Heart of a Berserker: Love (School of Dragons)

Chapter 17

"The overall purpose of human communication is - or should be - reconciliation. It should ultimately serve to lower or remove the walls of misunderstanding which unduly separate us human beings one from another." - M. Scott Peck

Chapter 17

Harald

Harald and Toothless landed on the deck of the Tempest followed by Raija and the Night Lights. Harald carefully lifted Brennda from the Night Fury's back and set her in a standing position, wrapping an arm around her to support her weight. Then he placed her hands over the hilt of the dagger still lodged in her stomach.

"Harald?" Brennda said, looking up at him with glossy eyes.

"Hold onto that, love," Harald said gently. "Don't remove it or you'll bleed out."

"I know that."

At least she was well enough to still have an attitude. Satisfied that she could manage for now, Harald looked around the ship. Most pirates appeared engaged in battle but a few cast him curious looks. "A healer!" he called out. "I need a healer! Where's Allvaldi?" He received blank stares in response, so he shouted the healer's name until the short pirate in question found his way to him.

Allvaldi stopped before Harald, eyes wide in fear. "You need to call off your friends."

Harald furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"The dragons," Brennda said weakly.

Harald turned his head to see the Fury family still there. Toothless and Raija eyed the pirates suspiciously while also holding back the Night Lights from curiously exploring. "Toothless, Raija, you may bring your family home now. We will be fine on your own. You don't want everyone to worry, do you?" Toothless let out a low rumble of appreciation, causing Harald to smile. "You're welcome."

Raija barked at the Night Lights to get them in the air. Ruffrunner, however, flew away from his siblings and landed in front of Harald and Brennda. When Raija called for him again, he pressed his head against Brennda's legs and whined. His parents exchanged a look.

"You want to stay with us?" Harald said in surprise. He looked from Toothless to Raija. "If it's alright with you, I promise to look after him." He did not think even pirates would wish to harm such a cute little dragon.

Toothless grunted in response, and Raija dipped her head. Finally, the family minus Ruffrunner took to the air and set off for New Berk. Harald looked at Allvaldi expectantly. The healer still seemed a little hesitant, but he did move forward to examine Brennda.

"How bad does it look?" Harald asked, attempting to hide his nervousness. He noticed the fighting had stopped and the ship began to move. Stormheart also started for him, but he could not worry about her right now.

Allvaldi let out a heavy sigh. "It's pretty bad. I will need to remove the dagger and hope I can act quickly enough to secure the wound. We could wait until we reach Auction Island and I have my advanced equipment, but the chance of infection rises every minute the dagger is not removed."

"What is the chance of success if you act now?"

Allvaldi stared straight into Harald's eyes. "I'd set it at fifty percent."

Harald grit his teeth in frustration. "That's not good enough! There has to be an alternative."

Allvaldi frowned. "There is no alternative short of waiting for a miracle, and I wouldn't advise that."

Harald suddenly remembered a similarly dire situation: the time Viggo was struck by arrows. Viggo had been sure he would die, but Brennda's idea to use the Prickleboggle's healing shot saved his life. He saw no reason that could not work here as well. "Dark Deep," he snapped. "We need to head to Dark Deep."