Finding you

Chapter 17: The Assassin

Zephyr's POV

"I still can't believe that you convinced me to do this." My father huffed from where we were laying flat on our stomachs, scouting the Berserker fortress from afar as several allies of the Berserkers entered the fortress for whatever big event Dagur the Deranged was hosting.

"You didn't have to agree with my plan, but here we are, dear father." I stated as I eyed the entrance through one of my father's spyglasses. "What do you think is going on in there?"

My father furrowed his brows as he kept his gaze locked on the large, stone fortress. "I have no idea, but whatever it is, it can't be good."

We laid there for a while, scouting for any openings where I could get in unseen and after what felt like an eternity of searching, a grin spread across my father's face as he threw out the hand that held his spyglass, bumping into me in the process and causing white-hot pain to spread from my wound like a web through my upper body. A hiss escaped me as I instinctively pressed a hand over my still-healing arrow wound, but my father didn't seem to notice what had happened seeing as he was too busy pointing down at something by the fortress. "Look, Zeph, over there!"

With the help of his spyglass, I followed to where his finger pointed and found the entrance he had been referring to beside the grand entrance of the fortress, which was heavily guarded by armed Berserkers. I tapped my chin as the gears in my head began to turn. "If I'm ever going to get past those guards, we're going to need a distraction."

My father furrowed his brows as he too looked to be deep in thought. "I can't use Toothless, because then Dagur would immediately know that it was me, but if I take Firestorm ..."

My father looked to me for approval and I nodded in agreement. "Do whatever you need to get me past those guards, besides, it's not like Firestorm doesn't love you anyway."

A grin lit up my father's face for the first time in over a week as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him as I let out a low wince. His grip around me loosened ever so slightly. "Great! Now I suggest we go back to the cave to get Firestorm and your bow and then we can go kick this plan into action."

I slowly rose from the position I had been in for the past hour, my legs feeling like they were going to disintegrate as I assisted my father back on his feet as well. "Great idea, dad."

***

I glanced up at the cliffs towering high above the fortress, knowing that my dad was readying himself for the big distraction as I wove through the tight-packed crowd that was bustling with chatter, laughter and other playful banter. Huh, that must've been an unusual occurrence on Berserker Island.

As I neared the servants entrance of the Berserker fortress, I found myself pulling my hood even further down my face as I quietly and as discreetly as possible attempted to weave myself through the crowd and get myself to that door.

A guard stood by the door, list in hand and I instantly knew that there was no getting through there without a distraction. As if on cue, all hell seemed to break loose around us.

A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth as my gaze turned to the sky, where a pack of Deadly Nadders were spreading terror through Dagur's esteemed guests and causing destruction to Dagur's fortress. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of a very familiar Nadder with an even more familiar man on her back, who also seemed to be grinning widely. If I knew my father right, he was having the time of his life.

It didn't take long before the guards took the bait and attempted to go and chase off the nadders. Fortunately for me, the guard that had been standing beside the servants entrance had deemed getting rid of the nadders as a far greater task than that of checking if the servants were really who they said they were. I made great use of my new opportunity to slip into the fortress and soon found myself in a quiet, empty hallway lit up only by a few torches that lined its stone walls.