Deranged Obsession; by KaliAnn

4. Abducting his prey

By KaliAnn

There was a lot of tension and fear on the island after the discovery of Mildew's treachery. They knew the man hated the dragons with a passion, but to actively betray them for months and involve foreign dignitaries as well, was beyond anything. It was as if Mildew had decide to borrow Loki's act enhance his bad points all for the sake of starting a war. Many thought that Mildew got what he deserved having his mind broken and almost everyone was calling for his death. At the moment the catatonic old man was in the jail being tended to off and on by Gothi until Stoick reached a decision about his fate. They still needed to find some way to retrieve the information from his shattered mind. Queen Rayna had contacted Healer Skerry who had agreed to come as soon as possible to attempt to filter through the man's shattered mind to find out what they needed. In the meantime Stoick had assigned a few code writers to work with Isak and Rikard to try todecipher the documents.

In the meantime the rest of the island was preparing for war. The riders and their dragons were busy helping teach the warriors how to fight while riding on back of a dragon. Communication was key especially since many were still struggling to master Dragonese. Many of them were stuck using hand signals which took time and patience to develop. The children were practicing escape drills in case of an invasion. The unpaired dragons were also preparing for war having mock fights to increase their speed and strength. The sentry dragons were on alert constantly patrolling and reporting in any signs of dangers. Everyone was praying to the gods there wouldn't actually be a war, but there was no guarantee of that.

As for the two patients they been moved into their homes to recover from their injuries. Gothi had made sure to check on them to make sure infection hadn't set in and that the wounds were healing properly. Thankfully the bruises were already fading from their bodies. Thanks to Nissa's healing factor the bite mark was already gone and the skin regrown. Their bodies were still weak from the poison, but at least there were no lasting effects thanks to the quick administration of the antidote. All they need was more time to rest before resuming normal activity. The only thing that could kill them now was boredom.

Queen Rayna was in the home checking on her niece's progress. She sat on the girl's bed brushing back a strand of pink hair watching her chest rise and fall. "I can't believe I almost lost you again. Sometimes I question the wisdom of letting you come live on this violent island. Vikings are the complete opposite of us; they're conquerors who plunder from the weak and enjoying slaying so called monsters with their weapons. They never seem to use their brains preferring their brawn and are so out of touch with the natural world. Still if one boy can end a war with trust and friendship who am I to judge? Sleep my niece when you wake up we have much to discuss about your future." She leaned over to kiss the girl on the forehead before descending the stairs to speak with Ula and Steinar.

The Honor Guard members bowed slightly with Queen Rayna waved off. This wasn't time for decorum. "How goes the progress on deciphering the old man's notes? Have you made any progress?"

"No Your Highness, whatever code Mildew used was unique to him alone. Kariat's attempts to use the messengers birds to learn what had been sent. However they refuse to work for her. It seems the old man taught them to only answer to him or whomever received the message. Ywla has continued her search to find out what items the man received for payment. So far we've found fifty pieces of gold, six different poisons, and at least a dozen of weapons. She's attempting to figure out who sent what and if there was a specific reward system for specific information," Steinar explained, his turquoise eyes had bags under them and the poor man hadn't eaten anything in the past three days. He was to ashamed of his failure of not protecting the scion to Xanadu's throne.

Ula handed him a piece of bread urging him to eat something. He was about to refuse only to have her shove it into his mouth followed by handing him a pitcher of milk. As he chewed Ula continued with the report. "While we aren't certain Mildew gave away our secret we've taken precautions checking on the Gateway. He wasn't aware of its locations or how to operate it. We managed to shut down the Gateway for now and Thornado has his friend keeping watch on the device to protect it. Pray to Helios no one comes across it. How is the Princess doing? Is she going to be okay?"