To Soar Into the Sunset Ch 11

Chapter 11: The Plunder of the Beast

And the next one... I can't believe I am up to this part of the story. And I can't believe I worked a really bad lullaby into it!

Disclaimer:  Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell own these characters. I dare one of you to name your next child "Disclaimer"

"You live and learn. Or you don't live long".- (R.A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long)
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I think there was a part of me that expected, after all this searching, a more dramatic entrance into the portal. I was relieved, in truth, that it was every bit as simple as the Turkmene and her Rider had indicated. I was bringing two unwitting hostages with me, and I felt sick to my stomach that I could be putting them in danger.

Thankfully, there was a bit of pressure for me, but nothing my Firemakers noticed, and then we were through the boundary line.

We had passed from a clear fall night into a world of mists. I noticed the mists right away, and that it was already warmer than it should be for this time of the night- more like a late fall afternoon in the North Atlantic.

I thanked the Sky Lady that my passengers have lived here long enough that they are used to mists creeping up and slinking out on a regular basis. It took them some time to notice something was different was happening around them. I wanted to ease them into it that I had kidnapped them. I just hoped it would be worth it.

They had fallen silent, a natural reaction to fog. I think it's a survival skill for Firemakers in this region. When the fog rolls in, they go silent since they have to stop relying on vision and start using their other senses. I got the impression they were both absorbing the events that had just happened to them in the last few hours.

It was Ástríður who broke the silence first. She was still filled with wonder and, I think, a lot of heaviness in her soul that she had been so abusive to Hiccup, not just now, but ever since she had known him. She was finally realizing he was different from everyone else, but that did not mean he was something to scorn. He had the clear eyes to see things that others chose to ignore.

And by extension, her feelings also extended to l'il ole me, the evil, vicious Nightfurygetdown who enjoys eating Viking babies (we're apparently partial to one or two Danish at breakfast). She'd been training these past years to kill People like me, and now that she had met one of the most dangerous of the People she realized that we can actually be nice.

See, Ástríður? Once you stop hitting my Rider, I am a perfect gentleman.

As a matter of fact, she now realized, I am pretty much Hiccup as a dragon. So, the villagers feared me and despised him, even if we are the same in our build and personalities.

It sure shows how Firemakers are obsessed with appearances. They see Hiccup and dismiss him as the idiot (how can a wiry little Viking with freckles, big front teeth and big green eyes ever be someone to respect?) They would have done the same to me if they saw my appearance before experiencing my firepower (how can a little black flying cat-reptile with freckles and big green eyes do any sort of damage?) But since I am invisible at night, they had to judge me based on my actions and not my looks. Small and sleek as I am, it was I that knocked down their towers and sent terror through their thoughts at night, not the bigger People.

It's food for thought, is it not, my friends?

Ástríður summed it up beautifully with her words, coming to me through the mist. "All right. I admit it. This is amazing."

Her strong but kind hand stroked my shoulder, "And he is amazing."

::Why, thank you, m'lady! Let's just hope you still like me when you discover what I just did to you and Hiccup.::

They were both very solemn now.

I heard Ástríður gasp, "Hiccup, oh no. What are you going to do tomorrow? You have to..." she dropped her voice down to a whisper to hide what she said next.

She was dealing with a Signaler here. She'd never be able to tone down her voice enough that I could not hear her on some level.

Kill. A. Dragon.

That's the "prize" for this training course? One of my People gets slaughtered in some sort of adulthood ritual? Or, conversely, a young Firemaker is killed at his own adulthood ritual?

I sighed, heavy hearted. Three moons ago, if I had heard those words from the girl, I would have been outraged and attacked Ástríður for her comments. Now, I was only sad. It showed how things had fallen apart over the years between these two species of Firemaker and People.

The Firemakers slaughtered one of my People every year at a coming of age ceremony.

My People attacked the Firemakers, and more than a few had carried off their children.

Does that justify putting a terrified dragon and a relatively inexperienced teenager into an arena to fight to the death? What does that actually accomplish?

Tell me, please.

It also showed me how much I had changed in these last few weeks that I could now see this from both perspectives.

And so did my Rider. He initially shot me down to impress his people. Now he wanted to run away with me to keep from killing one of my  People, sacrificing his future to protect my folk.

Well, we're in deep now- so let's hope we could get to the root of this tragic situation.

The mist was getting heavier, and I could now smell sulfur and smoke mixed in with water. It made me sneeze.

Huh. Hellheimsgate sits not far from the Westman Islands, so it is possible that there could be volcanoes, and this is a different reality and... ohhhhhhhhhh. That feels so...

...right. What a beautiful song.

It was a lullaby, sung in the most beautiful thought voice I had ever heard. The singer was a kindly Lady with a generous heart and who welcomed all to her embrace.

My father had sung that lullaby to my sisters and I in our den, so it had particular meaning for me.
Of course, you would have heard it as our typical purring and crooning, but it was lovely enough this night to wind its silken melody around my willpower.

I guess if I were to put it in Firemaker concepts (and I am NOT good at this) it would come across as:

Hush a bye
Don't you cry
Go to sleep my little one
The day will come
When you'll touch the sun,
And soar through the sky.
For now you'll rest
Against my loving chest.
Kitten's soaring off to dreamland
One by one
The winds have begun
To swirl and twirl
For my little one
Clean and pure
Strong and sure
Sighing in the night
When you wake
You shall have
The sun and the wind and the sky.
Can you see the proud wind spirits
Dance before your eyes?
All the watchful wind spirits
Will be there when you arise
Hush a bye
Don't you cry
Go to sleep my little one
The day will come
When you'll touch the sun,
And soar through the sky.

Oh, my family, how I miss all of you! I can no longer feel your memories!
I've been so lonely. And forgotten. I've lost so much in my life. My People. My tail fin. My home. My very identify.


::My child, it does not have to be that way. You are home now. I will take you in, take care of you, make you whole again.::  

:h, thank you, My Lady. You are right, My Lady. It does not have to be that way. You'll take care of me. Oh, thank you. Thank you. I am yours to command.::

"TOOTHLESS!" My Rider's panicked voice cut through the beautiful melody and the lovely promises the Lady was crooning to me.

:oor lost child. Broken and unwanted. Come to me and I will give you the comfort and love you deserve.::

I shook my head and snarled. I wanted that Lady to take me to her side and comfort me!

But that's the last thing I needed. I had two Firemakers to consider. My passengers shifted on my back, and I felt Hiccup's hand brush against one of the middle sensors on my head.

The siren song stopped, but when his hand moved away, it started again.

::Come to me my child...::

Oh. That's another reason why I needed the Firemakers. Their brainwaves must interfere with this strange thought pattern pulling me towards it. With them on my back, I could still have control over mysef.

I flapped one of my ear sensors back against Hiccup's left hand. As with the sand drawing on the day we bonded, when Hiccup moved his hand away, I growled. He put his hand back on my sensor. I purred. He removed it. I growled.

Then I felt him tying one of the wrist straps to bind his hand to my sensor. It was not the most comfortable position for my ear, but it kept him in physical contact with me, blocking this horribly welcoming siren call out.

And then we weren't alone. A Self Burner nearly dropped in over me. I snarled at her.

She was carrying a dead deer in her claws. My passengers gasped in surprise.

"Get down!" Hiccup hissed to Ástríður and they lay flat on my back as the Self Burner soared over me to drop by my side.

I locked eyes with hers. Her golden eyes flickered with a moment's recognition, but then glazed over again.

And then other People began to drop down by us until we were part of a swarming, pulsing caravan of People, each one grasping prey of some sort. I saw pigs, whales, sheep, deer, cattle, horses...

It should have been something beautiful and magical to see so many of us flying together, different colors and tribes, moving as one. Each of our tribes has its convocations where we meet, debate law, discover if we will be Chosen to be parents. But there has never been a Convocation for all the tribes together.

But this- this felt like a mockery. I felt as if I were soaring among the flying dead. At least during the attacks on the village, the People had some awareness. Here, in this portal, it was as if they had all life and will beaten out of them.

The smell of sulfur and molten rock became stronger. I began to pick up large basalt rock formations outlined in the mist.

"Toothless..." Hiccup's voice was starting to panic.

"What's going on here?" Ástríður said, her voice tight with urgency.

"It looks like they're dragging home their kill." Hiccup said darkly.

Ástríður gulped, "What does that make us?"

I gasped to myself: Oh, please let me not have brought you two to your deaths, Firemakers.

I vowed then and there to protect these young Firemakers with all my strength and to my last breath.

"Toothless?" Hiccup's voice was beginning to sharpen with terror as he stroked my neck with his free hand, "You've  gotta get us out of here, buddy."

I heard the pedal on the left click as he tried to turn me around, but I refused to cooperate with my wings, so we just wobbled in a stalemate until he released the pedal and let me go forward.

I hated myself for it, but I shook my head and rumbled gently.

::I'm sorry, Hiccup. I have to do this. It's now or never.::

I felt my Rider stiffen on my back as he realized this was out of his control.

:::Very well, Toothless. I hope you know what you are doing::: He bit his lip and went into his stubborn, determined mode, preparing himself for the worst.

Behind him Ástríður sat warily, eyes trained on the People moving around us. This was hard for her, since she was used to being able to take action.  But she quietly observed the motions around her.

Now we were flying above a black coastline that bordered sharply with the sea. The shore was completely covered with glass-sharp black lava stones. Above the shore was a huge conical volcano. Luckily the volcano seemed to be past the ash cloud phase and was now pushing lava out of its torn flanks.

Otherwise, our lungs would have been clogged with cement like ashes in no time.

An elderly Two Headed Person drifted by me and called out with one head :: Greetings, young Lightning Person! Where have you gone? We have not seen you lately.::

I growled a polite response to him.

Well, at least someone was showing some recognition of anything other than answering the Lady's pull.

The group of People was now surging towards an old lava tube, dipping into it. I swooped in right along with them. Both my passengers screamed in fright and vertigo.

And then we were sailing into a large cavern within the volcanic cone. The hot and heavy temperature was miserable for me, a child of the high mountains and cool ocean breezes.

And there were People. Hundreds of People clustered along ledges and outcrops in the cavern. The air was filled with their noises and they called to each other, identifying themselves. But no one was having a conversation as you would usually get in a gathering of the People. It was very creepy in its solemnity. These People acted like beaten down prisoners.

Eggs of various tribes were secreted through the cavern, heated by volcanic energy.

At the base of the cavern was a huge pool of molten rock, and it sent up streamers of sulfur and gases.

My jaw was open in amazed horror.

Better find somewhere to land and hide, Toothless.

I dropped to an old lava shelf partially covered by a "curtain" of frozen lava that seemed to have dripped down the wall. My passengers were both sweating heavily in the heat and breathing hard. Hiccup's hand on my sensor was trembling. I felt a cold haze through my body as I tried to fight both my fear and the Lady's song.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this place," Hiccup rasped, his voice dropped low as he struggled to control his fear. He used his free hand to wipe the sweat running into his eyes.

Of course.That would make sense. Apparently Hiccup's father had just returned from a mission to find the Nest where the all my People live. If he could destroy that nest, then the problem would be solved.

But he's wrong about that. True, a lot of the People do seem to have nests here, but I know they don't all live here. I remembered from the attack map I had sketched so long ago. Many of the People were drawn from their nests to fly here and then fly out on raids. Then they'd return here after wards. Was here where they received their attack orders? Or inspiration from a leader? More than a nest, this might be some sort of "holy ground" or temple for them?

Except I would never use the world "holy" to describe this place.

Now our attention was drawn to the lava pool. My People were swooping over it and dropping in the carcasses of the prey.

It was just too strange to comprehend!

"Well, it's reassuring to know all our food's being dumped into a large hole." The Supreme Snarker said from my back.

I nodded my head in agreement. ::What you said.::

"They're not even eating it," Ástríður gasped, "So...why?"

A cute little Lava Person soared over the lava, a scruffy teenager who had sometimes shared a friendly fish with me on those rare times I let myself socialize. She was not carrying anything.

When she opened her mouth, there was a pathetic little flatfish in it. She dropped it into the pool. It somehow seemed a more paltry "offering" than what others had brought. My silly little friend was not the most motivated of People.

She rocked back and started to scratch at an itchy scale on her neck, eyes closed in concentration.

:h, my dear Lava Person, that will not do:: that beautiful, husky sensual thought voice stroked my ears. The same one who had been singing and promising me happiness.::That's not even a snack. Sweetheart, I will have to ask you to make up the difference!::

The three of us on the rock yelped in horror as an enormous head launched out of the lava pit, spattering lava everywhere. The lava spattered on the rock ledges, running down them and creating the curtains like what I was now hiding behind.

The little Lava Person shrieked as she realized her fate, but time had run out for her.

The enormous beast that rose from the lava snapped its jaws on her. My only consolation was that the end had come quickly for the little Lava Person.

I closed my eyes and asked the gods to take my little friend home.

"Wha-what is that?" Hiccup gasped in horror.

The creature who had arisen from the pool was terrifying in her magnificence. She was heavily armored and had reached an age bordering on eternity. I imagine most Firemakers would see her as ugly. To we People, a creature like that who lives so long and has so many scars, horns, claws and scales and, yes, at least six eyes on its head may not beautiful, but she is majestic. Her dignified bearing and her rich and lovely thought voice made her far more terrifying than if she were a brute, dumb beast bent on destruction.

No, this Lady was someone who had a charming, magnetic personality.

and used it to her advantage. And she enjoyed seeing others in pain and torment.

All around the cavern People shuddered in horror and squawked. The cavern became full of flying and screaming People, trying to escape this creature who was now reaching up to snap another Person too slow to escape her jaws. I saw a group of Lava People huddle together, trembling, proud and tough warriors reduced to mewling kittens.

The Lady licked blood off of her enormous, cracked teeth, each one three times as tall as I was.

::Now, darlings, do let's be more more careful in the future shall we? I give you shelter and warmth and belonging. I don't ask for much, and it brings a tear to my eye, it does, when one of my Followers must be terminated like this wayward daughter. It would be such a shame to have to clean this place out with my fire, would it not? But I am in a mood for it. Unless you convince me otherwise, little ones.::

More crouching and begging to spare them from her flames.

Now the Lady gave a noble, commanding roar, ::So let's make sure that does not happen, little ones. Bring me my tribute, and I will let you live a little longer.::

I heard quiet and sad thought voices pledge their allegiance to the Lady. She was good. She was merciful. She deserved their loyalty. They deserved to be eaten. It was only her kindness that kept them alive.


I curled my lips back. It was tragic to see my proud People reduced to terrified slaves.


"Toothless!" Hiccup's voice was urgent, "Get us out of here, NOW!"

::I'm on it!:: I had seen more than I ever wanted to know.

I knew exactly who that Lady was, now.

I heard the left pedal click down. I spread my wings to take off.

::Well, how delightful! We have a guest in here, I believe. Introduce yourself, little lonely heart. And I see you have tribute for Me. Two Firemakers, well, well. I do so love a Firemaker every once in a while- and you brought a matching set. What a special young Lightning Person. Come close, dear child, and let me see you.::

Oh, no! Gods help me!

I launched upwards towards the lava tube. I felt Hiccup engage the ascender and I plunged both sets of wings, shooting upwards from the ledge rapidly.

I heard an enormous heavy jawed head and its teeth clamp on to the ledge where I had just been. Rocks screamed under the Lady's attack. The great head raised up again to launch itself up at me.

Wings, don't fail me now! I flew upwards higher, trying to get away from that evil being. I felt Hiccup flatten himself against my shoulders and Ástríður follow his lead. That helped me distribute the weight better, and I started flying higher, bursting into the speed that is my heritage.

::Go, Lightning Person! Go and tell your People to save us!:: The elderly Two Headed Person who had greeted me jumped behind me, intercepting himself between me and the Lady.

I heard the Lady's jaws crush him in one swallow. He bravely went down like the heroes in our history tales.

I never met you, sir. Your sacrifice will not be in vain. I promise.

We wound up hiding ourselves in a swirling curtain of wings and quills and claws and purring sounds as we fled the volcano.

That was our perfect cover, and we were able to retrace our steps back through the cave and, ultimately, the portal itself.

We plunged with the swarm out into a beautiful, clear autumn night. Out into sanity!

All three of us gasped with relief. Working as a team, my Rider and I wound adroitly through the swarm of People, slipping out of it and drifting more towards Birch Island.

We were so focused on this that  we almost collided into one of the panicked People, a Magnesium Person. The mesmerized creature raised his tail to shoot quills into me.  

I could not have dodged in time, and Hiccup and I braced ourselves to become pin cushions.  

Ástríður suddenly lifted her hands and hissed at the Magnesium Person, waving her hands.  

The Magnesium Person squawked and backed away, leaving us in peace.

Hiccup and I both sighed in relief at exactly the same time.   If we had not all been stretched wire thin with fear and stress, it would have been funny.


"Th-that was pretty good,"  Hiccup told the Norwegian girl, when he had calmed down.

I swear, she blushed a bit, "I used to do that to the goats and our horse when they'd break down the fence and invade our garden.  A regular occurance, considering my brother's poor fence repair skills.  It was kind of a reaction, I guess.  I haven't remembered that little trick in years."

She put her arms back around Hiccup, since she had been using only her legs to balance herself on me, "It's funny, for so long we've only dealt with dragons with heavy weapons... I've forgotten there are other ways out there."

I felt her shift as she squeezed my Rider's shoulder affectionately, and then I felt her pat my side.

"Thanks for reminding me.  Both of you."  

I felt a giddy joy pass through my Rider.  

I purred my thanks, both for her helping us out and for her kind words.   I was starting to like her more and more.  She was a tough lady, for sure, but she had a kind, warm and honest side, too.  She'd be a good friend to have at your back.  I could see why Hiccup adored her.

But remind me to never, ever get as smitten about a dragon lady as my poor Rider has for this Viking woman.

We turned our attention to the massive group of enthralled People.

The swarm itself spun further south. We watched it go in a twisting cloud of wings and tails.
Ástríður sighed in relief, "They're not headed for Berk tonight. But I pity the people who will have to fight them tonight."

I took them back towards Birch Island. The flight took a while, giving us plenty of time to speculate on what we had just seen.

"So that's why the dragons have been raiding our village," Ástríður said, "It was to give food to that... thing. Or it kills and eats them."

I shuddered. She was lucky she had not had to hear the very seductive pull this creature had on my People.

"I just don't buy that" Hiccup said softly over my beating wings, "I can't see how one creature could control so many others like that."

Ástríður shifted on my back and wrapped her arms closer around Hiccup. The gesture soothed my Rider. I think she was wanting to put him at ease.

"No, it totally makes sense, Hiccup. It's like a giant beehive. That... thing... is like the queen and they are the workers, and the queen totally controls them."

Close, I thought, but not quite. Bees at least have a hierarchy and receive some benefit from helping their queen. This is more like a parasite. My People are her slaves, not workers.
But more: I have seen this creature before. Not this one, but one like it.

I remembered when I had been crossing the Steppes and had been attacked by those unnatural creatures, the ones with the wolfish heads, heavy jaws and paralyzing venom and strange knobs near the eyes. (New eye buds, it turns out) I remembered at the time the creature who had grabbed my leg in its powerful jaw had used some sort mind control to take away my will to fight.

Gatalas, the Turkmene and I had fought them off. The Turkmene had said they were youngsters.
Guess what they grow into?

This.

I would not have seen it right away since those creatures were more slender, but this Lady (or whatever) had lived here for at least three hundred years.

If you've been manipulating People like this for three hundred years, and eating well and growing in size as you age, you get more and more powerful. It's a sick parasitical relationship. She's convinced my People they are getting something from her, when they are not.

I remembered that were no People in the Steppes so other eldritch creatures stepped in to fill place our People would have, and these creatures are not as ethical as my People.

Some of them obviously had moved beyond the Steppes and into remote regions like this where they could set up their parasitical haven. This Lady had been going at it for so long that she was even pulling in People from outside the North Atlantic. And they were going further out into Europe to find food.

Perhaps... just a guess on my part, the Lady- if she has some self fertilization ablitlies- might even be forcing her minions to take her eggs into various parts of Europe, starting new colonies.. That might explain the gradual hatred of my People I was seeing across Europe on my journey here.

Birch Island was within view now. My Rider adjusted the tail fin, and I banked down into the canyon. I hit the ground smoothly, running but gradually slowing into a trot, walk and then a stand still. My Rider began to unclip his harness from mine with a whispered "Thank you."

Ástríður leapt off me and began to run for the slot leading out of the canyon.

"Come on! We've got to tell your dad about this.'

"No, Ástríður!" Hiccup ran after Ástríður, catching up to her and then blocking her way, the clips on his harness swinging back and forth long after he stopped.

He put a hand on her shoulder, "No. If we tell Dad, the townspeople will kill Toothless!"

I felt ice in my stomach and saw the look of sad desperation on my friend´s face. It made me feel even sicker inside. I could not bear the thought of what it would do to him to see me killed. For me it would be a few moments of misery, but he would carry the pain of our broken bond for the rest of his life.

Trying to suppress my dread, I walked to the lake and started to drink. The long journey and the heat of the cavern had dried me out.

I felt Ástríður´s clear blue eyes on me as she looked me over. I raised my head and stared back at her, water dripping from my muzzle.

"Look, Hiccup! We just found the very thing our people have been looking for ever since Vikings settled Berk. And you want to keep it a secret...to protect your pet dragon?"

The look on Hiccup´s face was quiet determination as he stood straight and looked into Ástríður's face with firm green eyes, "Yes."

I caught a thought from my Rider. ::: He is NOT a pet. He is my best friend.:::

:itto, Firemaker. And good on you for standing up for yourself.::

I saw a look of surprise chase across her face... and then respect.

"So," she said softly, "What do we do?"


Hiccup turned and walked back towards where I was by the lake. He stared into some private world in his mind, "Give me until morning. I'll think of something."

Ástríður came up to stand in front of my Firemaker. "And one more thing..."

WHAM!

She belted him across his left arm. He yelped in pain.

"That´s for kidnapping me."

(I reminded myself to stay away from her once she figured out I had technically kidnapped both of them to bring them through the portal)

Hiccup winced and rubbbed his arm. He looked back at me and gave me a "Help me!" shrug.

I looked up from the water and shrugged back, :: Women. Whatcha gonna do?::


Ástríður now shyly combed some loose strands of her curly blonde hair back into its braid, a blush creeping across her face.

Then she grabbed Hiccup´s tunic laces, pulled him gently close to her and kissed him on his cheek. He sank into it, sighing in amazed pleasure.

"And that´s for everything else", Ástríður said with an affectionate smile.

I think I had a toothless grin on my face as the girl turned to leave.

"I´ll see you tomorrow, Hiccup."

She quickly rushed towards the canyon slot as if she were surprised and delighted she had just kissed a boy. And one whom she would never have expected to kiss.

I padded towards Hiccup, who was staring after her, a dreamy expression on his face, cheeks red and a smile of delight.

I tossed my head and gestured my muzzle, coming very close to his face, trying to get his attention.
He just kept staring ahead with that goofy smile.

I chuckled to myself and snorted at him, ruffling his hair.

He came out his trance and looked at me, touching his hot cheeks.

I purred at him. :: Love is in the air...::

"What are you looking at!" he snapped at me, embarrassed, but his mouth turning up on one side in remembered joy.

I smiled and curled into a dragon loaf.

::So I guess we´re not running away any more.:: I barked at him.

He strode to the lake and splashed water on his face to bring himself back to reality. Wiping water from his face, he flopped down by me, leaning against my shoulder.

"I have no idea what to do." he said as I stared back at him solemnly. I think what we saw tonight was more than what either of us had ever expected.

"I know if I tell Dad, he'll just want to attack that thing's nest, not figure out a strategy. I love him, but I know he's going to be way over his head if he fights that thing. He's that full of anger against dragons. And worse than that- the first thing he'll want to do is kill you, Toothless."

I snorted softly and nuzzled Hiccup´s shoulder.

Kill, kill, kill. Don't try to come up with a plan. Just kill.

My Firemaker ran a hand up his face, ending up with pulling his bangs from his eyes. His hair seemed to grow like a waterfall. In the time I had known him the bangs already fell below his eyes. Still pulling on his hair as if that would give him some inspiration he hissed through his teeth, thinking.

"I don´t know, Toothless. This whole thing is so sad. Your People have been living in terror. They've raided us for food because if they don't, they'll be killed and eaten. You've been doing this to survive a worse fate. And we've been killing you like it is the only thing it matters in life. We display your heads and hides, and all you were doing was trying to survive. If it weren't for that- thing- you would have left us alone."
I remained quiet, waiting for him to think things through.

He shook his head and let his hair go, letting it fall back in his eyes. "It makes me sick. There's no way I can kill that poor dragon in the arena tomorrow. Or any dragon. I have to convince Dad and the others that you dragons are not vicious killers. That we have to trust you and work with you if we want to survive this monster. It´s a long shot, but it's the only thing I can think of."

He could not spend the whole night down here, not before his Big Day of Doom, but he stayed with me for a long time that night, gathering courage for what was going to be a very challenging day.

Sometime after midnight he dozed off. He started trembling and calling out in his sleep, violent fear tremors wracking his body.

Gently I pulled a wing over him to cover him and nuzzled him.

Please watch over us all, Night Lady, Sky Lady, Creator Father. And Þór and Óðinn and Frigg. I sense terrible things for tomorrow.

When the sky began to turn gray, I regretfully nudged him awake. He came awake, happy at first.
Then he groaned and scrubbed a hand across his face. "Welcome to Ragnarok." He muttered as he stood up.

I watched him as he washed up.

Then he came up to me and hugged me. Hard. I encircled him in my wings and purred.
Is this going to be goodbye for us?

He was trembling horribly now. I lay my head against his and breathed deeply over him. Sometimes before battle my People will do that, blow a breath of ourselves over a friend of ours going into war. We believe we are giving some of our strength to help in the struggle.

Hiccup sighed and released me. He pat my shoulder and then walked out of the canyon, shoulders sunk and heavy.

I watched him go, flexing my shoulders.

::Fair winds and fly well:: I thought sent after him.

The wind picked up and I heard one of the wrist straps on my harness blow in it.

I realized then that Hiccup had forgotten to unsaddle me last night. I had been so caught up in the events I had not even noticed I was still wearing the saddle.

Well, maybe it was for the best. We might need to flee Birch Island fast. If Hiccup came out of this experience alive and moving.

The winds were stronger and stained with rain. Today might be clear, but I sensed bad winds would be coming tonight.

I hoped it was not in more ways than just the weather.
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When I was trying to figure out how to write this part of the story last night, the folk lullaby "All the Pretty Little Ponies" kept going through my dreams. I was sure I had gone around the bend. (We had a big independence day celebration last night at work, so I got to sleep very late.) But then I did some research and found out that song has a chilling similarity to this chapter. It always seemed way too sad to me in tune to be a lullaby, and it really is a call for freedom disguised as a lullaby.

It is a traditional American lullaby with very dark and sad origins. It is believed to be the words of a slave woman who is a wet nurse for her master's child. So she is being forced to take food away from her own child to feed her master's child. She hears her own baby crying in hunger and sings this song for the master's child, but it really is for her own child. The ponies in the song represent the things her own children can never have, especially freedom.

If you want to hear a really chilling version of the song that seems to echo its tragic origins, listen to the one by Kenny Loggins (it's very Celtic/Scandinavian sounding).

And on we go.