Lightning and Death Itself
Finis Ludum Chapter 6
When the Night Furies learned that Felix Natalis, centurion of Rome and prisoner of Berk, had trained his own dragon, "consternation" would be a very mild way to describe their reactions.
Chief Night Fury and Night-fury-full-of-surprises, who were the ones who discovered this event, brought the news back to the Nest. They expected some debate, but they didn't expect the heated reactions they got, especially because everyone had already been warned that this might happen.
"Hiccup, have you lost your mind?" Astrid demanded.
"Mom, you always say that," Newest-boy said quietly.
"Considering all the crazy stuff that Dad comes up with, can you blame her?" Thing One said archly.
Hiccup protested, "I had nothing to do with this at all!"
"Well, why didn't you stop it from happening?" his mate pressed on.
"For one thing," he began, "we were drawn by the sounds of a fight, and by the time we got there, the fighting was over and the two of them were already bonding. For another thing, I've never wanted to stop a dragon/human pairing before, so I wouldn't know how to try. And for a third thing, I think this is a good thing and I don't want to stop it."
"You don't want to stop giving the ultimate weapon to our enemies?" Bang pressed him. "Don't the Romans have enough advantages over us? Why did you present them with a dragon?"
"For one thing," Hiccup said, "I haven't presented anyone with anything. It just happened. For another thing, Tenax won't attack her own island, so we aren't giving the Romans much. And for a third thing –"
"Didn't you just give three answers to the last question?" Thing One interrupted.
"Yes, I did," her father nodded. "It's kind of a trope, and it sounds very persuasive. Don't interrupt your father. Anyway, the third thing is that, if Felix Natalis tries to use his dragon in battle against us, he'll probably get shot down by his own forces who can't tell a Viking from a Roman when he's riding a dragon at five hundred feet up."
"Okay, that's reasonable," Bang nodded. "But I've got another concern. Our prisoner just got wings. What's going to stop him from flying away on his dragon and escaping?"
"I've got just two answers for that one," Hiccup replied, with a warning glance at Thing One. "One, he gave his word of honor that he wouldn't escape if we let him out of the training ring. I think that really matters to him. Two, his dragon won't leave Berk all by herself, no matter what her rider might say or do. Snafflefangs are social creatures. If a dozen dragons and riders were leaving to start a new nest, she'd go with them. But all by herself? Tenax won't do that. Our Roman guest is not going to fly the coop."
Mother-of-twins looked unimpressed. "I still don't see anything good coming out of this."
"If you want to keep an eye on them, just to make sure, that's fine with me," Hiccup told her. "But I doubt that you'll see anything interesting. They're going to be just another new pairing of human and dragon."
"If they try to hide from me, would that strike you as suspicious?" Astrid demanded.
"They won't do that, for one simple reason," Hiccup began.
"He's gone from three answers, to two, down to one!" Thing One cut in. "He's almost out of answers!"
"It'll be a hot day in Spitsbergen when Dad runs out of answers!" Full-of-surprises retorted. "Now let him talk!"
"Anyway," Hiccup went on, "Tenax got injured in that dragon fight, and she's going to need doctoring. That means daily visits to the Nest to keep an eye on her injury and to coach Felix Natalis in how to treat his dragon. That pair isn't going to be hiding from anybody for at least a week." He paused, then turned to Full-of-surprises. "Where do you stand on all this?"
"I like it when my dragons are happy," she said. "One of them just got a lot happier because she found a human friend. I'm not yet convinced that this pairing will be good for Berk. But Tenax is a sensible dragon. She won't turn on us."
"I notice that you're already calling her by the name that Felix gave her," Bang said.
"It will keep things simple," his sister shrugged.
The next two days were relatively uneventful. The centurion had spent most of his life inflicting injuries, not doctoring them, but he proved to be a quick learner. The dragon had the strong constitution of all dragons, and she was healing quickly. The pair took their first flight together on the second afternoon. It was a tentative affair; the human's only previous flying experience was his nightmare flight with Astrid, and the dragon wasn't sure how her injury would affect her flapping muscles. They flew low and slow, but they made a point of crisscrossing the village from multiple directions, so everyone could see the new pair in action.
Early on the third day, two Nadder scouts returned from their patrol early. "There's a ship coming! There's a ship coming!"
"What kind of ship?" Hiccup and Full-of-surprises chorused.
"It looks like a Roman ship," the larger of the two replied. "It's big, with three decks of rowers and a very fancy flag flying from the mast. They'll be here in about four hours."
"Three decks of rowers, you said?" Hiccup repeated. "That's a lot of oarsmen. If they're all armed, then they could launch a one-ship invasion of Berk from a ship like that. They might even win, if we didn't have dragons."
"I'll see to it that they don't invade us," Full-of-surprises said firmly. "I'll have Bang and a team of Gronckles follow it until it docks, and the moment the men start pouring out of it... bang!"
"Yes?" Bang answered. "Oh, I thought you were calling me."
"No, that was more of a suggestion," Full-of-surprises said.
"The fancy flag might mean that they've finally sent their commanding general to talk to us," Mother-of-twins observed. "Let's not flame them prematurely, or we could ruin Hiccup's plan before it even gets started."
Full-of-surprises turned to her older brother. "Get a dozen Gronckles, make sure they all eat rocks, and get them in the air. Use all the usual tricks to keep them focused. Stay out of the Romans' weapons range until they dock in the harbor. Then be ready for anything."
"I'm on it," he nodded, and took wing.
"Is there anything else we need to do, in order to be ready?" Hiccup asked.
"Chief-night-fury, you've got work to do," Astrid nodded. "You need to round up some Vikings and make sure the Mead Hall is clean and spotless, so we can impress this general. You need to be sure there's room at the docks for a big ship to tie up. And you need to find out where Felix Natalis stands. Will he take the arrival of his people as the beginning of hostilities, even if we don't fight, so he'll be freed from his promise to not escape?"
"Those are three good points," the chief agreed. "I'll take care of them. Actually, I'll make sure the Vikings take care of the first two issues. Felix Natalis is my problem to deal with." He flew to Rangi and Anya's house and called until Anya stepped outside. He explained about the docks and the Mead Hall.
"I'll take care of it," she said, and walked away. Her gait looked very uncomfortable; the day when she would add another Viking to the village wasn't far off. Hiccup gained some height and spiraled outward, looking for Felix Natalis and Tenax.
They weren't hard to find. The Roman centurion was learning how to communicate his wishes to his dragon in the matter of breathing fire. The Snafflefang could either shoot balls of fire, or allow flames to rise up from her lower jaw; the Roman was mostly concerned with the fireballs. In addition to learning how to direct his dragon's fire, he was also learning that communication with a dragon was a two-way street. Tenax wouldn't slavishly do whatever Natalis ordered, just because he spoke it as an order. She had a mind of her own. Still, a row of trees with blackened marks from dragon fire showed that they were making progress with each other.
Hiccup landed next to them. "Tenax, how's your injury?"
"It still aches," the Snafflefang admitted, "but it's getting better. I probably won't even notice it in a week or two. I may wear the scar for life, but that's okay – I think the other dragons respect me for it. Not every dragon has proof that they'll protect their human with their life."
"I'm glad to hear it," Hiccup nodded. Then he turned to the human and wrote,
A ROMAN SHIP IS COMING
"Oh, really?" The centurion seemed only mildly interested. "Does it carry a pennant with an eagle on it?"
YES
"Then it has to be my commanding general, Silvanus Caveat Emptor. He must have gotten your message, and now he's here to see what he's going to do about it."
WHERE DO YOU STAND?
It took Natalis a second to figure out what the black dragon meant. "If you mean my vow to not escape or attack you, that vow is still in force. My loyalty to Rome is undivided, but I now have ties to this island, and that complicates things."
THAT SOUNDS LIKE DIVIDED
LOYALTY TO ME
"Huh. Now that I think about it, you're right. I suppose I do have divided loyalties now. I want to see Rome win all her battles and become the greatest empire in history, but not at Tenax's expense. If the forces of Rome invade this island and they try to kill my dragon... I'm not sure what I'll do."
HOW IS THE FIRE TRAINING
GOING?
Natalis rested a hand on his dragon's forearm. "Pretty well, I think. Tenax has a good eye for target practice, but she won't flame any living creatures. I think she knows what I'm asking her to do. She just won't do it, unless I can give her a good reason. Shooting a school of fish for breakfast is a good reason, apparently. Showing me that she can be an effective warrior isn't a good enough reason."
OUT OF IDLE CURIOSITY,
ARE YOU MARRIED?
"That's an odd question for a captor to ask of his prisoner," Natalis commented. "Why do you ask?"
YOU'VE FORMED AN UNUSUALLY
CLOSE BOND WITH YOUR DRAGON
IN A VERY SHORT TIME. I'M JUST
WONDERING IF THERE'S AN
EMOTIONAL EMPTY SPACE THAT
TENAX IS FILLING
For a moment, a cloud passed across the Roman's face. He sat down on a rock and looked toward his dragon. "I never talk about things like that with the men I've served with, even though I've known them and fought beside them for years. Somehow, talking about it with a black dragon doesn't seem so... threatening." He sighed and looked back at Hiccup.
"I used to be married, a long time ago. The marriage was arranged by my father for my family's political advantage. We were both young, maybe too young. She was plump, cute, and a pretty good cook. We liked each other, once the strangeness of being married to a total stranger wore off. But she wanted me to be home all the time, and I had to go wherever the army sent me. So she divorced me and ran off with a tribune's grandnephew. I've focused my life on the army ever since then; I don't want to go through that heartache again." Tenax picked up on his mood and gently nudged him with her muzzle. He rubbed her jaw affectionately.
"Yes, I like Tenax a lot," he admitted. "She doesn't judge me or demand that I become someone that I'm not. She's just happy to see me and spend time with me. I'm not used to that; I like it. It's more than just her potential to become a fine warrior."
WHOM DO YOU WANT HER TO
BECOME A WARRIOR AGAINST?
"That's the real question, isn't it?" The soldier turned and looked Hiccup in the eye. "Dragon, I've been a soldier ever since I was a teen-ager. Fighting is all I know; it's what I do best. Until very recently, questions like yours were easy to answer. If someone was an enemy of Rome, then he was my enemy as well. Now, the soldiers under my command will kill my best friend if they see her. I don't know whose side I'll be on. But, whichever side I choose, I want to be ready. I'm not preparing Tenax to fight the Romans and I'm not preparing her to fight the Vikings. She just needs to be ready for whatever happens."
MY FATHER WOULD HAVE
APPROVED OF THAT KIND
OF THINKING
"Was he a warrior?"
ABSOLUTELY YES.
HE WAS UNDEFEATED
DURING HIS TIME AS CHIEF
"Is that an unusual thing with dragons?"
HE WAS HUMAN, NOT A DRAGON
Natalis looked blank and scratched his head. "Okay, you just lost me. You're the chief of your tribe, and you're a dragon. Your father was the chief before you, and he was a human. How...?"
I WAS BORN HUMAN INTO A
HUMAN FAMILY. I WAS TRANS-
FORMED INTO A DRAGON
WHEN I WAS FIFTEEN
"Transformed?" Natalis still looked totally lost. "Did a witch cast a spell on you or something? I never actually believed in that stuff, of course, but I don't think you're a liar and I don't think you're deluded. Who did this transforming? How did they do it?"
A DRAGON TRANSFORMED ME.
IT'S A POWER THAT ALL
DRAGONS HAVE
"That's an impressive power," the Roman admitted. "Could I see it in action sometime?"
DEPENDING ON WHAT YOUR
GENERAL DOES, YOU MAY
GET YOUR WISH.
BUT I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY
TO CHAT. WHEN THE ROMAN
GENERAL ARRIVES HERE,
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
The centurion thought for a few seconds, then slowly said, "I think it will be best if I just stay out of sight. If General Emptor sees me and orders me to return to my cohort, then I'll have to decide whose side I'm on, and I'm not ready to make that decision yet. I'm declaring myself to be a benevolent neutral. Count me out of this encounter."
AS YOU WISH
Hiccup flew back to the village to oversee the preparations for welcoming their powerful guest. The more sharp-eyed among the men and dragons could see the Roman ship coming over the horizon. It was, indeed, a big ship. The dozens of oars, arranged in three banks, rose and dipped in near-perfect unison. That kind of discipline suggested a powerful, well-trained military force. A small flock of dragons was following the ship at a distance; Bang was doing his job. There was nothing for Hiccup to do except wait.
He still hated waiting.
It wasn't until after lunch time that the trireme finally pulled into Berk's harbor and maneuvered into an empty space by the docks. A handful of men climbed out of lower-deck portholes with heavy ropes and tied the ship to the dock securely. Then the men on the top deck lowered a walkway to the dock. Four soldiers in full battle armor marched down, followed by two men in shiny armor with red-plumed helmets, then four more soldiers. They all marched in perfect step to the land, where Hiccup waited with Rangi. Astrid joined the dragons who were circling the ship, just in case.
The older man stopped, tapped his chest with his fist, and said something to Rangi in his own tongue. The younger Roman translated his general's Latin into Old Norse. "Give honor to General Silvanus Caveat Emptor, conqueror of the Viking islands! I am his nephew and aide-de-camp, Titus Habeas Corpus. I speak your language, so I will translate for him."
Hiccup grunted, nodded, and said, "Chief Night Fury, chief of unconquered Viking island of Berk, welcomes you." Rangi translated his Forge into Old Norse, and added, "I am Rangi, his translator and assistant." The nephew rendered Rangi's Norse into Latin for his superior's benefit.
The general nodded to Rangi and spoke; again the younger man translated. "You are young to be a chief."
"No, not me. I said I am the translator and assistant to the chief," Rangi replied. The rest of the conversation followed this pattern. Neither of the two leaders could understand each other, so all of their words had to go through one translator when the general spoke, or two translators when the dragon spoke.
"So... where is your chief?" the Roman asked.
"You're looking at him," Rangi answered. "Chief Night Fury is his name, and it also describes him."
The general shook his head. "You expect me to believe that a brute beast is a Viking chief?"
"Here we go again," Hiccup sighed, rolling his eyes.
Rangi had had enough of these stubborn Romans. "You can believe whatever you like! But he's all the chief we've got, and if you want to negotiate for the island of Berk, then either you deal with him or you can talk to the air!"
The Romans considered this silently for a few seconds. Then the general shrugged. "I came to discuss terms of surrender. I don't much care who offers those terms, as long as the terms are honored. Are we going to talk here?"
Grunt, growl. "No, we will go to our Mead Hall to negotiate. We can offer you hospitality there."
"No tricks!" Habeas Corpus burst out. "Our eight bodyguards will accompany us, and there are more soldiers on our ship if we need them. Any false dealings will be met with massive force."
Hiccup smiled a toothy smile that made the eight bodyguards tense up and slide their hands toward their swords. Then he snarled and grunted. "The chief says he's not afraid of you and he has no reason to resort to trickery. Now, shall we skip the senseless posturing and get down to business?"
The general nodded. "Most barbarians can't put two sentences together without some senseless posturing. I like your approach. Please lead the way to your Mead Hall." Rangi and Hiccup did so. As they entered the Hall, the soldiers were silently looking all around, probably checking for ambushes. Rangi directed the guards to sit at one table, while he and the two Roman leaders picked out another table nearby. Hiccup stood at the end of that table. The Mead Hall servants brought mugs of ale for all the humans. Caveat Emptor took a cautious sip, looked surprised, then downed a big swallow. When they saw this, the other soldiers sampled their mugs and found them good.
"You promised me hospitality, and this ale is quite hospitable," the general said as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Very good indeed. Telling the truth is a good way to begin. Now, let's talk about important matters. Rome will have this island. There are no 'ifs' to consider; it's just a question of how high a price we have to pay. If you make a worthwhile offer, then I'll consider it. If you're merely stalling for time, then you'll find that your time has just about run out."
Snap-snarl-rumble-snarl. "Chief Night Fury has the authority to surrender the island of Berk and its people to the Roman Empire without a fight. We will pay taxes and tribute as required, and we will contribute men to serve in your army if necessary. The only terms we ask are that the dragons not be killed."
Both Roman leaders made a sour face. "The dragons are too dangerous to be allowed to live."
"You allow conquered soldiers to live, don't you?" Rangi pressed them.
"Yes, if they swear allegiance to Rome," the nephew replied.
"Okay. Would you accept oaths of allegiance from the dragons?"
"An oath from a dragon?" Corpus scoffed. "Brute beasts can't talk, and they know nothing of honor. Such a promise would be meaningless."
Snarl-grunt-growl. "Dragons can talk just fine, and they know more about honor than you think they do," Rangi retorted. "How can we prove that to you?"
"Start by proving that they can talk," the Roman said haughtily.
Hiccup grunted and stalked out of the Hall. "Follow him," Rangi said as he rose. "Unless I miss my guess, he's going to write on the ground. You can ask him questions, and he'll give you the answers."
The Romans remained seated. "How can we know that it's the dragon who is answering, and not you?" the general challenged him.
"He's going to write standard Viking runes," Rangi told him. "You can pick any Viking who's passing by, preferably someone who didn't hear you ask the question. Ask him to read the chief's runes. You'll soon be convinced, unless you close your eyes and plug up your ears."
The general glanced at his nephew and muttered, "Take two men with you and go see what kind of trickery this is." Corpus pointed at two of the soldiers and gestured for them to follow him. They found the black dragon and his assistant standing in front of a bare patch of ground.
"Okay, first question," Corpus said to the dragon. "How much is one plus one?" Rangi translated, and the dragon made two quick marks in the dirt.
"That's impossible!" one of the guards blurted out.
"Hold your peace," Corpus ordered him. "Nothing is settled yet. Second question: can you write your name?"
The Night Fury began making marks in the soil that looked a lot like the Viking runes on the nearby building. The Roman looked around and spotted Edda Hofferson, Astrid's mother, headed for the town's well with two empty buckets. He called and gestured to her, and Rangi repeated the call in her own language. She approached them nervously and asked, "What do you want of me?"
The Roman pointed at Hiccup's runes. "Can you read that?" he said in a demeaning tone. Rangi translated in the same tone of voice.
"Of course I can! I read quite well, thank you very much," she snapped. She walked around and stood next to Hiccup so the runes were right-side-up to her. She casually rested one hand on the dragon's neck, which did not pass unnoticed by the guards. "It says, 'Chief Night Fury.' That's his name and his title. Everybody knows that." The Romans stared at the runes in stunned silence.
"Thank you, Edda. I think you can go," Rangi said. She nodded, picked up her buckets, and resumed her trek to the well. The Romans still hadn't moved or spoken. He asked Corpus, "Do you still need more proof that the dragons are intelligent beings?"
Corpus looked around. "I'll ask one more thing. There is a bull's-eye target about a hundred feet away on my left. Judging by the marks in it, it's used for target practice with some kind of barbarian weapons like axes. Tell the dragon, without any hand gestures, to breathe fire and hit that target."
Rangi repeated the Roman's request. Hiccup nodded, charged up a quick firebolt, and fired. His shot hit the center of the target and blew a circular hole in it, leaving only the smoldering outer frame.
"That kind of accuracy is impressive," the Roman said, "but the damage is not. That hole is only about a foot and a half across. One of our catapult stones could make a bigger hole than that."
Rangi didn't wait for Hiccup to speak. "Oh, you want to be impressed? Maybe you'd like to see a Night Fury blow a five-foot hole in the side of your ship? Would that impress you? Just say the word! I think he'd like that." Hiccup nodded and pawed the ground, looking grim.
"That won't be necessary," Corpus said quickly. He turned without another word and marched back into the Mead Hall. The guards followed him closely. Hiccup and Rangi remained behind.
"Five-foot hole?" Hiccup was indignant. "I blow eight-foot hole, maybe more!"
"We don't want to reveal all of our secrets," Rangi said. "We still might have to fight them, and it would be best if they don't know how destructive you can be. I think they're more impressed than they're willing to admit, though. When I said you could make a five-foot hole, they believed me without an argument. Let's rejoin the conversation and see where it goes." Chief Night Fury nodded and they went back inside.
Corpus was reporting to his uncle about the things he'd just seen. "The dragon can write legible words, it can follow oral instructions, and it can do simple mathematics. It's also a fine marksman with its ranged attack. Sir, I'm convinced. It's intelligent."
General Emptor processed this in silence. He looked at the black dragon that had rejoined him at his table. He took another long drink of his ale. Finally, he spoke. "When I give orders to a horse in battle, I expect it to obey. When the lions are turned loose in the gladiators' ring, I expect them to fight to the death. I know exactly what to expect of the men under my command. But I have never dealt with dragons before, and I don't know what to expect."
Snap-snarl-rumble-grunt-growl. "The chief says, 'I suppose you want us to put on a demonstration of what dragons can do? You want us to reveal all of our secrets to you, just so you can feel at ease when you deal with us? I'm not that foolish. Think of some other way for us to earn your confidence.'"
The general looked thoughtful. "The gladiators' ring," he said to no one. Then he put down his mug with a bang. "All right, dragon! Here's what we're going to do. You are going to prove that you can keep the terms of an agreement. You and my eight guards are going to be transported to some small island near here, so that no one has a home-field advantage. There, you will fight them to the death. I'm not interested in who wins and who loses. I just want to see how you do battle. Do you come up with strategies and tactics? Do you evolve a new plan if the old plan doesn't work? Do you cheat? Do you inflict needless pain and suffering? Prove to me that you're an intelligent, reasonable being, in terms that a military man can understand... or die trying."
Snarl-growl. "Eight against one? You are not offering him a fair fight. What if he refuses your one-sided demands?"
"Then a Roman invasion fleet will arrive on your shores at a time of my choosing," the general said haughtily. "All humans who survive the battle will be sent to Rome to take part in the games. All dragons will be slaughtered without mercy. Rome will claim these lands and give them as gifts to veteran soldiers, so they can live here and support themselves when they retire. Resistance is futile."
Grumble-growl-burble. "Okay, what if he fights according to your terms, impresses you, and then gets killed?"
"If he can prove that he's as intelligent and noble as you portray him," the general said, "then I will honor the terms that he requested. Berk's Vikings will be permitted to surrender and become tributaries to Rome. If the dragons can prove themselves useful and loyal to Rome, then they will be allowed to live as well." He picked up his mug and banged it on the table again. "Enough questions! No more stalling! I've spelled out your terms; make your decision, reptile. Now!"
Rangi turned to Hiccup. "Chief, you never asked for my advice, but this doesn't sound like a winning move for us. Eight against one? The Vikings could usually defeat the dragons if they got three against one. Those soldiers look like experienced fighters, too." He paused. "I think, if Night-fury-mother-of-twins was here, she'd advise against it."
Hiccup nodded slowly. "You're right about the odds, you're right about the soldiers, and you're probably right about Astrid. But I've always lived by principles like, 'The chief does whatever it takes, for the good of his people' and 'The Alpha protects them all.' There's no question that the Romans are rigging this situation to their own advantage. But if I refuse, then I'll be signing the death warrant for every dragon on Berk, and half the people as well." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I think Butterbar Island would make a good neutral battlefield. How about you?"