How to be a Pirate's Dragon (Hiccup) by Cressida Cowell Read Free Book Online Page A

planet. It'd just whip out that famous extra-long claw and swipe ... it'd be Goodnight Crocoraptor...."
    [Image: Dragon glove.]
    "Ah," said Wartihog craftily, "but what if the Skullion had one paw tied behind its back, who would win then?"
    "Idiots," fumed Fishlegs. "Idiots!! I'm surrounded by people with seaweed for brains."
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    Other than the boys, there were about fifty adult pirates in the Skullion landing party, all of Stoick's biggest and finest Warriors. Alvin was cracking jokes, giving out hearty handshakes and patting everybody on the back.
    Stoick the Vast was delighted to be setting off on a military operation and marched about yelling orders.
    "RIGHT, everybody. Once we've landed we split up into groups of two. We fan out across the island, and we get our dragons to sniff for the treasure. Notice you have all been supplied with a whistle -- Gobber, could you demonstrate?"
    Gobber blew a sharp blast on the whistle.
    "P-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ep!"
    "Once you hear that noise you will realize that somebody has found the treasure. Make your way towards the sound as quickly as possible so we can all help to carry it back to the ship. REMEMBER, the dragons will be sleeping during the day and it does not matter how much noise you make because the Skullion is stone-deaf. However, do try not to
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    step on one and don't forget that their sense of smell is very acute indeed. So once you land on the island, THERE WILL BE ABSOLUTELY NO FARTING WHATSOEVER. Is that understood?"
    The Warriors nodded solemnly.
    "Righto, then," said Stoick. "Death or Glory."
    [Image: A man.]
    "DEATH OR GLORY!" yelled everybody.
    And the Grimbeard's Treasure-Seeking Skullion Landing Party climbed aboard the good ship Lucky Thirteen to set sail for the Isle of the Skullions.
    Dogsbreath the Duhbrain "accidentally" bumped into Hiccup as they climbed in and knocked him on to the floor of the boat, where Snotlout trod on him.
    "Clumsy me," grinned Snotlout, swinging the Flashcut in a nonchalant fashion. "Good luck, Useless."
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    Lucky Thirteen set off slowly from the harbor through an ominous thick fog hanging heavily over the whole of the Inner Isles. It was difficult to see more than six feet ahead.
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    After three or four hours they caught sight of the Isle of the Skullions looming spookily through the mist. And Hiccup's immediate thoughts were, in no particular order, "Let's go home! Turn around! ABANDON SHIP!"
    "Don't sweat," he told himself. "Skullions can smell sweat." But he could feel himself getting hotter and hotter with seasickness and fright as the island drew closer and closer....
    In fact, even the bravest and most chatty of the Hooligans fell silent as they sailed deeper and deeper into waters their Tribe had been forbidden to enter for hundreds and hundreds of years.
    For the Isle of the Skullions was a very sinister place.
    The black cliffs in their odd pillar-like formations and the bloody bright-red earth seemed to whisper the word, "Death."
    All around there were crazy towers of limpet shells stacked up in piles perilously high, like so many fantastic sculptures. Being unable to fly or swim, the Skullions were imprisoned on the island. They had long ago finished off any small mammals, reptiles or birds that had once lived there. For years they had had
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    to exist on shellfish, the limpet in particular because it was so plentiful.
    There was no sign of life anywhere. No rabbits, mice or other scuttly creatures running around the hillsides. No birds calling from the cliff tops. Nor were there any signs of the Skullions, either. There were, however, worryingly enormous holes dotted all over the landscape.
    [Image: In the middle of the sea.]
    "Those must be their burrows," thought Hiccup.
    They were larger than any burrows Hiccup had ever seen before. Some of the holes were as big as the front door of the Great Hall.
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    "They must be somewhere down there," thought Hiccup, swallowing hard.
    Because there were no animals