Another Nightmare book 1

Chapter 25

Hiccup's eyes flashed open. Cold sweat flowed on his forehead and he could practically feel a physical pressure on his chest. His eyes darted around the dark room: There was nothing. Hiccup got up, sitting on the bedside, searching for the cause of his uneasiness, this time with his thoughts. His ability to sense things with his mind was definitely the reason for the uneasy feeling... There was something, some massive and evil presence. Hiccup could feel it approaching. With little effort he could even tell the direction it was coming from. That was the last hint he needed.

He couldn't wait and do nothing. He quickly got his boots and bearskin vest and ran down the stairs. For an instant he was unsure of what to do, but he quickly decided that he couldn't just let people get hurt if he could prevent it in any way.

"Dad! Dad wake up!"

"Wha... Hiccup? Why in Thor's name are you shouting?"

"Dragons! There's a raid coming!"

"Get my helmet!" Stoick bolted up from his bed, reaching towards his axe hung on the wall. He took the helmet from Hiccup's hands when they were already half way to the door. It flew open upon coming in contact with Stoick's hand, revealing the dark, quiet village sleeping peacefully. Even the guard towers were quiet, even the night guards didn't know what was coming yet.

"Hiccup? I am not seeing any dragons..."

"They haven't started attacking yet."

"Yet? What makes you think they are going to?"

"I just know they're coming!"

"Hiccup you... I'm going back to sleep. We will talk in the morning."

"But dad, they are going to attack, at any moment now!"

"Enough! Go back to..." Stoic shut up when a dragon roar pierced the silence of the night. It was already close... Both Stoick and Hiccup were silent for few seconds until they heard a second roar. It was nothing compared to what Stoick managed right next to Hiccup.

"DRAGONS! Everyone get up and defend your village!" Stoick turned around. "Hiccup get ins..." Stoick looked his son directly into his eyes for a second and grabbed Hiccup's shoulder. "Come on."

Stoick dragged Hiccup across the village that had its rest so suddenly disturbed as the guards were alerting those that somehow slept through Stoick's roar. The chief unceremoniously pushed his son inside the forge.

"Stay here and help Gobber. Gobber!"

"Coming." The one-legged blacksmith wobbled downstairs, attaching his hammer prosthesis while running. "You came here quickly!"

"Look after Hiccup." Stoick ignored Gobber's question and rushed out, axe ready.

"So, where are the dragons?" A flash of fire illuminated the village outside.

"FIRE!"

"Oh, there they are. Well, let's get to work."

Hiccup helped bring out new weapons and then ended up sharpening used ones. Dragon scales dulled the blades really quickly. He tried to not look at the blood when cleaning the blades. It made him feel sick. Rather than focus on his work. He kept peeking outside. An unfinished building was ablaze next to the forge. The house hadn't even been rebuilt yet since it had been burned in previous raid. The other teens were hard at work trying to put out the fire while the battle was raging around them. Astrid couldn't resist her urge to fight and soon ran away from her peers, axe swinging.

Now that the dragons were in the village, the Queen's presence was overwhelming. All of the dragons carried part of her mind in them and Hiccup could sense every piece. With some concentration he could even feel the individual dragons, or at least the Queen in them. With Gobber distracted, Hiccup stepped out, reaching out with his thoughts, trying to reach the dragons around him. He walked briskly away from the forge, only sidestepping to avoid a Gronckle that tried to ram him from behind.