The New Dragon Rider

Chapter 19

By the time I was flying over Odin, I could see broken wood all over the place and houses with no roofs. There were smashed barrels and objects everywhere and Odin was a complete mess. Melancholy seeped into my head I was officially engulfed in terror.

I demanded Windspike to fly down. Although I knew the villagers would be terrified of her, I had to get down there.

Windspike lashed diagonally downward and grounded on to Odin, trying not to land on any ruins.

The villagers stared at me and Windspike in complete fear with their faces wiped completely pale. They all jumped in shock a bit and began to sprint away.

"Wait! She won't hurt you and neither will I! She's a friend, I just need to find my dad!" I was trying to convince the villagers to trust me. Most of them stopped to interrogate me. "And how do we know that?" One announced. "Ya, you're the one that left." Another villager boasted. "Because if I really didn't care I wouldn't have come back. Please. She's my friend and she won't harm you. I can lead her down by the water if necessary. I just need to see my father." I pleaded.

They all gave each other uncertain looks and some hid their faces from me. A brave villager creeped closer to me, even though worry was eating her alive. She looked at me frightened and kept her hands behind her back. "Where's my father?" I asked her gently. She pulled her hands out in front of her. She was holding my dad's Viking helmet.

My eyes widened and I could barely process anything in my head. I'm sure everyone could just feel the inky darkness my heart felt. My fathers helmet was placed in her hands. Where was he? I looked at her with worried eyes. She read my face expression and knew exactly what to say.

"I don't know where your father is." She said softly. "But I do know he is in serious trouble."

I could feel my blood pumping through my body. I almost couldn't even speak. My throat was backed up with panic. "He was taken away, by ships. A man named Dagur took him. He demanded to know where the dragon riders were, but your father knew nothing of it. They were almost sure he was lying and took him away as a punishment for his troubles." She explained. "Where's the Cheif?" I asked quickly.

She snapped her head around and looked back towards the Main Building. I nodded my head and sprinted up to the stairway. Windspike followed and I kept her under control. I opened the door slowly and knocked a little. I shoved my dads helmet in Windspike's saddle bag and put all of my senses on alert. "H-Hello?" I asked.

"Hadley?" He asked. He was in the corner and he jerked his head around, a grin growing on his rosy cheeks. "Chief Sherwood!" I announced. He ran up to me and hugged me. My dad and him are cousins and he's like my second father. I could feel his beard poking at my neck and his tense arms squeezing the life out of me as we hugged. "Where were you?" He asked. "Berk but I'm fine. Where's my father?" I asked. He let go, took a step back and shrugged. "I don't know, he got taken away and I couldn't fight off this Dagur. His army was too strong. I'm heading out there now." He said. He picked up a big sack filled with weapons and hung it over his shoulder.

"Wait, what? You're going alone?" I asked. "Of course, this is the life of a Chief, Hadley." He explained. "Sherwood you can't go out there alone, please don't go out there. You said yourself you couldn't fight them off because they were too strong." I told him. "Well, that was when I was unprepared, now I have my weaponry and its out at sea. It'll be fine Hadley." He said, trying to keep me calm. He played with the sack on his shoulder and strangely hung his hand near his heart for emphasis.

"What about the other soldiers?" I asked. "They all quit, they won't fight." He sighed. "Well why not?"
"I don't know and there's no time to find out, I have to go." Sherwood patted my shoulder and walked towards the door.