Soul of Furies (Book Three)

Chapter 25: Reality

"Thora! Hey, wake up!"

I groan softly as my eyes crack open, taking in the person kneeling above me. Muscular fingers press against my throat, checking for a pulse, and I cough as I open my eyes the rest of the way. Eret comes in view, his face a mask of worry.

"Thora, thank the gods," he mutters, almost breathless. "Why are you all the way out here?"

I don't take a moment to think about what I'm doing before I lurch upwards and throw my arms around my friend, an overwhelming amount of relief washing over me. "Eret, you're alive," I gasp, hugging him tighter.

He blinks a few times, carefully returning the hug and patting my back. I don't blame him for looking weirded out. I'm not exactly one to instigate hugs.

"Uh...yeah, I'm alive," he says as I release him. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

I shake my head slowly, resting one hand on my head. "I...I'm fine. It's a long story."

"Come on, we've got to get you back. Berk has been sending out search parties for days trying to find you," he says, grasping my arms and pulling me to my feet. "We had people on night shifts, Hiccup even put on Toothless' self-flying tail so he could help scout around."

I choose not to respond, looking around and finally noticing that we're in the ruins of Hermaōr. Laying at the base of one of our stone statues is Nightstar. She lays on her side, eyes closed and limbs limp. I move away from Eret and walk to her side, where I kneel down and rest my hand against her flank.

My dragon snorts as her eyes open. I scoot back as she lifts her head, shaking it back and forth as she blinks rapidly. Her blue eyes meet my brown and I smile sadly.

"Nightstar?" I ask.

She makes a gurgling sound in her throat, but I can't help but feel a stab of disappointment when I can't hear her thoughts. Her ear-plates sag and she rolls onto her feet. We've got a mutual understanding, I can see.

"Ilia!" Eret hollers. He lifts his fingers to his lips and whistles. "ILIA!"

There's a rather large roar as Ilia's Shockjaw, Seaworth, comes into view. The large dragon swoops low to the ground, touching down and stamping his paws as some electrical shocks spark from near his mouth. Ilia slides off Seaworth's back, gasping at the sight of me.

"Thora! Oh honey, you're alive!" she exclaims.

Before I can protest, she scrambles forwards and engulfs me in a bone-crushing hug. I go rigid, despite being surprisingly happy to see her.

"Don't go disappearing like that!" she scolds, releasing me only to grab my shoulders and shake me rather roughly. "Everybody feared the worst, then Hiccup told just a small group of us about your deal—"

"I'm fine. I just really need to get home," I say as she finally stops shaking me. "It's been a long few days."

Ilia doesn't miss a beat. "Right, of course. Nightstar! Come get 'er!" she hollers.

Nightstar, surprisingly, obeys and gallops to my side. Ilia whistles to Seaworth and he too races to her side. Eret summons Skullcrusher in a similar manner. Once the three of us are mounted, we take off and head for Berk.