Chapter Six
The sun beat down on Ukiah as he started to regain consciousness. His head was throbbing as if a hammer was pounding an anvil. Struggling to get himself up, his eyes fought to open themselves while his right hand held the back of his head, trying to quell the constant pounding in his head. He tried to look around which only brought a lightning bolt of pain down his neck through his back. Falling back down onto a stone floor, he focused on breathing as he rested for another minute. Feeling the pounding slowly fade, he groaned aloud "Wha-what happened?" He tried to cast his mind onto the last memory he had. It was night, and he was running…from what? What was he running from?
"Well lookie here," A voice rang out. It sounded as if it came from a distance away, as if from above. "It looks like our poacher here has finally decided to wake up!"
"What? What poacher?" Ukiah wondered as he tried a second time to raise his head.
"Did you hear about him?" another voice sounded "He gave us the slip when we were after him. Sneaky guy was on the roofs the entire time we were scouring the market place."
"Roofs? Oh, roofs!" Ukiah thought, putting the puzzle together. "That's right; I was running on the roofs to hide. I was hiding from…the guards!" Ukiah's head snapped up as he finished his thought, which sent another jolt of pain down his back. Fighting to not fall back down again, he was able to brace himself on one leg that he was able to plant on the ground. "Gah¸ where am I?" He asked as loud as he could, looking around as fast as his head would let him.
"Welcome to the Thariin Arena, poacher." A guard shouted with pride "The most feared place for people and dragons alike."
Another jolt of pain ran through Ukiah's body as his head raised up again and his eyes finally adjusting to the light. It was true! He found himself in the middle of the ring staring at the smooth stone walls all around him. "No, I can't be here…" Ukiah whispered in disbelief. But, as sure as the sun was sitting at high noon, he was there. Ukiah, slowly getting his balance back, surveyed his new surroundings.
With a 20 foot high, almost polished stone wall that made up the circle around him, and a chain-like net above him, the only way out was through a heavy metal gate on the south end of the circle. The release for the gate was a wheel and pulley system, and it was 10 feet back from the gate itself. He also saw a number of heavy wooded gates within the arena itself; leading into the walls.
"Must be the cages for the dragons" Ukiah muttered to himself, letting his eyes adjust to moving around.
On the east side of the arena, there was a single metal door. Next to it was a table with all sorts of weapons displayed on it.
"The door for the prisoners cages…" He informed himself.
"Better shake it off, poacher." One of the guards announced from on top of the ring "Your fight begins today when the sun begins to set!"
"I'm already fighting a dragon?!" Ukiah shouted in an outrage, doing his best to ignore the pain that was surging through his head.
"Boy, your quick." The guard replied sarcastically, a smug grin forming on his face "The dragon's fresh too. We caught it the same night we got you."
Thinking about the news of him fighting, Ukiah then asked "What dragon is it? A Nightmare?"
"Now then, that would be giving you an advantage now wouldn't it? What makes you so special to have a knowledge of what you fight beforehand?" The guard asked teasingly.
Realizing that it was useless to argue with the bored guard, Ukiah ignored him and walked slowly to the table arrayed with the different weapons laid out on it.
Upon arriving at the table, he saw not only a surplus of shields, axes, and hammers. He also saw his own collection of weapons on it as well. Comforted that he would at least be fighting with weapons that he's had, he picked up and inspected his dagger and crossbow. Finding them basically in the same condition he last remembered them in, minus the bolt being un-notched from his crossbow, he set them back on the table.
Suddenly, he heard loud creaking noise behind him. Ukiah turned around as fast as he could, to see two guards walk under the heavy metal gate that led out of the arena. One was carrying a pot and bucket of water, while the other one carried a giant hammer and shield.
"Get it while it's hot…it tastes better." Grumbled the guard, setting the pot and bucket on the ground next to the table.
Ukiah didn't say anything. He just stared at the guards, trying to make them uncomfortable on their own grounds.
Realizing that their prisoner wasn't going to say anything, the guards turned and began to walk out of the arena.
Ukiah had a sudden urge to make a dash for it, thinking about running in-between the guards to throw off their balance and give him a straight shot out. But looking on top of the gate, he saw two other guards almost expecting him to make the very move. On top of that, he was still recovering from waking up, and had barely made it to the table without falling down.
Giving up on the idea of trying to escape, Ukiah turned to the pot that was on the ground. It was a mess of some kind of stew; made up of carrots, onions, fish, and potatoes in a gravy-like mix. It smelt alright, but of course he knew he was a prisoner and wasn't going to receive anything decent. Picking up a different dagger from the table, he stared at the pot. Letting out a sigh, he then began spooning the food with the dagger. The taste was terrible, tasting old and bland; it even had a hint of mold in it. Stopping himself from gagging at the taste, he forced himself to swallow bite after bite of the mess.
Finishing the food, he threw the pot down with a loud clang. Trying to keep himself from throwing up, he fell down onto his knees and dropped his head in the bucket of water, inhaling as much water as he could to drown out the taste. Forced to come up for air, he coughed as he gulped a few deep breaths. Relaxing for a moment, he looked around and saw some of the guards laughing at him, while a few others stood by, silently watching. Angry that he was being treated as a form of entertainment to them, he then stood up and walked away from his meal. Even with the old food in him, he could feel more energy returning to him, which allowed him stand up without getting light headed. In fact, the pain had almost disappeared at this point and now his only concern was to rest and prepare himself mentally for the coming fight.
Sitting himself against the wall where shade was starting to form, Ukiah observed the arena in a little more detail. The arena itself was a wreck! It looked like someone set fire to it and then threw extra flame to the charcoals just for the fun of it. The bleacher seats were all burned down and crashed around the ring. Charcoal and ash were everywhere, even in the ring. Curiously though, there was a hefty amount of sand spread randomly throughout the arena, definitely being out of place. Ignoring the observation, he turned and observed the murals painted along the arena walls. It was amazing that the walls were as polished as they were. Running his hand through his hair, he saw small amounts of ash and sand fly out. Even he wasn't able to shelter himself from the ruins of the arena.
After studying the arena and watching the guard's patrol around, Ukiah finally drifted off into a resting sleep; which his aching body welcomed.
"Come on Hiccup! You can't be late for this!" Astrid shouted urgently, jogging up the path that led to the arena.
"I know Astrid, we've only been talking about this all day! But even if we walk, we'll get there long before the fight starts!" Hiccup called back, a little short of breath. "I haven't seen anyone ahead of us anyways!"
"But you need to be ready now, so that nothing will interrupt you when you make your request! Besides, people are starting to make their way as we speak!" Astrid replied impatiently, pointing to a crowd of people starting to head up the path that led to the arena
"I know I know…" Hiccup groaned, agreeing with Astrid, "I just hope this plan works…I need it to work."
"If not, it will buy us more time to be able to get the Night Fury free." Astrid said reassuringly "We'll improvise if we have to. Maybe you can train it in front of everyone? Show them that dragons aren't killers."
This made Hiccup relax a little. "I guess that would be worst case scenario." He thought "Doing that would give me a few allies as well. Hopefully."
Making their way to the entrance, one of the guards posted there stopped them. "Where are your parents?" He asked rigidly, scowling at the two.
"We're with Stoick the Vast" Astrid declared, her eyes narrowing. It was getting annoying being treated like a little kid, which made her think of what the Thariin kids their age were like.
"And we're guests of honor to Strogg the Stone." Hiccup threw in, knowing that they were invited by him.
The guard quickly changed his expression in realizing who the teenager was "I'm sorry that I've bothered you Hiccup! Please, just walk on in; your seats are on the north end of the arena. Shouldn't be too hard to find, as it's the end with the only chairs in the entire arena now." He said looking over the burned arena.
Forgiving and thanking the guard they walked in without any more disruptions. Stoick wasn't with them because he was going to be with Strogg. They wanted this plan to appear to be Hiccup's as much as possible, which meant to sever almost all connections between father and son, even before the event started.
"There!" Astrid said pointing to a spot that was near and above the gate that led to the arena; almost like a pedestal that he could stand on. "We'll have you announce it from there! Everyone would see you and more importantly, hear you from there!"
Hiccup inspected the spot Astrid designated, agreeing that it would be best to do it from that spot. With the seats for the Chief and the guests of honor almost exactly opposite from them, he would be noticed and heard; with nothing to hinder him.
"Now we just have to wait!" Astrid said excitedly, walking closer to the edge.
Smiling, Hiccup followed her to the edge as well, trying to make eye contact when he got there. But when he stood next to her, no matter how hard he tried to get her attention, she just stared down into the ring below as if in a trance.
"Astrid? Hello Astrid? What's up?" Hiccup asked, waving his hand in front of her.
Finally breaking out of her trance, Astrid looked at Hiccup with a shocked expression. Raising her hand, she pointed to the east side of the arena.
Hiccup followed where she was pointing. Seeing what Astrid was staring, he let out a small gasp of horror. It was a person sitting against the stone wall. It was Ukiah.
"I'm glad that you were able to join me, Stoick" Strogg said with a smile. Both he and Stoick were walking up a separate path to the arena that was designated only for the chief or special guests. "I hope that Astrid and your son, Hiccup, can join us soon."
"They made no promises, they said they were going to the market one more time to get a sword, then they were going to practice with them. They said it was different looking from our longswords; they said these were curved instead of straight." Stoick lied, looking at Strogg with a forced smile.
"Ah! I know what you're talking about, I have one myself. I don't really like it personally, but I can say I have one." Strogg replied "But it's good that your young ones realize the importance of having a knowledge of a blade or axe. The youth here are lazy; only wanting to run their parent's stalls, not increase their skills as a Viking." Strogg added with disappointment in his voice. "I still hope they come. I know if they stayed here, they'd be quite the example to the young ones throughout the village."
"Aye, they would be. And I also hope they come, but they are old enough to make their own choices; so I let them be." Stoick threw in.
"Of course! That is good that even so young, they can make decisions themselves." Strogg reaffirmed.
As they entered in through the archway, three men with decorated shields and war axes at the belt, stood there waiting for the two. "Stoick, I'd like you to meet my elite dragon champions!" Strogg boomed with pride. "Ugo, Harze, and Malke. All of them have defeated at least one of all the known dragons, from the Night Fury. And I guess the Red Death, which your son defeated."
Stoick made greetings with each one, acknowledging their accomplishments. They in turn gave respect to the chief of another island.
"They'll be joining us in our section." Strogg explained, resuming the walk through the hallway "I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all, I'm the guest here." Stoick answered, keeping up his fake smile.
Stopping at a door, Strogg asked the captain of the arena if everything was ready.
"Why are we stopping?" Stoick asked, confused that they didn't just walk on through.
"I'm waiting for the guards to announce that I am here. The fight officially starts when I sit in my chair." Strogg replied "Rules that I set when we built this to begin with."
"Ahh, I see…" Stoick acknowledged "You've really changed Thariin from when I last left it."
"I did. Took years to get to the top, but it is an accomplishment that I make sure everyone knows about." Strogg laughed, relishing in how he came to power. Turning to the lone captain, he asked "Captain, shall we begin?"
"Yes my chief!" the captain responded sharply.
"Vikings of Thariin! Please direct your attention to the north end of the arena! Strogg the Stone, the Chief of Thariin enters!" a voice boomed aloud.
Ukiah, up until this point, was calm and ready for whatever came. He had come up with a plan to be as defiant as possible to Strogg. Even if he died, he swore that he wouldn't give any type of satisfaction to the madman during his fight. Now with everyone staring at him and the event about to begin, he couldn't help but feel anxiety about the near future. Closing his eyes, he wished he was back at his cave. His home, with his only friend Arrow.
The crowd cheered as a giant of a Viking and four others walked in the arena above the north end of the ring. Ukiah stared at the four Vikings that took seats around Strogg, wondering who they were.
"Accompanied by the three Champions of Thariin: Ugo, Harze, and Malke." The announcer followed up with.
The crowd roared with approval, making Ukiah flash with anger, realizing they were probably all killers like Strogg.
"Also introducing, Stoick the Vast! Chief of Berk!" the voice boomed again.
Another cheer rang out among the crowd. "Great, I get a special guest to watch me die." Ukiah huffed angrily "Maybe I'll be remembered by him. Fat chance, he's probably like Strogg. If they're friends."
The announcer went off a bit on how great Thariin was and such. As he did, Ukiah began to prepare himself. Running through a checklist in his mind, he ignored the small headache that was lingering on, but the rest of his body was ready to go; plus the nasty taste of the food had disappeared, but that was probably due to the two buckets of water he drank. Overall, Ukiah was feeling pretty good considering what happened. He glanced over at the table with his weapons on it; one of the instructions for the contender was that he selected his weapons right before the fight started.
Then the announcer began to talk about Ukiah, bringing him out of his mental checklist. "Ukiah of Fallis Woods; has been charged with 3 years of poaching on the chiefs land, fleeing from guards, destruction of both public and private property, also with…." The announcer continued to drone on.
"Great, tell all the lies to everyone here. Perfect." Ukiah muttered. Truth was though, they weren't all lies. He did destroy a few stalls and such, but it was the picture they were painting of him that he hated.
"And now, the dragon! Located in the center cage!" The announcer shouted, bringing up a cheer from the crowd.
"Center cage huh?" Ukiah thought, focusing in on the massive wood and metal gate. "Definitely a Nightmare." He confirmed, judging the size of the doors.
"It is the dragon that attacked Thariin Village last night. Destroying multiple buildings in the village, responsible for the destruction of this very arena! It is the Night Fury!" The announcer yelled in his best tone to make everyone feel the excitement.
"What?!" Ukiah screamed in his head. "It can't be…No, it couldn't be; How?! It can't be Arrow!" Ukiah wanted to stab everyone that he saw cheering. They were pitting him against his only friend! "No! I won't do it!" He screamed in his head "I won't kill Arrow! I'll kill myself before I even aim my crossbow at him!"
"Chief Strogg the Stone, shall we commence with the fight?" The announcer asked.
With a wave of his hand, Strogg was about to allow the fight to proceed, but was interrupted by a single voice: "Wait!" The voice shouted from the south end of the arena.
All heads, including Ukiah's, turned to look. Ukiah couldn't believe it! It was the boy who he had sold the headband to! And the girl was standing next to him! "Don't stick up for me…it's not worth it…" Ukiah grimly whispered to himself.
"I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III. I have a request to make to you, Chief Strogg the Stone." Hiccup yelled loudly.
Ukiah almost fell down! "This is Hiccup?! The dragon killer?" He puzzled over "He almost killed himself tripping over one of my pelts!"
"What is the meaning of this?" Thundered Strogg, who was standing up from his chair at this point.
Hiccup, doing his best to maintain his composure, continued to yell "I want to discuss the life of the Night Fury. I'm asking you to release it to me."
"You're in no place to make requests here!" Strogg roared back. Turning to Stoick, he asked "Are you allowing you son to do this?"
"He's making his own choice; it has nothing to do with me." Stoick calmly replied, acting confused at the interruption.
"Strogg the Stone, I do have a place to make this specific request! More than anyone else actually!" Hiccup stated "You see, it wasn't just me who destroyed the Red Death; I had a friend with me the entire time. And that friend's name is Toothless, also being a Night Fury! I trained him, and rode him when we defeated the Red Death!"
Taken back by the truth, Strogg quickly recovered and roared "And that gives you the right to own all the Night Furies in the world?"
"No! I'm simply asking you as a favor to release the Night Fury to me, a dragon trainer." Hiccup stated "Night Fury's are special to me, and I'd be very disappointed should you execute one when I know I can do much more with it." Taking a step forward, mainly due to Astrid pushing him a little, he added "That's how I plan to be an ally to you and the people of Thariin! I can ride a dragon and help defend your land when needed!"
By this time the crowd was starting to shout different kinds of things. It was obvious that Hiccup had a few supporters. The idea of having a dragon rider fighting for them appealed to almost everyone.
"I have one problem with your request Hiccup." Strogg growled menacingly, knowing that the crowd was starting to favor Hiccup, and would turn sour if he outright ignored the request. "You see, I still have a criminal that needs to be punished. So, I'll agree to give you the Night Fury, after he kills the criminal! That is the only thing that I will agree to, as giving you the Night Fury would also save that poacher's life! Take it or leave it!"
Hiccup's heart sank as he looked down at Ukiah. He was going to try to get Ukiah as well, saying that he would take the criminal off of his hands in payment. But Strogg gave him an ultimatum, and he was going to have to take it. Then an idea came to his mind. One that didn't necessarily solve the problem, but at least made him feel a little better. "I'll take the survivor." Hiccup answered loudly "If the dragon wins, I'll take it. If the criminal wins, I get him as collateral."
"Deal!" Strogg roared quickly, ending any future chances of debate. Then looking down on Ukiah, he growled "Get your gear boy, I want you to kill this dragon."