The Great Beyond

Chapter 8: Crushing It! (Hiccup)

                "Ah! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

I shot awake and bolted upright at the sound of Snotlout's screaming, careful not to hit Reign as I removed my arms from her waist. As Snotlout rolled around and scooted on the ground, attempting to put the fire on his person out, Reign and I helped each other up and marched over to the map pinned on the wall of the clubhouse and scanned it carefully, following the line from the trap to the next predicted location.

"The Rumblehorn! It's headed for the east beach. Come on, you guys!"

Toothless and I led the charge toward the east beach, hoping we left in time to catch this dragon before it got away.

For the last few weeks, Reign and I had been attempting to track and study the patterns of an elusive dragon wreaking havoc on Dragon's Edge. For one reason or another, no matter how carefully we plotted out each path and rigged each trap, we had yet to see the creature in person. Every now and then, we could feel the ground tremble as it bounded to wherever it was attempting to get next, but when we chased after it, we'd just come back to find some aspect of Dragon's Edge destroyed, forcing us to rebuild and try again. At this rate, frustrating wasn't enough to describe the situation.

Reign raised her lantern as we landed, trying her best to illuminate the dragon trapped in the net above our heads. I felt a surge of pride as I watched the net swing, knowing this terror would finally come to an end.

"Finally. We got it!" Strangely, the Rumblehorn hadn't roared or started thrashing yet.

"Everybody stand back," I exhorted, pushing my arms out to form a barrier between the dragon and the other riders.

"I didn't think it would be so smelly." I hadn't noticed the odor, but now that Tuffnut had pointed it out, it felt overwhelming, as though it was forcing itself into my nostrils.

"I didn't think it would be so hairy," Ruffnut trembled.

"You try shaving with a hook for an arm!"

My head drooped at the sound of a familiar voice, coming right in time as whatever was in the net moved. Of course we hadn't caught the Rumblehorn; things were just too easy that way.

"The Rumblehorn talks! Quick, smack it." I watched Reign roll her eyes before she walked over to the rope holding the net up and unsheathed her sword.

"Cut me down, you simpleton!" Gobber managed to push his head through one of the holes in the ropes, glaring down at the twins with contempt.

"And it's got a bad attitude." I genuinely couldn't tell if the twins thought this was still the Rumblehorn, or if they were just keeping this bit running for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

"Eh, never mind."

Without waiting for Reign to cut him down, Gobber wiggled his hook hand free and swung it across the apex of the net, causing it to fall apart and send him tumbling to the ground. Impressively enough, he managed to land on his feet, without wobbling even a little bit.

"Gobber, what did you do with our Rumblehorn?" Gobber dusted himself off a bit as he straightened up.

"Rumblehorn?" he asked, glancing at all of us with confusion. "What's a Rumblehorn?"

"A new dragon that's been trying to chase us off the island," Fishlegs informed him.

"Yeah, us and everything else." Reign lowered the lantern slightly as she spoke, so as to not blind anyone.