686Chapter 15: Fire Dragon
Fire Dragon
They continued on through a land which was nothing but barren or grassy hills, most of which had many outcroppings of rock. There were no signs of civilization anywhere nearby: no roads, homes, or cities. Meals were rushed without lighting any fires that might give away their position, and that inability to cook proper meals greatly frustrated the Hobbits.
Hiccup and Toothless took up the rear of the procession, keeping more distance between the Fury and Strider's horse. Hiccup thought that the horse was gradually becoming more accepting of Toothless's presence the more that Strider spoke to it in Elvish, but he wasn't entirely certain of that.
Toothless had also suggested that he walk there because he would hear the sounds of any pursuit before the humans could. He did not tell anyone that walking back there also kept him as far from Frodo and the Ring as possible.
They neither saw nor heard any obvious signs of pursuing black riders anywhere around them. But they would both, every now and then, feel or hear something strange, especially after nightfall.
Toothless would stop walking and would tilt his head to the side, saying afterwards that he thought he heard something. But there was never anything visible on the slopes.
Hiccup would feel a chill rustling of the grass and hear a sound that was almost like a shriek echoing on the wind. But he could not tell if the sound was the wind or something else.
Toothless and Strider alternated taking the watch during the night. The group took shelter among the rocky outcroppings or around large boulders. The Hobbits lay beside each other in their sleeping-packs; Strider did not allow them to make any campfires for warmth.
Hiccup tried to stay awake with Toothless to keep him company whenever possible.
The nights were filled with an oppressive, creeping, and ominous silence which was made all the worse by not seeing anything strange.
Toothless was lagging slightly behind the group, so Hiccup slowed down for him.
"Bud, how are you doing?"
"I am well."
"Toothless..."
Toothless grumbled and sat down on his rear, shaking a front paw as he did so.
"I wish we were flying more..."
"Yeah, same here. But as sneaky as you are in the dark, flying would definitely give us away in the day."
"True, it would. Not being able to fly is twisting when those black riders might be after us."
Toothless glanced at his back, bare of any of the riding equipment, though he was carrying some supply bags for the Hobbits.
Hiccup frowned and scratched Toothless's neck. The Fury's mention of the possibly pursuing Nazgul, the black riders, sent a shiver down his spine. He also tried to not think about what had happened the last time he had encountered one of the Nazgul.
"Do you really think anything is out there?"
They looked ahead to the group of Hobbits being led by Strider. The terrain had gotten steeper and had more hills after several days of marching. But they could still see far around them, and there was nothing else moving on the hills and slopes.
Toothless growled and started walking.
"I have not seen anything, but I can feel... a cold in my soul-fire. I feel like prey to a hunter I cannot see."
"The Ring?"
Toothless's ears fell as his eyes narrowed on Frodo up ahead.
"That pull is always there; I can feel it even now. No, this threat feels different, like I am being watched."
Hiccup remembered Toothless mentioning something about an eye, somehow connected to the Ring, that was looking at him. That was an ominous thought.
"Maybe we should think about happier things. Did you get up to any trouble that I don't know about in the Shire?"
Toothless huffed indignantly.
"I do not make trouble. No, I was a good Night Fury who did not eat the Hobbits' prey-animals."
"But you wanted to," Hiccup teased.
"Yes! They are prey, and prey are for eating. But I can control myself and not eat prey in another's flock."
"Yeah, maybe you could try human and Hobbit food for a change. Strawberries and cream are very good. Beer and ale are good also. Ha, just think of a drunk dragon trying to fly straight!" Hiccup laughed.
Toothless grinned, lifted a paw, and nudged Hiccup's shoulder.
"Huh?" Hiccup wondered.
"You have stepped in waste, though you do not know it."
"Bud, I have no idea what you mean by that."
"You will when I foul your flight."
"Foul my flight... oh... I'm really afraid now."
"You should be."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and decided to ignore whatever Toothless was threatening him with. The Fury probably didn't have anything to tease him about anyway. Then he looked around to the desolate landscape around them. It was all so different from the warm green that they had both known.
"I miss the Shire," Hiccup sighed.
Toothless nodded and warbled in agreement.
"It is a good place, but it is small, as you said."
"I said that? I suppose it is. The world is much bigger than only the Shire."
"We should fly in new ranges eventually," Toothless proposed.
"Yeah, letting more people meet you would be good. You could help change their minds about dragons," Hiccup wholeheartedly agreed.
Toothless then paused mid-step and glanced at Hiccup.
"We are going to a city of Elves. We should ask them if they know of any dragons like me."
"Definitely. Gotta get there alive first. We don't want a black rider to carry me or Frodo off!"
Toothless growled and glanced around at the empty wild.
"Do not joke about that..."
"Bud, I'm just trying to lighten the mood. Someone should. Merry and Pippin haven't helped much with that recently."
They both knew that was true. All the Hobbits were more irritable and grumpy, definitely because of the long march everyone had been on with minimal food and rest. Strider seemed to have exceptional endurance, which made sense given his rough life in the wild.
Toothless then stretched his limbs and wings and flicked his tail.
"We all need much rest and sleep soon," he grumbled and yawned.
"No argument there," Hiccup agreed.
Hiccup stared in awe at something incredible upon one of the most prominent hills before them. It was the ruins of an ancient watchtower built upon the highest of a set of hills. The remaining standing towers rose like teeth around the tallest slope.
This was what Strider had called Weathertop.
"That is amazing," he breathed.
The ranger stepped up next to him and had a very solemn look in his eyes as he crossed his arms.
"It was glorious once, an outpost from which the great King Elendil looked for allies in the Last Alliance. King Elendil swore an oath of allegiance and friendship to the Elven King Gil-galad upon that tower. Nothing is left of Amon-Sul now but a circle of collapsed stones and a few spires," Strider explained.
"And we are settling down up there tonight?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes, it is the most defensible place anywhere around here."
Hiccup still frowned.
That the place was defensible was definitely true, but there was something about its appearance that was eerie. It almost reminded him of another place, the barrow, that had held a true terror in its depths. Or maybe some of his reaction was from remembering seeing an entire city that had once been grand having been completely abandoned, and then seeing more ruins here.
There were so many echoes of the past around for those who knew to listen.
"I'm about beat anyway. Did we have to march all day?" Merry complained.
"Yeah, maybe you rangers can march for days without stopping, sleeping, or having a proper seven meal day, but we are Hobbits..." Pippin also complained.
Sam shook his head and, showing no signs of weariness, continued marching on at Frodo's side. Toothless hopped up to Hiccup's side and nudged him.
"Hiccup, my paws hurt some," Toothless whispered and licked a forepaw.
"I understand. My feet are sore also. But we're almost done for the day," Hiccup sighed.
They all ascended the path that led up to the peak. There were old steps that had fallen into total disrepair. It had taken the entire evening to make it to the peak, and it was just after dark by the time they arrived. At the peak lay a small clearing with piles of collapsed stone, rotted wood, and what looked like the remains of old campfires.
"What's with all this stuff?" Merry wondered.
"Rangers sometimes would make camp here," Strider explained.
"This is not where I'd go for camping," Pippin grumbled.
The Hobbits began to unpack their things and roll out their sleeping bags. They were disturbed by Strider drawing his sword.
"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked in alarm.
The ranger pointedly looked around at the fading light off on the horizon. There were ominous dark clouds rolling in high over Weathertop, but there was no rain or lightning. Everything was very quiet and calm.
"I am going to look around and make sure that we are safe here. Stay here on the peak and do not do anything stupid."
"What? Stupid?" Pippin indignantly exclaimed.
"Yeah, like what?" Merry added.
Strider nodded at the campfire they were getting ready to make.
"Something like lighting a fire that would be visible from here to the horizon."
Pippin, Merry, and Sam grumbled and started to put away their cooking supplies.
Hiccup rolled his eyes, though he was also impressed at how thoughtful Strider was.
Yeah, that would have been really stupid to give away our position up here. Good of him to remind them. Guess it is cold jerky tonight for all of us... again.
"These are for you. Keep them close," Strider added while tossing several short blades onto the ground before the Hobbits.
Hiccup blinked in surprise at the sudden appearance of so many weapons.
I had no idea he had so many weapons with him. He really is prepared for anything.
The Hobbits, however, looked from him to the swords in confusion. They began picking up the blades one at a time, clearly at a loss with what to do with them.
"Stay here..." Strider instructed.
"Uh, Strider, what do we do with these?" Pippin asked while holding a short blade.
"Stick the enemy with the pointy end?" Merry chuckled.
"Yes, Merry. That is the idea," Strider nodded.
Then he whipped around, left the peak, and vanished into the darkness.
"Time for dinner and supper!" Sam declared as they retrieved the jerky and hard bread.
The Hobbits gathered together and nibbled on their supper while grumbling.
Hiccup noticed Toothless sitting on his rear over by a ledge on the eastern side of the peak. The Fury had his wings spread wide to gently roll and ripple in the wind as though he was gliding.
Hiccup went over to him and leaned against his side, hearing and feeling his soft purring.
"Well, that is quite a view," Hiccup said.
The landscape around them was barren with smaller ruins all along the slopes of the hills. While the height would normally allow them to see far, they could not see all the way out to the horizons because of the dark, rolling clouds overhead and over the hills and also because it was after sundown
"Yes, it is," Toothless agreed with a grumble.
"Hey, what's wrong? I know that look, bud..."
"It is nothing important. I just..." Toothless sighed, "it has been five days since we went flying."
"Yeah, I don't like it either."
"But you are not a dragon. I want to touch the clouds and stretch my wings in the open sky. Being stuck on the ground makes me feel like... like prey."
Hiccup winced, remembering well how Toothless when grounded in the cove would sit and stare up at the birds or the sky when not occupied with him. Fortunately, there was an easy fix for that problem.
"So let's go fly now."
"Now?" Toothless warbled in surprise.
"Sure, it's dark enough that nothing will see us. It would be good for both of us to go flying."
Toothless's lifted ears and swaying tail gave away his thoughts.
"Okay, a short flight. I would like that."
Hiccup briefly left to retrieve the needed gear and to let the Hobbits know that the two of them would be flying.
"Are you ready?" Toothless paced impatiently when he got back and started putting on the equipment and ropes.
"Alright, cool your tail..."
"You cool your tail."
"Sorry, bud, don't have one..."
Hiccup finished and then hopped onto the saddle.
They jumped from the ledge and were soaring on the winds moments later. Toothless aimed himself into the breeze and gradually floated higher until they reached the clouds.
Then he growled softly and flew with haste up into the clouds, furiously beating his wings.
"What's going on?" Hiccup shouted over the wind.
"Wait!" Toothless shouted back.
The thick clouds swirled around them thicker than anything they had flown in before. Spinning shrouds of shadow roiled all around.
Still higher they soared until...
They broke through the top of the clouds with a spin which Toothless turned into a smooth glide into the wind.
There were no clouds above them now as they glided in the clear and empty sky with all the stars emerging and the bright, full moon glowing in the heavens. The dark clouds rolled below them like an ocean that stretched out to the horizons and reflected the starlight and the moonlight.
"This feels better," Toothless sighed and then gave a piercing roar of delight.
"What feels better?"
"Everything! The sky, my soul-fire, my thinking, it all feels better!"
Hiccup just grinned and shook his head.
I know that flying is fun... Maybe he wasn't joking about dragons needing to fly to be happy. There's probably something to that. What point is there having wings if he cannot... use them...
He winced again at how his thoughts again reminded him of how he had crippled his best friend.
"Hiccup, we should try the tailfin thing!" Toothless eagerly suggested.
"Alright, yeah, let's give it another shot."
He pulled the lever and heard the click of gears and roll of pulleys. Then the tailfin snapped into position.
"All you now, bud!"
Toothless turned his attention to the open sky before him and began practicing the most basic of flight motions. They flew long in silence, doing gentle turns, loops, dives, sprint-flights, and hovering in place. Then Toothless settled into a silent, steady glide.
"How is it?" Hiccup asked.
Toothless found that a rather difficult question to answer. On the one paw, the flight was more stable than his last attempt at flying this way. On the other paw, it was still not as stable as true flight would be with both his tailfins. He was slower to react when flying like this than he was with Hiccup guiding the flight. Some of that was probably because of own lack of practice over the last few moon-cycle months.
But he also feared that he had truly lost some of the flight-knowledge he and all dragons were hatched with.
"Better, but it is still not good enough..."
Hiccup bit his lip while thinking about the entire tailfin contraption. It was difficult to think about any other ways to keep the artificial tailfin stable and responsive to the natural fin on its own while also letting them switch back and forth between solo-flight and shared flight. It introduced too many needed gears, lines, and points of failure.
Maybe if he had something only on the tail, something that strapped around the tail and mirrored the real fin by using a pulley system. Not sure how that would work, but he might be able to keep more stability...
His idle thoughts started to form into an idea of something he could make if he had a good forge to work at and had the right supplies...
Then he realized the implication of what he was contemplating. There was an aspect of making that device that he did not like; something felt wrong about it.
No. He doesn't truly need flight like that... alone. I'll always be there for him. We fly together. That is how it should be.
He froze, holding tighter to the saddle.
I don't know what I would do... or be... without him.
Toothless stiffened under him, his wings suddenly stretching out to their full length.
"What is going on?" Hiccup wondered.
Several more moments passed in which nothing happened as they glided. Toothless did not answer him. It was just long enough that he started getting worried.
"You okay, bud?"
Then Toothless looked over his shoulder at him.
The Fury's eyes were narrowed to slits.
It looked like something from his most haunting nightmares, seeing that familiar face, usually so full of feeling and care, now empty of emotion and very menacing.
All sound ceased except for the pounding of his heart. Even the wind whipping his hair was silent.
"Toothless..." he whispered.
The mere sound of his voice made Toothless wince and toss his head with a whine.
A hand gently scratching the Fury's neck further got the distraught dragon's attention.
"You are stronger than whatever this is..." Hiccup leaned forward and whispered.
A weak growl and moan followed.
"Come on, bud! Fight it!"
Toothless wildly shook his head with a snarl and then glanced over his shoulder to look back at him. The Fury's eyes were narrowed, but in panic and concern this time instead of the emptiness that had been there moments before.
"Hiccup!" he gasped.
"Toothless! What just happened?" Hiccup fully embraced Toothless's neck.
"It was... looking for me..."
"What?"
"The... eye of fire..."
"Why now?"
"The Hobbits!" Toothless barked in alarm.
Toothless spun in place and dove into the clouds, racing for the ground as fast as he could. The wind began to scream in pain at his passing.
They emerged from the clouds in a full dive above Weathertop.
That was when they saw something terrible.
There were many dark shapes on Weathertop. A lone, tall shape was swinging around a flaming torch at the dark shapes.
Hiccup instantly knew what those dark shapes were.
Black riders!
Hiccup's memories of his last encounter with one of these living shadow-things were so shameful. To slump uselessly to Toothless's side as the dragon destroyed the enemy was a painful reminder of how useless he really was on his own.
But this time he was in the air with Toothless, in the air where the black riders could never follow.
"Let's show them what you've got!"
Toothless snarled and readied his fire as he dove. He wanted them all to hear his dive that could make even the air howl in pain.
And they did.
All motion ceased as the black riders looked up at him. The Hobbits were all huddled together on the ground for protection.
Then his first glowing shot flew through the darkness and struck a black rider in a massive blast of fire.
A shrieking wail went up in the air in the same moment that the black riders recoiled from the fire, from the light and the heat which they feared.
He circled around the peak and fired a pair of additional shots, both of which hit their targets. He knew that he never missed. Strider scored a pair of strikes of his own, sending two of the riders away shrieking in phantom pain from having been set on fire.
He is a very good fighter!
Toothless then dove and landed roughly next to the Hobbits. He protectively stood in front of them and flared his wings to cover them while looking around for any sign of remaining enemies.
Strider flung his torch almost all the way across the peak, striking a remaining black rider in its non-existent face. The rider was completely engulfed in flames in an instant.
Hiccup was left awed by that.
Wow, I guess he doesn't miss either.
"Is that all of them?" he whispered.
Toothless just snarled while baring his teeth. Strider bounded over to their side as well.
And a lone dark shape slowly strode into the clearing from out of the shadows. The black rider stayed far away from them. The same as the rest of them, it bore a large hood that completely shrouded its head.
"Begone! Servant of Mordor!" Strider commanded while brandishing his sword.
The black rider hissed and pointed its pale blade at them.
"You have no right to speak to a King, ranger!"
Its voice, somehow both deep and airy, echoed from the shadows around them and felt like tendrils of ice that reached out to strangle their hearts and smother their courage. The fires retreated from this rider's presence. All strength in their limbs began to fade at the unknown strength this rider possessed. The fire's flickering light withered as if under a spell.
Until the roar of defiance shattered the hissing spell the black rider's words had woven.
Hiccup clamped his hands over his ears, feeling as Toothless's roar echoed in his own chest. That roar that had once terrified him in past raids was now a beacon of defiance. It kindled enough strength in his heart that he was able to draw one of his small Barrow-daggers and stare back at the black rider without shying away, the same as Strider was doing.
The black rider gazed directly at him, and it recoiled with a slight hiss. Then the black rider turned its attention to Toothless, staring long at him without saying anything.
"Why do you resist your fate, Uruloke? Have you forgotten?" it hissed.
Toothless's answer was a glowing ball of flame that struck the black rider in a massive explosion. They all recoiled from the blast and turned away, feeling the heat from the fireball. Then the flame began to die down.
This black rider, unlike its comrades, had survived the strike and was walking away toward the precipice, though it stumbled as it retreated, weakened and weary. It halted on the edge and turned back to them as it lifted its pale blade which it then pointed in their direction.
More specifically, at Toothless.
The shrouded figure silently held the menacing pose, and then turned away, jumped from the ledge, and vanished into the night with a shrieking cry.
Silence fell over Weathertop except for the crackle of the fires and the wailing of one Hobbit.
"Strider!" Sam shouted.
Everyone gathered close around Frodo as Strider inspected the injury just under Frodo's shoulder.
Hiccup hopped down to the ground, knelt at Frodo's side, and saw the stab wound. Fortunately, he knew it was likely not a fatal injury since it missed all the vital organs. It looked like the Nazgul had tried to stab Frodo in the heart but had missed.
"What happened? How bad is the hurt?" Toothless whispered and nosed his way closer.
Strider picked up a fallen blade, a small black dagger partly covered in blood.
"He has been stabbed by a Morgul blade..."
"What does that mean?" Sam fearfully exclaimed.
"These blades are cursed and have poisons I know not of," Strider frowned and looked very worried.
Hiccup wondered at the mention of a weapon being cursed.
I don't know about that. Maybe they could be poisoned, but cursed? That sounds too...
Before his eyes, the blade crumbled to ash which blew away on the breeze.
Okay, cursed, definitely cursed... oh my gods, this is very bad...
"Let me see the hurt!" Toothless demanded.
They let him bend down over Frodo and sniff at the wound. It did smell to him like there was a rot in it.
"Let me lick it!"
"What?" "Why?" "Gross..."
"Huh?" Hiccup asked, also confused at Toothless's suggestion.
"Why do you want to do that?" Strider hastily asked.
"Because," Toothless lifted his head, "I always lick my hurts, and doing that helps the hurts feel better and heal faster."
"Are you saying that your licks have... healing properties?" Hiccup asked in shock, despite the situation.
"Yes, they do."
"Do it!" Frodo gasped in evident pain.
Toothless complied without waiting and bent down to lick the stab wound. He froze for an instant when he saw the bright, warm, beautiful, precious Ring right there...
Then he closed his eyes and thought only of Frodo's hurt which he had to tend. He did so and got as much drool as possible on the wound.
It was very difficult to ignore the tug, the pull of the golden Ring he was so close to in that moment. That powerful, whispering fire was so close to his own soul-fire... if only he could take the Ring and listen to it and hoard it and...
Hiccup's standing at his side with a paw on his neck helped a lot in ignoring that calling.
Then he stepped back, turned to the side, and spat out all the taste of Hobbit blood. Unlike the blood of prey, there was nothing warming about tasting it.
"Mister Frodo, how do you feel?" Sam eagerly asked.
"It might... hurt a little less..." Frodo winced as his eyes struggled to focus on anything.
"This is beyond my skill to heal. He needs Elvish medicine as soon as possible," Strider darkly added.
"Is he going to die?" Pippin gasped, his usual jovial abandon completely gone.
"In a way, if we do not make haste, now!"
Hiccup thought that there was something odd about that evasive answer.
I should ask about that.
They packed in record time and departed from Weathertop after Strider slung Frodo over his shoulder to carry him. They ran down the long stair, and then Strider put the wounded Hobbit on his horse that had been left tied up down below. They turned their path for the east, knowing that none of them were going to get much rest that night. Remembering that there were black riders somewhere behind them in the darkness helped them find the strength to continue onward.
As did Frodo's being wounded and needing help soon.
"Keep up!" Strider shouted back at the Hobbits.
They were very weary, but they picked up the pace at his insistence. Hiccup ran ahead to walk with him.
"Strider," Hiccup began quietly, not wanting to involve the other Hobbits in this talk.
"What did you mean back there when you said he would die in a way?"
They both glanced to the apparently unconscious Frodo on horseback at Strider's side.
Strider then slowly shook his head and grumbled.
"I would rather not say. We must get him to Rivendell as fast as we can. You are sure that Toothless cannot safely carry him?"
"Bud!"
Toothless bounded forward from the rear of the procession and joined them.
"Yes?"
"Are you sure that you cannot carry Frodo? He really needs to get help soon," Hiccup asked.
Toothless's ears went back, and he grumbled softly while looking away into the darkness.
"I wish I could, but the Ring feels... very strong now. I feel its whispering even now. I wish I knew why... it does this to me."
Strider handed Hiccup the horse's reins, stepped closer to Toothless, and gently put a hand on his neck.
"That you know its danger makes you safer against it. The most dangerous type of hunter is the one the prey does not know exists."
Toothless blinked and lifted his head, purring with approval at him.
"You are a hunter."
Strider nodded, stepped back to Hiccup, and took back the reins.
"I have lived in the wild for decades; I know the way of the hunt. The Ring is the greatest hunter of us all."
Hiccup glanced again at Strider in disbelief.
Decades, what? He doesn't look that old at all.
Toothless warily hummed while staring at Strider.
"Strider, what did that black rider mean when it was talking to me? It said something I do not understand."
"Uruloke," Strider answered, "it means 'fire dragon' in old Elvish. I do not know what else the Nazgul might have meant by calling you that."
"Does Mordor have dragons fighting for it?" Toothless warily asked.
Hiccup also started in surprise at that obvious question he had not thought to ask.
That would be very bad if the enemy is using dragons as weapons. Gods, I hope not.
"None that I know of. That is why Gandalf worked to get Smaug killed decades ago. He did not want to risk Smaug allying with Mordor."
Strider then frowned and looked up to the sky.
"I have heard of the servants of the Enemy having great, dark-winged beasts, but not dragons like you."
"Are they dragons at all?" Toothless wondered.
"I do not know where they come from. They are called fellbeasts, and the Nazgul supposedly use them as mounts."
Hiccup and Toothless shared a glance. They both knew that this was definitely something they needed to learn more about.
"Great, just what we needed. Black riders on wings..." Hiccup grumbled.
Strider looked backward behind the procession at the retreating shape of Weathertop. Hiccup also looked back with a shiver at how dread and ominous the peak looked in the dead of night.
A faint, whispering wind picked up and ruffled his hair.
"I do not think we have lost the Nazgul, even though they fear the flame. Hiccup, Toothless, would you go aloft and keep watch for us? Let us know if we are being followed. I will tend to Frodo as we continue."
Hiccup had no chance to answer before Toothless bounded over to his side and crouched down. The Fury was very eager to get aloft again, so they went up without speaking. Toothless raced for the sky, eventually settling down into a steady glide high above the Hobbits and Strider.
He did not let them out of his sight this time, keeping his gliding flight below the cloudcover.
Silence followed between them, neither wishing to speak first about all that had happened. So much had just gone wrong and could still go wrong.
Neither of them knew how bad Frodo's situation was.
"Do you see any of them, bud?"
"Not around the Hobbits. They are safe... now..." Toothless softly whined.
They followed the procession on the ground until the clouds began to part, slowly revealing the moon's glow above.
"Alright, out with it. What is bothering you?" Hiccup scratched Toothless's neck.
Toothless glanced back at him, the dragon's visible green eye very heavy and filled with doubt.
"I should have been there to protect them. Frodo almost died..."
"Bud, those things came from nowhere. We thought everyone would be safe up on the tower. You didn't do anything wrong."
Toothless growled and shook his head.
"If I had not wanted to go flying... I already failed them..."
"Hey! Snap out of it! I counted... four of those black riders that you flamed. Better than I could do, anyway..."
"But you are not a fighter. That is not what you are meant to do."
Hiccup grumbled and sat upright while crossing his arms in the wind.
"Something else is bothering you, bud. What is it?"
"I... do not know if I can say..."
"Who can you talk to if not your best friend?"
Toothless whined softly before answering.
"What did that black rider mean about me resisting my fate?"
"I really don't know. What matters is that you do resist it. Whatever that black rider or that Ring is trying to do to you, you always fight it!"
"How? What if I am not strong enough and... I would not forgive myself... if I hurt you..."
Hiccup leaned forward and lay down on Toothless's back, gently scratching at his neck as he did so.
"You would never hurt me. I trust you. And you will never have to fight it alone. I promise. Brother."
Toothless reluctantly grinned back at him and purred softly before turning his attention back to the lands around the Hobbits and Strider.
Privately, he still felt very twisted in his soul-fire. He had already failed to protect someone he cared for. All because he had a deep, natural want to go flying at what turned out to be the wrong time. Or maybe the black riders had waited for him to leave and then struck. Either way, he still blamed himself for this.
I will not fail them again.
He also shivered slightly at the thought of how easily the twisted soul-fire in the Ring affected him. Why did that eye of fire flash in his thoughts and fill him with anger and fear?
Hopefully Gandalf can help give me answers.