(DISCONTINUED) Legacy of the Thunder and Fury--Book 1--Shock of Betrayal

One: Newcomer

                                                 One month later...

                                                          Hiccup

"Ha!" Astrid shrieked as Stormfly put on a burst of speed and surged past Hiccup and Toothless.

"Faster, Toothless!" Hiccup shouted and Toothless burbled, flaring his tail fin wider. The red fin was slow to respond but then Hiccup cocked his metal foot and the two fins appeared evenly matched again. The black dragon pumped his wings and sprinted past Stormfly, who narrowed her eyes competitively, Astrid leaning forward to make her more streamlined. How do I make Toothless faster? Hiccup wondered. It's the tail and saddle that's messing him up, obviously, but how do I fix it? 

He was thrown from his thoughts by a peal of laughter that bounced off one side of the dragon academy, closely followed by a thump. A second later, Hiccup realized that Astrid wasn't in the air behind him and Stormfly had landed in the finish line, the chained dome, before him. He groaned and Toothless sailed down from the sky and swooped through the opening of the dragon arena and landed behind bouncing Stormfly and gleeful Astrid.

He sighed and Toothless gave a dragony laugh.

"Hah!" Snotlout said, grinning. "Way to let a girl beat you up in one of the simplest things ever!"

"Do you think you could do better, Snotlout," Astrid said, appearing behind him silently. Snotlout jumped and glared at her. 

"Why do you always sneak up on me like that?" He shouted.

"Why do you let me sneak up on you," she retorted, smiling her you-know-I'm-right-so-just-admit-it and you-can't-get-to-me-so-just-give-up smile.

"If you weren't so busy yammering you might be able to hear me coming," she finished. Snotlout rolled his eyes and said, "Shut up, Astrid." Then he walked away. 

"Works every time," Astrid said, grinning smugly. Stormfly paddled her feet and opened and closed her wings, orangy yellow eyes darting around alertly. 

"How is Stormfly so fast now?" Hiccup said, glancing at the blue and red and orange Deadly Nadder. 

"Let's just say I've been experimenting with what she eats," Astrid said cryptically. She crossed her arms, grinning again at Hiccup's dubious expression. "Apparently, it's working. And making you mad."

"I am not mad," he protested, temper rising. She stared at him like she knew exactly how wrong he was. "Okay, now I'm mad."

Astrid snickered and rubbed Stormfly's chin. The dragon purred and nuzzled Toothless, who burbled in response and flicked his ear flaps.

Both of them jumped as there was a whoosh of fire and a clanging sound reverberated around the short stone walls of the arena. Hiccup and Astrid glanced over in that direction. Hookfang had taken off and slammed into the fireproof chains covering the half-dome. A second later, Snotlout rolled over from where he had fallen, scrambled onto the Monstrous Nightmare's neck, and Hookfang bolted out the exit and leaped into the air. 

"I meant to do that!" Snotlout shouted as the red dragon began winging away toward the beach. Astrid regarded him thoughtfully and then chuckled, glancing back at her boyfriend. 

"Well, you're lucky you and Toothless aren't that clumsy," the blonde said, raising her eyebrows at the Night Fury's rider. Hiccup sighed and agreed, "Yeah, I guess."

"If you were, I would make fun of your consistent failures a lot more often," she said. Stormfly screeched and charged a circle around the two, snorting as Toothless sneezed at the dust and chased after her. Astrid chuckled and whistled at the dragons, and an overexcited Stormfly leaped over, panting. 

"Wanna try again?" Astrid asked Toothless, petting both of the dragons. Toothless gave a long, high pitched snort and looked over at Hiccup expectantly, who half groaned and half laughed. 

"Why not?" He said and hopped on the Night Fury's back again. 

"Good. See you at the finish line," Astrid trilled confidently. Stormfly crouched and leaped into the air, blue speckled wings spread wide and flapping to gain momentum, then folded back as they arrowed through the gap in the stone.

"Come on, bud! We can win this time!" Toothless beat his wings and copied Stormfly, speeding through the exit and rising into into the brisk air. The sun beamed down through gaps in the clouds to shine through the trees speckling the village. The house roofs shimmered like gold as the light caught the wood grain. The two dragons glided along the breeze for a moment or two, letting the weak wind push them along as they rode the updrafts. Then they started to pick up speed, and then a distant shout announced that they could start. Stormfly angled her wings and jerked forward so fast that Astrid yelped and fumbled for a better hold on the dragon saddle. Then the blonde leaned forward and the blue dragon shot forward smoothly, wings pumping up and down. Toothless's tail flared evenly and the black dragon hurled forward, stubby face almost brushing Stormfly's tail. Emerald, almond shaped eyes slitted with concentration, Toothless screeched and angled his wings to catch the wind Stormfly was using. 

Then a red blur whizzed past, and Hookfang burst out underneath the blue dragon, giving both of the racing riders enough time to slow, if only a tiny bit. Stormfly slammed into Hookfang, and both dragons tangled and dropped toward the ground. Astrid lunged forward from the momentum and sailed over Stormfly's horns, one of the spikes narrowly missing her eye and only scratching her cheek instead. Snotout yelped and clung on to his dragon's neck tighter, earning a strangled snarl from Hookfang. Toothless dodged the two startled dragons and Astrid landed with a thump and a grunt in his back. 

"You okay?" Hiccup asked.

"Fine," she hissed back, grabbing onto his shoulders before she could overbalance again. Hookfang and Stormfly managed to separate at the last minute, and Stormfly spread her wings, squawking, and landed on all fours heavely. Hookfang somehow tangled his wings and tail and couldn't stop himself from crashing into a mound of dirt piled by a farmer. Dust exploded everywhere and Toothless did a quick flip to drop Astrid back on her dragon's back. Stormfly scuttled over to where Hookfang was sprawled and Toothless landed on the Nightmare's other side. For a moment Hiccup could't see Snotlout, but then realized that he was lying lengthwise, facedown in the dirt, and Hookfang was resting his muddy face on his rider's back. The red dragon lifted his head and hissed at his rider, frighteningly large teeth bared. Snotlout sat up, straightening his helmet, and Astrid stalked over to him, fuming.

"What's wrong with you?" She snarled. "Watch where you're going." She whipped around and clambered onto Stormfly's back, scowling. Hiccup gloomily watched her fly to her hut. 

"So, what was so important that you had to interrupt our race?" Hiccup asked. 

Snotlout was breathing in a funny, kind of panicked way. "You're not going to BELIEVE what I just found," he said. "Come on." He jumped on to Hookfang's saddle and Hiccup followed, frowning slightly. Unless it was a stupid prank set up by the twins, it sounded pretty important. Whooshing wingbeats behind him announced that Fishlegs and Ruff and Tuff were coming out of the arena. Toothless leaped into the air and flapped noisily, gaining height. In front of him, Hookfang swerved around the tall cliffs and landed with a sandy squeak on the beach. In front of them, a few places away, was a small overturned boat, propped against a few stray boulders and half buried in sand. The riders hopped of the dragons and strode toward the boat, Snotlout speeding up a bit to take the lead.

"Wow, a wrecked boat on Berk," Tuff said unenthusiastically. "There's something new." 

"And I saw it first, so I get to keep it," Snotlout said.

"That depends on what "it" is," Hiccup said, his heart in his throat. 

Ignoring him, Snotlout knelt in front of the boat, where whatever was inside was open to the air. As the Dragon Riders crouched beside him, craning their necks for a view, Snotlout pointed to what was inside. Everyone gasped. "It" was not an "it." 

Sprawled face down in the wet sand with cold water lapping at her patchy leather clothes, laid an unconcious black haired girl.