Following his father's death Hiccup is determined to do Stoick proud and fill his shoes in Berk. And he does... by slowly chipping away at himself. Sensitive Toothless knows his boy is getting lost but that's not the only troubling thing happening...
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Sun beamed down and warmed my skin for the first time in a week. I took a deep breath of the fresh air.
The deck hadn't changed much- aside from the canvases covering all the cages. As we were led by I peeked under one to see a scaly black paw.
"Toothless?" I whispered.
"Don't speak!" The guard behind me hissed, shoving me away from the cage.
"Makes little difference if she does," An officer with a rat-like expression gleamed. He held up the canvas.
There was my husband's fierce, brave dragon, sleeping so soundly a thunderdrum would not have woken him.
We were taken to stand with Justinian on the bow of the ship and made to wait until the rest of the prisoners came up.
As they did I took in our surroundings. To port was North, the bulky ship I saw when we came into Berk that fateful night, and Berks only surviving vessel. They had sunk deeper into the water and I wagered that was because both had been loaded down with as many dragons as they could hold. On the Starboard side was the trireme ship, and dangling from one of its ropes the body of a dead seal. Beyond the ship stood a small island.
There were thirty-five soldiers in all on our ship, a manageable number in my mind. In the water dorsal fins cut the surface and I had a feeling they didn't belong to dolphins. These could be used to our advantage just as much as our disadvantage.
Lastly, fluttering all around, gnawing on everything were the red-eyed, shiny black piranharrow. There sound was a little different today, a little more grating as they crawled down the masts of the ships, scurried underfoot, and cleaned themselves atop every barrel. Three scrapped with each other on the rail before us.
Justinian looked one way and then another before shoving them over the side. They fluttered away with irritable squeaks.
Once everyone was up we were all ordered to face the starboard side of the ship. A small, weaselly man appeared on the deck of the Augustus, silver dragon perched on his shoulder. I grinned smugly at his new feature- a big purple bruise around his eye.
"Welcome, Berkians," He bowed with that dramatic flair of his. "I hope you're enjoying the warm sunshine."
Loud booing and hissing resounded. To my surprise I saw a soldier doing it too.
"You've never been keen on formalities, have you?" Alvin rolled his eyes. "Very well I'll cut to the chase. I know you for the fierce and bull-headed people you are, and that you're likely planning a revolt at this very minute. Counting the soldiers on deck as I speak, I'm sure. Here's the thing. We don't want unnecessary violence; you are our prisoners and there's nothing more to that. Fighting will only lead to death."
The piranharrow swarmed upward.
"And no one is coming to save you. Not the Bog Burglars, or the Berserkers, nor the Defenders of the Wing. And last but not least," His eyes flashed. "Not even your precious Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."
