Heart of a Berserker: Hope (School of Dragons)

Chapter 14

A/N: It's finally time for my favorite expansion. I hope you enjoy!

***

"Come home, come home
'Cause I've been waiting for you
For so long, for so long
And right now there's a war between the vanities
But all I see is you and me
The fight for you is all I've ever known
So come home" 

- "Come Home" by OneRepublic

Chapter 14

Winter faded into spring, and soon the repairs at Berk were complete. The dragon riders started spending more time at Dragon's Edge when a new threat arose: a ruthless man named Krogan commanded an army who enslaved Singetails and forced them to fly with them. He attacked at random times, and no one was quite sure what he was after. I helped the others when I had time away from school.

One day late in the season, I arrived at the Edge and came across a whole new problem. I could tell the island was in a frenzy by watching the riders dash around. I immediately found Hiccup and flew down to him.

"Hey," I said, "what's going on?"

"Good timing, Brennda," Hiccup said. "There's a rampaging Triple Stryke on the island, and we need to find and stop her right away!"

My eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"We were unloading the barrels from the ship when the Triple Stryke landed in the middle of the camp. She started attacking everything in sight! We got everyone clear, and luckily, she left Dragon's Edge chasing Thor knows what."

"But why would she do that?"

Hiccup frowned. "I don't know. The Triple Stryke is an aggressive species, but I've never seen one act like this before. Something must be really wrong... We need to help her." He turned to address the other riders: "Everyone, spread out and search the island! She's probably on edge, so keep a good distance if you find her!"

I nodded. "Got it!" I took off on Bolt and searched for the Triple Stryke.

Astrid and I managed to find her at the same time. The dragon moved back and forth in a rage, destroying everything in sight.

"She's still angry," Astrid said. "We have our work cut out for us. Last time we ran into an ornery Triple Stryke, we had to distract him from attacking us. I found out that tapping two Deadly Nadder spines together made a noise that distracted the dragon. Maybe that will work on this dragon too. Hey, it's worth a shot! Pick up the Deadly Nadder spines!"

I swooped down to the ground and hopped off Bolt. I picked up two Deadly Nadder spines that Stormfly dropped. Then I slowly moved closer to the Triple Stryke while tapping the spines together. At first, it seemed to work. When I got close enough, I reached out my hand to touch the dragon.

Suddenly, the Triple Stryke leapt into the air, letting out a shrieking cry. She zoomed away from us, resuming her rampage.

"That's the opposite of calming down!" Astrid groaned. "I'll swing back towards Dragon's Edge and make sure everyone is safe. Can you look for the dragon on the other side of the island?"

"I'm on it." I returned to Bolt and quickly followed the rogue dragon's trail. On the the other side of the island, I found the Triple Stryke circling Fishlegs and Meatlug.

"You'll going to be all right, Meatlug," Fishlegs said to his dragon. "Stay with me, girl, and I'll protect you!"

"Hey!" I called as I flew down and landed beside them. "Need some help?"

"Brennda!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "Do you have a plan?"

I hesitated. "Not exactly..."

Before I could come up with one, the dragon was struck by a second Triple Stryke. Hey, I recognized that dragon... The Triple Stryke swooped low to the ground, letting his rider off before resume his assault on the wild dragon.