The Great Beyond

Chapter 38: Last Auction Heroes (Reign)

Well, I suppose to make up for how long the last chapter was, this one is going to be on the much shorter side

- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I picked at the skin around my nails, peeling off any little pieces that came loose. Nothing went deep enough to draw blood, which was desirable for the time being. The could hold my sword in my left hand again, but the wound there was still healing and needed to be bandaged often, so I could only go so long without splitting the sutures Astrid put there. She'd already had to sew it back up a few times, and I didn't want to have to go back through that experience a fourth time. I was pretty good when it came to pain tolerance, but the skin on my hand was surprisingly thin, and the needle extremely sharp.

"All right. Out with it."

I turned my attention to Hiccup, who was hovering on Toothless next to Shriek and I. Clearly, he'd been watching me pick at my hands and mess with the silver pendant laid over my chest for a while, otherwise he wouldn't have asked. Then again, we'd also been together long enough that he had the startling ability to read me like a children's book.

"I just don't understand why we're relying on Johann to do this," I huffed, gesturing toward the tavern not far in front of us.

"He was our only option, Reign. None of us could go in there without drawing suspicion, and you know why we need this paper." He was right, but I wasn't willing to relent. "Look, I know you don't trust him, but I need you to put that aside just this one time."

"My trust in him regardless, he is a terrible option for this. He's twitchy, he scares easily, and his ability to deliver what we ask hasn't exactly been the best over the years." I shook my head, hating this part of the plan the more I thought about it. "I'm just saying, if you or I, or Heather, or Astrid had gone in there wearing a hood, we—"

"—would've been recognized immediately," he interrupted. "All four of us have been face-to-face with pretty much every Dragon Hunter. Not to mention, you and Heather are probably highest on their kill list."

"If Viggo's controlling it, I find that unlikely."

Too far. Hiccup's expression immediately fell, turning sour. Guilt poked at my heart, so I steered Shriek just a bit closer to Toothless and reached over, running a hand along Hiccup's arm.

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "We're doing this for a good cause. That's what matters. As long as we get that map and can decipher it, the delivery person is irrelevant."

"Well, now, don't go giving up your beliefs just for this mission." I felt myself blush deep red when he took my hand and pressed a kiss to it gently, right on the bandage. That would've been far less cute if that thing was bleeding...

I looked back toward the tavern just in time to see Trader Johann burst through the door, his eyes frantically scanning the limited space in front of him. Hopefully, that meant he'd managed to get his hands on what we needed, and we could get out of here. Hiccup and Toothless dove in to pick Johann up, and the three of us just managed to get away as two Hunters burst through the front door. Once we were out of their earshot, Hiccup turned back to Johann, who was still watching the two men on land in fear.

"You get it, Johann?" He kept his lips sealed shut, trembling at the aggressors shouting at us.

"Johann!" Thankfully, I had snapped him out of it.