The first few days after Valka left were difficult for Viggo. It wasn't loneliness because he was far from lonely with Thunderstorm, Firestorm, the hatchling, and all the other dragons surrounding him and looking to him for orders. So, for the time being he took every day as it came, doing his best to establish a routine once again, which did help somewhat because it almost felt like he was constantly busy.
Viggo's top priority was making sure the island was always secure, which the night terrors helped with a lot. Still, Viggo, Thunderstorm, and Firestorm patrolled the island and the surrounding ocean three times a day to make sure nothing breached their perimeter. But in the previous weeks of patrols, Viggo had seen no signs of any ships, the only thing they ever encountered were other wild dragons.
And the second most important thing was making sure the flock was always well-fed and happy. This is why once a day Viggo and Thunderstorm organized the flock for a massive fishing trip similar to what they had done before with the Alpha in his nest. This also had the bonus of not only feeding the flock but also building stronger unity and trust between the flock mates, and also in Viggo and Thunderstorm's leadership, so that by the time afternoon came around and Viggo needed to delegate more specific tasks, all the other dragons were more than willing to follow his orders.
But the main reason Viggo was so busy was that every chance he could, he spent time with the hatchling, although he wondered to himself and Thunderstorm just how much longer he could call it a hatchling.
He was growing quite quickly, and there was no wonder why. Viggo was confident that he was eating his body weight in fish every day, and he seemed to double in both height and length nearly every week. In only a month he had grown from the size of a terrible terror to already measuring about twenty feet long from nose to tail and Viggo estimated at least 400 pounds. The days of Viggo being able to carry and play wrestle with the hatchling had passed much too quickly. He was already longer than Bewilderbreath, but still quite a bit smaller than her, mostly from his very long tail.
Despite his growth spurt, so far he had been acting just as curious and childlike as when he first hatched, always willing to play games with anyone who visited him, which was mostly Firestorm becoming his favorite playmate as they play-wrestled together around the cave.
While at the same time Viggo and Thunderstorm both did their best to teach him everything they thought he would need to know about being a leader. One thing Viggo wanted to make sure he got right was how the baby handled food. With the hatchling being constantly hungry for more fish, and Viggo not yet thinking he was ready to join the flock's fishing trips, that meant that all his fish was being delivered to him by other dragons. But Viggo wanted to avoid any possibility of the hatchling growing up to be another Red Death. Based on what Valka had told him about her, she was one of the few instances of a dragon just as vile as the worst humans. Viggo couldn't let this innocent hatchling turn into a monster. And Viggo of course came up with a plan to avoid this.
When he took most of the flock out on fishing trips, they still left plenty of dragons behind as guardians, and so when they came back, the fishers all shared their catch with the guards out in the central courtyard of the compound. Making sure every dragon received their fair share. Including the hatchling.
Bewilderbreath would lead him out of the cave, but Viggo would stand beside him and make him watch carefully as every dragon shared so that he could get the message, and then only after everyone else had already taken their share, only then would Viggo and the hatchling take their own food. Viggo usually received his from Thunderstorm, who always kept a few fish in his talons for Viggo, while the hatchling was happy to receive the regurgitated meal from all the fishers who still had more to share. Beyond anything else, Viggo wanted to teach him that a true leader allowed everyone else to be served first before himself. And after a few weeks of this routine, the hatchling seemed to understand and always waited patiently for his turn to eat.
Viggo stayed on the lookout for other signs of the hatchling's development, and while it was obvious that all the other dragons treated him with much more respect than a typical hatchling, Viggo was certain he didn't have any sort of mental powers yet. Right now, rather than commanding, the hatchling was more annoying or begging to get what he wanted out of other dragons. Which was mostly food or inviting them to play with him.
Nor had Viggo seen any sign of his ice breath yet. It wasn't unusual for Viggo to watch Bewilderbreath breathe a steady stream of blue flames over the hatchling's scales whenever he seemed to be getting overheated during the day, and as part of their bedtime routine, now that he was too large to curl up within her tail was for her to cool him down, almost like she was giving him an icy blanket to use before they cuddled up right beside one another to sleep.
Viggo kept careful track of all his observations since anything he did discover was literally making scientific history, but also every new thing the hatchling managed to do made him feel a bit more like a proud parent.
Speaking of, today was going to be a big day for the hatchling, because he was going to have his first real swimming lesson in the ocean, which also included leaving the compound for the first time. Viggo knew he was excited, and he was pretty sure Bewilderbreath, Thunderstorm, and Firestorm were too. Viggo had no real idea how big of a milestone this day would be to the hatchling, but it felt pretty big to Viggo.
Of course, beforehand, he, Thunderstorm, and Firestorm were extra vigilant on their morning patrol, but just like every other morning the seas were calm and free of any ships for leagues all around them. Viggo hadn't lied when he had told Valka his island was in the middle of nowhere yet also in the middle of everything.
When the time finally came, Viggo led the hatchling along the ground all the way from the compound and out to what had once been his mighty harbor, but now it was merely a simple stretch of sand that led to the sea.
Once the hatchling saw the dark blue water, he raced ahead of Viggo and dove right in to start splashing in the shallow waves breaking against the shore.
Viggo couldn't help but laugh at his excitement as Bewilderbreath, Firestorm, Tsunami the scauldron, and Whirlwing the Thunderdrum joined in the waves, meanwhile, Thunderstorm was up above in the sky, well away from the water as he continued flying lookout for any potential threats.
Viggo himself lightly waded into the shallows, he had no idea how far out the dragons would end up going today, but for now, he'd join in on the swimming as long as it was in the shallows.
Right now the hatchling was still just running around in the water. He'd charge at one of the adult dragons, but stop right before he'd hit them, but still sending a tidal wave washing over their heads. All the other dragons just let it happen, all of them appeared to still be having a lot of fun.
Firestorm of course decided to join in the fun a bit more than the other adult dragons, splashing them as well, which Viggo was pretty sure they minded a bit more than when the hatchling did it. Viggo decided it would be best if he got some control of the situation before Tsunami reached her quite literal boiling point.
"Alright, everyone!" Viggo called out. "We all know the plan. Tsunami and Whirlwing, stay with him when he's underwater, and the three of us," Viggo motioned to himself, Firestorm and Bewilderbreath, "will follow along at the surface. Feel free to let him explore, but keep him safe. Everyone understand?"
All the dragons nodded their heads and then Tsunami lightly flicked a wave of water at the hatchling with her tail and motioned for him to follow her deeper into the water.
At the same time, when Viggo's attention was focused elsewhere, Firestorm also did the same to him. After he sputtered the salty water out of his mouth, Viggo just gave him a look that quickly quelled his rumbling laughter. "Oh that's how you want to play it, do you?" Viggo grinned and sent him a small splash of his own before pulling himself onto Firestorm's neck.
Despite the hatchling's previous experience with water only being the small pool he was quickly outgrowing in his cave, once he started following Tsunami he seemed completely at home. Viggo did his best to track him as he popped in and out of the water. Viggo couldn't tell for sure how fast they were traveling, but both Firestorm and Bewilderbreath were easily able to keep pace at the surface.
At one point Viggo asked Firestorm to dive down beneath the surface so Viggo could see what was really going on, and he wanted to laugh at that sight too. The hatchling was paddling along with his legs in quite an uncoordinated way, at least in comparison to the tidal class dragons who could fly through the water as smoothly as if they were in the air.
It wasn't for a lack of trying either, his swimming technique was pretty similar to Bewilderbreaths' as she paddled her legs through the water at the surface, although he didn't seem to know what to do with his long tail, that kept throwing him off balance and making him do accidental somersaults in the water.
As he moved, he kept releasing large bubbles from his mouth and only seemed to surface for a few moments every few minutes. It made Viggo slightly worried that he'd never thought to ask Valka if the Bewilderbeast could breathe underwater or if he merely held his breath when swimming. It was obvious that their two tidal class companions were perfectly fine without air. He hadn't seen them surface once this entire time.
When Viggo came back up for air, he glanced around for any sign of danger, but the seas were calm and Thunderstorm circling above them was the only sign of life that Viggo could see. So after Viggo caught his breath, he asked Firestorm to take him down again.
This time it seemed the other dragons had ended up cornering a small school of fish. Whirlwing and Tsunami were circling around it to make sure none escaped while the hatchling was slowly making his way closer with an adorably determined grin on his face.
The older dragons kept the ball of fish together and the hatchling threw himself right into the center, but he wasn't quite successful as the fish still had plenty of space between his mouth and the mouths of the other dragons keeping them contained, so that it ended up within a few moments the entire school was now a scattered ball completely surrounding the baby with silvery scales. Which Viggo was pretty sure was any dragon's dream come true. Now if only he could catch some.
Firestorm returned to the surface so both dragon and rider could take a quick breath and when they returned it seemed the baby was slowly starting to get the hang of things. He had dived down beneath the ball of fish and then oriented himself up, and this time finally started using his tail to propel himself through the water at a much faster speed.
This time the unfortunate fish didn't stand a chance as he steadily began snapping them up one by one. And over time he just got better and better, so that within half an hour all that remained of the school were a stardust-like cloud of silvery scales drifting in the water.
But the moment that Viggo was most proud of was that when he had eaten his fill, the hatchling then went to each of his companions to regurgitate a few fish for each of them to have as well. Viggo knew he had not only learned how to swim today, but also how to fish, and most importantly how to share a hunt. Viggo was confident that when he was big enough he would be feeding his flock just like his father did, and not the other way around. Even though he once again, had to take a bite out of his gifted fish before he gave the rest to Firestorm to snap up with much more enthusiasm.
After everyone finished eating, the hatchling just kept swimming and playing with all the other dragons, slowly becoming more and more at home in the water, the only way Viggo could track him at all was when the relatively large air bubbles hit the surface. And thankfully for Viggo, despite the usual chilliness of the open sea, he was pretty sure that Firestorm's internal body heat was keeping him relatively warm and comfortable so that he could stay out with the others as long as he wished.
But suddenly Thunderstorm came plummeting down from the sky, making a B-line straight to Firestorm before stopping to hover just above the waves, and he looked worried.
"Thunderstorm, what is it? What's the problem?"
Thunderstorm roared and tossed his head to the east in the opposite direction of the island, and while Viggo couldn't understand specifics, The other dragons around them obviously did, all of them circled up protectively around the hatchling, who had lost his happy demeanor and looked downright frightened.
Viggo raised his hands in the air. "Thunderstorm, pull me up and show me. Firestorm you stay here for now. We'll be right back once I know what we're dealing with." Viggo ordered, and Thunderstorm quickly grabbed him in his talons and then performed a spinning maneuver in the air so Viggo ended up on Thunderstorm's back. Viggo grabbed his helmet and sword which had both been placed in Thunderstorm's saddle bags, and then they were off.
Thunderstorm quickly gained altitude so they were protected by cloud cover until he then dipped just below the white misty layers and Viggo's eyes locked back down on the glittering blue ocean, and also something else much more concerning. It was a ship and not just any ship. It was about the size of a typical Viking trading ship, nowhere near the size of Viggo's old hunter ships, but Viggo could easily recognize that was exactly what it was, the decks were lined, not only with crossbows at the rails, but also net launchers. So there was only one possible target the ship had. Most striking of all was the unique twin blue and white sails attached at the bow of the ship. A design that Viggo couldn't help but think looked familiar.
One thing was for sure. No matter who they were, they couldn't be allowed anywhere near their island or the hatchling. If that happened, Viggo knew he would have to kill everyone on board, nothing, and no one could be allowed to threaten the hatchling.
Viggo studied the ship for a few more minutes as they circled high above, They were about five leagues from where the hatchling and the others were swimming, and about eight leagues from the island. So hopefully they hadn't seen any dragons or had any indication of the secret these hunters had stumbled upon, and Viggo quickly came up with a plan to keep it that way.
"Thunderstorm, let's go back, we need to give everyone directions, and we'll also need Firestorm," Viggo ordered, and Thunderstorm quickly and silently flew back to the others as fast as his wings could carry him.
When they arrived, Viggo didn't waste any time, time was of the essence right now. "Firestorm, out of the water, you're coming with us." He ordered, Then he turned his attention to the others. "Tsunami, Whirlwing, I want you to take the hatchling down to the seafloor. Only comes up if he absolutely needs to for air, understand? Either wait until you see Firestorm's flames over the water, or until nightfall and head back to the island at the latest. Bewilderbreath, can you sink yourself down in the water to hide, but you can keep your snout up to keep breathing? Hopefully, your blue-green scales will hide you enough in the water.
All the dragons nodded in agreement, the tidal class dragons sunk down beneath the waves, gently nudging the hatchling down with them. The hatchling glanced up to meet Viggo's eyes nervously one more time before following.
Bewilderbeath did as asked, sinking herself down so only the tip of her snout was still above the surface, and Viggo was glad, from the air, if he wasn't looking right at her, she would be impossible to spot.
"Alright you two, let's go. Remember the most important thing is that these hunters cannot be allowed to see the hatchling or our secret will be out, and we'd have to kill them all. But also we can't let them just keep sailing until they run into the hatchling or our island. So here's what we're going to do…"
Firestorm, Thunderstorm, and Viggo flew off, everyone knew what their orders were and Viggo knew the protective fire that was burning within his heart, was just as strong within his dragons.
When they got within sight of the ship once again, Firestorm got into position. The weather had shifted over the last hour or so and now instead of clear blue skies, the sky was a solid blanket of grey which would serve their purpose well. Thunderstorm and Viggo held back at first, once again using the clouds as cover.
Firestorm flew down lower and lit his scales up with flames. He was the bait, and also the test to see just how much of a threat these hunters were going to be.
Even from a quarter league away, Viggo could tell the moment the ship's crew noticed Firestorm, they immediately changed their course hard to port so they could expose him to the weapons emplacements all along the rail. And at the same time, they adjusted their sails to gain more speed.
The plan was that Firestorm would stay just out of arrow range, and hopefully lead them on a chase to the nearest island in the opposite direction. And it seemed to work. Viggo watched the glinting light of arrows flying, but falling just short of Firestorm, falling into the sea instead of sinking into his scales.
The ship then corrected course again, so they were not following right behind him, so they must have been desperate to go hard after one nightmare. Firestorm visibly slowed his flight so he wouldn't escape them completely, but still stayed just out of arrow range. Meanwhile, Thunderstorm and Viggo stayed within the cloud cover but were now flying right on top of the ship. Viggo could just barely see through the foggy veil all the men scurrying about. But the one standing at the helm, oh Viggo definitely recognized him by the confident stance on his shoulders. He had tangled with this band of hunters before. It looked like they hadn't taken Valka's advice the last time, but one thing was for certain. They would certainly learn this time.
As the island came up, Firestorm slowed down further, acting like he was tiring, and finally allowed an arrow to graze his tail, at least that was what it hopefully looked like to the hunters, and not the nightmare slapping the arrow out of the sky with his tail.
But this was the signal for Firestorm to begin his best acting. Viggo was fairly certain this group didn't use paralysis arrows when he fought them before the captain had mentioned Speedstinger blow darts, but no arrows. Firestorm though acted dazed and confused, roaring loudly like his tail had been cut off instead and dowsing his flames. He spun around in the air and pretended to crash just beyond the edge of the trees near the beachhead.
"Ha ha! We have him now lads! Let's get him!" Viggo definitely recognized Eret's voice as the ship grounded itself against the beach and Eret began barking orders to his men. Viggo briefly wondered why he was so much further south from his old base. Perhaps Valka had attacked him again, or maybe these trappers had decided to take the opportunity to fill the power vacuum since Johann was defeated. Either way, it didn't matter to Viggo so long as they didn't get any closer to the hatchling.
They quickly jumped off the ship, spreading out in a large half-circle formation ready to surround Firestorm from all angles. Eret still sounded pretty confident so he had bought Firestorm's performance, just like Viggo had planned.
"Alright Thunderstorm, let's go," Viggo ordered, and Thunderstorm broke out of the cloud cover completely in a steep dive centered right over the ship, but he didn't strike yet, first they had to make sure Eret didn't have any other dragons held prisoner aboard.
Despite the intense speed, Thunderstorm managed to smoothly bank up right before he landed so that his talons only made the slightest creak when he touched down on the wooden deck. Viggo quickly jumped off, his sword in hand, but not ignited, as he scanned the deck, and it was empty, all the men had gone after Firestorm.
Viggo glanced over the ship's rail and saw that the forest was quickly growing into a raging inferno as Firestorm kept up the distraction. Eret and all his men were too busy searching for a way through the burning brush and continuing their hunt, rather than looking back at the ship.
Viggo finally turned his attention to the hold below. He looked down into a large circle of iron bars and saw the gleam of reptilian eyes down below. The dragon within growled suspiciously when the two of them made eye contact.
"It's OK, I'm a friend," Viggo promised softly, he stuck his hand in between the bars, and after giving his gloved hand an inquisitive sniff, Viggo could feel warm scales pressed against his palm, but he still couldn't see what kind of dragon it was.
"That's right. We'll get you out of here." Viggo undid the latch on the cage, it wasn't even locked, and then together he and Thunderstorm lifted up the bars so the dragon within could escape.
The dragon moved slowly at first but once it was in the cloudy gray light, it grew more confident.
Viggo took a step back to give it enough space as he took it all in. It was a nightmare, this one with pinkish-purple scales. She was a bit smaller than Firestorm appeared to be but also looked just as fierce. She looked around and then lowered her head in front of Viggo, she was still muzzled and looked up at him with trusting eyes.
"Don't worry." Viggo ignited his sword and waved it slowly in front of her. "I'll get that off you and you'll be truly free." He then raised his sword and carefully cut through the leather muzzle keeping her jaws sealed shut.
The nightmare stretched her jaws wide, and then she immediately turned her attention to the battle going on on the island up ahead. She seemed to recognize the flames and then roared with all her pent-up fury, launching herself into the battle.
"Wait! We have a plan!" Viggo called out, but unfortunately, that seemed to end their plan going perfectly as of course, half the warriors turned around when they heard the nightmare's call.
"What? How did that thing escape?" Eret demanded angrily. But that was all he had time to say before the rescued nightmare used her own flames to make a wall of fire cutting off the trappers from their ship. So now they were surrounded by flames on both sides.
The rescued nightmare roared again, and Firestorm finally flew out of the trees looking confused by what was going on, but he quickly flew to her side and they started exchanging roars with one another. Having some sort of conversation while the trappers panicked below.
Well, this wasn't how Viggo had planned it, but it was still time for him to make his move. He mounted Thunderstorm's back once more and they took off into the sky, but then landed on the beach, just beyond the flames.
"Oh Eret, don't you know that the trapper's trap can trap the trapper?" Eret asked he couldn't believe he had just quoted Dagur the Deranged, but the nightmare's move worked wonderfully.
"Wait a minute, I know you. Accomplice." Eret spat on the ground standing as close to the flames as he could bear. "What are you doing here?"
"I would like to know that same question. My friend and I warned you it would be foolish to continue your dragon-hunting ways, yet here we are."
"Well news flash, Drago Bludvist doesn't agree with your sentiment. The only reason we're still alive at all is we managed to double our quota last month. So you can know that despite your best efforts, you can't protect every dragon. He will win in the end.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Viggo said, "I know I am far from the only friend to dragons, especially around these parts. I'm assuming a trapper like you must know about the Grimborns."
"Oh, why of course," Eret said sarcastically. "Every trapper alive knows about the Grimborns. What about them?"
"Well, don't you know that this used to be the heart of their territory? And now where are they? In fact, I arranged Ryker's death myself. If you insist on trapping dragons and don't want your ship burned to kindling every other day, you best head back to your horrible fort."
"Oh and why are you looking out for me? What's your concern?" Eret sneered at him.
"Oh I'm not concerned, but I know my friend would love to have you nearby so she knows where to go to free any dragons you happen to temporarily catch, and trust me, she's really more merciful than I am."
"Oh really says the one holding two dozen men hostage roasting before three beasts. You're real merciful." Eret scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"You're still alive, aren't you? You're lucky I don't want to kill you, but I also don't want you coming back within fifty leagues of this island. Next time you won't be so lucky."
"Lucky?" Eret scoffed. "How about you get off that big ugly lizard and fight like a real man."
"Ha ha no." Viggo laughed, "Oh trust me, I am no fool. When it comes to maces and talons all that matters is victory, it just so happens that in this game, I'm not out for your blood, so don't try to goad me. Besides if I remember correctly, I believe I proved my expertise the last time we crossed swords." Viggo shot back.
"You know you can't be everywhere. Drago's army is growing stronger every day. And someday he will take your dragons. And your friend's."
"Oh Eret, you know there are two ways to be fooled? One way is to believe what isn't true, and the other is to refuse to believe what is. So just where do you think you stand on that spectrum?"
"I'd still say you're the fool mate." Eret refused to back down. "I know better than to trust Drago at his word, but as long as I'm standing behind his army when all of this is over. That's more than enough for me."
"Very well then, don't say I didn't ever give you the choice. Firestorm, Nightmare." Viggo called to the two dragons and then pointed at the ship with his sword. "Don't destroy it, but give it a nice roasting."
Both dragons happily turned and jumped up in the air, they each flew past one side of the ship, dousing the wooden deck with their sticky flames.
"Why you little…" Eret growled under his breath.
"There, while you're repairing your ship, consider my advice before you head back to your fort and decide your next move, but I will warn you, if you show up around here again, I won't be so understanding next time," Viggo said calmly.
"Wait, you're just going to leave us here?" Eret demanded.
"Not to worry, the flames will die down in about ten minutes. As for your ship, I'm certain you can find suitable trees to make repairs." Viggo gave Thunderstorm a signal and he joined the other two dragons who were hovering in the air.
"Then I promise Accomplice… the next time I see you, or your dragons, or your fancy little fire sword. I'll bring you all straight to Drago if it's the last thing I do!"
Viggo didn't even dignify that with a response, instead, he urged Thunderstorm back out to sea with the nightmares following behind them.
It wasn't long before they returned to the other swimming dragons, and it was a good thing Thunderstorm remembered where they were because Viggo couldn't even see Bewilderbreath until they practically landed on top of her. But she noticed them and raised her head out of the water, and a few moments after Firestorm shot a fireball into the water, the hatchling, Tsunami, and Whirlwing all surfaced together, none of them looking any the worse for wear.
After Thunderstorm roared a report at the others, all of them visibly brightened and together they all flew home, with the hatchling riding on top of Whirlwing the thunderdrum's back to make things faster.
When they returned home, Thunderstorm and Viggo checked in with all the other dragons while Bewilderbreath and the hatchling settled themselves down, they especially focused on the night terrors, ordering them to be extra vigilant in their patrols of the island just in case.
Viggo also assigned their two changewings to fly to the island with orders to stay hidden and report back on whatever progress the trappers were making, especially if they decided to sail closer to his island in a few days after they fixed their ship.
But when all of that was complete, and Viggo had a filling meal of roasted fish, he once more checked on the hatchling.
When he entered the cave, he was splashing around in his pool happily it looked like he hadn't had enough swimming today, but when he saw Viggo quickly ran over to greet him by rubbing his head against his chest.
"Hey there little one, although I guess I won't be able to call you little one for much longer." Viggo joked, "I see you enjoyed today, and I hope you learned a lot too."
The hatchling looked into Viggo's eyes and nodded his head in understanding.
"Good, now today it was our job to protect you and keep you safe, but someday when you're big and strong, that job will fall to you. You are going to be the strongest of them all, I know it. But for now, don't grow up to fast eh? I still have plenty of time to teach you all that you're going to need to know. But I know you will be ready someday."
"Grrrr." The hatchling growled happily.
"But for now, how'd you like to play a game?" Viggo asked him.
The hatchling wagged his tail excitedly, nearly whipping Viggo's feet before he jumped out of the way.
"Ok head on outside, and you, Thunderstorm, Firestorm, and I can play out where we have room and it's safe," Viggo promised.
The hatchling ran out of the cave nearly as fast as a speedstinger, and after sharing one more amused smile with Bewilderbreath, Viggo followed him out, ready to keep learning as much about the hatchling as the hatchling was to keep learning about everything he would be one day soon.