Chapter 7

"The book of Dragons?" Merida said. She flipped through the first few pages, finding detailed drawings of many kinds of dragons. She noticed that the same thing was written on each page. "Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." Hiccup dropped his head. "Which one are you?" she asked. Hiccup looked up and used his claws to flip through the pages. He reached a page at the back of the book and tapped one claw against it. Merida took a closer look at the page. It had no drawing and was labeled "Night Fury." She noticed the small amount of writing at the bottom.

"Speed: unknown, Size: unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: hide and pray it does not find you." She looked at Hiccup. He let out a low growl and looked at the floor again. Suddenly, Merida realized that it was already getting dark, and Stoick would be back soon. Quickly, Hiccup squeezed back through the door. He ran back to the circle of stones, Merida close behind. Hiccup curled up on the ground. Merida went back to the castle, planning to ask Stoick to borrow the book of dragons the next day. She wanted to add a picture of a night fury to the book. That night, Hiccup couldn't sleep. He knew from past experience that night furies blended in perfectly with the night sky, so, instead of sleeping, he practiced flying.

He wasn't used to the wings. Or flying at all. He fell a few times trying to figure out the how position of his tail fins affected his flight, but after a few hours, he'd gotten it. He realized that he liked flying. He was going to miss it if he ever turned back into a human. But as much as he liked flying, he didn't like being a dragon. Knowing that he had to stay hidden, or else he'd be killed was annoying. He couldn't go out flying during the day because someone would see him. And Merida was the only one who knew that he was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, and not just a mindless, hungry, killer dragon. He landed and curled up on the ground, covering his head with his wings. But he still couldn't sleep. He crept out to the river and caught some fish, then he spotted the glow of the house's lights in the distance. Hiccup felt bad. Stoick had no idea what had happened to him, and Hiccup couldn't go tell his father he was alright, because Stoick would see him as just another bloodthirsty monster and kill him. He turned away from the house and flew back to his spot. He decided to practice flying until the sun came up, and he experimented with his fire as well. He soon learned that night furies, instead of shooting flames like other dragons, fired concentrated blasts of plasma. He realized that he'd learned more about night furies than any other Viking.