Six: Tackle.
The team were looking more and more concerned as they flew away from the latest raid. And it was a raid, not a mission. During every attack, Hiccup had located the most senior hunter and forced him to betray at least one other Hunter location-a depot, a shipyard, the next convoy, a village…maybe even a auction. Slowly, methodically, he was destroying the Hunter assets, sinking boats, freeing dragons-and killing. And that was the problem as they all shared worried glances as they flew behind their masked leader on his Night Fury.
In the last attack, they had ruthlessly rained fire and spines down onto a Hunter depot-just a post for provisioning ships with only a couple of trapped dragons who were easily freed. The Hunters-a poor selection-had known little but Hiccup had blown up their homes and destroyed everything they had, stranding them with nothing on a small and isolated island. But when Astrid had protested, he had rounded on her.
"I've given them a chance to fetch food and survive," he snapped. "They are free. These trolls planned to kill me, Astrid. They were a few hours from getting me to Viggo to die." Blinking, she stared as he accelerated away, ignoring the scornful look Snotlout gave her-but Heather and Fishlegs were looking more than concerned at the change. Hiccup had needed reminding to release the captive dragons, his entire focus on punishing the Hunters rather than rescuing their victims. Even Toothless had been unhappy and had folded his wings, taking him down to the cages to remind him. But Hiccup had some leads and was silently oblivious to his friends, deep in his thoughts. It was a very uncomfortable flight home.
Once they had reached the Edge, Hiccup dismissed them, leaving those assigned to tend the dragons and headed back up to his hut with Toothless in tow. The others headed up as well but Astrid and Heather-who were on stable duty-remained, unsaddling the dragons, giving them all fish and water and carefully locking them away in their cages. Astrid was always uncomfortable when they were locked up so early in the day but it was Hiccup's orders and no one was minded to argue with him. For a long moment, the blonde lingered with her dragon, gently stroking the Nadder's nose horn and murmuring to her. Heather watched, hanging back-because it was becoming awkward between them. Ever since they returned to the Edge, Astrid had been distancing herself from the other girl, the anger and disdain in her eyes growing by the day-until Heather stepped forward.
"Ast-we have to talk," she said seriously. Blue eyes flicked up and the gently stroking hands on the Nadder stopped.
"Why?" Astrid asked her directly. Heather moved closer, her green eyes worried.
"Because you're treating me like I'm the enemy," she said honestly.
"And you aren't?" Astrid asked her shortly, looking back at Stormfly. Taking a sharp breath, Heather deliberately stepped into her line of sight.
"No!" she protested. Astrid looked up, her face impatient. "Why would you ask that?" Blonde brows dipped in a scowl.
"Well, apparently I'm no longer what Hiccup needs any more-and he always partners himself with you now-so what am I supposed to think?" she asked sarcastically.
"Astrid-you know I…" Heather began but Astrid turned to face her, her face angry.
"Really? Why should I believe you? You've done this before, haven't you?" she snapped. Heather gasped: it was true that she had deliberately tried to isolate Astrid and make Hiccup think she was interested in him the first time they had met, back when her adoptive parents had been prisoners of Alvin the Treacherous but they had long since moved past that. Her shock began to give way to anger.
"You know that was a long time ago and I was forced to do that to get the Book of Dragons for Alvin!" she replied more sharply than she had intended. With a breath, she shook her head. "Astrid, you are my friend and I…"
"Are you?" Astrid asked her pointedly. "Have you spoken to me about this? Have you kept me in the loop? Have you done one Thor-damned thing to make my life any less miserable right now? Or have you looked after yourself and just stuck with Fishlegs and said…nothing…?" Heather gave a gasp and stared at Astrid.
"I don't like Hiccup that way," she protested gently. "I'm not sure if I like him any way, any more. He's…changed…" Astrid stared at her remotely.
"Yes, he has," Astrid said quietly, "but I still care for him." She turned back to her dragon and sighed. "Before Hiccup persuaded me to follow him, I was joining the Berk Guard. I was committing to protecting our home. I followed Hiccup because he wanted to follow his dream, to discover new dragons and have adventures…but we're not chasing dragons any more and the adventures aren't fun. I'm a good warrior, a good Rider and I will do what is needed to keep us safe-but suddenly that isn't good enough any more. Suddenly, I seem to be a liability. So why should I stay here, to be ignored and humiliated and treated like dirt? I'm going back to Berk, to join the Berk Guard. Hiccup can continue destroying himself on his own." Then she gave the dragon a final pat and turned away, walking past Heather without even sparing her a look and vanishing round the corner. The raven-haired girl stared after her and heard the Nadder give a worried trill.
"Yeah," she sighed. "I really think she will leave. And if she does…that will be the end."
oOo
Hiccup was poring over his charts in his hut, the carefully copied map of the Archipelago and the Great Beyond spread over the table. Small pins marked Viggo's outposts, depots and bases and the Rider splayed his fingers on the map, brow furrowing as he calculated his next move.
"Where are you?" he murmured, emerald eyes sweeping across the symbols. "What are you planning, Viggo?"
Your destruction, our enrichment and of course, capturing your dragon, Ryker said. Hiccup stiffened and sighed.
"You'll never get Toothless," he said. The Night Fury's head snapped up, hearing the weary tone, his ear-flaps twitching.
I can make you give him up, Ryker commented, pacing around the stiff, armoured shape. I know what you can't endure. Who thought that through all that sass and obstinacy, you had a weakness. He paced around the rigid Rider. You're all weakness.
"There are more ships coming in from the east with dragons," Hiccup murmured. He froze as he heard footsteps approach and he straightened up, scowling at the interruption. He turned abruptly as the intruder approached-and he untended slightly as he saw Heather and Fishlegs. Wordlessly, he beckoned them in, turning back to his map. "How many dragons have we freed in the last week, Fish?" he asked curtly. The husky young man shared a glance with Heather and checked his notebook.
"About fifty," he said nervously and he flinched as Hiccup growled.
"About?"
"We don't have completely accurate figures!" Fishlegs protested. "The twins and Snotlout never give an accurate answer on numbers and types of dragons released. It has to be an estimate only because of that!"
"Not good enough," Hiccup snapped, his tone cold. "How can I plan when I don't have accurate intelligence?"
"You get the twins to give you a useful answer!" Fishlegs retorted. "And Snotlout…"
"Astrid is partnered with Snotlout," Hiccup reminded Fishlegs. "Ask her why there aren't accurate figures for her team."
"So it's her team, is it?" Heather asked him pointedly. "I don't think so-and nor does anyone else. You always address every comment and all instructions to Snotlout. You've relegated her from your second in command to not even leading that team."
"I expected better of her," Hiccup said coldly.
"You know, I think she expected better of you," Fishlegs replied.
Hiccup slowly turned to face him, his eyes narrowed.
"Just do your damned job properly, Fishlegs," he hissed. "I will decide who does what in this outpost!"
There was a cold silence-and then Fishlegs left. Heather turned after him but Hiccup grasped her arm.
"How long does Viggo have between auctions?" he asked. She glared at him until he released her.
"As long as he wants," she replied sharply, angered at the treatment of another of her friends. Hiccup looked at her.
"This soon?" he asked thoughtfully.
"Possibly," she conceded. "I wasn't with them that long, but he was a man with his own plans and priorities. But he was always organised…"
"Viggo's stockpiling. So that can only mean…he's planning another auction." His eyes flicked up to look at her. "And that should mean we have an opportunity to attack-and get the gold back…" She inspected him and read the determination in his face.
"That still bothers you, doesn't it?" she said softly. He nodded silently.
"My failure condemned Berk to poverty," he said in a toneless voice. "The plan was weak, the execution was worse and we were comprehensively outmanoeuvred by Viggo. We escaped by luck. We can't rely on that. So this time, we will be more direct. We go in, we take the gold, we leave." Toothless gave a small croon and Heather stared at the dragon, understanding his qualms. There was a part of the plan that was missing.
"What about the dragons?" she asked. Hiccup flicked his emerald gaze up to briefly look at her before staring at his chart once more.
"They aren't important," he said.
oOo
The next mission was a disaster, the team getting ambushed by a trio of Hunter ships that were not apparently carrying any dragons but instead acting as decoys-and laden with ballistas and Dragon Root arrows. Hiccup had flipped his mask down and led a furious dive at the leading ship, a volley of plasma shots raking the first ship. Heather followed him dutifully, silvery Razorwhip spines stitching the deck and jamming the nearest bola- and chain launcher. To their left, the twins and Fishlegs were meeting some severe resistance, dozens of arrows raining on them. Fishlegs and Meatlug were both struck as was Tuffnut, who slid from the saddle of Belch and slammed onto the deck below. Meatlug was sagging lower and lower as the Dragon Root took effect and Fishlegs was bleeding from his wound, skilfully winding bandages from his pack around the hole in his arm.
Astrid glanced up and saw their predicament. The left hand ship was pounding at the attackers and no one was coming to help. Hiccup had drilled them over and over to focus on their part of the mission, shouting at them for doing what came naturally to them: helping and protecting each other. Tuff was being surrounded, swords jabbing at his stunned body.
"TUFF!" his twin screamed and the Zippleback gave a mournful roar as the male twin was hauled to his feet, a sword pressed to his throat.
"Surrender!" the Hunter holding him bellowed.
"Snotlout-take out that ship!" Astrid ordered him, flipping the Nadder round and barrelling round to line up on the man behind Tuff, never hesitating to press the one point on the back of the Nadder's skull that launched the lethal single spine shot. And while Stormfly was inhumanly accurate, Astrid rarely used the lethal attack to kill-but with Tuff in such danger, she felt a small thrill of satisfaction at seeing the man fall and release the twin.
"Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" echoed from behind her and the right hand ship exploded in flames. They were still firing but she waved at Snotlout and he got Hookfang to fire as Stormfly launched a wide spread of spines that caught fire as they zinged through the Monstrous Nightmare flames and took out anyone and anything left standing on the deck. But before they had even struck, she was waving Snotlout on and the powerful boy drove his dragon forward, swooping down to grab Meatlug and her Rider while Stormfly snatched Tuff away and zoomed up, depositing him safely back on Belch's neck.
"Thanks, Ast," Ruff called.
"You need to lose some weight!" Snotlout added, peering worriedly at Fishlegs. He was looking pale and the bandage around his arm was bloodstained.
"Just…husky!" the blonde boy complained painfully. "Is Meatlug okay?" Snotlout peered down and saw the Gronkle drooling lava. He rolled his eyes.
"Just peachy," he commented. "She'll have dribbled a small island by the time we get you home-right, Hookie?" The Monstrous Nightmare snorted, then swung around, narrowly missing a huge missile. "Little help, babe?"
"For the million-and-oneth time- I AM NOT YOUR BABE!" Astrid shouted at him, leaning forward and flipping round to get Stormfly to pour her astonishingly hot flame down on the stern of the boat. As expected, the rudder shattered and the ship began to list as water flooded in.
"Allow us," Tuff suggested, having bandaged his leg very badly using his belt and his vest. "Okay, dear sister-let's show them how a Zippleback finishes things…"
"I guess they probably know," Ruff commented, as the right hand head poured the sweet, greenish gas over the listing ship like a pungent fog. Tuff flashed her a grin.
"Not Thorston style!" he challenged her and they booth whooped and screamed as they ignited the explosive and soared up through the expanding explosion. Overhead, the Night Fury hovered, emerald eyes narrowing at the complete disobedience of his orders-which had saved the lives of three of the group. The Hunters had been prepared-and that meant that Viggo had changed things up. He gestured to Heather and the girl pinned down the defenders on the deck as he had instructed her while he swooped down and leapt from Toothless, racing for the Captain. The bigger man backed up as the armed, masked man ran at him with a naked sword.
""You're going to carry a message to Viggo!" Hiccup growled, grabbing the man around the neck, the point of his sword leaning over the man's heart. The Hunter paled, his eyes flicking to the left and Hiccup leaned closer. "This is a trap, isn't it?" he breathed. The man nodded.
"Viggo wants to capture you because you've sunk so many ships recently…" he gabbled, eyes wide with anxiety. Facing the mask with only small holes hinting at the angry emerald eyes behind had him fearful: he couldn't guess what the man would do…but he was a thousand leagues from the auburn-haired Night Fury Rider who always spared the crews and just rescued dragons. Hiccup glanced up and saw what he was expecting: three very large Hunter ships rounding the nearest island, the central one clearly Viggo's flagship.
"Time for the message," Hiccup growled, hauling the man back to the Night Fury and holding him helpless as he clipped his metal leg into the tail assembly. Toothless backwinged up and turned to face the flagship, which was rapidly approaching. Hiccup flew forward, the Hunter dangling from his grasp. "VIGGO!"
He saw the man glance up, the huge shape of Ryker at his side, the man's dark eyes sending shudders of fear down his spine. Breathing hard, the Dragon Rider stared down-and then moved. The Hunter felt a sudden blinding pain in his chest as the sword slammed into his heart and then his senses left him. His lifeless body was pitched onto the deck by the Grimborns.
"I AM COMING FOR YOU BOTH!" Hiccup shouted as he turned Toothless, the plasma blast shattering the last ship and then zooming away from the sinking wreck. The Riders followed him, shocked…and every eye trailed to Astrid. She was his second-in-command..and their only chance to stop this war before it got any worse-and one of them died.
oOo
Dark eyes trailed over the retreating shape of the Night Fury and then flicked over the corpse of his Captain. Viggo Grimborn cast a sideway look at his brother.
"He seems rather…driven," he commented. "I would ask what you did to him, Ryker, but I can guess." His older brother scowled at him, huge arms folded as he challenged his brother to comment further. "I do recall leaving instructions that I was to kill him myself."
"You didn't specify how he was to arrive at your feet-except alive," Ryker pointed out coldly. "And he has caused so much embarrassment that he deserved to feel some of the pain we have suffered from his actions." Viggo stared at the dead Hunter and motioned his crew to clear the body away.
"You clearly went too far, Ryker," he said thoughtfully. "Your brutality seems to have broken Hiccup."
"That was the intention," the older Grimborn told him. "I wanted to break him every way-and I got the defences of the Edge from him…"
"Which he will have amended as soon as he came back," Viggo pointed out calmly. "However, he's behaving much more like any other Viking, if today's show is any proof."
"He's looking for revenge," Ryker sneered. "I really had some fun with him." Viggoo rolled his eyes.
"He's disrupted our supply lines," he commented thoughtfully, "but he must realise we are planning another auction."
"He was whining about Berk's gold," Ryker revealed. "He'll want to steal it back…"
"So we set him a honey trap he can't resist," the leader of the Hunters mused. "Get the word out to the Traders that we're having another auction on Kaupmadur Island. Dragons and dragon parts. Ensure word gets out that I'll be there so conduct the sales myself. And Ryker…" His brother paused, scowling. "Make sure Hiccup and his little gang get there. Make sure they get word."
"The Traders talk to them because they have helped them in the past," he growled. "They'll be there." Viggo nodded and stared at the few floating pieces of wreckage that were all that remained of three more of his ships.
"Good-because everyone on that island will be a Hunter," he snapped. "Guards, wranglers, customers, traders, vendors, artisans…everyone will be our man. And there will be enough dragons to tempt them in…but no gold. Only dragon-proof steel. Enough for Hiccup and his stupid little friends. And when we have him, I will make sure he watches me kill all his friends before I finally end his life." He paused and looked up at his brother. "And I'll give him to you to play with before I finish him, brother-provided you don't damage him any more!" Ryder's eyes narrowed.
"I think I've done just enough damage to render him vulnerable."
oOo
Astrid was flying perimeter patrol once the others had got back to the Edge. It was her turn and Fishlegs and Tuffnut had adequate medical help with Heather as well as the husky boy himself. Meatlug was dozing in the stables and the other dragons were watching over her. But one wasn't: Astrid's blue Terrible Terror, Sneaky, was sitting in her saddlebag, a message tied to his leg.
The image flashing before her eyes was that breath-stopping moment when Hiccup had mercilessly stabbed the unarmed Hunter Captain and dropped his lifeless body on Viggo's ship. He hadn't come to the aid of their injured friends and would have left Tuff, Fishlegs and Meatlug at their mercy-but worse, he had chewed them all out for breaking ranks and disobeying orders in the rescue.
"You displayed weakness, vulnerability to them!" he shouted. "They will know they can use you against each other!"
"So not news!" Snotlout had raged back, his blue eyes angry. Hookfang was getting very tired lugging the unconscious Meatlug back and the boy felt sorry for his dragon-and his injured friends. "Hiccup-we've been fighting them for months now-so they know us. What's changed is you've turned into a total ass and would leave the rest of us to crash and burn as long as your precious mission got done!"
"This isn't a game, Snot!" Hiccup shouted. "People get hurt. People will get killed."
"Er-injured people here?" Fishlegs protested from behind Snotlout. "I think we know that…"
"Not here-on Berk!" Hiccup yelled. "We've endangered them. Dagur has attacked them because we went up against him. We've lost the gold so the island is poor, food is short and our people are suffering. We have to get it back before people start dying!"
"And getting us all killed won't help!" Ruff shouted at him, furious. They might fight like cats and dogs, but the twins were ferociously protective of one another.
"You've changed, man," Tuff added, his voice tight with pain. "Our friend wouldn't abandon us to die so he could land and murder a prisoner in cold blood!"
"That's why I was captured do easily," Hiccup yelled back, fists clenched. "The Hiccup you knew wasn't good enough. That's why he's gone-and why I'm here! Now get back to the damned base!"
Astrid stroked Stormfly as they looped round the northern watch tower and she scanned the horizon carefully. His indifference and anger directed at everyone-but most at her, for saving the injured-had solidified her determination. Something had to be done and the others had all begged her to try to talk some sense into Hiccup. But she knew she wouldn't be successful: there was only one person who could be.
The Night Terrors were gathering for the night duty and she slowly hovered, pulling out Sneaky. She petted the little dragon, staring into the bright eyes. She had trained Sneaky herself and knew the dragon was extremely reliable in whatever task she set him.
"I'm relying on you," she said intensely. "We all need you to succeed. Take care, Sneaky. Now go find the Chief and give him that message!"
The dragon thoughtfully licked its eye then flapped off without preamble, vanishing swiftly into the sunset. Sighing, she offered a small prayer to Odin and then turned back to finish her rounds.
oOo
Hiccup was sitting in his hut, staring at the map he had nailed to the wall above his little desk, fingers laced together and shoulders tense. He had marked every contact on the map, every base they knew about and every scrap of intelligence he had gleaned over the past weeks. And he had sent Terror mails to Johann and any other contacts they had to see if there was any news about the Hunters' latest auction.
"Where are you?" he murmured. massaging the back of his neck and feeling the muscles aching from tension. "You can't hide from me, Viggo. Or you, Ryker…"
I wouldn't want to, Ryker sneered, his deep voice mocking and tightening Hiccup's muscles more. We're waiting for you. Because we can take you any time, boy. And I won't be half as merciful as I was last time.
"I'm going to break you this time," Hiccup breathed. "I…"
"Son?"
He spun in his seat, rising so abruptly his metal leg slipped on the floorboards and made him overbalance: only the table behind him stopped him falling. Emerald eyes wide, his jaw dropped as he faced the shape filling the doorway.
"D-Dad?" he mouthed in shock. Stoick smiled and walked into the hut. "What-what are you doing here?" Walking closer, the big Chief inspected his son, cool eyes flicking over the dishevelled hair, the shadows under the green eyes, the fierce armour he wore even in his own hut. The alarming words from the letter rolled around his head but he knew he would have to be careful: Hiccup was smart and stubborn and would always deny any sort of problem.
"Can't a father just fly over to have a simple chat with his son?" he asked softly.
"No this father. Not a day long flight," Hiccup said suspiciously. "What's this about, Dad? Kinda busy here…"
"How are things going, son?" Stoick asked, pacing gently-meaning the floor was vibrating as his enormous bulk marched back and forth. His eyes trailed over the map as Hiccup tried to keep his body between his father and the wall. "Any…problems?"
"No! No! Everything's going just…swimmingly! The gang are happy, we're making good progress against Viggo and I think we've found a way to get Berk's gold back," Hiccup told him urgently. There was a pause as his father mulled over his words.
"You're trying to retrieve the gold?" he clarified, his piercing gaze impaling the lean and twitchy shape facing him. "And none of this is to do with making the Hunters pay for putting a bounty on you, for capturing and hurting you?" The young Dragon Rider stiffened, eyes narrowing.
"Of course not, Dad," he said very sharply and too quickly. Stoick reached the far wall, turned and paced back across the hut once more.
Liar.
"There does seem to be some…concerns…" the Chief mused, his voice thoughtful. "Your friends are just that-friends. They aren't an army. They aren't here on a campaign or a raid. They follow you because they are your friends and they trust you. Do they still trust you, son? Do they even still like you?"
He knows. And they have told him how weak you are as a leader. What a failure you are.
"We've really made progress in destroying Viggo's ships and driving them back," Hiccup cut in, trying to silence the hissing voice. "We've disrupted his supply lines and though the last raid was tough, we pulled through."
She pulled you through. You failed on every level.
"I think your friends are worried about you, son," Stoick told him slowly, standing a couple of feet from him. "I think they are concerned you're becoming…obsessed." His eyes saw the expression harden on the pale face. "I think so, too," he added. Staring up into the kindly expression, Hiccup stepped forward and forced a small smile onto his lips.
"I'm fine, Dad," he sighed. "I'm fine. I know you're worried, but I'm not going to do anything stupid. I've got information that there is an auction-and that would be a perfect opportunity to free the dragons, destroy ships and steal Viggo's resources. I can restore Berk's gold, stop the Hunters and repay them for what they've done in one fell swoop!"
But not in that order.
"Are your friends behind you?" Stoick asked and Hiccup nodded urgently.
"Of-of course," he lied, eyes wide. "They understand what we're doing-and why. This is for Berk, Dad. Once this is done, we can relax and get back to normal…" Stoick stared at him for a long moment, eyes lingering on the taut shape and then he nodded.
"I trust you, son," he sighed. "I know you won't put your friends in danger. Gold can be replaced. Ships can be ambushed at a different time. But losing a friend…that cannot be undone. Be safe, Hiccup. You are my only child and I am very, very proud of you." He gave a small smile. "Once this is done, maybe you could come back to Berk and spend a few days…" Hiccup gave a relieved smile at the slightly wistful tone and led his father to the door.
"It's a promise, Dad," he said brightly. "Now, I know you are busy and can't waste time here. I promise I'll be careful and look after them. And if I need help in finishing Viggo, can I call on the A Team?" Stoick stared into the familiar face, seeing his son looking weary and anxious-and knowing Hiccup wasn't being truthful with him. His son was an abysmal liar, after all, even if Stoick didn't have over two decades of reading body language to determine truth and falsehood. But what could he do? Undermine Hiccup completely, destroy his authority and maybe shatter the good relationship they had or trust his bright, brave and determined son to do the right thing and find the answer?
He nodded. "Always remember I love you, son-and I am always there for you. Whether it's with use of the A Team, or advice or just someone to share concerns about Chiefing with. Be safe, son. I'll see you soon!" And then he stomped out, clambered back onto Skullcrusher and flew off without another word. Hiccup stared after him until he vanished into the late afternoon sky-and then he turned back to the Clubhouse, his eyes narrowed and face locked in a scowl of fury. His friends all looked up as he stalked in, his cold green gaze sweeping over them before he marched up to the calm shape of Astrid. Everyone fell silent as he glared scornfully at her.
"I never expected you to betray me," he hissed. Her blue eyes widened but she rose to face him, her expression determined.
"If anyone is betraying anything, it's you!" she told him firmly. "You were willing to let Tuff, Fish and Meatlug die on that raid."
"They didn't die," he told her angrily.
"No thanks to you!" she snapped back. "Not only did you leave them, you shouted at us for leaving our positions to save them. You're obsessed, Hiccup! And I couldn't let you kill us all because you haven't gotten over what happened!"
His fists clenched.
"You really have no idea what you're talking about!" he snapped. "You undermined my authority, you called my Dad to come and talk to me." Her jaw tightened, guessing Hiccup had fooled the Chief. "Yeah-he believed his son. How could he not? I'm the Pride of Berk, after all! But I can't trust you any more, Astrid. You can't cope with being put in your place. You can't follow orders. You can't support my leadership. You are disloyal." He lifted his chin. "Leave the Edge-now! I don't want you here. I don't want to see you again."
She stared at him and met his angry glare, before pulling back her fist and punching him in the face. There were a few sharp intakes of breath as he staggered and went down, clutching at his chin. She stood over him for a long moment, eyes blazing.
"If you let them get hurt, Hiccup, I will come back. And friend or not, I will stop you!" she swore and strode from the building. Shaking in shock, he stared after her, trying not to see the looks of shock and disgust from the others. Slowly, he got to his feet and glared at them.
"That goes for all of you," he snapped. "You're with me or you're my enemy!" And then he stalked out as well as the sounds of a Deadly Nadder taking off sounded faintly from their right. Fishlegs looked round the subdued group of Riders.
"So what do we do now?"