13 Something Borrowed, Something Red

Although Hiccup and Astrid wanted to hear the important news that Fotherington and Victor had brought them, the Dragon Riders did have other priorities.

"Unless we're about to be attacked" Hiccup declared "your news can wait for a minute or two; did you get the milk?"

"What? Oh… yes Victor has it" Fotherington informed them as Astrid moved to retrieve it from the boy "got some fresh dried beef too; that should help."

Stirring Sigrid from her patchy slumber was not difficult, and soon Astrid had her friend drinking from the small bladder of a kind usually used for water or wine.

"This will help you get some of your strength back… eventually" Astrid smiled.

"Hmm, it's good" Sigrid declared as she finished off the fresh cow juice "but I think I'd better rest a bit longer."

"I agree" Hiccup agreed "I also think we should postpone the wedding."

"MY WEDDING!" Sigrid jumped up and then fell down again as her legs turned half liquid.

"Whoa there" Astrid did her best to catch the dizzy warrior and set her down softly "you have a big mouth, Hiccup."

"Whoops, sorry. So what's the big news Fothers?"

"I don't care if you do have a dragon; if you keep calling me Fothers, one of these days…" he shook his fist in Hiccup's face causing Toothless to growl menacingly "OH SHUT UP YOU BIG FAT SALAMANDER."

"I'm sorry... Fotherington" Hiccup chuckled at the surprised look on Toothless' face "so what news do you have for us?"

"That's better" Fotherington huffed "All morning, on our way to and from the farm where we got the stuff, and when we were scouting around, men on horseback have been coming and going from Baldcrest Hill. They've set up a camp at the bottom and it looks like there are men at the top, as well as search parties going off in all directions. They are sticking to the roads for now, but I think it's only a matter of time before they start looking in the forests and searching all the farms."

"And when they do…" Hiccup realised.

"Exactly, we'll all be found and captured."

"General Karoc is in command as well" Victor added.

"Time to go then" Astrid stood "can you guys give me a hand with this armour plated jellyfish?"

She was still very weak but Sigrid did manage to get up into her saddle with only slight help, although she did it rather slowly. She claimed that she would be fine riding Skywolf now that she was sitting down but Astrid and Hiccup both insisted that she be tied down with four ropes running from her belt to the hooks of her saddle so if she should faint again, she would not fall off; Victor even bound her feet to the stirrups.

"You look... how can I say it?" Astrid giggled.

"Don't" Sigrid replied as she slowly rocked back and forth "Just get me back to Bolthorn."

Astrid sighed as Hiccup slapped his forehead with his palm. All that effort to direct all attention away from Elydonia was just ruined.

"I suppose I'll have to kill you all now" Hiccup joked to Fotherington.

"Well do what you must..." Darius started.

"I'm just kidding" Hiccup protested.

"...but I know that you are not Elydonian even though you have been... shall we say... hiding the truth from us."

"It sounds so much better than lying" Hiccup agreed.

"So what exactly do you know?" Astrid asked.

"That doesn't matter now, just get on your dragons and go... and try to trust me... just a little bit."

"Sorry Darius but you must realise that the only reason that I'm going along with this, is that I'm running low on choices... and time, so please... I beg you; don't let the Emperor know that we're going north. For what it's worth, I can honestly say that we will be taking our dragons' home after the wedding so you've got nothing to fear about an attack from Elydonia."

"You may not trust me" Darius declared "but I trust you so please... go."

"Astrid, you get going with Sigrid" Hiccup ordered "Toothless and I will try and find Ghost, and then stir up General Karoc a bit so he won't come looking around here and find the boys."

"Thank you" Darius smiled.

"Mind if we swap tasks Babe?" Astrid enquired "I think Ghost will more be likely to listen to me."

After Sigrid's injury and the whole tower cage fiasco with Astrid and Victor, Hiccup really wanted his friends away and safe but he could not help but agree with her.

"Okay, but no unnecessary risks... in fact no necessary ones either."

"I love you too" Astrid grinned as she climbed into her saddle "give me a few minutes before you take off."

Hiccup went to check on Sigrid as Stormfly vanished into the forest and Skywolf turned his mighty head around to some checking of his own. He sniffed at the dozing woman tied down on his back as Hiccup inspected taught bandage around Sigrids forearm; it looked okay and so Hiccup turned his attention to the concerned dragon.

"She'll be better in a few days Skywolf; just fly steady and we'll all get back safe and sound."

The dragon purred but Hiccup could tell that Skywolf was just as worried as he was considering how pale Sigrid appeared.

"I hope you won't take this the wrong way" Hiccup smiled as he shook hands with the three generations of spies "but I hope I never see any of you again."

"Well that wasn't very nice" Victor commented soon after when Toothless and Skywolf had disappeared into the clouds.

"Oh don't be too hard on him Victor" Fotherington chuckled "he's a young man with a lot on his mind."

"And imagine how disappointed he will be when his wish fails to come true" Darius agreed.

"So you think he will see us again sir?" Victor asked.

"He will if I have any say in it."

"Just one question Milord" Fotherington asked "is you name really..."

"Darius Gershwin? Yes it is M'boy; surprised?"

"Well... yes, just a tad."

"How much is a tad?" Victor enquired.

"A touch more than a smidgin" Fotherington replied.

It was not very often that Astrid was able to experience so closely, Stormfly's uncanny ability to move her massive bulk along the ground with barely any audible sound because the young lady was usually trying her level best to escape the dragon during one of their games. She would never admit to anyone that they were games; instead Astrid would insist that they were important training sessions and it was not her fault if everyone else in Berk treated them as competitions to be wagered on.

Of course there was nothing to be seen in the forest, because the Changewing always hunted fully camouflaged so Astrid sat high in her saddle with her eyes firmly shut and just listened. There was not even any need for her to direct Stormfly, for as soon as she heard anything moving in the distance, the dragon would already be turning towards the sound and advancing; and so it was that after ten minutes of searching, the stealthy pair located the Changewing feasting on a wild boar. Ghost looked up in surprise and growled. He was not used to having others sneak up on him unnoticed especially since he was the one who could camouflage himself into near invisibility.

"Hey there Ghost" Astrid dropped down from her saddle and gave Stormfly the sign to sit "we're heading off now; do you want to join us?"

Astrid looked up at the Changewing as he devoured the last of his meal; he pondered the girl standing nearby and tried to clarify the mixed feelings swimming around inside his head. Unknown to both girl and dragon, a small spider was also in their midst and he was having much more influence over the situation that either of them would have liked. Dylan looked quite a sight with his mosquito wing shoulder armour and his eyelash sword. He now saw himself as a spider no longer, but as the mightiest eight legged Viking warrior who had ever lived (and indeed he was... for the most obvious reason).

The Changewing stared at Astrid for a moment while trying to understand what was going on. The girl's voice was sweet and calm just as it had been on the tower roof where he had first encountered her, but the feeling, the vibe, the message that he was receiving from her direction was one of heroism, valour and duty. 'Come with me noble beast and we shall seek action and adventure as we explore the world together' was the gist of the message and although it did confuse the poor dragon, he was not about to be left behind wondering about opportunities missed.

The cool wind in her face was doing wonders for Sigrid. She was still feeling dizzy and the buffeting air inside the clouds made her feel a little nauseous, but her skin was tingling and it was nice to have any kind of feeling back again.

"How are you doing over there?" Hiccup called out.

Sigrid was not able to answer directly, but she did give Hiccup a big smile. She tried to wave as well but her limp arm got caught in the wind and just blew back over her head. Hiccup was glad that they insisted on tying her down as she half flopped over in the saddle.

"She looks so drunk" he mumbled to himself.

If Hiccup was aware of what she was doing, then Astrid knew that he'd be angry but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him... or her. Ghost of course, was completely invisible high over Baldcrest Hill, but Stormfly had to hover carefully near the edge of a cloud while Astrid considered what she should do. She had a pretty good idea as to how Hiccup would go about this task; he would circle around out of arrow range and have Toothless roar loudly a few times to get the attention of General Karoc and his soldiers both on top of the hill, and in the camp below. He would then slowly alter his flight to the southwest until he was sure that they were moving in the direction that he wanted them to go, and then he and Toothless would zoom off to the horizon before turning north. It was a good plan, but it would not achieve what Astrid really wanted.

"I glad Hiccup didn't work out the real reason why I wanted to do this" she patted Stormfly's flank "but I don't know how I'm gonna get it done without a good distraction."

Little did Astrid know, but her desire for a distraction was immediately picked up, understood and transmitted from the spider in her headband to the invisible dragon flying nearby. Although the message was changed a little in translation, it did have the right effect as Ghost dove down towards the top of Baldcrest Hill setting a few trees ablaze as he levelled off.

'Go my noble steed' the strange voice echoed inside his head 'and drive away these intruders; send them fleeing in fear.'

The fear was instantaneous, but the fleeing took a minute or so. The soldiers searching the top of the hill were stunned by the loud roar and sudden eruption of fire and the fact that they could not see where it was all coming from truly terrified them. A few of them shot off an arrow or two in the general direction of all the action but Ghost could plainly see that they were not aiming anywhere near him.

"Oh this is just brilliant" Astrid grinned as she watched the confusion happening below her.

As the men became more confused, they began to run off down the hill on all sides giving Astrid her chance.

"Come on Stormfly" she set the dragon on a course straight down into the trees that surrounded the top of the hill. The two of them were only on the ground for less than thirty seconds before they shot up into the sky once more.

"Good work Ghost; you're amazing" she called out as the Changewing took up a position to her left "Right then; time to draw them away from Darius and the boys."

Astrid leant down forward in her saddle so she would not be seen by the General and his men before she and Stormfly dove down again, but this time towards the camp at the bottom of the hill. This action was a bit more drastic than Hiccup would have done but Astrid's heart was still racing after her dash to the top of the hill and besides, why should Ghost have all the fun?

The two dragons roared as they flew through the military camp only a few feet over the tops of the tents and the wash from their wings even tore a few from the ground and sent them tumbling. Before anyone had time to react, the dragons were again climbing and were soon twice as high as the hilltop. At last Astrid began the task of misdirecting, and began to move to the southwest; she could not help but laugh at the sight of confusion and panic as soldiers ran around below while trying to make some sense about what was going on. After another several minutes of circling, Astrid was sure that all eyes were well and truly on the dragons and so she turned them towards the sun and flew slowly away, satisfied in the knowledge that Darius, Fotherington and Victor would also be safely away by now.

"Come on then" she smiled at the dragons as they crossed the coast "let's get going to Bolthorn Castle."

Not many chapters to go and I am starting to get nervous about the impending eye ops. I also have this year's Tax Return in front of me and every time I have to deal with the Tax Department (or Internal Revenue as it's called in the U.S.) I get worried that I'm about to get arrested for fraud even though I do declare all income (they just have this reputation for being mean and bureaucratic). With so many things around to make me anxious, I just wish that Moon would stop staring at me like that.