Heart of a Berserker: Faith (School of Dragons)

Chapter 25

"A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing." –Laura Ingalls Wilder

Chapter 25

I woke up one bright and sunny morning to an odd problem: New Berk was filled with Hobgobblers. I stared at the scene before me, uncomprehending. Maybe I was still dreaming. I walked up to the fountain and stared at the little purple dragons.

"Brennda!" Skulder called as he jogged over to me.

"Skulder, do you know what's going on?" I asked.

Skulder shook his head. "It's like they appeared overnight, and I've never seen so many together at once. We're going to trip over them everywhere we go on this island!"

"There must be a logical explanation for this..."

"Some animals are prone to moving in groups. Still, this amount of herding into one area seems unnatural to me! I've heard that an abnormal amount of Hobgobblers is huddled together at the top of the hill overlooking the waterfalls. Can you check it out?"

"I suppose I might as well." I quickly fetched Bold, who also appeared bewildered at the situation. We flew to the hill to investigate the situation. "Hmm..." Those Hobgobblers looked an awfully lot like sheep. I had a feel this was not a spontaneous migration.

Bolt and I flew around some more, and we came across a group of Hobgobblers surrounding boxes of Hobgobbler bait. Now I knew what was going on. I darted around New Berk until I found Ruffnut. I hopped off Bolt and gave her a hard look. "Alright, fess up," I said. "Why did you bring all these Hobgobblers here?"

"How dare you insinuate that something so crude and inelegant could be done by me, the greatest prankster in the known world?" Ruff said indignantly. "It was Tuffnut."

"That was my second guess."

"It's all for a very noble purpose. Who do you think is the mastermind who can push Gobber over the edge? He's so scared of these Hobgobblers, and it's going to be hilarious when he loses his mind. Do you think he'll start gnawing on his wooden leg, like a baby? Gods, I hope so."

"Well..."

Trust me, I'm going to win this bet against Tuffnut. My sheep costumes were so much better than his stupid boxes. Can you do me a favor? We need an impartial judge. Can you talk to Gobber and see if he's going crazy?"

I stared at her. "If it will end this madness sooner..." I walked away, shaking my head.

I found Gobber in the center of town. He was running around like crazy, dodging all the Hobgobblers in his way. "It's not too late!" he cried. "Every Viking for themselves! Get out of New Berk before you fall into the grasp of the Hobgobbler!"

"Hobgobblers are dangerous?" I said.

Gobbler stopped and looked at me. "Well... No, you're not physically in danger. Still, everyone knows that Hobgobblers are a cursed omen! Only bad luck and horrifying disasters follow in their wake."

I blinked. "Right..."

Gobber's eyes widened as he looked at something behind me. "It's starting already! The little devils have Skulder surrounded. Get over there and save him!"

I turned around to confirm his claim. Sure enough, many Hobgobblers stood around Skulder in a circle. When he tried to move, one of them would attempt to nip at his heels. Holding in a sigh, I walked over to the dragons with my sword drawn.

"Alright, break it up," I said. I slashed my sword in front of the Hobgobblers. Eventually they got the idea and dispersed. All except one... and odd white dragon that stared at me with a blank expression.