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Astrid could feel it. Something was wrong, something with Hiccup. He’d gone out to patrol a few hours ago, and had not returned. There had been no signal from Toothless to say anything was wrong, but Astrid felt it. There was this pull towards Hiccup that made her want to just hop on Stormfly and fly off.
So that was exactly what she did. She didn’t have time to tell the rest of the Dragon Riders where she was going. This was important. Something was wrong .
She and Stormfly flew off to the north into storms. It was cold, and sleet fell from the iron-gray sky. She barely noticed the cold, though she’d neglected to put on a coat. The only thing that mattered was that pull towards Hiccup. She had to help him.
It took about two hours for Astrid and Stormfly to find the Dragon Hunter fleet. They were going west at heavy speed through the choppy ocean rather than anchoring and trying to weather the storm.
Astrid knew she’d found the right place. There was something about it, something about her sense of Hiccup that told her so.
“Stormfly, let’s go,” Astrid said, tightening her hold on her saddle with her legs.
Stormfly squawked, looked back at her, asking if she was serious.
“Yes, I’m serious!” Astrid cried. “Hiccup is down there!”
Another squawk. “How do you know?”
“B-because…” Astrid spluttered. “You know what, never mind. Just go, Stormfly! Fire!”
Her dragon looked like she wanted to argue with her some more, but she didn’t, and together, the two swooped down towards the fleet.
They never saw her coming. It took some time for them to recover from the two blasts Stormfly had shot at the flagship, one mangling a catapult, the other a ballista. Coming in close made her realize that Ryker and Dagur were on the flagship. Did that mean Heather was here as well?
Her answer came soon enough as a Razorwhip spine shot over her head, nearly grazing her. Anger flared through her for a moment, though she’d known Heather hadn’t meant to hit her. She was trying to get her away from the ship though. Astrid couldn’t allow that.
Heather and Windshear shot up towards her, shooting out a blast of white flame. Astrid dodged, twirled, came up under Windshear’s belly.
“Astrid, what are you doing?!”
“Is Hiccup down there?” Heather pulled Windshear away before any damage could be done to her underside, and she and Stormfly faced off, pretend anger making growls come from their chests.
“Astrid—”
“Is he down there?!”
“Yes!” Heather shouted. “I’ve been working on trying to get him out, okay?”
Another blast of fire from Windshear. They had to make this look like a real fight.
“Then let me get him out.”
“And leave you to face an entire fleet?!” Heather shouted incredulously. “Astrid, it won’t work! You’ll be captured too!”
Astrid glanced down at the fleet. They were readying chains and net shooters. She didn’t have much longer.
She hated it, but Heather was right. She couldn’t do this.
With a scream of frustration, Astrid had Stormfly send a blast at Windshear and Heather—a real blast. It hit Windshear square in the chest, and she and Heather plummeted back down towards the flagship.
Astrid didn’t stay to see if she’d be okay. She had to retreat now if she wanted to make it out.
Make it out and plan on how to get Hiccup back.
Wanting to scream again, but keeping her jaw clenched tight, Astrid flew off, heading back towards the Edge to bring the terrible news of Hiccup’s capture. The storm was clearing, and the sky bled with sunset as the sun lowered into the frothy waves.