Peter Mercier and the Hunters of Artemis

Chapter 16

Astrid's thick, scaly armor felt weightless in the air as she flew on the Light Fury towards the ship in the distance approaching New Berk's harbor. The sky was pinkish and the clouds were heavy, as the thunderstorm had passed over New Berk in the night. The blue, intertwined scales enveloped her and the metal visor blocked out most of her vision, but even still, she could tell her husband was not among the spear-bearing crewmen littering the boat. "Quiet, girl," she whispered, the Fury growling lightly under her breath. "Get me on the roof of the cabin. Stay close."

After a few moments, they landed on the wooden roof, the crew taking notice and swiftly approaching them, weapons drawn. The dragon roared as Astrid drew the longsword from the sheath on her waist. "Where is your captain?" she demanded. "You are sailing in restricted waters. Turn back now."

"Romulus! One of them's on the roof!" A guard shouted, his eyes darting presumably to the cabin door. Sure enough, it opened, and as a few large steps thundered on the deck, a man wearing brown, simple clothes walked out. The only thing that stuck out was a sheet of polished metal on his tunic. "Finally," he grumbled, turning around to look up the half-dozen feet. He had a small map under his right arm, and a dagger smeared with dried blood in his left hand. On his belt was a sword with a wooden hilt, a familiar sight to Astrid. "I was wondering when you'd turn up."

"You're with the hunters?" she asked, keeping the sword low but at guard, the point always facing down at them. "You could assume that," he nodded, pacing around. "If you'd allow me to counter-assume, I'd say this is New Berk?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," she retorted. "Point being, I have the dragon, and you should turn back now before I sic her on you and your crew. She's feisty."

"You don't scare me, princess," he rolled his eyes. "And you should probably be wondering where your friends are instead of threatening us," he smirked. She hesitated. "Where are they?" she asked.

"Maybe they're alive, maybe they aren't," he answered, glancing at the guards. "Point being, you're wasting valuable time arguing that you could be using to track them down."

"What'd you do with Hiccup?" she snarled, walking to the edge and peering down. The Light Fury followed her, poised for attack. "He's in a better place," he assured, a few guards starting to laugh. "We dumped his body near a nice reef on the way in."

"Liar," she said, after a brief pause, taking a step back to regain her thoughts. "What about Eret's ship?"

"We killed most of them," he shrugged. "But we figured you'd turn up to tell us to piss off. So we took a few as prisoners. But," he pointed out. "I think you're overdue for some 'leverage' yourself," he gingerly rubbed his fingernail across the flat of the dagger, thinking for a second. "I'll let them go if you allow me to go back inside and finish scribbling down the location. For future convenience, of course."

"Give me the sword too," she added. "Get down the location and go straight back. I'll intercept you and scoop up the prisoners then."

"How many people do you think you can fit on that dragon?" he scoffed, tossing her the sword. The Light Fury caught it in her mouth and spit it out, landing on the wood with a loud clatter. Astrid scooped it up without taking her eyes off Romulus, putting it under her arm. "Do we need to off two more to make it work? We can do that..."

"I'll figure it out myself," she assured, mounting the dragon. Her eyes worriedly darted to the island, which they were fast approaching. "Don't try anything tricky. I will blow this ship into splinters."

He nodded. "Good luck finding his body, chieftess," he saluted, walking inside. A guard chucked a sharp spear as the Light Fury took off, nearly hitting the dragon in the eye. "The waves might've moved it. Take your sweet time by all considerable means, of course."