The Great Beyond

Chapter 45: Dire Straits (Hiccup)

              The morning sun shone surprisingly hot on my back as I watched the Night Terrors take to the air, all maintaining a tight formation. Reign and Fishlegs had woken me up early this morning, eager to show me a trick they'd figured out for training the little dragons. Neither of them had slept much after our raid on more of Viggo's dragon smuggling ships, and while I found myself having a hard time doing the same without Reign there, I managed to drift off for a bit before the two of them burst in. Now, I was watching her and Fishlegs perfectly control the typically restless and wily dragons with ease, which was admittedly quite impressive.

"Nice work, you two," I smiled. Reign and Fishlegs turned to each other, high-fiving for their accomplishment.

"Thank you! We've discovered that the Night Terrors respond quite nicely to whistle commands," Fishlegs informed me. Overwhelmed with intense pride, I steered Toothless a little closer to Reign and kissed her cheek, causing it to turn red as she reached out for my hand.

Fishlegs blew on the whistle with one short tone, causing the Night Terrors to circle up in the air. They awaited their leader's command, then they moved into the formation of a Rumblehorn, eliciting a 'hm' from Reign.

"That's a new formation," she chuckled. "Nice Rumblehorn, guys." My eyes wandered just beyond the Night Terrors, and rested on a distinct dragon heading in our direction; the dragons were trying to serve as a warning.

"Uh, that's no formation, Reign." She followed my point, and once she spotted the Rumblehorn coming closer, her eyes widened.

"Ah! Blasted dragons!" I heard my dad shout as the Night Terrors scattered. "I'm a chief."

"Something tells me that doesn't matter to the dragons," Reign snickered. Her words caused me to laugh, but once my dad was within range, all of that disappeared. His expression was grave, his shoulders so tense, they involuntarily slumped over.

Reign, Fishlegs, and I led my dad back to Reign and my hut, taking a seat with him at our table. He stalled at first, taking long sips of water or clearing his throat, before he finally laid the heavy news on us—no trade ships had arrived on Berk in weeks, and there was absolutely no sign of them; as a result, Berk was beginning to get desperate. I felt my heart stop dead in my chest, my mind shutting down for a moment as I attempted to process that dire revelation, but it wasn't until Reign reached out and took my hand that I was able to speak again.

"And no trade ships have come to Berk in weeks?" I genuinely didn't want to believe it.

"And no sign of Johann, either," my dad confirmed.

"Strange..." Reign muttered, shaking her head.

"We've sent scouts to search the Straits of Baldur to investigate, but none have returned." That was the strangest bit of information. If the ships got off their routes somehow and were lost, that would be one thing, but the fact that the scouts just disappeared definitely indicated some sort of foul play or otherwise dangerous element.

"That route has been known to be a hotbed for Scauldrons," Fishlegs pointed out.

"Except the Auxiliary Riders have scouted the area as well, and say the seas are empty and quiet." My brows further furrowed. That certainly didn't indicate any sort of dragon activity.

Whatever it was, we had to figure it out. I hated to consider the other possibilities, all of which left Berk in a losing position.

"I'm not sure what could be keeping the trade ships away, but something definitely isn't right out there." I sighed as I slumped back, dreading what we might fine. "Dad, you go back to Berk. The Riders and I will fly out in that direction and see what we can find."