The Power of Gold Chapter 3

The dragons, led by their Night Furies, settled to the ground in a circle, then walked toward the Bog-Burglar village. Six had conferred with her father and decided that a land approach would seem less threatening to the Vikings of their new home. Those Vikings traditionally equated flying dragons with raiding dragons. Six was eager to get their new nest off to a good start, and dodging spears and axes on their first day didn't seem like the best way to do it.

They were noticed quickly; as a tribe that lived constantly under the threat of raids, the Bog-Burglars had to keep a good lookout at all times. People gathered at a respectful distance and watched as their hereditary enemies made their way toward the Mead Hall, where Bertha, Camicazi, and Bertha's youngest daughter Naginatta waited. Everyone carried assorted weapons on their belts and slung on their backs, but they kept their hands empty. There was no sound except for the heavy footfalls of the dragons.

As they walked into the village, the dragons were looking left and right at all the Vikings who were staring at them. None of these dragons had found a human on Berk with whom they wanted to pair off, and most of them were hoping to find a friendly face somewhere in this village. To a dragon, the benefits of having a human friend were many – a human could provide access to medical care, scratch where it itched, and keep a dragon company in flight. They could also provide species-specific services, like keeping a Nadder's scales clean and shiny. At least two dragons saw faces in the crowd who looked interesting, and made mental notes to track down those people after the initial setting-up of the nest was done.

The flock of dragons approached the Mead Hall and stopped. The three Night Furies kept walking until they were about ten feet away from the chief and her daughters; then they stopped as well. After a few seconds of silence, Six took the initiative and wrote,

WE ARE HERE

"I can see that," Bertha stated. "Why are you here?"

TO SHARE YOUR ISLAND
AND TO SHARE YOUR FORTUNES,
BOTH GOOD AND BAD

Those were the agreed-upon phrases that would reassure the humans that the terms of the original deal were still in force, unaltered. The Bog-Burglars' ruling family relaxed, ever so slightly. But Bertha wanted more information, now that the deal was more than just a set of words on parchment.

"You will eat our fish, take up space in our town, and probably frighten our children. What benefits do you bring to us?"

WE WILL PROTECT OUR NEW HOME
AGAINST ATTACKERS. WE WILL
SHARE ANY USEFUL INFORMATION
WE LEARN. SOME OF US WILL PAIR
OFF WITH SOME OF YOU, AND SHOW
YOU THE GLORIES OF FLIGHT.

"Yeah, about the 'flight' part," Camicazi burst out. "Which one of you is going to be my –"

"Later, Cami!" Bertha said firmly. "Dragons, we've made a deal, and we Bog-Burglars keep our promises. But if you cause more problems than you solve, then we may have to rethink the terms of the deal."

Faithful-brother leaned towards Six and grunted, "Chief-night-fury was right. We are here on probation."

"But for now," Bertha went on, "this is a day of celebrating! We have seen the last dragon raid on our island. Never again will we lose our food, our homes, and our lives to attackers from the sky. And we believe you when you say you will help to protect us against any other kind of attacker as well. We welcome you." She turned to her women warriors and clapped her hands twice. "Bring forth the gifts!"

From the group of Vikings who were watching, 36 women stepped forward. Each of them carried a good-sized fish in her hands. They spread out until each of them was standing in front of a dragon; then they tossed the fish, and the dragons eagerly snapped them up. Only Thing Two didn't get a fish.

"We originally agreed on 36 dragons," Six whispered to her. "You couldn't decide if you wanted to join us or not. You made up your mind so late, they didn't know you were coming."

"There will be other fish," Thing Two shrugged. A moment later, Cami turned and ran into the Mead Hall. She returned after a few seconds with a fat codfish, which she lobbed toward Thing Two. It was slippery, and her throw was inaccurate. The Night Fury almost had to fly to catch it, but she got it before it hit the ground. Bertha nodded in approval.

"Now that we've officially welcomed you," the chief said, "I have a question. Will it be possible for you to have a dragon awake and on watch at all times, so she can wake the rest of you up if raiders come?"

Six had been expecting that.

YES, DEFINITELY. I HAVE ALREADY
ARRANGED FOR EACH DRAGON TO
TAKE A TURN ON GUARD DUTY.
YOU WILL HAVE GUARDIANS IN
THE AIR, DAY AND NIGHT.

"Excellent!" Bertha said, and she almost smiled for the first time since the dragons had been spotted approaching the island. "That is all I have to say at this time. You can rest, or walk around, or go fishing, or whatever it is that you do. If you need me and I'm not out in the open, I can usually be found either in the Mead Hall, or in my longhouse. My oldest daughter, Camicazi, has authority to make minor decisions for the tribe if I'm not around, so you can contact her as well. Welcome to our island!"

"Wait, there's one more thing," Naginatta cut in. The girl stepped closer to the Night Furies, looking slightly nervous. "Is it true that the Vikings on Berk made up a language so the dragons and the people can talk to each other?"

YES. THEY CALL IT FORGE.
MY MATE, HERE, HELPED INVENT IT.

"Is it something I could learn?" she asked softly.

AGAIN, YES. THE BASICS
ARE QUITE SIMPLE.

"I'd like to do that," she answered, then glanced toward her mother. "If it's okay with you."

Bertha shrugged. "As long as you get your usual work done, you can spend your spare time on this dragon language if that's what you want to do. Would you mind if I asked why?"

Naginatta gestured toward the flock of dragons. "These dragons are going to be all over the village. Somebody ought to be able to talk to them and understand them."

"Suit yourself," the chief said as she turned away. The welcoming ceremony was over.

Six turned to the dragons. "The first thing we need to do is pick out sleeping spaces. Everybody who has already picked out a space, go to the places you've chosen, so nobody else will claim them. Once we all know where we'll be sleeping, we need to head out to sea. These Vikings gave each of us a pretty nice fish; we're going to pay them back with fish so fresh, they're still wiggling. Any questions?" There were none.

There was a huge flutter of wings as the dragons flew to the roofs they'd selected as their roosts. One of those roofs turned out to be not as strong as the owners had hoped, and when a Gronckle settled down to rest on it, the main roof beam cracked and began to collapse. The dragon lifted off before her weight brought the whole roof down. It was fully repaired and reinforced before sundown the next day, but the unfortunate Gronckle had to sleep on the ground that night. She also had to endure a few wise-cracks from the other dragons about how she was gaining too much weight.

Finding a school of fish wasn't difficult. It took less than an hour for the dragons to catch one big fish each and bring them back to the village, then return for an evening snack from the fish that were left. Chief Bertha hadn't expected this gesture, and she made it clear that she and her people were thankful. The dragons settled down and made themselves comfortable, and the sun went down on a sight such as the Bog-Burglars had never seen, or dreamed of: huge dragons sound asleep on the roofs of their buildings, snoring peacefully.

Six had arranged for Thing Two to take the sunset-to-midnight watch. She and Faithful-brother would take over at midnight, so she would still be fairly alert in the morning, which was when she expected the first misunderstandings to arise. She half-expected some kind of Viking raid on their first night in their new nest, but it turned out to be a very peaceful night. The only misunderstanding the next morning was when an older woman stepped out of her house, saw the yellow Hobblegrunt on the roof of the weaver's house across from her, forgot that the dragons were welcomed on her island now, and started to raise the alarm. Bertha handled that problem herself; there was no need for Six or the other Night Furies to get involved.

Around ten o'clock, Bertha got Six's attention and waved her down. "Can we have a quick meeting?" she asked.

OF COURSE. ON BERK, THE
DRAGONS MET WITH THE CHIEF
EVERY DAY TO IRON OUT
DIFFICULTIES BEFORE THEY
BECAME SERIOUS.

"That sounds like a good idea. We'll meet every day, right after breakfast. For now, can we meet in the... oh, by Odin's beard! You can't fit into our Mead Hall! The doors aren't big enough. How are we going to have a meeting? Standing around here, talking, is okay today, but what will happen when the weather turns bad?"

YOU CAN ENLARGE THE DOORS,
OR YOU CAN BUILD A SPECIAL
MEETING PLACE, WHICH IS WHAT
WE DID ON BERK.

"A special meeting place? That's not the worst idea I've heard all day. I'll think about that. In the meantime, there's something important I need to talk about." She leaned back against the nearest building.

"There's an island in our chain, called Kornfritter Island. We never settled there because it's kind of small and rocky, but it definitely belongs to us, because nobody else's islands are anywhere near it. But the Uglithugs are moving in! They've got a scouting party living there in tents, and it's obvious from the trees they're chopping and the rocks they're moving that they're just the first wave. I need to get those Uglithugs off of our island before they get established there. I was on the verge of making a deal with Berk to get their help, but now that you're living here among us, I'd rather use our own dragons instead of somebody else's."

Here it comes, Six thought. Dad warned me about this, but he left the how's and the why's up to me. Am I going to tick off the chief on my first full day here?

"So," Bertha continued briskly, "will you help us get rid of those invaders?"

Six took a deep breath before she began to write.

WE WILL SCOUT FOR YOU.
WE WILL GUARD THE ISLAND WHILE
YOU'RE AWAY. BUT WE WON'T GET
INTO A VIKING BATTLE BECAUSE
WE AREN'T VIKINGS.

"You're living on a Viking island," Bertha said, and it wasn't a friendly reminder. "You said you would share our fortunes, both good and bad. Are you backing out of your promise already?"

NO, OUR PROMISE WAS TO
DEFEND OUR NEW HOME.
WE'LL FIGHT FOR THIS
ISLAND, BUT THAT ISLAND
ISN'T OUR HOME.

'That sounds like a technicality," Bertha scowled. "I don't like technicalities."

NEITHER DO WE. DRAGONS THINK
IN BLACK AND WHITE.
OUR NEST? FIGHT.
NOT OUR NEST? NO FIGHT.

"Is that how you think?" the chief challenged her.

THE NIGHT FURIES CAN SEE YOUR
POINT, BUT THE OTHERS WON'T FIGHT
UNLESS THEY ARE THREATENED.

"Perfect!" Bertha smiled and clapped her hands. "We don't need the whole flock of dragons to help us chase the Uglithugs away. Just one Night Fury will do the job just fine, I'm sure. Which one will you send with us?"

Six wanted to hit herself with her tail. She'd been outmaneuvered and press-ganged into a fight she didn't want, and she hadn't even been here for 24 hours yet! She was going to have a hard time explaining this one to her father. But first, she had to decide which of her loved ones she was going to send into harm's way.

WHEN IS THIS FIGHT?

"We're sending two longships full of warriors to Kornfritter Island in three days," Bertha informed her. "If a Night Fury isn't flying top cover for us, then I'll have to assume that you're breaking your word to us."

Aha! If Bertha thought that trapping her with words was a good game to play, then it was time she learned that two could play at that game.

IF TOP COVER IS ALL YOU WANT,
THEN YOU WILL HAVE IT.
I PROMISE YOU THAT.
TOP COVER, AND NOTHING MORE.

The chief scowled. "That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

CHIEF, WE COULD DUEL EACH OTHER
WITH WORDS ALL DAY, GOING BACK
AND FORTH UNTIL WE ARE SICK OF
EACH OTHER. OR WE CAN LEARN TO
WORK TOGETHER.
YOU MAKE THE CALL.

Bertha smiled, but it wasn't an pleasant smile. "Everybody knows that Vikings have stubbornness issues. Do you really think you can out-stubborn me?"

Six smiled a toothy smile that would terrify anyone who wasn't accustomed to Night Furies.

EVERYBODY KNOWS IT'S NO USE
ARGUING WITH A DRAGON.
YES, I THINK I CAN OUT-
STUBBORN YOU, BUT THAT'S NOT
HOW I WANT TO SPEND MY TIME.

Bertha glared at her. Six stared back. Did the human really think she could win a staredown contest with a dragon? Evidently not; the chief blinked and reread Six's messages. She didn't look happy. Six realized that this powerful woman had spent most of her life getting her own way, and she wasn't at all accustomed to being told "no." Maybe it was time to de-escalate this conflict before it boiled over.

YOU WILL HAVE ONE NIGHT FURY
FLYING TOP COVER ON YOUR RAID.
SHE WILL SCOUT AND TELL YOU
WHAT SHE SEES. THAT'S A PROMISE.

Technically, Six had just conceded to more than her initial promise of nothing but top cover. In reality, she'd given up almost nothing, because the Bog-Burglars surely knew where the Uglithug tent encampment was, and roughly how many Uglithugs were in it. A scouting report from a dragon couldn't tell them much that they didn't already know. Still, it sounded like Six was being conciliatory, and she'd made the first move toward meeting in the middle. The question was, was Bertha willing to meet her there?

After a few tense seconds, Bertha nodded. "You said she will scout. Does that mean you won't send the male Night Fury?"

YES, HE WILL STAY HOME WITH ME.

Why had she just decided to send her little sister on this mission? Well, she knew that Bertha would resist the idea of being helped by a male dragon like Faithful-brother, and until Six had been in the nest for a while and was sure that everyone was getting along, she was reluctant to leave it. That left Thing Two as the best candidate for the job. It was a harmless mission with no combat in the offing, so it seemed like a safe play. At the same time, it would give Thing Two some real-life experience in cooperating with the Vikings, and it would put the idea in those Vikings' heads that Six wasn't the only Night Fury in the nest who could do something useful. It could be a winning situation for everybody... if Thing Two could follow orders.

Bertha considered the matter for a few more seconds, then shrugged. "I guess I shouldn't get too demanding when this is all so new to both of us. One Night Fury, scouting and flying top cover. Deal." She grinned again. "Just the sight of that one Night Fury will make the Uglithugs wet themselves! I'm actually looking forward to this mission." She rubbed her hands together with delight. Then she heard someone shouting, "Chief! We need you over here!"

"I have to go," she said as she turned toward the sound of the shouting. "I hope we can work out all our difficulties this easily." She strolled off to see what kind of problem she had to solve.

Work out all our difficulties this easily? Six thought mockingly. You mean, you make demands and I make concessions until you're happy? You'd better not get used to that, Chief Bertha. It's not going to happen very often.

They got through the next two days without incident. On the third day, the tension level in the village was rising. The day of the Kornfritter Island raid had arrived. While Chief Bertha chose her warband and gave them her instructions, Six pulled Thing Two aside and gave her a very different set of instructions.

"Do you understand the way I'm limiting you during this raid?" she demanded.

"Yes," Thing Two nodded.

"Do yo understand my reasons why?"

"No."

"Well, never mind that for now. Just be sure of this. Your job is to scout for our Vikings, tell them what you see, and fly top cover. Nothing else."

"Wait a minute," Thing Two interrupted. "What am I supposed to fly top cover against? Do these Uglithugs have dragons of their own?"

"Definitely not," Six answered. "You're just going to be in the sky over our Vikings, giving them confidence because they see you up there. It's a lot like the way dragons get comfort from seeing a Night Fury when they're headed into battle. The difference is, if you were going into battle with dragons, you'd do everything in your power to protect them. In this battle, you are to do nothing!"

"Nothing?" Thing Two was dismayed.

"You are not to use fire, or claws, or teeth, and you are not to drop anything on anybody. You are not to join a battle, or start a battle, or provoke a battle. You are there to watch and see, and to let the Vikings see you. If you can't follow those simple instructions, then I'll... I'll send you home!" That was the worst threat she could think of. "Will you obey those instructions?"

"Yes, I guess so," the younger dragon sighed. "You were never this bossy when we lived on Berk."

"I wasn't responsible for a nest full of dragons when we lived on Berk, sister. I'm in charge now, and that changes everything."

"For the worse," Thing Two muttered.

"I heard that! And I don't care what you think of me, as long as you'll obey. Okay?"

"Okay," Thing Two nodded. Her mind was already whirling, trying to think of ways for her to get into the action without getting into trouble. She wasn't coming up with much; her sister's orders were quite comprehensive. But she meant to obey her instructions to the letter. She really did.