第二十九章：一个意想不到的发展(14)

But Thuggory strode forward nonetheless. The crowd stood back to let him pass. ‘I am sorry, Father,’ cried Thuggory solemnly, and he bowed formally to his father as a son should. ‘But Hiccup is right. If the dragons were free, they would not make war on us. It is time for a new world, a better one.’ Thuggory stopped in front of Valhallarama, very brisk and soldier-like, and knelt and removed his helmet as if he were becoming a Warrior. Valhallarama put the Dragonmark on his forehead. ‘Hiccup for King!’ yelled Thuggory, jumping to his feet and punching the air. ‘Well, only one person!’ scoffed the witch. ‘You’re not going to get very far with only one foll—’ ‘Hiccup for King!’ roared a whole cohort of young Meatheads, clearly friends of Thuggory. Suddenly all around the courtyard, the young teenagers of the Tribes pressed forward to get the Mark. Camicazi landed in the courtyard with Fishlegs on the back of the Deadly Shadow, and had to push her way to the front and threaten several Danger-Brutes to get her Dragonmark first. Because even the young of the conventionally

vicious Tribes such as the Danger-Brutes and the Visithugs were clamouring for the Mark now. How was this possible? Well, a strange thing had happened during the six months of Hiccup being an Outcast. Hiccup had turned from the most unlikely, scrawny, puny little Viking ever, into a romantic figure of rebellion. Many of the younger Vikings had been secretly following his progress as Hiccup set free dragon-traps and eluded the forces of the Wilderwest in yet another brilliant and hair-raising escape. They had been whispering in secret stories of Hiccup’s adventures, and suddenly they were whispering them not as evidence of what a weirdo he was, how bizarre, how freakish, but of how clever, how extraordinary, how bravely unusual he was…