The Timberjack came in closer, and they spotted the familiar rider. Yes, the dragon was Blade, and just as he landed, the one-eyed rider dismounted.
"This is certainly a surprise, Alvin. What business brings you to Berk without notice?" Hiccup asked casually.
"Dagur the Deranged has escaped his prison." Alvin stated bluntly.
"What! How was that possible?" Hiccup asked astonished.
"He hid in his cell to make it look like he escaped. One of the guards opened it, and he jumped him. When I tried to catch him, the only thing I caught was his helmet, here. I was hoping that you'd help me to track him down. During his days in prison, he ranted to himself as to how he'd get his revenge on us." Alvin replied.
"Hold on, how did he escape the island?" Hiccup asked.
"He stole one of our cargo ships, and sailed to Hel knows where! I would've caught him of Blade, but there was a storm the night he escaped, and the winds were too dangerous for Blade to fly." Alvin told him.
"Alright, I'll assemble a team of riders and will help you search for him." He replied.
Hiccup returned with Eret, Stoick, Claudette, and their dragons.
"Do you think they'll be enough?" Alvin asked.
"With Skullcrusher's sense of smell, the speed of two mature Night Furies, and the power of a Skrill, Dagur doesn't stand a chance." Hiccup replied.
"Wait, I'm not going?" Astrid asked.
"I'd rather you didn't go flying until the baby is born." Hiccup told her. She looked at him with those big blue eyes. Hiccup groaned inside his head and asked her: "Would you accept playing Chief as a compromise?"
"Deal." Astrid replied. Hiccup took Dagur's helmet and handed it over to Eret, who held it in front of Skullcrusher to sniff. The Rumblehorn grunted and the riders took flight, with Eret at the lead.
Astrid turned away and Midnightfire perched on her shoulder and extended the foreleg wearing the gauntlet. She was offering the stone to Astrid; she removed the gauntlet and held it so her hand was over the stone.
"I just wanted to say this: I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you and for what I've done to the baby's physical features… and I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused to your husband through Cloudjumper." Midnightfire told her.
"I appreciate the apology, but it's not going to take care of the fact that chances are that my child is going to be part dragon." Astrid replied.
"I'm sure that he or she would grow up to be the strongest Viking in Berk." Midnightfire told her.
"That's not the point, you try spending a few days walking around as a human with dragon eyes, or skin with patches of scales, because that's what this child is going to have to live with." She replied firmly, while pointing to her enlarged belly. Midnightfire hung her head low and took off. Astrid looked over to Sapphire and asked her: "Aren't you going to follow her?" She shook her head. Midnightfire was still a hatchling so she wouldn't go far.
Wow, Dagur really got a head start. Hiccup thought as he was on Toothless' back. Skullcrusher was leading them at a moderate speed for his breed of dragon, but that didn't change the fact that they were still flying with no sign of a rest stop approaching them; and looking at Skullcrusher, he was starting to get tired; as Rumblehorn dragons weren't built for flying like the other dragons were.
"Ugh, I can't stand going this slow! Come on, Skullcrusher, you've got three Strike class dragons at your tail, pick up the damn pace!" Shadowrath snapped. As a dragon who'd seen many battles, Shadowrath thrived on flying at the highest speeds, and Skullcrusher was flying slowly compared to the speeds he'd gone.
"Dad, can you go ahead and see if you can scout out any islands where we can take a rest stop?" Hiccup asked. He really didn't want Shadowrath to get overly moody during the trip, and he had to admit that the speed of the Rumblehorn was rather slow when compared to a Night Fury. Shadowrath didn't bother to wait for Stoick to accept the small mission before taking off at top speed. It caught Stoick by surprise enough to actually make him voice it.
"Hey, how come he gets to go off on a separate mission?" Claudette asked. Hiccup took a look at Whoshadow, and judging by the Skrill's glare, she was itching to go faster too.
"Shadowrath was about ready to go into battle with Skullcrusher if he didn't start flying faster." Hiccup replied. Whoshadow's stored lightning began to spark around her wings.
Shadowrath returned a moment later and Stoick announced that they've found an island where they could rest. So they abandoned the search for Dagur for now, but as they were heading to this new island to the northwest, and not long after they landed at the lush island with snow-capped mountains, Skullcrusher curled up and proceeded to take a nap.
In the meantime, the other dragons went out to bring in fish as their riders set up camp. They used old sail material to build makeshift tents and bedrolls. Hiccup built up a campfire before the dragons arrived with dinner, and using the power of the Dragonstone he ignited it.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to the idea of Vikings using witchcraft." Alvin stated.
"I wouldn't call it witchcraft as they don't use Dragonstones." Claudette stated. Now getting the Vikings curious about witches, Claudette carried on to tell them stories of witches and wizards both benevolent and malevolent.
Dagur the Deranged had been subjected to six years of torture during his imprisonment for his crimes. During all of those years, he plotted his revenge against the men responsible for putting him in there. He devised several plans, some more dastardly than the others, but as he inhaled the salty sea air, he relished being free. However, once he found an island to call his own, he began fuming inside his twisted mind. Ever since his imprisonment, he'd been stripped of the little honor he had and his title, and in his mind, it was all the fault of that fishbone, Hiccup, and his Night Fury. He'd been so close to owning that Night Fury, and he lost him to a Hiccup!
As he was going over his plans, he saw a large group of dragons, following one enormous dragon to his island.
Say, didn't Hiccup become the Night Fury's rider through trust?
With a spear he stole fro Outcast island he caught some fish, and as the amazing Strike class dragons landed, and their Alpha stood before Dagur, well Dagur made sure to please the Alpha and the dragons it controlled.
The Alpha was not a Bewilderbeast or a Red Death. It was actually about half the size of a Red Death. It had a sleek head, like a Night Fury; but a frill of spines, like a Skrill or a Deadly Nadder. It's skin was grey, but its back and tail was covered in so many black spines that it looked like it had fur. It had four legs, a massive pair of grey wings, and a tail tipped with fins. The legs appeared to be dainty in comparison to the Alpha's size, but its wings were muscular, meaning that this dragon was meant to fly or it flew a lot. Hardly any of its teeth showed through its closed maw, and it had large and intelligent violet eyes. It was above all the strangest, but most magnificent beast Dagur had met; and after feeding it fish, the Alpha took a liking to him.
The next morning, Astrid woke up with a gasp. When she opened her eyes, the morning greeted her with the face of a small black-haired child. As she leapt out of bed the child woke up and locked eyes with Astrid's, they were the brightest blue ever seen in a pair of eyes with little flecks of violet in them.
"Midnightfire, is that you?" Astrid asked.
"Yep, I thought that I'd try being human for a few days, and see what happens." She replied.
"How did you manage to transform yourself? Your stone still has another couple days to charge before it's capable of that kind of magic again."
"Actually, Aunt Astrid, I found out that I can draw power from other stones to charge this one up quicker. The community stone we got after the war, the one that all dragons and riders can use for a while, that's the stone I borrowed power from. Not enough to weaken it too much, but just enough to make my stone capable of this change." Midnightfire replied.
"Does your mother know of this?" Astrid asked.
"I asked her if I can try this form out and she said yes. She thought that this would be a good learning experience for me. She also says that she'll still be making sure that I don't cause much trouble." Midnightfire told her.
A human Midnightfire for three days, this ought to be interesting. Astrid thought.
Ok guys I hope I've got you ready for another epic climax, and a George R.R. Martin scene. Now just so you know, I've got a lot on my plate this Saturday and Sunday, so there is a chance that I won't be posting another chapter until Monday or Tuesday. Have a good weekend!