A/N-And we're back! Just a heads-up, as I will probably have a little more free time there may be more frequent chapter uploads, especially if I can hit my other deadlines of finishing the Book 5 rough draft and the Book 3 typed draft within the next week or two. Things are moving along...
Chapter 6
On the Hunt, Again
In the morning, I managed to wake up early for once, and after taking care of a couple things at my house, I raced to Berk, traveling to Hiccup's house as a stealth dragon and slipping in through his window. Once safely inside, I changed back, glanced at the bed, and groaned slightly. Hiccup was still asleep (though I can't really blame him, since we were up late the night before), so I took a seat in the chair at his desk, setting the crossbow in my hands on top of the desk, and waited for him to finally get up.
Not long after I sat down, I spotted the quiver of arrows set up against the side of his desk. I extended a tail out and lifted them up, bringing them closer so I could look at them. All were in proper shape and order, and apparently Hiccup had done a little more work last night as a few of them were already equipped with the dried pieces of eel in them. Choosing to avoid any other incidents like the day before, I carefully set the quiver back down and went back to counting the minutes, waiting for the sleeping lump on the bed to stir.
It wasn't long until Hiccup finally woke up though. He blinked a couple of times and stretched, then slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. Then, he turned toward his desk and spotted me sitting cross-legged in the chair.
"I told you I'd meet you at your house," I said as he jerked in surprise. At least he didn't yelp out loud this time around though, so it was an improvement. "You know," he began as he slid out of bed and onto his feet, "with you around I'm going to end up never being surprised by anything." I snorted as he fumbled around the room, looking for his socks and boots. "Come on then," I said, once he found them, "everyone's probably already gathering to go on the hunt, and I'm sure Ingavar isn't a very patient person." He grabbed the quiver of arrows, and I handed him the bow. We went downstairs and spent a couple more minutes preparing the last of the arrows (though Hiccup had to do most of it, even dried eels still had some of that slimy oil on them), before heading out the door to the village square.
Unsurprisingly, Astrid and Ingavar were already there waiting for us. Astrid was always a morning person (something neither Hiccup or I can understand), and Ingavar was punctual as always. Soon enough we were joined by Stoick, Wolfblood, and Bitwolf, along with Stoick's brother Spitelout. After a few more minutes, no one else bothered to appear, so we all assumed that was the group for the day. Ingavar's first act was to focus on Hiccup as we headed for the forest.
"So, Hiccup, where's tha' weapon ye said ye have?" Ingavar barked. Hiccup sighed and reached behind him, grabbing the crossbow and holding it up for everyone to see. Ingavar took it and held it up, looking the weapon over. A smirk of amusement spread across his face. "Oh, this ought ta be good!" he chortled. "A simple crossbow, fending off the Shadow Lord? That would be priceless!" Hiccup and I shared a look of exasperation, and Hiccup took back the bow without saying anything, and faced forward.
Ingavar looked around, making sure no one else was joining us, then gestured to the forest. "Alright, let's be off then!" he bellowed, and began down the path in front of us, everyone else filing in a line behind him. As we headed out, I took notice that Ingavar had smartly chosen about the same direction as the teens had the day before, probably thinking that we'd have a good chance of finding the dragon in the same location. Whatever the case, it was fine with me, as we weren't heading in any direction that would lead us to the cove, or Toothless.
Once again, an hour or so passed without seeing anything large than a pheasant. It was apparent Ingavar was getting a bit disgruntled.
"Ugh, not even the slightest sign that dragons were ever here!" he snapped, frustration leaking out a bit as he glanced around the clearing we were presently stopped in. Suddenly, I felt a light tapping on my shoulder. I turned to find Astrid glancing around the clearing as well, but with a concerned expression on her features. "Notice anything about where we are?" she whispered. I looked a little closer at our surroundings, and my eyes widened. I nodded in agreement. This was the same clearing that we had run into the Shadow Lord dragon the day before.
CRACK!
I jumped and spun around, facing the forest. Something large was moving toward us, trying to be quiet as it moved closer to us, but failing at it as another branch snapped somewhere in the woods.
"Hiccup!" Ingavar shouted. "Git yer weapon ready, this may be our chance!" Hiccup nodded and raised the bow as a flash of rough scales appeared and disappeared behind the row of trees. As Hiccup loaded the arrows, a thought hit me: those scales were blue!
Sure enough, after a couple seconds more, an urgent growl sounded out. ::Hawken! I need to talk to you!::
My eyes widened, and I leaned over to Astrid. "It's Thorn!" I whispered. Her eyes widened, and she leaned over to Hiccup and whispered something. Whatever she said, it caused Hiccup to give a start, and he glanced at me, concerned.
"Fire the weapon, but don't hit her!" I whispered. He nodded, but I could see denial in Astrid's eyes. She was protective of her dragon, and we all knew about Hiccup's former track record. I shook my head at her, and she glared in warning at me.
"Oy! Whit are ye whisperin' about over there?" Wolfblood asked quietly. "Nothing," I growled back. Then, using a tone low enough so that Thorn could hear me, but the Vikings couldn't, I called out, ::Thorn! Show yourself, but run off when Hiccup fires the bow! I'll find you after that!:: ::A bow?! You know how Hiccup is with weapons!:: she called back. ::Yes, I know, but it's necessary. Just do it!:: ::You better be sure about this.::
A few seconds later, Thorn peeked her head out of the bushes between a pair of trees at the clearing's edge. I heard Ingavar sigh in disappointment.
"Well, at least if yer bow doesn't work, Hiccup, it'll be easy enough to kill," he said. I bristled at the comment, but didn't say anything out loud. Instead I looked at Hiccup and nodded. He raised the bow, cocked the string, and pointed it toward the thick tree to Thorn's right.
SHHHHEEEWWW!SHHEWWWW!SHHEEEWWWW!
THUNKTHUNKTHUNK!
The arrows hit the tree and shattered, the dried eel flying everywhere around the area. One landed on Thorn's nose, and unsurprisingly, she immediately went nuts.
::Augh! Eel! What in the world are you shooting it for?!:: She shook her head, throwing off the piece, and backed away, rubbing her nose against the trees frantically. ::GO!:: I snapped. ::Oh, right! Silly me for forgetting that while you hit me in the face with poisonous sea worms!:: she screeched right back, but then bolted off and disappeared into the woods. As she did so, everyone's attention focused on Hiccup, giving me a chance to slip off to the side and into the trees, following Thorn's trail.
Thorn had stopped about a hundred yards away, and when I stepped out in front of her, she turned to me, quite apparently less than pleased. ::Okay, first of all, what was all that about back there?!:: she snapped angrily. I sighed. "We had to create some sort of weapon that could scare off a dragon, specifically the Shadow Lord," I explained, "and the only thing that I could think of that no dragon likes is eels." ::Well, it works,:: Thorn snapped again. ::But why use it on me?:: "Because the other Vikings don't know about you, remember?" I said tiredly. "You should be glad Hiccup has better aim with bows than other weapons anyway. And one more question I need answered: what is it about eels that makes them not mix with dragons?" ::They're poisonous,:: Thorn replied. ::The oil on their skin burns, and if it gets into a dragon in any way, we get extremely sick, violently, including uncontrolled release of our fire, before it will eventually paralyze us.::
That news paled me considerably. If anyone learned about that….
But this wasn't the problem we had at the moment. I focused back on Thorn. "So, what is it that is so important you're risking your life and our secret to tell me?" I asked. Thorn ruffled her wings worriedly. ::A few of the visiting dragons have disappeared without a trace. We think the Shadow Lord found our field.::
My blood froze. I glanced back in the direction of the group, knowing I was about to make a big commotion. "Get back to the field then and get everyone you can on guard. I'll gather the riders and be there as soon as I can," I said. Thorn nodded and took off, soaring over the trees, as I raced back through the woods to the clearing, startling everyone and ending their conversation with Hiccup very abruptly.
"And where did you disappear to?" Ingavar asked irritatedly. "There's a dragon out there and ye simply run off into the woods like ye've got a death wish." I waved him off absentmindedly and focused on the two teens. "Never mind about me. Astrid, Hiccup, we need to go. Now." The two raised their eyebrows, but the look on my face kept any questions from needing to be voiced.
"Now hold on a minute," Ingavar started again, "we're in the middle of the forest on a hunt, with a Nadder just having run off to who knows where in the woods, and yer sayin' you three need te leave?" I nodded and started toward the forest again. "Well, I say ye can't!" Ingavar snapped. "We're finishing this hunt and then going back te the village where it's safe! No more disappearing into nowhere, secrets being kept, and all these other problems you're bringing out here!" I snorted in reply, turning again to the woods. "Make me." I turned to the two teens. "Come on, we need to go. And don't forget the bow."
We raced into the woods, leaving behind a concerned Stoick and a boiling Ingavar, who continued to shout after us. "Hawken! Ye will be paying fer your traitorous actions! No one disobeys a high chief!"
Hiccup looked at me as we slowed down a little ways away. "They're going to be finding out really soon, aren't they?" he asked. I shrugged. "Probably. Now, I need to know, where will the rest of the teens probably be?" "Likely the Great Hall, they'll probably still be having breakfast," Astrid replied. "What exactly happened?"
"Thorn said she thinks the Shadow Lord may have found the meadow. So in other words, we have zilch time to spare. Now get on." I morphed to Stealth dragon again, and after Hiccup and Astrid got themselves situated, I disappeared from sight and we shot off toward the village.
We landed as close to the hall as we could, and after I changed back we raced up the steps and inside. Just as Astrid predicted, they were inside, the twins laughing as they ran away from an adult they'd just spilled porridge on. I sighed.
"Ruff, Tuff, Fishlegs, Snotlout! We need to go!"
They all immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at us. "I thought you were on a hunt," Snotlout wondered. "We were," I quipped, "but something's come up, something important. Come on, we need to go."
Luckily, they followed without any more questions, and when we reached the forest again, I stopped and turned to them. "The Shadow Lord may have found the meadow. We're going to check on the dragons," I explained. Fishlegs started fidgeting. "Let's go then," he said. "I'm starting to get worried about Meatlug."
The name stopped me. "I thought you named her-" I began, but he interrupted me. "Yeah, but I like the other name you had mentioned better," he explained sheepishly. "Plus, it's easier to say. But that's not important right now, let's go!" I nodded in agreement and spread my arms out, watching as they quickly scaled over and elongated, morphing into massive wings capable of carrying a number of people. There were only a couple of dragons large enough to carry that many people and still stay relatively unnoticed, and the best one was the Timberjack.
I turned my neck to see the group just standing there, and raised an eyebrow in exasperation. "Well?" They all blinked, and then starting with Fishlegs they stepped forward. I bent down so that they could climb on, and once everyone was seated and I was sure they wouldn't end up falling off mid-flight, I focused forward, spread my wings, and took off.
SCHWANG!
I glanced back at the falling pieces of treetop, cut clean off by the razor's edge of my wings. "Oops." At least it provided a bit of a lighter mood, getting Hiccup and Astrid to snicker. As we flew away from the village, I stayed low to the treetops, but as soon as I was sure we were far enough away, I powered upward, gathering altitude to make it over the mountain crest. I still find it hard to believe just how tall they were for such a small (relatively) island.
The flight took barely a half hour at the speed I was moving, and we quickly reached the large meadow that the dragons were in. As we crested the trees, I was instantly set on edge as I watched some of the dragons below cringe and start flying off, until they realized I was not a danger. As I landed, we were swarmed by dragons of all kinds, and Tuffnut was tackled off by the Terrors. As he hit the ground herd, he yelped. "Oh, I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" Everyone managed to giggle a little bit as they dismounted and I changed to a half-form, keeping grayish green wings and a tail.
Thorn showed up first out of the teen's dragons, nudging Astrid, followed by Fireworm and Sidewinder (who, I should mention now, was soon renamed that unfortunate nickname Barfbelch by the twins). They all greeted their respective riders, with Sidewinder ending up having to shove the twins apart as they broke into another fight. There was one important dragon missing, however.
"Where's Meatlug?" Fishlegs asked. Everyone glanced around a little lost. ::She was here before I left,:: Thorn said. I sighed. "Alright, everyone spread out. Let's find the missing Gronckle." I shifted to Night Fury and Hiccup hopped on, since Toothless wasn't there at the moment. Fishlegs got onto Fireworm with Snotlout, reluctantly, and the other three on their dragons, and we set off across the meadow.
::Meatlug! Are you here?:: I yelled out. Hiccup mirrored my call, and I heard the others calling out similar things. Hiccup and I flew along the eastern edge of the meadow, and found nothing. Ten minutes passed, and everyone gathered at one corner of the meadow, near the base of the mountains. Fishlegs looked about ready to cry. "We've searched the entire meadow," Astrid said as Thorn landed, "and there's no sign of her." I sighed. "Okay, she may have wandered off into the woods or something. Everyone to the treeline, we'll fly in a row around the perimeter of the meadow, and see-"
::HEELLPPP!::
The roar echoed down from the nearby mountains, and we all spun to see a ball of fire rise from the forest skirting the base of the rocks. "That's her!" I yelled and launched into the air, ignoring Hiccup's yelp of surprise as he latched tighter onto me. "Everyone move!" The rest of the gang thrust themselves into the air behind me and we raced toward where the fireball had appeared.
::SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE!::
::We're coming!:: I yelled back, and my blood ran cold as almost immediately another roar permeated the air. ::Not you again!::
That roar chilled me to the bone, but I powered on. We sped up to a small opening at the base of a cliff, where we all spotted Meatlug cowering against the rock face. The Shadow Lord, unsurprisingly, was nowhere to be seen now. Meatlug looked up at us, fear in her eyes. ::Please get me out of here! I can't fly!:: she whimpered. That's when I noticed her left wing: it had been torn nearly down the middle, and the support bone was fractured under the skin. She also already had a large slash across her side and something that made me falter in surprise: an acid burn spot on her back.
"Circle up around her!" Hiccup yelled, seeing the same danger I had, and I dove down, flaring my wings and spinning to face away from Meatlug, nearly throwing Hiccup off my back in the process. The others dove down and followed my example. Fishlegs jumped off Fireworm and rushed to his dragon.
"Hiccup, get off and ready your bow," I hissed. "What? Why?" he asked in surprise. "Because I am going to need to be able to move in any possible way, and I can't risk throwing you off me mid fight. Go help Fishlegs if you can too." He nodded and slid off, and I kept my eyes peeled.
::There!:: Fireworm yelled, twisting her neck and spewing flames. They missed, barely, and the now visible Shadow Lord opened his mouth to fire. I could see it wasn't flames either.
Thinking fast, I covered my tailfin with scales to match the other black dragon, and flared it right in front of Fireworm's face. Just as I feared, a spray of blackish liquid shot out, splattering against my tail. As it dripped off to the ground, the grass underneath began to bubble and fizz. I flicked my tail, sending the rest of the acid back at the Shadow Lord, and Barfbelch snaked forward, spewing a cloud of gas. At the same time, Thorn blasted it, causing an explosion of flames, roiling out in a broiling cloud.
All of this for naught, however. The Shadow Lord burst out of the cloud, and soared over our heads. ::I won't be gone long!:: he yelled. ::I don't care what I have to do, my business here is far from over, and I will drive you from this place somehow, successor of the Mystique!:: He faded from view, shimmering into the sky and disappearing. In frustration and as a last try to ground him again, I blasted a stream of fire at him. It missed, of course, and he disappeared completely from sight, a final roar of hatred echoing across the forest and foothills. Once even my own attuned hearing couldn't pick out anything from him, I relaxed slightly and turned over to Hiccup and Fishlegs, who were using strips of their tunics to bandage the acid burn and cut on Meatlug. Her wing, though, would require more attention than we could give at the moment.
"We're going to have to take her to the healer," Hiccup remarked. "You know that's too risky," I said. "We can fly her to the cove, and then take Sigrid there, but we can't take her into the village." Fishlegs nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we can't risk her any more than we have. Let's go!" I held up a hand. "First we need to alert the other dragons, make sure they know what's up. Then we can go," I explained. Then I turned to Hiccup. "Ride with Astrid until we get to the cove. I need to make sure I can carry Meatlug back safely." Hiccup nodded, walking over and jumping up behind Astrid on Thorn. I doubled my size and walked over to Meatlug. Standing on hind legs, I carefully picked her up and pushed up into the air. The rest of the gang followed suit.
We quickly reached the meadow again, and I called out for the dragons to gather. Once they had, I broke the news.
::The Shadow Lord has been confirmed to be here,:: I yelled, ::so everyone needs to be on alert and stay here in the meadow, as close together a possible.:: ::And what good would that do us?:: one Nadder asked. ::We can't see him anyway!:: I nodded and continued. ::Yes, but you can still hear, and smell, and he can't attack while still in stealth mode, though I don't know why. If you stay in groups it should deter him from attacking, and with enough force you should be able to drive him off. Now, just remember, everyone stay here! That is of utmost importance!::
I turned and lifted off again, this time headed for the mountains, and tried to ignore the murmurs of concern I was leaving behind.
We flew at top speed, cresting the range after about 15 minutes, and reaching the cove about the same length of time afterward. Once there, the teens sent the rest of their dragons back to the meadow together, and I laid Meatlug down on the grass. Toothless noticed us and glided down from the nearby tree he often hid in. ::What happened?:: he asked, noticing Meatlug's condition immediately, and bristling at the anticipated answer.
::The Shadow Lord found the meadow sometime over the night, and he found Meatlug today,:: I explained hurriedly. Not surprisingly, Toothless hissed in anger and looked about ready to take off. Hiccup walked up to him and gave him a rub on the neck. "Can you watch her for us bud?" he asked. "We need to go and get the healer." Toothless stood there immobile for a moment, but then sighed and nodded briskly. I changed back to Timberjack again, and everyone climbed on as Toothless stood guard over the Gronckle. Once the teens were secure, I powered toward the village.
We raced through the streets, on our way to the healer's house (luckily enough I knew the location well; Astrid's mother is the main healer). Astrid stepped inside and found her, and after about five minutes, Sigrid appeared with a large basket of the supplies she would need, like bandages, herbs, and a sort of plaster for a cast. "There's no time to lose," she said, hustling right past us. "A broken wing is a time sensitive thing. Let's move out."
As we moved back through the village toward the forest, though, a large, much-less-than-pleased individual showed up.
"You are in a lot o' trouble, Hawken," Ingavar growled as he appeared from around the corner. Wolfblood and Bitwolf were behind him, smirking. "Ye never disobey the orders of a chief, especially when yer on a dragon hunt, of all things!" He grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around to face him, searching me.
"No weapons today?" he asked incredulously. I shook my head. I had forgotten them that morning, not thinking I would really need them and leaving my house before the thought popped into mind. "Well, then, that makes things just that much easier," Ingavar growled, and motioned toward the father and son pair. They produced a thick rope, which they used to bind my hands together. They did so, and I nodded to Hiccup and then in the direction of the forest. He nodded back in understanding. He, Astrid, and Sigrid disappeared in that direction.
"The people in this village seem te follow you more than they do a proper chief, more than Stoick even," Ingavar said. "That's nae how the way Viking society should work, and I think a little rehabilitation should do the trick, and get yer mind out of the clouds you've got it stuck in." With that, he began pushing me down the street in the direction of the Training Arena.
A we passed by, the villagers of Berk cringed at the sight of me compliantly walking at spearpoint, hands bound like a common criminal. They knew something was up and that a mistake was being made. Ingavar's crew, however, just pointed and laughed.
When we reached the ring, Wolfblood moved ahead and opened the gate, and then one of the cages inside, on the opposite side of the ring.
"This seems more appropriate for you than a comfy cell," Ingavar chuckled. "Now get in!" As I passed by, Wolfblood whispered, "Now you won't be in the way of the rest of our plans." I sent him a withering green-eyed glare, but didn't say anything.
Once I was inside, Ingavar snorted. "Ye might as well wipe that smirk off yer face," he growled. "Ye'll be stayin' in here fer few days." He nodded to Wolfblood and Bitwolf, who pushed the doors closed, and outside I heard the lock slide in place. As soon as they were fully closed, I snorted in amusement and incinerated the ropes.
I focused on the door, where I heard the final log lock slam down. I transformed to Shadow, and melted into the creature's namesake. Peering from the shadows outside in the cracks of the doors, I watched and waited until the trio was nearly across to the other side of the ring and to the exit gate, and then manipulated the shadows to flip the locking mechanism.
CLANKCLANKCLANKCLANK!
As I materialized back inside the cell, I heard the three outside yelp in surprise.
"What was that?!" "The gate's open!" "I swear I locked it!"
At this point I was human again, save for being fully covered in black scales. I filled the entire chamber with the cloudy Zippleback fuel, and waited. Once I was sure at least Wolfblood and Ingavar were heading back across the ring, I ignited the cloud.
KABOOOOMMMMM!
The gas ignited, releasing a whirlwind of flames and blasting the doors open. I heard Ingavar scream in surprise, as he was apparently closest. I laughed quietly and began walking out of the cell, still hidden by the thick smoke.
"Wolfblood, are ye sure there wasn't a dragon in there before we threw the boy in?" Ingavar asked irritatedly. "No sir, it was empty!" "Then what, pray tell, is that?!"
I had begun to emerge from the smoke that was now clearing, and made the scales fade away as I became visible to the Vikings, so that I still looked like a normal teen. Ingavar stood there, looking a little shell-shocked. Bitwolf and Wolfblood were standing off to the side, frozen too, but more in anger than shock.
Ingavar finally managed to speak after a few seconds. "What on earth are you?" he asked. I shrugged, preparing an idea in my head on how to make my disappearance the most dramatic. As my skin began to secrete a small amount of the liquid fuel that Nightmares use, I sent a withering glare at Ingavar. "I am someone who knows far more about this place than any of you could ever hope to know," I began. "I am someone who has placed himself in charge of helping keep the peace on this island, which you seem to continuously threaten. I am that which cannot be contained, and I can be the essence of wild dreams and miracles…."
I paused for a second, for dramatic effect. "….or I can be something from the very depths of your worst nightmares. Really, it's your choice which way I go."
I placed a single spark of fire on the edge of my lips, instantly and seemingly out of nowhere setting my entire form ablaze. As Ingavar and Wolfblood, who had been moving to the side in hopes of knocking me out while I was monologuing, stumbled backward from both another round of surprise and from the heat, I breathed out a cloud of unique flames, ones that billowed out and acted like a burning mist, burning just brightly enough to obscure me from vision and quickly swirling outward to fill the ring, flowing out through the bars above and forcing the Vikings to evacuate to the gate. Using the cover I had made, I changed to a stealth dragon again and shot upward through the bars, only barely trailing the will-o-the-wisp flames behind me. I glanced downward for a second, spotting the bewildered looks on the men I'd just duped, and soared off across the village toward the cove.
I forgot how long it tends to take to reach the cove on foot. Long before I made it there, I spotted Hiccup, Astrid, and Sigrid below in the forest, on the trail. I dove down and flared my wings, dropping the cloak and letting myself become visible again. As I glided down, changing to a Nightmare in the process, Sigrid noticed me first and started slightly, but then calmed down as I landed in front of the trio and knelt down. "Get on," I said quickly. "You three are too slow."
We reached the cove in about two minutes flat after that. Sigrid jumped off before I had even touched the ground and raced over to Meatlug. "This is a pretty bad injury here," she said, looking over Meatlug's wing. "What happened?"
"She was attacked by the Shadow Lord," Hiccup explained. I saw Sigrid bite her lip in concern. "Before these past few days I thought he was only a myth," she said quietly, unwrapping the gauze bandages she had. "Astrid, get the plaster ready."
The next hour and a half was spent applying the plaster cast to Meatlug's wing, and the herbal salves to the other wounds. By then it was reaching late afternoon, almost evening, and there was little else that could be done at the moment other than wait. Meatlug simply needed rest. She looked up at Sigrid as the healer finished wrapping the last of the bandages. ::Will I be able to fly again?:: she asked. I translated the question, and Sigrid frowned. "Only time will tell on that one," she replied after a moment, "but if you don't move it a lot, and rest enough, I don't see why not. We're lucky these things don't necessarily mean death to a dragon anymore."
As Sigrid packed up the unused supplies and dirtied equipment, I turned to Hiccup. "I'll find you tomorrow," I said. "We're going to have a whole lot to deal with." He nodded. I turned to leave, facing the portal and spreading my wings, but then I stopped.
"Oh, and Toothless?" He looked up from where he was watching Meatlug. ::Hmm?:: "Stay near Hiccup. The Shadow Lord knows I'll likely be near a village, and that will probably be the first place he'll go if that thing he said about driving me out has any credibility. Plus, we cheated him out of a meal; he'll be looking for revenge."
He looked at Meatlug. ::What about her?:: he asked. I pointed to the thick stand of trees in the corner of the cove. "Meatlug, stay in there, don't move unless one of us shows up and calls for you. I'll get the Terrors to keep an eye out for you." She nodded, and waddled over to take a nap. At the same time, I bade farewell to the three Vikings and the Night Fury, and as they headed back to the village, after checking in with the Terrors I headed home for the night.
A/N-So this chapter had a bit of a double meaning if you happened to notice. Also, things are really starting to heat up, with Ingavar and the others getting inklings of an idea that something else is at play here. It will escalate very quickly in the next couple chapters, so stay tuned. And as always, read and review please!