We needed to do a quick survey of the island. My dad and Astrid were figuring they let Toothless out to relieve himself, and we were coming back after that.
I got on his back, removed the plate from my peg, and stowed it, then clicked into the stirrup. Toothless jumped, and I nudged him with my right knee.
As Toothless rose into the air, I noticed a reddish Monstrous Nightmare lying in the open just behind Snotlout's house. It was Hookfang. I gulped when I realized Snotlout kept him outside because of his size, leaving him vulnerable.
"Right there, bud," I whispered, pointing out Hookfang to Toothless. He grunted and pulled into a shallow dive, heading for Hookfang.
We landed about ten feet away from Snotlout's dragon, but he didn't respond to our arrival. His back was facing us, so I shuffled around to his front and saw his eyes were open and unmoving. They were just like Johann's yesterday when I found him curled up in his boat.
I crouched near Hookfang's head and whispered his name. I touched his snout, trying to get a reaction out of him. He didn't respond.
His left thigh had a puncture mark, just like Johann's hand did. From this static image, I guessed a Speed Stinger had approached Hookfang from behind, stabbed him, and then waited for the inevitable.
But just like Johann's situation yesterday, something just didn't quite make sense. This was Hookfang's normal spot when he was resting. There was no sign of melting snow anywhere around him, so he wasn't defending himself. For a brief moment, I wondered if there was any pain when being stabbed by a Speed Stinger.
If the Speed Stingers were like any other dragon, they'd use their venom for defense or to secure food. It didn't make sense to me that they'd envenomate other animals at random.
Unless, of course, they were trying to get rid of us.
I was two seconds away from checking on Snotlout when Toothless suddenly began growling. Instinctively, I reached for my belt and pulled the knife out, ready to defend myself.
I glanced back at him, followed his gaze, and felt the color drain from my face. He had locked eyes with two Speed Stingers about ten feet away from him, but one was different than the others I had seen so far. This one had a red frill and red stripes going from side-to-side all the way down its body. Nearby was another Speed Stinger that was solid green, just like what I had encountered on Johann's boat.
The red-and-green Speed Stinger took a small step forward and roared at Toothless. Without warning, Toothless shot a fireball at the dragon's feet. The fireball created a shower of white slush around the two dragons. Toothless roared back, lunging at the red-and-green dragon with a ferocious swipe of his front claws.
Both Speed Stingers panicked while trying to dodge the fireball and Toothless' claws. The red-and-green dragon yelped as it turned and fell onto its side.
This was the Toothless I was used to. I watched as the red-and-green dragon scrambled to its feet and took off running, the green dragon closely following with several grunts. Four other Speed Stingers appeared out of nowhere and followed, their sudden presence startling me.
I could have died and not known it, I thought.
A sudden burst of realization slammed into my mind. We weren't fighting back because we couldn't react quickly enough.
A second thought exploded immediately afterward – Why did those five Speed Stingers unquestioningly follow the red-and-green dragon? Just as soon as I had formed the question in my mind, I had an answer.
That red-and-green Speed Stinger had to be a pack leader.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toothless turn in my direction. He quickly jumped forward with a warning roar that snapped my concentration. I looked toward him to find him already lunging around my left side, glaring straight through me. His mouth was wide open, like he was ready to deliver a fireball or crunch down on some unlucky dragon's neck.
I jumped to my right and collapsed in the snow, letting Toothless take care of whatever problem was nearby. In one fluid motion, he whipped around my side and shot another fireball that exploded with a hollow bang. The shock wave from the fireball's explosion ripped through my chest.
I bolted back up, unmindful of the snow coating my face and hair, searching for his latest target. It was another solid green Speed Stinger. The dragon moaned weakly for a couple seconds and then collapsed in the snow. Its upper chest had been torn open by the fireball, revealing the top of its ribcage.
A high-pitched roar came from somewhere to my left. Without thinking, I scrambled onto Toothless' back. He jumped and roared in surprise, then cut himself off once I placed a hand on the back of his neck, telling him it was me.
Several grunts, clicks, and guttural hisses soon met my ears, and they all seemed to come from different angles. From a moderate distance in front of us, two Speed Stingers were sprinting in our direction, which was enough to tell me we needed to leave. There was no guess as to how many other dragons were surrounding us.
I tried to jam my peg into the stirrup but felt a resistance, like it was stuck. I looked down and noticed the stirrup had frozen over. The Speed Stingers were still barreling toward us, several of them frothing at the mouth. I slammed my peg through the layer of ice that had built on the stirrup. The catch loosened, and my peg slipped into the stirrup with a satisfying click.
"TOOTHLESS, UP!"
I yanked upward on his saddle. He jumped with a grunt and got out of the Speed Stingers' reach with a couple seconds to spare. I nudged him with my left knee, taking control of the flight. Just before we turned our backs to the dragons, I saw the leader again with its red stripes and frill. It roared in our direction and took off, following us, clicking loudly every so often. Around it, I lost count of how many green dragons there were, but I guessed around twenty or so.
"Toothless, no," I told him as he turned toward home.
I didn't need to learn this lesson twice. Going home meant we were bringing the entire herd of Speed Stingers with us. Instead, I rolled peg-in, turning us on a wide bank to the right. Maybe we could lose the dragons in the forest. And if not lose them, maybe we could trap them somewhere.
We flew over the treetops, hearing the grunts, clicks, and cries of the Speed Stingers below. Toothless was flying at a quick pace, and the dragons below us had no trouble keeping up. I thought for a second on where I wanted to direct these dragons.
I soon decided on the mountain at the northeastern side of the island, hoping to strand the dragons there. I directed Toothless slightly to our left. Without hesitation, the Speed Stingers followed.
Looking more closely at the herd of green dragons weaving through the trees below, some of them had broken off from the main pack and were either straggling or seemingly questioning the point of chasing us.
I turned my attention forward again, and within a few seconds, my eyes began watering from the wind. I tried to blink the water out of my field of vision, but the tears simply ran down my cheeks and froze there.
Toothless roared in alarm as the mountain loomed in front of us. I forced my eyes to stay open and rolled the stirrup to the left. Toothless banked in response, avoiding the face of the mountain.
Toothless, I hope you trust me, buddy, I thought.
I stole a glance backwards and saw most of the Speed Stingers were still chasing, their blurry forms obscured by the building water in my eyes.
I returned my gaze forward, pulling in a quick breath. The island of Berk abruptly ended, leaving crashing waves beneath us.
I rolled toe-down and pushed on Toothless' saddle. He shot downward, plunging us toward the open ocean. At the last minute, we pulled out of his dive and banked right, away from the village. I knew there weren't any well-defined paths that led completely around the mountain, which meant we could strand the Speed Stingers.
The cold air quickly began its work on me as the mountain receded on my right side. I shivered as the wind bit through my clothing, unable to keep my entire body from shaking. It was also affecting my thoughts, because after about ten seconds, my only worry was getting home.
With just enough presence of mind to commit to the impromptu plan I had formed, I directed Toothless around the mountain and forest, making sure to keep from alerting the Speed Stingers we had lured into the open. My eyes were burning and my nose, ears, and mouth were numb. Toothless was gasping for breath. His wing beats were slower and less vigorous. I hunkered down in the saddle, hoping to make us more aerodynamic so we could get home faster.
In the distance, a few wisps of curling smoke told me the village wasn't too far away. From the direction we were approaching, I knew our house was the first one we'd find.
It didn't take long before our house was in view. Smoke was rising from the chimney, which indicated there was a welcoming fire at the hearth.
Toothless groaned in exhaustion, losing altitude quickly. I was too cold to say anything, so I braced myself for a crash landing. My hands feebly tightened on the saddle, unable to form a strong grip. We slammed into the snow-covered ground about fifty feet away from home with a muffled thump. Toothless skidded on his front about ten feet and then stopped, his head buried in snow.
I swung my right leg over his back and tried to wrench my peg out of the stirrup, but it wouldn't budge. There was a layer of ice built around the peg and stirrup, locking them in place.
Cursing under my breath, I slipped the peg's catch free from my left leg and collapsed on the ground. I wrapped my burning hands around the peg and pulled, trying to free it. After two pulls, there was a crunching noise, and the peg slipped free from the stirrup. I fell backwards and sat down to avoid tumbling any further. From the satchel at my waist, I pulled out the snow plate, but it slipped from my hands and landed edge-on, burying itself halfway into the snow. I picked up the plate and attached it to my peg, then cinched the peg back onto my left leg and stood.
Panicking, I rushed over to Toothless and uncovered his head to keep him from freezing. I turned, facing our door and dashed toward it. There, my dad and Astrid could help me bring Toothless inside to recover.
I reached our front door and yanked on it. It opened, revealing my dad, Stormfly, and Thornado, all facing with their backs to the door. There was a roaring fire at the hearth. And there was a green, bipedal dragon with red eyes glaring back at me.