Heart of a Berserker: Hope (School of Dragons)

Chapter 7

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up." – Anne Lamott

Chapter 7

Fishlegs elected to stay behind with the dragons to watch out for outside danger, and Hiccup led the rest of us into the tunnel in the volcano. I was immediately bombarded with heat, which I had to admit was a nice change from the harsh winter cold.

"Wow, it's hot in here," Skulder said. "We're inside a lava tube! When a volcano erupts, sometimes the lava creates a tunnel as it pushes through soft rock on its way to the surface. Then, this tunnel is used as a pipe for lava during the eruptions that follow. It's the quickest way that lava can leave a volcano! These rock formations on that wall are exactly what I was looking for. Step over here and take a look!"

I walked up to the rock to examine the formations, Harald at my side. "I see."

"If you look close, you can see that the rock formations show multiple layers of different rock. The layer closest to the outside is igneous rock. Lava cools down to form this hard and coarse rock. The layer just below the igneous rock looks smoother, right? It's because that layer is a completely different type of rock. Over time, more lava cools down on top of the igneous rock and creates a new layer of rock over it. The pressure from the layer on top of it and the heat from the magma exert a lot of force onto the igneous rock and change its shape. It gets smaller and more compact, and forms a new type of rock called metamorphic rock. The placement of these layers created the island around the volcano over the course of many years!"

"Thank you for the fascinating lecture," Harald said facetiously.

Skulder glared at him. "Brennda, can you do something about him?"

I glanced uneasily at Harald, who smiled innocently at me. "I doubt it. Don't let him provoke you."

"Now you're talking about the impossible," Harald said, earning another glare from the archaeologist.

I held in a groan. I had to play peacemaker between these two? This was going to be harder than I thought.

 "Well, everything looks good in here," Hiccup said. "We're going to have to explore a little deeper to be sure. Let's follow this tunnel and see if we can get a better look. You lead the way, Brennda, but be careful where you step-- I mean, we're still inside a volcano!"

So, we explored deeper in the volcano. The air grew even hotter the closer we got to the center. Finally, the magma became visible. And right in the center... there was a giant sleeping green dragon!

"WHOA!" Hiccup said from behind me. " I mean... whoa. Could you, err... quietly walk back outside... before the giant dragon wakes up?"

For a second, I could not move from the shock. Then Harald tugged on my sleeve. I looked at him, and I thought I saw genuine concern in his eyes before he turned away. He kept pace with me as we followed the others back out of the tunnel. The sudden cold air chilled me to the bone.

"Oh, thank Thor we made it," Hiccup said in relief. "That can't be a Red Death... but I didn't want to risk making it mad. Was it just me, or did it have green scales?"

"Definitely green," I said.

"Well, well, well," Harald said, shaking his head. "You know, I didn't want to say 'I told you so', but... Wait. Actually, I did and I will. I told you so!"

This time, it was Astrid who glared at him. "Brennda, can I punch him?"

I frowned. "No."

Harald gave her a smug look. "Ha!"