A girl's worth

Chapter 3

  Thyra flies along with Astrid, staying close to the trees as they look for any stray dragons who could fall victim to the hunters. "Get away from here!" She calls out to all the dragons they find.

"Thyra, look!" Astrid says, pointing over to a spot a bit further away from them where a Monstrous Nightmare is flying, its lizard-like body sliding through the air. Thyra is about to call out for the dragon when it is taken down with a net. The poor thing tries to flame up, which means that it sets its whole body aflame, but the net doesn't seem to be affected. The girls watch as the dragon is pulled down to the ground, roaring for help.

Thyra nods at Astrid, both girls falling completely silent as they fly closer to the place the dragon was caught. Silently, Thyra counts down before they dive down, starting to circle the hunter.

Closer and closer they fly, seeing the hunter fumble with his crossbow. He looks from one rider to the other, eventually focusing on Thyra which leaves him with his back to Astrid and Stormfly.

"Stormfly, single spike shot!" Astrid quickly says, making the dragon flick her tail, shooting a spine at the hunter. The man is hit in the leg and the venom from the spike instantly paralyzed him, making him fall to his face.

"You've been training," Thyra comments, smiling at the other girl as she moves over to the paralyzed viking while Astrid frees the Monstrous Nightmare which immediately flies away.

"I thought they weren't here yet," Astrid says instead of answering Thyra. There's no time for jokes or niceties now. "If he's already here, that could mean that there are other hunters in the woods as well. We should warn the others."

Thyra nods, knowing all too well what it could mean. She crouched down, turning the man on his back. She gasps as she realizes that she knows him. Cursing under her breath, she gets up quickly and climbs back onto Gaoth. "We have to get to Hiccup and the others. If this is who I think it is, these hunters are the least of our problems."

What's going on? Who is he?" Astrid asks, rushing to climb back onto Stormfly's back and fly after Thyra and Gaoth. "Thyra, slow down."

Thyra flies up higher and higher, seeing too many boats in Berk's harbour and, more importantly, most of them have dragon catching material on them. "Change of plans, Astrid. I need you to go through the woods. Make sure no one sees you and don't come out of hiding. Not for anything."

"What's going on? Who are these vikings?" Astrid asks again.

"You'll have to trust me," Thyra answers. "You'll understand soon enough, just follow my instructions and I promise everything will be fine."

Without another word, she flies away, leaving Astrid no choice but to do as she's told.

"This is it, Gaoth," Thyra mutters. "We knew this could happen. We've gotten too comfortable here. I knew we shouldn't have hung around for as long as we did. We've put everyone in danger."

As they get closer to the settlement, they can already see that the streets aren't bustling with vikings as usual. Everything is too silent. Big cages come into view, inside of which can be seen movement. "He wouldn't dare, would he?" She says slowly, dreading the idea but as time goes by and the cages get clearer, her fears are realized.

The cages are filled with vikings, fighting to find a way out. To the side are two more cages, one holding Hiccup, Fishlegs, and their dragons. The other holds Snotlout, the twins, and their dragons. They must've been captured while looking for other dragons.

"It's even worse than I thought," Thyra gasps. "Whatever you do, don't stop flying, Gaoth."

The dragon growls to which Thyra shakes her head. "No way. You won't be saving anyone if you stay here. You won't be protecting me, you'll get yourself killed. I need you to take care of the other dragons. They need someone to protect them. I can't do that anymore now and you can't protect me anymore from what is to come." The dragon seems to protest again but eventually relents. "I love you, girl. I'll miss you. Thank you for everything you did for me."

While still flying, Thyra climbs out of her saddle, climbing down Gaoth's front leg, hanging from it. As soon as they fly over the town's square, she lets herself fall, landing on her feet. The momentum makes her do a barrel roll before getting back up on her feet again.

She immediately rushes over to the nearest cage to try and release the trapped people. "It's going to be alright, I promise," she tells them while looking for a way to pick the lock.

"Look who decided to make an appearance," she suddenly hears someone behind her say. "And here I thought you were dead."

She turns around to see a tall, beefy man looking down at her. He has a scowl on his scarred face and his arms are crossed as his almost black eyes move over her.

"Let everyone go," Thyra says, standing up straighter under his scrutinizing gaze.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the man says. "After all, they took my daughter from me."

"That's impossible," the girl says, shaking her head. "These people are too kind for that. Besides, I left you, father."