A Fistful of Dragons

Part 27: For Berk...

Twenty-Seven: For Berk...

The Cemetery was silent for all of three seconds before there was complete panic and a rush for the townward gate. All decorum was forgotten as the citizens of Berk elbowed each other aside while Hiccup sighed and stared up at the approaching Gronckle, watching the panicking Fishlegs circle and land by the funeral party. Leo rolled his eyes and walked towards the worried man.

"Calm down, Fish," he said tiredly. "Tell us what you saw..."

"Oh Thor!" the younger Dragon Master whimpered. "There are a huge host of Outcasts, Bandits and dragons on their way..."

Hiccup frowned, his eyes still fixed on the stampeding Berk citizens: all of them were ample in size and trying to squish through the stone gateposts of the cemetery. He supposed it would have seemed reasonable...but there was no fence either side of the gateposts, which stood in glorious isolation. Nevertheless, the citizens were pushing and shoving to get through the narrow space and ignoring the acres of unimpeded exit to either side.

"Um...are they for real?" he asked, gesturing with his left hand at the scrum. As he watched, one of the gateposts was knocked over. Two of the Svens were now fighting and Drunken Olaf was swigging from his flask of mead. Astrid turned to look and sighed.

"Berk-the only town where everyone's weight is higher than their IQ," she murmured. "Except yours, babe..." Hiccup shrugged his bony shoulders.

"Thanks...I think..." he said dryly. "Okay...I can see expecting any coherent thought from the citizens may be an issue. What sort of dragons, Fish?"

"Whispering Deaths, Armourwings, Nadders, a Razorwhip and a huge white red-eyed titan wing Whispering Death..."

"A Screaming Death," Leo murmured quietly. "Oh Thor..." Hiccup turned his head at the tone and stared at his Uncle: the tone was despairing.

"Leo?" he asked thoughtfully. The man slowly raised his forest green eyes and there was extreme anxiety there.

"Screaming Death...is a giant variant of Whispering Death...just immune to sunlight, worse tempered and hideously powerful," he explained. "There's one born a century...in a red egg, if I recall...but it would have to be with Alvin and Drago," he sighed, covering his face with his hand. Hiccup walked to him and frowned.

"Can I help?" he asked softly but Leo turned away, his head down and shoulders hunched.

"I can't do it, Hiccup," he murmured ashamedly. "I-I can't face Alvin again...and certainly not another Whispering Death..." Hiccup quietly caught the man's shoulder.

"You won't have to, my friend," he promised. "I will stop him. After all...he killed my mother, kidnapped me and maimed my Uncle. I think it's my turn to stand up to him." Leo's head snapped up and the tiniest smile lifted his lips.

"Val would be proud," he murmured as Gobber clapped his other shoulder, drawing a hiss from his lips as he jostled his bullet wound. Hiccup frowned and glanced at Astrid, extending his hand and feeling her fingers slide between his, curling reassuringly in a gentle grasp.

"Gobber-where does the Town Council meet? Is there Town Hall?" he asked. There was an embarrassed pause.

"Not as such, laddie," Gobber mumbled, glancing at the girl.

"What Gobber is trying to say is that the Town Council meets in his saloon!" Fishlegs helpfully supplied. Gobber groaned.

"That health hazard? Really?" Leo asked with a frown.

"Well we couldnae meet in th' Town Hall tae more...since Dagur burnt it down!" Gobber protested.

"Can you round up the Council so I can talk with them?" Hiccup suggested, his green eyes shadowed with thought. "I need their help...because we need a plan to stop Alvin once and for all!" Astrid linked her arm through his and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.