Lightning And Death Itself Chapter 11
In the middle of the night, Hiccup awoke, feeling like insects were buzzing behind his eyes and inside his teeth. He shook his head, trying to make the feeling go away. He heard Toothless and Astrid stirring beside him.
"Up and at 'em," Toothless groaned. "That's the go-out signal we're feeling. The Mother is hungry. That obnoxious feeling fades once we get far enough away from the nest." All around them, they could hear dragons stirring and launching themselves into the air. As they took flight, they would spiral upwards along the walls and up the volcanic cone. There were no mid-air collisions, even among the clumsy Gronckles. When Toothless joined the pattern, Hiccup and Astrid followed him.
In the cold air above the island, the dragons milled about in a cloud. A Monstrous Nightmare bellowed for attention. "Listen up, everyone! Here's the plan. Everyone who was nesting on the east side, you're going to the place of the big spears. Everyone on the west, we're going to the place with the circles. Fly carefully, and good hunting!"
Toothless turned to his friends. "Hiccup, you go with that group, to the place of the big spears. Astrid, I think you should stay with me on this first raid. There are some things I haven't had a chance to teach you yet."
"Toothless, you're sending me alone?! I've never done this before! I'm going to mess it up for sure!"
"No, you won't," Toothless answered. "Hiccup messes things up. New-night-fury is an awesome fighting dragon. I've seen what you can do. I know you'll do just fine." He tapped Hiccup's wingtip with his own. "Make sure they all know you're there. Make me proud!" Toothless turned away to follow his group, with Astrid close behind him.
Hiccup joined a flock of about fifty dragons, feeling scared and out of place. Make sure they all know I'm here? I think I can do that right. He flew a swooping zigzag course above the flock, working his way toward the front of the formation. Soon he could hear them passing the word around – "We've got a Night Fury this time!" "New-night-fury is with us!" "There he is! We're safe now!" He was staggered and humbled to think that he, Hiccup, could have such an effect on such powerful creatures. Could he be worthy of such trust?
In the center of the flock was a green Zippleback whose heads were snapping out orders to the others. She seemed to be in charge, so Hiccup flew close to her. "Excuse me, but what can you tell me about this place with the big spears?"
One head turned to face him. "It's a human place. It's not on the water, so there are no fish, but they have plenty of four-legged livestock. It got its name because someone there throws big spears at us. We've never seen him, but we see the spears. If they hit us in the wings or the tail, they make nasty wounds. If they hit the neck or the body..." She didn't finish the thought.
"I'll do what I can," Hiccup promised, and resumed his sweeping course. I just committed to killing a powerful warrior. Can I do this? Do I want to do this?
By the time the village came into view, he was in out in front of the formation. His huge, night-adapted eyes scanned the scene. He could see the houses with their fire-pits banked low, the tradesmen's buildings, the storage sheds, and six big catapults spread equally around the town. Those catapults were his first targets.
He went through the mental checklist Toothless had taught him to use before every attack:
Entry route? Straight ahead.
Other dragons getting in the way? None; they're all behind me.
Target? The nearest catapult.
Nearby defenses? I don't see any.
Exit route? That way.
Emergency escape route? Over that way.
Fires ready? He sparked the beginnings of a fireball.
Here we go!
He folded his wings and dove. He felt his speed building up, heard the telltale whistle of air rushing between wings and sub-wings. The diving attack didn't just make him a hard target; the faster and longer he dove, the more power it gave to his fireball. He felt his fires rising, controlled them, focused on his target...
He heard his own voice echoing in his mind: "This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and never misses." Now 'this thing' is me.
He fired. A second later, the catapult was blasted to bits. It hadn't even been manned yet, which made him glad; he hadn't had to hurt anybody. Behind him, the other dragons poured into the village.
He swooped upward and searched for his next target. Torches were being lit all over the town; men and women rushed to the defenses or tried to fight back. He saw another catapult nearby, and close to it was an odd-looking device on a wheeled frame. Hiccup's technical mind analyzed it, figured out how it worked, guessed what it was used for... He turned on a wingtip, dove at the machine, and blew it into smoking fragments.
As he pulled out of his dive, the Zippleback leader crossed in front of him. "New-night-fury, did my eyes deceive me, or did you just miss that catapult?"
"Neither one, Two-heads-green-very-bossy," Hiccup called back. "That machine I hit – that's what throws the big spears. I'm sure they have others; I'll be hunting them down."
"Oh! In that case, thank you!" The raid was in full swing now. All over the town, Hiccup could see the burning-bright shafts of Nadder fire, the flashing bolts from the Gronckles, the spreading rivers of flame from the Nightmares, and the occasional glowing blast from a Zippleback. He could hear the shouts of the men fighting back. It was such a familiar sound. It used to be good news to his ears, but things had changed.
He wrecked another catapult, then blew out a large torch that was ruining his night vision. It was thrilling, to turn his full power loose and see what he could really do! He circled the town for a few seconds until he saw another spear machine. This one was manned and was being aimed at somebody. Hiccup hesitated for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and rolled into his dive. He heard someone scream, "Night Fury! Hit the dirt!" The machine's crew threw themselves flat on the ground just before his fireball hit. The flaming debris flew harmlessly over them, but the blast would probably leave them half-deaf for hours.
He spent the next half hour searching for and destroying anything that looked like a threat to the other dragons. Five of the six catapults would have to be rebuilt from the foundations up, and he took out a third spear machine. He wasn't sure if he'd hit any people; he hoped not. He didn't stop until he saw the dragons leaving with their prey.
He found Two-heads-green-very-bossy and asked how the raid had gone.
"In terms of food, not bad. A few of us are coming back light, but the Mother should be happy. In terms of losses, two Nadders and two Gronckles aren't coming back."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Hiccup said. He realized that some of those Nadders and Gronckles might have been the ones who were so excited to meet him earlier in the day.
"New-night-fury, don't you understand what that means? We usually lose nine or ten when we raid the place of the big spears! Any losses are sad, but four is much better than we expected. And no one saw any big spears at all!" She slid sideways in the air and tapped his wingtip with hers. "Either you're an excellent fighter, or you're good luck. Either way, thank you!"
"Yes, thank you!" said a nearby Nadder, who also sideslipped and tapped wingtips with him. He quickly caught on to what was expected of him. He made his way around the entire flock, collecting wing-taps and thanks from everyone he met, especially the large dragons who would have been prime targets for the big spears. They treated him like some kind of hero.
He felt very, very good. His unique mix of dragon abilities and human experience had proved very useful tonight. He hadn't messed up, he'd saved some lives, and he'd made Toothless proud.
With a jolt, he realized something else. He'd done exactly what Toothless would have done, with little thought or hesitation. Aside from figuring out what the spear machines did, there had been nothing of Hiccup in his thoughts at all. This was only his first raid. How long would it take before Hiccup was completely gone, and only New-night-fury was left?