Chapter 18

Jormungandr

"Get on the dragons!"

Hiccup and Astrid both gave me slightly confused glances, but nodded and raced to Thorn and Toothless, the other teens following suit. I morphed Night Fury and took to the air, hovering above the scene and modifying my eyes, trying to peer through the gloom and into the water below.

I almost wished I hadn't. Night vision and compensation for looking through the water's surface still only gave a fuzzy image of what was underneath us, but I could still see the body curling under the water only a hundred meters or so from the ship, coils upon coils. A fanned tail whipped underneath the ship still. Whatever it was, was nearly as wide as the ship itself, and thousands of feet long. And it was about to surface.

I dove down and landed again on the deck, changing back and pointing. "Over there!" I yelled, gathering everyone's attention. Caspian and the crew followed my finger, just as a jet of water erupted from beyond the prow. The tail whipped over our heads, drenching us in seawater, and beyond the creature's head rose out of the water.

It was a massive serpent, bearing a head maybe 30 feet long or more. From around the back of its head extended hideous twisted horns, and razor teeth edged the upper jaw, extending down over the lower. When it looked at us, the eyes blazed like twin furnaces, burning through us. The neck was thin, but muscular and studded with bony protrusions and angled spines extending all the way down across its back. Worst of all, when it did look down at us, it focused directly on Edmund, and then Hiccup.

"Hiccup," I hissed, walking up next to him and Toothless, "what, on earth, is that thing?!" He glanced down at me from where he sat, and stammered out, "I-I'm s-sorry Hawken, I didn't mean-" "No, don't beat around the bush!" I snapped. "What is it?"

"Jormungandr."

My blood froze. In my time with the Vikings, and through the stories I had read I had heard plenty enough about the supposedly mythical sea serpent to know at least one thing: we were in great danger. I watched as the serpent began to move toward us, slow but deliberate and towering high above the ship. He lowered his head down level with the ship, and under the gaze of the serpent, everyone moved back as far as they dared.

::Such a pathetic crew, cowering just under my gaze,:: the serpent jeered, grinning a terrifying smile. I jerked and glanced at Toothless, who nodded. ::We have no spoken advantage,:: he whispered, ::he'll hear everything we say.:: At this, the serpent locked again his gaze on Hiccup and Toothless, began to rear back with mouth agape, and-

RROOOAAARRR!

Eustace shot down from the mist above and released a jet of flame, striking Jormungandr across the snout, and then clamped onto the serpent's head, biting and clawing as hard as he could. I saw Reepicheep jump down and stab his sword between the serpent's scales, hitting the soft flesh beneath. Jormungandr screeched and thrashed his head, throwing Reep to the ropes of the mast. I turned back to face Eustace as he bit down on the serpent, who screeched again and snapped his head violently to the side, throwing Eustace off and clear over the boat.

::Your wings! Open your wings, now!:: Silverwings yelled out, clambering toward the side of the ship as if he could help just yet. Eustace heard him, though, and flared his wings, flipping over and banking around to head toward the front of the ship-

-Right where Jormungandr was waiting, jaws open. He grabbed Eustace by the tail and pulled him underwater, the foaming waves obscuring our view. "Eustace!" Lucy and Edmund screamed, rushing to the side and pulling out swords. Had I not grabbed their armor and yanked them back, I feared they may have gone over the side after their cousin.

Suddenly just to the side of the boat, Jormungandr appeared again, Eustace still held by the tail and looking far more battered than before, and he swung the dragon back and forth before throwing him hard against a rock outcrop. Everyone on the boat cringed, and I heard a faint but distinct crack! as he impacted.

::Oooohhhh!:: Eustace groaned, barely lifting himself up to face the serpent, who growled menacingly and hissed, ::You'll be the first one to die!:: Jormungandr reared back again and struck at Eustace. At the same time, Eustace, Thorn, and Toothless opened fire on the demonic beast, lighting the skin almost immediately. The serpent screamed and thrashed back and forth, his head completely smothered in flames, before throwing himself backward and into the water, disappearing underneath the waves in an attempt to smother the flames. Luckily it takes some time to put Nadder fire out, even with water, and so Eustace had a moment to breathe. Unfortunately, his next worry came from the ship.

"Leave, demon!" I spun to see Lord Rhoop throwing the seventh sword directly toward Eustace, seeing him as yet another threat to us. "NO!" I screamed, and leapt for it. I missed, and the blade cartwheeled through the air and sank directly into Eustace's shoulder. ::AAAHHH!:: he screamed, jerking and looking back at what pierced him. When he saw what it was, his eyes widened in realization, and he looked back at us; at me.

::Go,:: I said, nodding, and threw out my hand, releasing a pulse of energy in his direction. It seeped into the wound, and I said, ::Take the sword, and when you remove it, so your injuries will be as well.:: He nodded and, groaning in immense pain, took to the air as best as he could, soaring up out of reach of the serpent below and the shadows around us, and away from the cursed island.

"Eustace, wait!" Susan yelled out. "No, he's doing what he needs to!" I yelled. "He has the sword and knows where to take it. We just need to focus on getting this ship out of here!" Susan looked at me with full anger for a moment, before my words registered and she nodded, whirling around and heading toward the back of the boat, bow and arrow in hand. I turned, meanwhile, to scan the waves for the demon that had disappeared from our view below. We had drifted closer to the edge of the shadows, but were still a long way in, and between us and the open air I could see roiling water as the serpent's coils appeared and headed back toward us.

A/N-The mythic serpent of legend, made real. The sea serpent in the original movie was ugly, but this creature would be downright terrifying to face.

As always, make sure to leave a review to let me know what you think! And if I get enough reviews, I may post not only an extra entry to the Book of Dragons, but possibly also an extra chapter later this week.