The younger Grimborn (sequel)

Chapter 17: Family matters

It's been long, too long since- since then.

It still feels like it happened yesterday, and more often than not do I walk into his tent, fully expecting him to be working. Last night, I hadn't noticed at first. I'd gotten too drunk to notice. It was only when Midnight was the one answering my question that I remembered, and broke down. 

Again.

I remember how I walked up to Johann the second day, the shock in his eyes at seeing me. I remember griping him by the collar. I wanted nothing more than to kill him, but instead, I asked him where the hell my brother was and why he didn't come back from talking to Johann. Johan, being the quick to adapt- sneaky- horrible- disgusting- liar he is made up a pathetic excuse of sending Viggo out to find me. 

He seemed genuinely shocked that Viggo hadn't found me, according to my words, and the fact that he can fake it so well makes me wonder what else he faked. Is anything even real about this man?

No matter, he immediately sent out a search party, but they came back empty-handed. Not even a body, which made Johann "believe" that Hiccup might have kidnapped him. How stupid does he think I am?

It doesn't matter, because I just got mad, teared up, and mumbled that I never should have trusted him. That "him" was of course meant for Johann, but he understood it as a reference to Hiccup. 

So the snake gently patted my back and told me I could stay with him as long as I wanted in hopes of Viggo returning, and he would have Krogan send me on missions. 

I don't know why he wants me here, does he plan on using me against the riders? Am I some sort of trophy now? I don't care, because as long as he wants me here, I can observe. 

So far, I haven't figured out how to free the Death song without getting killed yet. I don't know how to train the dragon. I can't calm her down because then it would be impossible to escape for her. 

So instead I opted to leave the Singetail cages open one day, but they all remained on the island. It took me about a week to figure out why. They have eggs here. 

So now I'm trying my hardest to distract myself by figuring out how to get the Singetail eggs out of here. 

I scribble another plan down, this time involving the dragons to fetch the eggs themselves, but I realize how stupid that would be. I can't distract the hunters long enough for them not to shoot the Singtails. So I crumble the parchment and throw it in the air, Midnight firing at it as target practice, and to make sure no one will find it. 

I take another parchment and look at it for a while, scribbling random ideas on it, but always crossing it. It's like no matter how hard I try, Johann always wins. 

Like he's done before, like he'll do again. 

'AAAAAHHHH! BY THE GODS!' 

Frustrated, I swipe everything off the desk and slam my hand on it. The things clatter onto the ground, making a total mess in my tent. Midnight winces slightly.

I close my eyes, ignoring the pricking of tears, and I ball my fists. Hoping that the feeling of my nails digging into my palms will give me some kind of anchor. I'm sure Viggo would have gotten out of this. Why can't I be more like him?

Despite my efforts, tears still slip down my cheeks and onto the desk. Midnight warbles softly and she comes closer, placing her head on the desk while looking up at me with worry.

I try to smile. 'I'm alright, girl. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.'

She nudges my hand and curls her tail around my legs. I slowly sit down and lean against her while she raises her wing above my head and try to catch up to some sleep.