Winter Siege

Chapter 10

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.