17 How bad could this day get

17. HOW BAD COULD THIS DAY GET? The 'ceiling' was definitely nearer to their heads than it had been a few minutes before. It was now just a few inches above the horns on Hiccup's helmet. There was silence for a second. Alvin's mad eyes swam back into focus again. The only thing that mattered more to him than the treasure was the preservation of his own life. Hiccup found everyday life rather a trial but was always good in a crisis. 'RIGHT,' he said, 'Toothless, I want you to swim out from under this boat and see whether you think we're too far to swim to the surface. NOW,' he added, as Toothless seemed to be taking his time about it. 'OK, OK,' grumbled Toothless, 'k-k-k-keep your horns on…'

The little dragon dived underneath the water and disappeared. He left the Vikings in nearly total darkness, for without the friendly light of his glowing eyes it was almost impossible to see. There was an eerie silence, apart from the lapping of the water against the sides of the boat, and a faint rushing noise, which Hiccup was sure was the sound of the air leaving the air-pocket like a leaking balloon. And indeed, after five minutes the air-pocket had reduced so much that Hiccup's head was squashed against the wooden 'ceiling' of the Lucky Thirteen, and he had to remove his helmet. Alvin was panicking. 'Where is the wretched reptile?' he hissed, and then choked as water sloshed into his mouth. 'That wretched reptile,' scolded Fishlegs, as terrified as Alvin but bravely trying not to show it, 'is trying to save your wretched life...' Five minutes more and they had to turn their heads in order to keep their nostrils clear of the water. 'If Toothless takes any longer,' thought Hiccup, 'we're going to drown here in this blackness…' Two lights flickered in the dark below him. It was Toothless, swimming up towards them in

the nick of time. 'OK,' said Toothless. 'Surface t-t-too far away for h-h-h-h-humans… but there's a c-c-c-c-cave thingy… F-f-follow Toothless…' 'Just hang on to me, Fishlegs, and kick like crazy,' ordered Hiccup, because, of course, Fishlegs could not swim. Hiccup took a huge breath, just before the sea swallowed up the last remains of that air-pocket, and dived after Toothless. He had to swim underneath the rim of the boat, which was resting on some large rocks on the bottom. He swam out into total darkness, which was very confusing. A little way above him, he could see that Toothless was swimming towards a small hole in

the cliff, with light shining out of it. Trying to ignore the panicky feeing of his breath running out, and hampered by Fishlegs gripping on to one leg, he swam as fast as he could towards the hole. Once he had swum into it, he shot upwards through a short tunnel and surfaced in a huge pool of water at the bottom of a gigantic underground cavern, gasping for air. A second or so later, Alvin emerged to lie in the water beside Hiccup and Fishlegs. The cavern was huge, and surprisingly light, considering it was so far underground. The eerie green light seemed to be given off by Electricsquirms, a tiny dragon-like creature that glows with phosphorescence. Water rushed down the walls and dripped from the ceiling. Hiccup was so relieved to be still alive and in the air again that this tomb of a cavern initially seemed like home. It was a while before his scared brain could focus on the fact that they weren't safe yet. 'Right,' said Fishlegs, trying not to panic and wringing out his breeches and flapping his arms to get dry. 'How are we going to get out of HERE?' The cavern had some interesting rock formations, if Hiccup had been in the mood for

admiring them. The weird shapes of fossilised dragons were caught in the stone. Some of them were very unusual, extinct species. However, even the discovery of an entire skeleton of the Burrowing Slitherfang, so rare that it was often thought never to have existed, failed to excite Hiccup as it might have done in other circumstances. They walked round and round in circles for about an hour and a half, looking for a way out, before realising that there wasn't one. They sat down. Without his Tribe around him, and facing Death, Alvin seemed to have returned to his old, pleasant self again. He even apologised for getting them into this mess. 'I just cannot believe this,' moaned Fishlegs, shivering violently, 'It's like some sort of NIGHTMARE. I keep thinking we're safe, and then it seems that, NO, we're in some OTHER life-threatening situation even worse than the one we've just got away from.' 'OK,' admitted Hiccup, trying to keep them from despairing, 'it doesn't look good, but I'm sure I can think of a way out of here…' Toothless was sniffing away at the back of

the cavern, and he interrupted, calling out, 'Toothless can smell something m-metal over h-h-here!' 'Very clever, Toothless,' said Hiccup, 'but the Treasure Hunt is over now.' 'I mean,' continued Fishlegs, 'so far today we have narrowly escaped being 1. Torn to pieces by Skullions. 2. Eaten by Cannibal Outcasts. 3. Burned to death on board ship. 4. Drowned at the bottom of the ocean… And now here we are, trapped in an inaccessible underground cavern facing DEATH BY SLOW STARVATION… It's just been a REALLY BAD day.' 'N-n-not metal after all,' Toothless called back in disappointment. 'It's just a d-d-door…' 'A DOOR??' Alvin, Hiccup and Fishlegs scrambled up and over towards Toothless, with a sudden surge of hope. Once they had scrabbled away at all the dust and earth covering it, they found it was a door. It was surprising they hadn't noticed it before. 'Is it a way out?' gasped Fishlegs. 'Not necessarily,' Hiccup replied slowly. A door with a DEATH'S HEAD painted on it. A door with lettering on it that was horribly