15 The Promotion

The blue flash that exploded in the high clouds was visible for miles around and although the land was sparsely populated, several people did witness it in rear and wonder but only one of them knew exactly where it had come from and he saw it as a very bad sign indeed.

Fotherington had been observing the distant hill from his hidden camp for the last few days as per his master's orders and his attention had only increased after he had witnessed two of the flying creatures returning less than half an hour previously. This was precisely what he and the master had been waiting for and so he made sure to pay special attention from that moment on but the sight of the flame in the clouds made him feel very apprehensive for his master's safety.

"That was truly amazing" Darius Gershwin declared "how did you come to be in possession of such amazing creatures?"

"That is rather a long story that I don't really want to go into at the moment" Hiccup made it plain that he still did not fully trust this self confessed spy.

"But there is one theory that we don't own them" Astrid grinned at Dianta "but that they own us... as pets."

"Interesting; much like a cat would" Darius did not miss a trick "may I... sit down please."

"Before you do" Astrid tensed a little "Hiccup will be removing the knives from your belt and boots and checking you for other weapons."

"Of course... be my guest."

Hiccup took Astrids advice and soon found the three knives but after a thorough check was unable to detect any more weapons apart from the unloaded crossbow pistol. Darius was well past what many people would refer to as middle aged and so he was pleased to at last be able to lower his arms completely and sit down on a large rock.

"I assume you would like to get as much information from us as you can" Hiccup acknowledged "but before I say anything else I would like to know who you work for and what you think they would do with the information that you give them."

"Well I was in the employ of the royal house of New Loren for most of my career but now, as I previously mentioned, I am in semi retirement which means that I have been doing the occasional favour for one of the Emperor's Generals as well as training an apprentice for the last... oh... fourteen, fifteen years... I've lost track; not good for a man who's trade is in facts and details but I have decided that the time has definitely come for me to cease this arrangement and so I will not be reporting to him anymore."

"So you expect me to believe that you are not going to tell anyone about our dragons?" Hiccup doubted the man's word.

"My employer already knows a little because I did send him a report as soon as I first witnessed your arrival earlier in the week but he does not know that these creatures are dragons and I do not intend to see or write to him again."

"But what if he captures you?" Hiccup pointed out.

"I could be in the same room with him and he would not know that I was there... in fact nobody would not even my apprentice and I have taught him everything I know; in fact the only person that I suspect would be able to detect my presence is the young lady with the knife at my back."

"Me?" Astrid declared in surprise.

"You my dear are the reason that I have decided to end my current arrangement with the General."

"Why?

"Because you are an anomaly; you should not exist but clearly you do."

"And you are beginning to make me angry" Astrid fumed.

"Please... I meant no insult; I merely meant that I could never have dreamt that someone so young could have reached such a high level of skill in stealth and tracking ability and so, like it or not, I have decided to devote this stage of my life to learning what I can about you and your training methods" Darius smiled with satisfaction.

"Well I don't like it" Astrid declared.

"And we don't have any intention of allowing you to come with us" Hiccup added.

"My dear young sir; if I cannot find out what I desire to know without your help, then I do not deserve to know it at all and the only way that you can prevent me from doing all that I can to procure this information would be for you to kill me now. But I do not believe that you are the kind of people who would do such a thing."

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other in surprise.

"In that case I don't think we have anything more to say to one another and so we will bid you fair well" Hiccup declared bluntly.

"Yes... well... I do apologise if I have upset you, but one thing that I have always demanded of my apprentice or anyone else who I may be training, is complete honesty about their reasons and intentions for wishing to learn the skills that I teach and so I felt that I should show you the same courtesy."

"YOU ARE NOT MY APPRENTICE AND I AM NOT TEACHING YOU ANYTHING." Astrid clenched her fists in anger; this man actually had her a little worried.

"I can understand your reluctance my dear for it's true that you do know very little about me, but it is also true that you have been teaching me many things ever since I first encountered you several days ago even though you were not in my presence until very recently."

There was a short time near the start of their meeting during which Hiccup had felt a distinct liking for this strange man but now he felt extremely unsure as to whether he could be trusted or not. He appeared to be honest in his dealings with them, but he also seemed to be a very dangerous man to know and so hiccup decided that retreat was the best option open to them. He certainly did not have any intention of killing the man in cold blood and so after retrieving the hidden satchel and checking on its contents the Dragon Riders lifted off and flew due east until Baldcrest Hill was completely out of sight at which time they resumed their journey north.

"Do you think that fooled him?" Astrid asked.

"I doubt it" Hiccup replied "given enough time I suspect that Darius Gershwin will be able to track us all the way to Berk, so we can only hope that he doesn't intend to spread his knowledge about us just as he indicated."

"So you believe him?"

"I would be foolish to simply take him at his word."

"So... you do believe him then."

"Yes Astrid" Hiccup grinned sheepishly.

Darius Gershwin watched the two dragons disappear in the eastern sky.

"I suppose they had to try and throw me off" he smiled as he spoke to no one.

After making a few more observations around the area where the dragons had rested, Darius looked thoughtfully to the north but decided that it would not be a good idea to follow the Dragon Riders to closely as it may force them to take action against him and he did not wish to be stopped until he had tracked them all the way to their home. There was also the fact that they had been to the south of New Loren for a few days and so Darius concluded that it was there he should begin his journey to discover the truth.

The pack that his apprentice had left him was far too heavy for him to carry alone on such a long road ahead and so he removed a few essential items and took one last look around.

"Goodbye Fotherington... and good luck."

Epilogue

Two draught horses and the thoroughbred were grazing in the meadow near the tree with the large canopy where Fotherington had remained encamped for the last two days at the base of Baldcrest Hill.

When the blue fire in the sky had caught his attention several days ago, Fotherington had begun to wonder if he should ignore his master's orders to stay away and should instead rush to his aid. He had just decided to remain when twenty minutes later a pair of flying creatures passing by heading east and because that was precisely what the master was waiting for, Fotherington had figured that it was only a matter of time now before he would return to his apprentice but several more days had passed with no sign of him whatsoever and so the tall young man had broken camp at the appointed time and returned as ordered to the base of Baldcrest Hill.

A further two days had gone by as per his masters orders and Fotherington now prepared to hike to the top with a small backpack containing food, water and medical supplies although he did not expect to find his master alive when he arrived there in a few hours. The apprentice spy pondered upon the various scenarios and fates that could have befallen his master and try as he might, he could not get the most horrific ones out of his mind. There had been five creatures and seven people there over a week ago but if only two of the flying beasts had continued north, then perhaps the master had been forced to defend himself or even make a pre-emptive attack and although he may have killed many of them, their numbers may have overwhelmed him in the end. Perhaps three of the beasts and some of the people were still there on top of the hill meaning that the master may still be in hiding and unable to move and so Fotherington decided that he should approach the top of the hill quietly and fully alert least he give his master away.

The scene that greeted him was nothing like what his fertile imagination had prepared him for; the top of the hill was empty with no sign of violence or struggle. Thanks to the years of training that his master had provided to him ever since he had been apprenticed to the master spy on his tenth birthday, Fotherington was able to find the place where the beasts had landed and where two people had walked off into the wood. The trail of the first one caused him no trouble as the steps of the adolescent male were bold and easy to follow but the footsteps of the second, although hard to find, were very familiar to him.

Chances were that this was the trail of the young lady that his master had brought to his attention during his first trip to this place and he knew that these were the feet he should follow but much to his regret, the trail seemed to end as soon as it left the clearing. Fotherington pondered the way that the trail just stopped when he suddenly remembered what the master had said about this girl; 'It appears to me that she wasn't even trying to remain hidden; stealth for this young woman, appears to be a normal part of her life' and so if her normal movements were so difficult for an expert to track then finding her when she does not wish to be found must be near to impossible but the apprentice was determined to try.

The first thing he would have to remember was not to destroy any signs of her direction by just barging in without thinking and so he thought and soon realize that he was starting with only assumptions and not knowledge and so he carefully backtracked to the crest of the hill to start again. Fotherington spent the best part of an hour studying the crest of the hill and its surrounds and came to the following conclusion; there was no fight and although his master had been discovered, he was still very much alive. Much of pack three was still hidden where his master had concealed himself but two things were missing; the survival bag and the pouch of gold coins but the rest appeared to have been left for Fotherington to recover.

Near to where his master had camouflaged himself, Fotherington discovered where the young lady had followed the master into the clearing but as he backtracked her trail into the undergrowth, the tracks disappeared once more.

"Oh my" he began speaking to himself.

The girls trail had vanished on the other side of the hilltop and reappeared behind his master hiding place; this fact made his heart beat much faster. Fotherington had been in the employ of his master as an apprentice and servant for over fourteen years now and had never known of anyone who could rival the abilities and skills of the man whose real name was unknown to even his closest friends or acquaintances (including Fotherington), but here was a girl who could not only rival but best the master at his own game.

"Oh… my" he repeated.

After another two hours of intense searching, Fotherington finally found a sign of his master's departure on the lower tree line on the opposite side of the hill; the creatures had flown east but the master had departed to the south several days ago without retuning to fetch anything or give any further orders. For a few minutes, Fotherington felt lost and a little scared but then he remembered a very important part of his final conversation with the master nine days ago.

"Good day to you sir" the scruffy young boy greeted Fotherington upon his return to the home of the master spy "where would the Lord of the House be sir?"

"I'm afraid to say that you are looking at him" he gave the boy three copper coins "go and get yourself fed and return in an hour; I will have a message for you to deliver to the capital."

"Yes sir but err… I am normally given only two coins for me dinner sir."

"It is a time of promotion lad" the master declared as he entered his house.

The only person in the world who knew Fotherington's real name was now gone and so it fell to him to take over as the new master; he just hoped that he would be up to the challenge.

Thanks for reading everyone and a very special thank you to those who have given the re-write a second reading; I hope to do better in the future.

Nasty of me to leave some cliff hangers but I am hoping that now you are desperate to find out what happened to Darius and also to Hiccup and Astrid as they return to Elydonia for the wedding of Sigrid and Joric; well… I'm working on the next story but it will take me a while. Some of the things I'm working on now were meant to be in chapters 6 to 8 so when I got up to chapter 12 without getting to them, I began to realize that the story was getting away from me again and it was time to split the tail of the tale lest I end up with another 50 chapter epic.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas or other holiday and I'll talk to you all again soon (ish),

Marty :-D & Moon :-3 (skol)

(Advertising update: Don't forget to look for my other stories on the FictionPress website.)