The Great Beyond

Chapter 34: Stryke Out (Reign)

                A strange sensation bubbled and swirled around in my stomach, matching in ominous and slightly threatening atmosphere above Hiccup, Snotlout and my heads. So rarely did I get this feeling about missions or recon flights, but when I did, things usually ended up going pretty bad. This particular instance felt completely warranted; this morning, Snotlout woke Hiccup and I about halfway through what was supposed to be his patrol time, ranting and waving his arms about a Dragon Hunter Base—a brand new one. Of course, we jumped on the opportunity to find this thing, scrambling out of bed and throwing on armor, some of which ended up backwards, to jump on our dragons just seconds later. There was a chance the Hunters had seen Snotlout, and thus, we needed to move quickly, otherwise they might abandon the place and remove all evidence they were there. Initially, the two of us had been excited to catch some new Hunters and free some dragons, but once we took off, I started to feel off, which led us to where we were at that moment.

"The Dragon Hunter base is just ahead." There was a hint of pride behind Snotlout's words.

"Remember, approach with caution," Hiccup warned. "They might be expecting us."

"Hiccup, Hiccup! This is the easiest mission ever." And, there was that typical cockiness we all came to expect from Snotlout. "We fly in, blast the Hunters, and be home in time for lunch. Boom!"

"While I appreciate the enthusiasm, I—"

"Come on, Hookfang!"

Snotlout and his Monstrous Nightmare sped ahead of the two of us, growing closer to the brown, rocky island. I glanced at Hiccup, the two of us shaking our heads before catching up with the pair.

I had expected to be ambushed and overrun when we landed, or at least feel like there were eyes on me, but everything was... a little too quiet. Cages along the shoreline were completely empty, the doors swung wide open. There were no carts, no discarded weapons, just a couple of lanterns in crates that had burned out the last of their oil. Not only was this place empty, but by the looks of it, no one had been here in a while. I didn't want to discard Snotlout's observations immediately, but it couldn't be possible that there were people here this morning.

"There's no one here." I turned to Hiccup, crossing my arms and shrugging my shoulders. "It's completely abandoned."

"This place was crawling with Dragon Hunters this morning," Snotlout insisted, sticking firm to his story. "Something's wrong."

"Did you see anything else? Any dragons?" Snotlout's eyes flicked downwards at my inquiry.

"Well, no," he answered truthfully.

I would've suggested the three of us turn and head back, and declare this a lost cause, had Toothless, Shriek, and Hookfang not leered forward suddenly, narrowing their lids and growling at the cave entrance just behind us. If the dragons sensed something, we couldn't completely discount this place yet.

"Maybe there is something wrong," Hiccup muttered. From in the dark depths, the distant call of dragons in distress sounded. "Yeah, really wrong. Come on!"

I removed my shield from my back and held it out in front of me, ready to deflect any potential fire from a startled dragon. Sticking close, Hiccup and I made our way down the steps with our dragons, Snotlout and Hookfang trailing far behind. There weren't any signs of life upon initial entry, but the steps carved into the stone indicated there had definitely been people here.

"I think we've seen way too much of this place already," Snotlout said hurriedly. "Maybe it's time to head back. What do you think, Hookfang?" His Monstrous Nightmare snorted in annoyance and pushed him toward the edge of the stair he was currently on.