The Black fire (BOOK 1)

Rage

Narrator: Hiccup.

Remember when I said that the aircraft was alive when I turned the engine on for the first time? Well... now it wasn't just alive, it was crazy.

I was about crashing into the armory when the engine exploded. Well, it didn't exactly explode, but it felt like it. A big blue flash came out of every screw hole, rack and even the exhaust, then it lowered to a less strong light that engolfed all the engine compartment. I felt how the engine awakened again with twice the power now. The vast acceleration forced me to lean on the pilot seat, all the indicators were going nuts. I looked at the speedometer again, I was picking up speed at an incredicle rate. A split second before crashing, I went up in the air.

The controls were now super sensitive, any slight move in the joystick changed the plane's direction drastically. I was still going vertical in the air when I looked again at the speedometer: 300km/h and raising. What did that lever to make the engine this powerfull, even with no fuel? I need to ask Mark when I land.

If I'm still alive when that happens, that is.

Narrator: Mark.

I was out of air.

I almost didn't breathe until Hiccup pulled up and launched into the sky like a rocket. I looked at the plane. Just like I thought, the front part of the plane was radiating a blue light, meaning that Hiccup definitely injected the nitro into the mix of the engine.

When he got about 500m high, Hiccup leveled the plane and then started a slow glide. He was aligning himself with the street. When did that, the sound of the engine stopped. ''He turned it off?'' I asked to myself, but everyone around me heard what i said, because they started whispering and babbling around me. I took a closer look at the plane, and noticed a trail of thick, black smoke coming out of the it. I blinked, cofused. Did the nitro disable the engine already? But then I realized: the less gasoline, the more nitro the engine uses, this is, the faster it overheats.

I wasn't worried, however. Maybe a little. But the plane had sufficient speed to land without the engine. So it was a minor problem. Only when he got closer I spotted another issue, a bigger one that can delay my scape for days or even weeks. And the more close he got to the ground, the more worried I felt. ''He is forgetting it.'' I mumbled. Stoick blinked, looking at me confused. ''What?'' he asked. I ignored him, I had a bigger problem to take care of. At one point, I panicked and started running towards the plane shouting: ''The landing gear! Put the landing gear down!''

Narrator: Hiccup.

I was slowly losing altitude and speed. The engine went limp again for some reason and I had only enough speed to land on the middle of the street. I was about 30m from the floor when I saw Mark running towards me, probably to congratulate me. My thoughts were wrong. He was screaming something at me, but I was still too far away to hear him. ''Damnit, not this again.'' I cursed. When he got closer I started comprehending some words: ''Down... put.. down'' but not making any conclusion yet. As I went down to one or two meters above the ground, I finally heard the complete sentence.

And I froze, speechless.

I really tried to react fast, but I was too low. The first thing that touched the ground was the propeller; the three blades crushed when they got contact with it and they stopped spinning instantly. The rest of the craft followed them a moment later. The impact almost teared a wing apart while the whole body bounced and cracked against the irregular street. Thankfully, I stayed in the cockpit, safe and sound until the plane stopped a dozen meters ahead. My vision was fuzzy and I was stunned by the impact, luckily I still was inside the cockpit, that was until a random Mark showed up and grabbed me from the shirt growling: ''Get out!''

He inmediatly threw me out of the canopy, he dropped me beside the craft and started looking at the controls and the engine. How could I forget such a huge detail? I was doing very good, nonetheless I fail in the basics! It remainded me about how good I was in carrying bad luck to everybody. Moments later, my dad and Gobber came to me, followed by the rest of the villagers. ''Hiccup! Are you ok?'' Stoick asked, looking worried. It helped me to my feet, then looked to Mark. As his son, I knew what he wanted only with seeing his expression. Even before he started walking towards him, I stopped him with my arms. ''I'll go talk to him.'' I said, trying to calm my dad.

Stoick doubted for a second, but nodded in agreement.

Narrator: Mark. 

I could hardly contain myself from punching Hiccup when I force him out of the plane, still confused after the impact. Not to say if he gets close to me while I'm checking if the plane was still functional. And it wasn't. How the hell could he forget the MOST basic thing about landing? The goddamn landing gear!

He got close and standed next to me. Waiting. I ignored him, trying not to lose control. I wasn't exactly easy to piss off, but that boy got me hard with that. Him, and his father. I was reapeating in my head that it wasn't the place or the moment for killing nobody. Even less if we are talking about Hiccup, son of the chief and the only one in this island (besides me of course) that could probably understand the design of the plane. At that moment, I remembered how Hiccup saved my life in the death arena, and how he gave me food and water and a place to sleep. In those four days, we became... sort of friends. Our relation wasn't exactly the most stable one considering my situation, however.

And I was very angry at the moment.

''Mark? I'm sorry man... I really am.'' He started. I froze checking the engine and looked at him. ''Are you?'' I asked. He looked scared of me, as he leaned back. ''It was working, you broke it and now you are sorry you say?!!?'' I screamed. I saw with the corner of my eye Stoick grabbing his hammer thight, but I didn't pay attention to it. ''It's your fault, kid. If you hadn't attacked me that day, I wouldn't be here, next to my broken plane!'' He looked hurt. His expression changed from scared to anger in matter of seconds. ''What are you talking about? You assaulted our village every night for no aparent reason!!'' He screamed.

And that was it. 

I pulled the revolver out of my pants and grabbed his arm. I made the same movement I did with Astrid; but this time I had the revolver's cannon pointing at his chin. I loaded a bullet of the drum. When I got him inmovilized, I whispered: ''You know that the first time I got here I was attacked by him for no aparent reason.'' I finished pointing at Gobber. Now he looked confused, ''Why should I know that?'' He asked, and I was kind of glad he made that question.

''Because you where there, Hiccup.''