Friends and Harmony

Chapter 7

The Library and the Festival

Soon, after following Felix's directions, Henry and Astrid finally arrived at the Berkton library. It was a circular building, like the Town Hall, except it only had one balcony up on the third floor.

The library was an ivory color,with ivy vines curling along one wall, and the trim was a dark gray. When they went inside, the floors were a light gray polished hardwood, and the walls were a warm beige. Bookshelves lined along every wall, and when they went up the spiral staircase, the second floor was the same.

The third floor had a few spare rooms, and two were cleaned up for Henry and Astrid. Henry's room had a large comfy bed with dark green sheets, a desk with new pencils in the drawer, a chair, and a spare bookshelf in the corner. The huge French doors lead to the balcony. Astrid's room was put up the same, except the bed had light blue sheets, and had a huge picture window she can open.

As Astrid went to her room to make herself comfortable, Henry went to his and went out on the balcony. He saw the moon shining down with the stars sparkling around it and dotting the sky. After a few breaths of fresh air, Henry left the balcony and his room and went downstairs. Time to do some research.

When Astrid came down ten minutes later, already there was books piling up the tables. Henry was scanning the shelves, looking for the book he needed. But, he still couldn't find it.

"No, no, no, no, no." He groaned. "This is ridiculous! I thought there would be multiple copies of at least one book about the Guardian Dragons. Zip, zilch, nothing!"

Astrid rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Come on." She went over to another shelf. "We have at least two more hours before the Festival starts. Let's keep looking."

Almost two hours later, they practically tore apart the entire first floor. Astrid collapsed in a chair. "You're right, Henry. This is ridiculous."

Henry was standing on top of a ladder, looking on the top shelf of the last bookshelf. "Bingo!" He grabbed a dark brown book with gold trim. "Got it!" He slid down the ladder and placed on an empty book stand. The title said, The Guardian Dragons: A Reference Guide.

Astrid glanced at the grandfather clock and saw the time. "Oh, shoot! Henry, we're going to be late!"

Henry looked over at the clock as well. "Oh, great!" He groaned. He quickly stuffed the book into his book bag and he and Astrid rushed out of the library.

The Festival was going along great. The catering was delicious, the decorations were spot on, and the music was beautiful. Henry, Astrid, and the other spectators were cheering as they watched the Night Fury flip and spiral through the air at top speed. When it landed back on the platform, fireworks of all colors shot up in the air and exploded brilliantly.

Soon, everyone gathered at the Town Hall to greet the King and Queen. The limousine bearing the royal flags soon arrived, and Stephen and Valerie stepped out. They were both dressed casually, in a simple suit and dress, yet they wore their crowns.

They walked up to the outside platform in the plaza. Stephen stepped up to talk in a microphone. "Greetings, people of Berk. Here we are, gathered here to celebrate the beginning of another summer. My wife, Queen Valerie, and I are glad that another year of peace has blessed all of us."

The crowd cheered. Stephen raised a hand to quiet everyone, and continued speaking. "Despite a loss we have experienced 15 years ago, we are still confident that we have overcome it, and that we will always remember it with love and pride. And we hope that our loss wasn't in vain."

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion coming from the roof. Everyone screamed and looked up. There, on one of the balconies, stood a man about the same age and size as Stephen. Except his hair and beard were oil black, and his eyes were actually glowing a dull gray. He wore silver armor all over, with a shimmering black cape, and his face paint was glowing bright blue.

Henry squinted his eyes in observation. That man seemed familiar for some reason. His hunch was somewhat right, seeing the glares Stephen and Valerie were sending him.

"Alvin." Stephen growled. Valerie went over to him and gently grabbed his arm, still glaring coldly at the man, now known as Alvin.

He floated it up and over the crowd. "Now, this here is a party." Alvin said. "Is tomorrow the summer solstice, Stephen? Why are you celebrating instead of mourning? After all, he's gone."

Everyone's eyes widened when they realized who Alvin was talking about. The king and queen increased the coldness of their glares.

"You don't talk about him, Alvin." Valerie hissed at him.

"He took everything from me!" Alvin shouted. "He would soon become what the kingdom 'needed'."

Alvin conjured up a ring of ice-blue fire above his head and fired it down at the royals. Henry and Astrid acted quick and pulled them out of the way before the fire descended and caught onto the platform.

"What?" Alvin roared in confusion.

Ritchie, Cosette, Tobias, Violet, and Felix then went over to where Henry and Astrid pulled the royals and stood their ground alongside them. Ritchie grabbed a pie knife from a nearby table, while Cosette readied her bow.

"Now, this is cute. A child troop of bodyguards." said a sarcastic Alvin, gesturing to the kids in front of the king and queen. His eyes then landed on Henry. "Have we met before, lad?" He asked.

"No. But I do know who you are, and how you came to be this insane." Henry answered, getting some of the teens to snicker.

Alvin growled, not liking his quip. "You certainly have a death wish."

"Any bright ideas, gang?" Tobias asked.

"One." Astrid suggested. "Let's blow this joint and take the king and queen to safety."

"I agree." Violet piped up.

"Let's get going, then, partners." Ritchie said, throwing the pie knife at Alvin, who simply dodged it. But already, everyone was running.

Cosette was firing arrow after arrow at Alvin, but he was effortlessly dodging them through the air. She glanced over at her sheath and saw that she was running low. "Need some back-up over here." She called.

Felix got in front of her with a huge firework in his hands. "Way ahead of you, sister." He lit a match and lit the firework. "Stand back." He warned.

Immediately, the firework shot up at Alvin, too fast for him to dodge. It flew up and then, exploded in a green burst. It sent Alvin flying in circles.

Once he positioned himself upright, he laughed. "Is that the best you can do?" But, everyone was gone. He snarled, and saw the remains of the firework, the green matching his eyes. He had only seen that shade of green once, and it had always haunted him. Now that the boy was older, he can finally finish him and his family, once and for all, even if he doesn't know who he really is.

Author's Note

A/N: How was that for some excitement? Next chapter will reveal more about the Guardian Dragons and what magic they practiced.

Don't forget to let me know about what you guys think. I'll see y'all soon, in Chapter 8!

Got to fly! ;)