"I Do.... NOT!!"

Chapter 20: Deathgrippers and Volcanoes

       
                    ------Astrid's POV------
     

      I gasped at the sad scene before me. Not a single home was standing. Families huddled around sputtering fires with all sorts of materials not destroyed by the fires. None of them had any shelter from the cold, and the makeshift healer's hut was overflowing with sick, hurt vikings. The worst part was the hopeless look in many of the eyes that met mine.

Berk surely had something to spare for the Berserkers. They were on the brink of extinction! They couldn't last another attack. That much was clear. "Sad isn't it. This place used to be beautiful," dagur said next to me. "We will find out what's going on, and fix it. I'm not leaving until these people are safe and back on their feet." I replied. "good luck with that... they've been trying since I was eight," dagur said. "How have they survived this long?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Traders and long expeditions. Those fish we brought back will last maybe 3 days. Then we have to get back out to fish." Dagur said. "Hopefully that freak thing can get us some good supplies this time around... the traders do like dragons in their collection." Oswald said next to me. I jumped, not realizing he had come up behind us.

"What if he could help us. What if he could save these people from these attacks? Would you really trade that away?" I snapped, my anger flaring. How dare they call my best friend a freak. He was the furthest thing from that.

"Thats not a decision for you to make. Now write this letter quickly. Gadryn will dictate. The traders will arrive soon, this letter must go with them. " Oswald said. I sighed and took the paper form him. "I'll write a letter to Berk. But I'll put what I want in it. Or else I won't write it at all. I'll ask for help. I'm not blind to the situation here. But you're not my chief!" I snapped, glaring at him.

Oswald glared back, his fists clenched. "I see why stoick didn't try to stop you. You're quite the handful." Oswald growled. I stomped away from him and followed the woman named Gadryn. After the letter was sealed and placed in a box for safekeeping, I followed Gadryn to the crowd gathering at the island's edge.

The cold, sick feeling started tugging more strongly at me, and I realized it was something in the trader's boats. Whatever it was, I needed to hide. Now. It seemed to be a life form, and my entire body knew it was dangerous. I ran away from the crowd and finally found a spare sheet- well half of one anyway, and covered my head.

More desperate searching led me to a pile of fish remains, clearly to use for compost... if they could ever get anything to grow. I swallowed down nausea and began covering myself in the fish leftovers. Maybe it would hide my scent. I pressed myself against a rock and tried to throw some dirt over myself. If I didn't feel so terrified I would have laughed at my strange behavior... why did I even feel the instinct to do this? Confusion and terror swirled inside me as I waited for the presence to leave the island.

A close call sent me shaking violently. One of the men from the trader's ship walked right past me, sniffing the air. "Night fury... female... she must be close." He mumbled to himself. I bit back a scream as he left, more confused than ever.

They knew I was here... but if I played it safe they wouldn't find me. An idea dawned on me and I quickly moved from my hiding spot. Soon I reached Hiccup's cage and found a place to hide among the rocks and burnt trees. Hopefully they would think Hiccup was the only one here... that he had been around another night fury who wasn't on the island.

My plan worked, and also brought a new sense of urgency. Just as Dagur had predicted, the traders wanted Hiccup. They kept asking Oswald if any other dragons had been near hiccup at the time of his capture until Oswald yelled at them to stop asking and shoved his axe towards the leader's face. After that the negotiations continued. These traders wore all sorts of clothes and looked like a very diverse group.