Heir and Pride

Chapter 45

Forty-Five:

Hiccup's face fell, his green eyes widening in shock and horror. Trembling hands stroked the smooth face, feeling the unevenness of the small scales on the nose and he stared at the semi-conscious beast.

"P-poisoned?" he murmured. "How-how?" The tall stranger walked forward, crouching by the raw wounds and tilting his head at the brown paste smeared on the wounds, his hands stretching out and wiping a little of the paste off. Toothless gave a small whine as Hiccup curled around his bowed head, hugging him fiercely. Veurr sniffed the paste and then shook her head, still concealed in the mask. Sighing, she lifted her mask and very cautiously tasted the paste with the tip of her tongue: she spat it you instantly.

"Balder's Bane," she said as Hiccup looked up in shock, realising the tall stranger was a woman. His worried green eyes inspected her, seeing the long braided dark auburn-brown hair, lightly streaked with grey and a pale, serious face.

"In the paste?" he realised. She nodded, her green eyes meeting his.

"It's an old recipe," she murmured. "The Dragon Manual make it clear that Balder's Bane...mistletoe...is able to prevent dragon wounds from healing...and is very poisonous to them. Almost as poisonous as Blue Oleander..." Hiccup stared at her then looked up at Astrid.

"He...lied..." he said in shocked realisation. "Gods...he lied! We-we had a deal...but all the time they kept his wounds open...and he was poisoning him! He promised..."

"Is there a cure?" Astrid asked, crouching by the furious boy. Veurr nodded, her hands gently stroking the dragon's warm flanks.

"Yes-a simple mixture of Starberry, yak foot leaves, golden grass, spring water and Loki Tree bark."

"Oh, thank Thor," Hiccup breathed in relief and Astrid nodded. There was a pause as the woman looked over to the two teens.

"You don't understand, do you?" Astrid shook her head. "There's only one place that Loki Trees grow on," she explained grimly. "Outcast Island."

oOo

They had moved Toothless to the caves and lit a warm fire. Hiccup had been silent as he had heard the horrible news and as he had struggled to come to terms with Dagur's betrayal and Toothless's condition. Limping badly, he had followed them up to the caves and sat by his dragon as Veurr settled the Night Fury down and brewed a small bowl of potion from ingredients in her pouch. The brew that resulted smelled foul but which stopped Toothless whimpering and allowed him to settle into a sleep.

While Veurr walked outside, Hiccup looked up, his eyes filled with raw self-loathing. "I did this," he said quietly. Astrid, who had dumped her packs by her space, turned in a second, staring at the slumped shape.

"Hiccup...Dagur did this," she told him firmly, walking calmly over and sitting on her heels by him. He remained still and frozen, staring into the fire, his bruised face filled with guilt.

"No...I-I should've been braver," he murmured. "But...but I thought you were dead." She blinked, hearing the slight inflection in his voice. His words had grown noticeably thicker and his eyes were shining.

"Why did you think that, Hiccup?" she asked him gently. He swallowed.

"After the battle, after I fought him and Toothless fought him and we-we lost, after Snori fell and everyone was hacked down...he told me they had caught you," he said quietly, his voice almost toneless. "He said...he said they had r-raped y-you and th-then k-killed y-you..." She saw his throat work and she inched closer to him, knowing that he was still wary of her and that he had clearly suffered badly in his captivity. Quietly, she reached out and took his left hand in her right one, feeling the fingers curl around hers. He was trembling.