Hiccup's POV
When I had read the note, Toothless had flared his wings, raised his tail and roared. I had instantly covered my ears, but I could still hear his rage. I still couldn't tell how much he understood, but he clearly registered the threat.
Toothless had snarled, even though whoever wrote the note would have been far away, unable to hear him or acknowledge his threat. His ears stood on end, facing anything that moved. Yet he couldn't find anyone. Each time he came out empty a grumble would escape, yet he refused to let frustration beat him.
I had woken everyone immediately, to warn them of the invader. After gathering in the stables, everyone seemed much more at ease. Safety in numbers, I suppose. Even Toothless relaxed - well, slightly. Whilst the others slept, he had remained awake, his head on his paws and his senses always alert.
He was doing the same now, after a whole day of searching had found nothing.
Sighing, I looked around. All the riders were sleeping with their dragons, calm despite the hidden threat. Tomorrow seemed bleak. I knew plain flat out searching would have minimum results, but there wasn't much else we could do. Leaving now would leave the Edge vulnerable, ruining Berk's plans for it, as well as potentially leading the attacker straight to Berk. Not to mention the fact that it wasn't safe to pack, when an armada could be just around the corner.
Some of the dragons snored gently, causing me to chuckle. Alongside the riders' dragons, we also had a couple more deadly nadders and gronkles, all which were perfectly content sleeping side by side.
I smiled. They were safe and happy.
Suddenly Toothless shot up, letting out his clicks to ecolocate. He roared, throwing me onto his back, and took off. Confused, I looked for something that could be the source of his sudden distress. I squinted in the darkness.
Clang!
Metal landed on metal from a height. The ringing came from where the twins had built their hut. Together Toothless and I dived, concerned at what on Earth was going on. We landed, instantly looking for the source. Jumping off, I checked behind bushes and trees, as well as the occasional rock but didn't find anything - or anyone.
"Grrroooww!" I ran to Toothless's call. He was under the twins' hut, staring into their now full boar pit.
"What the..." I mumbled. Axes, swords, a spear, throwing knives and even some daggers were piled on top of each other. The variants of metal glimmered, the handles contrasting against the reflexive blades. I frowned. Why would someone drag all our weapons all the way out here? Unless they were trying to be discreet, but the clangs gave them away. I reached to get one of Astrid's axes, feeling a slimy-oil like substance coating it.
Monstrous nightmare gell.
I gasped. They had tried to disarm us. Panic shot through me like the cold when stepping outside in the winter months. I grabbed handfuls of the weapons, forced to go slower as I didn't want to cut myself. A flicker of light caught my eye: a hovering torch. Toothless reared, charging. They threw it into the pit, but Toothless shot it. Now we couldn't see them at all.
They were invisible. Oh Thor help us now.
"Stay here and guard the weapons," I told Toothless but he looked uncomfortable. "Don't worry, I'll be careful, okay?" He grunted but sat at his post like a guard dog.
I ran. Each step made a slight thuding sound as I desperately raced to the stables. We needed help, and fast. Determined, I shut my mouth and picked up my pace. The attacker would not escape.
I burst in the stables. Closest was Astrid, looking so calm in her sleep. I woke her up quickly.
"Arrrgh!" she screamed, pulling twin knives from her hair.
"Woah, easy Astrid. It's just me, Hiccup," I soothed, watching as she put the knives away.
"What happened?" she asked, her voice groggy. When she saw how dark it was outside she raised an eyebrow at me.
"Well we found the attacker," her face lit up, "kinda." Her smile was gone as fast as it came. "We saw them carrying something, but more importantly their cloak makes them invisible."
"Wait, like a changwing cloak?"
"Yeah."
"Wonderful," she muttered sarcastically.
"Also," I hesitated, avoiding eye contact.
"What?"
"They tried to destroy all our weapons."
"WHAT?" she leapt up, charging out of the stables.
I grabbed her arm, "Wait Astrid it's okay, Toothless is guarding them." She just squinted at me.
"So what's that fire over there?" She stepped aside, pointing at the twins' hut. My eyes widened. Some parts were a stunning yellow, blinding like the sun, others flaming reds and oranges, as if some of it was much more flammable.
"Astrid, wake the others and fill them in on the fire," I began running down, not waiting for a reply. With each step worry grew in my stomach. What happened? How did they get past Toothless? I nearly fell twice as I darted down the wooden planks and rocky slopes. I heard wings beats beside me. Stormfly grabbed me, carrying me very quickly to the boar pit. The closer I got, the thicker the air felt, clouded with dust and ash. I ran alongside it, ignoring the damage.
'Toothless!" I yelled. He jumped out the bushes, a piece of cloth in his mouth. "What happened buddy?" I said, softer. He growled, spitting the cloth at me.
"They came back," I mumbled, fiddling with the piece. My fingers immediately were masked; I could see through them. I would need to geek out about it with Fishlegs later.
By this point Astrid had started putting out the fire, and more dragons and riders were coming. I breathed a sigh of relief. Grabbing buckets, Astrid gave one to Stormfly and one to Toothless.
"Stormfly! Fire procedure!" The dragon squawked, diving like a falcon into the sea. Astrid and Toothless joined her in getting water, but I stayed behind to explain what we needed to do to the other dragon riders.
After a vigorous half hour, we had doused out the fire.
I wiped the sweat off my brow, my arms aching like they did when we were practising for Thawfest. I could hear the others complaining whilst they walked back to the now scorched pit. The underside of the simple hut was scorched black, a thick layer of soot now permanently attached.
"You know bro, I don't think the hut looks that bad," Ruffnut observed.
"True, the black underside blends quite well with the other colours, especially the greens," Tuffnut agreed with a slight smile. "Not to mention how awesome it is that it survived the fire!" he added, giving his sister a high-five.
Shortly after, everyone arrived, either complaining or, in one particular Viking's case, showing off.
"Alright guys, well done putting out the fire-" I began,
"Yeah! It huuurts! Too much walking," Tuffnut moaned. Astrid shot a glare at him, so heated it would melt steel, and he instantly shut his mouth. Had I not been exhausted, I would've found the exchange rather amusing. Instead, it pushed on my patience. My lips thinnened.
"Not now, guys. We have a serious issue on our hands!" Fishlegs snapped.
"Thank you, Fishlegs," I said more sharply than I intended. "We know more about the attacker." That instantly got their attention. "First off, they're smart. They tried to disarm us in one large swoop."
"I hate to break it to ya, but they managed it. All our weapons are melted together into a massive blob." Snotlout pointed at the boar pit which was filled with molten metals and occasional soot-coated embers where the handles had been. I looked over the shorter man, a smile pulling the sides of my mouth when I saw some blades strewn on the sides.
"Not all of them," I countered, motioning to the ones I had saved. While still covered in gell, they were at least intact. "Also, they are opportunistic. They saw us all in the stables, away from our huts, and used the opportunity to strike."
"That... makes sense," Heather commented, her eyes narrowing.
"But more importantly," I paused, checking everyone was listening, "They are invisible."
"What?"
"How?"
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Then how do you know?"
"Yeah right!"
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" I yelled. Each pair of eyes snapped back to me. I clenched my fist in an attempt to hold back the anger and frustration.
"They have a changwing cloak, one that they use to sneak around. I know this because I saw their hand when carrying a torch, and Toothless caught a piece of the cloak." Fishleg's face lit up. Understanding glossed over the riders faces, causing a small smile to tease my face.
"So, how do you catch something invisible?" Astrid asked.
"Easy. With bait," Heather added, a confident smirk forming.
"That sounds good until you remember that they're smart. They'll know it's a trap," I countered.
"Well, what if we make an offer they can't refuse," Fishlegs mumbled.
"How so?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Like if we take away their access to something vital. Food, water, shelter..."
"You know Fishlegs, that's not half bad," Astrid agreed.
"One problem," Snotlout groaned, "How are we meant to do that? This is a massive island full of resources. No water? Boom! Melt the snow. No shelter? Boom! Make one from wood. No food? Boom! Go Fish."
I zoned out to the argument, trying to focus on what we could use. I agreed with Snotlout, not that I'd ever admit to doing so. He'd rub it in my face at every opportunity.
Sadly, we knew very little about the attacker's motives, why they chose to attack or the strategy they use. After all, with the amount of monstrous nightmare gell they had they could easily burn a hut or two.
Clearly property damage wasn't their aim. No, they were after something else. The wording of the note twisted in my mind. They had addressed me directly, so maybe...
A smirk slipped onto my face as I listened into the debate again.
"-an if we simply guard-"
"I have a better idea," I interrupted Astrid, much to her annoyance. "I'll be the bait."
***
Thank you for reading!
Do you think Hiccup's plan will work?
Will they realise it's a trap?