The team spent two more days on Berk before heading home. The time spent allowed them to unwind and relax with the daunting task ahead of them. This was the last little vacation they were going to have for a long time. They settled in on the Edge and things went back to normal, well, sort off.
"I think we should be done by tomorrow. The spring calibration is the only thing that would take time" Forde said.
He was in Rune's hut along with Rune. They had the plans Rune had drawn while on Berk for the fin on the back of his wing suit. The fin itself and the slit it was to pop out from had been built, only the mechanism to activate it remained.
"Yeah, if we put in the work without distractions we should finish by tomorrow. Then we can move to testing" Rune agreed.
He had a charcoal pencil placed in-between his ear and his head as he examined his creation.
"And from there, mass production" Forde said.
"Mass production" Rune said with dread in his voice.
"Well I suppose if we can perfect this version, making more would be a breeze. We would have a blueprint to follow and can even make improvements"
"I think that's the only bright side to this"
Before the two could get back to work, Vyra barged in. She swung open the door wildly without even knocking or anything. Sandstorm grunted with annoyance, she was disturbing his afternoon nap with that much noise.
"Rune, we need to talk" she demanded.
Rune and Forde look at themselves and then back at her. Both of them were clearly clueless.
"Umm, is it very important? Forde and I are kind of busy right now" he said cautiously. He didn't want to push the wrong buttons.
"Don't worry Rune we can call it a quick break. I'll be back later" Forde said.
He slipped passed the charging Vyra and out the door. He had no clue what was going on and didn't want to be collateral damage when things go south. Standing outside of Rune's hut, he let out a sigh and shook his head from side to side. Relationships looked like work and he wasn't ready for that yet. As he walked away, he heard some rustling in the bushes. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the bush. He brushed off the movement as maybe an animal but then a twig snapped under the weight of something. Now he was really curious.
"Is someone there?" he asked cautiously.
He began approaching the cluster of shrubs carefully, he watched where he placed his steps and took out his dagger from his satchel just in case. When he got within five meters of the cluster, a rabbit tumbled out of the bushes. The animal looked around, confused and then spotted Forde with a dagger in his hand allegedly creeping up towards it. The rabbit sprinted off into the tree line not far off, afraid for his life.
Forde relaxed and returned his weapon, relieved to find out that it was only a rabbit. Walking away from the bushes, the real cause of all the noise stayed put. It was Thyra, nestled in the bushes like an assassin on a mission. Well, the attention she drew to herself just now wasn't very stealthy. She was just happy to find a rabbit not far from her that she could throw out and not get caught by Forde.
"He's even cuter when serious" she said as she was soon taken up into her world of fantasy.
The guys have certainly stacked themselves up with some crazy ladies.
Rune watched as Vyra stood there eyeing him head to toe. He was confused at what he had done this time, Odin knows he hadn't done anything scandalous, or maybe is something he didn't do? Just as he was about to open his mouth to talk, Vyra lifted up her finger cutting him short. Air wheezed out of his mouth as he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Don't break my focus" She said with a commanding tone.
Now he was really scared. What did he do?
"Focus? I don't know what I did or didn't do but I was going to apologize"
"It has nothing to do with you doing something" she said sternly.
"Then what is it?"
"I'm looking at you right now and trying to figure out what would look good on you. What you're wearing right now doesn't really tell people I stopped a war and brought a warlord to his knees"
Rune was stunned by what she said. His head unconsciously tiled to the right a little bit as his eyebrow went up and his lips parted a bit.
"What?"
That's all he could utter.
"Yeah. When you walk into a room, your clothing is meant to tell people who you are, carry a presence. Let them have a feeling that the person that just walked in is not some fodder leader but a victorious one" she explained.
"I don't know what's gotten into you but I am not changing the way I dress. I like the way I look, it's practical in all my daily activities and they're comfortable"
"Hear me out Rune, I think a fur cloak would look well on you. That as well as new boots, a new tunic and a new pair of pants. Maybe some accessories perhaps?"
"Didn't you listen to what I said? I'm not changing my style. Where is this coming from?" he said with some irritation. This was becoming annoying.
"What would people say when they see me looking all decked out and you coming looking like…"
"Like what?" he said trying to tame the anger brewing inside of him.
"…like that. You know what I mean"
Rune was ticked off. His usually tame tongue had turn into a weapon, a bow ready to shoot some hurtful arrows he would regret later. Just as he was about to unleash his anger on her, a knock was heard from the door. Sandstorm sat up and stared at the door as Rune decided to give that his attention. He walked over to the door, much to the annoyance of Vyra.
"You can't just walk out like that. We're having a conversation"
He didn't answer. Her petition fell on deaf ears. He opened the door and was greeted by Virgil who looked a bit tensed.
"Virgil, what's up?" he asked in quite a casual tone. He didn't want to show him any signs of the argument waiting to explode.
"Sten just back from patrol. He said he saw something quite disturbing. He wants to meet with us at the clubhouse" he reported.
"That sounds serious. I'll be on my way"
"Right. Meet you there" Virgil said.
Rune shut the door as Virgil turned away. Sandstorm gave a lengthy yawn as he stretched his back out. He had a feeling they were in for some action later.
"What was that about?" Vyra asked. She had her arms crossed and tapped her foot on the ground incessantly.
"Sten spotted something out on patrol. It might be a hunter's ship" he answered.
He didn't spare the lady his gaze. He walked to the side of his table and picked up Sandstorm's saddle, ready to put it on his dragon. Sandstorm walked over to him and rubbed his head across his legs as Vyra spoke.
"Ehh. Whatever, but we will finish this conversation when we get back" she said walking towards the door.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" he said without any concern. He just wanted her out right now and space to breathe.
"Man" he sighed. He was feeling down about this whole thing. She wasn't the same person he fell in love with after their Berserker Island escapade. She was turning into something else. Sandstorm cooed softly, he brought his head to his rider's palm and purred, comforting him. Rune placed his hand on his head and rubbed it.
The whole group gathered in the clubhouse with their dragons awaiting Sten's findings.
"We're all here Sten. Tell us what you saw" said Rune.
"While Eruptor and I flew on our usual patrol route, we came across a dragon hunter ship. You know, like how it usually is. Routinely, we flew in to have a closer look to check out what they had so we could fly back and stop them. Only that this time, what those hunters were packing was totally different"
"Different in what way?" asked Forde.
"I got a look at some of the cages and those guys were packed with Crimson Goregutters"
"Crimson Goregutters? How?" Virgil questioned.
Sten shrugged his shoulders.
"They are a rare breed. You don't find them around easily" Frode added.
"Well I don't know how they got them but I guess it has to do with their horns" Sten said.
"Their horns?" Rune questioned.
"Yeah. I didn't know they were Crimson Goregutters because they had their horns were cut off for some reason. It's horrible. Eruptor and I had to fly around three times before I saw sure it was them"
"Poor babies. Having their horns cut off like that" Thyra sympathized. "I'll smash them where they stand!" she said with fire in her voice. A complete contrast to what she was seconds ago.
"We have to stop those hunters and get to the bottom of this. We leave at once. Sten, lead the way"
Sten nodded.
The riders got on the back of their dragons and took to the skies. Sten led them all to the ship that was still on course. Rune used his spyglass to check the deck of the ship from afar and just as Sten reported, they had Goregutters on board.
"Odin's beard. They really took out their horns" Rune said with disbelief.
"We're going to make them pay. We're going to crush them all" Thyra said with fury.
"We have to be smart. We can't beat them all up. We need information; who they are supplying the horns to, where they are getting all these Crimson Goregutters from, and why they are doing it" Forde explained.
"Right. That makes sense" Virgil affirmed.
"Pound them all, leave one or two to talk" Sten said with a grin.
"Let's try to get the Captain. The workers might not have a proper idea of what's going on but the Captain and first mate might" Vyra contributed.
"Noted" Rune said.
Vyra huffed and turned her face away. The other members of the team were surprised by her action. They had never seen that before.
"Let's run this with decoys. Sten and I will come in from the front and draw their attention. The rest of you can attack from behind" Rune said.
The team nodded and they dispersed. Everyone knew their roles and where and when to be. Sten and Rune came in from the front of the ship; Eruptor set himself ablaze to ensure that he got their attention. Their spotters raised the alarm and their ballistas set off. Sandstorm and Eruptor dodge the large spear like arrows that were hurled at them with help from their riders. Thw two dragons fired a couple of shots at them as all eyes were on them.
The rest of the team came from behind, fast and low. They were a couple feet above the water to remain hard to spot. Vyra led the charge with Forde, Thyra and Virgil behind as they flew in a diamond formation. As soon as they were close to the ship, they ascended and raised hell on the hunters down below. Screams and wails could be heard as the dragons and their riders gave them a taste of their own medicine.
"This is for the dragons!" Thyra said as she slammed her hammer through the face of two men.
Virgil and Forde searched through the ship and managed to find the Captain trying to hide in a chest in his quarters. They rounded up the knocked out men and tied them together to the main mast of the ship. The Goregutters were released from their cages and allowed to fly away. Now the Captain was circled by all members of the team as they began to question him. The man had a scanty mustache and one twisted strand of hair on his chin as his beard. He was shabbily dressed, with all his clothing having sweat stains and he smelled worse than dragon poop. He had missing teeth from his mouth, rusty shoulder pads, torn pants and a tunic with a hole on the right side.
"Wakey wakey" Thyra said as she threw a bucket of water on him.
The Captain shrieked back to full consciousness after being awoken from his slumber.
"We have some questions for you that we think you can answer" Rune said tapping his head. "For your sake, and the sake of your men, you better start talking"