For Milady

TWENTY TWO: The Greater Good

TWENTY-TWO: The Greater Good

It was bittersweet as Astrid headed north for the Healer's Isle of the Lugnuts Islands, for it brought back all those memories of when they were younger, mid-teens learning to fly and partner their dragons and protect their home from rogue dragons, Outcasts, Berserkers, sickness and the weather. Her lips curved up in a nostalgic smile at the memories of who she had been-who they all had been-and how much simpler life had been then. Hiccup was growing in confidence, his bond with Toothless already far deeper and closer than any other and the young Viking, still scrawny and awkward, had been developing into the fearless leader they admired and followed today.

She sighed, her legs tightening around Stormfly's body as they banked slightly, the rhythmic jerk of her wings soothing as she drifted through her recollections. Of course, she hadn't always been as kind to him as she should have been-and still was reticent at showing her feelings...but a lifetime of being brought up as a tough viking shield maiden wasn't so easily shrugged off. She was better at fighting off an entire hoard of enemies than sitting down and having a sharing session with her friends about her inner hopes and fears but she was certainly getting a lot more time than she had anticipated to ponder her situation now.

And she missed Hiccup. Sure, she missed the others as well-it was certainly very quiet without having the twins around, constantly destroying things and baiting Snotlout-but the yawning gap in her life was the constant presence of the auburn-haired young Viking whose emerald eyes expressed everything even without saying the words. Thumper nudged under her ribs and her breath caught, before she smiled.

"I'll keep him or her safe, babe," she murmured. "But first, we need those ingredients..."

The old healer on Stippling had about half the ingredients...though in small quantities only, so Astrid had decided to collect everything, just in case. She wasn't sure how much of the cure she would need, so she was determined to make enough...and keep some for herself, just in case. She had Eel Pox when the bad outbreak hit Berk when they were sixteen and she had been feverish and almost delirious when Hiccup had returned from Eel Island with the ingredients, but he had gently helped her into the Great Hall and ensured that she had the second dose of the cure-after his father-and was then tucked up with her family to rest and recuperate. She had felt rotten then and couldn't imagine becoming so sick out here on her own-with Thumper to care for.

For a moment, she doubted the wisdom of what she was doing, travelling alone to a strange island to collect ingredients for a very sick Tribe to which she owed nothing. A Tribe she would need to return to and help brew the potion and deliver it to the ailing members...but even as she had the thought, she shoved it aside. She was a Dragon Rider-and they delivered assistance where needed, no matter the danger or difficulty, because that was who they were. That was who Hiccup had made them to be. And she had given her word.

Stormfly banked and swooped over the shallow bay that led into the small but verdant Healers' Isle, coming in to land by a stream that wound its way down to the beach. Gratefully, Astrid slid from the saddle and her legs wavered, muscles cramping from hours riding and she clung onto the Deadly Nadder until they recovered. Then she walked around, inspecting the area and knelt to slake her thirst with the ice-cold stream water. It was pure enough for the potion so she filled a couple of water skins to take back for the potion. And then, fishing out the simple list she had found in the dead Healer's hut, she began her quest to collect the ingredients.

She had made it about three-quarters of the way down the list when she realised that she was not alone. The island was eerily quiet, with not even the chatter of sea-birds on the beach and she wondered what was preventing them from hunting in the tidal pools as they did elsewhere in the Archipelago. There had to be something here that was keeping them away and she rolled her shoulders, feeling the comforting weight of her axe bump between her shoulder-blades, where it was safely slung. She gestured to Stormfly and the Nadder raised her head, cawing a query.