How to Be a Dragon Star 1

Chapter Fifteen - The Dragon's Nest

In the night, Hiccup couldn't tell exactly where they entered the formation, but they came closer and closer until they were suddenly inside. The dragons soared through the labyrinth, knowing exactly where to go. Deeper and deeper inside the Nest they went, until it opened up into a cavern.

Around the edges of the cavern were dragon perches. At the moment, they were deserted except for a few unhatched eggs. In the center was a pale, ominous smoke cloud, obscuring whatever was below it. There was an orange glow emanating from inside, and that shed a bit of light on the area, but not much.

"What my dad wouldn't give to see this," Hiccup murmured, feeling his eyes widen.

The dragons all glided around the cavern and let go of their offerings. Down into the smoke fell the sheep, the fish, and everything else. Toothless and Estrella released their fish and circled around to land on one of the perches. Astrid dismounted Estrella and the dragon morphed.

"Well, it's satisfying to know that all of our food is just tossed into a pit," Hiccup said sarcastically.

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid mused. "Estrella, do you know what's going on?"

Her eyes were hollow, like the cavern below them. She had evidently already figured it out. "You'll see soon enough. Watch."

The dragons kept pouring in. Hiccup saw a couple of dolphins being thrust into the pit alongside the rest. Once the dragons had made their offering, they circled around and landed on one of the perches like Estrella and Toothless had.

"Exactly what are we watching for?" Astrid asked.

"For a dragon that doesn't have an offering," Estrella responded cryptically.

"There," Hiccup said, pointing. "That Gronckle there, look."

"That Gronckle" was one of the last to enter the pit. It looked exhausted; its wing patterns weren't right and it was almost falling asleep in midair. The dragon's claws were empty and upon seeing this, Toothless's ears flattened warily.

All eyes were upon the Gronckle as it made its way into the cavern. As it hovered there, it opened its mouth and dropped out a single fish, only four or five inches long. The fish fell into the pit and the Gronckle turned away, thinking its work was done.

A low rumbling sound emanated from below the smoke. The Gronckle turned back, worried, and the other dragons retreated back against the wall, knowing what would happen next. Hiccup's heart pounded as he watched with bated breath.

A gigantic head emerged from the smoke, its jaws snapping shut around the Gronckle, before falling back into the smoke again.

Hiccup gasped and heard Astrid do the same. Estrella's words came back to him: "If a dragon goes inside without a food offering, they get eaten." And now he'd just witnessed that happening, live and in person. He leaned back, trying to stay out of sight. If the dragon had gotten so upset about just one dragon not bringing an adequate amount of food, things would not go well if it found out about humans infiltrating the Nest.

"We should go," Astrid whispered. Estrella wordlessly fluxed, and Astrid quietly mounted up. Hiccup had never dismounted. He pushed down on the tail fin and Toothless quietly spread his wings.

As if they had summoned it, the head of the dragon emerged again, looking suspicious. Its nostrils flared and it twisted its head to look directly at the foursome.

"Uh-oh," Hiccup said.

"Well, that certainly sums this situation up," Astrid told him. "Fly!"

The huge dragon below them lunged upward, its jaws snapping on the empty air that had previously been touching the quartet. Its head was so big that Hiccup assumed he could fit ten Toothless's just inside the mouth.