41 A Day At The Races - Epilogue

Late October on Berk can be a very cold once the sun sets, but there were still many places to keep warm; one of Valkyrie's favourite spots was in a high corner at the rear of the Great Hall. The warmth from the fire felt so good on her tired old body, and she was pleased she could spend her last days in such comfort. It was uncommon for a spider like her to come anywhere near to her first birthday, and she had celebrated hers over a month ago. Her life on Berk had been one filled with more joy than any spider had ever known before. Dylan had been true to his word and been a wonderful husband, father and good provider from the day they first arrived on Berk; they had spent several happy months together before his passing and she still missed him terribly.

Something that still brought joy to her on a daily basis, was when one or more of her children would visit. 73 and 237 lived on a cross beam not far from her, but there were another twelve still living and hunting in the Great Hall while the rest were spread out all over the village and in the forests of Berk.

"Hi Mom; how you felling tonight?" 508 asked as he wandered across her web.

She knew it was wrong to have favourites amongst her children, but 508 was a special case. He lived in the dragon stables and would often bring her news of what had been going on in the village, as well as the latest results from the Dragon Races. How he found the time to come and see her almost every day was a mystery and, just like his father before him, he always brought her a little something.

"Tired, but well" she answered his question "What's that you're carrying?"

"This? Oh... it's nothing; just a couple of spare flies I caught near the Gronckle pens. There are so many in there, I thought I'd bring some over; here you go Mom... chow down."

There was another reason she enjoyed 508's company so much; even the words he used reminded her of Dylan. She gratefully accepted his gift and took them to the centre of her web as 508 started doing some minor repairs on the lower left side.

"Now you stop that" Valkyrie scolded him "you always spend most of your time here fixing my web; you must think I'm old."

"You are old Mom" 508 grinned "but I still love you. You know what I'm like; I get fidgety if I sit still for more than a minute."

"You're a good boy" she smiled proudly "So... did anything interesting happen today?"

"I'll say; it was the final of the summer racing season. Ruff and Tuff took out the first leg, but Astrid blitzed the twilight race."

"So who was on top of the season leader board?" she asked.

"Who do you think?" 508 raised his eyebrows (he really did take after his father).

"Hiccup" they both declared simultaneously.

"Snotlout is demanding they introduce a handicap system next year; he says Toothless needs to carry a bag of rocks in his saddle, just to even things up a bit."

"Well I suppose that's fair; Snotlout has a whole head full of rocks weighing him down" Valkyrie smirked.

"Oh Mom" 508 laughed "you got me again."

"So that's all the big news for today?"

"Yup... apart from the feast that will be going on here tonight."

"What's the occasion this time?" Valkyrie asked "Or are they just celebrating Tuesday again?"

"It's a farewell dinner for Dianta; she's heading back to Elydonia tomorrow."

"Ah... so her training is finished at last; she was only supposed to stay for a few months."

"I'm not sure if it was the training that took so long, or just the fact that she liked it here so much" 508 noted.

"Which dragon is she taking back with her?"

"Dragons Mom; she taking Adelinde for herself and a Hobblegrunt named Thorntail for her brother."

"I thought Adelinde was Kara's Nadder" Valkyrie wondered.

"No... Kara just rode her on the last trip to Elydonia."

"I assume Hiccup and Astrid taking Dianta back home?"

"No again; Kara's taking her because she wants to winter with Sigrid."

"Kara's going because she wants to see Boron again" Valkyrie smirked.

"Many of the other Berkian women are planning to head down to Elydonia when Sigrids baby is due. I wouldn't be surprised if Hiccup tags along then too" 508 noted "I can't see him wanting to let Astrid go on another long journey without him again so soon."

"Ah... young love."

"I miss him too" 508 noticed the longing look on his mothers face.

"What was that?"

"You were thinking about Dad again weren't you?"

"Guilty as charged. Well... I guess I won't get much sleep tonight" Valkyrie declared as the Vikings down below began roasting an entire yak as well as two sheep.

"Do you want me to sit up with you?"

"No thank you dear" she smiled "You go home and see if you've got any more of those fat, tasty flies in your web; I bet you really brought me the last two you had."

"Don't worry about me Mom; there are always lots more in the Gronckle pen."

Valkyrie watched 508 walk across the beam on his way back to the stables and she saw him wave to73 as he passed by. When he was out of sight, she took one of the flies he had brought her and climbed to the highest part of the web near the corner of the ceiling. There was a little hole in the wood nearby and sitting in that hole, was a helmet made from the skull of a dragonfly.

"You raised him well... Thank you" she said... and blew it a kiss.

And so another story comes to a close. Feels satisfying but it always makes me feel a little sad too. Other tales are in the works (including a colaboration with Stripesides) and don't forget to look for my original story on FictionPress. Its about Mars (how appropriate hmm?).

Bye bye for now and God bless, Marty :-D