The Black fire (BOOK 1)

Change of plans.

Narrator: Mark.

When I tilted the key, the engine buzzed, spitting black smoke for a few seconds. The propeller was moving now, and I was ready to warm up the engine.

I started pushing the throttle slowly to the maximum, the engine roared loudly as I reached the top. I smiled. I was starting to miss that sensation, that sensation of power that V8 was giving me again. But that was only half of the experience; I couldn't wait to lift off the ground and feel the wind and the speed in my face. Such a great feling that was.

Hiccup approached to the plane, getting under it. ''I'm removing the chocks!'' He shouted. I raised the thumb in approval and pulled the throttle back to 30%. The little Viking removed the chocks and got out of the plane's belly quickly. I looked back to check if he was ok. He was waving at me, wishing me luck. ''I will miss you, Hiccup.'' I thought to myself. Suddenly, the craft started moving foward, I took control over the rudder pedals to control the direction I was going.

The plane slowly got out of the improvised hangar. I turned left all the way to aligne myself with the main street, it was clear, as I spected. I got the engine power to the minimum. The fighter stopped. I looked at the crowd that formed around the machine. Some of the vikings looked impressed, some others were just trying not to look scared. Others, like Hiccup's dad, were keeping an eye on me, to make sure I wasn't going to do anything suspicious.

I saw Hiccup getting close to him, then they started talking. Moments later they were discussing about something, but the engine was too loud for hearing anything near me. I assumed that was the perfect chance for the liftoff. I pushed the throttle to the max and the engine roared again, even louder this time.

Time for the scape.

Narrator: Hiccup.

''Stop him now!'' My dad shouted over the roaring of the engine. ''Today is the test dad! Why do you want to stop it?'' I responded making myself hear. ''Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III! Order the pilot to stop inmediatly or I'll do it myself!'' He said angrily. Sometimes I'm thankfull that I'm not like him, he always is rude and irreverent to people he doesen't like, but it was the chief after all. I grunted, but a pair of seconds later, obeyed.

When the plane started moving foward, I ran towards it, hardly getting in front of it as the craft was already picking up speed. I standed in the main street, waving my arms and jumping, trying to get noticed. When Mark saw me, pulled the brakes instantly, stopping the plane a few meters in front of me. ''What the heck are you doing Hiccup?'' He asked peering his head out of the cockpit. My dad and Gobber walked next to the plane. They were talking about something. Mark aand I looked at them, when my dad noticed, he ordered Mark to leave the canopy. His expression turned serious. ''I'm not moving'' He said, gritting his teeth. My dad picked his hammer from his belt. ''I'm not repeating it, devil.'' my dad answered with a snarl, but Mark didn't move.

I was there, in the middle of a confrontation between my dad and the closest person to a friend I had in my entire life. I had to do something, anything before my dad starts smashing the plane, killing Mark, or viceversa.

I had no time for anything else, so I got near Stoick and grabbed his arm saying: ''Mark, get out, we'll speak about this.'' Mark looked at me staying silent. Then I looked to my dad. ''And why don't you say what do you have in mind?'' He looked at me, his stare was a mix of determination and coldness that I couldn't resist for much before I looked away. Once Mark was on the ground, I let go of my dad's arm. ''Why did you stop the test?'' I asked, sounding as calm as posible. Gobber and dad looked at each other, then, Gobber nodded to my dad.

''Because he is not doing the test, Hiccup. You are doing it.''

Narrator: Mark.

Did I just heard right? Was Hiccup going to be the pilot? My face was probably in the biggest expression of perplexity as everyone started looking at me. Then I turned to see Hiccup's face had an even bigger expression of fear. It was shocked, shivering, he surely wanted to complain, but he told me that sometimes he was afraid of his dad. He told me that when he wanted something we will have it at any costs. That moment was one of those times. He was afraid of complaining, but he didn't know how to pilot the He-112, and that scared him way more than his dad.

The next seconds felt like days for me and probably for Hiccup as well. Finally, I accepted, because the last thing I wanted was Hiccup's dad smashing my plane to pieces. 

The scape will have to wait. 

I approached Hiccup, and touched him, it seemed like he woke up from his trance, because he gasped and looked at me. ''Uh... uh... Mark, I... I don't... my dad...'' He started mumbling. ''It's ok.''I said, interrupting him. ''You can do it. I'll be here helping you.'' ''But I don't know how to fly this thing!'' He cried. ''Hey calm down, you took this beast down from the skies. I'm sure you can handle flying it just a pair of minutes. I will explain you how right now, but you need to be concentrated.'' He looked at me, tears were falling from his cheeks. ''Understood?'' I asked. He cleaned the tears. ''Understood.''

He jumped into the canopy, I was standing on the wing. Then I started explaining him the controls for the plane.

Narrator: Stoick.

The pilot was explaining Hiccup how to control the machine. Meanwhile, Gobber and I were talking about my decision of letting Hiccup be the one mounting the...''plane'' as they call it. ''Are you sure about this?'' He asked about the tenth time. ''I'm sure. My son is smart enough for this, besides, the pilot could scape when he gets off the ground.'' ''I'm not that sure Stoick. That machine is pretty strange and, above all, complicated, I can tell you that much.''

Narrator: Hiccup.

''Make sure the indicator here is above 120 before you pull up. Otherwise you will stall and crash.'' I looked one more time at everything, then I grabbed the joystick with both hands. ''I think that's all for now...'' He said ''I think I got it.''. I noticed a split of confidence in my voice. Mark, jumped off the wing and got next to my dad, Stoick. Then, I heard him scream: ''Ah! And remember, dont ever pull of the red lever up to your far right!'' ''Why?'' I asked. 

''Trust me, you don't want to know!''

I tried not to think too much about it, because I had a plane to test.

I started the engine.