For Milady

TWENTY FIVE: The Chief's Guest

TWENTY FIVE: The Chief's Guest

Chief Kjetil of Sniffling was sympathetic as Hiccup returned to the little island, tired and cold but determined to locate the missing Astrid. There was no sign of the Hunters returning but the Dragon Rider did a sweep around the island just to reassure his host that his people were safe. The storm had finally settled and he was finally able to follow the directions to find the tiny island of Stippling which was Astrid's stated destination. He carried with him the best wishes of Hjordis and a selection of herbs and head-spinning advice from the village healer regarding childbirth. He had interrogated her about everything he needed to know-and had almost regretted the detail that he had learned...but he had persevered, because Astrid could need him.

But now he was flying hard and fast southwest, through countless tiny islets and seastacks that trailed to and fro, coalescing into small islands. The first he found had a village burnt to the ground, looking for all of Midgard like a dragon attack...but there were no survivors. Carefully, he looked around, seeing the charred ruins and then he found the sign of a dragon: single footprints from a Nadder. He frowned and crouched by the marks and then glanced up at the Night Fury.

"What do you think, bud?" he murmured and the dragon sniffed at the Nadder prints. He gave a soft warble and his ears pricked. "So it is them," he murmured, a hand gently stroking the depression. "So what happened? Why did you destroy the village, Astrid? Are you alright?" he sighed and then rose to his feet, swinging into the saddle. "Come on, bud," he murmured as they flew away, shaking his head. He had no clue why the dragon would attack but he had to be on his guard. Did the village attack her? Was she hurt? Was the baby safe? And were there any threats still out there?

He sighed. There was no way he could risk getting captured once more because no one could come for him now-and he no longer had the luxury of time. He leaned forward as Toothless accelerated away, following the line of the seastacks that suddenly, abruptly stopped, leaving him facing an open, blank expense of water. They backwinged and stared across the open sea, breathing hard. Craning his neck, Hiccup peered into the sky and checked the position of the sun-and then he flipped open the compass attached to his left forearm. Gobber had shown him how to make one and he had spent some time working on it back on the Edge after he had believed Viggo dead...never realising he would the upgrades so soon. He checked the direction-and then flipped the cover over the compass once more.

"Okay, Bud-let's go," he announced. "After all, Astrid must have come this way-and we have to find her. She said she was coming this way-so this is the way she came." He leaned forward and adjusted the tailfin. "Let's go. And hope we can catch her up soon..."

oOo

It had been four days and Astrid was allowed out of bed by the cautious Anja. At first, she had railed at the restrictions but as she tried to get up and felt her head spinning, she had laid back and conceded that perhaps the woman, though not as wizened and experienced as Gothi, knew what she was talking about. Her fever had returned that night and she had lain miserably, wishing she was in Hiccup's arms and feeling his child doing somersaults in her belly.

"Easy, little Thumper," she murmured and gently stroked an elbow that was poking out most painfully just under her belly button. "Momma is here. And we will up and about soon enough."

The first time she felt more like herself was when she was aided to a bath by Anja and her assistant, Ingrid, who helped her on her shaky feet to the wooden tub, steam coiling above the warm water and as she had finally been able to soak and wash her stringy hair and aching body, Astrid had finally felt her strength return. Clean, feeling human and much more alert, Astrid had refused to go back to bed, insisting on sitting in a chair and looking out of the window to get her first proper glimpse of the village she had landed in.