12-第十一章：蓄须王的信(18)

um… last week I stopped whipping the slaves for a bit,’ suggested Alvin. ‘My whip-hand was giving me blisters…’ ‘Haven’t you ever saved anyone’s life?’ raged the Witch. ‘I’ve been too busy saving my own life, Mother,’ Alvin pointed out. ‘And in some pretty spectacular ways, even if I do say so myself…’ All around the ruined castle of Grimbeard the Ghastly, the Vikings told each other of Hiccup’s good deeds, and somewhere along the way, the tales were elaborated on by the storytellers, and Hiccup was given super-human and super-hero qualities, as is the way of storytelling and storytellers since the beginning of time. Very-Vicious the Visithug had been one of Alvin’s most faithful followers, but even he jumped up on a

ruined pillar, and bellowed at the crowd, holding up his panting Hogfly in his cupped hands, like it was a precious relic: ‘HICCUP WENT TO VALHALLA TO BRING ME BACK MY HOGFLY!’ Which wasn’t strictly true, but it struck a chord with the public mood. A boy of Destiny who could go to Valhalla and bring back a Hogfly? Why, that might be a boy that could pull off a miracle and finish this War without ending the dragons! ‘If Hiccup really is a boy of Destiny,’ they said to each other, ‘if he really is the Heir that Grimbeard dreamed of, maybe Hiccup can save the dragons for us…