Chapter 6

Sea, Air, and Land

Stoick had decided it might appear less threatening if Astrid arrived at this dragon nest in a boat, instead of being dropped off by a small fleet, so about an hour before the fleet would have reached the island a boat was lowered into the water and Astrid got into it. As she got the oars ready Stoick leaned over the side of the ship and handed several scrolls.

"Letters of introduction and diplomacy," he explained, "I just hope this person can read…"

"Don't worry, Chief. If he can't I'll read them out loud to him." Astrid promised as she put the scrolls in a waterproof sack.

"Smart thinking, lass," Stoick nodded approvingly. He stared at her for a moment, and then sighed. "In truth, lass, I'm not entirely sure this is a good idea. We've no clue of what you'll find, and you're gonna be on your own entirely. I might well be sending ya to your death. If you've got any second thoughts, speak up now. There's nobody here that would blame you for turning back."

"Maybe," Astrid said, though she doubted Spitelout and his supporters would be so forgiving, "but I know I'd blame myself if I didn't do what I offered to, Chief. I know there's a risk, but I said I'd go, and a good Viking should always keep their word."

"I wish more Vikings thought that way," Stoick sighed, "well, if you're determined, and I'm glad to see that you are, may the Gods keep you safe."

The boat was set adrift and Astrid began to row. Before she got very far she glanced up at her father, who was trying to hide his anxiety.

"Be careful, Astrid!" he suddenly shouted, "keep your wits about you and you'll be just fine!"

"I will, dad!" Astrid called back.

"You just told the chief a good Viking always keeps their word. I already know you're a good Viking, so give me your word you'll be safe and come back," Astrid thought his voice was trembling a little, but she was getting too far was to be certain. She gave a vigorous nod and watched the fleet grow smaller until it vanished completely from sight. They were off to search for Helheim's Gate to confirm what the Dragon King had told them.

It was a beautiful afternoon. The sky was streaked with wisps of pure white clouds that looked like the wings of swans. The sea was also blue, but a beautiful deep shade of sapphire instead of the robin's egg blue that the sky matched. The waves gently lapped against her boat, causing it to wobble a little and send a little spray into her eyes. Astrid was not exactly an experienced sailor, but she'd been to sea enough times that she could handle a boat in average conditions and she never felt ill anymore. All around her was nothing but the ocean. The sound of the waves was the only thing to break the silence. No birds flew overhead, nor, thankfully, did any dragons.

After perhaps nearly two hours of rowing she glanced at her map in annoyance.

"I just don't get it! By the reckoning of the navigator, the island should be just over there, but I don't see a thing! There's nothing but water in every direction!" She was so engaged in looking at the map and trying to figure out what was going on that she didn't see the dragon come swooping in behind her until it seized her arms and lifted her right into the air!

Astrid screamed and tried to reach for her axe, but it had been left behind. Before she could strike the legs of the dragon it began spinning as it climbed higher and higher. Astrid saw nothing except blue and white colors zipping rapidly past her as her head began to ache and her stomach began to feel nauseous. And then, just as suddenly as it had begun spinning, the dragon began to fly straight. By this point Astrid had become so disoriented that she had no idea of what direction they were going or where they were. She couldn't even tell if the clouds before her were swaying because of how the dragon was flying or because she was so dizzy. The fact that she was flying high enough to touch the clouds didn't even register with her; she was thinking more about if she was going to throw up.

How long they were up there she had no idea, but at length her nausea began to fade and her eyes slid back into focus and she could see a chain of light brown cliffs before her. They were very high and almost completely sheer, like a wall. The dragon, which Astrid had finally realized was a Deadly Nadder, headed straight for these cliffs and entered a cave about halfway up them. Once inside it gently set Astrid down and landed.

Astrid quickly took her bearings. The cave she was in was dark and gray, and appeared to be a long, for she could not make out the end of it. The dragon made a sudden prodding movement with its head, as if it was telling her to move forward. Astrid stayed where she was and stared down the long tunnel, feeling almost naked without her axe. She remembered the knife she had in her belt, but when she looked for it she saw it was gone too. The dragon jerked its head again and Astrid slowly began to make her way down the cavern. The only sound they made as they walked was the echoes from their steps. After going a short distance the passage turned left and the cave's entrance was lost from sight. As they turned Astrid could see a faint light ahead of them, she began to make her way towards. With the loss of the light from the cave entrance, the passage was almost completely black. Thankfully, the floor seemed smooth and the ceiling was high, so Astrid found she didn't need to worry about running into anything.

At last the passage opened up to reveal a large room. It was lit by a number of torches that lined the gray walls, and Astrid felt a chill when she realized that the torch bases were made of bone. At the far end of the room stood a large and imposing throne that seemed to have been pulled from the walls that flanked it. Before the throne, which was vacant, were perhaps half a dozen dragons gathered in a circle with their heads bowed down. Apparently they were looking at something on the floor and discussing it, for they were making a lot of quiet sounds and nodding or shaking their heads in reaction to these. Astrid recognized the Timberjack and the Skill on the left, but the other dragons were completely new to her. The black one that sat closest to the throne seemed to be the leader, as the others would look at it as if deferring to its. It was also the first dragon to notice her, and it growled, showing rows of sharp white teeth. The other dragons looked up and now saw her too, and they got in front of the black one defensively. Then their leader, if that was what he was, made a sound with its mouth and one of the dragons, a sleek and thin pink one, left the room. Minutes later it returned accompanied by the masked man Astrid had seen at the Owl Gut Island meeting.

The Dragon King looked about the room almost casually and then approached. Astrid began to speak but he ignored her, instead walking over to the Deadly Nadder standing behind her and began to scratch it. He made some strange growling sounds and Astrid realized he was talking to the dragon, who, to judge by its behavior, was very happy to be scratched. The King then gestured with his hand and the dragon flew off down the tunnel.

"So," the King said as he turned to Astrid, "I hope the journey wasn't too uncomfortable? Stormfly said she didn't make you too ill, which I'm glad to hear. It would not have been a good way to start things."

"Stormfly?" Astrid said after considering how to respond.

"The Nadder that brought you here. She'll be back soon: she's gone off to fetch what you left behind in your boat."

"Speaking of which—" Astrid said accusingly even though she knew it was bad for diplomacy, "you gave us the wrong location! This isn't the place you told us your nest was, because that's where I was when your dragon snatched me!"

He shrugged in response. "Did you expect me to give the true location of the Sanctuary to people like Dagur or Mogadon? As soon as that meeting was over I began wondering if I had said too much. Our safety lies in keeping this place secret. Why do you think Stormfly made you so dizzy you couldn't tell which direction you were going?" He made his way to the throne and sat on it lazily. The black dragon placed itself beside him, and the other dragons stood silently in a row in between him and the shield maiden. "I'm sorry, but I can't ask you to sit down because we don't have any completed chairs yet. I was just finishing it when Persephone told me you were here. It doesn't matter, though, as we won't be here for very long."

"You don't have any chairs?" Astrid repeated contemptuously.

"You and I are the only humans who have ever been in this room. We've never needed another chair until now."

Astrid folded her arms. "And what do you mean by 'we won't be here for very long'?"

"I mean that we are not discussing anything yet. Stormfly went to get your belongings, and once she returns Midnight here will show you to your room. We'll save the diplomatic talk for another time."

"'Another time'? Just how long am I to be kept here?" On Berk that was perhaps the foremost question to make everyone uneasy.

"One week. I've already sent Sharptongue to your Chief with a letter. And while you are here, you are my guest and will be treated as such. I only have a few conditions, mostly for your own safety. In the first place, after tomorrow you will be allowed the freedom to go anywhere you like, except for my own quarters, which I'll be sure to keep locked. In the second, I do not want you going near any nests, especially the ones with eggs or babies. All of the dragons here have been warned of your coming, so they'll not be surprised to see you, but most of them are not too fond of humans and, regardless of their personal feelings on that matter, a mother's protective instinct is a very powerful and dangerous thing. I don't want you accidentally hurting anyone and I don't want you to risk getting hurt yourself by an angry mother defending her clutch. You are not to go near nests unless I am with you, understood?"

He had stated these conditions very seriously. Astrid nodded.

"Excellent. Well, just follow those rules and I'm sure we'll have a very enjoyable week. And here's Stormfly."

The Nadder came in, dropped Astrid's axe and knife at her feet (she suddenly remembered she had been using the knife to cut up some bread while studying her map), and placed the sack of letters in front of the King. He scratched her neck and then she left.

"She's going to be a mother soon," he said wistfully, "I normally don't have mothers go about patrolling, but she insisted she could do it. Now, Midnight will show you to your quarters, and I will take a look at these letters."

"Can you read them?" Astrid asked, hoping she didn't sound too doubtful,

"Yes," he replied dryly, "I think I can read Norse somewhat," the black dragon, who had been completely silent this whole time, snorted. Another dragon now approached Astrid. It was snowy white with thin light gray stripes on its back, a light blue underside, and orange eyes.

"Is—is this—'Midnight'?" Astrid asked uncertainly.

"Yes. She's a Snow Demon. The only one in the Sanctuary in fact. You don't see them around here normally: their camouflage doesn't work in the summer months, and they don't like to settle too far from where they were born, but they're very common in the arctic. I've seen nests containing hundreds of them." He now picked up a letter and opened it. Midnight gestured to Astrid that they should leave, but Astrid had one more thing she wanted to ask.

"What are those torches made out of?"

"Hmm? Oh, those. That's whale bone. Why?"

"Oh, just curious," Astrid replied lightly. As Midnight led her out of the room she felt secretly relieved.

"We don't eat humans here, if that's what you're implying," he called after her. He continued to read until she was out of earshot. Then he set the letter down and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of all the people to send, it had to be her," he mumbled in dragonese.

"That's the she-Viking you wanted to mate with, right?" the Night Fury asked,

"I wouldn't put it quite that way, bud,"

"But you had an attachment to her?" a large gray Skrill asked sharply. When the man nodded the Skrill demanded "That attachment won't blind you, will it?"

"I promise you, Grimm, my first duty is to the Sanctuary," he replied firmly, "now, have we got any new leads on Drago?" He looked down at floor, which had a large map of the known world carved into it. The dragons had been consulting it and discussing Drago Bludvist when Astrid had arrived.

A light green Treejumper dragon spoke up, "A message came from one of our scouts in Russia. He's been a wanted man there and in neighboring countries for over 10 years."

The masked man nodded, "I doubt he'll go there, but we have to be certain. We last saw him in France. He can't go west because there's nothing there; he can't go north because that would lead him right back here…so he's either gone south or east."

"We know," the Skrill Grimm said, "that he would not have gone to Spain or Italy, due to his—'blasphemous ways, as they'd call it. He'd never be welcomed by them."

The man stiffened slightly but the Night Fury whacked him on the head with its tail. "Thanks, Toothless, I'm fine now…so, by now he must be in either France or the Germanic states. Have we got any scouts there?"

"I'll send some out tonight," Toothless promised,

"Good."

"And what do we do if they find him?"

"Can I rip him up?"

"And then can I throw the pieces into the ocean?" The Timberjack asked eagerly.

"No, Grimm, Evictus, we agreed no more killing humans save in self defense." The man now returned to the three letters from Stoick. The first was a letter introducing the Chief of Berk and Astrid using the most words and diplomatic flattery possible. He read it to the dragons, who sniggered at it, then tossed it aside and looked at the second. This one was a list of instructions for Astrid, which mostly boiled down to 'don't get the King angry,' so he tossed that one aside as well and picked up the final letter.

"'To the Dragon King,'" he read out loud, "'I have sent my ambassador Astrid, in whom I have the highest confidence and hope will be treated with all due respect, to visit you to receive further clarification of the terms you present to us. It has always been my greatest desire to bring the hostilities between Berk and dragons to a conclusion, and I sincerely hope that we will be able to do so shortly. Before I can concede to your terms, however, I would like to have these four points defined as clearly as possible:

You stated that you had claims upon certain islands. I would respectfully ask for the exact information as to their location and the extent of that which you claim, as well as more information on the extent of your resources.

I would like further details on what you mean by nobody is allowed to kill any more dragons.

I would like further details on your ideas for integrating the dragons with Vikings.

I would like very much to know more about you. Where are you from, when did you start taming dragons, how do you tame dragons, what are your plans for your life, and why did you choose the life you now lead?

"As I do not know the extent of your education, I believe it would be best for you to dictate responses to these questions to my ambassador Astrid, in whom I have the highest confidence and hope will be treated with all due respect. I again say that I hope we will be able to have peace between Vikings and dragons, and I hope you will always think of me as

The Honorable Stoick the Vast

Chief of Berk and of the Hairy Hooligans'"

"Well," Evictus said when he had finished, "that was a lot longer than it needed to be,"

"I never knew he could write like that," the man said softly,

"Does anybody else feel suspicious about it?" asked Grimm,

"I picked up on that too," Toothless nodded, "he's asking where we are and who you are."

"Not to mention," added the Skrill, "he wants to know our resources, from which he could deduce how many dragons we have here."

"Could he do that?" asked the Treejumper,

"Probably not, Shamrock, but Fishlegs could." The man replied, "he's always been obsessed with dragon statistics."

"If you ask me," remarked Persephone, "you are being too suspicious about this. You are reading too much into this document."

"Can you blame us?" asked Toothless, "we already know the chief of Berk thinks I killed his son,"

"And has sworn eternal hatred to dragons ever since his wife was taken by one," added Grimm.

"He could very well be asking these questions to find out where we are so he can have his revenge."

"Then we'll just have to deny him those particular answers," said the Dragon King, getting to his feet, "now, I've got a chair to finish,"

"And just what are we going to do about the she-Viking?" asked Toothless,

"Bud, you and I are going to personally give her a grand tour of the Sanctuary. Aside from our location, we have nothing to hide, and we are going to show her the truth about dragons and prove to her our peaceful intentions in such ways that she will have no choice but to accept them."

"We're also hiding your identity," Toothless reminded him.

"I'll worry about that, Bud."

"You know perfectly well I worry about whatever you worry about."

"Well in this case, you don't have to."

Toothless snorted. "If you say so. All right, so suppose the She-Viking accepts what we show her. Then what happens?"

"She'll go back to Berk and tell them everything. They will then tell the rest of the Vikings everything, and they will one by one begin to accept our terms for peace. Then we shall pick out the friendliest tribes and begin the Dragon Integration Plan." He clapped his hands together as he finished. "This is just the beginning, and if it all goes well, within five years there'll be dragons living peacefully with nearly every tribe of Viking and all thoughts of fighting each other will be nonexistent. This is the chance we've been waiting for, and we can't afford to mess it up, so I want everybody on their best behavior this week!"

"How long do you think it will be before he tells her the truth?" Grimm asked Toothless when the dragons were alone, "before he tells them the truth?"

"I don't know. And I also don't know how they're going to react to it."