Home > Work > How to Betray a Dragon's Hero (How to Train Your Dragon, #11)
1 " Happy and giggly and bustly, the Hogfly ignored Hiccup’s strangled cries of: “Hoglfy! Come back here, Hogfly!” “Ooh!” it squeaked in delighted confusion. “You all look so lovely! How am I to choose which one of you to be my friend?”It perched on the sinister swoop of the Razorwing’s nose.“Where’s my biscuit? Are you married? Be my valentine…”“I can’t bear to watch…” groaned Fishlegs.It was like seeing an enthusiastic bunny rabbit trying to make friends with a heavily armed, bunny-eating cobra. "
― Cressida Cowell , How to Betray a Dragon's Hero (How to Train Your Dragon, #11)
2 " Oh for Thor's sake,' said Camicazi in exasperation. 'Have you not hung around with him for long enough to know that you never give up hope until you are presented with actual Hiccup skeleton, solemnly registered and verified by the Valkyrie Death Committee as completely authentic? "
3 " A HERO... IS... FOREVER.Adieu, Snotlout.I could not have done this without you.I carry you with me, every step I take, every decision I make. You are part of my blood, and I would never have gotten this far without you.We shall meet again, in a better world than this one. "
4 " Come on, Fishlegs,” whispered Camicazi, whistling happily. “You know we have to do this. Besides, I feel like a bit of exercise. We’ve been cooped up in that hideout for way too long.”Frankly, at this point, Camicazi had grown so fed up that if Hiccup had suggested hang gliding off the toe-talons of the dragon Furious she’d have been up for it.“A bit of exercise?” blustered Fishlegs. “A bit of exercise? This is not some kind of Viking version of Girls Keep Fit! "
5 " “MAKE RED YOUR CLAWS WITH HUMAN BLOOD…OBLITERATE THE HUMAN FILTH…”“Ooh, that’s a nice song,” said the Hogfly, ever polite. "
6 " Great things are only made out of love and out of pain. A great sword must be made out of the very best steel. But what truly makes the sword great, is what happens to the sword after it is made. We call this the 'testing’ of the sword. The sword is bashed and hammered and hollered into shape by the bright hammer. It is thrust into the fierce heat of the fire, where it softens, and then it is quickly quenched in water, where it hardens again. The higher the temperature, the fiercer the fire, the tougher and the greater the sword eventually becomes. The whole testing process can make a sword, or break it. The same could be said for the making of a Hero. "
7 " We all make mistakes. We all need second chances and even third, fourth, and fifth chances. "
8 " Sometimes time cannot tick backwards. Sometimes you cannot put a dragon back in a forest, nor a witch back in a tree-trunk, nor the breath back into a friend when all the breath has gone. "
9 " And long after Kings are forgotten, and their names have fallen into dust, the good deeds and the actions of the Heroes live on in glory. "
10 " Wodensfang, even though he was normally so keen on teaching the little dragon some manners. Heart lifting, Hiccup recognised the voice of Toothless singing to himself, down in the depths of the ship somewhere. Toothless, thought Hiccup. Thank goodness you’re all right. ‘One hundred and thirty-three thousand four hundred and eighty-nine b-b-bottles hanging on a wall ...’ sang the little dragon sadly, for Toothless was feeling very sorry for himself. ‘One hundred and thirty-three thousand four hundred and eighty-nine bottles hanging on a wall ... and if ONE green bottle should accidentally f-f-fall ... there’ll be one hundred and "
11 " The Last Song of Grimbeard the GhastlyI sailed so far to be a King but the time was never rightI lost my way on a stormy past, got wrecked in starless nightBut let my heart be wrecked by hurricanes and my ship by storm weatherI know I am a Hero, and a Hero is… foreverIn another time, another place, I could have been a KingBut in my castle’s ruined towers the lonely seabirds singI burned up my Tomorrows, I cannot go back everBut I am still a Hero, and a Hero is… forever "
12 " WARNING Any Relationship to any historical fact WHATSOEVER is entirely coincidental. You have been WARNED "
13 " elegantly "
14 " Sometimes a King has to do terrible things in order to protect those he has sworn to look after. When the stakes are so high, dreadful decisions have to be taken. It is the responsibility of a King to take on that burden, that guilt. "
