Explosion after explosion rattled the hut in which Ember took cover. She had no idea what to do without a weapon, and the creature lingering outside grew closer as the moments passed. Pieces of wall and roof lay scattered as the explosions continued.
("I have to get Marble to a safe place, but with that THING outside I can't do anything without being seen.") Looking over at the obviously frightened and defensive Night Fury, sadness and fear crept through her mid and consumed her for a brief moment. "No…I have to protect him. I have to make sure he gets better. (After all. It is all my fault he's here.)"Looking out the mall opening of the door, Ember noticed a shop. It was a weapons shop, and where there were weapons there were usually bows and arrows. This sight sparked a glimmer of hope.
He had lost her bag in the storm, and with it her bow and arrows. This was her only means of ever defending herself. If she could just get to the Black-smiths shop, the game could begin. But how was she to make the distance?
Looking further around the door, she could see the creature that now shot streams of fire and venom into the village.
It was longer than twenty war boats, with a head as massive as a carriage, as well as being as black and merciless as the sea it had crawled from. It was indeed the spawn of darkness and the sea, making it a creature of death's design. A snake of massive proportions. The sea serpent.
Looking upon it in slight awe, Ember studied it as it stopped spewing fire. Other than being massive and completely terrifying, something was off about it. It hadn't destroyed much after all the blasting, and only a few homes were on fire. She knew all too well what had thrown off its aim.
The serpent was half blind on its left side, casing the fire balls to be (thankfully) thrown off course. It was unclear if it would continue to miss its target as it slinked forth from the sea to claim its victim.
There was an overturned cart a few feet from the door, and seeing the serpent become distracted by a few lingering sheep near the supply barn, she quickly jumped through the open space and behind the cart. It was heavy, and I took every ounce of strength she could muster up to move the large wooden cart even half way to the shop. By the time she had gotten half way, the serpent had caught on.
"Whoa!" Ember moved just in time for the cart to be smashed to pieces by the serpents tail. Running for cover, she ducked into the shop followed by the beast's monstrous snout. Her breathing was hard and fast as fear attempted to shake her core. Looking around she could only see shapes of things through the darkness.
The beast had blocked the light from the door with its massive head, making everything in the room dark. Thinking quickly for ways to move the massive creature, she was struck with an idea. The silhouette of a harpoon caught her attention.
Taking the weapon in her good hand, Ember ran forward and jabbed it into the beast's blind eye.
Instantly, the serpent recoiled with a shriek. It then fell on its side wriggling in pain, and swiping at the harpoon with its tail.
Finding the room much brighter, Ember searched frantically for the weapon she needed only to stop short. There was something else outside now, and knowing what it was made her heart sink. "Marble…" Racing to the door, she found the white Night Fury just outside of the hut, stumbling and hissing in a state of fearful rage and delirium. "Marble! Get back inside!" Looking over she could see the serpent regaining control after knocking the harpoon from its place. She turned to make one lst quick search, and then she found it.
The arrows and bow were sitting under a pile of tools almost hidden. Reaching down and grabbing a hold, Ember pulled the bow and arrows out from under the pile. She could now hear the two outside hissing and growling at one another, preparing to fight.
"No!" Running back and out the door, Ember reached them just as the serpent was ready to strike. "Stay away from my dragon beast!" Pulling an arrow out of the holder Ember positioned it with her bad hand. Her wrist hurt more than it had before, but she wasn't going to let it stop her.
Pulling back on the string with her injured hand, She released an arrow and hit the beast's nose as it craned its body to strike. "Marble get back!" Turning to push him back inside she found his claws buried in her side. "Ga-!" Her mouth clamped shut keeping the scream in.
In his delirious state, Marble had taken one last swipe at the serpent in defense. He couldn't exactly tell what he had hit through his blured vision, but it didn't feel as a big as his target, and it didn't move as his target would move. He was silent, trying to focus on what his claws had hit.
"Hey, we're even now ok?"
The words hit him as a surprise, and the voice sounded all too familiar. The girl that had been taking care of him, and the one person he had come to hate for what she had done to him, now stood with her arms wrapped around his snout. Vision clearing her could now see what was going on. The girl stood with a smile on her face, looking at him with both arms around his snout. It was odd to him. Why did she appear to be so happy with him? Any other creature would have struck him back in anger. Why not her?
"Hey, We're even now ok?" Releasing his snout and pushing him back into the hut Ember wined as his claws left her side. Looking up, she caught the look of deep thought on his face, but couldn't stay to find out what the problem was.
In moments the serpent was raging mad. ("I have to lead it away from here…") Closing the door to the hut behind her, Ember held in another cream as she fired an arrow in the air. "Hey! You want someone to fight? I'll take you're other eye beast!" Taking the remainder of the arrows and the bow in her hands, she ran down the lanes and roads of the village until she and the Serpent were clear.
She would have to run along the cliffs and water. It was only a matter of time until the serpent grew tired of slinking sluggishly on land, and returned to the sea. It wouldn't be much trouble to outrun the serpent on land, seeing as its home was the sea. But she couldn't stop leading it away until it was all the way across the island…and away from the village.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Upon their return, Astrid along with the other Vikings and their dragons, were relieved to find Berk still standing. Only a few more houses had been destroyed, and the fires had already burned themselves out. Everything was quiet before the Vikings began to cheer.
It wasn't by choice that they left the village. After all, most Vikings had natural born fighting spirit. They had all left on account of their dragons, and the choice made by the temporary acting Chief, for the temporary acting Chief, for the temporary acting Chief.
"Where's that chick that Hiccup put in charge?" Ruffnut looked over to Tuffnut and the others who all shrugged.
"She's probably back in the hut with Marble." Astrid led the rest of the villagers back into Berk before walking up to the hut. Entering she found Marble laying in the smoldering embers of the once bright fire, attempting to get warm again. She could see that the fire had been out for a while, and that bothered her. "Where is she?"
"Maybe she was eaten by whatever attacked." Snotlout and the others made their way into the room slowly. I mean she was the only one here.
"No, I believe Ember knew what she was doing. She's gone, and whatever it was in gone." Looking outside the open door, she could see a couple of arrows scattered across the ground. "These arrows belong Gobber. If she knows how to work a bow and arrow, I'd wager she's hunting down whatever it was that attacked."
"Wouldn't it be hunting her?" Fishlegs chimed in with a puzzled look on his face. "Judging by the way she's been taking care of her dragon over the last few days, she wouldn't leave him to hunt something down. If anything, whatever attacked probably chased her out of town and followed her."
"You're smart Fishlegs." Everyone turned to see Ember standing in the door way. She was breathing hard as if she had been running for a while. "But no. I led it out of town to protect Marble and the village. It shouldn't come back for a couple of days. It probably still thinks its chasing me around the island. Stupid snake."
"Snake?" Astrid looked confused. "What exactly happened here yesterday?"
Opening her mouth, Ember was about to speak when cheers could be heard coming from outside. "Huh?" Turning around, she smiled. "You guys get to the docks, I have to get Marble fire going again."
Hiccup was back…with a few friends.