learning to fly, how to train your dragon

004. the gronckle

chapter four
004. the gronckle!

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    THEY ALL screamed.

    Freya scrambled away, running for her life as the Gronckle rammed a pathway just where she had been moments before. She gasped, stumbling and tripping over her own feet in her desperation to get away. She glanced over her shoulder, eyes wide and her heart pounding with terror to gaze upon the fierce dragon. She has seen Gronckles many times in her life, but never has she been locked in a cage with on▬and suddenly, all she could see was its vicious overbite: a jaw with shattering strength. Freya watched the way it hit the side of the arena, and its clubbed tail left a dent in the rigid stone. It made a low, guttural growl▬like hundreds of small rocks were rolling and trembling together.

    "Today," Gobber watched them flee in terror from the open dungeon door, "is about survival." He picked away some ash from his beard, leaning against the iron lever. "If you get blasted, you're dead!"

    Freya sprinted across the arena floor, skidding to a stop beside Toke. She grasped his arm. They watched, pale, as the Gronckle grasped rubble up from the ground with its thick, sabre teeth. Her breath was quick▬trying to keep up with the pace of her heart. The grip of her axe handle had turned clammy and she soon had to hold it with both hands.

    "Quick!" her gaze snapped back over to their mentor. "What's the first thing you'll need?"

    "A funeral?!" cried out Freya with incredulous horror.

    "A doctor?!" Hiccup's sarcasm echoed from somewhere to her right.

    "Plus five speed?" whimpered Fishlegs near the barricades.

    "A shield!" Astrid shouted, the only one who wasn't trembling in their fur boots.

    "Shields! Go!"

    Freya and Toke shared a brief, wide-eyed look before splitting up. Every teen raced to the pile of old shields scattered near the weapons rack. It was a battle to try and grab one▬each and every one of them were wrestling for the best. The Gronckle did not matter when it came down to either having the shield with the red skull, or the shield with the grinning Viking.

    While her friends all fought▬pushing and shoving; shouting and screaming, Freya ducked around. She was small and she was quick▬and she was not going to get blasted to pieces by a Gronckle on her first day of Dragon Training! None of the others saw her until she was in front of them all. She grabbed the smallest shield she could find, heaving it up with effort into her left hand. She swayed, pushing her feet apart to keep her balance with both hands full. Freya took a deep breath, and she glowered towards the growling beast with a brave grit of her teeth.

    "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must choose between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"

    Hiccup fumbled with his own shield. So much that Gobber had to rush over and shove it into his grip. He pushed the boy back into the centre of the arena. Astrid kicked up her shield into the air, taking ahold of it with a precise snatch▬she wielded it onto her arm with perfection. Snotlout managed to get the red skull shield and he laughed, holding it up over Fishlegs's face in victory. The Twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were still battling. They grappled for a shield between them.

    "Let go of my shield▬!"

    "▬There's like a million shields▬!"

    "▬Take that one, it has a flower. Girls like flowers▬agh▬!"