Hiccup listened to his mother intently, his breaths slow and even. He couldn't help but feel that she still hadn't gotten to the point, but at least she seemed to be getting close. He watched her carefully in the faint light, and he could see that she was staring down at her hands on her lap. Her breathing had quickened too, from the moment she first mentioned a Monstrous Nightmare.
Something had happened involving that Nightmare, Hiccup decided. And that something, whatever it was, had been bad.
"How did you survive?" Hiccup asked.
Valka startled, like she'd been completely lost in her own little world. "W-well," she said. "She didn't mean harm. She could have killed me right away if she wanted, of course. But instead, she…"
Valka stood rigidly, air hissing in and out rapidly through her teeth. The great Monstrous Nightmare loomed over her, freezing her in place with its gaze. Her Terrible Terrors stirred by her feet, hissing and spitting at the larger dragon, but the Nightmare seemed to pay them no mind. Its purple scales gleamed in the sun, and bits of spittle fell from its toothy mouth.
The Nightmare's eyes remained fixed on her. Valka backed away instinctively, only to trip and fall with a startled yelp.
"Ah!"
She landed hard, jarring her back, and she quickly sat up. Flamey crooned an apology beneath her legs — he'd tried to hide behind her, tripping her — while Sharptooth stood his ground in front of them, pawing at the dirt and snarling at the creature up above.
"Sharptooth, no!" Valka cried. "That's…you'll be…"
Sharptooth took a deep breath and flamed. His fire beat harmlessly against the Nightmare's closed mouth, and the Nightmare laughed with that rapid 'hough-hough-hough' that Terrors sometimes made. Sharptooth froze and whimpered, the Nightmare's massive head coming right down to his level.
"No…no, please…"
She could barely think around her hammering heart. Sharptooth was going to die. She was going to die. They were all going to die. They didn't stand a chance against—
The Nightmare shoved Sharptooth aside with its snout. Sharptooth shrieked in indignation and landed in a heap, but was clearly unharmed.
Then the Nightmare's attention turned back to Valka. Flamey growled in its direction, now hiding somewhere behind Valka's back.
"Um…h-hey…"
The creature sniffed her from afar. Then it moved in closer, sniffing at one of her hands, its pupils gradually widening..
"Hey," Valka said quietly. "You're not going to flame up, right?"
Valka kept herself very still. She shut her eyes, listening to the giant dragon's every breath. She grit her teeth when she felt it sniff her forehead, but then she relaxed a little as it sniffed at her hair. She opened her eyes soon after, and she saw the dragon begin to circle around her. It sniffed her here and there, and Valka's posture slowly eased.
Dragons, she'd been told, always went for the kill. But her Terrors never had, so maybe this Nightmare also wouldn't. It hadn't killed her so far, nor had it killed her two Terrors, even though it could do so easily. Monstrous Nightmares were the most dangerous of dragon breeds —- save for the Night Fury, but no-one had ever seen a Night Fury — and yet this one seemed so…docile, and gentle.
Flamey, down at her side, had gone quiet. Sharptooth then also settled down next to her, making no further attempt to intervene. She looked over to the Nightmare, suddenly feeling daring, and she reached a hand out to its snout. The Nightmare hissed, and Valka quickly snatched her hand away.
"...sorry," she said, lowering both arms limply to her sides.
That seemed to mollify the Nightmare. It backed away a little, but it crooned with widening pupils.
Valka looked down to her lap. Sharptooth, she recalled, had reacted similarly when she'd first reached out to him. The trick, as it turned out, had been to let him come to her: Valka had knelt on the ground and made herself small, with just a single hand held out…
…so maybe, just maybe, that trick would work here too…
Valka crawled forwards slightly, careful to make no sudden movements. The Nightmare stared at her and tilted its head, curiosity etched within its gentle eyes. Valka then curled herself up and covered her face, a single hand stretched enticingly out.
Valka waited. Then she waited some more.
Then she felt it: the snout of the Nightmare, pressing gently against the back of her offered hand. The big dragon purred, and the two Terrors began to chatter excitedly.
Valka let herself look.
The Monstrous Nightmare was right there, its pupils wide and relaxed, its nostrils flaring steadily and blowing warm air against her knuckle. Valka, it seemed, had made yet another friend.
"So," Valka said. "Are you a girl dragon, or a boy dragon?"
The Nightmare trilled gently. It couldn't understand her, of course, but it did seem to know she was talking to it.
"I'll guess…girl," Valka said, looking over the creature's bright purple scales.
The Nightmare let out a quiet bark, head tilting to the other side.
Then the two Terrible Terrors yapped in unison, stealing the Nightmare's attention. The dragons proceeded to sniff at each other, Valka quietly watching from where she sat. All three dragons took to the air, circling and weaving around each other, all sorts of sounds passing excitedly between them.
Sharptooth and Flamey, it seemed, had made a friend as well.
"Stoker," Valka said quietly, smiling wide. "I'll call you Stoker. That fits, right?"
She hoped that Stoker would land after this; she hoped Stoker would let her get close. Because Valka was feeling curious, and there were a few things she really wanted to try…
"Stoker," Valka said softly. "I named her Stoker, there and then. She played with Sharptooth and Flamey for a while, in the air. But then she came down to me. She stayed such a long time that day."
"Stoker," Hiccup repeated. "For a Stoker-class dragon. I guess that fits."
He couldn't help but feel concerned. It sounded like such a wonderful moment, the way Valka had been describing it, yet she was sitting crumpled with her head in her hands.
"She let me feed her," Valka said. "I still had some fish in my pack. She let me scratch under her jaw. She even let me rub sweet grass against her nose. I learned that my tricks worked on big dragons too, not just Terrors."
"But…" Hiccup began. "But, if you knew that, then…"
Then why had he never heard of this? How had none of this ever come out?
"I was a fool, Hiccup," Valka said then. "I was a Thor-damned fool…"
The sea lapped gently against the docks, illuminated by the clear night sky. The full moon shone brightly, surrounded by a host of glittering stars. A chill wind blew, and Valka huddled for warmth.
"I can't believe it's so close," Camicazi said brightly. "I'll be slaying a Nightmare, in just two days! A Monstrous Nightmare, Val! Just imagine it!" They were both sitting at the docks, their legs dangling over the side.
Valka feigned a smile, looking over at her long-time friend. Camicazi was a Viking like no other: long blonde hair, a fierce grin, and boundless enthusiasm in the face of endless war. She was still the star of the class — how could she not be? — and she was still the favorite to win.
"And then…we'll be warriors," Cami said. "Me. You. All the others, too. Defending our home against those…monsters. Those beasts."
Valka opened her mouth to say something. She'd been quiet for too long; Cami would surely notice if she didn't say something soon.
"Although…maybe it won't be me," Camicazi said suddenly. She turned to Valka, grinning a toothy grin. "Maybe it'll be you, Val, killing the Nightmare in front of everyone! Wouldn't that be great?"
Valka had improved markedly at fighting dragons in the last few weeks, as far as everyone else was concerned. Even instructor Mildew had been impressed, and Mildew was rarely impressed at anything. They hadn't noticed how she was doing it, of course. She'd used sweet-grass, jaw-scratches, eels — whatever it took to quickly stop a fight.
And now, Valka and Cami were the top two students — the final two in the running to slay a Nightmare in front of the whole village. Their final contest was tomorrow; the slaying would be the day after.
"Yeah. Great," Valka said.
Cami frowned, and Valka winced inside. She couldn't have been more obviously against this if she—
"Hey, Val, is…is everything okay?" Cami said. "You've been…quiet later. Quieter, I mean. Quiet, even for you."
Valka could feel her mouth going dry. I don't want this, she wanted to say. This is all wrong, she wanted to say. But…but she couldn't tell Camicazi the truth! Cami would just see her as a traitor if she told the truth! Everyone would! How was she supposed to explain that she was friends with Terrible Terrors, or that she was friends with a Monstrous Nightmare named Stoker?
Stoker didn't visit the Grotto as often as Sharptooth or Flamey now did. But Stoker did turn up every few days, and she was always happy to see Valka. The Nightmare loved to be scratched around the nostrils, and she thought it great fun to scoop Valka into the air with her wide snout. Sharptooth and Flamey also adored the Nightmare, and the feeling seemed to be mutual, and the three dragons would play for ages in the air together. There had been a dragon raid a couple days ago, so Valka was hoping that Stoker would visit again soon, just so she knew that the dragon was safe.
She couldn't tell any of that to Camicazi, of course. But she did have to say something! She could not let Camicazi find her out, no matter what!
"Cami?" Valka said. "Do you think…do you think this fighting will ever end?"
Camicazi didn't even stop to think. "Oh, sure," she said. "When we find the nest? When we slay the last dragon? Then it will end." She swished an imaginary axe through the air. "And I'll be the one to do it. Just you watch!"
"Oh, yeah," Valka went. "I'm sure you will!"
Her enthusiasm sounded so fake, even to her own ears. Cami frowned again, having obviously heard it too.
"Hey, if you're worried about tomorrow," Cami said, "then don't be, okay? I do want to win, but…you're my friend, Valka. My best friend." She smiled, so warmly and so sincerely that Valka wanted to wail. "If it's you in there, slaying that dragon? I'll be cheering for you, right with everyone else. Okay?"
Valka nodded. "O…okay. Thanks, Cami. And I'll cheer for you. If you win." She smiled again, hoping that this one would be convincing.
"I know you will," Camicazi said, patting Valka's back. She then shuffled backward, before clambering to her feet. "Well, we should at least try to sleep. I guess. See you tomorrow, yeah?"
"Yeah, see you," Valka said, giving her a little wave.
Valka watched her rush away. Then she turned back to stare at the sea, still lapping beneath her feet.
Her final contest with Cami was tomorrow. And if she won that contest, she'd get the 'honor' of killing a dragon while the rest of the village watched and cheered. They wouldn't let her bring the dragon down harmlessly, the way she'd been doing in training. They'd want violence and blood, and they'd refuse to have it any other way.
She'd been thinking of trying to win against Cami, and then of trying to show everyone another way…
…but they wouldn't want to see another way. If it was her in the arena for that ceremony, they'd be cheering for her to kill. And if she refused then…then she'd surely be outcast…and the captured Nightmare would die anyway…
…but Valka couldn't do it herself. She couldn't kill a dragon. She knew she couldn't…
…and Cami wanted it so much…
Hiccup had his head in his hands once again, mirroring his mother.
"You threw the contest," he said.
He nearly said more: how she'd willfully allowed a dragon to die, how she hadn't even tried to show the village a better way. But then…had he not also tried to run from it all, once upon a time? He'd planned to throw his contest to Astrid; he would indeed have thrown it, had his father not been watching that day. And then, when Hiccup won, he'd decided on a 'little' vacation which would not have been so little. Astrid had interrupted him back then, but if she hadn't…
…even years later, he still didn't know.
Hiccup thought about that sometimes: what precisely would have happened, had he and Toothless left that day. Might he have come back for the arena dragons, once the initial rush wore off? Might he have shown himself to the village, to try to show what dragons could be? Or would he have continued to flee, his concern for Toothless and unwillingness to fight eclipsing all else?
Toothless had felt like his lifeline, back then. Even Gobber hadn't come close, and Gobber had long been the closest Hiccup had to a friend. Toothless had just been so…non-judgmental. So open. So willing to spend time with a 'useless' fishbone like himself. Hiccup could still remember those early days in the Cove: coming to see Toothless, seeing Toothless' eyes light up at the sight of him. To have someone be happy to see him had been such a novel thing, and he'd have done anything to keep that someone safe — anything.
So Hiccup stayed quiet, and he continued to listen.
"I did throw it. Yes," Valka said. She nodded, exhaling hard. "I thought it was the best way. I thought it was the only way. But…oh gods, that ceremony…that Odin-cursed ceremony…"
Valka's hands were balled into fists. Everyone around her was cheering, waiting for the fight to start; Valka joined them, pretending to want this, pretending to be one of them. Camicazi had just selected her weapons — a one-handed axe, a shield, a hatchet for her belt — and she was now approaching the Nightmare's door.
The gate to the arena had already been shut. Cami was now locked within a giant pit, enclosed overhead by an enormous iron cage. There would be no escape for her, until this fight was done — or rather, there'd be no escape for the poor dragon who was about to be—
Please let it be quick, Valka thought. Just let it be quick…
She wasn't scared for Cami. Cami had spent her entire life training for this moment; she'd surely be fine. She was frightened for the creature behind the locked gate, who was snarling and ramming at its confines.
That captured Monstrous Nightmare was already doomed. The best that could be hoped for was a quick death.
The Nightmare's gate opened. The creature surged out, roaring and gnashing its teeth, its body brightly aflame. The Nightmare looked mindless and feral without a hint of mercy, just as Berk thought dragons to be.
Valka swallowed. The crowd roared.
The Nightmare clambered around the barred enclosure, as though seeking a way out. Already, Valka sensed that it didn't want to fight. No-one else saw that, of course. They only saw a beast behind those thin-slitted eyes. They couldn't see that dragons could be friends; they couldn't see what should have been so obvious to see…
The Nightmare leapt to the ground, looking all over with its scales still alight. Camicazi tensed in front of it, raising her axe and shield. Even from afar, Valka could see that Cami was grinning, and she could just imagine the rabid gleam in Cami's eyes.
Camicazi was a warrior at heart. She'd dreamt of this moment for years — literally, sometimes. And she'd told Valka all about it, time and time again.
The Nightmare flamed, and the fight began.
Cami crouched low, blocking with her shield. Then the dragon lunged, and Camicazi rolled gracefully out of the way, prompting a wild cheer from the crowd. Cami threw her hatchet, slicing deep into the Nightmare's left leg, and the Vikings roared in collective delight.
Valka placed her hands over her mouth, not daring to make a sound.
Cami readied her axe anew. The Nightmare turned to face her, limping and leaking blood. Its eyes flicked here and there, as though looking for way out, as though praying for some way to—
The Monstrous Nightmare looked right into Valka's eyes, and it froze. Some of its flames went out then, revealing the dark purple scales hidden beneath.
Valka froze in turn, a whimper escaping her throat. "S…Stoker?"
The creature's scales looked duller than Valka remembered. But between that distinctive coloring and her reaction to Valka, there was no mistaking who this was.
"Oh…oh no…"
Valka could still picture Stoker as she'd been in the Grotto: a gentle giant, who took fish carefully from Valka's hand, who pestered Valka for scratches around her nostrils, who flew slow loops in the air with Sharptooth and Flamey chasing her tail.
And now, Stoker was looking at her pleadingly, like she had all the answers, like she could still lead the Nightmare out of this.
Valka should have been down there. She should have done something. She shouldn't have let Cami—
Cami buried her axe into Stoker's chest, taking advantage of Stoker's distraction. The Nightmare screeched, fresh cheers erupting all around. Cami yanked out the axe and leapt away; Stoker collapsed to the ground, her blood flowing freely onto the rocks.
"I'm sorry…" Valka whispered, her cheeks already wet with tears. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"
Valka couldn't watch anymore. She covered her eyes, burying her face in her hands. Then the crowd began shouting angrily; she startled, looking back up,
"What in Thor's name?" a gruff voice said.
"A Terror! Of all the—"
"What's a Terror doing in the—"
Oh no.
Valka took it all in at once, shaking at the sight before her. There was Stoker, twitching weakly and bleeding out on the arena's floor, a few embers still clinging to her scales. There was Camicazi bearing down on the fallen dragon, axe and shield in hand. And between them: Sharptooth, pawing at the ground, snarling and hissing at Cami, crouched low as though to leap.
He must have heard the commotion, Valka thought; he must have flown over to investigate. And now, he was trying to stop this, trying to save his friend.
Sharptooth lunged for Cami's head, wildly and carelessly.
Camicazi caught him with her axe, cleaving straight through in a bloody arc.
Camicazi then rushed forward. She fell upon the stricken Nightmare, hacking madly at the creature like a thing possessed, the onlookers cheering with every strike.
Bile rose in Valka's throat. Tears streamed down her face.
Valka thought of the brave green Terrible Terror who had been the first to approach her in her Grotto. She thought of him remaining just out of reach; she thought of him pressing into her hand and purring when she held it out for him with her eyes covered. She thought of when he'd turned up at the Grotto with a particularly large fish, which he had apparently wanted to show off to her before eating; she remembered how he'd eaten the thing whole, and how he'd then dozed off to sleep on her lap, smiling a dragon-ish smile.
She remembered how he'd tried to fight a Monstrous Nightmare when he thought Valka to be in danger. Then she remembered how, days later, she'd found him lying atop that very same Nightmare in the Grotto, the two dragons basking in the sun.
She remembered that one time when Stoker had scooped her up too hard and accidentally tossed her into the air, with Valka landing heavily on Stoker's head. She remembered how Sharptooth had yapped at the Nightmare, as if telling Stoker to be more careful. She remembered how Stoker had chucked up some fish in front of her as an apology; she recalled how a group of Terrors had happily eaten the offering in her place, Sharptooth and Flamey among them.
And now, Sharptooth and Stoker were dead. Because of Berk. Because of her.
Valka turned away, shoving through a throng of Vikings, ignoring their questions and stares. Then she ran, without looking back.
She'd lost two friends — no, three friends — this day. She'd never look at Camicazi the same way again. And Camicazi would be furious at her for running off, besides.
She ran into the words at full sprint, panting with exertion.
She needed to be away from here: away from Berk, away from fighting, away from humans. She didn't deserve the Grotto one bit, but she was going there anyway. She needed the Grotto's quiet, and she needed it now.
We're still not done with Valka's flashbacks, just to be clear. I'm planning one more flashback chapter after this. And then, we'll be getting to Drago...
