Colossal Cave Chapter 7

The Night Furies sat and watched as the two Red Deaths slowly drew closer to their village and their nest. No one had any idea what the huge dragons intended, except that it probably wouldn't be good for the Vikings of Berk. Some of those Vikings were also watching the Red Deaths approach. They nervously fingered their weapons, as though human-sized spears and axes would make any impact on a four-hundred-foot-long dragon with scales that could withstand a Night Fury firebolt.

Full-of-surprises wasn't happy. This was the first real test of her Alpha abilities, and those enormous dragons were way out of her league. "Dad, would it work if I tried to control them? After all, they're in my territory now."

"Alphas can't control each other," Toothless answered for him. "That's why they fight for dominance. If it was just a question of control, then the stronger one would simply order the weaker one to leave and never come back. That would carry a lot less risk of injury for both of them. But it doesn't work."

"Does that mean they might fight me for dominance?" Full-of-Surprises didn't like that idea at all.

"If they do, then we'll all fight beside you," her mother said firmly, and all the other Night Furies nodded. The new Alpha felt a little better after hearing that.

"In any event," Hiccup added, "we've agreed that this is my problem, not yours. And I think they're getting close to being in firing range of the village. It's time for us to warn them off." The adult Night Fury populations of Berk, Dragon Island, and Outcast Island rose into the air and headed toward the monstrous intruders. Hiccup noticed that their rough gaggle shifted into a broad cone formation as they flew, with himself at the tip. Was Full-of-Surprises organizing them for more effective fighting? A real Alpha dragon could do that easily. It was unnerving to realize that his daughter could influence his actions without him realizing that he was being controlled. At the same time, it also gave him a measure of comfort. That kind of coordination would be a huge help if they had to start flaming other dragons. He really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

For a moment, he wondered where his daughter had gotten her amazing ability. It must be from her mother's side of the family, he decided; Astrid had always had a much stronger personality than he did. But he couldn't dwell on those thoughts. He had a crisis on his hands. Well, paws.

"Red Deaths!" he roared. "Back off! This human village is under our protection. Don't come any closer."

"If destroying that village was our intent, do you really think you could stop us?" Tarpits bellowed back.

"I didn't mention this when we were trying to be friendly," Hiccup shouted, "but three of us have already fought a Red Death, and the Red Death lost. Today, there are two of you and fifteen of us. Yes, I think we could stop you. But before we start a war that might be senseless, we need to know – what is your intent?"

Bigsmark separated slightly from her mate. "Our intent is to keep you guessing until the last minute! Why should we tell you our plans in advance?"

Full-of-Surprises answered that. "Because if you don't, then we'll have to assume the worst, and act accordingly. That probably won't end well for you."

Tarpits regarded her intently with all six eyes. "Ahh, you must be the new Alpha that our dragons told us about, the small dragon with big words. Well, I'm a big dragon! Would you care to try conclusions with me? The winner will rule all the nests?"

"We all stand together, just like you and your mate will stand together," Hiccup shouted back. "And if you take five more flaps toward my village, then I'll do whatever it takes to safeguard the people I'm sworn to protect." His back began shining blue from within as he readied his fires. All around him, he could hear similar powering-up sounds.

The Red Deaths slowed, hesitated, then turned away. They glided down and landed heavily on the rocky beach, scattering the loose rocks as they skidded to a halt. Hiccup let his fires power down and quietly said to Astrid, "They know we can hurt them, or they wouldn't have backed off."

"Just remember, they can hurt us, too," she cautioned him. They landed in a half-circle around the Red Deaths, spacing themselves so their adversaries couldn't flame more than one of them at once, and this time, First-girl didn't crowd her father.

"Firstly, who speaks for the dragons here?" Tarpits demanded. "Two weeks ago, we were negotiating with Chief-night-fury. Now there is a new Alpha among you, but the so-called chief still leads the formation. Explain this odd arrangement."

Before Hiccup could answer, Full-of-Surprises shouted, "The explanation is that we want to keep you guessing until the last moment! Why should we explain our arrangements to you?"

"Well played," Toothless murmured.

"In any event," Bigsmark rumbled, "being on land suits our purposes better than being in the air. Now you can't shoot us down! If we chose, we could walk to your village, and you could do nothing to stop us. All we would have to do is sit down, and half your buildings would be reduced to ruins, along with the people inside them." She paused, waiting for a reaction. "Where are your big words now?"

"You're right – we couldn't stop you," Hiccup admitted. "But we can still shoot your wings so full of holes that you'll never fly again. You'll be stranded on this island forever! Your grand dream of locking yourselves away in your nest will be over; someone else will have to rule your dragons for you. And it will be just a matter of time before the Vikings want their island back, and they figure out a way to hurt you for keeps. If you start a war with us, it won't matter who wins, because you'll lose."

"We can swim," Tarpits warned him.

"Not very fast, I'm sure," Hiccup answered. "How many months of swimming and walking would it take for you to get back to your nest? Would your dragons think you were gone forever and give up on your dream? Even if they all stay, how does the idea of never flying again strike you? Every dragon I've ever met would be horrified at the thought! And as soon as the first Viking dies, I and my whole family are lost to you forever. How high a price are you willing to pay for your easy victory over my humans?"

The two Red Deaths looked at each other, blinked, and seemed to shudder for a moment. They probably just exchanged a TrueSight to see if they both think I'm right, Hiccup realized. If we were already at war, that would have been the perfect moment for us to strike.

"It appears that we are at an impasse," Tarpits finally said. "We will not leave without adding Night Furies to our nest, and you will not join us, even though you admit that our plan is a good one. One side or the other needs to find a good reason to yield."

"How about, 'If you don't yield, then we'll kill you?' " Astrid shouted. "Does that work for you?"

"But we'll take a good-sized chunk of your village down with us," Bigsmark retorted. "You're one of the transformed dragons, am I correct? You have human family members in that village? Your mate told us about one of them. Are you willing to gamble that I won't step on your brother if a war breaks out here?" Astrid looked dismayed and said nothing.

"Yup, that's an impasse," Faithful-brother said to Smith-flies-for-fun, but the expression on his face was anything but flippant.

After a few seconds, they noticed Chief-night-fury glance toward Full-of-Surprises, blink, and shudder. She also shuddered and blinked twice, then called to the Red Deaths, "You will excuse us for a moment. I want to talk to my father." The two of them stepped aside, joined after a moment by Mother-of-twins and Toothless. They conferred energetically for about five minutes; then the four of them approached the Red Deaths, stopping just short of their fire range.

"We'll make you an offer," Full-of-Surprises shouted. "We will gather all the dragons from all three of our nests, and you can present your plan to them in detail. Then we, the leaders of the nests, will explain why we aren't rushing to get on board with your plan. After that, if any of our dragons wants to go with you, then we'll let them go – no pressure, no questions asked. That includes the Night Furies. But once the speeches have been given and the decisions have been made, you will leave Berk, and you and your dragons will never come back. Do we have a deal?"

The two Red Deaths conferred quietly. "This offer of yours probably doesn't bring any Night Furies into our nest," Tarpits decided. "That was the whole reason we came here in the first place."

"There is nothing you can do to force us to join you," Hiccup answered. "The only way you'll get any Night Furies from this nest system is to talk us into it. We're giving you the chance to do that. The only alternatives for you are to give up and leave, or to attack. If you leave, you'll get no dragons from our nests, and if you start a fight here, I can personally guarantee you that none of us will ever join you. This is the best offer you're going to get."

The huge intruders discussed it again. "When would this grand meeting take place?" Bigsmark asked.

"Tonight," Full-of-Surprises said. "I think the Dragon Island nest will be the best place for it; it's big enough for all of us, we know that your kind can fit there, and there are no humans there for you to use as hostages for your bargaining. We'll bring our dragons there at sunset."

"I will bring my nest as well," New-beginning added.

"What are we supposed to do until then?" Tarpits demanded.

"You can stay right where you are," Full-of-Surprises ordered.

"Or you can fly in circles over the ocean," Hiccup added, "as long as you're out of sight of the village. I don't want my Vikings getting worked into a panic at the sight of you."

"Neither of those choices is very comfortable for dragons of our size," Bigsmark complained.

"What can we say?" Faithful-brother piped up. "You didn't tell us in advance that you were coming to kill our loved ones, so we didn't have time to arrange anything more comfortable for you."

"That isn't going to help," Hiccup hissed at him, but he didn't look unhappy about it. Thing One and Thing Two were trying not to giggle, in spite of the seriousness of the situation.

"This is my nest on my island," Full-of-Surprises went on. "I call the shots here, not you. You're lucky we're offering you a choice."

"Could we spend the afternoon in this Dragon Island nest?" Tarpits asked.

"Many of my dragons have vivid memories of a Red Death living in their nest," Toothless answered with a firm headshake. "Bad memories! If you spend any time there before the big meeting, my dragons will be so stressed-out and nervous, they won't hear a word you say. It will be best if you show up on time, not beforehand."

"Very well," said Bigsmark with a draconic shrug. "We'll stay here until just before sunset, then fly to your Dragon Island nest." Four of her eyes snapped shut. "If you betray our agreement in any way, then I promise you, your Vikings' blood will flow!"

"If you betray our agreement," Full-of-Surprises said shortly, "then your blood will flow," and she glared up at the much bigger dragon, unafraid. All the other Night Furies nodded in agreement.