The Great Beyond

Chapter 22: Edge of Disaster, Pt. 2 (Reign)

                This was not how I saw my day going.

Then again, was there ever a time when I expected that I'd be captured and held hostage by wild dragons with Fishlegs? Not to mention that the people left to rescue me consisted of the cockiest man I'd ever met, a trader who flinched at every shadow, not to mention that I also didn't trust, and someone who apparently didn't trust me.

The mere thought of Hiccup somehow both made my heart ache and the rest of my body want to punch something. It was strange how I could love someone immeasurably, and yet any time I looked at their face, I just felt the urge to start yelling. Sure, it was definitely an unreasonable sort of anger, but I couldn't stop thinking about what he'd said to me, what he'd accused me of, during that one explosive argument.

More than anything else, his accusations that I didn't love him made me feel... worthless—like I wasn't good enough. Not necessarily because he made any attack on me specifically, but because apparently, the way I expressed my emotions to him wasn't enough for him to realize that I loved him. I'd even go so far as to say he's the love of my life, and the thought of a future without him in it now didn't even register in my mind.

Still, every time I looked at him, all the things he said came back, and the next thing I knew, I was insulting and yelling at him. Every single time, I wanted to apologize, but my stupid Berserker pride got in the way, and it literally felt like my tongue was made of silver.

Now, he was really the only person I could rely on to save me. I just hoped he would. After all the names I'd called him and little things I'd insulted, I wouldn't want to save me, either.

I drummed my fingers against one of my thighs, watching as a group of the wild dragons surrounded Fishlegs, growling and sneering at him. I'd made it clear to the creatures last night that I wasn't messing around, and although I tried to do the same for Fishlegs, he did nothing to hide his fear, and dragons were very perceptive of that sort of thing.

Tensions rose when the rest of the dragons parted, making way for a particularly nasty Nadder that I'd assumed was their leader. It opened its wings to Fishlegs, making itself look as big as possible to intimidate him before it leaned down, sniffing the Viking as he backed up. I understood that interfering might prove deadly for my fellow captive, but if it came down to it, I was ready to step in. After all, I had quite a few tricks up my sleeve thanks to a certain dragon trainer.

"You may not know this, but where I come from, I'm known as a friend to all dragons," Fishlegs trembled, his voice breaking and stuttering. That definitely wasn't going to help, and not just because the dragons probably couldn't understand him.

Finally, the Nadder stood up straight again, and I rushed over to Fishlegs' side, helping him to his feet and standing straight and tall in front of him. It wasn't until I looked at the Nadder and one of the Monstrous Nightmares from this angle that I noticed something strange.

"Whoa." I clicked my tongue. "You sure do have a lot of scars, don't you? All of you do, really." Forgetting about the group we were dealing with, I reached out and tried to feel them, but they growled at me, causing me to snap my hand back to my side. "Fishlegs, do you see this?"

With a new sense of bravery, Fishlegs stood and moved to my side, taking note of the strange marks on the side of the Monstrous Nightmare's head.

"That looks like an arrow mark." My eyes widened as he tried to reach out to touch it, and just in time I dove and pulled him out of the way of the Nadder firing a magnesium blast. "Okay, okay... I get it. Touchy subject. No problem."