Electrified

Chapter 2

     We're up in the air hours later. It took major convincing to allow Storm to tolerate another rider on his back. He's still grumbling angrily, sparking, electrocuting Kendrick when he gets the chance.
     I glance back at Kendrick, who's holding onto my waist with intense ferocity. He's terrified, I can tell. Does he seriously not have a dragon? Hiccup must've been serious about making him train his own dragon, since his son had to come all the way out to an abandoned island to find one.
     It doesn't take long for a large island with many Viking statues scattered in the sea to come into view. I exhale shakily at the thought of meeting a whole Viking tribe. Dragons swarm the land. Lightning Storm chirps softly, vocalizing his fear. I gulp and pat his neck, almost forgetting the chief's son behind me.
     Kendrick gestures to a house with a sea monster looking head. Storm touches the ground. The dark of the night bleeds around the village, creating menacing shadows as the perfect place for gladiators to hide in. Little Vikings crowd the cobble streets. Somehow that worries me more.
     I dismount Storm as Kendrick waves me over to the house. Is it weird that the house smells like leather and smoke?
     "Just to inform you," I whisper, "it may not be a good idea for me to meet people if I don't plan to stick around."
     Kendrick rolls his eyes as his hand rests on the doorknob. "I appreciate the enthusiasm."
     I stick my tongue out at him. He scrunches his nose and opens the door.
     My eyebrows just about fly to the roof at the sight of a brown headed man sitting in a chair, face buried in his hands, being comforted by a blonde woman and a red headed man. Kendrick clears his throat. The blonde woman looks up, eyes red. Her tear streaked face cracks an enormous grin.
     "Kendrick!" The woman rushes over just as another woman walks out holding a steaming cup, a night fury hobbling after her. My eyes widen. Another has tamed one?
     The blonde woman engulfs Kendrick in a hug so tight that his face turns red. The woman that just walked into the room drops the cup. The night fury licks the watery remnants off of the floor. Now that I notice, the night fury has a saddle. Intriguing. . .
     I can hear Storm faintly wailing, chirping cries of surprise as I look back and see a four winged dragon curiously peering at him. The skrill's scales flare in the Lightning combo. He shrieks a warning at the unfamiliar dragon many times his size.
     The night fury in the house suddenly snarls at me, just now noting my presence. The brown headed man has now stood up, and I shrink away from them and back away from the house. The woman with the cup walks outside and studies Lightning. He booms in surprise as she lifts up his wings with a wooden staff. His scales spark and turn to the Night combo. The only thing making him visible are the bursts of electrical energy and the blue and green patches on his back and wings.
     The brown headed man, who I presume is the chief, now notices me. He walks away from Kendrick and holds out his hand. I swallow hard as his green eyes run me over.
     "Thank you for bringing back my son," he whispers. I hesitantly take his hand and shake it. It's surprisingly cold. "What is your name?"
     I swallow again and clear my throat. But Kendrick speaks for me. "That's Anais. She and her skrill found me on Dragon Island and brought me here." His blue eyes bore into mine.
     The chief, Hiccup, glances back at Storm. His eyes widen as his night fury, Toothless, hobbles out of the house to check on the woman studying my dragon. Toothless growls. Storm whirls and his sparks increase as his eyes turn to slits. Their electric purple color pulse in the darkness.
     "That-- that's Dagur's skrill. How did you find it? I didn't know that it could change colors and make so many different noises . . ." Hiccup trails off, still at a loss for words. I remember hearing tales of the night fury and skrill face off long ago.
     The blonde woman and older woman walk over to me. "I'm Valka," says the woman who previously studied my dragon. "This skrill is beautiful, where did you find him?"
     My voice cracks as I speak. "Trapped in ice on a glacier. My night fury and I--"
     "WHAT?!" The loud scream makes me jump. Storm leaps in the air in shock, wings tense and open. He chirps in surprise.
     Hiccup grabs my shoulders and starts shaking me. "There are others out there? Toothless isn't the only one?" My eyes are as wide as the moon.
     The blonde woman pries her-- I think-- husband off of me. "Excuse Hiccup, he has a soft spot when it comes to night furies." She turns back to me. "I'm Astrid." I can barely nod a reply.
     Valka walks over to me as well and puts her hand on my shoulder. "There are more out there?"
     I gulp as everyone surrounds me. The red headed man has emerged from the house, a sea dragon behind him. I recognize it as a shockjaw. It's jaw glows purple with bio electricity.
     "Y-yes. Night furies migrate seasonally to cope with hunting and fish supply." I shift awkwardly, pulling down my one sleeve. "Toothless must have gotten left behind by his flock. Then the Red Death took advantage of him and that's how you met him," I say a little more confidently, gesturing to Hiccup. He furrows his brows.
     "How do you know about Toothless?" he asks, folding his arms across his chest.
     "You two are legendary, Hiccup." Hiccup purses his lips as the red headed man pushes past him and glares at me, knife in hand.
     Behind me, Lightning snarls. I back up as Kendrick takes his place in front of me. "Stand down, Brennan."
     Brennan's murky brown eyes bore into me. "She is a stranger that just so happens to show up with one of the most dangerous dragons in the Archipelago. Hiccup, it is advised to send her back where she came from."
     I clench my fists at my sides as a few other people show up. Astrid whistles and a deadly nadder squawks as it lands next to her. "Hiccup, I'll go with Fishlegs, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Snotlout to do a nightwatch. Let Eret, Heather, and Briona know that they have the next shift."
Astrid pecks Kendrick on the cheek and mounts her dragon, flying off with a monstrous nightmare, a scauldron, a typhoomerang, and a gronkle. When they are out of sight, Hiccup rubs his head and waves Brennan off. Valka puts a hand on my shoulder.
     "How do you know so much about night furies?" she asks.
     "I found a flock of them drinking from a river. One of them had snuck up on me and I befriended it. She and I would fly to many islands with the flock." I glance back at her four-winged dragon tilting its head at Storm, who's digging at the ground with a wing claw. "I found the skrill a year later on a migration route of her's. After I befriended him, my night fury and I parted ways." I shrug as I eventually find myself more comfortable around them. "For the limited time being. We run into each other every once in a while."
     Brennan mounts his shockjaw and flies off. I narrow my eyes after them. Kendrick grabs my arms and smiles at his father and Valka, who I assume is his grandmother. "Anais must be exhausted. We'll introduce her to the gang in the morning. Dad, she can sleep in my hut." Hiccup nods, eyelids heavy with sleepiness, and walks back inside the house, Valka right behind him.
     The four winged dragon gives Storm another purr before flying to the back of the hut. Toothless sniffs hesitantly at Storm. Storm gives him a wary look but bows and rumbles a friendly farewell. I smile at them. On his way back to the house, the night fury stops in front of me and watches my face, pupils in slits. After a few moments, I bow my head in respect and he returns the gesture, purring, eyes round, rubbing his head against my arms.
     "Huh, usually Toothless would have not been so trustworthy," I hear Kendrick say. I nudge the chief heir and rub the night fury's head. Kendrick nudges me back. "Good night, Toothless," he calls over his shoulder. The dragon gurgles his farewell and pads inside.
     It still amazes me that I am on the isle of Berk. From what I hear, this place is legendary. The first Viking to train a dragon. The first dragon to defeat two alphas. The first island to be blessed with the presence of the mighty bewilderbeast. I sigh in content as I listen to late night fishers loading their catch into barrels for the morning, waving off curious dragons. I listen to the distant ocean, and the deep footsteps of my skrill.
     Kendrick glances at me, face shadowed by a curtain of darkness. "Why are you so happy? Have you changed your mind?"
     I pfft at him and try to hide my smile. "You wish. I just came here to help you not die."
     "I feel so loved," he responds sarcastically. Then he grows serious. "Brennan is my dad's adviser, the one who I think may be planning to overthrow him and me."
     I scoff. "For one, I'm not here to make you feel loved. And two, you think? That guy just about stabbed me." Storm rumbles in agreement.
     Kendrick bunches his lips to the side. "Yeah, he does that to every new person. But with you it was a little . . ."
     "Extreme?"
     "Yeah." He guides us to a couple more houses. "I want you to follow him tonight. See what you can hear, or if there's anything fishy going on."

I take in the fresh night air as Storm and I follow where Brennan had flown off. I hadn't spotted any of the nightwatch riders yet, but I can't be too sure they haven't already found me. I sigh and Storm glides, stretching his wings for extra lift.
     "Do you think it would be a good idea to stay?" I ask my companion. He chirps, surprising me. "Are you just making soft noises because you're too afraid to alert anyone of our presence?" This time, he booms.
     Lightning Storm chirps again and glances back at me sincerely, pupils round. I smile and pat his neck. "At least you'll always have my back," I whisper.
     A soft voice causes me to tense. It's coming from below us. Storm looks down and slows. I glance over his spike crown and spot Brennan and his shockjaw gliding just above the water. No joke, Lightning Storm and I exchanged knowing glances as we followed them.
     The shockjaw flew around a sea stack on the other side of Berk. Storm lands on the sea stack, quiet as an owl. I dismount and glance over the edge, spotting an unfamiliar whispering death sail-crested ship. A waxy looking man is conversing with the chief adviser. I feel the sudden urge to growl. What are they up to? Luckily, living alone for most of my life has given me finely tuned ears. Their voices carry up to us on the slight breeze as if they were whispering right next to me.
     "You're the chief of the Ravers, can't you reason with him?" The Ravers . . . Their tribe is known to be one of the most powerful and vicious of all. It is said that they were a crossover of the Berserkers and Outcasts over a decade ago. What would they want with Berk? Actually, now that I think about it . . .
     What wouldn't they want from Berk?