The Power of Gold Chapter 6
Later that day, when Bertha had shaken off the worst of the effects of yesterday's party, she called to Six. "I am having a meeting outside the Mead Hall, two minutes from now, and I want you to be there." Six nodded, but waited until she saw Bertha, Chelsea, and Camicazi at the door before she rounded up the other two Night Furies and flew over to join the meeting.
"Thank you for joining us so quickly," the chief said acidly. "I want to talk about our raid yesterday. I think it went very well, but how can we make it better?"
Chelsea spoke up immediately. "We need a way for the dragons to talk to us so we can understand them." She gestured toward Thing Two. "This one did a good job of making signs in the air, but it took some guessing on our part to figure out what she was trying to tell us. If we'd been in battle, we would not have had time for guessing games."
"How did you handle that kind of situation on Berk?" Bertha asked Six.
WE WRITE ON THE GROUND, OR
WE SPEAK FORGE TO SOMEONE
WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT LANGUAGE.
"Huh." The chief didn't like that answer. "So we all have to learn how to grunt and growl like dragons if we're going to talk to you and understand you?"
WE UNDERSTAND YOU JUST FINE.
YOU CAN GROWL, BUT WE CAN'T
MAKE NORSE CONSONANTS, SO YOU
HAVE TO LEARN TO TALK LIKE US.
"The grunting and growling part doesn't sound that hard," Cami added. "It's just a bunch of noises. Naginatta is learning how to do it, right? If she can do it, then we can, too."
Faithful-brother added,
IF A HUMAN RIDES A DRAGON AND
BOTH SPEAK FORGE, IT REMOVES
ALMOST ALL MISUNDERSTANDINGS.
"Nobody said anything about riding dragons!" Bertha burst out.
"Why not?" her daughter challenged her. "We both rode on Hiccup to get away from the Thing. You didn't hate it then, did you?"
"I didn't hate it," Bertha retorted, "but I didn't love it, either. I accepted the ride from Hiccup because I didn't have any other options, and because Hiccup is... well, he's Hiccup. He's safe." She gestured toward the Night Furies. "These dragons are not safe!"
"I thought these dragons were Hiccup's daughters and his son-in-law," Chelsea objected. "If you thought they were dangerous, then why did you invite them into the village?"
"I knew Hiccup when he was a human being," the chief continued. "He was a bigger threat to himself than to anybody else. Now he's a Night Fury, but he's still Hiccup. I don't think of him as dangerous." She started to go on, but Thing Two suddenly wrote,
ASK THE BERSERKERS
IF HE IS DANGEROUS!
"The Berserkers?" Bertha repeated. "What would they say about Hiccup?"
THEY WOULD SAY HE KICKED
THEIR KEESTERS TO THE MOON
IN THEIR FIRST WAR, AND THEN
DID IT AGAIN IN THE SECOND WAR.
"Well, I'm sure I ought to be impressed, but for this discussion, that doesn't matter. My point is, I don't know these dragons that well yet. I'm not ready to entrust my life to them, and that is exactly what I'd be doing if I rode one of them into battle."
"I'm not afraid to ride them," Cami chimed in.
"You're not afraid of much of anything," her aunt Chelsea said wryly. Then she turned serious. "But I think that's where we're headed. If we want to communicate with the dragons in the middle of a raid or a battle, then we need to speak their language, and we probably need at least one of us riding on one of them, so the rider can relay the dragon's messages to people on the ground."
"I'll volunteer!" Cami exclaimed, raising her hand.
"What a big surprise," Chelsea muttered.
"What if I'm not ready to see my daughter risking life and limb on the back of a strange dragon?" Bertha demanded. Six grunted to get their attention, then wrote,
DO WE HAVE A SAY IN THIS?
DRAGONS AND RIDERS PAIR OFF
BY MUTUAL CONSENT, NOT BY
THE CHIEF'S ORDERS.
"Suppose we don't want to do things your way on our island?" the chief challenged her. "Suppose this chief likes giving orders, and she is accustomed to being obeyed?"
DO YOU ORDER COUPLES TO
PAIR OFF AND MARRY?
"No, of course not! Those things are usually arranged by the young people's parents. I don't know the individuals well enough to... wait, are you saying that, if a rider pairs off with a dragon, it's like a marriage?"
THERE ARE SIMILARITIES.
THE RELATIONSHIP IS FOR
LIFE, IT'S MONOGAMOUS,
AND YOU HAVE TO LEARN
HOW TO COMMUNICATE.
Camicazi read those words intently. "So I can't just hop on a dragon's back, ride off into the sunset, do some awesome burgling, and then pick a different dragon next time?"
YOU COULD, BUT IT WOULD NOT
WORK AS WELL AS IF YOU KNEW
THE DRAGON AND COMPLETELY
TRUSTED EACH OTHER.
"Like riding a horse?" Chelsea asked.
SIMILAR, BUT A HORSE
CAN'T TALK TO YOU AND
IT CAN'T BREATHE FIRE.
Cami was thinking hard. "What if you pair off with a dragon, and then you find out that you guessed wrong? What if you pick a dragon who hates your guts, or who doesn't understand you?"
THAT IS WHY THE DRAGON IS
INVOLVED IN THE CHOICE.
HUMANS GUESS WRONG SOMETIMES,
BUT A DRAGON ALWAYS KNOWS.
"How do you know?"
WE JUST KNOW.
Bertha was unconvinced. "So I'm supposed to entrust my life to a one-ton fire-breathing creature with claws the size of my hand, just because the dragon tells me it's a good idea? I can see thirty different things that could go wrong with that."
Faithful-brother had to comment on that –
IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE
RIDING A DRAGON INTO BATTLE,
THEN LET YOUR DAUGHTERS DO IT.
THEY SEEM MORE COMFORTABLE
WITH THE IDEA.
"Oh, right!" the chief scoffed. "Do you think I'm about to admit, in front of the whole tribe, that my daughters are braver than I am? How long do you think they'd let me remain the chief after that? I'd be deposed within a day!"
Six responded,
CHIEF BERTHA, WITH RESPECT,
YOU HAVE TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND.
EITHER YOU'RE GOING TO RIDE
ONE OF US, OR YOU AREN'T.
"Well, let's think this through," Chelsea said. "There are three Night Furies, so we'll need –"
"Five Night Furies, actually," Cami corrected her.
"The leader's daughters aren't ready for riding, according to the leader," Bertha informed her. "The older one is too undisciplined and the younger one is too small."
"She's not too small for me!" Cami exclaimed. "I wouldn't be too heavy for her. Sometimes there are advantages to being a small person."
Six snarled quietly and wrote,
MY YOUNGEST IS TOO YOUNG.
YOU DIDN'T SEND NAGI ON THAT
RAID FOR THE SAME REASON.
"She makes a valid point," Bertha nodded.
"Well, anyway," Chelsea went on, "we'll need three riders who aren't afraid of dragons and who are willing to learn this dragon language... what did you call it? Forge? I think it's a given that Camicazi will be one of those riders."
"You've got that right!" Cami interrupted.
"Show respect to your aunt, Camicazi!" her mother ordered.
Chelsea ignored them both and went on. "The second rider needs to be either you or me, Bertha; you're the chief, I'm the second-in-command, and one of us needs to be up there, coordinating with the dragons, while the other one stays on the ground and keeps the Vikings under control. I'm not very interested in flying, and you've made your opinion clear enough; we'll resolve that one later. I'm thinking that the third rider will be Naginatta."
"She's too young for battle," Bertha said flatly. "We just mentioned that. Remember?"
"She's too young for hand-to-hand combat," Chelsea nodded, "but she's shown the most interest in the dragons and in learning to talk to them. Besides, from what I've seen, a dragon rider doesn't do much fighting. The dragon fights; the rider guides."
Faithful-brother nodded in agreement and wrote,
THANK YOU FOR SUMMING THAT UP.
"Hey! That's my father's line!" Six burst out. Thing Two snorted.
"Okay, let me think about this," Bertha said. "If the rider doesn't fight, then that means the rider doesn't get any Viking-style glory out of being in battle. Chelsea, maybe we've been looking at this whole thing backwards. What if being a dragon-rider isn't a prestigious job that everybody should aspire to? What if being a dragon-rider means you're a second-rate warrior who never gets a chance to look her enemies in the eye and bonk them on the head? If the people thought of it that way, then it wouldn't be any disgrace if we both stayed on the ground."
"Would it be a disgrace if I rode a dragon?" Cami demanded. "I'm the chief's daughter and the future chief. Being disgraced isn't on my list of things to do today."
"It would be no disgrace for you, because you're still a warrior-in-training," Chelsea replied. "Once you turn eighteen, you'll be expected to find your place in the tribe as a full-fledged warrior, which would mean you'd have to bust a few heads. You wouldn't want to fly around high above the battlefield anymore after that. While you're still young, though, it wouldn't be shameful at all to ride a dragon. The same would go for your little sister."
"That leaves one Night Fury without a rider," Bertha nodded. "I know you dragons want to make your own decisions about who rides you, but if we get attacked, then we'll need you fighting for us, with riders, whether you approve of those riders or not. Forming the perfect dragon/rider pairs is something you can do in peacetime."
Six wrote:
UNDERSTOOD
"So, for that third rider, we need someone who won't mind missing out on the glory of battle," Chelsea decided.
"There aren't many of us who can fill that bill," Cami noted. "We're all either warriors or warriors-in-training. I want to ride a dragon because of the fringe benefits I'll get when I go burgling, not because I like the idea of dodging the action if a battle breaks out. Our other young women all want to earn their place in the tribe by succeeding in hand-to-hand combat, like real Vikings. Riding a dragon would take that away from them. Maybe a man could ride the dragon?"
"Forget it!" Bertha exploded. "Men don't fight for the Bog-Burglars, even on dragons! It's not their place."
Thing Two growled to get their attention, then wrote,
WHAT ABOUT THAT SLAVE GIRL
YOU FREED YESTERDAY? SHE IS
NOT TRYING TO BE A WARRIOR.
"Hmm." Bertha and Chelsea both looked thoughtful. "That's a maybe," Chelsea decided. "We'll see how she feels about that. She seemed scared of dragons yesterday."
"Most people are," Bertha said. "Some of us can get used to them. We'll get Cami, Naginatta, and Alfrún together tomorrow morning, and we'll see if you dragons like any of them. If you do, then we've got some dragon/rider pairs. If not, then it will be your job, Six-shooter, to find riders for the Night Furies who don't have them. You don't have to pick out a lifetime partner; just find someone you can fly with and fight with. I'm more concerned with getting our dragons up to full effectiveness as a fighting force than I am with picking perfect permanent pairs, and I need to see that happen quickly. Any questions?" There were none; the meeting was over.
Afterward, Six called Faithful-brother and Thing Two aside. "It sounds like they've demoted dragon-riding from a high-class occupation to a bottom-feeder's job," Faithful-brother commented.
"That's their problem," Six answered. "It won't do us any harm, as long as the humans who ride us actually want to ride us. Speaking of which: from the young women who are being offered to us as riders, do either of you have any preference?"
"I have an anti-preference," Thing Two said firmly. "Camicazi is not my style! All she wants to do is steal stuff. If she's going to ride one of us, it will have to be someone who's strong-willed enough to tell her 'no' when she wants us to go on one of her burgling expeditions."
"That would have to be you," Faithful-brother nodded toward his mate. "I might be able to tell her 'no,' but she'll never ride a male dragon if females are available. She'd totally dominate your sister."
Six started to object, then stopped. "I can't argue with your logic," she admitted, "even though I don't want to be a thief's accomplice any more than you do. For the time being, we'll assume that, if trouble comes and I haven't found a true human friend yet, then Cami will ride me into battle. What about you two? We're all expected to pair off with one of those young women."
"I don't see either of them as a friend," Thing Two said, "but I feel bad for that slave girl. She's had a really rough life. I'd love to do something to make her smile. The thing is, I don't know if riding on my back would make her smile or scare the daylights out of her."
"I feel bad for her, too," Faithful-brother agreed. "But Naginatta is really working hard to learn some Forge so she can talk to us. I helped to invent that language, so I'm kind of flattered that she likes my creation that much. I don't know her very well as a person, but I like her work ethic."
Six smiled. "It sounds like both of you have a preference, even though neither of you has reached the point of making a decision. All righty, then! To make the chief happy, we'll start working with our preferred riders, with the understanding that this may or may not be a permanent arrangement. Each of us has to reach out to our own rider-to-be and find out if they even want to ride us. We'll do that right now; we won't wait until next morning. If they're willing to be dragon-riders, then we'll start flight lessons with them and we'll encourage them to learn as much Forge as possible. The chief wants dragon/rider pairs and she wants them quickly. If she doesn't get what she wants, I don't want the fault to lie with us dragons. Any questions?" There were none; the meeting was over.
They spread out across the town, looking for the women who (unknown to most of them) had just been designated as dragon-riders. Six's meeting with Camicazi went the smoothest. The dragon found the young woman taking dagger-throwing practice behind her mother's longhouse.
"Oh, hi, there," Cami said, and carefully eyeballed the dragon to see her markings better. "You're Six-shooter, right?" Six nodded.
"You're supposed to pick out a rider, right?" She nodded again.
Cami smiled. "I could make it worth your while if you picked out the chief's oldest daughter, you know what I mean? Nudge nudge, say no more?" Six crouched and looked back at herself. That was all the encouragement Cami needed. She dropped her daggers, scrambled up onto Six's back, got a good grip with her knees, and yelled, "Hit it!" Six exploded into the air in true Night Fury fashion; she wanted to see what Cami thought of riding a Night Fury at full speed. She got her answer when she went into a power dive, followed by a zoom climb. Her rider raised her fist at the top of the climb and shouted, "Oh, yeah! Airborne all the way!"
When they landed, Bertha was waiting for them; she'd seen the black rocket with the wild-haired blonde on her back, and heard her daughter whooping with triumph with every maneuver. "So you've found your dragon?" she asked indulgently.
"Mother, if riding a dragon is a disgrace, then I'll take that kind of disgrace every day for the rest of my life!" Cami exulted. "But maybe we can talk the dragons into wearing saddles? I think Six could make even crazier maneuvers if she wasn't afraid of losing me." That was true; Six had held back slightly on her most extreme moves. She knew that Uncle Toothless had worn a saddle for a short time, when her father was human and was learning to ride him. She'd ask him what that was like, and whether she could wear a human device like that without discomfort.
Meanwhile, Faithful-brother had sought out Naginatta. "Is it time for another language lesson?" she asked. He shook his head "no" and crouched down.
"So... what's happening? Why are you here?" she asked. The idea of riding her language instructor hadn't occurred to her. Then she saw and heard her older sister zooming through the heavens, obviously having the time of her life. "What is she doing up there?" Naginatta asked, perplexed.
Faithful-brother looked up at Six, then at Naginatta, then at his own back. She went wide-eyed and backed away a step. "Me? Up there, flying like that? I don't think so!" He tried a reassuring croon, but she was not reassured.
Okay, I'll try Plan B, he thought. He got back to his feet and walked in a circle around her, then stopped and crouched again.
"Are you saying you'll walk if I ride on you, and you won't fly?" she quavered. He nodded "yes." "Okay, I guess," she decided, and hesitantly climbed up onto his back. "You don't have any reins for me to hold onto," she observed. He wrote,
WHERE WE'RE GOING,
WE DON'T NEED REINS!
She tried to scramble off, but he rose and began pacing around the village; she didn't dare dismount while he was moving. After about two minutes, Naginatta began to relax and enjoy the ride (and the curious stares of everyone she passed). Faithful-brother stepped into a trot, and the girl tightened her grip with her knees, but showed no signs of distress or panic. So he waited until he was facing an open field on the outskirts of the village, then hit a near-gallop, holding back only enough to keep from losing his rider.
"I'm afraid I'm going to fall off!" she called out. He started to slow down, and then realized he was headed for a cliff and couldn't stop in time. He'd promised not to fly, but now he had to break that promise if he meant to save his rider's life (and his own).
He sailed upwards effortlessly, then leveled off. Naginatta was lying flat on his back, clinging to his neck with her arms, eyes tightly closed, shaking in terror. Her knowledge of Forge was still rudimentary, but he thought she'd understand when he said, "I sorry." He had to say it twice before she realized he was talking to her. She opened one eye, then the other, then slowly looked around.
"I all right," she said, her voice quavering, but the rest of her wasn't shaking anymore. She saw her sister on Six and lapsed back into Norse. "Please don't fly like that pair is flying! Please!"
She hadn't said, "Stop flying," so he swung into a wide, gradual turn that took them back over the village. Naginatta slowly released her grip with her arms and sat upright, staring at the village just below her as they glided above it.
"Maybe this isn't so bad," she said quietly. Faithful-brother wasn't sure if she was talking to him, or to herself. He didn't keep her in the air long, and she was quick to slide off his back when he landed. But as soon as she'd patted her hair back into place, her first question was, "How do I say 'fly' in Forge?"
While this was going on, Thing Two located the actual forge and found Alfrún at work, sharpening the iron heads of a dozen spears. The woman couldn't possibly know any Forge, so the Night Fury wrote on the ground,
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO
FLYING WITH ME?
Alfrún stared at her runes for a few seconds, then looked back to her spearheads. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to read or write. I don't know what you're trying to tell me." There was no one else around to read the runes for her; the Bog-Burglar smith had stepped out for an errand. Thing Two waited for five or six minutes for someone to show up at the forge, but no one came, and she was feeling awkward about this whole situation. Finally, she gave up and left. She'd try her luck with Alfrún some other day.