3 Plan Going Wrong

3. PLAN GOING WRONG The dragons of the Dragon Rebellion attacked with full mind-numbing force, their chant at an unbearable pitch, diving, swooping, shrieking, shooting poison darts, and terrible fire, and shocking bolts of exploding lightning. Camicazi and Snotlout fired arrows at the swooping horrors as they clung desperately to the tilting island of ice, bucking and speeding madly down the river like an out of control sleigh ride. Inexplicably, Hurricane, the riding-dragon, was still fast asleep. The roar of the waterfall downstream got louder and louder, growing into a great watery din of noise, and even in the night air they could see a billowing mist of spray swelling up above the forest ahead, like clouds from a smoking volcano. The waterfall was very close now. One more bend and they would be rocketing over the edge. Hiccup and Fishlegs caused chaos and confusion by shooting at the attacking dragons from the back of the all-but-invisible Deadly Shadow. But the dragons were attacking in such nightmare numbers that it would be mere minutes before they overwhelmed the raft. NE-OOOOW! Another Razorwing leapt from the

rocky riverbank, and landed with an evil vulture grin and a scrape of razored wings on the other end of the ice-island, tipping it downwards so violently that it was practically submerged. 'This plan's going really wrong…' whispered Camicazi as the Razorwing prepared to leap and slice and— BAM! The bucking, jostling island of ice slammed into a rock and shattered into pieces…

catapulting Camicazi, Snotlout, the Razorwing and the Hurricane into the numbing cold of the river. The freezing shock of the water woke the Hurricane at last. With a screech of alarm the poor creature started swimming, trying to disentangle its wet wings in the chaos of the raging rapids.

Snotlout was still attached to Hurricane by a long chain, and so he was dragged behind the panicking riding-dragon, buffeted over and over, and half-drowned by the water. Like an untidy scarecrow, Fishlegs valiantly jumped from the Deadly Shadow on to Windwalker's back so that he could

help try and catch Camicazi. Hiccup urged the Deadly Shadow on, and Fishlegs flew Windwalker down through the hail of Razorwing darts towards the blonde head of Camicazi bobbing in the river. 'DOWN, SHADOW! DOWN!' Hiccup shouted. The triple-headed Deadly Shadow swooped… …and missed, as a manic surge of water swept Camicazi out of the dragon's reaching talons. ROOOOOOOARRR! The sound of thousands and thousands of tons of gushing river water tumbling into a waterfall was absolutely terrifying, and it was just below them now. The river rushed over the edge in a flooding, crashing tumult. Just the second before she was swept over, Camicazi got one little monkey hand around the rope dangling from the Deadly Shadow above and was lifted clear of the deluge. But the Hurricane went plunging over, plummeting downwards, and

Snotlout and Hurricane would have crashed to their deaths on the rocks below if the Hurricane had not dragged its wings out of the water in the nick of time. Screaming, the Hurricane soared upwards, yanking Snotlout with him. Fishlegs steered Windwalker beneath the dangling Camicazi, and she dropped on to Windwalker's back in mid-air. He then flew Windwalker alongside the Hurricane, and Camicazi jumped across on to the Hurricane's back so that she could heave the dangling Snotlout up on the chains and into the saddle. The three dragons now wheeled about, and the Deadly Shadow shot back upriver towards the hideout in the mountains, closely followed by Windwalker, and the terrified snorting Hurricane, and a pack of howling, murderous Dragon Rebellion dragons, driven mad by the arrow attack and sensing a meal on the horizon.