A New World, Complicated

Chapter 13: When Lightning Strikes (Reign)

 Living with dragons has its ups... and its downs. You need to stay calm, keep a clear head. Not always easy with Vikings. In our own way, we're very reasonable. But when a problem is caused by something Vikings don't understand, they lose all sense of reason. And that can become very dangerous.

Gobber, Chief Stoick, Hiccup, and I clashed our cups against each other's in celebration. We'd finally built dragon perches that wouldn't collapse under the weight of even the biggest dragons. Now, it was time to celebrate.

"Perches for dragons. Some of your best work," Chief Stoick gushed. From under the table, Hiccup grabbed my hand and squeezed it. The metal perches had been my idea, Hiccup's design, modified with Gobber's input. However, Hiccup did nothing but gush over the work I had put into it. "Although, we may need to move the one over the well." I sniffed the liquid in my cup and grimaced.

"Oh! Duly noted." He moved his hand from laced in mine to around my shoulders.

"And the perches are just the beginning." Before Hiccup could drink from his cup, his father slammed his hand down on it and slowly started to drag it away, keeping him from ingesting something unpleasant. "We can build landing areas for them, maybe even stables in the caves underneath the village, and-"

"Easy, son. Remember, Berk is still for people."

"Vikings before dragons." My heart rate increased as a rumble of thunder lolled in the distance. Toothless looked up at Gobber, clearly understanding what he had said. "Yeah, I said it. Deal with it."

A crescendo of thunder sent Toothless sprinting up the stairs, and set my hands shaking. The three men jumped from their seats and opened the door to stare at the storm, while I remained glued to my seat. I was making steps to recover from my fear of thunderstorms, but they were little, baby steps that would take time.

With what bravery I had in this moment, I flickered my eyes to the spaces in the doorway between the bodies. Flashes of lightning were striking the shimmering dragon perches and sending shimmering tendrils throughout them.

"The lightning is hitting everywhere!" Hiccup observed.

"It doesn't usually strike here in the village."

"Thor must be angry. The only other time I can remember lightning ever striking Berk-"

"Barnstat," Chief Stoick and Gobber said at the same time.

"Barn-who?" I asked, just barely able to find my voice.

"Jurgen Barnstat, drifter," Chief Stoick explained. "Sailed into town, he was stealing from women and old men."

"To punish him, Thor gave him a lightning bolt right to his helmet. He was fixing the mast on his ship to make an escape," Gobber laughed.

"By the time Thor was finished with him, our whole fleet was on fire."

"We shipped him off the island, and Thor hasn't hit the village since."

"You threw him off the island?" Hiccup asked. "Pretty harsh..." Lightning began to travel from the metal perches to the wood of homes, lighting them aflame and causing mass panic.

"Gobber." The chief and Gobber rushed off to help people out of their homes, followed by Hiccup and Toothless, while I remained paralyzed in my chair. My mind raced and my body rocked back and forth, attempting to comfort myself in any way possible. Another crash sent my anxiety spiking and shivers down to my toes.

"Reign, come here."

I quickly turned around to see my brother's open arms waiting for me. I whined fearfully and rushed into them, sobbing and shivering.