The Return of the Dragons

Part 13 Watching the Chief - Zephyr POV

The great Viking chiefs of the Archipelago are sitting in a circle at the great hall on Berserker island. My daddy is among them and I am sitting quietly in the corner outside of them. He is sitting forward with his elbow on his knee scratching his hairy chin as he looks at who is speaking and contemplates what is being said... I can see it in his eyes. He sits up and crosses his arms as the speaker sits down.

"Is there any other business to conduct?" Uncle Dagur asks once the speaker has finished. No one says a word. There seemed to be no issues the entire time. It actually felt kind of uneventful of a meeting. Don't the various tribes of the archipelago ever have any... well... problems? I mean, nothing seemed to be wrong at all.

Aunt Mala stands up. Oh now there is something. "Viking chiefs of the great archipelago," she says addressing the council. "For many years, our islands have seen peace and tranquility. We thrive in this peace and we prosper and now, I think it fitting for the first time in many years, to discuss the possibility of the return of the dragons."

WHAT!? The dragons... returning? I see my daddy's eyes widen and a hopeful glow I don't see too often, except, that is, when mommy thinks she's having a baby. His fingers tap and he strokes his beard even faster. He glances over at me and I look away.

"Mala, I know how much the dragons meant to your people, and to all of us." my daddy says. I cant help but think of one of my favorite dragon stories... the one when Daddy held out his hand to Toothless and he let my daddy touch him. His eyes glisten as he speaks; I know those are tears.

"But are you sure there has been peace for long enough?'

"Whoa, Hiccup!" says Uncle Dagur. "Haven't you been here the last ten council meetings? No one has had anything to report in the last four years. Don't you think that's long enough?"

"I don't know." Daddy stutters, "I just want them to be safe."

"Young chief Hiccup is right." creaks a very old chief standing up shakily. "It may be time to let the dragons return, but then again, it may not be." he coughs. "There are some things that happen on my end of the archipelago which make me question the former suggestion."

"And what things might those be Chief Yanoviak?" Uncle Dagur asks with interest, squinting his eyes as he listens

"Gentlemen." the old chief continues, "I know this must be hard to hear after so many years of peace among our islands. But there has been a disturbance." he coughs again. "There has been pillaging in my islands."

There is a gasp that sounds from the circle, but quiet settles as the threat to peace sinks into the thoughts of the company.

"Pillaging?" another chief asks. "How many times?"

Chief Yanoviak struggles to clear his throat. "Four." he utters. "I know not where they lie at present, but last I saw they disappeared in the direction of New Berk." he finishes looking at Daddy.

In a fury, my daddy jumps from his seat and shouts, "Where are they? I'll kill them if they try to touch my people!" His face is red and he is breathing hard. I have never seen him so worked up before.

"Easy Hiccup." says Uncle Dagur, and trying to regain his composure, my daddy sits back down and lays his forehead in his hand. " I know this sounds strange coming from me," he continues, "But we really should keep calm about this. Rashness and impetuosity will not help but harm. Right Malapoo?"

"Indeed Dagur love." Aunt Mala says in reply.

My heart is pounding. Could they come to our island? Oh I don't want anybody to get hurt! Especially not mommy and the new baby. I can imagine Daddy must be thinking of them right now. He was so happy when he and mommy told us they were having another baby and now he looks so worried. It makes my heart hurt.

"I say we should chase them down and bring peace to the archipelago once and for all!" says a young chief standing up."

"Look boy," coughs Chief Yanoviak "How can we do that other than sending out all our forces to go willy nilly all over the place? What then will happen to our defenses huh?" The young chief promptly sits back down.

"Chief Yanoviak is right." Aunt Mala states. "I propose that we build up our defenses each of us at our homes and have forces ready on all islands. And then when there is an attack, the defense sends a signal for the nearest islands, and we corner those hooligans.

Daddy clears his throat with a smile.

"Sorry Hiccup." Aunt Mala smiles.