The Black Sphere Chapter 7
Astrid had just suggested the unimaginable. Hiccup had been magically turned back into a human; should she use the same mystical device to become human too, so the two of them could stay together?
"Mother-of-twins, I don't think he'll go for that," Toothless said softly. "That would mean he'd be giving up all hope of becoming a Night Fury again. I have never seen Hiccup give up hope, and I never want to."
"But if he's really stuck this way, then false hope won't get anyone anywhere," she answered. "What good are these wings if he can't fly beside me?"
"He's in a crisis," Toothless reminded her. "He's discouraged; he needs every motivation to keep looking for a way back to becoming a dragon. If you become human again, that will remove one of his biggest motivations. You need to remain a Night Fury so he'll move heaven and earth to rejoin you."
"Wouldn't it be just as good if I joined him?" she asked pointedly.
Toothless softly said, "Humanity isn't for him anymore. Maybe he'd still have you, but he'd lose himself."
They watched as Hiccup considered her suggestion. He weighed the pluses and the minuses and finally said, "Don't do it, Astrid. You've gotten used to being a dragon, just like me. You'd have to give up too much if you turned human again."
"I give up too much if I lose you!"
"Astrid, I don't want to lose you, either. But it's not time for irrevocable decisions yet. Don't do something you might regret forever! I still might find a way out of this."
"But if black ball not make you dragon again, how else you turn back into dragon?"
Hiccup thought fast. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I haven't been human for twenty-four hours yet. Give me a little time to think of something." She could see his "thinking" face, and relaxed slightly. If he was thinking, then he wasn't sulking about his situation, and that was an improvement.
Finally, he looked away toward where Berk was. "While I'm thinking, can you give me a lift back to the village? I have to talk to Gobber about the bog-iron situation before I get deposed."
"What you mean, deposed? Who depose you?"
"Spitelout is waiting for this evening to challenge me to single combat. Whether I fight him and lose, or whether I decline to fight, he'll still become the chief. Or maybe someone else will take the opportunity to bop me on the head with a warhammer and take my place; I'm sure there are a few of them who would love to try it, now that I'm not so big, black, and scary. I've been thinking about that problem, too, and I haven't come up with any answers. It looks like Chief-night-fury will have to go back to being New-night-fury, except I've turned into Not-night-fury."
"If anyone harm one hair on your head, I harm him big-time!" Astrid growled. Toothless let out a menacing snarl that made it clear he was on her side.
"I appreciate the thought, both of you, but you know the Viking law. If I can't win with just my own muscles and weapons, then I'm not qualified to lead the tribe." He shrugged. "It's not that big a deal anyway. My heart isn't set on being the boss, like Spitelout's heart is. If I'm human and I'm not the chief, maybe I'll have time to do some more inventing in the forge. It's been kind of hard, asking Varinn and Smith-flies-for-fun to do the work after I have one of my ideas. They're good, but they never do it exactly the way I imagined it."
"Tribe will suffer without you."
"Probably," Hiccup shrugged, "but I can't think of anything I can do about that. Spitelout is bigger than I am, he's stronger, and he's angrier. As a Night Fury, I could keep him in line. As Hiccup? Not so much."
"Do not give up so easily. Is not time for irrevocable decisions yet."
Hiccup made a face; he didn't like it when Astrid used his own words against him. Without any more comments, he climbed onto his mate's back, and she flew him back to Berk and dropped him off next to the forge. He found Gobber banging away at the anvil, flattening metal straps for the cooper to use when making heavy-duty buckets for collecting bog-iron.
The old smith took one look at Hiccup, and his next hammer-blow completely missed his work. "Hiccup?" he asked in disbelief. "On two legs? I heard some rumors about ye, but I dinna think they were true."
"Yeah, I'm back to being the old, wonderful me," Hiccup said self-consciously. "How are we doing with new bog-iron?"
"Ye just turned into a human again!" Gobber burst out. "Is bog-iron yer biggest worry?"
"It's one of the few worries on my plate that I can actually do something about," Hiccup answered. "So...?"
"Th' twins brought back half a bucket each, an' that's a start," Gobber said. "But one o' our fishin' boats is rottin' out an' we need to build a new one. That's gonna mean nails, bolts, an' other iron fittin's by the hundred. Two half-a-buckets o' bog-iron nuggets won't even get us started."
"That's not a problem," Hiccup corrected him. "We've just added a runaway Lava-Lout thrall to the village, and he likes to work, as long as he's not forced into it. Full-of-surprises told me that she sent him and Rangi to Breakneck Bog with three empty buckets, and I'm sure they'll bring back all three, full of iron nuggets for you. If we send Orn to Breakneck Bog every few days, you'll soon have more iron than you'll know what to do with."
"Aye, that's soundin' like a plan," Gobber admitted. "But what's gonna happen when th' other tribes learn about all th' iron that's free for the takin' on Breakneck Bog? Are we gonna have a battle? Are they gonna take all th' iron?"
"No, and no," Hiccup answered confidently. "We'll get the bulk of the iron from there because we send our ore-pickers there on dragons. We're in and out on the same day. The other tribes have to send people by ship, which takes days each way, so our ore collecting will go three or four times as fast as theirs. Also, they're afraid of that island's bad reputation, so a lot of them won't think the iron is worth the risk. For the ones that do, our pickers are guarded by our dragons, and I can't see the other tribes starting a fight with a dragon over ore nuggets. They aren't desperate enough for that, not yet."
"What 'appens when they are desperate enough?" Gobber asked.
"Then the smart thing would be for us to send some extra dragons to help guard each ore-hunting party," Hiccup thought out loud. "I think I can talk my daughter into arranging that. Just four Night Furies could keep a whole longship full of Vikings occupied. Add a few other dragon types, and the other tribes would have to mount a full-scale invasion just to hold our defending forces off. They'd be leaving their own islands defenseless, and they still wouldn't be able to collect iron as fast as we can."
"It sounds like ye've got it all figured out," Gobber nodded.
"As far as bog-iron goes, I think I have a plan," Hiccup said. 'As far as this body goes... not so much."
"Ye're not likin' yer human body?" The old smith sounded mildly surprised.
"How can I like being stuck on the ground when I know what it's like to fly?" Hiccup burst out. "I've gotten used to eating my meals fresh and whole, without waiting for the cooks to burn them first. I like my Night Fury eyes and my long-distance vision. I like telling a Viking what he has to do and hear him say, 'Yes, Chief,' instead of arguing with me because I'm smaller than he is. I thought maybe I'd be tempted to stay human once I had opposable thumbs again, but they just aren't worth the freedom and power I lost when I turned into a human."
"So ye're plannin' to turn dragony again?"
"I wish I could," Hiccup said, and his shoulders sagged. "But the Lava-Louts' magic black sphere only makes people and half-dragons. I might be stuck like this."
"So it's magic that's workin' on ye?" Gobber observed. "Perhaps ye should be talkin' to Gothi, then? She's our expert on seidr an' what to do about it."
Hiccup's face lit up. "Gothi! Of course! If anyone can think of a way to get me back to being myself, it's her. Thanks for the idea, Gobber! My daughter says Rangi should be back before supper, and he's keeping that magical black sphere with him at all times. When he's here and we can show the sphere to Gothi, can you go with us and translate what she says?"
Gobber looked crafty. "Aye, I'll do that fer ye, if ye'll hold this strap while I hammer it flat. I sent Varinn out on an errand, an' he hasn't come back yet. I'm needin' an apprentice fer th' afternoon."
Hiccup folded his arms. "You want the chief of the village to do the work of a smith's apprentice?" Gobber nodded firmly. After a moment, Hiccup yielded. "Fine. I think I remember how to use the tongs without getting in your way. Besides, after tonight, it may not be a problem."
"An' why's that?" Gobber wondered.
"Well, there are a few Vikingly Vikings who would like nothing better than to depose me as chief, now that I'm not a dragon anymore. As of tomorrow, do you think you can use another apprentice in the forge?"
"I'm hopin' it doesn't come to that," Gobber said firmly. "Ye've been a good chief; Berk is prosperin' under yer hand. Well, yer paw. I can guess who one o' those Vikingly Vikings might be, an' I canna see him doin' a better job. But, if ye're unemployed in the mornin', then come talk to me. I won't let ye starve." He paused. "Of course, that's assumin' that ye don't get killed or maimed durin' the deposin' part. Spitelout isn't gonna tickle ye with a feather, ye know."
Hiccup stared at the floor. "I hadn't really thought about that part. Yeah, that would stink. Well, there's nothing I can do about it now. It seems like there are a lot of things I can't do anything about." He took the tongs and held the work steady so Gobber could resume hammering it. They still worked together well, after all these years. It was Thing Two's turn to keep an eye on him; she lay silently just outside the forge, occasionally opening one eye and flicking an ear flap whenever someone came to Gobber to have some work done.
The shadows were beginning to get long when a lone Night Fury appeared above the horizon. Thing One delivered Rangi and Orn to the forge, then took flight to stretch her wings after remaining on the ground nearly all day. The two young men strained under the weight of three full buckets of bog-iron.
"Here you go, Gobber," Rangi grunted as he set his bucket down. "As promised."
"Thank ye kindly," Gobber answered. "Both o' ye."
"You're welcome," Orn said politely.
Gobber hefted one of the buckets. "Well, the two of ye have done yer duty to yer village, an' make no mistake. Now rest fer a bit, until supper is served. You too, Hiccup. Ye've done plenty fer one afternoon." Hiccup visibly sagged; he'd been using muscles that hadn't had a workout in years.
Orn turned to shake Hiccup's hand. "I haven't met you yet. I'm Orn, the laborer. And you are...?"
"Hiccup, the chief, for the next hour or two," Hiccup said, shaking the offered hand.
"The chief?" Orn was shocked. "The chief is a dragon! I've seen him and talked to him. He's a nice guy, for a dragon."
"Yeah, well, I had a little mishap with the Lava-Louts' magic thingie," Hiccup shrugged. "Now I've gone from a big bad dragon to a small sad Viking who's about to get bopped on the head, and Berk will probably have a new chief in the morning."
"Ouch," Orn said. "I thought Chief Lunklunk's seidr only worked on half-dragons. But... while you're still the chief, can you do one thing for me? Can you make me an official member of your tribe, so I can stay here?"
"Sure, why not?" Hiccup said. "You've earned it. Lunklunk won't like it, but when the sun comes up tomorrow, Lunklunk will be Spitelout's problem, not mine." He stood up straight. "Rangi! Gobber! You are my witnesses. This man, Orn, has given the tribe of Berk good work, and shown himself worthy to become one of us. By my right as the chief of this village, I proclaim him to be an official member of our tribe."
"Heard and witnessed," Rangi said formally.
"Heard an' witnessed," Gobber echoed him. "Now, where the dickens is Varinn off to?"
o
Gothi wasn't too busy that day. Hiccup, with Gobber and Rangi in tow, explained the situation to her. She took the black sphere from Rangi, examined it from various angles, frowned, scratched her head, and wrote on the floor with the spiked end of her staff.
"She's wantin' to know where ye got this," Gobber translated.
"We kind of borrowed it from the Lava-Louts," Hiccup explained.
She shook her head and carved some more runes on the floor. "She says 'Shame on ye. Stealin' other people's stuff isn't what chiefs ought to be doin'."
Rangi scowled. "Gothi, I think it's called 'taking plunder.' It's what Vikings do."
"But it's okay for Chief Lunklunk to turn innocent people into half-dragons so he can keep them enslaved?" Hiccup burst out. "As long as we hold onto this thing, he can't use it on anyone else. And he's got no business doing seidr in the first place! The very fact that this thing exists is wrong, and I don't feel any shame from keeping it out of the hands of people who would use it to do evil. Now, how can I get my Night Fury body back?"
Gothi wrote on the floor. "She says that, if ye destroy th' magical goodie that changed ye into a human, maybe it will cancel th' magic an' you'll change back."
"Maybe?" Hiccup echoed.
"Or maybe it'll turn ye into a human forever," Gobber went on. "She canna tell. Some magical goodies work one way, an' some work the other way. Th' only way to find out about this one is to destroy it an' see what happens."
"That's not very encouraging," Hiccup muttered. "So how am I supposed to destroy this thing? Should I have one of the Night Furies drop it into the volcano at Dragon Island?"
Gothi wrote some more. "No, that's how ye destroy a magic ring," Gobber translated, "To take out this dark thingy, ye need to destroy it in the same way that it was used. In other words, since th' black ball took ye away from bein' a dragon, then ye need to destroy it with a dragon."
"Okay," Hiccup nodded; he was thinking already. "Rangi, bring that accursed ball. I know exactly who is going to destroy it for me."
"Yer gonna chance it?" Gobber marveled. "What if ye get stuck bein' a human forever?"
"If I don't do something, I'll be a human forever anyway," Hiccup said decisively. "I have to try." They climbed down the ladder to Gothi's hut and made their way to the Nest.
"Full-of-surprises!" he called. His daughter leaned over the edge of the Nest's second floor.
"Yes, Dad?"
"I need your mate and I need him now."
Smith-flies-for-fun's head appeared next to hers. "How can I help?"
"I need you at the forge. I need you to smash something with your hammer."
"Yes! Smash with hammer is good!" Smith-flies-for-fun gleefully glided to the Forge and got there before Hiccup and Rangi did. They helped him strap on his special Night-Fury forge hammer.
"Thank you. What you want me to smash?"
"This!" Rangi pulled out the black sphere. "This is a magic ball that turned Hiccup into a human. We think he'll turn back into a dragon if the source of magic is destroyed."
"I fix that!" Smith-flies-for-fun exclaimed. They set the black ball in a dimple in the anvil so it wouldn't roll away, and stepped back. Smith-flies-for-fun raised his hammer high, waved it in a little circle for effect, and brought it down with all his strength.
To the amazement of everyone present, it ricocheted off the ball with a dull thud. The hammer bounced back and nearly hit Smith-flies-for-fun in the shoulder. He backed away from the anvil, looking narrowly at the black sphere.
"That never happen before," he said, shaken. "I try again." This time, he reared back and put his weight into the blow as well as his strength. Again, the hammerhead bounced off the black ball and nearly hit the dragon on the rebound.
He stared at the ball with a stunned expression as they unfastened his hammer. "I cannot destroy it. My hammer not even leave mark on it. I not understand."
"Then I'll have to think of some other way," Hiccup said. "Thanks for trying." He thought hard, but nothing came to mind.
o
Hiccup squared his shoulders and braced himself. The doors to the Mead Hall were open, but not inviting. Just behind him, Rangi and Orn waited for him to resume walking.
In his short life, Hiccup had already seen more than his share of disasters. Some, he'd caused himself. Others had been inflicted on him, and he'd had to find ways to respond and fix the damage caused by others. He had no idea what kind of disaster awaited him in the Mead Hall, but it was sure to be unpleasant.
Spitelout was in there, waiting for him. The big Viking wouldn't waste any time before accusing Hiccup of incompetence as chief. He would not have to specify any details; just the fact that Hiccup didn't look like a chief was all the evidence that he (and many other Vikings) would require. Once accused, Hiccup could either agree and step down as chief, or deny the charges against him. At that point, Spitelout would challenge him to single combat in order to prove his fitness to be Berk's chief. The crowds in the Mead Hall would stream outside and form a square about twelve feet on a side. Challenged and challenger would enter the square and take turns swinging at each other with swords until someone drew first blood, or until someone left the square. How was Hiccup supposed to fight such a duel when he didn't even own a sword? He used to have a couple of small blades, but he'd given them away when he turned into a dragon. In any case, the size of his blade wouldn't matter. Spitelout would come out swinging, hoping to avenge past ignominies, real and imagined, by inflicting as much pain and suffering on Hiccup as he could, but delaying the drawing of first blood so he could prolong the torment.
The only good news Hiccup could think of was that, once Spitelout had established himself as a better fighter than Hiccup was, he would become "the man to beat," and anyone else who thought he deserved to be chief could challenge Spitelout to another duel. It was possible for one man to withstand all challengers and become chief in one round of fighting, but such a man would be so badly beaten-up at the end that his own mother might not recognize him. That wouldn't do Hiccup any good, of course. At this juncture, he couldn't think of anything that might do him any good.
Hiccup took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay, here goes nothing," he said out loud.
"What are you going to do?" Orn asked him.
"I'll make it up as I go along," Hiccup said, trying to sound confident. "That usually works for me."
"I'd feel better if you had a Night Fury next to you," Rangi admonished him.
"That would be a sign of cowardice," Orn answered.
"And, of course, I am definitely not afraid," Hiccup quavered. "I mean, what is there to be afraid of? He's just a big, strong, angry Viking with large, sharp weapons who wants to hit me as hard as he can."
"Why don't you eat someplace else, and avoid this Spitelout altogether?" Orn went on.
"That would also look like cowardice," Hiccup answered. "Spitelout's case to become the chief would be stronger if I did that. And this isn't a huge island; he's bound to catch up with me sometime. Let's get this over with. I'll do what I have to do."
"Yeah, I guess we'll all do what we have to do," Orn said in an odd voice. Hiccup strode toward the gaping doors, with the other two young men a few steps behind him.
"Well, well, look who's here!" Spitelout was sitting just inside the door so he could see who was coming and going. All conversation in the Mead Hall stopped. "It's Chief Night Fury! What's the matter, chief? Did your seidr finally wear off so we can see your true colors?"
"At least you're calling me 'chief,' " Hiccup said weakly.
"But not for long," Spitelout gloated. "This island needs a new chief, a strong chief, a real chief! Someone who's a real Viking!"
"Isn't the fact that I'm the son of Stoick the Vast good enough for you?" Hiccup retorted. The mention of his father's name might sway some tradition-minded Vikings to his side.
"Stoick is in Valhalla, enjoying his just reward," Spitelout shot back. "He's not here. You're here, and I'm here. But tomorrow, one of us will not be here. You, Hiccup the Useless, are unfit to be the chief of this tribe; you are unfit to call yourself a Viking; and you are unfit to share this island with real men like me! If you're man enough to disagree with me, then I challenge you to prove your worthiness in the traditional way!" He laid his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Hiccup was weighing how he should answer when he felt a sudden sharp pain in his right forearm. He glanced down and was shocked to see blood. Then something hard hit him in the back of the head, and everything went black.
o
When he awoke, he felt like the floor was shifting under him. After a few moments, he realized that the floor really was shifting under him. He was lying on the deck of a ship, near the rudder. It was nighttime. His head was pounding, and there was a simple bandage on his right forearm. He slowly sat up, leaning against the gunwale. Rangi was sitting across from him.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Rangi said simply, without a trace of mockery. "You were out for almost three hours."
"Where am I?" was Hiccup's first question.
"We're headed for Outcast Island," Rangi answered. "As soon as Spitelout became the new chief, his first order was to exile everyone who had challenged him. That included you, even though you never actually got to the point of accepting his challenge. We're all banished from Berk forever." He swept an arm toward the bow of the ship, where they could dimly see four more men in various stages of physical disrepair. One of them was probably Orn, but he was so bruised in the face that it was hard to be sure.
"But... but..." Hiccup was trying to get his brain working again. "Why are they sending you away? You weren't stupid enough to challenge Spitelout, were you?"
"Of course not!" Rangi burst out. "But I was your translator, in the days when you needed one, and now everybody thinks of you and me as being on the same team. I shared the good parts of being the Chief's right-hand man, and now I can share in the bad parts, too. Not that I regret a single moment; I don't."
"Why didn't you make a formal protest when you're not guilty of a crime?" Hiccup asked him.
"I thought about that," Rangi shrugged. "Staying with you seemed like the right thing to do, even if it costs me something."
"I appreciate that, more than I can say," Hiccup thought out loud. "But this is all wrong! You can't exile someone just because of who his friends are! And, if you're being sent away, then where's Anya? The law says that an exile's family are allowed to go with him if they want to, and I know your wife would go with you if she could."
"But she can't," Rangi said, with the first hint of bitterness. "Spitelout likes her embroidery work, so he's commissioned her to make a tapestry to commemorate his great victory in becoming the chief. She said she wanted to go with me, and he point-blank refused to let her go. He hinted that something really bad might happen to me if she didn't obey him. Our marriage is the surety of our peace treaty with the Berserkers, so she doesn't dare take any chances with either of our lives. If something happens to one of us, then Berk might be back at war with her old tribe, and she doesn't want to see that happen." He paused and looked glum. "I told her I'd be back for her someday. I'll be darned if I know how, though."
Then Hiccup sat up straight; it made his head hurt, so he relaxed, but only slightly. "What about Astrid? Did Spitelout forbid her to come, too?"
"Yes, he did, and it was a beautiful thing to see," Rangi said, and a hint of a smile crossed his face. "She just blew a rude noise at him, then wrote on the ground that dragons don't have to obey Viking chiefs, especially if the chief is a jerk. She is now the first person ever to disobey Chief Spitelout, and I very much hope she's not the last one. Look behind you." Hiccup turned his head as slowly as he could. There, almost invisible in the darkness, gliding behind them at low altitude, was his mate. He weakly waved one hand at her; she smiled and flew closer to the ship.
"One last question," Hiccup said as he turned back to face Rangi. "Who got me from behind while Spitelout was challenging me?"
Rangi took a deep breath. "Believe it or not, it was Orn."
"What?" Hiccup exclaimed, even though it made his head hurt more. "After everything I did for him? I welcomed him to the island! I tried to help him hide from the Lava-Louts! I made him a citizen! Why would he do that?"
"He did you a huge favor," Rangi explained. "He gave you a flesh wound on your off-arm with his dagger so he could claim 'first blood,' then knocked you out with the pommel so you couldn't argue your technicalities with Spitelout and get yourself killed. Then he told Spitelout that he was a legal citizen of Berk and he'd just taken down the chief, so he was now 'the man to beat.' I'm pretty sure the Law-Speaker wouldn't agree with that, but Spitelout's blood was up and he heard what he wanted to hear."
"So how was that doing me a favor?" Hiccup demanded.
"Look at him!" Rangi said and pointed. "Can you see what a mess Spitelout made of him, and of the other three guys who challenged him? That would have been you, if Orn hadn't taken your place. I'm sure your arm stings and your head hurts, but of all the people who got into a fight last night, you got off the lightest. I heard someone in the Mead Hall say that Spitelout was planning to kill you if he could. Orn saved you from that by taking the blows that were meant for you. Maybe, once you're healed up, you can thank him."
"Maybe," Hiccup nodded shortly. "But I've got bigger worries. I am not going to Outcast Island! Those savages would eat me alive. You wouldn't last long there, either."
Rangi gestured at the twenty-four burly Vikings who were manning the ship's oars. "I don't think you can hijack the ship and send us in a different direction, Hiccup. Spitelout's followers have us slightly outnumbered."
"Maybe we can't hijack the ship," Hiccup said with the beginnings of a smile, "but there's more than one way to adjust where we're going." He turned himself around and spoke Forge so the Viking rowers couldn't understand him. "Astrid! Go back, get all Night Furies, bring them here."
"I can do that, but why?" she asked. "If we take you back to Berk, Spitelout send you away again. Maybe he kill you first, then send you away after that."
"We not go back to Berk," Hiccup said firmly. "We go to Lava-Lout Island. I think I have plan."
"Is good to have plan! I be back soon! With company!" Astrid said firmly as she put a wing over and flapped back toward Berk at full speed.