Heir and Pride

Chapter 42

Forty-Two.

The village was eerily quiet as Astrid led her little group in. By now, the children were so tired and cranky that everyone would sit on Stormfly-even the timid Kersti, as Astrid scouted ahead, her axe readied. They had found more slaughtered villagers along the way, noting grimly that Berserkers were not discriminating of gender or age. Stormfly had flapped her way past the grisly sights swiftly and Astrid had felt horrible that she couldn't honour the fallen villagers as they deserved-but she had the living to protect and there seemed to be no one else left.

There were more bodies in the main plaza and the grain store and hall were burnt to the ground. Astrid cast about the village, checking the forge and finding the corpse of Stian, the other blacksmith...but no Hiccup. Axe readied, she prowled closer to the remains of the Village Hall...and saw something that made her heart stop. It was the shield, that stupid, metal-clad shield that he had been working on in his spare time, the one that he had tried to get her to understand. She recalled his forest green eyes sparkling in excitement and enthusiasm as he described how he was modifying it to give him an edge...as she had recommended. He knew he was small and had impaired mobility because of his metal leg...but his courage and ingenuity tackled the problem and the stupid shield was his answer. Dropping to her knees by the device, she saw the bola had been fired but there was no blood...and a careful search didn't show his body. And there was no sign of Toothless.

She stared at the children and quartered the village again. There were no Berserkers at all now-and all the ships had departed. They had gone...and Hiccup had to have gone with them. Not of his own volition because he had talked to her about Dagur and she knew he hated and feared the Berserker, but probably as an unwilling guest, if not a prisoner. And Toothless had to be with him, definitely a prisoner, because if he was free, Hiccup would have come for her with the Night Fury.

They were headed for Berserk. Hiccup was headed for Berserk, at the mercy of Dagur the Deranged, a man who had attacked and slaughtered a Peaceable Tribe without provocation. She took a shuddering sigh and ran her fingers through her dishevelled hair. He was still healing, still prone to nightmares and was still underweight and under-trained. He was clever and could be sarcastic and maybe that would be enough but Astrid would still go to his aid. She had promised and he was the only friend she had. And he would be scared that he would be taken back to Berk...and Astrid knew in her heart that if Stoick every got his hands on Hiccup again, he would never let the boy go again.

They camped out in the forge, a building that hadn't been touched because it hadn't been deemed worth bothering with. Curiously, since Hiccup worked here, Astrid knew the building well and knew where they hid the mead and snacks, where they could curl up out of the wind and how to light the forge for warmth. She left Stormfly in charge of the children as she brought water and food and set herself and her dragon to watch over her charges. But she was exhausted as well and Stormfly crooned reassuringly as the girl curled up and immediately fell asleep.

Stormfly's growl roused her in the early hours, when it was cold and frosty and the stars were white dots in the misty sky. She gripped her axe tight and uncoiled, crouching in readiness to fend off any attack and protect the children.

Steps were closing, uneven and stumbling and she heard a cough. Peering carefully round the door she saw a single shape listing as he staggered up the street. Gripping her axe, she sneaked out into the frost-hardened street and confronted the man.

It was Leifur, the Chief of the village-and he was wounded. His eyes widened as he saw her and there was utter relief as well.

"The children?" he gasped. She nodded.

"Safe," she assured him. He took another step.

"How?" he gasped.

"My dragon and I protected them, as I promised," she told him proudly. "They are in the forge." She paused. "And my friend?" His eyes darkened and she felt her heart lurch. But he was listing and before she could get to him or he could answer her question, he collapsed onto the ground.