Shellshocked

Chapter 1

"HICCUP!"

That single word echoed around the steep rocky walls as he plummeted into the heart of the volcano. Had he expected the boy to save him? But as he watched the crumbling lip of the ledge rain down with him, he didn't see anyone coming to save him from this. He'd screamed out the dragon rider's name instinctively, but no one was coming. There was no time. He was going to die.

As what Viggo assumed were his last thoughts filled his mind, as he struggled to accept his fate, his back slammed hard against rock and brutally knocked every wisp of air from his lungs. Gasping for breath, he dimly realised—among his efforts to suck in air—that he had somehow miraculously fallen onto a outcropping of stone.

The heat from the volcano boiled up around him in thick, sulphur smelling waves. It clung to his hair, his clothes, his skin. Even the rock beneath him was almost too hot to bear. His limbs ached fiercely and his spine felt like it had just been trampled on by a Rumblehorn.

While making an inventory of his lack of serious injuries he regained his breath and rolled onto his stomach. It would be easier to push himself up with his arms.

A foolish fantasy entered his thoughts. What if the Dragon Eye survived too?

Viggo coughed and began to sit up. He turned and raised his head to see large surrounding stones dotting the lava. Some were smaller; those were closer to the middle of this fiery pit. They were scattered like sea stacks in the ocean, at alternating heights. And there! On one of those rocks was the Dragon Eye! Surely he couldn't be seeing this. The chance of both him and the Dragon Eye avoiding the lava was unbelievable. Hadn't he hit his head too hard? He groaned in pain and pushed himself up into a crouch.

A sudden spurt of fire and lava shot up in front of him between the rocks. Viggo shielded his face from the heat with one hand and then got moving when it resided. Despite his sore legs he leapt down to a lower ledge. Somehow, just in front of him was the precious contraption that had been in his tribe for centuries. To think that he was the one to bring it back to the Hunters after it was lost for so long! Really, he had to thank Hiccup for it. The rock it sat precariously on was too small for both him and the Dragon Eye, so he knelt and went to reach out with his right hand.

He drew back when the hot edge burned his left palm and cried out. He clutched it in the other and willed it to stop. Idiot! He should have known that. He couldn't make mistakes like that again down here, his life was still in danger. But before he reached out again he hesitated. Was getting the Dragon Eye worth risking his life? Every second longer he spent down here drew closer to the impending eruption of the volcano. And even if that didn't happen, what if another cliff collapsed and crushed him? What if he was overwhelmed by the heat and died from that?

The fact that it was so close yet so far seemed to mock him. How much had he put at stake to get this back? Everything. He had to get it. It was so close! There was no way he could back away from this!

He reassumed his earlier position on his belly and rested on his right bracer this time, and reached out again. His fingers were centimetres away. Stretching them out as much as he could, he could almost touch it. Just a little more, he thought in frustration. Finally, Viggo's fingers closed around the Eye and a grin blazed across his face in triumph. He had it! It was where it should be, in the hands of the Hunter Chief. It was finally back in it's rightful pla—

"AAARGH!"

The Dragon Eye clattered back onto its rocky pedestal as the most excruciating, blinding, white-hot pain Viggo had ever felt suddenly seared across the left side of his face. He screamed in agony and pressed his hands over where the blast had made contact with his skin. He felt his fingers blistering too, but nothing could ever have prepared him for the unbearable torture that was happening underneath them.

Viggo had never felt so much before. This pain transported him back to a day long ago, when he had felt a dragon's claws dig into his neck...

"Viggo! Get back!" shouted Ryker. He had his two jagged swords drawn, with half a dozen men behind him. A wild Monstrous Nightmare had broken free from it's restraints just before an auction, and time was running out before the merchants arrived.

"I'm fine brother, I have this under control!" Viggo had dashed out to try and subdue the dragon. If the dragon was still loose when the auction started, the whole thing would be over before the bidding could even begin. That meant no gold, no profit, and some very upset business partners. He literally couldn't afford this to happen; he'd kill the dragon instead of putting it up for sale if he had to. One small sacrifice would be necessary.

He also had his sword drawn, and was  nimbly dodging the blasts of fire the Nightmare shot from its throat.

"Where are the dragon root arrows?" asked Ryker to one of the Hunter men.

"Th-they were burned by the angry dragon s-sir." 

The older brother growled. "Well move your ass and find some more!" he roared. The man nodded meekly and ran off.

The new Chief ducked under a wild swipe of the tail and swung his sword. It nicked the scaly hide and the dragon roared in anger and pain. In a blink of an eye it had lit it's entire body on fire. With both wings flared out, it swiped its tail again and knocked Viggo's legs from under him. Ryker and the others took this chance to enter the melee, but the Nightmare cut them off with a gigantic wall of flame.

Viggo's sword had fallen from his hand and was sent skidding across the dirt by a large claw before he could reach it. He was defenceless. The dragon loomed above him, pinning him down with the same claw used to disarm him, drawing blood from his neck.

"Ryker!" He cried out in pain as he struggled to pry the claws away from himself. But this dragon was much stronger than him and going in for the kill. If something didn't happen soon..

Just then, an arrow whizzed though the air and hit the side of the Nightmare. He instantly felt the claws release him as the men took the disoriented dragon down. His palm tried to stem the flow of blood.

Ryker raced over with a bow in his hand and crouched down to his brother. "Viggo, you should've stayed with us," he said gruffly, and held out a strip of cloth. The Chief sighed as the fabric was wrapped around his neck.

"What were you thinking, going out and taking it on by yourself?!"

Viggo winced in pain but still countered with an answer. "I just— made a mistake that's all." He sat up and turned away from Ryker. Mistakes cost lives, he knew that. But he couldn't have risked their livelihood and the reputation of their tribe. He thought he had all the dragons secure but it was one of his first auctions, and some jobs must have been overlooked. Viggo couldn't, mustn't, slip up like this again. He'd make sure of it.

"The auction is still on," he ordered steadily, his voice smooth despite what had just happened, "I'm not stopping because of a scratch."

"This isn't a scratch. I'll sell off the dragons, not you. Go to the healer." The elder Grimborn helped him up and told two men to go with him.

Viggo didn't refuse. He walked away, feeling the deep throbbing pain and knowing it would be a reminder to do better next time.

Of course, this was not the same as the pain he'd felt that day, and he had his brother there to help him that time. His left eye was screwed shut and couldn't open it because it hurt too much to do so, his face felt like it was still on fire and he was crouched wounded there in the middle of a unstable volcano. There was no way he could get the Dragon Eye now.

He needed to get out.