Ittt was another day in the Dragon Lair, and the Riders were in the midst of feeding their dragons. Sadly, Eugene was taking his time feeding Webmaster at the feeding station.
"Ugh! Come on, Eugene," Jun groaned. "Is he done yet?"
"Yeah. Feathers is starving," said Alex.
"Blade could do with a snack as well," James added.
"Ah, be patient!" said Eugene. "Webmaster light to take his time chewing. Don't you, buddy? D'Angelo says that he has a very sensitive esoja…stomasasis."
"Oesophagus," D'Angelo corrected as he arrived.
"That's what I said," said Eugene. "So back off and give the dragon his time."
James looked at the girls. "We really should think about building a second feeding station?"
Jun turned to D'Angelo and noticed that he was carrying a back. "What's with the back?"
"Fellow Riders, I come bearing snacks," said D'Angelo. "My grandparents sent me a care package."
The girls immediately gasped in excitement.
"Now Eugene can wait his turn," Jun grinned.
They immediately approach D'Angelo, who tossed them some bags of treats, but Eugene snagged them before they had a chance to catch them.
"Too slow!" he laughed as he swooped in on Webmaster. "First dibs right here."
James and the girls did not look impressed, so Wu and Wei approached Eugene. Wei then roared in his face, and a split second later, the bags floated in midair, heading towards James and the girls.
"What?" Eugene stared. "Hey!"
Feathers then became visible; Wu and Wei had created a distraction for her to snack on the bags she gave to James and the girls.
"Thanks, D," Jun smiled.
"Just sharing the love," said D'Angelo, looking into the bag. "What else do we have here…?" He then suddenly gasped and closed the back. "And that's it. There's nothing else on the back. Nothing."
He then slowly walked away as James and the girls had their treats, but in so doing so, he provided that there was something else in the bag.
"What do you have over there?" Alex asked.
"Nothing," said D'Angelo, which would have been more convincing if he hadn't been talking with his mouth form.
"I smell chocolate and…" said Eugene, sniffing the air. "… coconut?"
D'Angelo then swallowed what was in his mouth as he stared at Eugene.
Eugene smirked. "That's right. My nose is world-class, and this guy's holding out on us."
Eugene then launched himself at D'Angelo but quickly backed away and dodged him. However, James and the girls were advancing towards him, looking at him suspiciously.
"What are you hiding?" Alex asked.
"And why are you hiding it?" Jun added.
"We're not going to give up until you tell us," said James.
"Come on, come on! Spill it!" Eugene demanded.
D'Angelo quickly put as much distance as he could but sighed, knowing that James was right.
"My grandma sent some other famous haystacks, okay?" he said, pulling some chocolate out of the back. "They're the most delicious creation on the planet! Creamy chocolate draped over crunchy coconut flakes for the perfect single bite."
All of them looked at D'Angelo with their mouths watering and watched as he ate one. He then quickly looked at them, noting the longing look in their eyes. "They're unshareable."
Everyone groaned in disappointment.
"Come on, guys! They're my favourite thing in the whole world!"
Plowhorn growled indignantly.
"Beside you, girl," D'Angelo added.
"D'Angelo, you know how chalky the chocolate is in the general store," said Alex.
"If you got the good stuff, you got to give it up!" said Eugene.
"Guys, if D'Angelo doesn't want to share, he doesn't have to share," said Jun.
"Thank you, Jun," said D'Angelo and ate one of the haystacks in front of them before walking away.
"Ugh, I really thought that reverse psychology thing would work," said Jun.
"I get the feeling that you develop that chocolate even if his life depended on it," said James.
"Then I guess it's back to Plan B," said Eugene, smashing his fist into his palm. "Brute force!"
"Guys!" Tom yelled as he entered the Lair, looking rather excited.
Thunder quickly dashed over to him and nuzzled him.
"Hey, Pal," said Tom, stroking him before looking back at the others. "I think I might have found the key to finally understanding my connection to Thunder and the Dragon Realms."
"Ooh, conspiracy theories!" said Alex, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "Hit me."
"I was thinking, why would my family have the Viking helmet that unlocked the box with this book unless the author was part of my family? But until I know his name, I can't know for sure. I mean, I kind of know what he looked like from drawings in the book and the wall of the cave in the Realm of Kings. And I know the word 'hiccup' is used to describe him, but that's probably because he had Viking indigestion. But if I know his real name, then I could at least try to find out who he was."
"So you didn't find his name?" said Jun.
"Yeah, cos if not, I was in the middle of shaking D'Angelo down for his haystacks," said Eugene.
D'Angelo glared at him and tightened his grip on the bag.
"Well… No, no," Tom admitted. "But look! This passage mentions his resting place." He then showed them a page in the book which depicted some stone marker. "Where there's a resting place, there's got to be a gravestone. And gravestones have names on them!"
"So, you want to look for a dead body?" said Alex, looking strangely excited. "I'm in."
"So I disappoint you, Alex, but Vikings burnt their dead not very," said James.
"And I'm not trying to find the guy himself; I want to find a gravestone," said Tom.
"Mm. That's fine too, I guess," Alex shrugged.
"Any idea where to start looking?" Jun asked.
"It's in the Nature Realm," said Tom as he mounted Thunder. "Come on, Pal. Today is the day we solved the mystery."
He then suddenly took off.
Eugene then approached D'Angelo. "Come on, D! Let's mount up!"
D'Angelo then felt something tugging on his back and looked down to see Webmaster had grabbed it.
"Seriously?!" D'Angelo moaned as he pulled the bag free. He then mounted Plowhorn and glared at Eugene. "You dragged Webmaster into this?"
Eugene watched as he took off, crossing his arms. "You've won this round, D, but it's not over yet. Oh, no. Not by a long shot."
The Dragon Riders soon reached the Nature Realm and flew over the vast rainforest.
"Look at this place," said Tom excitedly. "The colours are unreal."
"So, what does a Viking grave look like?" Jun asked. "An obelisk? Or like a henge, maybe?"
"I was thinking we'd find a rock with these designs around it and hopefully a name carved into it," said Tom.
"If we're going on an epic quest, I'm going to need my strength," said D'Angelo and then ate one of the haystacks.
Eugene took this opportunity by hanging upside down on Webmaster to grab the bag, but D'Angelo noticed this and quickly pulled it away from him.
"No!" he said and flew away from Eugene.
"Hey! I see rocks," Alex pointed. "There might be Vikings buried under them."
"Again, Vikings burnt their dead!" James reminded.
Tom looked down and saw the rocks and a clearing. "Good eyes, Alex! Let's see what we can find."
They landed in the clearing and began looking through the rocks for any Viking markings on them, but so far, they weren't having any luck.
"Whoa! Over here!" Eugene waved.
Tom, Jun and James quickly rushed over, expecting him to have found something. However, when they arrived, he merely gestured to a moss-covered rock.
"There's nothing on it," said Tom.
"Well, what do you call that?" Eugene asked, gesturing to the moss on this rock.
"Moss?" said Jun slowly, like she was talking to a child.
"Are you kidding?! It's Abraham Lincoln!" said Eugene.
Admittedly, the moss on the rock resembled Abraham Lincoln, hat and all, but Tom and the others were not amused.
"Eugene, this is serious," said Tom. "Don't you get what it's like to know you're connected to something and be so close to figuring it out? It's not a joke to me."
He then walked away, and Jun and James narrowed their eyes at Eugene.
"What?" he said, looking at them. "It's seriously looks like Abraham Lincoln! Or maybe it's that Colonel chicken guy."
James looked at Jun. "You sure he's your big brother?"
"Believe me, I find it hard to believe myself," said Jun, rolling her eyes.
D'Angelo pulled out another haystack and was about to eat it when he suddenly heard movement and assumed it was Eugene trying to help his haystacks again.
"I hear you, Eugene," he said, eating the haystack.
"What? You hear this, too?" said Eugene behind him, blowing a raspberry.
D'Angelo gulped, realising that the noise had not been Eugene and looked towards the bushes. "Anybody else here that?"
Everyone looked towards the bushes and could definitely hear some wrestling, but they couldn't see what was making it. Then suddenly, a vine wrapped itself around D'Angelo's bag of haystacks and snagged it.
"Hey! My haystacks!" D'Angelo yelled.
"Something's in the trees," said Tom as they saw movement in the branches.
Then, suddenly, they saw a dragon hanging upside down from one of the tree branches. It had force in the little legs and a long vine-like tail, and it was grasping D'Angelo's haystacks in its front claws.
"Aw. It's kind of cute," said Jun, looking at the others. "What the heck is it?"
"It's a dirty, rotten thief!" D'Angelo growled.
"Wait a second," said Tom as he looked through the Dragon Book. "It looks familiar. They're called Vine Tails!"
"And they just all my haystacks!" said D'Angelo. "How does that book say we get 'em back?!"
Before Tom could answer that question, a Vine Tail suddenly grabbed the book and pulled it out of his hands.
"The book!" Tom yelled. "They took the book!"
"Don't freak out, Tom," said Alex and then a Vine Tail swooped in and grabbed her tablet from her bag. "My tablet!"
The three Vine Tails mockingly showed off their stolen goods and then ran off.
"Get 'em!" Alex roared and ran after them.
She quickly mounted Feathers and began to pursue the Vine Tails, screaming the whole way.
"Alex, wait up!" Jun yelled, looking rather perplexed by Alex's behaviour. "You ever seen heard this mad?"
"She's mad?" said Tom as he and Thunder chased after the Vine Tails themselves. "Well, at least her tablet can be replaced. That book is old and priceless. It could fall apart at any second."
"They're going to eat all my haystacks!" D'Angelo moaned as he tried to grab the haystacks while the Vine Tails tossed them to one another as if they were playing piggy in the middle. "Or worse. What if they melt and go to waste?"
"Come on, focus," said Jun. "We'll get everything back."
"I can understand taking the haystacks, but why snag the Book of Dragons and Alex's tablet?" James asked.
"Who cares? All that matters is getting them back!" Alex yelled furiously.
Sadly, chasing after the Vine Tails was easier said than done. They were just so small and nimble that they were impossible to grab. Wu and Wei found that out the hard way when they tried to chase one of them and ended up head-butting into a tree.
"Jun!" Tom yelled.
Jun had been thrown off Wei's head and landed in the tree. "I'm fine. Just get the book!"
Tom and Thunder chased after the Vine Tail holding the book, which climbed up a nearby tree. Thunder climbed the tree after it, but it simply jumped down the moment he reached the top of it and ran in the opposite direction.
"Thunder! U-turn!" Tom yelled as they jumped out of the tree and spun around.
"I'll cut 'em off!" said D'Angelo, chasing after the Vine Tail with his haystacks.
Unfortunately, when they reached the corner, Tom suddenly jumped in front of them, chasing his Vine Tail.
"Watch out!" D'Angelo yelled.
Plowhorn flew into the air just in time and flew over Tom and Thunder.
"That was too close," said Tom.
The Vine Tail with Alex's tablet was playing with it when it was suddenly pulled out of its claws. Feathers then became visible and gave Alex her tablet back, much to her relief.
"That's my girl," Alex smiled, stroking her and looked up at the Vine Tail. "You're not the only one that can sneak up on someone!"
Sadly, a Vine Tail swooped in and grabbed the tablet from her hand before she had any time to react.
"Feathers! Get that thing!" Alex commanded.
Then she and Feathers chased after the Vine Tail.
D'Angelo was still chasing after his. "Come on, girl!"
The Vine Tail then dropped the bag of haystacks to avoid hitting a branch, much to D'Angelo's horror.
"No!" he cried.
Eugene then swooped in and grabbed the bag before it hit the ground. "Eugene saves the day! And these babies are m…"
Webmaster then flew underneath a tree branch, which struck Eugene hard in the chest, and he collapsed to the ground, still holding the bag of haystacks.
"Yoink," said D'Angelo, grabbing the back from him. "Thanks for the assist."
"Thank me with chocolate!" said Eugene.
D'Angelo merely laughed.
The Vine Tails still had their claws on the Book of Dragons and Alex's tablet, and they were now tossing them to one another.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Tom panicked. "No, be careful with that!"
"If they crack my screen, I swear…" Alex growled.
The Vine Tails began hopping from branch to branch, but Wu and Wei jumped in, unleashing a cloud of mist. The Vine Tail holding Alex's tablet dropped it, much to her distress.
"My baby!" Alex cried and immediately jumped off of Feathers and somehow caught the tablet. She immediately began to hug it as if it was a baby. "It's okay. Mama's here."
Tom was still chasing after the Vine Tail with the book, and he was slowly getting closer and closer to it.
"Just… a little… bit more…" he said as he stretched his hand.
The Vine Tail then tossed the book to a Vine Tail in the trees, but Plowhorn flew out of nowhere and grabbed it with her mouth.
"Woohoo!" D'Angelo cried. "It's a Plowhorn interception."
Then, one of the Vine Tails bit down on the book and tried to pull it out of Plowhorn's grip.
"Ha! This dragon thinks it can win a tug-of-war with Plowhorn?" Tom laughed.
"Yeah, right," said D'Angelo smugly. "You got another thing coming, little buddy."
However, a second Vine Tail bit down on the first one's tail, followed closely by a third and a fourth, quickly followed by a fifth. More and more Vine Tails began biting down on each other's tails, forming a rope of some kind until it reached the trees. With all the now pulling together, they were actually winning the tug-of-war with Plowhorn.
"Uh, Tom?" said D'Angelo as Plowhorn struggled to hold onto the book. "Plow's going to need a hand!"
"Seriously?" Tom stared. "Come on, Pal. We can't let them get the book."
Thunder then bit down on Plowhorn's tail and helped her pull, but even with his help, they still struggled with the Vine Tails.
"These guys are strong," said Jun.
"Especially when they work together," said James.
"It's okay. Nothing can out-pull Plow," said D'Angelo confidently.
"D? Are you sure?" Tom asked uncertainly.
A few seconds later, Plowhorn lost her grip on the book, and both she and Thunder were flung backwards. On the other hand, the Vine Tails scampered off into the rainforest with the Book of Dragons.
"They got the book," said Tom. "And the canopy's too thick to fly after them."
"Don't worry. We'll get it back," said Jun assuring. "Maybe we'll have better luck on the ground."
They began making their way through the trees, following the trail of the Vine Tails until they reached a clearing. In the clearing, they could see a massive tree in the centre, and strange flowers were growing around the clearing. Tom looked around and saw the Vine Tails on the edge of the clearing.
"There they are," said Tom.
The Vine Tail held the book and then dropped it on the ground.
"Look! They dropped it!" Alex pointed. "Now's our chance."
"Thunder, you think you can fly at them?" Tom asked.
"Don't," said Jun. "Chasing after them didn't work. They'll just take the book and run again."
"Then, we need a way to bring them to us," Tom concluded.
"But how?" James asked.
They then heard D'Angelo eating one of his haystacks, which gave them an idea. D'Angelo looked at them and realised what they had in mind, and he was completely against it.
"Oh, come on!" D'Angelo groaned, shielding his bag of haystacks. "Nuh-uh! No! No!"
"It was the first thing they stole," said Jun.
"We're not using my haystacks to bribe those things into giving us the book back?" said D'Angelo stubbornly.
"You don't think they'll like them?" said Eugene.
"It's impossible not to like these!"
"Prove it," said Eugene, opening his mouth.
"D, please. The sooner we get the book back, the sooner we can look for the resting place," Tom begged.
"And that book is one-of-a-kind, while you can easily get more haystacks from your grandmother," James added.
D'Angelo groaned.
They soon mounted their dragons and slowly approached the Vine Tails so as not to spook them.
"My grandma only sent me these once a year, but sure!" D'Angelo moaned. "Let's get them to some random dragons we just met! Probably won't even savour them."
While they were making their way through the clearing, no one noticed that the vines on the ground had begun to move.
"Everyone. Take it easy," said Tom and looked up at D'Angelo. "D! You got this!"
D'Angelo sighed and held out the haystacks, but when Plowhorn tried to get closer to the Vine Tails, she found that her legs were now wrapped in vines.
"Keep going!" said Tom.
"I'm trying," said D'Angelo. "Plow stopped."
Their dragons then noticed for the first time that their legs were now wrapped in vines and tried to free themselves.
"Is something wrong?" Tom asked, looking down at Thunder as he struggled to free himself.
Tom looked down and saw the vines wrapped around his legs. "Hey, guys? These vines. Thunder's tangled in them."
"He's not the only one," said James, noting that Blade was in the same predicament. "Blade's a little tied up as well."
"Wu and Wei are, too," said Jun.
"What kind of plants are these?" Alex asked.
Tom then saw the flower heads opening; inside, he could see a massive array of teeth.
"Agh! The dragon-eating kind!" he yelled.
Everyone immediately began to panic, though Eugene was the only one screaming.
"Plow! Come on, girl!" D'Angelo yelled.
The vines then suddenly began to wrap around Wu and Wei's necks.
"Get off them!" Jun yelled.
"No, no, no, no!" Eugene screamed as Webmaster was being dragged nearer to one of the coniferous plants. "Quick! Feed them your coconut things!"
"The plants?!" D'Angelo stared. "That is a crime!"
"Agh! We're on the menu next!" Eugene yelled.
"D! You're close enough to that clearing to jump free of them!" Alex yelled.
"You wanna leave our dragons?" D'Angelo stared.
"We can't do any good for them here! We're sitting ducks!" said Jun.
"Jun's right," Tom nodded. "We can find a way to help them there. But over here, we're just plant food. Come on!"
They began jumping from dragon to dragon until they reached the clearing, and then they turned to their dragons.
"Okay. These things must have a weakness," said Tom.
"Tom…" said D'Angelo.
They turned around and saw that the Vine Tails were now approaching them, and they were trapped in the middle between them and the coniferous plants.
"This just got worse," said Jun.
"We're caught in a death sandwich!" said Eugene and then glared at Tom. "All this to find some dumb name on a gravestone? Way to go, Kullersen!" He then looked at D'Angelo and his bag of haystacks. "At least there's time for one last meal, I mean…"
D'Angelo then pulled the bag away from him.
The Vine Tails continued to approach them, hissing and spitting.
"We're dead," said Eugene, closing his eyes and waiting for the end.
The Vine Tails then charged them, and they all screamed, but instead, they ran right past them, dropping the Book of Dragons in the process.
"Any second now!" said Eugene, who still had his eyes closed.
Tom then picked up the Book of Dragons, perplexed. "They gave the book back?"
"Uh, guys, you might want to look at this," said James.
They turned and saw that the Vine Tails were now using their dragons as stepping stones towards the large tree in the centre of the clearing, avoiding the vines in the process. They immediately climbed up the tree and began eating the fruit that was growing on it.
"They used us," said Jun.
"They took our stuff to lure us here," said Tom.
"So they could get the fruit from a tree," said James.
"Some mammals in the wild understand basic bartering," said D'Angelo. "Manipulation! Trading goods for services."
"Who manipulates people for food?" said Eugene, sounding disgusted.
Both James and D'Angelo just gave him dry looks.
"Really, I can't imagine who would do that," said James.
"We can't worry about that right now," said Tom. "Our dragons won't last much longer with those carnivorous plants."
Tom was right; the carnivorous plants were now pulling the dragons closer towards them.
"Thunder, fire!" Tom ordered.
Thunder then fired a lightning blast at one of the plants; Wu, Wei and Feathers followed his example using their own blasts.
"Plow! Hit 'em with the loog!" D'Angelo ordered.
"Blade, open fire!" James yelled.
The two dragons then blasted the carnivorous plants; at first, it looked like their attacks had worked. However, the plant quickly recovered and began snarling at the dragons even more fiercely.
"It's not working!" said Jun.
"These plans seem to be dragon-proof!" said Tom.
"Blade would be able to cut those vines if he could spread his wings," said James.
"If blasts won't work, what will?" D'Angelo asked.
Eugene then pushed them aside and charged at one of the plants. "Brute force!"
He began kicking one of the plants, but brute force proved ineffective. The plant merely snarled at Eugene, and he quickly hit behind the boys.
"Maybe we should fight vines with vines," said Tom.
The Riders managed to find a vine and toss it over to Plowhorn, who bit down hard on it.
"All right, everybody. On three!" said Tom as they all grabbed hold of the vine. "One, two, three!"
They pulled on the vine with all their might, but no matter how hard they pulled, Plowhorn didn't move an inch. Eventually, all the polling caused the vine to snap, and every single one of them fell over.
"It's not strong enough," said Tom.
"Nothing strong enough to pull them free, and we're running out of time," said Jun.
Tom began thinking of a new idea, and that's when he heard the chirping sounds of the Vine Tail. He looked up and saw one of them had bit down or tell one another, swinging him over to some fruit. He instantly remembered all the working together to pull the Book of Dragons out of Plowhorn's mouth.
This gave him an idea, and he immediately rushed over to Alex. "Alex, I need to borrow this."
He then took her tablet out of her hands before she could respond.
"Hey! Not cool!" she yelled.
Tom then began using the dragons to reach the tree.
"Tom!" D'Angelo yelled.
"What are you doing?!" Jun asked.
"I have an idea," he said. "Trust me!"
He reached the tree's base, but then one of the vines approached him.
"Look out!" D'Angelo warned.
Thunder quickly fired a lightning blast at the vine before it could grab Tom.
"Thanks, Pal," said Tom gratefully. "I'm going to get you out of here. I promise."
He climbed up the tree where the Vine Tails were still eating the fruit.
"Psst! Hey!" said Tom to one of them. "Listen. We need your help."
The Vine Tail didn't look interested and began swinging his tail like a whip.
"No, no, no, no, no, no! Look," said Tom as he pulled out the book and tablet. "Here. For you. Trade."
The Vine Tail just gave him a confused look.
"You can have this stuff if you help us," said Tom, gesturing to the dragons.
The Vine Tail then used his tail to snag the book and tablet and then ran off.
"Wait. Wait, no. No!" Tom yelled as the Vine Tail joined the others. "You have to help us! It's called bartering! I give you this, and you help! Not cool!"
One of the carnivorous plants then bit down on Plowhorn; fortunately, her shell was hard enough to prevent the tea from sinking into her. However, the other dragons didn't look as fortunate, and in any second, plants could attack them.
The Vine Tail roared at the others and quickly ran down the tree.
Thunder was getting dragged closer and closer towards one of the plants. That was when the Vine Tails sprang into action using the same formation they used to get the book from Plowhorn. One of them then landed on Thunder's saddle.
"What are they doing?" Alex asked.
"They're going to help us!" Jun beamed.
"Trust him, Pal," said Tom encouragingly. "It's okay."
The Vine Tail then tightened his grip by wrapping his tail around Thunder's saddle. The other Vine Tails then began pulling with all their strength.
Eugene looked at D'Angelo. "You think this could work, D?"
"They out-pulled Plowhorn before," said D'Angelo. "If this doesn't work, nothing will."
"I just hope they're able to do it in time before our dragons become food," said James.
Tom assisted the Vine Tails by grabbing hold of one of them, and they continued to pull. The vines continued to tighten their grip on Thunder's legs, but despite this, they were lifting him. With one final good pull, they managed to yank Thunder out of the grips of the vines.
The Dragon Riders immediately cheered upon seeing this.
"Yeah, Thunder!" Tom cheered. "Think you can help us, Pal?"
Thunder growled, and the Vine Tails jumped onto his back. Then, they reached out to Wu and Wei just like they did with Thunder, but with him now helping them, they had a much easier time rescuing the two-headed dragon.
They did the same for Plowhorn, who was the hardest to rescue due to her weight. However, with one good pull, they freed her from the vines and the flower that was trying to eat her. They then did the same thing for Blade.
Tom then looked at Feathers and Webmaster. "Don't worry! You're next."
Rescuing both Feathers and Webmaster was relatively easy, and all the dragons quickly flew back to their riders, who were relieved that they were safe.
"Yes!" said Eugene, stroking Webmaster.
"You have me worried there, girl," said D'Angelo, hugging Plowhorn.
"So glad you're back," Alex told Feathers, then looked at Tom. "Of course, it would be nice to have my tablet, too."
"Not to mention the Dragon Book," James added.
"Yeah, about that," said Tom. "These dragons like to trade, and they still need help getting back and forth to that tree."
"I'm not staying here forever playing Dragon Dash Delivery Boy for those things," said Eugene stubbornly.
Tom then looked at one of the Vine Tails, who was standing on a rock, which gave him an idea. "I don't think we need to."
Moments later, they mounted their dragons and began making their way to the rock field they found earlier.
"Smallest to largest," said Tom. "That big one is all you, Plowhorn."
"She's on it," said D'Angelo as they flew down to the biggest rock. "Giddy up, girl."
They all grabbed some rocks and then flew back towards the clearing. Once there, they began dropping the stones, forming a path for the Vine Tails to go back and forth to the tree.
Once the rocks were placed, the Vine Tails tried out and discovered that the vines could no longer reach them. This enabled them to reach the tree and grab the fruit without the need of tricking any would-be dragon.
"It works!" Jun beamed. "Look at them go!"
"No need to trick any unexpected dragons now, right?" said Tom to the Vine Tails.
The Vine Tails agreed and ran back to the tree, dropping both the book and tablet onto the ground.
"The book!" Tom beamed the moment it hit the ground.
"They dropped my tablet!" Alex panicked. "It's past warranty!"
They immediately made their way to the tree to collect their items.
"Not a scratch," said Tom, relieved as he retrieved the book.
Alex checked to see if her tablet was still working, then looked up at the Vine Tails. "You are so-o-o lucky this still turns on."
She then hissed at the Vine Tails, and they immediately scampered off.
Tom then turned to the others. "Now, I think if we had back to the bouldered area, we can still…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" said Jun abruptly. "You're not seriously going to keep looking for that resting place after all we've been through today?"
"Well, I mean, that is why we're down here," said Tom.
"Uh, that's going to be a hard no from me because Eugene the machine needs his rest," said Eugene as he sat down at the tree. "I know you don't understand, but being this awesome really takes it outta you."
Tom looked at where he was sitting and noticed it looked familiar. "Eugene…" He then quickly looked at the book, and the drawing matched where Eugene was seated. "I think… the drawing isn't a gravestone or a carved rock. It's the base of a tree. This tree! The book wasn't talking about a final resting place. It was a place he came to relax."
Jun looked over his shoulder and saw that he was right. "Those aren't Viking carvings. They're roots."
"Huh?" said Eugene, a little confused, and seconds later realised what they were getting at and sat up. "Oh, yeah. Of course. And, uh, I discovered it, so you're welcome. Pop a squat, Kullersen."
Tom did need to be told twice and sat down at the base of the tree and looked at the view. He watched as the Vine Tails scampered off, and he could see why his ancestor chose this place to relax.
"It wasn't wrong. This is a pretty nice resting place," he said.
Jun then noticed some carvings on the tree. "Hey, Tom. They're something carved into the tree."
"What?" Tom gasped and quickly went to investigate.
Indeed, there were some carvings on the tree, and they looked like Viking runes. Excited, he immediately opened the book and began to translate it.
"What's it say?" Jun asked.
"Yeah! Don't keep us hangin'!" said D'Angelo excitedly. "Does it say Kullersen?"
"Or is it a Viking death curse?" Alex asked. "'All who sit in this tree chair are doomed.'"
"Don't keep us in suspense," said James.
"It says… Haddock," said Tom, immediately crestfallen.
"Haddock. Like the fish?" said Jun slowly.
"Ha! All this was a wild fish chase?" Eugene laughed and then noticed the glares from everyone. "That stinks, man."
"To be honest, we would be lucky if we found the word Kullersen to begin with," said James, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't forget this is over a thousand years ago, and odds are his last name properly died in the male line. He may still very well have descendants, but they may not share his last name."
"So you mean I've been wasting my time," said Tom, looking disappointed.
"Look, it's just another dead end," said Jun gently. "It doesn't mean there aren't more answers out there."
"And we'll find," James promised.
"Sorry, Tom," said Alex.
D'Angelo then walked up. "Even though you didn't find any answers about your family, maybe I can share a little bit of mine."
He then held out his haystacks, and Tom ate one of them. "Oh, wow!"
D'Angelo began sharing them with the rest of the Riders. "I'll share with all of you because you're my best…" He stopped when he looked at Eugene, who reached into the bag. "…buds."
"Even me?" Eugene asked.
D'Angelo just narrowed his eyes. "Just eat the chocolate."
"Mm. You weren't kidding," said Jun as she ate her haystack. "These are amazing."
"It's the best chocolate in the entire world," said James.
"Your grandmother is… Mm, wow," said Alex with her mouth full of chocolate. She then noticed that he wasn't having any. "Aren't you going to have any?"
"I may have eaten too many," D'Angelo groaned embarrassingly.
Everyone then laughed.
Tom made his way home, and his mother looked up from her work as he entered.
"Hey, boyo," she said as he sat beside her. "Everything okay?"
"Eh…"
"That good, huh?"
"I've been trying to figure something out," he said, holding up the Dragon Book. "I thought whoever wrote this book might be connected to me in some way."
"Tom…" Olivia gasped as she looked at the book. "Where did you find this?"
Tom instantly remembered that he never told his mother about the book. "Uh-huh, it-it's a long story. I'm trying to figure out who wrote it. But all I found was the word 'haddock'."
Olivia's eyes lit up. "Haddock?"
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure a fish didn't write the book," Tom grumbled.
"Tom…" said Olivia slowly.
"What is it, Mom?" Tom frowned.
"Haddock isn't just a fish. It's also a name," she said. "My great-grandfather was a Haddock."
"Really?!" Tom gasped. "That means we're Haddocks, too. And the author of the book was named Hiccup Haddock. And we had the helmet. And I found the box. And then this book…"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Tom," said his mother. "What are you saying?"
"This Hiccup guy seemed to be the greatest Dragon Rider ever. And I'm related to him. We both are. What am I supposed to do with that?"
"I guess that's up to you, boyo."
"Tell me more, Mom. I want to know everything there is to know about our family. Starting with my great-great-grandaddy."
"Well, he was a very big man with a very big beard, and he loved onion rings."
They then spent the rest of the evening talking about their family.