3 Battle in the Clouds

The wings of the pursuing dragon appeared to slow but with each beat, the wind that those mighty wings created churned the sea into clusters of small whirlpools and several Vikings were even blown over backward. Toothless flew fast and high into the thick dark grey clouds followed closely behind by the monster, until both dragons were completely out of sight to the Vikings left down below on the rocky beach. Stoick just stood there with his people staring at the empty sky with only the slow rhythmic whoosh of giant wings emitting from the clouds to give them all any clue as to where the beast was. At the Chiefs side, Astrid began to fret; while she could still see Hiccup, victory seemed within reach but now, even though she was surrounded by people, Astrid felt completely alone. She wished she possessed the courage to take her Chiefs hand as a comfort to them both, but she could not bring herself to show any sign of fear or weakness to those around her; so is the fate of the warrior, even if she is just fourteen years old and very, very scared.

It felt to all as if an eternity was passing by as the Vikings continued to stare upward, unable to see but hypnotised by the sound of the giant wings emitting from the clouds. Astrid was totally unaware of the fact that she had completely stopped breathing some time ago, when at last came the sound of hope that she had been desperate to hear. From deep within the clouds, the screaming whine of the Night Fury attack filled the air and soon after, the blue light of its plasma flame flashed from left to right and exploded into a massive yellow fire ball on the side of the enemy dragon. A second explosion followed soon after, then a third. Each attack lit up the clouds so brightly, that the monsters shadowy silhouette was imprinted on the sky for all to see. Astrid soon lost count of the Night Furies repeated attacks, when the events changed so suddenly, that all who witnessed it found it difficult to accurately follow the chain of events as they unfolded.

The giant dragon found itself in the same position as the Vikings on the ground; it could not follow the speed of the attacks it was enduring. Unwilling to restrain itself any longer, the beast inhaled until its lungs were ready to burst and it began to throw out one long, massive flame; the beast twisted and turned in the air in a desperate attempt to fill the cloud with so much fire, that even the fastest dragon could not escape its wrath.

A collective gasp arose from the Vikings as Hiccup and Toothless emerged from the glowing yellow clouds. A dragon skin is tough and has a great resistance to heat and flame but half of Toothless's tail was not dragon skin; it was made of thick, dark brown leather and it glowed as white as a lantern burning in the overcast sky. It appeared at first to those on the ground to be like a guiding light that dropped down from out of the clouds to lead the giant beast straight down toward the island below, but as it grew nearer, all could see it for what it was; Toothless's tail blazing a trail through the sky as Hiccup drove him on down, down, faster and faster. The wings of both dragons beat as fast as each could manage and the gap between them became smaller and smaller.

Soon another sound joined the cacophony in the sky, and it was a sound that Astrid had only recently learnt to fear. The giant dragon had opened its mouth and was beginning to fill its massive lungs with air as Toothless and hiccup came ever closer to the monstrous jaws. The beast had no intention of eating them as it did with Astrid and her Dragon, for its anger was so great toward the presumptuous pair that it planned to burn them so fiercely, that no trace of dragon or rider would ever be seen or heard from again.

The mouth began to fill with the methane gas that the giant dragon produced in glands at the top of its throat; it continued to inhale and fill its lungs with the mix of air and methane that would enable the giant to create and throw its flames. It readied itself to let go of enough fire to burn the entire island, but before it could begin to exhale, the Vikings witnessed Hiccup leant sharply to the right, turning both he and Toothless completely upside-down. The small black dragon took quick aim and sent a glowing shot of blue plasma flame straight back into the cavernous, gas filled mouth. So close were the two dragons that Toothless could not miss and the gas began to ignite across the width of the surprised dragons jaw and deep into its throat and lungs. The Night Fury spun back upright again as Hiccup pulled back on the reigns and instantly leant hard back; in response Toothless spread his wings and positioned them firmly against their direction of travel.

With a loud 'Whomp' the wings formed into a pair of long black parachutes causing Hiccup and Toothless's decent to slow so rapidly that they flew straight back into the monsters mouth. Astrid gasped in horror at the sight, but the shockwave from the explosion emitting from the dragons mouth caught the pair and threw them straight out the right side of the mighty jaws, and back over the beasts head in a similar manor as had happened to her. Toothless turned back to sky and began to fly up the neck and back of the monster but it was too late.

The giant dragon spread its wings in a vain attempt to slow its uncontrollable descent, but its mind was still unaware of the fact that its body was already dead. Inside the beast, the gas filled lungs were still in the act of exploding and unstoppable flame was spreading within its body even to the point of burning large, gaping holes in its wings. The end finally came for the monster as it at last ran out of sky, striking its head on the ground at the base of its mountain home splitting its sides and releasing the explosion of flame into the surrounding air.

Hiccup and Toothless continued flying skyward, but soon found themselves completely surrounded by the ever expanding flame; from her vantage point by the sea Astrid and the others could just make out the small black figures desperately keeping ahead of the fireball. The pair raced upward along the back and tail of the giant dragon, but the end of that tail was just like a giant mace and almost as large as the dragons own head, and now that the monster had struck the ground, that tail began to bend in an arc over Hiccups head. Instantly he pushed down on his heel while lifting his toe moving the connecting rods that controlled his dragons burning tail allowing Toothless to turn left and fly around the giant tail falling toward them, but as Toothless began his turn, the burning leather tail reached its end as the last pieces fell away from the skeletal metal struts, meaning that they could fly up no longer; the boy and dragon fell back and were struck hard by the giant wrecking ball tail.

Astrid could not stop herself; she called his name as she watched Hiccups lifeless body fall backward into the still growing explosion. Toothless flew back down, but the boy disappeared into the flames a split second ahead of his dragon; a dragon that with the loss of its tail, could no longer fly in any direction but down. The explosion continued to its eventual conclusion, covering the island and surrounding waters in thick smoke and falling ash. All fell still; all was quiet. How much time it took for Astrid to emerge from the state of shock she was in, she could not tell and so she just stood there saying nothing and felling nothing.

Yesterday... Astrid had fallen in love.

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Simply write some details about the type of shield maiden you wish to meet, plus a little bit about yourself on a small card and give it to Gobber and he will stick it on one of the spider webs outside of his shop FOR FREE (a small charge of three sheep applies for every answer to your message).