Soul of Furies (Book Three)

Chapter 2: Life As I Know It

Thora's POV

Nightstar touches down on the ground, shaking her head back and forth as she snorts. Slayer and Stardust stick their landings, their tails smacking together as they grin at their mother, waiting for praise. She gurgles at them, making Runa laugh. I climb off and my daughter follows, stopping to pet our dragons.

"Thora! Hey!" someone calls.

I swivel my head to see Astrid walking towards me, holding the hand of her eight-year-old daughter, Astrior. She has the same blonde hair as her mother and striking grey eyes. She's a solid mix of her parents; fiery, but with lots of mischief too. Stormfly follows behind the girls, looking around with quick jerky movements.

"Auntie Astrid!" Runa calls. She gives Astrior a wave. "Hi Astri."

"Hey Haddock ladies," Astrid jokes.

Runa dashes towards them, throwing her arms around Astrior and giving her a hug. The older girl smiles a little and returns the gesture as I draw closer, a tiny simper left on my lips. My Night Furies trail along at their own pace.

"Hey," I respond. "How are you two today?"

"Good. Tuff and I are going out tonight," she says. She lets out a soft sigh. "I'm glad too. We haven't had a lot of time to ourselves since we've got Astrior to look after."

"Hey! I'm not that much of a problem!" Astrior pouts, giving her mom's leg a light punch.

"How about you two take Slayer and Stardust and go play?" I suggest. When both blonde girls pout further, I sigh and twirl one of my curls around my finger. "Okay, but you're going to have to listen to us mommies talk about how much we love your daddies."

Astrid makes kiss-faces and I let out a girly giggle. Astrior's nose wrinkles while Runa curls her lip and pokes her tongue out in disgust.

"Ew, boys are gross," she whines.

"Really gross," Astrior agrees.

The girls take off, Slayer and Stardust bouncing along behind them in complete excitement. Nightstar's shoulders shake as a rumbling dragon laugh leaves her.

"Anyways..." I say, returning my attention to Astrid. "I can agree. Kids certainly do get in the way of things. I wouldn't change it for the world."

"I've been trying to convince Ruffnut about that, but all she does is whine about her back pain and cravings." She rolls her blue eyes, fixing her braid. "The sooner she has that baby, the better. I think Snotlout can agree."

I shake my head. "Honestly, those men deserve medals for putting up with us during those times. I was awful when I was pregnant with Runa."

We fall silent, reminiscing. My thoughts flicker to Hiccup for a moment, reminding me of what I have to do. I can almost hear the execution drums beating, the timer counting down. Why would I put it off for this long?

"Hey Thora, are you alright?"

I jolt from my daze, finding that my friend is giving me a concerned look. I open my mouth to speak, only to find that it's become incredibly dry. I swallow, trying to regain my bearings.

"Uh, yeah...why wouldn't I be?" I ask.

"Well, it just seems like you're distracted lately. I mean, I know that there's a lot coming up around here, what with Ruff having a baby and Eret's family and such...I just wanted to know whether you're dealing with everything alright."

I purse my lips, my back stiffening. If I'm being truthful, those sorts of things have completely taken the backseat in my head. Ruffnut and Snotlout starting their family is great, no doubt. I'm happy for them. As for Eret...

I think back to the past few years, almost reeling once I get a true idea of all that's happened. Eret felt restless soon after Alrek was defeated, so he took Skullcrusher on a long trip. When he came back, he had a new girlfriend at his side. According to him, he met her in a faraway village when he stopped for supplies, they became completely smitten, and she ran away with him back to Berk. Long story short, now they have a four-year-old son named Loki.

Her, on the other hand, I don't talk to much. Her name's Ilia. She's a free-spirit with dark hair and striking green eyes, and she's intimidatingly strong in the ways of the body. When I have talked to her she's been a bit too...extroverted for my liking. She's the kind of person that's always working and when she isn't working, she's chatting with everyone and anyone who'll listen. Not my kind of person, but she's perfect for Eret.

"Thora? Hello!" Astrid snaps her fingers in front of my face, making me jump. She rolls her eyes. "You need to stop zoning out."

"I was thinking about Ilia and Eret, and just how these past nine years have gone by really fast," I say, my voice growing tight. "Really...really fast."

Astrid arches an eyebrow, but then she nods. "Yeah, I get that. Life goes by so fast sometimes." She glances out to the ocean before she returns her attention to me, smiling. "But hey, we're still young. We've got lots of time to live."

I can't bring myself to respond, my chest feeling like it's being constricted. I don't have lots of time. I've got mere weeks left, maybe a month or two. I can't even bring myself to tell my friends about the deal I made so long ago. I couldn't even tell my husband until today...I've really dug myself in deep.

"I forgot, I have to talk to Fishlegs about the dragon nursery expansion," Astrid says, snapping her fingers. "Can I ask you to watch Astrior for a little bit?"

I blink a few times. "Yeah, uh...I can do that. I—"

"You're awesome, Thora. I owe you one," she interrupts unknowingly. "Bye!"

Before I can utter another word, she turns around, gets on Stormfly's back, and soars off into the sky. I stare after her, silent, forcing myself to keep breathing. I feel a scaly nose nudge my arm, automatically making me reach out and stroke Nightstar's ear plate. The dragon makes a small noise and looks up at me, her eyes shining with questioning.

"I hope to Odin that this goes well," I whisper.