How To Train Your Dragon: How to Betray a Dragon's Hero

by Cressida Cowell

  ‘My jealousy has made me destroy all the

  things that in my heart of hearts I value…’

  ‘My honour. The respect of

  Gobber. The respect of my father.

  My whole world, the world of

  dragons, dragons that I love.

  ‘If I stop being angry, I

  have to see what I am, and

  what I am now is what

  the witch said. I am a

  treacherous worm. I

  am worthless, useless,

  nothing of value. I am

  not surprised that all

  those people Turned

  Their Backs on me.

  ‘I have Turned My Back on me.

  ‘I have Turned My Back on myself.’

  Snotlout dropped his sword to the deck, where

  it fell on the wood with an ugly clang. He put his face

  in his elbow. His shoulders heaved with uncontainable

  sobs.

  There was a long and terrible silence.

  Hiccup struggled to find the right words, for

  it was truly awful and piteous to see a person in the

  miserable state of having Turned Their Back on

  themselves.

  But somehow he found the words of a person

  who was meant to be a King.

  ‘You are being too hard on yourself, Snotlout,’

  said Hiccup at last. ‘A weaker person than you would

  have killed me just now. You could have done that.

  You won the swordfight, you disarmed me. But you

  knew that the plight of the world was more important

  than your own personal feelings. You put your honour

  before your pride, and that is what Heroes do.

  ‘Do not take this all on yourself. This is not all

  your fault. Fate and the stars have put us in a difficult

  situation.

  ‘I know I am not what you wanted in a King,’

  said Hiccup. ‘I know that it is hard for you to follow

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  someone who is physically weaker than you are and,

  what is more, your younger cousin. And it is not

  surprising that it is hard. How can you follow someone

  that in your heart you do not respect?

  ‘I wish I could offer you a King who is greater

  than I am. I can’t turn into someone else, I can only be

  me. But I have discovered that I too, am stronger than

  I thought I was. I think I can do this. I think I can be

  this King that the Dragonmarkers want me to be.’

  ‘What are you saying?’ said Snotlout.

  ‘I am asking you, once again, whether you will

  join the Dragonmarker side,’ said Hiccup.

  Another long pause.

  Snotlout wasn’t expecting this at all.

  It took him completely by surprise.

  ‘If you put your faith in me, I will try not to

  disappoint you,’ added Hiccup.

  ‘Are you saying,’ said Snotlout, wonderingly

  taking his face out of his elbow, ‘that you are still

  prepared to take the risk and trust me, after I have

  betrayed you again and again and again?’

  ‘I know in my heart that you are a Hero in the

  making,’ said Hiccup. ‘We all make mistakes. We all

  need second chances and even third, fourth and fifth

  chances. Maybe you just needed to have that one last

  fight with me, and then you’d be able to join our side.’

  Another long, long pause.

  It was like a door had suddenly opened in the

  very dark and tiny room which Snotlout’s life had

  become, a room in which he had been so trapped and

  cramped and contorted, and he had not seen light for

  such a very long time that he had almost forgotten light

  existed.

  At last Snotlout took his face out of his elbow

  entirely and wiped it with his waistcoat. His face had

  lost its ill, green colour, and he looked better than he

  had in ages.

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  ‘You,’ said Snotlout, ‘are a very unusual person,

  Hiccup.’

  Well, it was better than ‘You are a little weirdo,

  Hiccup,’ which was what Snotlout normally said.

  ‘I haven’t really allowed myself to think this until

  now…’ Snotlout said awkwardly, and it was obviously

  hard for him to get out these words, ‘but maybe you

  might not be quite such a disastrous King as I used to

  think you’d be. You were quite brave back there in the

  witch’s camp, I thought.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Hiccup.

  ‘And perhaps,’ said Snotlout, ‘perhaps Fate does

  know her business after all. You aren’t the King that we

  wanted, but maybe you are the King that we need.’

  He bent down to pick up his sword, slowly, as if

  he were beginning to recover from a long, long illness.

  ‘I guess I could be helpful to you, couldn’t I?’ said

  Snotlout thoughtfully. ‘After all, you would only have

  one paltry little Thing if it wasn’t for me. Not much

  hope of being crowned King with one measly little

  Thing. And now, thanks to me, you have all of them.’

  ‘Yes, it’s brilliant, Snotlout, I have to say, you’ve

  done the most magnificent job,’ admitted Hiccup.

  ‘We’d never have got all the Things without your

  help… My parents are going to be so pleased… We’re

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  in with a real chance now.’

  Snotlout drew himself up to his full dignified

  height.

  He turned to Hiccup, and bowed, like a Warrior

  of old, following the ancient code of the Kings of the

  Wilderwest, when they invited their greatest Heroes to

  join them at High Table.

  ‘My sword is at your service, King,’ said Snotlout

  to Hiccup.

  Hiccup bowed formally back.

  ‘I am honoured to accept it,’ said Hiccup, in the

  traditional time-honoured fashion.

  ‘Shake hands?’ said Snotlout, almost shyly.

  Hiccup grinned.

  Snotlout and Hiccup shook hands.

  ‘Oh that was well done, Hiccup,’ whispered

  Wodensfang admiringly. ‘You could give that witch a

  lesson or two in changing hearts and minds.’

  ‘Are you all r-r-right up there, Master?’ came

  poor Toothless’s terrified voice floating up through

  the floor-boards of the deck. ‘And wossit he talking

  about, the One-With-the-Nose-So-Big-You-could-

  Nest-in-There? Doesn’t he know Toothless is the

  BEST ONE?’

  Hiccup knelt down, and he could actually see

  Toothless directly below him, through a crack in the

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  deck. He was locked in a cage, poor Toothless, his

  spines drooping, his eyes large and terrified.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Hiccup reassured him. ‘We haven’t

  got time to break into the hold yet, we’re just going

  to sail to a safe place and then we’ll get you out of

  there, I promise, Toothless.’

  ‘Toothless not like being t-t-trapped!’ squeaked

  poor Toothless.

  ‘Oh for Thor’s sake,’ said Snotlout wryly, ‘nothing

  changes. Stop whispering and blowing kisses to your

  cute ickle dragon and help me get this ship out of here.’

  In all the drama of their swordfight, they had

  forgotten that they were sup
posed to be running away.

  ‘Where are we going?’ said Hiccup, scrambling to

  his feet again.

  ‘Across Wrecker’s Bay to the Dragonmarker

  hideout,’ said Snotlout. ‘I’m presuming you do actually

  know where that is, after the witch spent so much

  trouble trying to get the information out of you?’

  ‘The hideout is in Coral Beach,’ said Hiccup with

  a grin. ‘My mother told me that just before we split up

  in the Amber Slavelands.’

  ‘OK,’ said Snotlout. ‘We’ll get there just in time

  for you to sail across to Hero’s Gap for Doomsday Eve.

  You really like to cut it fine, don’t you, Hiccup?’

  Snotlout rubbed his hands together. He was

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  cheering up in front of Hiccup’s very eyes.

  ‘OPERATION MAKE HICCUP KING is on its

  way!’

  ‘We’ll have to be really lucky for this to work…’

  said Hiccup.

  ‘You got any better Plans, O Brilliant One?’

  snorted Snotlout. ‘Why don’t you just concentrate

  on sailing this boat, and try not to sink it, eh, like you

  always did with The Hopeful Puffin…’

  It was as good a plan as any under the

  circumstances.

  18. A VERY SHORT CHAPTER

  IN WHICH IT LOOKS LIKE

  EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO

  GO RIGHT FOR FIVE MINUTES

  The boys went to work, getting the ship sailing as fast

  as possible, expertly handling the ropes like the young

  Vikings they were. They had done this a thousand

  times in Viking Sailing Practice. But never together.

  They worked in surprising unison, for two boys who

  had loathed each other all their lives.

  Hiccup felt a weird sense of elation, for the first

  time in his life to be working side-by-side with Snotlout

  for a common aim.

  They were not out of danger. No. But,

  unbelievably, they had all the Things, every single one,

  safely locked in the hold. If they could just get them to

  Tomorrow… so close now that they could actually see

  it, a dark shadow in the mist, tantalisingly within reach.

  They had finally laid to rest their old quarrel, they

  had got all the Things, there was a clear wind taking

  them across Wrecker’s Bay, and for five whole minutes

  it looked like everything was going to be all right.

  It would have been even more inspiring if it

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  hadn’t been for the sound of Toothless howling. Still

  locked in his cage, Toothless had decided he was going

  to die, so he had stopped singing the song about the

  thousands of bottles, and he was now singing an even

  sadder song, which went something like this:

  ‘Toothless is dy-y-y-ying… Poor Toothless is

  dy-y-ying…’

  ‘Can’t you shut the gummy one up,’ said Snotlout

  through gritted teeth. ‘It’s making me feel like throwing

  myself off the ship or giving myself up to the witch.’

  As they slipped out of the witch’s harbour, flocks

  of dragons and seagulls flew screeching overhead,

  screaming cries of warning, swarming in numbers like a

  plague of locusts from the direction of the Open Sea.

  An extraordinary noise followed them, a noise

  unlike anything Hiccup had ever heard before, a deep

  and elemental howl. For one second, Hiccup thought it

  was the Dragon Furious, before realising that no living

  creature could make that noise – not even a mighty Sea

  Dragon the size of a mountain.

  Only a true apocalyptic power could make that

  noise. Like volcanoes and earthquakes and hurricanes,

  that noise is one that tells the human being how small

  and insignificant a pinprick is mankind, for all his

  cleverness and ingenuity, in the face of the awesome

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  power of Nature itself.

  ‘What is that?’ shouted Snotlout, his face turning

  a little green.

  ‘That,’ said Hiccup swallowing, ‘is the Winter

  Wind of Woden.’

  Just to make their escape a little more interesting

  than it was already, the Winter Wind of Woden was

  starting to blow. What were the chances?

  Hiccup made some calculations. They might

  avoid the Winter Wind of Woden if they were fast –

  and lucky.

  Doggedly, quietly, the two boys set the ship

  in the direction of the Dragonmarkers’ hideout and

  moved out of the Harbour, streams of dragons and

  birds shrieking above them like shooting stars, and the

  clamour and explosions and fireworks of the Battle

  going on behind them.

  19. EVERYTHING GOES

  WRONG AGAIN, VERY

  RAPIDLY

  While Hiccup and Snotlout were fighting, everything

  else had fallen away. They had been so focused on each

  other and their ancient quarrel that they had forgotten

  about the peril they were in, their flight from the witch

  and Alvin.

  But now the outside world forced itself on their

  attention once again.

  Just as they had got the ship on course, sailing

  towards the Dragonmarker hideout, Snotlout stared

  with an arrested expression at something back at the

  waterfall, on the shore they had just left, and nudged

  Hiccup.

  They were half way across Wrecker’s Bay.

  Halfway to Coral Beach and safety.

  But a little group of black specks had crawled out

  of the calm, distant waterfall like bluebottles creeping

  out of a crack in the wall.

  Tense with anxiety, Snotlout and Hiccup stared

  at the distant land, hoping against hope that they were

  mistaken, that the little black specks were just tricks of

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  the light

  and the wind.

  But as the specks flew nearer,

  there was a hollow feeling in Hiccup’s heart.

  He knew what they were.

  Ravenhunters.

  A flock of the witch’s

  Ravenhunters, pursuing

  them like an inescapable,

  unwearying Fate.

  Ravenhunters

  were too small

  for riders,

  but they acted as spies for the

  witch. On they came, with remorseless flaps.

  Flying dragons can easily outpace a ship.

  Nearer… nearer… nearer…

  ‘SHOOT THEM!’ yelled Snotlout, grabbing his

  bow.

  Windwalker and the Hurricane leapt bravely

  from the deck of the ship to confront the Ravenhunters

  mid-air as they flew overhead.

  Snotlout shot five of them – even

  Hiccup, with one dead hand, shot one.

  Windwalker and the Hurricane took out even more,

  diving after them as the remainder flapped back to the

  witch, squawking. But there were too many to catch.

  ‘They’ll fetch reinforcements,’ shouted Snotlout.

  ‘And this time they will bring Bullguards with riders.

  Those Bullguards are quick. They’ll catch us before we

  get to the Dragonmarker hideout, if it’s where you say

  it is.’

  It was too cruel.

  Ev
en half an hour later, and they might have got

  to safety.

  They were so close, SO close to getting

  away with it, sneaking those Things

  away from underneath

  the very noses of Alvin and the witch…

  Hiccup scanned the horizon.

  The Winter Wind of Woden, blowing like an

  angry god, was closer than the Dragonmarker hideout.

  ‘Could we steer the ship into the Winter Wind?’

  asked Hiccup. ‘They’d never follow us in there.’

  ‘There’s a reason for that,’ said Snotlout, with

  a hollow laugh. ‘It’s a guaranteed death sentence.

  Besides, I don’t think there’s time. Look! I can see the

  Bullguards coming out already. They’ll reach us before

  we get to the Wind.’

  The two boys looked at Windwalker and the

  Hurricane.

  The Things were trapped. They were locked in

  the hold.

  But the boys themselves did have a choice.

  They could climb on to the riding-dragons’ backs

  and fly themselves to safety. Both Windwalker and the

  Hurricane were faster than Bullguards.

  But that would mean abandoning all of the Lost

  Things to Alvin and the witch. Including Toothless.

  What else could they do? Stay here and die?

  ‘W-w-wossgoingon?’ came the voice of

  Toothless, floating up from the hold of the boat.

  ‘It’s OK, Toothless,’ Hiccup shouted down.

  ‘We’ve just hit a little hitch… nothing to worry

  about.’

  Hurricane gave an unhappy whine, his spines

  drooping, his tail between his legs. Automatically,

  Snotlout put out a hand and soothed the Hurricane’s

  splendid, drooping head.

  ‘It’ll be all right, boy,’ he said. ‘It’s all going to be

  all right.’

  Snotlout stared into the distance, thinking.

  ‘Oh for Thor’s sake,’ he swore, bending down,

  picking up his sword and putting it back in his

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  scabbard. ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this…

  ‘Swap clothes with me, and give me your

  helmet!’ Snotlout ordered Hiccup, taking off his own

  helmet and shrugging off his waistcoat.

  ‘Why?’ shouted Hiccup, taking off his own