Chapter 2 is up! It took me a lot longer to write this chapter, but it is almost four times the length of the first chapter.

Thank you everyone who followed and Favorited the story.

Thanks to the following users for their reviews: lorde, deepmank, Riverat73 and Shangratiger101.

Special thanks to u/Skyblacker on Reddit for his help with improving my dialogue.

Anyway, enjoy.


Chapter 2: Flight of the Valkyries

The moon was already high above them when the flames died out. Hiccup was sitting on the frozen gravel beach, looking out to sea. Astrid was asleep, her head resting on his shoulder, her blond braid coming loose. It was silent, except for the sound of Gobber skipping stones out into the freezing water. Most of the small group of vikings seemed to be in various states of slumber. In the corner of his vision, Hiccup could see the massive girth of Fishlegs snoring a few feet away from him. Eret was laying on his back seemingly looking up at the stars. Snotlout and the twins were huddled around a makeshift fire, more smoldering coals than a burning flame. His mother was sitting cross-legged near the shore, away from everyone. Everything seemed just.. peaceful.

A splashing sound made him snap back from the edge of sleep. He shivered from the cold, where's Toothless when you need him he thought to himself. "Toothless!" Hiccup yelped, suddenly remembering the events of the past day. Astrid snapped awake at his shout, his mother turned to look at him. "I've got to find him.. we have to make this right!" He whispered.

"Aye we do!" Gobber all but shouted, hearing what Hiccup has said, "When I ge' ma hands.. well hand, on Drago Bloodface, or wha'ever his gods-forsaken name is!"

"I hate to break it to you all, but without dragons, how can we get back?" Astrid asked as she broke free of her sleepy daze.

"Even if we had dragons, that Loki's-son's bewilderbeast would just take control of them." Eret said, dropping in on the conversation.

"Well, e's got ye the'a." The blacksmith added.

Hiccup stood silently for a moment, facing Gobber, a desperate look in the young man's face. "There has got to be a way, I mean, every dragon has a weakness. Right?" He said.

"They all do," Valka whispered in her awe-inspiring voice, "The Alpha cannot control all dragons."

From her Isolated position Val locked gazes with Hiccup, their green eyes meeting as the meaning of her words dawned on the youth. "The babies." He said, the whisper passing over everyone unheard. He made a slight nod of his head towards his mother, his eyes glimmering with hope.

"I know that look." Astrid piped in with a smirk, "You're about to do something stupid aren't you?"

"Not stupid," He replied, "just crazy."

"Even better" she said as Hiccup helped her to her feet.

Valka got up and began walking inland from the shore. "This way, come." she said, leading them to an entrance into the near-empty nest. Gobber hobbled after Hiccup and Astrid as they followed Valka, and as they passed Eret, the stargazing man jumped up and walked by Gobber, the larger man eyeing the former dragon hunter with distrust. "Are ye sure we can trust tha' unimag'ntly named rogue?" Gobber asked those in front of him.

"who y'calling 'unimaginatively named'" The man in question retorted.

"well, le' just say Eret senior was no' one for thinkin' up new names." The viking quipped.

Hiccup just shook his head and ignored the duo.

Fishlegs seemed to have woken up and joined the group. As the six walked by the dozing Snotlout and the Thorston twins, they quickly nudged them awake and told them to follow. The three half sleeping vikings obliged but not before a few calls of "five more minutes!" from the male twin.

The vikings followed Valka in silence for a while, everyone but Hiccup and Gobber giving the formerly estranged mother a wide berth, not knowing how to react to this turn of events. After a few more minutes of this silence, it seemed Snotlout had enough. "Can somebody tell me what in Thor's name are we doing?" Hiccup's cousin asked loudly.

"umm.. Hiccup, for once I'm with Snotlout." Fishlegs affirmed.

Hiccup slowed to a halt facing the rest, save for his mother that was standing close behind his, as though to provide support. "The Alpha that was living in this nest, the one helping us, it couldn't control the baby dragons." Hiccup told them, "I'm hoping the new Alpha wouldn't be able to either, and that we'll be able to ride the hatchlings to Berk."

"Aye he is right," Valka added in support of her son, a half-smile on her face, "The young ones rarely listen to anyone."

"So why should they listen to us?" Astrid asked as-a-matter-of-factly.

"This is me you're talking about Astrid," Hiccup said in a sudden lighthearted tone, "Dragon master and all that."

It was a while before they reached the cave opening. The entrance to the cave wasn't made for humans to get up to on foot, it was made for dragons after all. They had to climb a rough face of the mountain, its rocks and handholds slippery from the ice and snow, the climb treacherous in the dull moonlight. The going was difficult for Hiccup with his prosthetic leg and especially difficult for Gobber, as his left hand prosthetic was a twin-bladed battleaxe and not being much use as a handhold.

Hiccup reached the top of the steep mountainside, the others were waiting by the entrance to the cavern. He pulled himself up to the ledge, standing up and panting deeply. "This was much easier last time." He said.

"Well, last time ye we'e riding a dragon." Gobber said, "And so was I." he added as he twisted, cracking his back.

His mother suddenly piped up, "We should go," she said, "there's no time to waste."

They walked forward, Hiccup and Gobber following closely behind Valka. The others were looking around, trying to orientate themselves in the new surroundings. As they got further and further away from the entrance, it grew ever darker, almost pitch black at one point. Eventually a bright yellow light greeted them.

Bio-luminescent mushrooms grew from the ceiling, casting a warm yellow glow on the lived-in cave. Around the cave were crude furniture made of wood, rough desks and chairs, woven reed baskets and shelves holding a variety of clay bowls and cups. There were smooth stones scattered around a firepit. The fire was extinguished, the ashes freezing cold, yet the heat remained. Through the dim light a falling water could be heard, as well as the cries and squawks of dragons in distress

They followed Valka through a curving passageways until they were met with the vast, wide expanse of the inner nest. The claustrophobic passages opened up to the massive open space of the mountain's interior. The moonlight that managed to get past the ice illuminated the massive grass valleys and canyons and glittered off of the numerous waterfalls that fell to where the Alpha would nest. The vikings marveled at the sight of the nest as they walked in, the dancing moonlight and uneven mushroom lighting giving the place a magnificent otherworldly hue. "Is this what valhalla looks like?" Ruffnut exclaimed in her hoarse voice.

"I'm all for staying here guys." The male twin announced, "Really!"

The fruitless remarks of the twins were, like the very often are, passed over and ignored by most, yet the remarks managed to get Astrid to shake her head silently.

As Hiccup's mother exited the caverns and onto the ledge overlooking the valley, her hair looking more dark brown then auburn in the dim light, a flurry of colour overtook her as she was leaped upon by a hoard of baby dragons, each attracted to the familiar face. From the shadows around the ledge emerged older, adult dragons, all of them suffering from injuries brought upon them long ago. Valka went up to the injured dragons and talked to them reassuringly, like greeting an old friend.

"How are they still here" Snotlout asked, pointing his arm at the adult dragons, "I thought the Alpha has taken them all."

"These ones can't fly." Hiccup answered.

"That must mean the Alpha has a range!" Astrid exclaimed, "Or else the dragons would be a lot more aggressive."

"Astrids right." Valka spoke up, "The Alpha's have a range, after you get a league away the bewilderbeast's hold starts to wane."

It took them little time to gain the trust of the young dragons, the babies happy to see any kind face when their parents are away. The Vikings made makeshift saddles from spare rope they found in Valka's hideout. Getting the saddles on the baby dragons was a challenge. True to their nature, the hatchlings did not listen to anyone, not for long anyway. Eventually Hiccup got the young dragons to listen, and the vikings got on.

Even though they were just babies, they were large enough to easily support even Gobber's overwhelming girth, and soon they were flying up in the air with a flurry of colours and a barrage of squawking sounds. The dragons were all different colours, yet they were all of the same breed, a sort of gigantic terrible-terror, Large heads and thin wings.

They flew around giant ledges of ice and snow, quickly weaving and ducking around the obstacles. The vikings were hard-fought to control their dragons, causing quite a few collisions. Hiccup rode his dragon with more success than most. He flew through the ice and snow, dodging both dragons and ice until the light of dawn could be seen protruding through the thinner parts of the ice. Behind him, he could hear a rustling of fresh snow being disturbed and then a shout of "I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!" from Tuffnut as the drama-seeking viking hurried to get on his dragon.

The brightening light of the rising sun greeted them as they left the caverns. Hiccup took lead and flew his dragon to the front of the flock. He turned and circled around the island, the others following him, until the sun was at his back. Astrid flew up behind him, coming in level with him. "We're going home." she said dreamily

"If there's still a home to go to." He said in a half sarcastic tone.

The flight over the near frozen sea was uneventful, the dragons stuck on a straight course and carried their riders off to their target. The calm weather and the unchanging surrounding allowed Hiccup's mind to wander, the events of the past few days spiraled in his mind, emotions appearing and disappearing wildly. The sight of Astrid flying by him, her braid came fully undone and her hair now streaming in the wind, glittering like golden waves, comforted him as he flew.

The sun was high by the time Hiccup saw Berk appear over the horizon. The vikings stared at the scene before them. An armada of ships was in harbour, laid in anchor well away from the dock at Berk, almost all of them manned only by a skeleton crew. The docks on the lower parts of the cliffs that made up berk was covered in massive spears of ice, as was several other parts of the village. Dragons of all types nested all over the island, a flurry of colour decorated the island in a rainbow of toxic hues.

They lowered their altitude and flew closer to the sea as they neared the island. Hiccup saw the people in the village now. They were different, they didn't look like any viking he has ever seen. Their shoulders were less broad and the kite shields that some of them carried did not resemble anything that anyone on berk has ever used. "Drago's men!" Astrid exclaimed behind him.

"Lets sho' bastard what we'e made of!" Gobber shouted waving his axe-hand over his head..

"Sure, lets just fly in there, loudly announce ourselves and hope the Alpha is not at home." Hiccup said darkly.

"YEAH!" shouted the twins in unison.

"Wait, you're kidding..." Ruffnut then said, their expressions turning a tad sadder for a split second.

A glimmer of movement caught Hiccup's eye, he turned his head and saw a pair of vikings on a small fishing boat waving their arms at them, urging them to come forward. One of them was short and stubby, with brown hair and beard, the other was taller and blond haired, on that ones' head was a bucket firmly set.

"Hey, tha' is Bucket and Mulch!" Gobber said.

"Let's go down to them, we need to know what's going on." Hiccup told them.

They went down and hovered by the ship, the wind from the dragons' wings stirring up waves in the cold water. "Thank the gods you're back!" the shorter man, Mulch exclaimed, "But where is chief Stoick? And who are they?" He added a moment later.

"They a'e a long story," Gobber quickly answered, seeing the darkening look go up upon Hiccups face, "Stoick... he didn't.."

"He's gone." Astrid finished quietly.

The two fishermen grew silent, until the taller one, Bucket, blurted out, "Where's he gone off to." This earned the dull man a sharp elbow to the side, which made Hiccup's words snap inside his bucket-covered man, "Oh.." He said.

"I'm sorry lad." Mulch said to Hiccup.

"It's alright we gave him a good funeral." Hiccup's expression hardened, "Where is the rest of the tribe? Did everyone make it out alive?"

"Most people did, some were lost covering our retreat." The short man answered, "Who is that madman? Why is he riding Toothless? And what in Thor's name is that Loki-cursed massive beast."

"That madman is Drago Bludfist," Valka spoke up grimly, "He is the one who killed Stoick, he controls the bewilderbeast, and it controls the other."

"Aye, we thought he controlled the dragons somehow, at least those who didn't get away in time." Mulch replied.

Hiccup suddenly spoke up "Wait you were able to get some dragons away on times?" How did you have enough time?"

"You're going to have to ask Gustav, he is one of your students right?" The short viking said, "He was able to take control of a few dragons and help us get the tribe to the beach caves."

"We need to get to the caves then." Astrid piped up, "If he found out a way to wrest away the Alpha's control..."

"Astrid's right." Hiccup said, "Bucket, Mulch, we will fly to the caves, thank you for this, be safe don't get caught."

The flight to the caves was short. As they neared the hidden beach where the caves were located, they were greeted with equal parts joy and interrogation. Questions about everything were being shot at them, Hiccup tried to answer them as quickly as possible, but to no avail. Suddenly, an adolescent voice spoke up, "Hiccup what happened, who was that riding Toothless?" Gustav said.

Gustav was fifteen years of age, and one of the most gifted dragon riders Hiccup taught. He resembled snotlout in a way, but was a little less stocky and looked as if he would grow to be much taller. He wore a horned helmet, like most vikings, braids of black hair were hanging down from inside it. The adolescent had green eyes, a shade more striking than Hiccup's. Unlike more vikings though, Gustav was a lot more quick, both with wit and with movement, and this allowed him to quickly weave through the crowd and get up close to Hiccup.

A shout from Gobber quitened the bumbling crowd. "Right then. let the lad speak." he said.

"The man who attacked the village is Drago Bludfist, he is a slaver and a madman. He can control the dragons and.. and he killed my dad." Hiccup spoke to the assembled vikings in a melancholy tone. The crowd erupted into shouts of "WHAT!" and "Stoick? It can't be!"

As the crowd quieted down, Hiccup spoke up again. "Gustav, Bucket and Mulch said you found a way to stop the dragon's being controlled, can you show me."

"oh yes," the teenager muttered, "follow me."

Gustav lead Hiccup to one of the caves, Astrid and his mother following alongside him through the damp sand. As they rounded a corner a group of dragons lay sleeping before them. There were three nightmares, two zipplebacks and a single nadder and gronkle were lying on the floor, white cloth wrapped around their heads, covering their scaley, elongated ears.

"I covered their ears so the large dragon can't control them." Gustav said. The three older vikings looked at him with a slight confusion.

"As we got closer to the large dragon.." Gustav started.

"The bewilderbeast." Valka added, causing the young viking to place a questioning gaze on her, then to Hiccup as though saying who is this.

"This is my mother, it's a long time right now to explain everything." Hiccup told Gustav.

"Okay, so as I was saying, as we got closer to the bewilderbeast, or as it got closer to us, I noticed a strange hum in the air and the dragons got more and more agitated, I think this is how the dragon controls the others, a sort of annoying buzz." Gustav explained, "I was able to cover a few dragons' ears to get them away."

"That would explain why the Alpha has a range." Valka mused.

At that moment a group of vikings headed by Gobber and Spitelout, Snotlout's father and Stoick's brother entered the room. In the group were the twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Eret as well as members of what was the tribe's war council. "We are ready to stand by you Hiccup." Spitelout said in a gruff tone, putting his fist over his heart. The older man's eyes landed on Valka. "Is that you Valka? we thought you were dead, did Stoick know before..."

"Yes." She answered simply and quietly.

Spitelout was less broader in the chest than Stoick, there was a reason the chief was called 'Stoick the Vast', but he was still muscular and powerful. hiccup's uncle had dark black hair as opposed to his fathers fiery red mane, and Spitelout's beard was a lot shorter and neatly trimmed, grey hairs starting to show on it. He wore armour made out of studded leather and chainmail, making him look ready for things to come.

"You are the chief now lad." Spitelout said, "we will follow you."

"We are ready to fight, to kill those sons-of-Loki that decided to attack our home!" another viking shouted from behind Spitelout.

"But I am no warrior, I can't fight worth a damn." Hiccup argued.

"We a'e not askin' ye ta fight, just ta lead." Gobber rebutted, "An' ye won't be alone."

"As long as I'm not the only one making the calls," Hiccup said, "Tell me everything you know about where Drago's forces are."

Gustav was the one that spoke up. "The scouting we did showed that they are keeping a lot of the dragons in the pens in the academy, Drago's men are scattered all over town." The youth said.

"What the boy says is right." Another viking spoke up.

"The bewilderbeast is submerged underwater in the harbour." Gustav added. "Drago took the chief's house at the top of the hill for himself, Toothless was seen near it on our scouting run."

"Okay," Hiccup said, "We need to get our dragons back first, to have any chance in this, Do we know how many soldiers Drago has?"

"We counted thirty ships, about fifty soldiers per ship..."

one thousand five hundred men." Astrid finished for the older man, "while we have how many able to fight, four hundred? five?"

"No lass, three hundred at the most."

"Okay, so now we really need the dragons to listen to us." Hiccup said.

He thought for a moment, then spoke up. "We need a distraction, something to lead Drago's men away from the Dragons."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut both shot their hands up, their long almost silver hair swinging up wildly, their enthusiasm bringing a smirk to Hiccup's face.

"Aye, pu' these devils on one of them zipplebacks and ye go' yeer distraction." Gobber quipped.

The rest of the planning passed over smoothly, the orders being relayed to the fighters waiting outside that cave. The attack was planned for one hour after midnight, when it was hoped there would be the least moonlight. It was at sunset when Hiccup and Astrid found themselves sitting together, looking out at the waning orange glow on the horizon.

Hiccup held her hand on his lap, Astrid leaning on Hiccup's side. "You know," Astrid suddenly piped up, "this reminds me when we watched the ships sail away before we went to fight the Red Death. Your crazy plan hatched and then you began to worry." She looked at Hiccup's sullen face, "My point is, you managed to save the entire tribe five years ago, almost by yourself, and you'll do it again tonight, only we will all be with you."

"I know, but I can't shake the feeling that things will go wrong, especially now." He said.

Astrid wrapped one of her arms around him in a hug. "Hiccup.. if anything happens, we'll face it together, always." She said softly, pulling him in tight. Hiccup returned her embrace, the two held each other closely as the last light of day faded away.

The thin crescent moon peaked up over the ocean and shone its dull silver light at the two young moon slowly rose higher over the still water, the movement on the beach stilled to a minimum. Most people were sleeping in the caves. A few of the more restless viking were fidgeting, finding things to do. Some were sharpening weapons to a fine edge, others were checking their armour for the dozenth time, all anxious for the upcoming attack.

Eventually, the position of the moon indicated the time for the attack was soon. Hiccup got up, helped to his feet by Astrid, and the two made their way in a brisk pace to where Gustav had the dragons saddled up. only four of the dragons were fit to fly, the others wounded from the retreat, there were two Nightmares and a Nadder lined up near Gustav. The two got on the nadder, its scales green and grey. Valka looked to Hiccup from her seat on one of the Nightmare, the fearsome dragon looking alert and ready for battle, its purple and yellow scale glittering dimly in the faint moonlight. Fishlegs and Eret were riding tandem on the other nightmare.

"The twins already took a zippleback and are flying by the warriors on their way to the village." Gustav told them, the youth being one of the people staying behind to care for the wounded dragons and those who couldn't fight. Gobber and Snotlout, Hiccup knew, were with the warriors attacking Drago's men by foot.

"Okay!" Hiccup shouted as they were all mounted, "We need to open the dragon pens and cover their ears so their riders can get to them, fly quickly, work quickly and keep your dragons' ears covered!"

The mounted vikings rose up in the air, the two Nightmares and the Nadder stirring up the sand beneath them in a swirl of particulates. Hiccup held onto Astrid's back and shoulders as the dragon beat its way into the night sky. The three dragons flew up in an arrow formation, Hiccup and Astrid's nadder at the head of the triangle. It was not to long until the dragon-riders had a layer of clouds between them and the ground, and proceeded with unsurpassed stealth.

The frigid wind beat at Hiccup's and Astrid's face, numbing their lips and flushing their cheeks with red. It was not long before the nadder and the nightmares separated. Valka and Eret, Fishlegs started descending, veering to another direction to get to the dragon academy. Astrid and Hiccup flew onwards for a while longer before they started with their descent.

As they passed the clouds the sight of the village made Hiccup let out a gasp. There were fires burning on many of the thatch roofs, illuminating the scene below, yet night-blinding the warriors on the ground. The Berkian fighters were clumped together in a narrow street, their wooden shields covered with damp cloth and put up in a shield wall. This was the first time the vikings had to fight dragons in years, it was hard to go back to the old ways, especially as some of the dragons were their own. The vikings in battle did as little as they could to harm the scaled beasts, yet the dragon-fire came forth and licked at their shields.

"By the name of Odin.." Hiccup whispered as the scene became clear to his eyes.

"Yeah." Astrid all but squeaked.

Drago's soldiers were in a disorganized mess, all running from cover from what seemed like equal parts catapult fire and zippleback explosions. Thank Thor for the twins, or is it Loki I should be thanking, Hiccup thought.

"We need to hurry!" Astrid spoke up, breaking Hiccup's concentration on the ongoing fighting. The nadder veered off and flew past the main plaza and up through the main street leading up the the chief's house. Hiccup jumped off the nadder as soon as its feet touched the roof of the house.

"Good luck." Astrid said, "I'll meet you later."

"you too." He whispered longingly as she flew away.

Hiccup stood atop the roof of his house, fighting hard to keep his balance. He went down on his hands and knees and scrambled up to where he roof gave out to a square opening from where smoke would usually be coming through. He opened it up and looked inside. The house was empty, or so it first seemed. A flicker of movement brought his eyes on Toothless, curled up like a black ball in the shadows, breathing in and out slowly, his saddle and tail-fin still on. The nightfury's eyes were closed, looking like it was sleeping.

Hiccup pulled himself down through the smoke-hall, and dropped onto the second story ledge that his bedroom was located on. As he landed on the hard wooden floor, his prosthetic leg slipped and gave out, making him fall down on arms and knees. He got up carefully cursing his clumsy movement. He made his way to the lower level, silently creeping down the steps, or as silently as his metal leg permitted.

He got down the stairs, his heart beating in his chest, and went closer to the sleeping form of Toothless, slowly unwinding a piece of cloth he had around his belt. Hiccup got near enough to Toothless that the dragons hot breath warmed his face, he finally got the cloth unwound from his belt, when an aggressive voice spoke up behind him, startling him and sending a chill through his spine.

"You have guts, coming back boy!" Drago Bludfist hoarsely spoke in his menacing voice, "I don't know what you hope to accomplish."

Hiccup glared at the cloaked man, his long staff held in his one hand. "I got your little lizard in my palm, and this time your father can't take the shot for you..." Drago threatened. The man advanced at Hiccup, his staff in his outstretched arm. Hiccup drew his sword in his left hand, pushing the bottom of the hilt and igniting the sword. The bright firelight illuminated the cold room in a vibrant, moving glow. He pointed the sword at Drago, keeping the cloth in his right hand well away from the fire.

"So you want to play then," The dragon conqueror growled, "well lets play!"

The large man swung the staff in a vertical motion at Hiccup's head. Hiccup dodged out of the way. He swung his flaming sword sideways at the Drago, the large man parrying it with his staff, a little flame jumping from the blade to the pole-arm, then quickly extinguishing itself. The two exchanged strikes, neither landing a blow. Sweat beaded on Hiccup's brow as he dodged and parried blow after blow his sword feeling evermore heavy in his arm. The two kept swinging at one another, Hiccup's blazing blade was a blur of light in the young man's hands, while Drago's crude staff a long reaching tongue lashing at the smaller reality of the situation dawned upon him; he, Hiccup was fighting a ruthless killer twice his size with no sign that the beast of a man was tiring.

Hiccup dodged another strike at his head and put his sword up, holding it with two hands. He kept the point of the blade pointed at Drago, its flame slowly dying out. "Had enough!" The large man yelled. Hiccup grunted with desperation and lunged at the cloaked man, attempting the skewer the man. He unbalanced himself, and the beast of the man took his chance and hit the sword out of Hiccup's arms. Hiccup lay sprawled on the floor and scrambled to his feet. A hit into his stomach brought him back down onto his back and a savage foot on his chest kept him there.

"I could kill you right now," The savage man said, "but that would be a real shame".

The large man brought the staff to Hiccup's neck, then halted. Drago Hit the staff against the floor thrice, and the still form of Toothless stirred and got up from behind Drago. The dragon's contracted pupils looked intimidating even in the dim light. The savage man gestured at Hiccup with his staff as he moved further and further back away.

Hiccup faced the advancing Toothless, and scrambled up into a sitting position before the dragon's face was thrust up close to him. The pale green eyes of the dragon engulfed Hiccup's world, they revealed no emotion, they might as well have been carved of stone. The dragon's gaze turned more aggressive and a growl rumbled from his throat, teeth bared.

"Toothless, come on, don't let that... madman tell you what to do." Hiccup whispered, his voice feeble with equal parts sadness and anticipation.

His words fell on deaf ears as the growl turned more into a snarl. "Come on you damn lizard! KILL HIM!" Drago shouted. A high pitch sound began in Toothless's throat, slowly building up in its intensity. "Toothless's please, I.. I..." Hiccup sighed, "I need you bud." The heat radiated from the dragon's throat and as he opened his jaws slightly, a blue glow lit up Hiccup's face. Hiccup closed his eyes and and reached out his arm to Toothless. "It's not your fault, I'm sorry Toothless." Hiccup waited for the fiery blast of superheated air that was to come from the dragon's infernal maw.

The fire did not come.

Hiccup warily opened his eyes to see Toothless smacking his lips, as though he swallowed an unusually nasty fish. The dragon's eyes looked at Hiccup with a mixture of confusion and gladness, like a cat looking at a mysterious container, wanting to know what's inside. Hiccup let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding, and smiled slightly as Toothless placed his snout into Hiccup's outstretched hand, a sort of 'I'm back' from the dragon. "Good to have you back bud." Hiccup whispered, his voice catching in his throat.

Their moment was broken when a yell from behind Toothless shouted "Get on with it you useless newt!"

"Come on Tooth, let's do this." Hiccup whispered into Toothless's ears.

Hiccup got hold of Toothless's head and quickly jumped up onto the saddle, instinctively locking his foot in place inside the mechanism in the saddles stirrup. Toothless quickly spun around, shooting a ball of plasma at Drago, the large man having barely enough time to cover himself with his cloak as he leaped out of the way. Toothless leaped off of a table an through the door, flapping his large wings as he did so. Hiccup clicked the tail-fin into position and Toothless rose into the air, as fast as only a nightfury could. They were above the town in no time, and the scene they were met with was not reassuring.

Fires were burning around the village, turning many houses into piles of ash and rubble. There were hoards of other dragons flying in the air, many of which had the metal armor that Drago's men put on the enslaved beasts. The fighting on the ground has not changed much, the Berkian vikings were in a shield wall, seemingly gained ground against the spear wielding, kite-shielded invaders, yet the fighting looked savage and bloody. The only reassuring factor of the battle were the dragon riders. There was a plethora of dragons flying with vikings on their backs and cloth around their heads. The viking-backed dragons were fighting tooth, fire and claw against the armoured breasts, pushing them back towards the sea. Many of the riders were also working hard to support the warriors on the ground, raining fire and stones on the heads of Drago's soldiers.

Hiccup guided Toothless to the right, moving into a formation of dragon riders. It was headed by a slender, blue-armoured figure riding a four-winged dragon. Hiccup pulled the visor of his helmet down to cover his face, keeping the cold air from numbing it, and flew Toothless to fly beside the four-winged dragon. He nodded to his mother atop the dragon and received a similar greeting, her face covered by her horned helmet.

The dragon formation dove down on top of the enemy soldiers below, and brought fire down on them. Hiccup and Toothless added their blasts to the awe-inspiring blaze, the screams of the burning men and the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh made Hiccup feel queazy. The dragons rose up again and made a sweep around the battle, and they were met with a group of armored dragons, charging at them head on. Toothless rose higher in the air, using his superior speed and maneuverability to get out of the thick fighting. "Okay bud," Hiccup whispered to Toothless, "fly and shoot. Fly. And. Shoot."

The two flanked the armored dragons and shot highly accurate, explosive shots, lighting them up with a vicious purple colour. Two armoured dragons fled from the group, the membranes on their wings smoking slightly. Toothless dodged several fires aimed at him with ease, then shot another burst into the fray. This dogfight continued for a few minutes until the armored dragons either fled or fell. A nadder rider and two gronkle riders had to leave the fray because of their dragon's injuries or fatigue.

The battle continued. The Armoured dragons were slowly fought off, not having the extra help and guidance of a rider, they were susceptible to flanking and attacks from blind spots. The fighting on the ground was swinging in the favour of the Berkian fighters, the lines of the kite-shielded invaders faltering. The riders were increasing their attacks on the ground troops, spreading fire and stone, and in some rare cases boiling acid, on top of them.

Then suddenly the lines of Drago's men broke, the soldiers turned and ran from the Berkian warriors and dragons. Toothless turned his head towards Hiccup and gave him a look as if to say "What now?"

"I don't know bud."

The vikings began to give chase to the fleeing soldiers, until what looked like Spitelout and Gobber reigned them back in, and back into formation. Cheering erupted on the ground, friends running to friends, fathers to sons, shieldmaidens to their fathers and brothers, celebrating the victory. The dragons in the sky were doing the same, spread around the sky in small groups. Hiccup and Toothless were on their own, circling in the sky, a feeling of uneasy relief on their minds.

A thundering roar broke apart the cheering and plunged the battlefield into silence. The dragons in the sky went wild, screeching and swirling to get away from the hellish sound, even as the control over them was broken, a fear inside of them lingered. Hiccup could hear an almost to quiet rumbling, and as it began many of the dragons flying began to flee from the bewilderbeast. Toothless began to twitch beneath Hiccup, his head moving from side to side, as though to shake off a particularly nasty bug off his face.

"Come on Tooth.." Hiccup said reassuringly, "don't let him take you back."

Grunts and whimpers came from Toothless, his thrashing head made his whole body fling around, causing Hiccup to hold on tighter to the saddle. "Come on bud." Hiccup whispered into the dragon's ears. It seemed to Hiccup that the near subsonic rumbling intensified, attempting to pull Toothless's mind away from him. Toothless let out a terrible roar and blasted a ball of plasma into the night air. His head snapped still.

Toothless turned his head towards Hiccup, his eyes aggressive, but a familiar look on his face, "I'm okay," The gaze seemed to say. Toothless shook his head, as though clearing his mind. The scene around them changed. Drago's men were all gone from the streets of Berk, from Hiccup's position he could see may rowboats fleeing towards the docked ships. The Warriors of Berk went back into their shield formations, lining up on the edge of the buildings near a grassy clearing that overlooked the docks. Many of the dragons that were in the air, fled further and further inland, as far away from the Alpha as they could. A handful of dragons started flying towards the lined up vikings, ready to aid them. At their head was Valka, armored in blue and on top of Cloudjumper, her four-winged dragon.

The towering figure of the bewilderbeast loomed over everyone. The massive dragon was standing in the water below the cliff face, its feet on the seafloor but its face still managed to rise over the highest building on the ledge.

"DRAGON MASTER!" Drago Bludfist yelled, standing on top of his dragon's gigantic head.

Astrid chose that moment to appear next to Hiccup. She was mounted on Stormfly, her golden hair covered with ash and dirt, as was her face. There was a cut on her cheek, below her eye. She made eye contact with Hiccup, her face was covered with a fearful look.

"DRAGON MASTER!" The shout went again. Hiccup looked forth at the screaming madman. Drago Bludfist had a crazed look on his face, a burn on his good arm, where he wasn't quick enough to dodge Toothless's fire.

"You don't have to do this, not alone." Astrid said to Hiccup.

"I know." He said.

But Hiccup flew off anyway. Toothless's speed was too much for Astrid's nadder to contend with. The flew forth at the titanic dragon, the air around them screeching as Toothless reached his top speed. Toothless pulled up and rose higher into the black sky. Hiccup guided Toothless into a steep dive gaining speed as he neared the massive beast. He came in behind the bewilderbeast, and shot a blast of purple fire as he spread his wings and pulled out of the dive. The Alpha stumbled under the force of the explosion, then swung its head and blew a flurry of frost at Toothless. By that time, Hiccup and Toothless were away from larger dragon.

Toothless dove more times at the dragon, delivering blast after blast and dodging the flurries of frost shot at him. Toothless shot his sixths blast at the dragon, the great beast now bruised and bleeding from several wounds the blasts managed to inflict. "Okay bud, let's give you time to charge up."Astrid was finally close enough to harm the bewilderbeast, yet the Alpha strengthened its rumbling and Stormfly was forced to land. Toothless pulled up, but too late to see the Alpha swing its tusk at him.

The tusks hit Toothless flush on the soft underbelly, luckily with their sides and not the point. The nightfury was hit backwards and Hiccup knocked off, hearing the shouts of worry from the onlookers on the ground. Toothless's leather tail-fin becoming stuck in a position for climbing altitude. As Hiccup got past the daze of, he pulled on two strings on his thighs and opened up his gliding suit. Toothless was spiraling down, out of control. A blast of frost streamed past Hiccup, and hit Toothless in the tail, freezing the prosthetic, the falling nightfury now almost completely immobile in the air.

Hiccup manage to slow himself down while in the air, but he landed hard on the ground. Toothless on the other hand, landed on the ground with only a slight a thump. The black dragon got up, shook his head and snorted. Hiccup saw all this unfold through a dazed gaze, his body feeling hurt and tired. All around him it seemed, dragons were being forced to cower into submission, all of them gazing down in a forced bow. All but Toothless

Two figures ran towards him and knelt down over his body. Valka and Astrid stood over him, Astrid cradling his head in her lap. "Hiccup, are you okay!?" She asked forcefully.

"I just fell out of the sky, but other than that, I'm all dandy." He answered hoarsely.

"Oh Hiccup.." His mother whispered.

Just then, He saw the looming figure of the Alpha breath in a gasp of air. Knowing what was to come, Hiccup opened his mouth to warn his mother and Astrid, but no words would come out. The world was a blur, the white blast of frost headed towards them, he heard Astrid gasp as she realised what was happening. A black blur bounded in front of them, and Toothless spread his long wings, covering them. Toothless blasted the freezing flurry, making it miss them.

As the frozen storm abated, Toothless bounded up to the ledge of the cliff, away from the huddled viking, a look of determination on his face. He shot at the large dragon's face, purple explosions blasting the beast. Small fires ignited on the small hairs on the Alpha's face, making it shake his head in pain. Toothless fired shot after shot at the beast, the Alpha attempting to fight back, yet it could not open its mouth in fear of the super-heated blasts to enter it.

"Fight you beast!" Drago screamed from atop of the Alpha, then proceeding to twirl his staff and shout his growls.

Toothless shot his sixths shot at the Alpha. He then shot again, and then another. Hiccup stared at his dragon in awe, not knowing where this fury has come from. After every shot Toothless fired, The scales on his back began to shine evermore blue. The nightfury kept firing, a look of pain on his face, a look that looked increasingly more so after every blast. A few more shots and the Alpha began roaring in pain, its white scales blackened and burned, blood streaming down through open wounds.

The saddle on Toothless's back caught on fire and fell off as it burned and realization dawned on Hiccup. "Stop him!" He screamed in a pained and worried voice, "He's burning himself up!" He attempted to get up and get to his friend, but his body was too weak and tired. Toothless gave Hiccup a look, as if to say, "I know what I'm doing" and continued to slowly fire on the Alpha.

Suddenly the subdued dragons around Hiccup seemed to gain control of their minds again. The glided towards Toothless and added their fire to his blasts. The Alpha was now covered with a myriad of brightly coloured flames, it began to falter.

The fires of all the dragons lit up the night time battle, illuminating the epic scene for all the vikings, now no longer in a shield formation, standing by the building behind the clearing this was occurring on.

All of a sudden, the Alpha turned and ran, or more accurately swam, away with Drago on his head. The bewilderbeast was burned and bleeding. It was wounded and fearful, it seemed not even Drago's control over it could stop its escape. It submerged fully far from land, as the dragons chasing it gave up and flew back to the island. It seemed that Drago was on it when it submerged but his men have picked him up as they rowed to their ships.

"Don't chase them." Astrid said, taking control of the situation, "It's not worth it."

Hiccup's arm and chest chest hurt and he was just now becoming aware of the cuts and bruises all over his body. Stillness engulfed the clearing as their victory dawned on them, up until the point when the viking warriors and riders began cheering. He saw Astrids face, a slight smile on her face, "You did it." she whispered to him, and his mother nodded in agreement.

"No," Hiccup said, "Toothless won it for us."

The aforementioned dragon stumbled up to Hiccup and lay down next to the young viking, curling up Hiccup in his wings, almost like a hug. Hiccup felt the hot scales of the dragon next to him, and rubbed Toothless's chin as he found it. "Thank you bud." He said in a tired voice. Toothless looked at hiccup and gave him an affectionate stare, then the dragon cooed and pulled Hiccup closer to him, not wanting to leave the rider's side.

It was at that point that Hiccup realized he hasn't slept in three days. He closed his eyes and hugged Toothless's side.


Thanks for reading.

Honest opinions and constructive criticism are always welcome.

~Shonstantin