Astrid's P.O.V.

I woke with a fit of coughing to find that I was being held in a cave, with my burns wrapped in something. When my lungs calmed, I layed on the bed of soft sand and caught my breath as I looked around. In the darkness, I could just make out shadows that had dragon shapes, against the wall. They seemed to be asleep. Then, in a far corner of the cave, there was a fire with the outline of a man silhouetted against its brightness. His back seemed to be to me and he was gazing into the flames calmly, while obviously having heard my coughing fit.

Who is he? He can't be from Berk. If he was, he would be attacking these dragons and he wouldn't have helped me, I say to Emerald.

"I dunno. Maybe you should ask." I closed my eyes and let my head fall back to the sand.

I can't do that, are you insane?

"No more than you are. Because you have to be insane to not open your eyes right now." I do as she said and froze as I saw that the man was kneeling next to me. 

I let out a shaky breath and tried to move away but he put his hand on the opposite side on my head to keep me stationary. When my body went rigid, I realized that he was examining me. Suddenly, my lungs are tightened and my throat starts stinging before I let out a hacking cough, sending the taste of smoke back to my tongue. I propped myself up on my elbows and tried to get my breathing under control. Finally, the coughing ceased and I'm reduced to ragged breathing.  I'm about to lay back down, in a lack of energy, but a hand was placed on my shoulder to keep me upright. I look to my left to see the man holding a cup out to me.

"Drink this," he orders, "It'll clear your lungs." I hesitated before taking the cup and watching him as he went back to the fire. I sniffed the liquid before recoiling in disgust. It smelled foul, undrinkable. I wasn't even sure I could trust this guy.

"I suggest you do."

Why?

"He helped you when Gothi was busy. He saved you from the raid and cared for your burns. Don't you think he's earned a little trust? Why would he go through all the trouble of making you as comfortable as possible, just to kill you?"

I take a shuddering breath before raising the cup to my lips. The liquid slipped over my tongue and felt slimy on its way down my throat. I gagged at the acrid taste but pushed through it to get the rest down. I dropped the cup and sighed in pain as my lungs started to burn. My breathing became shallow as I pushed my palm into my sternum, trying to ease the sting. I accidentally let out a grunt, catching the attention of the man at the fire.

"Don't try to fight it," he says, "Just hold your breath for a little while." I took in a tense gulp of air and held it in my lungs before the stinging subsided. When the pain was gone, I let the air from my chest in a deep comforted sigh. "There, isn't that better?" the man asked as he walked toward me.

"Who are you?" I ask, rubbing my sore throat.

"No one to be trifled with, nor feared. Do as I say and you'll be returned to Berk before you know it," he says cheerily as he handed me a plate of chicken.

"Uh-n-no thank you," I stutter, moving away an inch. He paused before putting it next to me.

"It's there if you want it," he says before walking toward a tunnel. "I'll be back in a minute," he called over his shoulder. 

When he disappeared into the darkness, I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at the dragon shadows surrounding me. Suddenly, one of the figures stood up and shook itself before walking toward the fire, making me freeze and pray that it won't see me. When it reaches the light, it shows itself to be a blue and yellow Deadly Nadder. She looked powerful and familiar. I gulped when she looked at me, and recognized her as the Nadder that Berk lost a few years ago, in a raid. The dragon tilted her head as she looked at me, as if she remembered me like I remembered her. She let out a squawk before waddling over to me, making me want to back up but my burns made it too painful. I stiffened as she shoved her nose to my body, giving me a good sniff. Then, she seemed to dance in a circle around me as she wagged her tail.

"Well, looks like Stormfly took a liking to you," a voice chuckled and I looked in its direction to see the man walking back into the cave, a basket slung over his shoulder. I stayed silent as I tucked my head into my knees and waited for her to attack.  "Alright girl, get. You're scaring her," he ordered with a hard tone. Stormfly glared at him before letting out an annoyed cry and flying out of the cave.

"Y-you control...the dragons?" I ask, looking after the Nadder.

"Ah-ha, not exactly," he chuckles as he kneels next to me.

"But-but, it-" I broke off in confusion.

"I simply spoke to her," he says as he grabs my arm and starts to unwrap it. I fell silent as he smears something on the burned skin and re-wrapped it. He did the same to my other arm and legs before reaching back into his basket. "Roll your shirt up real quick; your abdomen is what I'm really worried about," he orders and I hesitate before obeying. He unwraps it before gently running his fingers over the skin. "Does this hurt?"

I shake my head. He pulls a paste out of his basket before spreading it across my stomach and re-wrapping it as well.