Lois Letchford reads chapter 14 of Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon. Hiccup's plan to defeat the Green Death involves feather bombs stuffed into the monster's nostrils to make it sneeze. The boys load the bombs into their dragons' mouths and launch a chaotic attack that actually works, leaving the creature exhausted and collapsed in the sea.
Chapters
Chapter fourteen. The fiendishly clever plan. The dragons protested a bit, but the boys yelled them into line. All except for Toothless, who was absolutely refused to join in. You must be joking, sneered the little dragon. Refused to go anywhere near us. See, dragonous, giganticus, ma-ma-maximus, those things are d-d-dangerous! I shall stay here and watch you all! Hiccup coaxed and bribed and threatened in vain. You see, said Snotlout, the useless can't even get his own dragon to carry out his pathetic plan, and this is the person you are banking on to get us Out of this mess! Ugh! said Dog's Breath, the dirtbag. Oh, shut up! said Snotlout. Chorus, the rest of the boys, hiccupped, sighed, and gave up. Okay then. Toothless, you just stay here and miss all the fun. Now, I want everybody to go down to the gulls' nesting place and collect as many bird feathers as you can for the feather bombs. Birds' feathers? scoffed Snotlout. This wimp thinks you can fight an animal like that with birds' feathers? Cold steel is the only language a creature like that will understand. Dragons have a tendency to asthma, explained Hiccup. It's all that fire-breathing they do. The smoke gets into their lungs. And you think this monster is going to die from asthma right then and there because of a few feather bombs? Why don't you just feed him fried herring and see whether he drops dead of a heart attack in 20 years or so? jeered Snotlout. No, said Hiccup patiently. The feather bombs are just to make him very confused so he won't kill anybody on the way. Snotlout, Thuggery, I'm going to need to coach Fireworm and Killer in what they have to say, continued Hiccup. I'm not putting my dragon at risk to this crazy plan, said Snotlout. Oh yes, you are! hissed Thuggery through gritted teeth, brandishing a massive fist at Snotlout. This guy is such a pain, Hiccup. I didn't know you— how you put up with him. Listen, Snotfeathers, by some miracle you have got yourself a reasonable dragon. You get that dragon to do what Hiccup wants, or I'll give you much pleasure to personally boot you all the way to Porpoise Point and back again. Okay then, said It's not that cross to me, but don't blame me when we all get barbecued because of this useless mad idea! Hiccup supervised the making of feather bombs. The boys gathered great armfuls of feathers from the gulls' nesting place. Then they burgled every item of material they could find— goggle-toed nappies, Gobba's pyjamas, Mogadon the Meathead's tent, Valhalla-Rum's bra, anything they could get their hands on. The grown-ups were too busy consulting amongst themselves to take any notice. Snotlout cheered a bit because he could show off his superior skills at burglary. He managed to steal Bagabum's kid knickers right off him as he was standing In a huddle discussing a plan of action. Baggerbomb didn't notice, not even when he reached a hairy hand down to Absentminded to scratch his great bottom. He was too busy talking about bigger and better methods of yelling. The boys then wrapped the feathers up in the material so they would fly out when the bomb was dropped. Each team of 10 boys was arm with about 100 of those feather bombs wrapped in a great parcel made out of old sail. Hiccup led the Hooligans toward the long beach while Thuggery took the Meatheads to Unlandable Cove. The thin columns of boys were excitedly chattering as they set off behind Hiccup, Warty Hog and Clueless dragging the sail at the rear. The dragon circling and diving a couple of feet above their heads. Vikings are practically fearless, having been bred to be soldiers, so even Hiccup and Fishlegs had a surge of excitement at the thought of the battle to come. But as soon as the monster came into sight again, the boys and the dragons instantly dropped to their tummies and squirmed forwards, hearts pounding. It was impossible that anything could be that big! Hiccup led them as near as he dared to the edge of the cliff surrounding the long beach. They looked down at the terrible creature snoring in front of them. His nostrils alone were as big as 6 front doors, and the stench reeking out of them made it difficult for the boys to breathe. Warty Hog, who had always had a delicate stomach, threw up disgustingly in the heather. Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Clueless unwrapped the feather bombs and gave one to each boy. The boys called their dragons as softly as they could, and each put a feather bomb in the dragon's mouth. They then stood up on the cliff— They then stood up on the edge of the cliff with their dragons on their outstretched arms. This took about the same amount of bravery it might take for you to leap off a mountain at 1,000 feet. Even with the monsters fast asleep, the natural reaction was to keep hidden. Hiccup tried not to breathe in. He lifted his arm to give a command to begin. Go! whispered Hiccup. Go! yelled back the boys, and 10 dragons flew up and circled around the vast sleeping head. Just as the Green Death inhaled, Hiccup shouted, Now! and the dragons let go of their feather bombs. The Green Death took in a breath that was half air and half feathers. He woke with a gigantic sneeze as he shuddered and coughed. Fireworm, who was treading air near his right ear, gave a speech which went something like this, but a lot more irritating. Greetings, O Sea Dragoness Polinius! Minimus from the father, the terrors of the sea. He is feeling like feasting on barbarians, and if you get in his way, he will feast on you. Swim away, little sea slug, and you will be safe. But stay on this island, and you will feel the sharpness of the claws and the fierceness of his fire. The giant monster tried to laugh sarcastically, And cough at the same time, but this was virtually impossible, and a feather went down the wrong way, making him cough even more. Then Fireworm bit him on the nose. It must have felt like a flea bite, but the monster was outraged. Through streaming eyes, the Green Death made a swipe at this irritating dragon flea and missed. One giant claw tore down part of the cliff face instead. The 9 other dragons had by this time returned to collect more feather bombs from the boys on the cliffs. Now! yelled Hiccup. With split-second timing, they let their bombs fly. They hit their target of the Green Death's nostrils, and he collapsed with coughing again. You cannot win, puny worm! Wriggle back to the sea where you belong and let my master have his supper! Now the Green Death was really cross. He bounded lopsidedly after Fireworm, trying to bat his way, irritating the little speck of dragon with his claws. But the Green Death had the same sort of difficulty in catching Fireworm. As you might have if you tried to catch a firefly with your bare hands. Dragons are much better than humans at this sort of game. But the Green Death kept on missing because his eyes were streaming so much. Missed again! sneered Fireworm, enjoying herself hugely, and she flapped just out of reach of the Green Death's claws. The Green Death made another wild leap toward her as Fireworm flew on around the corners of the cliff, steering the monster in the direction of Unlandable Cove. Hiccup and the boys ran after them as fast as they could, but they hadn't a hope of keeping up. Running through heather is not like running through deep molasses, and they kept disappearing up to their knees in the bog. As Fireworm and the monster got further and further ahead in this race along the shoreline, It took longer and longer for the other dragons to fly back to the boys and return with more feather bombs. The military commandos among you will recognise the kind of problems they ensured when the supply line can no longer reach the forces at the front. Eventually, it was taking so long to erode, there came a moment when there were no more feathers. Tricking the Green Death's nostrils, and his eyes stopped streaming, and suddenly he could see the maddening Firewyrm pinpoint clear. The Green Death made a lightning reflex swipe at the red dragon and caught her in one gigantic claw. It was lucky for Firewyrm At that very moment, the Purple Death came crashing round the corner and struck the Green Death heavily in the stomach. His grip loosened on Fire Worm for a second and she flew off, panting with relief. The Green Death sat down heavily in the sea and fought for breath. The Purple Death did much the same. Chapter 15, The Battle at Death's Head— Headland.
