Heart of a Berserker: Hope (School of Dragons)

Chapter 5

"Tonight your memory burns like a fire
With every one it grows higher and higher
And I can't get over it, I just can't put out this love
I just sit in these flames and pray that you'll come back
Close my eyes tightly, hold on and hope that I'm dreaming
Come wake me up"

- "Come Wake Me Up" by Rascal Flatts

Chapter 5

"Reel your eyes back into your head, Skulder," Eret said upon our arrival. Skulder appeared uneasy as he exited the boat. "You look like you've never been in a den of thieves before. Brennda, find Harald's contact and give him the note. I'll stay by our scholarly friend here and make sure he doesn't accidentally rile up these sensitive traders."

I nodded. "Good idea." The note clutched in my hand, I jogged up the stairs and to the trading center. I found the shifty storekeeper at his stall. "Hello there. This is from Harald." I handed him the note.

The storekeeper looked over the note and then glanced back at me. "I see you caught up to that scoundrel, and he's already got you running errands for him. Hah! Tell Harald that the magic Tooth of the Red Death is on display at the auction area. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes... but that Tooth really turns dragons into stone, right in their tracks! It's drawing interest from dragon hunters everywhere."

"That's very... interesting. Thanks." I turned around and saw Eret and Skulder enter the trading center. I went over to them and relayed the new information.

"A tooth that can turn a dragon into stone?" Eret said incredulously. "I've never heard of such a thing in my life! Brennda, I know the spot he means. It's nothing more than a clearing in the town that they use to showcase their wares, but these simpletons seem to draw some pride from it. You can follow the road there." He pointed to our left. "Go ahead and lead us to the auction area; I'll keep an eye on our backs."

I started off in the direction he indicated. We came across a small clearing where giant stone tablets had been set up. We stepped closer to examine them. They definitely looked like dragons, but something was off.

"Magic?" Skulder said. "Hah! This is just smoke and mirrors from that scoundrel. It's just a ruse. The dragon tooth didn't turn anything into a stone. These aren't stone dragons, they're fossils!"

I blinked. "Fossils?"

"Fossils are remains of plants or animals from thousands of years ago. After these dragons died, they were buried under the ground. Over time, water from the ground around them filled into the body and dissolved all the organic parts of the dragon and left just the minerals. These minerals still hold the shape of the dragon's bones, but it's just rock! This is called a body fossil. Let's take a closer look at these things."

We moved right up to the fossils. "These are pretty cool."

"Fossils can tell us so much about the dragon and the place it lived in thousands of years ago. We can tell from the teeth that this dragon was carnivorous, or a meat eater. The type of rock the fossil is embedded into can also tell us a lot about the lay of the land where Harald found the fossil! This limestone, for example, tells us that this fossil was once at the bottom of a lake."

"What a relief!" Eret said. "We won't have to worry about some magic totem. Looks like this shopkeeper has a collection of things on sale other than Harald's trash. I bet it's a load of snake oil medicine, all meant to swindle dragon hunters out of their money. Let's take a quick look at what he has."

I browsed through all the items, stopping at a strange looking fruit. "Isn't this a Sagefruit?" Hiccup told me about it once.

Eret's eyes went wide. "Whoa! I've only seen Sagefruit once before. My mate fed it to a dragon to keep it docile. It makes dragons calm down, even when they're riled up and fighting. He said he got it from Defender of the Wing Island... and that's not a destination any dragon trapper wants to go. We absolutely need to get that fruit away from these hunters. Talk to that shopkeeper and see if we can negotiate a deal."