Siren

The next day, I gave the kids time to study for their exams. I kept them posted on when the exams would take place. Their Japan and fencing tests were on Moon's day, the dragon classifying and dragon-riding tests on Tyr's day, followed by the Celtic and weapon crafting tests on Woden's Day. Finally, they would have the rock climbing and Viking tests on Thor's day. Frigg's day would be off for me to take a break from them and to give me more time to mark their tests, calculate the average, and plan what to teach them next. I could also get more time to ride Toothless and sell rice, along with working on my Korean. Rupac said I'm not too bad, but I should work on it more often. I told him I'd use my free time as often as possible.

As I sat there, watching the kids talk and study, my mind wandered back to Al. I wasn't sure if I should just teach him Celtic, Japanese, and Mayan, since he already knew Viking history, weapon crafting, dragon classifying, rock climbing, and fencing, and he didn't need to relearn all that, which would give me more time to teach him Mayan. I thought about teaching him to ride dragons, but then he may not be as liberal toward them as I was.

I decided to turn to Rupac for advice. Carefully, I took him off his perch, where he was snoring. He'd been doing so for the past three hours, and he wouldn't be upset if I woke him up now.

"Rupac," I said softly. He stirred, then his eyes popped open.

"What should I teach Al?" I asked, speaking as softly as possible in Mayan.

"My advice would be the Celts. I don't think he'd be interested in learning Japanese and Mayan. Besides, it's not going to matter to him since he ain't gonna go to Japan. At least I don't think he will," Rupac said, his softening and becoming louder every few seconds.

"He's going to be chief of the Meatheads. These kids won't, so that means they could be going to Japan or the Mayan Empire as merchants or teachers to the kids, and maybe if they capture Celts, knowing the language could help them interrogate the prisoners of war. Al himself will want to interrogate some Celts as well, so he should probably learn their language.

"If he's open minded enough, you could teach him dragon riding as well."

"I was thinking the same things you were," I told Rupac, before I turned my head to the kids, most of whom were just talking. I knew from the sun dial I placed not too far away from my chair, it was about five minutes into the fourth hour, so it was time to switch.

"Excuse me, Rupac," I said, speaking Nordic this time. I set him back on his perch and turned to the kids.

"Listen up!" I shouted in Celtic. "You have a test next week, and it's your job to study! If you fail, we redo everything we've learned the past two months! Do you want to do that?"

There was a stunned silence. I don't like being to hard, but I've learned that sometimes, you need to be cruel to be kind with children. Sometimes, it's the only way they learn.

Finally, one boy raised his hand. His name was Hod, and he was twelve. Let's say he wasn't the most mature student I've taught.

"What do we do after the tests? If we pass, that is."

"I'll bring my books about dragons, the Japanese and the Celts. They're written in both Nordic and the languages of their subjects. Some of you will be old enough to join the war against Celts soon, so you guys in particular will want to read my account of the Celts.

"The one about Celts is only for the older kids because there's some very uncomfortable stuff in there." That was probably a big understatement. My time with the Celts was probably the worst six months of my life. It was so bad I think I might go home soon. Probably around Snoggletog. I know Dad might disown me, but I feel I should see him again. I was already beginning to feel bad about leaving Berk behind two years ago, but then when I got captured by the Celts...

I really did want to see Mum and Dad again.

"Study hard!" I shouted to the kids as they left with their books, speaking the language I was most comfortable with...Nordic. It's my first language, and I was born a Viking. I will die a Viking.

"Come prepared!" I yelled, this time louder.

"We will, sensei!" Magnus called out. He was Brunhild's cousin. She was older than him by two years. His uncle was her dad. Many of these kids were related to each other. The Viking family tree is kind of screwed up in that way. Too much to keep track of.

Hearing the word sensei brought a smile to my face. I liked having respect from these kids, and being called sensei proved they had a lot of respect for me. I knew I'd taught them well if they called me that.

"Ready to go home, Toothless?" I said, patting my dragon's nose. It was soft and kind of scaly, but I liked its feel. So did Toothless.

My best friend purred in agreement. I went to the perch and took Rupac off and carefully wrapped him around my neck. He was asleep, as he usually was these days. Then I went back to Toothless and mounted him.

Quickly, we ascended to the sky, the one place I loved a lot.