Did Anybody See That? Chapter 8
"It's still chasing us!" Astrid cried. "Remember how you said you were going to bring me safely home?"
"The night isn't over," he answered as he guided Toothless in a zigzag evasive course. "Do you know any tricks from dragon training that might be useful here?"
She tried to focus her mind on something other than the monstrous dragon that was trying to overtake them and swallow them alive. "Make noise to throw it off? No good – we don't have any shields to bang on. Shot limit? No good; we don't know –" Toothless suddenly swerved to the left, just in time to dodge a roaring pillar of flame that would have consumed them like flies. "Okay, shot limit minus one, but we still don't know the number. Blind spot? Every dragon has one; if we can find it, we can hide in it."
Hiccup turned Toothless around and they swooped up toward that impossibly huge head. As they circled it quickly, two lumps on either side of that head flicked open, revealing more eyes that stared at them hatefully. Hiccup stared back. Astrid felt him go tense.
"That does it!" he exclaimed forcefully. "I have had it with dragons and their eyes, destroying my life! This one has way too many eyes to start with. He's going down!"
"I really don't want to get in the middle of this grudge match," Astrid begged. "Before he goes down, can you put me down?"
"If I can do it without getting eaten, you've got a deal." he nodded. "Toothless, let's show him some speed!" They banked to the right and shot away from the enormous creature. The big dragon was fast but not maneuverable; it took a few seconds to change its course, and that gave Hiccup the time he needed.
They dove for the mountainside and swept around a small ridge, which blocked the monster's view of them for a few seconds. Toothless descended and slowed down, and Astrid leaped off him. She hit the ground running, flailing awkwardly but somehow staying on her feet. The black dragon and his rider turned away, leaving her a spectator to the distant battle that followed. She realized that she wasn't a neutral observer; if Hiccup lost his fight, that would leave her stranded on this island full of dragons. Even Outcast Island sounded good compared to that. "Go!" she cried; it was an encouragement, a command, and a prayer all in one word.
He tried to lead the giant into narrow crevices where it might get stuck. It simply flexed its shoulders and shattered the rocks, sending great boulders flying like drops of water when a dog shakes itself dry. Then he led it up into the overcast, which was lightening with the approaching dawn. What happened up there, she couldn't tell. All she saw was occasional flashes of light, accompanied by ear-splitting bellows.
Then they plunged out of the clouds, coming straight down. The huge dragon's wings were peppered with glowing holes, evidently Toothless' handiwork. She saw a quick flash of blue light, and flames began streaming out of the monster's mouth. Toothless braked and swerved aside as the giant flew headfirst into the ground. Its existence was blotted out by an even bigger fireball; the shock wave almost knocked her off her feet.
Perhaps it was just as well that she didn't see what happened on the far side of that fireball. When the shock wave caught up with Toothless, it whisked Hiccup off his back like a feather. The dragon's eye patch flipped up, leaving him unable to stop his human friend's plunge into the frigid Arctic Ocean. Nor could he rescue him for several minutes; his double vision kept playing him false. By the time he finally figured out which image was the real Hiccup and pulled him from the water, the boy was unconscious from the cold.
The first thing Astrid saw was the dragon making an awkward landing on its back legs; he was clutching Hiccup in his front legs. He lowered the boy to the ground as she ran over to them, and pushed him with his nose, crooning urgently. She quickly felt his cheek and forehead, but the hard shivering and the unhealthy white skin color told her all she needed to know.
"We've got to get him warm!" she said. Did the dragon understand her? Would he even listen to her? "He's cold! We've got to warm him up! Can you do that?" The dragon stared at her for a few seconds. Then he gathered Hiccup in his forelegs, rolled over on his side, and wrapped both his wings around him. He glanced at her, as though looking for approval.
"Yes, that's good," she nodded. "Keep him warm."
The dragon let out a nervous moan and lowered his head to the ground. She sat down beside him, laid one hand on the scaly head, closed her eyes, and prayed to whichever gods might be listening, that they would spare this traitor, this criminal, this boy who supposedly stood opposed to all the things she believed in. She was beginning to question a lot of those things, especially the parts about how dragons are nothing but evil.
A few hours later, Hiccup began to stir. Toothless opened a gap in his wings so they could see his face, which was still far too white. "Cold," was all he could say through his chattering teeth. Astrid realized he would probably die if they stayed here; they had to get him to a healer. But if they took him home, they'd send him to join the Outcasts, punish her for helping him, and probably kill the dragon. She did her best to explain this to Toothless.
The dragon's answer was to lay Hiccup at her feet, stand, and make a head gesture that could only mean "Let's go." She laboriously pushed his limp body onto the dragon's back and climbed up behind him. She held Hiccup close to her with one arm, and worked Toothless' eye-flap handle with the other. That left her no hands to hang on with. "Let's do this," she sighed, and said goodbye to her future and her freedom. If Toothless was willing to give his life for Hiccup, she could do no less.
They flew swiftly but smoothly; Toothless seemed to understand that his riders weren't hanging onto him. As they approached Berk, they saw people pointing at them. An armed crowd quickly gathered. "That's the traitor!" someone shouted. "And the other one!" someone else yelled. The moment they landed, nets were thrown; rough hands grabbed her and dragged her away. "Please, you've got to help him!" she cried before she lost sight of the boy and the dragon.
o
Hiccup awoke in a completely dark room. He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious, but his growling stomach told him it had been a few days at the very least. He was lying on some furs, but those furs were spread on a rough stone floor, not a bed. He heard and felt his dragon's breathing nearby.
"Hey, Toothless. You okay?" he asked. The dragon joyously butted him with his nose, crooning with delight. "Hey, hey, easy, bud! I'm glad to see you too, even though I can't see you." He rolled and tried to stand –
There was something wrong with his left leg. He reached down, and felt wood and metal.
The dragon seemed to sense his shock and terror. He let out a sad moan and nudged him. Hiccup's eyes were adjusting to the darkness, and he could just make out Toothless' eyes, large and concerned, focused completely on him. Dragon's eyes again, he thought. Maybe they're good sometimes. He rubbed the big head affectionately; it distracted him for a moment.
"Where am I?" he asked out loud.
"In a dragon training cell," came a voice from a distance. It could only be Gobber. "Ye're not makin' a jailbreak this time. Ye can take your punishment like a man, or take it like a coward, but ye're going to take it."
Hiccup took a deep breath. "What happened to my leg?"
"Frostbite," Gobber answered. "Too much time in a boot filled with icy water. The healer said ye'd have lost both legs, but one o' your boots had a leak an' the water ran out. I gave ye a new leg, an' it's a bit fancier than ye deserve, but I feel like I owe my ex-apprentice somethin'."
"Where's Astrid?"
"She's under house arrest. Don't worry, she'll get a hearing, just like ye did."
"I hope not." Hiccup felt his leg again, trying to come to terms with it. "When the guards relieve you, please tell Spitelout I want to talk to him."
"Spitelout has nothin' to say to you."
"Maybe not," Hiccup countered, "but he needs to hear what I have to say to him. Unless he'd rather go to Outcast Island with me."
"Go with ye? What are ye talkin' about? Our town's second-in-command is no outcast!"
"I don't want to talk to Spitelout, the second-in-command. I want to talk to Spitelout, the criminal who took my legal rights away. And I want to talk to him before anyone does anything to me or Astrid. Otherwise, that ship that's bound for Outcast Island is going to have more than one unwilling passenger."
After a long pause, Gobber answered, "I'll tell 'im, lad. But I'll warn ye, he's not in a good mood towards ye."
What a coincidence. I'm not in the greatest mood toward him, either, Hiccup thought.