After the foreigners left, Charcoal had to tell Gryphon about the escort. Considering what she was carrying, the Valstrax was happy to hear that. It was best to have protection while carrying such precious package.
After that, Charcoal went back to his human form to work on his things. He decided to stay at the cove to accompany his mate, his hatchlings and her friend. Alexander, Thuggory, Camicazi and Stoick had gone back to the village.
Hiccup continued his training, which had gotten increasingly important ever since Furious' visit. Not only Furious unsealed his eldritch ability, the greater alpha also injected his eldritch knowledge into him. It had the answers he need to counter eldritch abilities.
The young dragon must train that power in case Furious tried to use it against him.
It was not the only thing he practised, however.
Hiccup was sitting at the centre of the cove, reading the sky wolves handbook. There were literature books around the place. Occasionally, he glanced at Toothless and Amber, who were entertaining the hatchlings with spells at the corner.
'The handbook explains that divine spells are effective to things other than deviants.' Hiccup summarised as he read the book. 'It's also effective against eldritch aberrant and undead.'
However, most divine spells would require belief to the Christian God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They were all considered one; the God itself. At least that was what the book said.
Being raised around Nordic faiths, Hiccup had some trouble wrapping his mind around that idea. There were more than one Norse gods; why did Christians only have one? It did not help that most dragons believe that nature were split between the stars, the sky and the moon.
'I wonder how they draw the power of divinity from God.' Hiccup thought. He placed down the book and stared at his right hand. 'They never described how it works. I managed to do the spell, but...'
The dragon in human form focused on his hand. A blue, translucent rod appeared at his palm. It was shimmering with his mana. It was meant to be a divine-induced mana spear, as explained in the book.
However, his mana spear was hollow. It had no divinity.
Hiccup threw his mana spear onto a wall. It travelled for few metres, before vanishing into nothingness. Frustrated, he closed the book. 'Maybe faith is part of the spell.'
"Charcoal."
The boy looked up. Alexander Haddock was standing next to him. His expression was soft. "Do you have time?"
"Yes." Hiccup pocketed the handbook. "What is it?"
"Your father told me about what happened in Helheim's Gate." Alexander sat down in front of him. He crossed his legs and stared at the boy. "... how do you feel?"
"I tried to end my own father." The dragon in human form sounded sarcastic. He picked up a different book. "It sounds like something Dagur would do. I wish I wasn't so trusting to certain types of strangers."
"Dagur?"
"Berserker's heir." Hiccup answered, staring at the man in front of him. "He was at the deviant incursion years ago."
"Ah. Oswald's son." The man slowly nodded. "His father tried to get me to train him. I refused because he can't get along with Thuggory and Camicazi."
"I'm not surprised. Our relationship with Dagur went bad after the incursion." The boy commented, before opening his book. He put them on his lap. "Camicazi called him unstable. Most Berserkers are. They have a lot more energy and aggression than most."
"Sounds like he needs training in self-control." Alexander noted. "Just like you last year."
Hiccup raised his brows. "... sure."
They fell silent. The boy turned to read the book, while the man glanced to check on the dragons. Toothless was showing off her ironwire spell to her hatchlings, and Amber was trying to replicate that.
It was nice to see some peace in the middle of impending battle.
"I always wondered, you know."
Alexander looked back at the boy. Hiccup was staring at the book. "I wondered why things are always like this." The boy continued speaking. "Even as a dragon, I often question why things the way they are."
The man stayed silent. The boy grimaced. "Furious told me that he and his brother tried peace once. They brought humans and dragons together in Barbaric Archipelago." He turned to stare at his former mentor. "It lasted over half a century."
"I can't speak for them, but I know Hiccup the Second is a good man." Alexander commented. "He did lots of good things for dragons in the surface."
"But it was never enough." Hiccup admitted. He was saddened to hear that. "I always want to end the war, both as Hiccup and Charcoal. There's a lot of movements about change out there. Why can't we have that here?"
The man grimaced at that question. "I'm not one for that question, lad." Alexander remarked, getting his attention. "I've seen plenty of change. Some are not for the better. I'd be cautious every time something changed."
There was a pause. The boy stared at him. "You were there when Hiccup the Second was around." Hiccup realised. "You've met him before. You're older than him."
"... I am."
Hiccup moved to sit next to his former mentor. "I need some help on history work." He showed his book. "It's for my chiefly study."
The man raised his brows. "Chiefly study?"
"Politics. As the future chief of Berk, I need to know a lot of things about how to lead the village." The boy explained his situation. "I'm not as big and strong like most Vikings back then. I had to compensate them with knowledge."
"And now, you're the smartest, biggest and strongest Viking." Alexander commented. "If you ignore the fact you're a dragon, that is."
"Yeah. I still studied anyway. There's always more to improve." Hiccup responded. He flipped some pages, before stopping at a list. They were names of countries in Europe. "Have you ever heard of 'Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'?"
The man frowned. "That sounds French."
"[French] Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789." The boy recited in different language. "It was made by revolutionary France in early stages of the revolution. It was the core values of their revolution."
Alexander paused for a moment. He leaned back and crossed his arms. "Did they ever implemented them?"
"In a way." Hiccup shrugged. "Some laws they made during Napoleonic era looks similar to the declaration. For example, 'presumed innocent until guilty' came from the declaration."
"Oh, I see where this is going." The draconic Viking smiled. Hiccup asked him because he probably lived through it. "Did you know that the declaration is based on something else?"
"The United States Declaration of Independence. 1776." The boy answered. "Parts of them looks similar. The equal rights article is similar."
"Did you know something similar before that?"
"The Bill of Rights. England, 1689." Hiccup answered once more. "Before that is the Golden Bull of 1222 signed by Andrew the Second of Hungary. Before that is Magna Carta, which was agreed in 1215 by King John of England. There's more before and around those years, but those are the first things in mind."
Alexander smiled. "What about here?"
Hiccup was confused. "Here?"
"Yes. Hiccup the Second tried something like that in 1106." The draconic Viking explained. "Declaration of Rights of People and Dragonkind."
"... I don't think I've ever heard of that before." The boy admitted.
"The declaration was proposed by Furious and Hiccup the Second to the Wilderwest Empire." Alexander explained. "It's short and simple. There's only few points. Humans and dragons are born equal in rights; they have rights to fight against aggression and oppression; and no human or dragon shall be forbidden to befriend one another."
Hiccup slowly nodded. He was unaware of such declaration. "Furious never told me that." The boy admitted. "Then again, he gave up on peace and considered it a lost cause."
"It was the foundation of roaming flocks across the surface world. It was why some deviant dragon hunters have dragons as their companion." The draconic Viking further explained. "You've probably heard this from the foreign dragons. What Furious and Hiccup the Second did is far more than simple peace in Barbaric Archipelago."
The boy paid attention. Alexander continued speaking. "Before Furious came to power, Greatness the Red Death suppressed them during Dragon Rebellion. When Furious came to power, he continued that suppression." He explained. "But those outside greater alpha influence still held onto that declaration. Roaming flocks; small nests; deviant hunter settlement; everyone believed them."
Hiccup widened his eyes. That explained something about Furious. The greater alpha had lost faith in his own declaration. The death of his brother-of-all-but-blood was too great for him to overcome; he abandoned his ideals to avoid the pain.
While part of him agreed with Furious, the logical part of him disagreed.
The declaration was ahead of its time. They were trying to establish liberty in a world where serfdom and feudalism was considered the best kind of governance. The fact that they survived so long was an achievement in on itself.
It made him wonder if they were partially responsible of Enlightenment movement amongst surface people. He wondered if such movement also existed within Hidden World. Many kingdoms and empires around the world had been suppressing that ideal for centuries.
Revolutionary France tried to make that happen.
But then, Napoleon happened.
However, that was not the end. Enlightenment movements were spreading. Given the age of his literatures, the movement had been spreading for the last century. It was the age of reason. It produced the idea of liberty, equality, and freedom.
There were places built upon the ideas of Enlightenment. United States of America was the first in mind. The rest were kingdoms changing under the movement, such as Great Britain.
Each movement produced different kinds of thoughts. Secularism, nationalism, liberty, republicanism, and so on, so forth. They were birthed in many different places, made to solve different problems. Problems that most refused to solve.
Problems that caused the French Revolution.
"Some European kingdoms talked about liberty." Hiccup began to speak. He was responding to what was stated before. "If dragons held that declaration, why didn't they take a side during French Revolutionary Wars or Napoleonic Wars?"
"Because there's no more dragons in Europe other than here. They can't tell the difference between deviants and normal dragons, and as such, largely treated as threats to settlements." Alexander answered. "Most stopped trusting dragons after deviants tried to take control of Great Britain. There's more dragons in Americas and deeper parts of Africa."
"I think I've heard your stories about something like that." The boy commented. "But never Great Britain."
"It was King William the Fourth of Great Britain. It happened few years ago. The deviant tried to melt him and take his form." The draconic Viking elaborated. "Lightflake and Samuel were the ones that exposed the plot. I was told it was a close one."
Hiccup understood. "I remember Samuel boasting about Lightflake being the first dragon to be knighted."
"Aye. That's the tale." Alexander nodded. "You can ask him about the tale when they come back."
The boy was about to respond when he heard someone flying into the cove. Looking up, he saw a familiar-looking Deadly Nadder landing close to Toothless and her hatchlings. She had about twenty hatchlings on her back.
It was Agatha. Hiccup saw the urgent look on her face. She looked exhausted and desperate. "Something's wrong." He said to his former mentor, before standing up and approached the group. Alexander moved to follow him.
The man and the boy approached the group. Hiccup was the first one to speak. "Hey, Agatha."
The Deadly Nadder turned to face him. She was surprised. "Charcoal?" Agatha whispered. "That's you?"
"Yeah. It's me."
"You're the one that captured me and shed my scales." Agatha realised.
Toothless narrowed her eyes. "Really?"
Hiccup surrendered his hands. "Hold on. I used those scales to make this outfit." He paused, before remembering. "As well as Toothless' scales. She never knew where I disposed those scales."
The black-scaled dragoness was about to say more when Amber interjected. "It doesn't matter." She declared, getting their attention. "Amber, did you see Nemo anywhere?"
There was a long pause. It had been months since the attempted kidnapping. The dragons felt dread as they remembered what happened. They thought Agatha had already known about it.
Amber the Light Fury paled upon hearing it. "Was- is that your mate?"
"Yes." The Deadly Nadder quickly nodded. "He's a dragon general. Titan wing Deadly Nadder. You can't miss him."
"Agatha." Toothless carefully interrupted. "When was the last time you see him?"
"He vanished about one and a half months ago." The Deadly Nadder answered. There was concern in her voice. "He said he was going to Dragon Island, but I couldn't find him anywhere. No one under him knew where he went. It's like he just vanished!"
Hiccup, Toothless and Amber glanced at each other, wondering how to break the news. The two dragons eventually stared at the adult male Night Fury in human form. They expected him to tell the news.
The boy exhaled his breath. He focused on the Deadly Nadder. "Agatha." Hiccup began.
"Your mate is a deviant."
There was a long pause. Agatha was incredulous. She turned to stare at Toothless, who looked serious. Amber the Light Fury also looked the same. They were serious about what was said. "What?"
Toothless was the one to speak. "Nemo was a deviant spy for Northern Alliance." She explained. "He turned into a giant deviant dragon and tried to kidnap our hatchlings. Our nest was destroyed; we barely escaped."
"No." The Deadly Nadder took a step back. She was in shock. "But... he's not a deviant! He's a dragon general. I've checked him with Identify several times. I was with him couple weeks ago!"
"Nemo was chasing Gryphon the Valstrax to Greater Archipelago when we were trying to escape." The black-scaled dragoness softly explained. She recited what she remembered from Hiccup. "Greater Alpha Merciless intercepted him when he crossed the border. I'm sorry."
Agatha was speechless. Her eyes began to water. "I- I-" She stuttered. "I was with him couple weeks ago..."
They fell silent. Nobody had anything to say. The Deadly Nadder sat on the ground, wondering how it all went wrong. She was in shock from the information given to her. Agatha could not believe that Nemo was gone.
Hiccup approached the Deadly Nadder. "I gave Nemo some A grade Amethyst Scales." He softly spoke. "It was your salary for serving under me. Did he gave you the scales?"
"... no." Agatha whispered. She stared at the boy in front of her. The dinosaur dragoness was grieving. "I didn't receive anything. I- I had to hunt fish myself. I can't feed everyone, and Amber saw and helped me until my mate came back. I thought he'll come back to help and..."
It was as far as she could say. The dinosaur dragoness collapsed in her grief and exhaustion.
Hiccup, Toothless, Amber, and others could only stare as she cried in front of them. The hatchlings on Agatha's back were confused and afraid. They had no idea what to do with a grieving dragon.
Eventually, Toothless decided to do something. "Let's give her some time alone." The black-scaled dragoness muttered, pushing others back with her wings. "Charcoal, get our hatchlings for study. Amber, go take her hatchlings and feed them. I'll be here for her."
Everyone moved to follow that order.
The six Night Fury hatchlings crowded around Hiccup as he led them into the open cave. Amber gestured the twenty Deadly Nadder hatchlings to come; they reluctantly followed her when she took off into the air. Alexander awkwardly walked out from the cove.
Hiccup briefly glanced at the grieving Deadly Nadder. Toothless was quietly comforting her. He hoped for the best for her wellbeing.
With that in mind, he disappeared into the open cave, along with his hatchlings.
Hiccup spent the time teaching advanced mana theories with his hatchlings. It was mostly an overview on what mana could be used for, as well as its dangers. The young dragon wanted his hatchlings to know the power they could wield.
When evening came, Amber returned with the Deadly Nadder hatchlings. Agatha was calm enough for her hatchlings, but she was still grieving from the loss of her mate. Regardless, the Light Fury was available to tend the Night Fury hatchlings.
That was important, because Camicazi and Thuggory visited to bring him to the dragon ring. They wanted to see Astrid fighting a Monstrous Nightmare. With Hiccup freed from his work, he accompanied them to the show.
"Today, we will celebrate the coming age of our Viking!"
It was evening at the dragon ring. There were a lot of Vikings standing on the balcony, just outside the cage. Most of Berk Vikings were there. Stoick was sitting at the chair, giving speech to everyone. He was holding a hammer.
Hiccup was present in his human form. He sat on a tall rock, along with Camicazi and Thuggory. They were there to see the dragon ring from distance, mostly to avoid crowding with the Vikings at the balcony. They wanted to see how the fight went.
Spitelout was standing next to a stationed repeating ballista. He did not trust the fight to go well. The chief second-in-command would be the one to shoot the dragon if Astrid failed to kill them.
Alexander Haddock was at the corner, watching the sky around them. A collapsed repeating ballista rested on the wall next to him. It looked ready to deploy at moment's notice.
"Today, Astrid Hofferson becomes ONE OF US!" Stoick boomed his voice.
The petite girl was standing right at the entrance of the arena. She tuned out what the chief had to say. Instead, she thought about what Hiccup had told her.
Astrid was angry at him for not allowing her to tell the others. She was irritated at the fact that their chief knew but did nothing about it.
There was also that Night Fury she saw at that place behind Helheim's Gate. Astrid wondered what that Night Fury was about, but she knew it was responsible for the dragon raid. The petite girl could not wait to kill the thing. It would bring endless glory to her family!
However, she need to do something about what Hiccup had told her. She need to do something about it.
'If I could show them…' Astrid thought, before realising something. 'Wait, I can show them!'
Gobber appeared from the cage. "It's time, Astrid." He encouraged her. "Knock him dead!"
The others appeared behind her. Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut came to support the petite girl.
"Show 'em how it's done, my girl!" Tuffnut shouted.
The Hofferson nodded. She smirked, confident that she could do it. After all, Hiccup had done it before. She was sure she could do it. The credit would be given to herself. It would completely change their lives forever.
Meanwhile, Hiccup noticed Toothless approaching the rock he was sitting on. The dragoness in human form climbed up the tall rock and sat right next to him. The boy could tell she looked disturbed. "How was it?"
"She's not a deviant. She never knew Nemo was a deviant." Toothless muttered. Her voice was a bit low. Hiccup could hear her just fine. "Agatha used Identify whenever Nemo came back. She didn't know deviant spies could hide their mana perversion. He never came up as deviant from her spells."
It was something Hiccup and Toothless would have done as well, if they did not have their circuit bond. Scent and appearance could be faked. Dragon kidnapping was a real thing, especially for prominent figures, like dragon general. It was reasonable to use Identify to make sure they were who they are.
"I had to share our food with her." The dragoness in human form whispered. "She struggled to feed 20 hatchlings by herself. She was starving. Some of her hatchlings were very hungry before Amber fed them."
Hiccup darkened his expression. With no income to hire dragons to fish, Agatha had to do everything by herself. The Amethyst Scales meant for her were most likely sent to Northern Alliance.
He should have known to give them directly.
"Was he abusive in any way?" The boy questioned.
"Not at all. They set some boundaries in their relationship, but that's about it." Toothless muttered. She was staring at the dragon ring below. "Amber did check her mind. She's clean. There's no sign of tampering."
"Nemo avoided using deviant abilities." Hiccup concluded. He was frowning. "With many ways to detect mana perversion, it makes sense for him to be socially manipulative. It's the same with Ascal..."
The quiet conversation was interrupted when the Vikings fell quiet. Astrid had entered the arena. The petite girl casually grabbed her axe, before looking up at the crowd. "I'm ready!"
The dragon pen flew open. The Monstrous Nightmare rushed out and crawled all around the place, including the cage. "Whoa!" Vikings retreated a bit when the male red dragon breathed its flame. They cheered at the show. Given the spectacle, it would be an interesting fight!
Astrid was calm, but nervous. The Monstrous Nightmare landed in front of her, ready for a fight. However, something was wrong. He sniffed the air, before looking down to the shieldmaiden in front of him. "… What are ye doing?"
That was a good question. Astrid had her hand outstretched. Her axe on her side. She was confident in her pose. It was confusing the dragon.
"It's okay…" Astrid soothed, remembering what Hiccup had told her. The shieldmaiden moved closer, not looking away from the dragon. "I just want to be your friend."
The dragon was nervous. "What are ye, befriending me holding an axe like that?" He spoke, incredulous. His eyes flicked between the axe and Astrid, before growling to make her back off.
It was then Astrid remembered one of the steps. She had forgotten to disarm herself. The petite girl was nervous. She was not quite sure if it was a good idea. 'For glory!' She thought, before throwing her axe away.
The axe clattered onto the side. Astrid moved closer. "It's okay…"
At the rocks, Camicazi and Thuggory were confused. The Bog-Burglar heiress decided to ask. "What was she doing?"
Hiccup widened his eyes. "She's trying to tame the dragon."
Toothless barely hid her excitement. "She's going to get herself killed."
It seemed Stoick the Vast realised what she was doing. "Stop the fight."
"No! I need you all to see this." Astrid called out, staring at the dragon. "We can tame these dragons. They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."
"Wh- tame me?" The Monstrous Nightmare questioned, somewhat incredulous. "Ye think I'm an animal?"
"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" Stoick roared and smashed his hammer onto the railing.
"That's it! Back off!" the Monstrous Nightmare snapped, almost biting Astrid's hands off.
The shieldmaiden quickly backed off. She went to reach her axe. Before she reached it, the Monstrous Nightmare breathed liquid fire and destroyed the axe. The petite girl rushed to run out from the arena. She was panicking. Her mind screamed to run away from the place.
"ASTRID!" The girl heard her friends shouting at her. They were standing at the entrance, frozen in fear. She took off running towards the entrance, hoping for anyone to do something.
"Tryinna trick me again?" The Monstrous Nightmare roared in challenge. "I'll end yer life right here!"
The shieldmaiden saw the red dragon breathed his fire. It was heading towards her. It was something she never experienced before. All the training she ever did was forgotten. There was only one thing in her mind.
Astrid screamed.
"AAAAAAAAHHH!"
"Shite." Spitelout cursed as he manned the repeating ballista. He pulled the charging handle and fired a shot. There was a clack, and an arrow was sent flying. The second-in-command missed and hit the ground, but the arrow exploded and made the dragon flinch.
That was enough for Astrid to run. The shieldmaiden ran to the entrance. The others were gesturing for her to come. She could see Gobber running down towards her. She was unarmed. She need to get away. She need to run!
Spitelout was about to fire more when Stoick gestured him to stop. The chief looked back at the rocks. "Hiccup!"
Meanwhile, Astrid was in trouble. Liquid fire went bursting behind her. It hit the wall right next to the entrance, which forced her to stop. The Monstrous Nightmare suddenly appeared and came bouncing right between her and the entrance. "Got you now!"
The red dragon smashed his claws and pinned the girl onto the ground. Astrid could only stare at him with wide, fearful eyes. The dragon was getting ready to finish her off.
The shieldmaiden cursed herself for trying something like that. She cursed Hiccup for making her do it. She cursed the blasted boy for getting her killed!
BOOM!
The Monstrous Nightmare was suddenly thrown all the way back. He smashed with a wall, cracking them. The red dragon got up to face the offender, only to see a brawny boy standing in front of the downed Hofferson. Hiccup was the one who punched him in the face.
The boy cracked his knuckles. "Alright!" Hiccup declared. The crowd fell silent. "You have ten seconds to return to your cage."
The red dragon glared, before rushing to them once more. He opened his maw-
BOOM!
This time, the Monstrous Nightmare was flung straight into his dragon pen. Gobber reached the lever just in time to close the pen, locking him inside. They heard loud banging against the steel door. The red dragon was angry for being deprived of his target.
Everyone calmed down afterwards. Hiccup turned around and faced the petite girl. He was angry. "What in the name of Odin were you doing?!"
Astrid simply glared at him. "Your father ruined it."
Hiccup was about to respond when Stoick boomed his voice. "Astrid has failed to kill the Monstrous Nightmare!" He declared, angry at the outcome. "This dragon ring is- WHOA!"
Suddenly, something pulled Stoick into the open sky. Spitelout was the first to shout. "Stoick!"
A rather large Deadly Nadder had snatched him. Vikings moved out of the way as the second-in-command turned the repeating ballista around.
Before he could fire, another Deadly Nadder appeared. It spread its wings, exposing its body to the crowd. Its body began to glow-
FLASH!
"AAH!" Vikings shouted in pain as it suddenly blinded them. They were disoriented from the flash, feeling sudden vertigo out of nowhere. Hostile large dragons began advancing from distance. They circled around the place, as if looking for someone.
Toothless, Camicazi and Thuggory narrowly avoided the flash by jumping down. Once they gathered themselves, they pulled out their scrambler goggles and wore them. The mother dragon turned human pulled out the TONER instrument and flipped it open.
According to her instrument, they were not deviants.
They were aberrations.
The mother dragon in human form cursed. "It's Furious!" She closed and pocketed the trinket. "Man the ballista. I'll get Stoick. Go!"
The two heirs nodded, before wearing their own scrambler goggles. They rushed for the repeating ballista near the cage, while Toothless moved to jump off the cliff. She need to transform to catch the Viking chief. They could not let him be kidnapped!
Before she could transform, something kicked her back all the way onto the cage. "Ow!" Toothless hit the iron bars, before sliding down into the dragon ring. "Whoa!"
Hiccup was just in time to catch her. "Got you!"
Toothless quickly got off from him. "It's Furious! They got your father!"
The brawny boy hardened his expression. "Then we need to move!"
Meanwhile, Vikings were slowly recovering from the flash. Alexander Haddock was the first one to recover. He quickly wore his scrambler goggles, right before the same Deadly Nadder flashed another visual hazard. The goggles worked; he was unaffected by the light.
The draconic Viking rushed for the collapsed repeating ballista. He grabbed the front handle, before swinging them to the side. It hit an aberrant Deadly Nadder that tried to bite him.
The man rested the ballista, pulled the charging handle – bow limbs snapped in place as it loaded an arrow, before hoisting them to his hips.
Left hand on front handle, right hand on grip and trigger, Alex did not bother deploying the wooden tripod. He fired them from the hip, striking dragons that tried to get close.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The repeating ballista struck three Deadly Nadders and felled them. Others saw this, and they quickly moved away from the sight, using obstacles to cover their flight. Interesting enough, instead of flying away, those dragons burned and fell when struck.
"DRAGON ATTACK!" Alex roared his voice, hoping for Vikings to hear him. He was shooting down dragons with the repeating ballista. "GET TO THE VILLAGE!"
Those that recovered quickly rushed for the bridge. Some dragons tried to attack the bridge, but Camicazi and Thuggory had reached the other ballista. They fired onto the offending dragons. Their aim struck true as dragons fell from the sky. The two heirs were covering the Vikings on their escape.
Hiccup, Toothless and others at the dragon ring were rushing out from the place. They need to leave to help the others. However, the entrance suddenly fell shut, trapping them inside. The group turned around to see the offender.
It was a male White Fury, except something was wrong. His body had black vein-like lines flowing along his scales. The eyes were familiar shade of yellow, which reminded them of Furious. There was also the fact that he looked familiar to Toothless.
The white dragon had crushed the mechanics. "That is as far as you will go." He nonchalantly spoke in Norse. "I'm going to need you here."
Hiccup widened his eyes. "Goggles up!" He called as he pulled out his scrambler goggles and wore them. Toothless and Gobber did the same. Thankfully, the goggles did not scramble their visual, meaning it was safe for now.
Snotlout was angry. "What about us?!"
Gobber gestured them to follow. "Come on, lads!" He called. "I'll push the gate. Let's get out of here!"
While the Vikings were busy trying to leave, Hiccup and Toothless were at the front. They connected their mind through their circuit connection. The boy was the first to think. "It's Furious."
"I know. Something is preventing me from transforming." Toothless thought. Her hands began to shimmer, then translucent purple claws appeared. "He's wearing a body of someone I know."
Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "Who is he?"
"The heir of a large Light Fury flock. He's quite powerful." The female thought, before speaking aloud. "That body... where did you find him?"
"He was looking for you five years ago." Furious in Light Fury body gave his answer. "You could say I did you a favour. He wants to force himself on you. He's quite a breeder, so I thought… why not make use of him instead of killing him?"
As if on cue, more Light Furies appeared around them. They were large and looked incredibly strong – roughly the same size as Toothless and Charcoal in their dragon form. The couple tensed as they moved closer to each other. The appearance of white dragons was unexpected.
"Six Light Furies. They look much older for five-year-old dragons." Toothless thought, assessing their strength. "Charcoal, they have more mana than us."
Furious in Light Fury body moved closer to the couple. Toothless readied her translucent purple claws. Hiccup straightened himself. He stopped in front of them. "I'm going to need you at Dragon Island."
"You should negotiate my consent first." Hiccup suggested. He glanced back for a moment to see the Vikings escaping the dragon ring. "I'm not going anywhere until you have my consent."
WHAM!
The controlled white dragon was thrown back several metres away. He landed on his feet and skidded to a halt, before looking at the offender. Toothless had punched him in the face. Her fists were enveloped with shimmering purple flame.
"No, fucking, thank you!" The girl snarled. "Go fuck yourself!"
Furious in Light Fury body narrowed his eyes. "I did it for his own good." He took a step back, allowing other Light Furies to approach. "But I guess there's no other way."
Hiccup and Toothless readied themselves to fight. The boy readied his hand. Blue flame sprung out as Brimstone long sword appeared on his hand. Its blade was enveloped with deep red flame. "There's always a way."
The controlled white dragon seemed to smile. "I know, but you'll never agree to it." He responded, making them pause. "You'll thank me for this. I will see you tomorrow." Then, he vanished.
After he disappeared, the Light Furies prepared to attack. The girl glanced at her mate. "Any plan?"
"No." Hiccup readied his long sword. "Let's improvise."
Meanwhile, the Vikings outside was still fighting aberrant dragons. The unarmed ones had safely rushed back to the village, while the rest moved to take down the dragons. Camicazi was shooting dragons with the repeating ballista, while Thuggory used his spear and shield to knock dragons away.
The small girl fired the repeating ballista at approaching dragons. Her aim struck true; the arrows exploded. They heard roars as dragons fell from the sky. "They're more vulnerable to dracophage!" Camicazi called out, shooting more rounds at the enemy. "I lost count at 30! We need more arrows!"
Thuggory bashed a Deadly Nadder with his shield, before thrusting his spear. "HA!"
It struck true to its chest. "GRAAA!" The aberrant Deadly Nadder roared as it reeled back from the stab. The dinosaur dragon trashed around as the wound began to burn. It glared at the burly boy, before breathing out its magnesium fire.
The burly boy brought his shield up to block the flame. When the fire ended, he paused for a second, before thrusting his spear right at the front. "Got you!"
That did the trick. The spear went through its neck, splattering blood everywhere. However, instead of red blood, his goggles scrambled them. It did not feel like blood when it splattered on him. Whatever that was, the sight would have affected his mind.
Thuggory pulled out his spear, before moving to strike another target. "HA!"
At the other side of the dragon ring, Alexander Haddock was near the gate entrance. He was covering Gobber and the teen Vikings on their escape from the ring. The draconic Viking was firing the repeating ballista from his hip. "Move! Don't look at the blood!"
Tuffnut, who had just got out, looked up in surprise. "What blood?"
Gobber pushed him forward. "He said don't look." He scolded, before pulling others out from the dragon ring. The blacksmith was holding up the iron gate. "Move! Don't look back or you're dead!"
The teen Vikings rushed out from the place, heading for the wooden bridge. They were halfway there when Snotlout decided to look back. The burly boy saw the sight of Thuggory killing a Deadly Nadder, splattering some sort of black blood. He felt sheer terror by the sight of it. "AAAAAHH!"
Others did not have the chance to look back when Snotlout pushed everyone off. The burly boy was rushing down the bridge, running for his life. "AAAAAHH!"
"Go! Don't look back!" Gobber shouted once more. After everyone was out from the dragon ring, the blacksmith closed them shut. He ran off to the bridge, rushing to escort the teen Vikings. "Keep running!"
Meanwhile, Alexander Haddock was still firing the repeating ballista. The draconic Viking focused on hitting the nearest ones. He must hold them off. If they were pushed to dragon ring, they might as well be dead.
BOOM!
Something exploded near Alex, which sent him back staggering to the dragon ring metal cage. The repeating ballista fell into the dragon ring, clattered on the ground. There were some pieces of wood, but it looked largely intact. However, they were unreachable for the draconic Viking. "Shite."
Looking up there was a large Gronckle hovering there. His scrambler goggles redacted parts of its wounds. Given that it looked angry, Alex must have shot at it before. "Double shite."
Inside the dragon ring, Toothless and Hiccup were fighting for their lives. They were using everything they had to survive the attack. The mother dragon turned human manifested her mana to produce solid claws on her hands. She was busy dodging Light Furies.
"Gah!" Toothless grunted as she barely moved out of the way. The girl sensed two more coming from behind. She ducked from the first and rolled on the second. Just as it passed, she grabbed the tail and pulled. That stopped its momentum.
The aberrant Light Fury was smashed to the ground. The girl pulled to smash it in opposite direction. It clawed the ground to stop itself, but that did not work. The claws scratched the ground as Toothless swung and slammed it on the opposite side.
Other aberrant Light Furies saw this and turned their focus on her. They rushed for the girl, but she was faster. Toothless swung the Light Fury, using it as an improvised hammer to hit its kins.
Four dragons were smacked to the wall, disorienting them. The mother dragon turned human finished by slamming the Light Fury on the ground. She pulled out a Nature Shard crystal from her pocket. "Let's see if this works."
Toothless let go of the tail and leaped onto its back. The aberrant Light Fury was still disoriented from being thrown and slammed around. She smashed her hands onto its back, further disorienting the dragon. The girl cast ironwire as she connected her mana circuits with its mind.
Naturally, its mana circuits rejected her attempt. Toothless pumped the mana from Nature Shard into mana circuits in its brain. Parts of the crystals crumbled into ash. The blue ironwire turned green as raw mana flowed through it.
The brain mana circuits were overwhelmed, frying them inside out. The aberrant Light Fury instantly went limp as its brain was killed. However, instead of dying outright, something peculiar happened.
The brain and its mana circuits suddenly regenerated itself. It traced back the ironwire connection to Toothless' own mana circuit. The mother dragon in human form suddenly found herself in control of the aberrant Light Fury below her.
The white dragon suddenly got up and moved aside, dodging an attack from its kin. Toothless yelped as she lost concentration of her spell. Despite this, the aberrant Light Fury was still under her control. Its mind had nothing in it, and it was connected to hers.
"That will do." Toothless remarked. Looking down, she realised that its eyes had turned acidic green like her own. It had no thought process whatsoever. Looking at the other aberrant Light Furies, she smirked upon seeing their shocked reaction. "Who's next?"
Meanwhile, Hiccup was glad to only fight one dragon. He was struggling to fight more than one enemy, especially something faster than himself. The aberrant Light Fury was keeping him occupied while others focused on his mate. The boy need to end the fight as fast as possible.
"Kra!" The Light Fury leaped, forcing Hiccup to duck, and landed at the opposite side. The boy rolled out of a claw swipe, swung his sword to force a retreat, before firing his mechanical sling. A small knife flew and struck one of its eyes, blinding it. "KRA!"
Hiccup smirked; he had just created a blind spot. However, his smile vanished when the dragon began to heal. It was regenerating the broken eye. Few seconds later, the eye had fully healed. The boy slumped his shoulder. "Oh, come on."
The Light Fury leaped for an attack. Hiccup ducked to avoid the claws, but it spun around just as it landed. The boy was knocked off his feet.
While midair, Hiccup threw a blue wire to the iron cage, which wrapped itself around a bar, and pulled himself up. The boy narrowly avoided a bite. He let go and safely landed on the ground.
The boy briefly glanced at his mate, who was making a Light Fury to fight the rest. "They can regenerate!"
"I know! They even regenerate circuits!" Toothless thought as the Light Fury she rode slammed onto another white dragon. She leaped off its back, before landing on the ground. The girl rushed to get the stunned dragon, while avoiding three others. "You need to burn the brain circuits and take control of them!"
Hiccup pulled out a Nature Shard crystal from his pocket. The Light Fury in front of him was waiting to strike. The boy dashed forward for a hard low swing, which it dodged by jumping. Hiccup used the momentum to round kick the dragon.
That hit the snout and made it flinch. The boy rushed for a stab, which the dragon narrowly avoided. Hiccup moved for a different low swing.
Seeing opportunity, it swung its claw at his sword. However, that was a fake out. The boy pulled his sword back before it hit, spun around and elbowed its jaw.
The dragon reeled from impact. Hiccup smacked its snout and forced a circuit connection. Then, he pulled his hand, forming blue ironwire to its snout, and pulled. The pain alone made it scream. "KRA!"
Hiccup impaled its head upward with his sword, which struck right into its brain. That damaged the brain and its mana circuit. He connected his ironwire with that circuit. There was no resistance whatsoever. He channeled the raw mana from Nature Shard into it, burning the brain's mana circuit.
When he pulled the sword out, the head regenerated. The body fell limp on the ground. Hiccup straightened himself when he suddenly felt some sort of second body in his mind. The aberrant Light Fury's eyes slowly turned forest green, similar to his own.
"Hiccup!"
The boy turned around to see his mate getting pinned by a Light Fury. Four of the Light Furies were limp on the ground; they were regenerating to close its wounds. Hiccup saw something not far from him – a repeating ballista with broken tripod.
He dropped his sword – which vanished in blue flame, fell prone and grabbed the ballista. The boy aimed at the Light Fury and pressed the trigger.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Small explosions popped as the Light Fury was peppered with dragon seal arrows. "KRAAA!" It roared and let go of the girl.
The dragon raised its wing to cover itself. Hiccup shot that part, but the dragon seal arrows did nothing to it – Body Reinforcement spell stopped the impact. Not all body parts were covered, however. The boy stopped firing as he searched for a weak spot.
Toothless saw her opportunity and went for it. She got up and readied her translucent claws, then embedded them into its shoulder. The dragon moved to throw her away, but she used the momentum to jump up, let go and land right on its back.
The Light Fury moved to shake her off. Hiccup shot its vulnerable legs and tail, forcing it to cover itself. That limited its movement. Toothless manifested her claws. She embedded right into its skull, adjusted her posture, then pulled. "GAAAAAH!"
"KRAAAA!" The Light Fury roared as Toothless literally pulled its skull out. There were some cracking sound, and then-
Crack!
The skull was ripped off, exposing its brain. Red blood splattered everywhere. Throwing the bone aside, the girl grabbed the brain and ripped it off. She connected her mana circuit to its regenerating brain and channeled raw mana into it, burning its mana circuits.
When that was done, the aberrant Light Fury fell limp on the ground.
Silence.
Everyone paused as they gathered themselves. The aberrant Light Furies were defeated – alive and under control, but laying on the ground. Outside the dragon ring, aberrant dragons had fled as well. Things were finally calming down.
It was the most intense hour of their life.
Alexander Haddock was wrestling with an aberrant Gronckle when it escaped and fled the place. He moved to checked the iron cage. "Ye alright in there?"
Inside the dragon ring, Hiccup stood from the ground. "We're fine!" He called as he collapsed the repeating ballista. "You?"
The draconic Viking rested himself against the iron cage. "Managing." He replied, exhausted. "I think we got them."
Toothless threw away the brain from her claw. "Furious have Stoick the Vast." She reminded, before dispelling her manifested claws. "I think he brought him to Dragon Island."
"We'll think of that later after the clean-up." Alex called out, before getting up. He moved to check on Camicazi and Thuggory, who was laying down on the ground. "You two okay?"
"Yeah." The small girl breathed out. She was exhausted and she was covered in black blood. Not that they could actually see the blood, since their goggles redacted them. Her broadsword was on her side. "… I think I need a bath. With hot water."
Not long after, they heard the iron gate lifted open. Hiccup had replaced the broken iron gear with a spare one. The couple slowly walked out from the dragon ring. The boy was carrying the collapsed repeating ballista.
When they exited the dragon ring, they stopped to look around the place.
There were one or two dead aberrant dragons on the ground; the wound and blood were redacted by their scrambler goggles. There were no other Vikings around. The sky above village looked clear as well, meaning that they only attacked the dragon ring.
BOOM! BANG!
Something shot out from the village, hitting something relatively high in the sky. Some sort of giant Changewing appeared, revealing its presence there. Hiccup recognised the projectile. "They used the draconic cannon."
Toothless pulled out TONER instrument from her pocket. She flipped it open, aimed at the giant Changewing, before pressing a button. It revealed what it was. "Aberration. It's part of Furious."
BOOM! BANG!
This time, it struck right on its head. It created a huge explosion, which took a good chunk of its skull. The aberrant Changewing did not even roar as it fell from the sky. They leaned down to see the creature fell into the ocean water below. SPLASH!
They sighed in relief. Hiccup was happy to see his cannon in action. "The cannon worked!"
"Trial by fire, as they say." Alex commented.
They fell silence once more. Staring at the dead aberrant Changewing, they noticed that the dragons they killed were floating. However, There was no blood in the ocean. Their scrambler goggles did not redact the wound, revealing some sort of fire spark burning them inside out.
"Right. Clean up." Hiccup remembered. "Their blood reacts with water. We need to throw down the bodies. Make sure no blood is around."
Toothless made another effort to transform. However, something was blocking them. "I still can't transform." She informed. Focusing on her senses, the brawny girl realised the cause. "I think it's the blood."
"Get the Light Furies to throw them. Their blood is safe. Bring them to the cove when you're done." The boy grunted, before resting himself on the ground. "… long day, and it's not afternoon yet."
The brawny girl looked down at him. "We'll clean this up, but you do the talking." Toothless offered. "How's that?"
"… fine. I'll try."