TAW Tales: How to Train Your Shifters (#1)

~ Chapter 6 ~

The island was huge.

Not as big as my homeland, of course, but huge for a typical island.

It was an archipelago, one large island with several other teenie tiny ones around it. The main one had a large, pointed mountain and the village could clearly be seen sprawled around on one side. I could see the flickering of firelight in the houses' windows, and I could even see the Great Hall, carved into the side of the mountain.

Massive Vikings stuck out of the sea, and as we flew towards the island we wove about them like the needles of a master sewer. The setting sun turned the water orange, and the wind swept my hair around my face. I ducked a few times as Winter's plait flung around behind her.

As the dragons lowered down to a clearing of huts, I saw a small herd of sheep being chased by a flock of baby Grunckles, closely followed by a Viking, who was shouting at them and waving a pair of shears above his head.

Terrible Terrors swooped between the huts, and grown dragons weaved about here and there, some being ridden by Vikings, and others following their human companions.

Even as we watched, a grey, whip-thin dragon with wings so large they seemed to be all that it was soared overhead like some sort of manta-ray underwater, blocking out the sunlight for a few seconds.

"Welp, here we are." Astrid leap down from Stormfly's back, and the Nadder reached around to preen her wing as we slid clumsily down beside her.

Astrid turned to us as the others also disembarked from their dragons. "Right, if you're going to stay here, we need to set some rules," she said firmly.

"Who said we're staying here?" Night asked curiously.

Astrid eyed her. "Do you want to stay somewhere else? Maybe back on that island with all the WILD dragons?"

Night took a step back. "No, no, no, no, no, I was just checking!" she said hurriedly.

"Good." Astrid nodded. "Because you're going to be staying here where we can keep an eye on you. Somehow I don't think it was much of a coincidence that you guys just happened to turn up on the same island the same day that Hiccup went missing."

"You think we have something to do with this?" Luna demanded.

"Don't try denying it," Astrid advised her sourly. "We know you're up to something. And until we find out what, you can stay here." She turned around and stalked off to the Great Hall, with us following.

"Hasn't she told us that, like, three times now?" Zero whispered into Everest's ear as they fell into step behind us.

"Quiet, no talking!" Snotlout barked behind us.

"We're not prisoners, you know," I pointed out, looking at him over my shoulder.

"Yeah?" Snotlout looked confused. "Well... no talking anyway!"

Winter pressed her lips together to keep from laughing as we were led into the Great Hall, single-file. Inside, it was huge, bigger than I'd thought it could ever be, and dark, but warm, with a few lit torches dotted about the walls. There were tapestries hanging on every beam depicting Viking heroes and gods, and the occasional wooden or stone statue.

At the back was a raised stone platform with what looked like a large stone well. Standing in front of this stone well, his hands clasped behind his back as he paced anxiously, was Hiccup's father (and Chief of the Tribe), Stoick the Vast.

He looked up as the heavy door of the Hall slammed.

"Astrid," he greeted her in his rumbling, heavily accented voice. "Have you found him?"

"No," Astrid replied. "But we did find someone else." She stepped aside to let Stoick see us. "Several others, to be more exact."

"On the island?" Stoick glared at us suspiciously. "No sign of Hiccup?"

"No, nothing." Astrid's eyes flickered with worry.

"Ah, very well. Take this lot to the Training Ring and see what you can get out of them," Stoick said gently to Astrid, even though his words were pretty ill-meant for us.

"Okay. Come on," she said to us, turning and trotting out. I shared a worried look with everyone but Winter.

I was pretty sure this didn't bode well for us.