The Great Beyond

Chapter 75: Darkest Night (Hiccup)

              Heart-pounding, mind blanking terror completely consumed me as I continuously pushed Toothless to fly faster toward Berk. The words written on the Terror Mail I'd received that morning were burned into my mind, mounting onto the panic already running through my veins in the place of blood. I'd let myself believe we maybe were in a period where things were picking up, and we were winning the war against Johann and Krogan, when my entire world had to come crashing down. Spitelout had, regretfully, informed me that in a fight with the Flyers and their Singetails, my dad had been shot down, and was currently fatally wounded, unable to bring himself to consciousness.

The moment we landed on Berk, I jumped off Toothless' back and sprinted toward my home, throwing the door open and causing it to slam against the wall. Gothi and Gobber were by my father's bedside, watching his raspy and labored breaths closely. His skin was covered in blood-soaked bandages, the most destroyed one up on his head. Gobber cast me a hopeless and regretful glance once I entered, and I had to try my best to force back tears when I approached my father's side.

"Dad?" I don't know what I had expected, but he never reacted to my voice. "I, uh—I don't—I don't understand. What happened?"

"He was out on patrol," Gobber explained, elaborating on the little information I had been given. "Got ambushed by Dragon Flyers. Put up one heck of a fight."

"Why was he there by himself?" I demanded, some of my grief turning into rising anger.

"Well, we were in the general vicinity, Hiccup, but you know your father," he stuttered. "He does what he wants when he wants. We got there as soon as we could."

That wasn't good enough for me. My dad was currently fighting for his life, and in a scenario where we were constantly on the lookout for Flyers and Hunters trying to attack us, others should have been by my dad's side and offering him backup.

I wanted to yell, to shout and demand to know why there hadn't been proper intervention, but all that rage just left me feeling limp and defeated.

"Look, I'm sorry, Gobber. I'm just, uh... I just..."

"We know." He set a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "We are, too. We're doing everything we can."

I couldn't stand to be there anymore at that moment. My friends tried to ask how my dad was doing as I passed by them, but I just couldn't answer them, left completely and utterly defeated. I wasn't quite sure where to go, but I knew I was completely on my own for the time being.

Under normal circumstances, I would have tried to seek out Reign. She wouldn't force me to talk or explain myself, but she always had the right sort of comfort I needed. But, in another failure brought on by us believing we were safe for the moment, Reign flown off for Vanaheim early that morning to bring more supplies to Heather as she continued her mourning period there. For the time being, I was truly on my own, and for the first time in my life, it really felt like it.

I'd stared off on my own for a while, getting lost in my thoughts with my knees curled up into my chest, when I decided to finally face the music and go in there to help my dad. It felt like my skin had been ripped from my bones, exposing every inch of what shouldn't be, as I made the long trek back home. The eyes of villagers were trained on me, as though waiting for some outburst or emotional response. I kept everything contained to the best of my ability, even after the door shut and I was left alone with my dad. Everyone else I could look to had gathered in the Great Hall for an emergency meeting, and although Spitelout had tried to insist that I attend, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.