And he hurriedly picked up his yacht, and turned
it around, and started sledging as fast as he could in the
direction of the prison.
Thank Thor Toothless and Eggingarde hadn’t seen
that…
Stoick shielded his eyes, and looked out to where
you could just see the shining glimmer of the tide on
the horizon. ‘We need to move fast now,’ said Stoick.
They had plenty of amber, but no Dragon Jewel.
But they had to return to the prison, before
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the tide came in.
Sailing as fast as they could, they met up with
the other returning Amber-Hunters. All of them poled
swiftly now, reaching astonishing speeds on those wet,
sliding sands, afraid that they might yet be caught by
that incoming tide.
They stopped only to pick up Snotface Snotlout,
little though he deserved it.
We left Snotface Snotlout all alone on the
Eastern Sands, do you remember? Thinking?
Well, he thought a great deal over the next two
hours, and what he thought made him convinced that
nobody was going to come back to save him.
He had been running back through that sludgy
sand, though he knew that it was hopeless, and even
running as fast as he could, he would never be able to
out-run the incoming tide. Only a yacht could do that.
He was also attacked on the way by three
Brainless Leg-Removers, and two smallish Rocket-
Rages, which he had to fight off all on his own. So, all
in all, when he finally saw the yachts returning to collect
him he wept with relief.
Hiccup had never seen Snotlout cry: he wouldn’t
have believed it possible.
Baggybum and Gobber stopped on either side of
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the weeping, exhausted boy.
‘The lesson today,’ said Gobber, ‘was that you
have done nothing to deserve us coming back to save
you, Snotlout. Nothing at all. But we are going to save
you nonetheless, because perhaps – just perhaps – you
might do something in the future.’
Snotlout said nothing.
The two Warriors balanced Snotlout in between
their two yachts, so that they could still go reasonably
fast, and paddled back to the prison.
They did risk their lives for Snotlout, for he
weighed down their yacht, and the rest of the slaves
were already back at the prison, looking anxiously out
at the incoming tide, worrying when they realised the
Amber-Hunters were not back yet.
And then they spotted the Amber-Hunters on the
horizon, racing against the tide, and cheered them, as
one by one they reached the prison, moving so fast that
they had difficulty stopping.
Gobber, Baggybum and Snotlout were the last in,
so late that the tide caught under the yacht. The wave
rolled in with the upended sled and carried them right
up to the castle battlements, splashing against them
with a wild swoosh…
And now, where there had been red sand as far as
the eye could see, there was water instead.
Has Snotlout learnt his lesson yet?
We shall have to wait and see…
Snotlout did not speak to Alvin and the witch
about the mutiny and treason as he had threatened to,
and perhaps that was wise, because that unpleasant
pair were not in the kind of mood to listen to
complaints.
The witch and Alvin strolled up and down
the bay with whips in their hands, examining each
yacht returning from the Seeking, and shrieking with
disappointment as each one did not contain the
Dragon Jewel.
‘Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?’ hissed the witch,
bounding up to each and every yacht with greedy
fury, and tumbling the contents out upon the sand
when she found that they did not contain the Jewel.
‘I do not understand it, Alvin. I saw it in my
dream… The dice told me… I would be holding the
Jewel in my hands within the next few days.
‘YOU WILL GO TO THE EVIL REACHES
AGAIN TOMORROW!’ shrieked the witch. ‘AND IF
YOU DO NOT BRING ME THE JEWEL, DO NOT
BOTHER COMING BACK!’
As Hiccup followed the slaves to the dungeon
bedroom, he thought sadly of the ruins of his
original plan. What was he going to do? Sneak in,
rescue Fishlegs and his father, find the Jewel,
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and sneak out again.
This is going to be so much more difficult than I
thought it was going to be.
He was trapped in the Amber Slavelands, and
he had this terrible sinking feeling that he was never
going to find the Jewel, or poor Fishlegs.
But all he could do was keep on looking, even
though he was more scared than he had ever been
before, now he knew what terrible dangers were
lurking out here on the Amber Sands…
Because Hiccup did not tell Eggingarde and
Stoick the Vast one small important detail. He didn’t
even tell the Wodensfang.
Back there, when the bugle rang out, and
Eggingarde roared, his sand-yacht had tipped
over. And he looked down and realised that the
indentation in the sand was in fact… the footprint of
a gigantic dragon.
And then when he looked up, he thought he just
caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his
eye. Something so unlikely, that it seemed that it could
not possibly exist.
The gigantic hand of a dragon sticking out of the
sand, and on the end of each taloned finger, an evil
dragon eye…
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Watching… Waiting…
Hiccup had never seen anything quite like this
dragon hand. It was absolutely horrible, like something
out of a nightmare.
Hiccup did not tell Eggingarde because he
thought it might be bad for morale.
10. THE DEADLY SHADOW
Hiccup was so tired he fell asleep immediately.
All around the castle battlements, the nightly
shrieking and the screaming of the Dragon Rebellion
had begun, the exploding weapons, the whine of the
arrows being launched at the dragon attackers.
But while the sentries were on duty up there on
the battlements, the rest of the prison was sleeping:
witch, King, warriors, slaves and all.
And that night, through the quiet corridors
of the sleeping prison, something moved like an
invisible mist. You could not see the shining mirage
of the Deadly Shadow as he crept through the rooms
like a silent doom. But he was there nonetheless, like
Death himself.
He knew exactly where he was heading.
Outside the dungeon entrance he paused, and
his three heads sniffed with satisfaction, drinking in
the smell of Hiccup.
If you could have seen the Shadow, you
would have seen a gorgeous, shining invisible tail
disappearing down the stairs going to the dungeon,
like the tail of a beautiful im
aginary cat entering a
mouse hole.
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But you couldn’t see him.
Meanwhile, Hiccup woke up from a nightmare
about the Monster of the Slavelands breaking into
Prison Darkheart itself…
And then when he sat up, sweating, he found
nothing there but the slaves all around him, sleeping
the sleep of those who had spent an exhausting day
sailing their way across the sands.
But what was that?
He thought he heard a noise, a noise that was
nearer than the constant distant din of the Dragon
Rebellion outside.
There it was again. He strained to hear the noise
once more. Nothing.
Toothless and the Wodensfang were still snoring
on the straw. They were sleeping so soundly. Surely
that must mean it was nothing? Surely they would wake
if there were any real danger?
But still Hiccup’s heart beat as quick as a mouse.
What was that noise? Was that the noise of nothing?
He was just thinking that the entire thing had
been all in his imagination, when out of nowhere
something jumped on him, wrapping itself tightly
around his mouth so he could not scream, and he and
the Wodensfang and Toothless were wrapped around
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like a parcel and picked up off the bed.
The Wodensfang’s ears were as purple as
blueberries and jumping about pointing to north, south,
east and west so violently they threatened to rattle
themselves right off the poor Wodensfang’s head.
‘Danger!’ the Wodensfang was trying to squeak.
‘Danger! Danger! Danger!’
But Hiccup had already realised he was in a
dangerous situation.
Hiccup tried to struggle but his arms and legs
were clamped by his sides, as if by tentacles, or some
strange invisible force so strong that he could barely
move as he was inexorably carried off.
He was so scared he could hardly think. How
could he be attacked from inside the castle? What
could this be? His mind jostled with Rocket-Rages,
with Piranha Hermit dragons, with Something Worse
than all of these, something that could not possibly
exist, a thing with a claw that had an eye atop every
single talon.
But how could any of these things, in real life,
sneak past the sentries that were currently blasting their
way at anything that tried to get near the castle walls?
‘Mff!’ cried Hiccup, trying to kick out. ‘Mff!
Mff! Mff!’
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11. A GENUINE SURPRISE
Hiccup could feel himself being carried up the
dungeon stairs, could hear the sound of soft footsteps
and whispers all around him, and then, as he struggled,
he began to realise the voices he was hearing were not
dragon voices, but human voices.
He had a feeling of being dragged into a smaller
area, where the voices became more echoey and even
colder than the dungeon. And then, more surprising
still, he recognised the voice of someone he knew well,
but just hadn’t heard for a very long time…
‘Don’t panic,’ said the voice. ‘We’re friends.
We’re here to help you escape from Prison
Darkheart… We had to cover your mouth in case you
screamed, because you weren’t expecting us.’
And then the hands unwound him from the sheet
he was wrapped in, and took the gag and blindfold
from his head, and he was in what felt like some sort of
drainage tunnel.
And he was surrounded by faces, the nearest of
which he did, indeed, know very well.
‘Camicazi!’ whispered Hiccup in joyful surprise.
Camicazi was a small, chatty and recklessly brave
Bog-Burglar, with a lot of wild blonde hair that looked
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like squirrels had been break-dancing vigorously in the
back of it.
She also just so happened to be one of Hiccup’s
best friends.
Camicazi looked at him for a moment in
puzzlement, and then she pulled up his eye patch, took
off his wart, and exclaimed in gob-smacked happy
astonishment, ‘Hiccup!’
Bog-Burglars aren’t supposed to show when
they’re really pleased to see someone, so Camicazi now
turned bright red with the effort of not knowing what
to do. She scowled furiously, and pummelled Hiccup
three times on the shoulder, and then she hugged him,
and then she hit him again – a little harder this time –
whispering ferociously (and if it hadn’t been Camicazi,
you might have said slightly tearfully), in between each
punch.
‘Where… have… you… been? I haven’t been
worried about you…’ she added hastily. ‘No, no, I
haven’t been worried, because us Bog-Burglars never
worry, we’re too cool, but where… have… you…
been?’
‘Ow!’ grinned Hiccup, holding his slightly bruised
shoulder. ‘You’re the first person who’s actually
recognised me. Not that I actually want people to
recognise me in this place, but still, it’s nice to know
that I haven’t changed completely in just six months.’
Camicazi was still bright red and scowling more
furiously than ever. ‘Why didn’t you come and find
me?’ She hid her face in her elbow. ‘Was it because I
Turned My Back with everybody else when the witch
got us to at the school? Because I’m sorry about that,
Hiccup, and I’ve been wishing and wishing that I had
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stood up for you, like
Fishlegs did, ever
since… It was just a
bit of a shock about
the Slavemark and
everything…’
‘No, no,’
Hiccup assured
her. ‘It wasn’t that,
I knew all along that
you didn’t really mean to
Turn Your Back.’
‘You’re sure?’ said
Camicazi, still a little muffled.
‘Absolutely sure,’ lied Hiccup awkwardly.
‘Besides, I was watching you the whole time and it
wasn’t really a full turn, it was just a sort of twist… A
kind of sideways-on, Half-Turn if you like, and only for
a moment…’
‘A Half-Turn?’ sniffed Camicazi hopefully.
‘The only reason I didn’t come and find you was
that everybody’s after me at the moment, and I didn’t
want to put you in danger as well,’ explained Hiccup.
‘Well that wasn’t very kind of you, was it?’
grinned Camicazi, who had cheered up no end.
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‘You know I love danger!’ She rubbed her hands
together excitedly. ‘Danger is my favourite thing!’
‘Yes, well,’ said Hiccup, changing the subject.
‘Speaking of danger, what on earth are you doing here,
Camicazi?’
‘We’re the Escape Artists,’ explained Camicazi,
beaming. ‘This is my Team: Sporta… Typhoon…
Harriettahorse… Beefburger…’ She introduced th
e
four Bog-Burglars who were sitting beside her in the
drainage tunnel.
They had been the ones who had wrapped
Hiccup in the sheet, and they must have carried him
together along the corridor.
They were all considerably larger than Camicazi,
but dressed similarly in black burglary suits, with a
lot of burglary equipment and weaponry dangling off
them.
To Hiccup’s surprise, the other Bog-Burglars
blushed and looked extremely self-conscious as they
shook his hand. ‘This isn’t…
the Outcast, is it?’
blurted Typhoon.
‘That’s right,’ said Camicazi carelessly, but
bursting with pride. ‘This is my friend, the Outcast,
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.’
It was very nice to have somebody being so
proud to present him to others as their friend.
‘Wow,’ said Typhoon, pumping his hand. ‘This
is an honour. Camicazi’s been telling us about your
work, hasn’t she, guys? Releasing the dragon-traps…
standing up against those fiends Alvin and the witch…
Respect.’
‘Thank you,’ said Hiccup, in surprise.
Meanwhile, Toothless was delighted too.
Slinking behind Camicazi in the tunnel was Stormfly,
Camicazi’s gorgeous golden Mood-Dragon, who
changed colour according to her mood, and Toothless
was in love with Stormfly.
‘H-h-hello, Stormfly,’ stammered Toothless
carelessly.
‘Why hello there, Toothless,’
said Stormfly.
‘We’re O-o-outcasts… You should see Toothless in an
eye patch…’
‘I bet you look marvellous…’ simpered that
mischievous Mood-Dragon, turning a little purple.
‘And this is Toothless’s side-kick… Er… W-w-
wodensfang the Desperado. Don’t cross him… He’s
one tough dragon…’
The Wodensfang was a little surprised to
be introduced as Toothless’s sidekick, but obligingly,
he tried to make himself look tough, which was tricky
for a dragon who was thousands of years old, no larger
than a biscuit tin, and a little wobbly on his wings.
How to Train Your Dragon: How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel Page 9