Adventures of Elsa Jade ~ Chapter 5 ~ Welcome to Berk
The plot thickens...
CHAPTER 5
Before leaving for Berk, we had to figure out how to untie the rogue Night Fury without being attacked. He didn’t seem to mind me, but anytime one of the other Vikings came too near, he growled fiercely and bared his teeth. Hiccup suggested using our tame Night Furies to keep him calm; so Toothless, Fáfnir, and I cautiously approached the dragon. He glared at us, but made no aggressive moves. I found myself intrigued by his glowing blue markings, which looked vaguely like runes and added to his mysterious appearance. As he lifted his head toward us, I saw a seven-pointed silver star on his chest. It was glowing softly. Fáfnir gave a strange little purr; and looking back, I saw that a similar glowing star had appeared on his chest. The stars seemed to glow more brightly when the dragons were near each other; and almost completely disappear when they were farther apart. I checked Toothless; he didn’t have one, so it wasn’t a general Night Fury thing. I wondered if it had to do with both dragons’ other colorful markings…
Toothless nudged me and clawed at the trapped Night Fury’s ropes. Right – focus. It looked like the tame Furies had been having a conversation with the wild dragon – if dragons could do that – and he no longer looked agitated. Hopefully he wouldn’t attack everyone as soon as I freed him. I took a deep breath, drew a dagger, and sliced through his ropes.
The wild Night Fury leaped free of the sliced bolas with a roar. For an instant I thought he would attack, but then he soared into the sky and flew off in the direction the Vikings had come. Fáfnir gazed after him, and his star gradually faded. The strange Night Fury’s behavior, the glowing stars… they were all part of an intricately twisted riddle – an enigma.
In another situation, I would have followed the rogue Night Fury without a second thought. He was the key to a riddle, and I hated to leave a good riddle unsolved. The Vikings were getting ready to head back to Berk, however; and if I left now, there would be no reason for them not to assume I was setting up another ambush. I would rather go with them now, earn their trust, and use Fáfnir’s star to track the mysterious Fury later. And I wouldn’t have admitted it out loud, but I was looking forward to sleeping in a real bed and eating food cooked by someone other than me.
The journey to Berk took a few hours. I rode Fire and Ice, since Fáfnir was younger and tired more easily. On the way, Hyrith, Axtar, and the other Vikings caught me up on all that had happened since I left Berk. Apparently, a warrior called Drago Bludvist had amassed a dragon army led by a giant Bewilderbeast, and had attacked Berk. Hiccup and Toothless had used the strength of their bond to defeat the dragon; Drago and the Bewilderbeast had fled, and Toothless was now the Alpha dragon.
“Are you serious?” I sighed. “I hate missing out on an entire war.”
Hyrith laughed. “Join the club – I didn’t come to Berk until all that was over.”
They also told me that Hiccup’s father, Stoick, had been killed in battle; but that Hiccup had discovered his mother was still alive. She had been carried off by dragons before I was old enough to remember, but she’d been taken to the dragons’ home and lived there ever since. I reacted more quietly to this news. I was happy for Hiccup, of course, but I couldn’t help wishing they had found my brother Erik, too. But they hadn’t.
I pushed those thoughts aside as the rocky cliffs of Berk loomed ahead through the dusk. We landed near the Great Hall, and soon the evening was filled with the sounds of Vikings unpacking supplies, calling dragons, and greeting friends. I slid off Fire and Ice and looked around. So this was civilization. Fire and Ice seemed a little agitated, and I stroked her neck. It was probably just all the people.
I saw the shadow of a mountain topped by a star, and heard the all-too-familiar shriek. I dove and rolled to the side as Fire and Ice leaped over me to face the new threat. The unknown Chilling Horror gave another shorter shriek as it saw Fire and Ice charging toward it. My bow was sitting with the rest of my gear, out of reach on the other side of the dragons. I grabbed a bola off the top of someone else’s pack and slung it at the mysterious Horror. It dodged, but was thrown off balance just as Fire and Ice attacked. She slammed into the other dragon, the force of her momentum sending them both tumbling to the ground. I vaguely heard one of the Vikings behind me (Hyrith, I think?) shouting something. The other Horror landed several blows on Fire and Ice with its tail, knocking her away. It turned toward me and charged. I took a deep breath. Wait for it… Just before the dragon reached me, I vaulted into the air, grabbed one of its front wing claws, and flipped myself onto the dragon’s back. I continued my slide down its other side, landed, and pivoted to meet its next attack. But instead of turning toward me, the dragon continued running, and skidded to a halt in front of Hyrith. And lowered its head to playfully push him.
My heart rate gradually slowed back to normal as I mentally readjusted. The Chilling Horror was Hyrith’s dragon. Not an enemy. Hyrith finished greeting his dragon and came over to me. “Wow… sorry about that, Hyrith. When I heard that shriek I just kind of assumed it was attacking us. And Fire and Ice can be a little overprotective sometimes…”
Hyrith grinned. “It’s all right; Backbiter can hold his own pretty well. He gets bored by himself, so he’s always excited when I come back. He was just saying, ‘Welcome to Berk’.”
“You should have seen your expression when Backbiter shrieked!” Axtar put in. “I could almost hear you going, ‘Seriously? Another one?’”
The humor of the situation hit me full force, and we all burst out laughing. Fire and Ice had picked up on the suddenly shifted mood. She came over to us, and the two dragons eyed each other warily. At first I thought they would fight, but after a few soft growls they seemed to come to a mutual agreement to be friends. I looked around for Fáfnir, and found him playing with Axtar’s Skrill, Sparklebolt. I gradually relaxed, coming off the adrenaline high. We were out of danger, and we were home.
◊◊◊
Hidden in a dark shadow, the cloaked and hooded warrior watched the scene intently. So, she has returned – and has brought one of the Furies with her. My leader will be pleased. He ran his hand along the silver dagger concealed beneath his cloak. His leader would be very pleased indeed.
(all 3 pics by goldenfury360 (aka Hyrith))
by SoulStereo
(free lineart base found 
by me
Sefarva blinkie by DuskDaybreak
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Yeah, I was thinking... a bored Chilling Horror would make for an interesting welcome home :)