Soul of Furies (Book Three)

Chapter 14: Found

General POV

"Man, this just gets harder and harder," Fishlegs mumbles.

The small flame in front of the once loving Viking flickers, throwing eerie shadows over the walls of his home. He watches it, leaning forwards every so slightly and begging it to stay alight. It does, causing him to relax and start rubbing his hands together slowly near the warmth. The inside of his cave stinks of rotting fish and animal corpses from meals come and gone. He doesn't bother to clean it up, seeing as if he's just going to eat again he doesn't see a point.

Wing beats sound from outside, making him perk up and stiffen at the same time. He creeps to the edge of the cave, head low and eyes narrowed. He stays out of sight.

Did those demons find me? he wonders.

His blue eyes scan the horizon, zeroing in on a dark figure in the distance. The silhouette is obviously that of a dragon, but not a demon dragon. There are no red eyes to signify that.

He denies the possibility of what he's seeing. He knows that every normal dragon was transformed or killed. Hell, he witnessed it. He must finally be going nuts.

The figure gets closer and closer until Fishlegs can tell that there are two figures perched on top of a Night Fury. His face slackens with shock, unable to believe what he's seeing. He shrinks away into the shadows as the sleek black dragon lands on the ground ahead of his cave. The first rider climbs off, her boots hitting the sand almost noiselessly.

She has auburn hair pulled into a long braid, and Fishlegs takes note that her clothing looks much too nice for her to be from around Berk. That sort of tunic and armour hasn't been available to normal people since Alrek came to power. To further his assumption, he's never seen her before. The Night Fury beside her has shining blue eyes, but the sight of her only serves to remind the blond Viking of Hiccup and Toothless, so much so that he can't even find joy in seeing another Fury.

The second rider he does recognize. His mouth forms into a scowl when he sees her, noting that she looks as haggard and worse for wear as the last time he saw her. At least some things don't change.

"Fishlegs!" the first woman calls, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Her Night Fury looks around, snorting and pawing the ground. The woman looks to the dragon, her lips moving with her soft words for a moment before she nods.

"Thora, give it up," Astrid groans. "All I said is that he'd been looking for caves—"

"I know the places around Berk. We've searched everywhere. Besides, Nightstar picked up the scent of a human around here," the auburn-haired woman retorts.

Thora's eyes fall on the mouth of Fishlegs' cave, making him squeak and hide his body even more. Despite that, she still starts moving towards the makeshift lair with Astrid and the dragon following.

"Hello?" she calls.

"He's not there. It's just a cave," Astrid reiterates, crossing her arms over her chest as she huffs. "We can look more tomorrow. I'm exhausted."

"Fishlegs? Please come out..." Thora pleads, sounding almost desperate behind her mature facial expression.

The blond waits, weighing the options. He listens for the Vikings' movements, feeling slightly guilty when a heavy sigh resonates out and the crunching of boots is heard. He heaves a similar sigh and pokes his head out of his hiding spot, watching the retreating females.

"Wait," he says.

They spin around in synchronization. Astrid's mouth presses into a straight line at the sight of him. The other woman, Thora, dons a relieved look as her shoulders sag.

"Fishlegs..." she breathes. "I knew you'd be somewhere around here."

She stops as she takes in his appearance. He's gotten a lot thinner since the demon attack, plus his beard has grown in along with his hair. That doesn't change the fact that the man has no idea who this person is.

"Do I know you?" he asks, squinting as he looks at her.

She shakes her head. "No. You don't."

Astrid exhales, as if tired by the idea of explaining this to him. "Thora here knew Hiccup. Said they were close. She's from the same village as Alrek and now she's gonna try and defeat him for us."

"You can do that?!" Fishlegs gasps.

Thora nods. "Yes, I can, but I need your help."

Fishlegs arches an eyebrow at that, noting how her hand automatically curls around a necklace that's completely identical to Alrek's. Nightstar flaps her wings and stretches, smacking her lips together sleepily.

"Look, I've had a crazy night. Mind if we come in?" Astrid asks. "We'll explain everything."

As much as he wishes it would take a long time for him to decide, it doesn't. He nods and gestures.

"Sure, my cave is your cave," he says.