Winter Moon (Jelsa)

Chapter 16: Astrid

When Astrid was little, she had always had an irrational fear of caves and whatever dark, creepy things could be hiding inside of it. She'd grown out of it, of course, but as Astrid stared into the pitch black mouth of Stoick's cave, she began to wonder if her younger self had been on to something.

Beside her, Hiccup dusted snow from his hair before joining her at the entrance. "Is this safe?" he asked.

"No," Astrid replied honestly and walked inside. Behind her, she could hear the shuffling footsteps as Hiccup followed her, leaving Stormfly and Toothless to guard the entrance. Glancing around, Astrid lit a torch, to reveal smooth gray walls, flecked with shiny black stones. There was a frozen waterfall in the corner of the cave.

They continued further in, silent presences in the shadows.

"I don't see any dagger shards," Hiccup said.

Astrid wrinkled her nose. "Think your dad was kidding?"

"No. But he could have been more descriptive as to what he was looking for. Did he put it in a box? Did he literally just chuck the shard in here?"

Astrid opened her mouth to make a joking reply but froze. Beside her, Hiccup pulled up short. 

"Is that what I think it is?" he ventured in a hushed voice.

There, curled up at the very back of the cave, was a dragon. It was small enough to fit into the cave entrance, probably an adolescent. It had a rounded snout, was rather stout-looking, and was hiding its face rather mournfully in its tail.

"Shadow Wing, perhaps?" Astrid guessed, crouching down to examine it.

The creature peeked out from under its tail and whimpered.

Hiccup followed Astrid's lead, leaning forward on his hands and knees, he reached a hand tentatively towards the dragon.

In response, the dragon let out a pathetic little squeak, flaring its wings to hide its face behind them.

Hiccup finished his mental assessment and turned back to Astrid. "Male, perhaps a year old by the looks of it."

"As I suspected," Astrid clucked her tongue, trying to coax the dragon out of its shell.

"I think it might be hurt," Hiccup continued. "Just based on the way its acting."

Astrid hummed noncommittally, reaching into her pocket, she removed some smoked fish. Salmon to be precise. "Hey buddy, you want some?"

Behaving a bit like a dog, at least in Astrid's opinion, the dragon slowly tucked its wings back and approached Astrid. Quick as a whip, he darted out, snatching the fish from Astrid's hand and retreating backwards. As he moved, Astrid spotted the glint of metal in the torchlight. The dragon was, in fact, injured.

"The dagger shard!" Hiccup yelped. "It's in the dragon."

"Wait. What?" Astrid angled her head so she could catch a glimpse of where he was injured. A fragment of steel about the size of her finger was lodged in the dragon's side. "We have to remove it," she declared, passing the rest of the fish from her pocket into Hiccup's hand. "Here. Distract him."

"Uh," Hiccup said eloquently. "What's your name, little guy? Are you still hungry?"

Astrid snorted.

"I'm doing my best," Hiccup protested.

Astrid smirked as she approached the dragon, who shied away slightly but seemed to sense Astrid was trying to help. Ever so slowly, she extended her hand and laid it gently against the dragon's warm side.

A curl of smoke escaped the dragon's mouth as Hiccup fed it fish. "I'm going to give you a name," he murmured. "How about..."

"Tiny," supplied Astrid. "And sorry about this." In one deft movement, she yanked the shard from the dragon's side.

The dragon howled and Hiccup jumped back as it barreled towards the entrance. 

"He should be alright now," Astrid said, wiping the shard on her pants. It seemed to hum in her hands, almost as if it was alive.

"Let's go before something really bad happens," Hiccup muttered as Astrid jammed the shard into her pocket.

Suddenly, a growl sounded from outside. Stormfly's growl. Toothless' snarl followed. 

"Too late for that," Astrid replied, sprinting for the entrance.

They burst into the clearing to spot their dragons facing off against a pair of stray Night Mares and a man in priest's robes.

Hiccup cursed under his breath. "I thought we got rid of them."

"Me too," Astrid fumbled for a weapon, coming up with a letter opener and the dagger shard. Beside her, Hiccup snatched a rock from the frozen ground.

"Kill them," the priest demanded. He sounded horribly familiar.

"Kynes?" Hiccup breathed, confirming Astrid's fears.

The Dark Moon cultist eyed them. "We meet again. Give me the aegis, and I shall let you live."

"Aegis?" Astrid echoed.

"The shard in your hand," Kynes explained impatiently. "It is part of an aegis."

Astrid had no idea what an aegis was. Feigning nonchalance, she flipped the shard in her hands. "Very well, take it." As quickly as she could, she flung the shard through the air, like one might throw a knife.

Lazily, Kynes flicked his hand, and the shard froze in midair. "You forget the extent of my powers."

And then, he sent the shard spiraling for Hiccup.

Astrid lunged, instinctively, knocking Hiccup out of the way. As they tumbled across the ground, she felt a searing pain in her side. Dimly, Astrid registered the shard sticking out of her abdomen.

It didn't feel like a knife wound though. It burned. Astrid clamped down on a scream. 

Faintly, she heard Hiccup shouting her name, the Night Mares lunging at Toothless. The edges of her vision turned white, and Astrid felt her world dissolve in a searing burst of light.