31 The Secret Hideout

31. THE SECRET HIDEOUT Somewhere not very far away (I don't want to tell you exactly where, because it is Hiccup's secret hideout, and it really, really needs to be kept a secret) the Windwalker was lying in front of a cave surrounded by brambles. He had been lying there, protecting the entrance, for nearly three days now, and he was a bedraggled, wet sight, his ears drooping sadly, his spines all limp and floppy with loneliness as he listened to the sound of the Dragon Furious's rage. And then… He sniffed the air, he peered upwards… …his ears pricked up in sudden apprehension. And so too would yours if a semi-visible cloud

descended down out of nowhere, and slowly turned into a terrifying-looking, heavily armed, three-headed Deadly Shadow dragon. However Hiccup peered over the side of the Deadly Shadow's wings and shouted down: 'Don't worry, Windwalker, it's only us!' The Windwalker sprang to greet the horror of the Deadly Shadow descending towards him, flying round and round and round it, in wild excited joy. So late that night, the little cave whose whereabouts shall remain a secret, was very full indeed, for even when the Shadow camouflaged himself so well he looked invisible, he didn't get any smaller. He was a very large dragon, and once he was inside the cave, there was barely room for everyone else. The Windwalker had gone out every single day and caught plenty of fish, in the hope that they would return. So that was a joyful and triumphant evening, with everyone back together again recalling the triumphs and successes of the day.

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'Y-y-yes, Stormfly,' sang Toothless happily. 'Wodensfang the Desperado and I sh-sh-shot our way out of those amber-nets. Peow! Peow! Peow! With three bursts of our super-strong flame and…' And so on. Meanwhile, Stormfly flashed her wicked eyes at him and ate half his mackerel. 'Manners,' sniffed the Wodensfang disapprovingly. The ten companions stuffed themselves full with fish that night, ate until they could eat no more. What with the food, and the emotion of the day, Hiccup and the others were almost drunk with happiness, in fits of laughter about the smallest things. In times of war and deadly peril, these moments of happiness are heightened: they become even more pleasurable, even more precious. Hiccup was one of the last to fall asleep. But then he woke again, at the sound of the Dragon Furious demolishing Prison Darkheart and turning it to rubble. That woke him, and suddenly all the warmth and the happiness of the evening seemed to disappear, to be replaced by a cold dread and a thumping of his heart. The others were all so exhausted, they were

still fast asleep. But blink, blink, the twin eyes of the Wodensfang opened on Hiccup's chest, and the eyebeams shone comfortably into Hiccup's own eyes. The Wodensfang seem to guess immediately what Hiccup was thinking. He started chatting, to cheer Hiccup up. 'You see,' said the Wodensfang. 'I told you your Quest was quite simple. See what can be achieved if your heart is in your Quest? You have found your friend… You have found the Jewel… um… Even though it has fallen into Alvin's hands for the moment, I am sure that it will come back to you again…' (The Wodensfang tried to sound more sure of this than he was actually feeling.) 'And you are no longer so alone. Look how full this cave is! You have your human companions, now,' he gestured with his wing to Fishlegs and Camicazi, 'not to mention all the followers your splendid mother has brought you with her Dragonmark. What a magnificent warrior she is!' said the Wodensfang admiringly. 'Anyway,' said the Wodensfang, 'as I was saying, the rest of the Quest should be a piece of

fish-cake. Now all the Lost Things are found, all you have to do is present yourself at the island of Tomorrow, get yourself crowned King instead of Alvin the Treacherous, learn the Secret of the Jewel, and use it to persuade the Dragon Furious to call off this war… See what I mean? Easy peasy, viking squeezy!' Hiccup was not to be so easily comforted. 'You've forgotten a few important details,' Hiccup reminded him. 'I just heard the Dragon Furious and something tells me he's going to be impossible to persuade. And Alvin the Treacherous has nine of the Lost Things, which might make the Tomorrow Men think that Alvin is the true King. I only have one. And Alvin has the Dragon Jewel, and we know what kind of man Alvin is. He would use the Jewel's power to destroy the dragons, without even blinking.' 'Ah, but Alvin won't do anything with the Jewel… yet,' said the Wodensfang. 'Alvin needs that Jewel to take to Tomorrow if he wants to become the King himself. And only if he became the King would he learn the Jewel's secret. We are perfectly safe… for the moment, admittedly.' Hiccup sat up on his bed of grass, filled with