Hey, guys! Thanks for being patient, and thanks for being AWESOME! :D Enjoy chapter 22! :D
They advanced slowly, the whispering voice of the Gemsho leading them onwards. The calls never slowed or stopped; they constantly got louder the more the youths walked. Snotlout followed, almost touching Astrid's heels while Ruffnut and Tuffnut walked directly behind them, their shoulders brushing against each other as they moved.
"Gotta plan yet, Astrid?" said Snotlout.
Astrid shook her head in response, her mind still focused on finding the Gemsho. She heard Snotlout groan, but disregarded it an instant later. The last thing she needed was to be focused on Snotlout's bellyaching.
They walked on, until they came to a cave. Pausing in front of it, they listened intently, until they heard it again; the same, persistent whisper, only louder than it had ever been before.
Come little children… the voice hummed, almost sweetly.
"This is so weird," said Ruffnut, stepping forward, almost as if in a trance. Astrid instantly put her hand forward to stop the girl from walking on.
"No, it's a trap," said Astrid. "The voice is meant to lure us in. It's how the Gemsho gets its victims. Instead of hunting, it produces a shrieking, groaning noise that brings its prey to it."
"Right," said Snotlout. "So the question is...what are we doing here?"
"This is the only way we're going to get rid of the Gemsho," said Astrid. "This is where it lives. We need to kill it."
"I'll just as soon leave that to you," said Snotlout, taking a step backwards. "This is so creepy."
"I know," said Astrid. "We all know."
Come little children...come on...come to me…
To Astrid's terror, Tuffnut started walking forward. Ruffnut hooked her arms around her brother to hold him back, and Tuffnut shook his head.
"What just happened?" he asked.
"It's the siren," said Astrid. "Block it out. It wants us to go in."
"Well, if we're not going to go in, why are we standing around here?" said Snotlout.
"We are going in," said Astrid.
"I don't get you!" said Snotlout. "You tell us not to go in and then say we're going to go in ourselves?"
"No, don't be lured in," said Astrid. "We need to keep our minds to ourselves. Remember, the Gemsho manipulates your fears into making you think they're realities. If we can fight that, then destroying this monster of a dragon won't be a problem."
"Great," said Snotlout. "So, we are going to try and kill a talking dragon by walking into its lair when it wants us to. Your plans of survival are terrible."
Astrid didn't respond. "We're going in," she said. "Right now. Are you all ready?"
Although it was clear that none of them were, they still managed to nod. Astrid nodded in response, turned towards the cave, took a deep breath, and headed inside, consumed by the darkness. Snotlout and the twins followed her, glancing about them as if expecting the walls to come to life and devour them.
"Okay, so we made it inside," said Snotlout. "What now?"
"Be careful," said Astrid. "Don't die."
"Great," said Snotlout. "Now we're all inspired."
From in front of them came a hiss. The riders took up their weapons, holding them in front of them as the Gemsho showed itself, sniffing each of the riders with a different gleam in its eyes.
"Splendid," it said. "You are terrified."
Astrid couldn't stop her shiver of fear. She would never be able to get over the fact that this dragon could speak. She knew that, even if she did manage to kill it, there was promising she wouldn't have nightmares about it.
"You came," said the Gemsho. "Well, of course, everyone does. Humans are so easily tricked and fooled by such simple-"
"We came here," said Astrid, standing her ground and taking her axe up, holding it so tightly that her knuckles were white, her fingers red, "not because of your lure, but because we chose to."
"Well, in that case, you are even more ignorant than I expected," said the Gemsho. "Humans are hilarious, and you four are especially so."
"I've heard enough," said Snotlout. "Why don't we just kill it now?"
"You're brave," said the Gemsho, "for a coward."
"Don't listen to it, Snotlout," said Astrid. "Don't let your guard down."
"Clever," said the Gemsho, "for a human. I quite often wonder what it is like to be one of you, so blissfully unaware of the situations at hand...HA. But...I think we've finished our little game now."
"Game? What game?" said Astrid. "People are suffering because of you, and you call this a game?"
"Well, it's a start," said the Gemsho. "Especially with all your search party members…you know, I took their weapons." Astrid looked behind the dragon, just in time to see a glint of metal. Okay, so the search party was weaponless. Brilliant. "Now then...shall we?" the Gemsho said. It crouched low to the ground, and then pounced.
"DUCK!" Astrid screamed, and the riders dropped to the ground. The Gemsho turned around, and growled.
"You fear me," it said, and attacked again.
"Split up!" Astrid shouted. "It can't follow all of us!"
They didn't need to be told twice. They ran in different directions, the Gemsho watching them with amusement. Naturally, it went after Astrid.
Astrid hid behind the mess of weapons taken from the search party, holding her axe close to her as if it were her lifeline. The Gemsho snuck towards her, and she closed her eyes, awaiting its fatal pounce.
"You fear me," it growled once more. "Good."
You're failing everyone, a part of Astrid's mind told her. You're failing your friends, your island...your little sister who always looks up to you. You're failing Hiccup and Avril…
Astrid's eyes shot open, and she grabbed the closest weapon from the pile; a crossbow. Then, she threw it at the Gemsho, smacking its skull. The dragon recoiled with a roar, pawing at its head with a groan of agony.
Astrid took her chance, and ran. However, the Gemsho recovered quicker than she expected, its tail flying at her, wrapping around her ankle. Astrid shrieked as she was pulled into the air, hanging upside down, eye level with the Gemsho. She dropped her axe, listening it clatter to the ground. She was weaponless, staring at a dragon who wanted her for diner.
"ASTRID!" she heard Snotlout shout at her. She looked at him, just as he pulled his sword arm back. "WATCH OUT!" He lunged forward, the sword leaving his hand. Astrid closed her eyes as Snotlout's thrown weapon cartwheeled through the air, meeting the Gemsho's tail. The dragon shrieked in pain, releasing Astrid instantly as it clawed at its wounded tail.
Astrid managed to angle her fall so she didn't land on her head, instead landing flat on her back, the air getting knocked out of her lungs. She couldn't move for a moment as she watched the Gemsho rip the sword out of its tail, green blood rushing from the wound.
"HOW DARE YOU, PUNY HUMANS!?" the Gemsho shrieked. "I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"
"ASTRID, RUN!" Snotlout yelled. Astrid shook her head, knocking herself back into the present as she jumped to her feet, recollecting her battleaxe as she watched the Gemsho lunge at Snotlout.
Snotlout slashed at it with his sword, catching the Gemsho off guard. The dragon roared as a gash appeared on its leg, created by the Jorgenson. Just before it attacked the boy, Ruffnut and Tuffnut jumped in from behind, taking the dragon by surprise as they screamed in fury and assailed the monster.
"STOP!" the Gemsho shouted angrily. "ALL OF YOU! STOP BEFORE I KILL YOU!"
"Nothing stopped you from hurting my friends," said Astrid. "So why should you be able to stop us from hurting you!?" She knocked the flat of her axe against the Gemsho's head, and it wailed, spreading its wings and rushing out of the cave.
However, just running it off wasn't enough.
Astrid looked to the side, and saw the crossbow she had thrown. Mind made up, she dropped her weapon and took up her new one, racing outside, followed closely by Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout.
She aimed the crossbow up at the dragon as it took to the sky, and then found herself hesitating. Maybe it was wrong to kill it without giving it a fair chance. Maybe she shouldn't...no...maybe...wait…
Dragons who kill without reason can never be trained, Hiccup's words flashed through the girl's mind. The Gemsho was fleeing. It was now or never. So, with a deep breath, her heart pounding in her ears, Astrid let the arrow fly.