Night Furies: the Next Generation Chapter 6
On the third morning, they got into some trouble.
They had camped in a narrow clearing at the edge of a frozen lake, with trees all around them. The humans had just finished tying up their sleeping rolls and folding their tent when about twenty armed warriors in fur hats burst out of the forest with a roar and rushed at them.
"Fly!" Agmundr shouted. "They will catch you! Do not want!" The four Night Furies realized they could be easily speared if they stayed on the ground, so they reluctantly sprang into the air, easily outdistancing the three or four spears that were thrown at them. They gained height, keeping their eyes on their human friends through the trees, and circled to decide what to do next.
"As long as they're in the woods, there isn't much we can do," Night-fury-makes-one-heck-of-a-bang decided. "We can't see clearly to know what's going on. It looks like they're headed east."
"Those hunters weren't carrying heavy packs, so they must live near here," Night-fury-six-shooter added. "If our friends get taken into a village, we might never find them from the air. We have to do something before they get that far."
"Smallest-girl, do something useful," Bang ordered. "Fly to the east for a mile or two, and see if you can find their village. Newest-boy, you go southeast; Six, go northeast. Once we know where they're probably going, we can plan something. I'll stay here and keep an eye on them." The flock of Night Furies scattered.
A few minutes later, they returned, one by one. "I found a village," Newest-boy announced. "It's about three miles to the southeast, and it's surrounded by farmland. If that's where they're going, they won't be able to hide in the woods much longer." They flew higher, trying not to be too visible against the overcast sky, and waited until the raiders led their captives beyond the trees.
"There they are!" Smallest-girl exclaimed.
"It looks like they're keeping our friends in the middle of their group," Six commented. "Are those big bad warriors afraid that Agnarr and Agmundr will get away from them?"
"It doesn't matter," Bang replied with a vicious grin. "They couldn't have picked a better formation for what I have in mind. Smallest-girl, Newest-boy, you wanted some adventure? You've got it! This is your first battle, and we need you to make this work, so make us all proud of you – and don't miss!" He described his plan, and the four dragons separated and set up for their dives.
o
The two Viking boys were being pushed ahead mercilessly. This was especially hard on Agnarr with his injured leg, but he was the more fortunate of the two. When they were being captured, one of the raiders had grabbed Agmundr by the forearm, right at the site of his injury, and he was in agony. Years of Viking training (and abuse at the hands of his peers) had taught him to hold back the tears, but he wasn't holding them back by much. Agnarr tried to comfort him by giving a running commentary of what he was thinking. He could say anything he wanted; the raiders spoke their own language and had no idea what he might be saying.
"They kept all our belongings in the bags, instead of scattering them, so we can probably get our stuff back once the dragons save us. I can just barely see them; I don't want to be too obvious and look straight up. Whatever these guys thought about us camping with Night Furies, they aren't too worried about dragons now. Nobody is looking up. Hey, where'd they go? The dragons have scattered. I think they're about to try something..." He paused, and they all heard the telltale rising scream of a diving Night Fury.
The raiders didn't know which way to look – the sound seemed to come from all around them. Agnarr burst out, "I see two of them; the others must be coming in behind us. They're aiming at places that are a long way away from us... no, they've partially leveled off, and they're coming in at a shallow angle... what a sight!... Agmundr, I know what they're doing! Close your eyes!"
Half a second later, Bang and Six launched their firebolts from the north and south. The blasts hit the earth about forty feet short of the raiders and dug into the ground before bursting. With two simultaneous thunderclaps, the explosions threw clouds of dirt and snow into the faces and eyes of the raiders, effectively blinding most of them. The dragons overflew the group, unafraid of any retaliation; they screamed, "Arms out!" as they crossed right over the human formation and pulled up. Then the younger dragons launched similar attacks from the east and west, and the flying dirt from their smaller fire-bursts finished what the bigger dragons had started. The raiders couldn't see.
Smallest-girl and Newest-boy pulled up gradually, keeping their airspeed high. Bang and Six turned on a wing and swooped down again, more slowly. Agnarr and Agmundr had opened their eyes, heeded the "arms out" warning, and spread their arms straight out at their sides, which made it easy for the Night Furies to catch them with their forelegs and snatch them out of the middle of the raiders' formation. "We got them!" they bellowed. "Now it's your turn! Finish the job!"
Smallest-girl and Newest-boy needed no encouragement. They looped over and dove again. Their targets were the open spaces in the middle of the formation where the smith twins had been. Twin firebolts lanced out and smashed into the ground; more dirt and snow went flying. The raiders, many of whom were still rubbing dirt out of their eyes, had had enough. They broke and ran in all directions, dropping whatever they were carrying so they could run faster. That was exactly what the dragons had in mind – not the routing of the enemy, but the dropping of their humans' belongings. In less than a minute, the battlefield was empty of humanity.
The four dragons landed at about the same time; the bigger ones gently set their friends down first. "Is everybody okay?" Bang asked.
"I fine," Agnarr began. "Brother feels pain from how they handled him, but that will pass soon. I hope."
"I never did handle pain very well," Agmundr whimpered. Six nuzzled him with concern; he threw his arms around her neck and clung to her.
"Six-shooter, you're bleeding!" Newest-boy exclaimed.
"They shot you?" Newest-girl couldn't believe it.
"No," Six said softly. "It's the wound in my tail. I re-opened it when I pulled out of my dive." She repeated herself in Forge so the humans could understand.
"We need bandage that," Agnarr said. "Smallest-girl, bring small leather bag here. Agmundr, I'm sorry, but I need your help." The other human nodded weakly and used his good arm to help his brother make and tie a bandage around the dragon's tail. Then they all stood there, partially shocked at what had just happened to them.
"Now what?" Newest-boy wondered.
"We need to gather our stuff, load you up, and get out of here before those raiders come back with reinforcements." Agnarr was already hobbling toward the nearest leather bag. Agmundr could walk normally, and so could the small dragons; together, they rounded up all the bags. It looked like nothing was missing except their heavy coats, and they were headed south, so they might not even need those. It took a few minutes to tie everything together and strap it onto the dragons' backs. Then they were back in the air.
"I don't know if this is a sign that I'm turning into a dragon," Agmundr said, "but I think I feel a lot safer in the sky than I do on the ground. Oh, sorry. Am I becoming dragon? Sky feels safer than ground."
"I hope you not become dragon," Six replied. "I glad you human. Dragon cannot fix injury for me like human can."
"Yes, is good we human," Agnarr nodded. "Is good you be dragons. I first human ever to see Night Fury dive at me and feel happy. You amazing! All four, amazing!"
"Did he just call us awesome fighting dragons?" Smallest-girl asked impishly.
"Don't get cocky," Six-shooter answered. "Uncle Toothless is the only one who can bestow that title."
"Will you at least admit you're glad we came along?" Newest-boy asked.
After a long pause, Bang nodded. "You may yet be more trouble than you're worth," he said, "but today, it was good to have you around." After a quick pause, he added, "You did well."
Then he turned to his twin sister. "Six, how's your tail?"
"If I stay straight and level, I'm fine," she answered. "If I can avoid any more battles for a week or so, I should be as good as new."
"If I could promise you that, I would," her brother replied. Something about her expression told him she had more to say. "Was there something else on your mind?"
"I was thinking… the way you came up with that battle plan, it was just like listening to Dad during the war. Maybe you didn't inherit Mom's battle lust, but you got Dad's brains, and I'm starting to think that might be just as good."
"Thanks." Bang was genuinely touched. "You got the battle lust, and there's nothing wrong with the way you think, so I guess we make a good team."
Smallest-girl edged over so she could talk to Newest-boy without being overheard. "I'd love to be part of a great fighting team someday. Do you think we made a good start today?"
"Well, we avoided a head-on collision when we pulled out, so I guess that counts for something," he nodded. "But the most important thing isn't being part of a great team, or being a great solo fighter. It's being so flexible that you're awesome no matter how you fight. Dad told me that Mom's greatest moment was during the Outcast raid. He sent her to keep some young dragons out of trouble, and she wound up leading them on an anti-shipping mission all around the island. That's what I want to be some day – flexible. Versatile. Awesome at everything."
"That's a tall order," she said quietly.
"My dad did it," he replied. "Your dad did it. Your mom did it, and my mom is really close. The way I see it, I can't fail, unless I blow it somehow. It's in my blood. It's the same for you."
They camped that night in a wild spot with no humans around for miles.