Ines, Sveif, Drei

Chapter One

"I'm sick of this, Hiccup! This is the fifth eel in my house today and I can't stand it!" Shrill shrieks had been going on all day and poor Hiccup could do nothing about it.

"Look, I'm sorry Phlegma, I just can't help you at the moment! Mulch's house has been iced over and we're struggling to get him out."

"That bag of fat and wasted energy doesn't need any help. I'm your dragon nursery helper and my home is infested with eels!"

"That doesn't even make sense, Phlegma," Hiccup said exasperatedly. "Eels are ocean creatures. They don't live on land! Or come to land, even!"

"Then what's in my house?! I swear, if the twins are -"

"It's not the twins, Phlegma," Hiccup said patiently. "The twins are out by the Meade Hall making sure that the hay bales stay grounded."

"HAY BALES?! Are THOSE more important than me? I demand help right now!"

"Phlegma, if you can wait a few minutes for someone to come-"

"I can't WAIT. I have children and dragons and dragon eggs to take care of. AND THAT CAN'T BE DONE-"

"Phlegma, please, we're trying as hard as we can right now!"

"Oh SURE you are. I don't believe you," Phlegma huffed, crossing her arms.

It was at this time that I decided to walk up to Phlegma and Hiccup. "Hiccup," I said, "you could go help Phlegma and I'll see if the people at Mulch's house need anymore help. After that we can go help the people putting out fires on the west side of the island."

Hiccup looked at me with grateful eyes. "That's a good idea, thanks, Echogreen!" He nodded and looked at Phlegma. "Alright, let's go see these eels and see if we can get them out."

"Finally!" Phlegma huffed.

She and Hiccup left. Phlegma was complaining all the way and poor Hiccup was enduring her assaults on how Stoick would never have done what Hiccup was doing.

Poor boy.

I spread my wings and took to the skies. The smoke and smolder from the west side of the island was flying in the air, but it wasn't as bad as it was before. The fire department had done a good job of making sure that the fire didn't spread.

It would have been nice to have some fire to melt Mulch's house, but Chief Hiccup had ordered that no fire be used until the weather changed.

It had been a weird summer so far. At first we welcomed the heat because it had ever been even remotely warm (according to some people) on Berk. We all took a break to put on our water skivvies and jump into the water. The dragons didn't participate in swimming, though. We knew something was wrong, but our humans wouldn't listen to us.

After that came the strange weather. It snowed the day after the heat wave and all the water inland froze up - as did the water near the docks. Several good boats were lost because of the quick freeze. Then, of course, was the extremely dry time. It had been going on for three days now. It started with a short thunderstorm that lit the forest on fire, and then it went away leaving no rain. It is cold and dry right now and very uncomfortable.

I reached Mulch's house and nodded to myself. The progress was coming along quite well on it. Mulch was almost out of it. I walked forward and looked at Snotlout. What's going on?

We're almost finished. There's the last stubborn piece of ice left.

I nodded. I can take care of that! I walked over to the door. Mulch was standing close to it, trying to break it with a much-dulled axe. I turned around and whacked the ice with my tail. The house shuddered and some chunks of ice broke and fell off, but not enough that any real progress could be made.

I whacked the house with my tail again. The ice started to crack. I took a step back and rammed the iced doorway with my shoulder. The ice cracked even more. I took a step backwards and tapped the ice. It shattered, the ice raining down on the vikings and Mulch.

Well, good job, Echo.

Why thank you.

I looked around. Hookfang wasn't here. Where's Hookfang?

Trianity is riding him. She's with the fire league.

I nodded. Do want a ride to the south side of the island? There's a team trying to break the ice around the bay.

Snotlout shook his head. I've got to get to my house and prepare something.

I nodded slowly. Okay, I'll see you around, then.

Snotlout nodded and I spread my wings, launching into the air. Maybe I could help with the fire division team? No, they had it handled. Maybe I could help Toothless relocate the dragons for the time being? No, Paintsplash was helping him do that.

"I'll just go back to my cave," I said to the air before diving toward the ocean. I pulled up and skimmed the waves before veering into my cave. It was extremely close to the high tide and sometimes it flooded. My  cave was just something temporary. I was going to get a more permanent residence soon.

I landed and folded my wings. I shuffled around, knocking a couple paintings off the walls. It was a little strange for a dragon to have paintings on her walls, but Trianity visits and she really likes the art, so the light-up paintings were a cool touch to the cave.

I heard a sigh from deeper in the cave and decided to investigate. Quieting my footfalls, I stealthily approached my bedroom. There was shuffling going on in there and it wasn't the kind I was used to.

With a yell I leaped onto the intruder and yelped in surprise when I saw who it was. "Diamondspirit?! What in the flipping world are you doing here in my cave?!"

Diamondspirit chuckled slightly before pushing me off with ease. "I left something here last time I came over. A golden bolt, I think?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I dropped it off at Toothless'. I didn't know you'd come here."

"Well, I love seeing you."

I blushed. "Oh, Diamond."

He smiled. "Oh, what were those tablets that were flung haphazardly on the floor?"

"Tablets?"