How To Train Your Dragon: Broken

The Price of Freedom

A few days passed since Astrid and her friends had arrived at Bard's place. Astrid had decided to wait until the right time to train one of the dragons. And now that time had come. "Ailsa, Eydis, come on!" Astrid whispered as she shook her friends awake. The two girls blinked their eyes open and stretched.

"Wa...what?" Ailsa asked, half asleep.

"It's time to get out," Astrid reminded her.

Ailsa shot up, excited and ready, "Finally. I can't wait to be far from this place and from Bard. Did you see him yesterday? He tried to hit on me! Ugh, he has the mental state of a five-year old!"

"I know," Astrid walked over and rubbed in between Eydis' shoulder blades, helping her wake up. If they were going to escape they had to be on their A game.

"Mmmmm...Home?" Eydis rubbed her eyes.

"Yes," Astrid patted her back, "But you gotta be quiet, okay?" She looked at the other slaves that was sleeping. Pity set in as Astrid's heart sank, there was no way that she could save them all. Maybe not now...but maybe with Berk's fleet?

The three girls made doubly sure that they were ready. And then the escape plan was set in motion, with Astrid in the lead. They crept towards the doors. Astrid peeked over and saw two guards standing nearby. Two just like always. Good. And they're asleep. Extra good, Astrid spotted the keys that dangled from the belt of one of the guards. "Alright, give it to me."

Ailsa reached under the beds of one of the sleeping slaves and pulled out a rather large, black, and shiny rock. Any loose metal that was around instantly flew through the air and stuck itself to the rock. The girls really didn't know what to make of it. While cleaning the horse stalls yesterday Astrid saw one of the field slaves dig it up. She was perplexed as to how this simple looking rock had the power to attract metal to it. Luckily, Astrid was able to snatch it from Bard's little rock collection successfully. Now it was going to help them escape.

Ailsa handed the rock over to Astrid. It felt as if it weighed a ton! Astrid heaved the rock above her head and in front of the barred opening in the door. They had no idea if the rock would attract the metal keys but they had to hope. Then, to their joy, they heard jingle of keys. Astrid sat the rock down and the saw the keys stuck to the rock. "Yes!" Astrid cheered but then she covered her mouth, forgetting that she needed to be quiet.

Eydis reached out to take the keys but the rock refused to give it up. Astrid and Ailsa held onto the rock as Eydis yanked with all of her might. Eventually the rock gave way and released the keys. In doing so Eydis lost her balance and toppled over, nearly hitting her head on one of the bed frames.

"You okay?" Ailsa asked as she helped Eydis up.

"Yea," Eydis handed the keys to Astrid.

Astrid fumbled through the many keys, trying to find the one that will unlock the doors. Once the correct one revealed itself Astrid unlocked the doors and pushed them open slowly. It creaked a little. Astrid crept forward slowly. She peeked out, the guards were still asleep. "Come on," Astrid whispered to her friends as she handed the keys to Ailsa. The girls tiptoed past the guards then slipped into the shadows. Now Astrid was in her element! She might not have been the best dragon trainer on Berk but she was best at being stealthy.

Ailsa and Eydis followed Astrid as quietly as they could. They could be moving faster but Astrid hadn't forgotten that Eydis is only a child. She wasn't as stealthy as the older girls but she tried her best. Ailsa and Astrid would wait until Eydis had caught up before moving on.

"Whoa whoa wait," Ailsa stopped, "Why aren't we going towards the docks?"

"Because that's not how we're escaping," Astrid explained.