NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: Saving Sten
The twelve dragons and their riders gathered in the sky just as agreed earlier as Thyra and Eret got down to their report.
"We found five ships on our route" Eret said.
"How big were they?" Hiccup asked.
"Big enough to carry twenty cages" he replied.
"That's not good" said Valka, worried for the state the dragons on board would be in.
"Then we have to get going" Astrid said, eager to get out and battle.
"What do we do about the trainees then?" Snotlout siad.
"What better way for them to learn than watch us?" Hiccup answered.
"Are you sure you want to bring them along?" Eret said not ready to saddle the responsibility of babysitting any of them while they rescued dragons.
"Sure. They can stay hidden in the clouds and watch us work. Trust me it'll be fine"
The others looked unsure of his decision, it was risky carrying inexperienced youngsters out into a mission.
"I'm with him who else?!" Tuffnut yelled.
Just like that they flew towards the ships, they trainees hung back as they let the pros handle it. They stayed in the clouds away from the ships and watched as they teachers came in fast and low from the southside of the ships.
"I really wish they let us come along" Sten grumbled, wanting to show Hiccup what he was capable of so that he would rethink his choice of picking Rune.
"You heard what Hiccup said, we hang back here and watch them work. We will get our chance soon enough" Thyra said.
"But I want to go now" Sten whined.
"Stop acting like a big baby and stay focused. We're not ready to engage hunters yet and until then, we will stay up here and watch" Rune said with authority in his voice as he took charge of the situation.
Sten huffed and frowned before crossing his arms and returning his attention to the ongoing raid. The riders had boarded the ship stealthily and began to make their way to the cages. Fishlegs and Valka were on lookout duty informing the riders whenever a hunter came close to them. All the dragons hung back clinging to the sides of the ships or gliding silently in the sky above except for Toothless of course, who stayed by Hiccups side as they advanced. One by one, the cages began to swing open and dragons were free and took to the skies.
"Seems like they're making good ground" Forde commented.
But that was too soon, they had been spotted and trappers began to move in.
"That's not good" Vyra said with a worried voice.
"What should we do?" Thyra asked.
"We can't engage since we've been ordered to stay put, but there must be a way we can warn them without alerting the hunters" Rune reasoned as he began to think deeply.
That's when it hit Sten, now was his moment to shine. If he could swoop down and fight the hunters single handedly and but the riders enough time, he would be an instant hero and he would get the respect he so craves for.
"I have a plan and it doesn't involve you guys" Sten said with an ambitious smile on his face.
"Sten, whatever you're thinking is crazy. Let's try and think things through" Forde said trying to reason with him but he was mind was already set on what he wanted to do.
"Sten wait" Rune called to him but Sten had began his descent through the clouds.
"That guy" Vyra said slapping her forehead.
"Can't he just drop his shitty behaviour for one day" Rune said in annoyance.
"Come on Eruptor, this is our time to shine" he said as his dragon grunted. "Now let's get famous!" he cheered as they went through more cloud.
Hiccup had his back turned and focused on opening a cage, he and the others had no idea they were surrounded. A hunter stood with his arm raised ready to give the order when Valka had a feeling that something wasn't right.
"Wait a minute, something doesn't feel right" she said.
"What is it mom? We've almost emptied all the cages" Hiccup asked wondering why she would say something of that nature now.
"We haven't seen a hunter since we arrived" she pointed out and then realization hit Hiccup.
"We have to leave now" he said.
"Too late" a voice said from the darkness as the bodies of hunters standing with weapons raised was outlined around them.
"Hiccup what do we do. They're too many of them" Astrid said.
"Don't worry I have a plan" he said giving her an assuring smile but just then, a dragon roar came from the sky as Eruptor fell through the clouds with his body ablaze.
"Come and get some dragon hunters!" he cried.
"What in Odin's beard is he doing?" Eret said.
Hunters chuckled when they saw the fool descending. From the cover of darkness, a dragon root arrow left it's bow and flew straight at Eruptor.
"No!" Hiccup yelled knowing what would befall them.
The arrow hit Eruptor right in the underbelly making Sten loose control of his dragon. Eruptor began to flap erratically and jerk from side to side worrying Sten.
"What's going on boy?" he asked not knowing what had caused his beloved Eruptor to act like this.
Before he could get an answer, he was thrown off his saddle and was heading for water. Sten cried for help as he plummeted towards water and braced for the worst. Just as he was about to hit, there was a brown flash with water left in it's wake and he was whisked from the air. Sten opened his eyes wondering why he hadn't hit water to see that he was in Sandstorm's paws, then a feeling of failure hit him as he had to be rescued by his rival. Eruptor fell onto the deck of a ship hitting the wooden boards hard.
"Now Toothless" Hiccup yelled as Sten's shenanigans served as the perfect distraction for them to get into position to battle.
Toothless released a plasma blast sending hunters flying as the others pushed forward for their dragons to come pick them up.
"We need to get to Eruptor and get that arrow out of him" Hiccup said.
"Getting through all these hunters won't be easy. Our dragons are on the other side" Astrid said voicing her thought.
But then three other dragons flew over head raining fire from above and helping them get some men out of the way.
"Seems we're not alone after all" Valka said as the trainees had come in to help them fight.
"Guess the students can help us out" Eret said punching a trapper in the face.
"Alright guys let's go in again" Vyra instructed as the dragons ascended with arrows being fired at them.
The three broke apart doing twists and turns to avoid getting hit, as Rune, Sandstorm and Sten who had joined Rune on his saddle, came diving in.
"Come on Sandstorm, you can do it" Rune spurred his dragon on as he spread his wings catching them from the dive as they flew at the hunters head on.
They unleashed a flurry of arrows at them but Rune maneuvered his dragon through the field of arrows with expertise. He banked left then right as they went into a spin edging forward.
"Fire Sandstorm, fire!" Rune commanded as his dragon unleashed a fire blast that flew through the midst of the trappers without harming any of them.
"Ha! You missed" the hunter said seeing that none of them were harmed.
But then the sound of wood creaking and breaking came from behind them as the main sail mast came falling down on them. They screamed and yelled as the mast came crashing down on them and the Sand Wraith flew over them as they were also heading for Eruptor.
Valka twirled around hitting back the swords pointed at her and then pulled the legs of her opponents over making them fall on their backs. A group of hunters attempted to rush her from behind but then were met by a wall of fire from Cloudjumper who stood on top of a cage. He greeted his rider with a gentle coo and vibrated his frills.
"I'm glad to see you too" She said.
Barf and Belch had also reached their riders as they filled the haul of a ship with gas and then blew it up throwing trappers into the sea. Vyra, Thyra and Forde flew over head again unleashing streams of fire from above as Hiccup and Toothless got closer and closer to Eruptor. Hiccup clashed his sword with a trapper as he pushed him back into a cage then sidestepped the swing of another before hitting him in the head with his elbow.
A hunter jumped down from the top of a cage and Hiccup was sharp enough to move out of the way avoiding the spear that he held. Before the trapper could react, Toothless tail swiped him overboard.
"Glad I could count on you bud" Hiccup thanked his dragon unaware of a trapper about to strike him with a mace from behind.
Toothless grunted trying to warn him but Hiccup didn't get the message on time. Just as he was about to swing, he was hit in the back of the head by someone and fell to the ground. That someone was Rune who had made it with Sandstorm and Sten to Eruptor.
"Glad to see you're in one piece" Hiccup said happy to see his student.
The he turned to Sten and gave him a dirty look disapproving of his stunt and almost killing his dragon.
"Come help me with this" he said.
"Be on the lookout boy" Rune told his dragon who nodded in agreement.
Eruptor laid there on the ground breathing heavily and obviously was in pain, Hiccup found the arrow and pulled it out quickly.
"I-is he going to be okay?" he stuttered.
"He will be fine" Hiccup answered straightly trying to control himself from scolding him as it won't be the right time for that.
"His dragon is to weak to make the journey back so we need something we can use to carry him" Hiccup stated.
"Would a sail suffice?" Astrid said as Stormfly dropped a sail right next to them before landing.
"You always know what I need" Hiccup said with a smile. "You need to get the others and get them out of here. Rune and I will meet up with you shortly"
Astrid nodded.
"Sten go with her, we don't need any extra weight right now"
Sten also nodded and Astrid helped him up before flying away. Sandstorm and Toothless both fired in opposite directions as they pushed trappers back. Rune and Hiccup drew all the strength they had within them and rolled Eruptor unto the sail and were ready to take off.
"Alright bud, we're ready" he told Toothless as he used his head to knock back a hunter.
"Come on Sandstorm" Rune called to his dragon.
Sandstorm side stepped a swinging sword which got stuck to the wooden board of the deck and then swung his tail to hit the trapper away before rushing to Rune's side. The two used their dragons to hold on to the edges of the torn sail as they airlifted Eruptor. Cloudjumper and Hookfang flew around them and set part of the deck on fire to repel any trapper from taking a cheap shot.
The team regrouped and flew back to Berk with the rescued dragons sixty strong, and Eruptor who had begun to regain his strength.
"What were you thinking?' Hiccup said as he began to scold Sten.
"You disobeyed a direct order and almost got yourself and your dragon killed" he said angrily.
"I'm sorry, it's just that the trappers had you surrounded and I wanted to warn you" Sten said with a low voice.
"And there was no better way to alert us? You should be glad that no serious harm came to your dragon. We're trying to teach you to be safe, smart and cautious riders and not one that jumps in head first into a fight. This should not repeat itself, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Hiccup" Sten answered.
"As for the rest of you, good job bailing Sten out and keeping yourselves out of danger while assisting us. You all showed great character and composure out there today for newbies" Hiccup praised the rest.
This hurt Sten even more, praises were being given and he wasn't among the ones being praised. Instead he was being reprimanded for his foolish act and it gave him a lot to ponder on their flight back home.
"Seems the trainees are developing faster than we expected" Valka said.
"But there is still room for improvement, there was some sloppiness in their moves here and there" Astrid pointed out.
"Come on Astrid, give them a break. They did well on their first try" Hiccup said.
"I wonder how our first time raiding a ship went" Tuffnut said.
"I bet it was awesome" His sister added.
"I beg to differ" said Fishlegs.
"What? It couldn't have been that bad" Tuffnut continued as they began to chat on their way journey back to Berk.