Knight's Honor

War Preparations

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Astrid was woken up by Kindling, very early the following morning. She ate her breakfast groggily and shuffled her way to the Main Hall. The Black Knight, all of the Knights and their dragons were waiting along with Stormfly.

"So," she said, "I guess this is goodbye?"

"Yeah," The Black Knight said gruffly. She noticed he was holding a long yellow cloth.

"What's that for?" She questioned.

"You."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, Astrid, but we've decided that you need to be blindfolded, and you're not to take it off until Stormfly makes this sound." He nodded to the Nadder, who made a shrill whistling sound. "The location of our Island must be kept a secret, you know this."

"Don't you trust me?" She raised her eyebrows.

"As a matter of fact, I do, we all trust you. Perhaps too much. But in this case, what you don't know won't hurt you," he replied. "I know you're in disagreement to this, but in this case knowing the location of our Island will get you killed... after he's tortured it out of you." The Black Knight explained.

"A true Viking never cracks under torture."

"I'm sorry, Astrid, but it's been decided and we're not taking any chances." He handed her the blindfold. "Until it's firmly covering your eyes, you are not leaving."

Astrid reluctantly took the piece of cloth and with even more reluctance went over to Stormfly. A stool was provided but she kicked it aside and without any assistance climbed onto the Stormfly's back.

"Is this good enough for you?" Astrid growled when she put the blindfold on.

"Yeah... well, goodbye Astrid," he was about to give a command to the Nadder but paused. "Astrid, about all of the cloak-and-dagger... I'm really sorry."

"I sure hope so." She wasn't in the mood for apologies right now.

"I've been battling with myself all week. Hel, I've been battling since we knew you were coming. I wish I could tell you everything... but I can't right now."

Astrid turned her head in his direction. "If I persuade my Chief to accept dragons, then will you?"

"I hope so, except..." Except she was not the only person he was hiding things from.

"Another thing. If you have the desire to communicate with me, then leave letters out on the statue of Thor in the village center. The Terrors will find them... though I'd appreciate if you kept it between us for now." He was almost finished then Astrid heard Salamon whisper something to The Black Knight. "Oh yes, and... one more thing. It's about your Uncle Fearless Finn Hofferson. He wasn't frozen by fear. A Flightmare sprays a kind of venom at its prey, paralyzing it instantly. Your Uncle was frozen by the venom, not by fear. So the Hoffersons have nothing to be ashamed of. Tell your people that. And if they don't believe you, I happen to know a Flightmare who will gladly show them. Also once you return to Berk you might want to look into a rumor pertaining to Snotlout."

Before she could respond to this The Black Knight made a growl and Stormfly ran down the tunnel.

Riding blindfolded on the back of a running dragon is a terrifying experience, Astrid clenched the reigns tightly. The wind whipped in her face so much she couldn't open her mouth to scream; as soon as she did the wind blew all of her breath away.

Then the dragon reached the end of the tunnel and took off into the air. Without warning it began spinning and now Astrid really did scream.

"THOR ALMIGHTY, GET ME OFF THIS THING!" She instantly regretted opening her mouth as she began to feel nauseous. Meanwhile, the dragon kept spinning around and around and around and...