The trader and the rider

Chapter 17

-So, what do ya think?

-Gruuur.

-Tsch, everyone's a critic.

My dragon roared amused and I went back to the paper. But he was right. That probably wasn't it either. I went to the next page and started all over again.
It had been a while since the last big mission, and since we said goodbye to Heather and Dagur. Things were quiet on the edge, there wasn't much to do since the hunters were nowhere to be seen. It was too quiet, we all knew something must have been going on, but we didn't want to get ahead of ourselves and do something too risky. Besides, the peace and quiet allowed us to prepare for whatever our enemy had in store for us. Now, for example, all the riders were trying to figure out a way of destroying the dragon proof material the hunters loved to use. Hiccup was sure a certain combination and the right timing would do it, but no one else was so sure. Luckily, they didn't need me or Boreas for those tests, since Boreas couldn't breathe fire. Unluckily, that meant Hiccup gave us extra work while they watched their dragons try to melt some metal.

I sketched my idea again. A bit more sharp maybe? To give it a tough look. But not too much, or he could get hurt. Tho he would like that. Maybe a weapon would do the trick... But he already had so many, he didn't need another one.

-Ugh...

Boreas nuzzled his head against me, and I put down the notebook and pencil. Yeah, maybe it was better to stop for now. I got up and stretched, making my back crack, and I looked around. It should be time we went back to work. Yey us, looking for more hunters' equipment, our favourite thing. I really wanted to slack off and ignore Hiccup's request, but my conscience wouldn't let me. That's why we were in the place we found the gold at, after all. Viggo's men crawled back to him pretty quickly after we beat their asses and they didn't really mind leaving stuff behind.

-Alright big guy. I think it's time to work again.

Boreas yawned and I picked up the bag we had with hunters' equipment. We mainly found some weapons and pieces of armour, such as helmets or shoulder pads, but no dragon proof anything. At least there was a lot of shiny stuff around. Boreas was carrying the fun bag while I carried the boring one. A broken spear? Boring bag. Ohhh, a pretty seashell? Fun bag!

We kept walking around, until my bag was almost full. Yet still, no dragon proof- wait, what was that? I heard something moving around, it sounded like... people. People were coming our way. I looked around quickly and spotted a deep, dark cave. I moved my hand so Boreas would follow me, and we both ran towards the cave with the bags with us. There were a lot of terrible terrors inside, sleeping, but none seemed to care about our presence. I put my hood on and sneakily made my way towards the mouth of the cave, hiding behind a rock to see what was going on. A bunch of hunters passed the cave by, not more than six. They were carrying some equipment that I hadn't seen before but looked too old and used to be new. Were they hiding it around here? I dropped the bag and went to Boreas. Whatever those guys were doing, it wouldn't be good news for us.

-Come on boy. Time for some hunting.

My dragon growled and we got to the entrance of the cave, hiding behind a large boulder. He started to let out mist, and quickly enough, the cave itself and a bit of the surroundings were full of cold mist. I caught sight of one lone hunter who seemed to be carrying some equipment, just like the others were, but he was also making sure their footprints were hidden. So I brought out a dagger from my belt and grabbed the scarf Sif made me, and I snuck up to him from his side. I put the scarf over his mouth and pulled back towards me, muffling his yells. He let some of the equipment fall from his arms, but in a swift movement he hit my side. I was surprised by his effort to hurt me, but I didn't give in. I tossed him to the ground by throwing the scarf down, and I got rid of his weapon. He tried to fight back, but I stabbed one of his arms and he let out a muffled scream. Boreas came out of the cave, and with some rope I had in his bag I tied the guy up to the boulder. I looked at him better as he struggled, he was a fighter for sure. He had blonde hair like Tuff's, and a bit of a beard that reminded me of Dagur's, but this one was actually well done.