Home-Bound: Broken Ties

24 - The Arc of Resolution

.

Dominicus was not sulking. Not at all. Sure, he just lost a Night Fury, and was maybe defeated by the dude he had declared his personal enemy. But he was not sulking at all.

"C'mon men," he tried to cheer up his crew—not at all for his own benefit—while holding a chunk of broken Bewilderbeast ice to his throbbing temple. "No big deal. We'll fulfil the quota by tomorrow. I swear."

"Sure, Dominicus," one of his archers grumbled in passing. Surely Dominicus wasn't meant to hear it. "Just like you swore to kill the Chief of Isunder. And failed."

That stung a bit. And Dominicus only 'swore' to kill the Isunder Chief once when he was severely drunk and being egged on by his crew. Sure, he hated the entire island and especially the ruling family but he didn't want to murder them. That was just plain savage.

"In my defense, I would have attacked much sooner if I knew who he was."

One of the crewmembers who he was much more chummy with slapped him on the back, the force nearly sending him flying forward. "He had the Isunder crest on his sword and he rides a Night Fury. You should've figured it out, boy."

Dominicus brushed the hand off. He tossed away the ice to help one of the sailors tighten the sails, grunting as he spoke. "Sure, sure. I should have been more observant. But hey, at least I saw the Night Fury coming in the first place. You can't call me oblivious if I saw the dragons coming straight at us when none of you did!"

He laughed, dusting his pants off any of the rope fibres that might have fallen onto his clothes. He didn't notice the distant flapping wings until it was too late.

"Uh, Dominicus?"

"What—" He was suddenly swept off the boat and into the air. The wind whipped past his face and a shiver ran down his spine—he didn't know if it was because of the increasing distance between him and the surface of the water or because of the cold.

He didn't realize he was screaming until the girl on the dragon called him out for it.

"Stop screaming! Stormfly won't drop you unless I tell her to."

That wasn't at all reassuring. He didn't trust this woman or her smelly little friends with his life. Why would he? They were associated with that dumb Isunder Chief.

And the Nadder's name was Stormfly?

Surprisingly, her grip was warm and strong on Dominicus' shoulder. But that still didn't explain why the girl on the Nadder—Astrid, as her companions called her—kidnapped Dominicus after he graciously let their Chief go.

"What the—"

"I want you to tell us where Drago is."

"What?!"

"Where is Drago?!"

Despite his fear, Dominicus scoffed. He relaxed in the grasp of the Nadder. "You think I'm going to lead you straight to Drago? Just kill me now."

"That can be arranged."

And then he was falling towards the icy water.

What even was Dominicus' life.

He always hated heights. His former slave owners had a steep set of stairs near the front entrance. One day, the mistress of the house pushed him down them.

"Okay! Okay!" He cried out, his lips betraying him. "I'll tell you! Just don't let me fall!"

And then the warm grip returned to his shoulder, not as strong this time since the dragon was convinced that he wouldn't try to escape her grip.