9 Inside Alvin's War Bunker

9. INSIDE ALVIN'S WAR BUNKER It was a stupendous underground ice cavern, titanically huge, and lit with millions and millions of Glow-worms that sent the ice a-gleaming and a-dazzling as the Glow-worms moved. There were vast icicles hanging down from the ceiling, as if something had exploded from above and frozen into great spikes of turquoise ice. The floor of the cavern was sea, and above it, as Snotlout had said, the witch and Alvin had built a Viking town on stilts. A crazy maze of wooden platforms wound nearly from one side of the cavern to the other, with houses and blacksmith's forges and armouries and even a crooked Great Hall standing in the centre, made out of what looked like the jumbled remains of ships, with the skull-and-crossbones Treacherous flag flying from the top. At the edges of this town there were at least a hundred black ships, skulking like predatory black widow spiders, torches and flares glowing along their sides. And there was a melancholy, familiar sight of gigantic dragon cages, with that terrible sound of captured, terrified dragons, and the smell of chains

being made out of molten metal, for Alvin and the witch were using dragons as slaves again. It was good for Hiccup to see this at this time, for it was so easy, in the chaos and the horror of war, to forget what they were fighting for. It reminded Hiccup that though he had made mistakes– he had released the Dragon Furious, he had lost Camicazi– he had made those mistakes for a reason. This must not happen. This misery, this slavery, this must not happen in the future. A new world HAD to be born. With a sick feeling in his stomach, Hiccup recognised Dragonmarker helmets on long poles sticking triumphantly above the town. Poor Camicazi was in there somewhere. Oh please let her be all right… Ferocious-looking Alvinsmen Warriors hurried along the wooden walkways, shouting at each other, and lighting flares, and cooking food, and making weapons. Circling above were the Alvinsmen sentries, riding Bullguard Slavedragons whose goggling eyes sent out searchlight beams as they patrolled the camp, guarding against intruders.

It was extraordinary to think that such a huge gathering of houses and ships could have been hidden from the Dragonmarkers and the Dragon Furious for so long, but the roar of the waterfall had entirely muffled the noises and the smells and the lights of this busy underground town from outside. Hiccup adjusted his sword. 'Let's go,' he whispered. The three-headed dragon swooped down towards the wooden platforms of the bustling village, Windwalker and the Hurricane flying low under the Deadly Shadow's wings, so that they would be camouflaged as they passed through the circling Bullguard sentries. Snotlout's eyes gleamed admiringly as the beautiful Deadly Shadow Dragon plunged into a dive. 'I have to admit, reluctantly, Useless,' he whispered, 'that for a lot of runty little weeds, your team do travel in style.' Hiccup's heart was beating so hard, it felt like it might leap out of his chest at any moment as they soared near the Bullguards. One of the Bullguards whipped its head around, perhaps feeling the passing wind from the Deadly Shadow's wings or hearing the little muffled whispers of the hunting-dragons…

Surely they must see us? thought Hiccup, petrified. They swooped downwards, and Hiccup tipped his face upwards, expecting at any minute a roar of discovery, and then the whine of a full aerial pursuit. But there was nothing, no suspicion in the faces of the Alvinsmen sentries or the dragons they were riding. The Bullguards continued their patrol, their eye-beams flashing around the Bay in steady circles. Down the Deadly Shadow swooped, and shot underneath the nearest wooden platform, followed by the Hurricane and Windwalker, and the Hogfly, Stormfly, Wodensfang and Toothless. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. There was barely room for the Deadly Shadow underneath the maze of wooden platforms. Its wings dipped into the sea as it flew, swerving through the stilts that stood in the water like legs. It was bizarre to be flying underneath the streets of a city. Looking up, in between the wooden boards, Hiccup could see the shoes of people walking up and down the walkways above. A hatch opened ahead of them, and the Windwalker swerved just in time, for someone chucked a bucket of fish guts through the hatch before slamming it shut again. Below them in the water were the rotting

carcasses of sunken ships. Snotlout landed the Hurricane on the upturned hull of one of these submerged wrecks and gestured upwards with his thumb. 'This is the hatch,' he whispered. 'Before the witch caught us, the Hurricane and I went on loads of spying operations searching for the Things. Look, I've marked the hatch with an X, to be sure I'd get the right one when I came back.' Hiccup and Fishlegs landed their dragons beside him, and the three dragons sat in a row on the hull of the sunken ship, like three great cormorants roosting on a rock. 'And who is in there guarding them?' Snotlout's eyes gleamed. 'Oh, a couple of dozy Alvinsmen guards. But we can deal with them, can't we?' 'He lies…' whispered Stormfly in Dragonese. 'Trust a liar to know a liar…' 'If all three of us climb up,' said Snotlout, 'we can carry the Throne through the hatch and balance it on the back of the Deadly Shadow. And then we'll go on to the prison and rescue Camicazi.' Hiccup drew his sword, and swallowed hard. 'OK,' said Hiccup. 'Wodensfang, Hogfly and

Stormfly, you stay here with Windwalker and the Deadly Shadow.' 'Woof, woof!' said Hogfly obediently. 'Keep to the left! Marry me, sunshine! Where's the exit?' 'Toothless,' said Hiccup, 'you can come with me, I don't want to let you out of my sight…' 'Because T-t-toothless is the Best Lost Thing?' Toothless smiled radiantly. 'See Stormfly… See W-w-wodensfang… See very very stupid dragon who looks like a pig… Toothless so important Hiccup can't let him out of his sight… Toothless V-V-VERY VERY important…' 'The Deadly Shadow can give all three of us a lift up to the hatch. Windwalker, could you open it for us please?' A single breath from Windwalker incinerated the bolts around the hatch, and it fell open. Hiccup, sitting on the back of the Deadly Shadow who was hovering just underneath the hatch, peered up inside. It was completely dark, and completely quiet. 'I'll go in first,' whispered Snotlout, 'because I know my way around…' Snotlout's eyes were curiously bright. Was it excitement? Or was it something more than that? Snotlout laughed at Hiccup's expression, which