Chapter 15

Shining Star

A number of us stayed at the island over the night to figure things out. By the time we'd all drifted off to sleep, Eustace had figured out how to walk with some dignity at least, but so far still kept well away from the other dragons. Not surprisingly, he stayed a very, very good distance from me too.

As the sun set, I lay on the beach up against a rock, staring up at the stars, trying to spot any constellations that would look like the ones back home, with little luck. Eventually, I heard footsteps making their way over to me, but I didn't even have to look over to know who their owner was. Camicazi slowly settled down next to me, cross-legged, and started sharpening the sword I'd given her over a year before. Even after all her time fighting with it, the Night Fury profile and her name were clear on the metal.

"You took a dangerous risk," she said. "I know, I supported it, and still do, but I wonder if you may have taken it a little far. Eustace could well be more of a danger than before." I shook my head in reply. "No, he won't. He knows any violence he commits will lengthen the time he's stuck this way," I said. "And the dragons have fewer qualms about forcibly dealing with their own than people. He won't risk anything, not now."

There was silence for a few minutes, punctuated only by the sharpening stone over the blade, before Cami turned to look at me again. "What is it we're really up against?" she asked. "And don't give one of those stupid, roundabout cryptic answers you usually do." I glanced at her and smirked at the jab, but then sighed. "A demon, maybe many, that's about all I know. That's one reason we've gotten into so many spats on this trip: they affect the mind, the soul more than physical, usually. Plus, I'm sure you've had some rather disturbing dreams on this trip, right?" She nodded. "Last night I'm not sure I got any sleep. He do you fight a demon?"

Another bout of silence. "I don't really know," I finally admitted. "They fear God, but that's about the only thing they will fear. If we want to beat this we're all going to have to band together, and probably pray for some insight. I don't trust whatever power lies within those swords to really help us, either. They may be a key, in some way, but certainly not the whole puzzle." I glanced back up at the stars, and silence reigned once more, for a few minutes.

"What do you fear most?" I finally asked. Cami looked at me, surprised, and then spent a few minute with odd looks crossing her face as she tried to figure out how to answer. "Honestly, I fear crossing the ocean," she admitted. "I mean, it's exciting to sail ships, but knowing the creatures we ride, and what kinds of scars I've seen on a few, I can't help but wonder what might be down there." "But do you fear what's down there, or what you think might happen when you meet it?" I queried. She looked at me. "More the latter. Why do you ask, anyway?"

"Eh, a bad feeling, like every other one I've had on this trip. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do about it right now. We have a long trip ahead of us, so try to get at least some sleep tonight. We'll all need it."

"Hawken, get up!"

Someone was shaking my shoulder somewhat violently, but the voice wasn't angry this time around. If anything, it sounded excited. I groaned at being awoken so early, and turned to see who it was this time. As it so happened, it was Astrid.

"What is it?" I asked groggily, slowly getting to my feet and brushing off the sand that had clung to my clothes. "Look," she said, pointing upward. I turned my head and followed her gesture.

A bluish looking, bright star-like object hung in the sky above, clearly visible even in the bright morning sun. "Well, I guess that's what we were waiting for," I commented, and turned toward the dragons. All of them were fast asleep still, and Eustace, unsurprisingly, was off a ways past them, still snoring up a storm louder than he did when human. I shook my head in mild amusement, before flaring open a pair of wings and snapping them together.

BANNGGGG!

"Everyone up!" I announced, holding down a chuckle as the sleeping forms jerked awake at the loud sound. "The blue star is here, no time to waste!" One by one, the group craned their heads upward to take in the object shining down with sapphire light, bright as the moon.

::So-so it's real?:: Eustace growled, sounding slightly relieved but also still more than unhappy with his situation.

::It's right in front of you,:: Thorn grumbled back, also unhappy about being woken up early. "Oh, quit your griping," I quipped. "We need to move."

Within a half hour, we were all back on the ship, save for Eustace. Being on deck meant being near me and the other dragons, so he chose to fly for the moment, putting distance between us while still staying in sight of the ship. Whenever he thought no one was looking, however, he would maneuver around in the air, in barrel rolls and dives, seemingly enjoying at least the aspect of being able to fly. Whenever I caught sight of it, I smiled. It had been a short time, but he was starting to learn, starting to get used to the idea.

The ship got on well for the first hour or two past that, riding a strong westerly current. I went down to hang with the dragons for a bit, who were almost ready to go for another fish run (takes a lot of seafood to feed 7 dragons). While down there, however, a noticeable chill suddenly permeated the room.

::What was that?:: Fireworm queried, looking around. "I don't know," I muttered, "but I've got a bad feeling again." ::I'm going up above deck to see if there's something coming,:: Thorn said. ::I've never felt that before, not even before a storm.:: She headed up through the hallway toward the stairs, and Silverwings shivered for a moment before he followed after. ::I'm heading up too,:: he said.

Toothless, however, had the bigger revelation, turning to face me with large, concerned eyes. ::The ship is slowing down,:: he said. I stared at him for a moment, realized what that meant, and immediately bolted for the deck. Coming up top, I nearly ran straight into Camicazi, who had been heading down to find me.

"Hawken, we've lost all wind," she said, "and the western current has disappeared." I blinked, and ran to the side of the ship, looking over the edge to the sea below. The water looked calm enough, no sign of disturbance or any surface cross currents, but I needed to check in person.

"I'll be right back," I said to Cami. "If anyone is still below and doesn't know, tell them, now." I leapt over, changing to my usual sea dragon form, and dove under the waves.

The ocean was as still as the air above, only remnant waves rippling the surface. The western current that had been present since the Lone Islands had vanished. Below, a shallow (relatively) seamount rose up, the sandy ocean floor only a few hundred feet down through the crystal water. That alone could be enough to disrupt a current, but not stop it altogether.

"You're going to get nowhere, you realize that?" a haunting voice rasped. I spun around, sending vortices of water swirling away around me. The greenish mist had shown itself again, underwater of all things but quite apparently unaffected by the different medium. Out of it formed a ghoulish apparition, humanlike in appearance but with a ghostly echo of a tail and wings, as if mocking my own usual appearance. I did not doubt that possibility.

"Leave us be," I growled, releasing bubbles of air. The…thing laughed, as if amused by what it saw as a short-sight. "So it turns out you're not so intelligent," it taunted. "You can't even figure out how"- Its words were cut off as visible gills appeared on my neck. "You were saying?" I growled. "As I said before, leave us, now. You hold no power over me, nor any of my friends here."

The apparition snarled in irritation. "Your modes of transport are gone, you are many miles away from your destination, and you still lack the key you seek. You're never getting there." "For a demon who's been around thousands of years you're the unintelligent one," I hissed back. "When has your kind ever won out in the end? We have dragons, there's always a way to get there, and eventually we'll find everything we need. I'll not repeat myself again: leave us, leave this land, leave this earth while you still have space to run."

It scoffed. "My master has different plans. Once we do deal with these people," it gestured to the ship, "we'll move on to your dear friends. You are too late; you'll never get what you need. After all, we already have it!"

I spun and lashed out with my tail, sparking energy, but the demon vanished completely, leaving behind nothing but a trace of green that washed away, and a haunting, cackling laugh. I growled in frustration and released my emotions in an explosion of electricity, before swimming back to the surface and leaping out, changing to Night Fury. I curved downward and landed hard on the deck, losing the scales but keeping my wings.

Caspian approached me first, coming up out of the stairwell and looking around. "I heard something out there, did something happen?" he asked warily, not hiding his newfound distrust of me. I ignored the tone and nodded. "Sorry, that noise was me, I got frustrated. Our little "mist"-chief maker is still hanging around, and it's trying to discourage us from pressing onward." Caspian raised an eyebrow. "A demon would be powerful enough to change the ocean currents?" I chuckled grimly. "For a time at least, they're not limited to the dimensions we are. He'll probably do more than that too, if he can manage it, but I do not want to give"-

I was cut off as the wind began to pick up once more, but now, it blew in an easterly direction, pulling us back the way we'd come. Grumbling in frustration, I started heading down below. "Pull the sails down, the less drag we have to deal with the better!" I snapped. "Are the dragons still in their room?" Caspian followed me, shaking his head. "Thorn and Silverwings took to the air earlier; the rest went to 'help' the crew row the ship." "Well, that's not going to be enough. I do have a different idea, though."

As he'd said, the dragons were doing their best to try and row alongside the crew, though finding it hard to maneuver the oars. The Vikings were there as well, and Reepicheep, too small to even hold up an oar, was keeping time for them.

"Toothless, Fireworm, Barfbelch! I need you, pronto!" I announced as I walked in, cutting Reep off much to his annoyance. Toothless dropped his oar gently, then looked up at me. ::What is it?:: I nodded toward the stairs and began to head up again. Caspian caught my arm before I could, however.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Granted they're not the best rowers we've ever had, but if they stop we may very well end up heading backward." "Yes, but a small delay is good if it means preparing a faster method," I returned curtly. He let go of me, but till was clearly confused. I headed to the top of the deck unhindered now, found the thickest ropes I could lying around, and began tying massive loops onto the front and sides of the ship. Stormfly walked up onto the deck first, and crawled over next to me. "And what exactly is it we are doing, Hawken?" she asked. I smirked. "You guys are going to use these ropes to tow the ship," I said matter-of-factly. Her eyes brightened in understanding. "Oh! Okay, I get it now. Why didn't we think of this first?" I nodded, not giving an answer to the question as I looked up to the skies, searching for one more reptile. Thorn and Silverwings had landed and the other dragons had come up onto the deck, catching on to what I was doing, so only one was unaccounted for.

::Eustace!:: I roared out, and a few moments later he came into view, appearing in front of the ship. ::What do you want?:: he snapped, snarling slightly. ::The ship is going to start drifting backward without help,:: I explained. ::Grab a loop and start pulling!:: ::Why should I listen to you?:: he growled back I sighed. ::Because I'm the only one who is able to change you back, for one. And for another, the longer it takes us to get this mission over with, the longer it will take to change you.::

He snorted and flew out of view anyway. I was just about to fly off after him when something tapped me on the shoulder. "Something going on up here?" Reepicheep asked, hanging off a rope on the mast. I sighed and looked over at him. "Well, if we're actually going to make any time, we need Eustace's help, and of course he's not going to listen to the teen he thinks ruined his life by turning him into a dragon." "Well, I wonder why that ever could be?" Reep replied sarcastically.

"Look, I did it to teach him a lesson he needs to learn, and so far he's also been more out of the way than ever before," I quipped, not in the mood to be discussing what had already happened. Reepicheep hopped off the rope and scrambled up onto the prow of the ship. "Well, I had a long talk with him last night on the beach, he might just listen to me now," he said. "I'll see what I can do." With that, he scurried forward, disappearing from view.

I turned to help Silverwings tie off one last loop of rope, and he grabbed onto it, ready to go. All the others were in place with a loop somewhere, so really all that-

"OOOOFFF!"

The ship jolted forward suddenly, and had I not had a pair of wings that snapped outward on instinct, I would have landed on my butt on the deck. Hard. Hiccup, who had just reached the stairs, did fall over, and as he picked himself up, he yelled, "What in the world was that from?!" I glanced at him, then looked to the front of the ship. The sight managed to give me a genuine smile, and I called out, "Thank you Reep!"

Eustace had wrapped his tail around the prow of the ship, and was towing it forward as fast as he could, and he didn't actually look too put out by it. I signaled to the other dragons, who grabbed their ropes again and leapt upward, pulling even more. I myself ran to the back of the ship and catapulted over, changing to the biggest sea dragon I could think of, the Doomfang, and began pushing on the stern. Soon, the ship picked up speed and was racing forward, leaving behind a massive wake and making its way straight toward the azure speck of light in the sky ahead.

Up on deck, I heard the rest of the crew start cheering, as we were finally actually making some progress now (well, that, and the fact that they no longer had to be stuck rowing). We were finally on our way, and up ahead, I heard Eustace finally openly enjoying himself. Sometimes, it's a little hard work that makes the difference.

We weren't out of danger yet, though. As I swam forward, pushing the vessel along, that chill of being watched returned. I glanced behind me, and spotted the barest hints of the mist again. It was probably childish, but I stuck my tongue out in a taunt. Ripples of anger filed the waves, before the demon disappeared again. There wasn't much he could do at that point, but then, we were heading in the direction of where their stronghold would be. There would be plenty of clashes soon to come.

A/N-Stay tuned, things will begin heating up very soon. And as always, make sure to leave a review to let me know what you think!