The Screaming Death

Two weeks later,

Hiccup and Astrid were sitting on the backs of their respective dragons; which, in turn, were hovering several hundred feet above Sorrow Island.

Hiccup checked his map, then turned back to Astrid, "Ok… These Nadders get tagged yellow: That's how we'll know they belong on Sorrow Island." As he spoke, he 'tagged' the two dragons nearest to him and Toothless.

"Like this?" Astrid asked, lobbing two 'packs' of yellow paint at the two wild- dragons nearest to her and Stormfly. Both of which hit their marks.
She 'tagged' two more dragons, than turned back to Hiccup – grinning, "Feel free to join- in, anytime!" She aimed at another wild- dragon, but missed, and the wild- dragon took- off.

Toothless launched himself back into the air, and shot after the fleeing dragon. As they streaked past Astrid and Stormfly, Hiccup called, "How about now?"
The fleeing Nadder wove around a collection of sea- stacks; but, in the end, there was no way for it to evade Toothless.
At one point, the wild- dragon glanced back to see open- sky. Appearing pleased with itself, it turned its attention back to sky ahead… Just in time to see Hiccup loading his paint- pack into his shields' built- in catapult: A second later, it too had been 'tagged'.

In the meantime, Astrid and Stormfly had caught up. Grinning, again, Astrid called over, "Ok, I have to admit: The shield is pretty cool."

"Why thank- you: I quite like it, too." As Hiccup spoke, he smiled at Astrid, and made a seated- bow in her direction.

Working together, it took only a few more minutes for them to 'tag' the remaining wild- dragons that had made their home Sorrow Island.
Once they had, Hiccup said, "We should go check on the twins: They're supposed to be marking the Crescent Island dragons."

"I'm sure that's going really well," Astrid commented. She sounded … disappointed. Hiccup noticed, and shot her a questioning look.
Astrid elaborated, "Every time we split- up, I get stuck with either Snotlout or the twins… We almost- never go on missions ourselves."

Hiccup grimaced, "Sorry about that… Thing is, you're the only one I can fully- rely on in those situations: Fishlegs is smart, but he doesn't work well under pressure; and I don't even want to think about what would happen if I put Snotlout or the twins in-charge."

Astrid felt her spirits rise: She thought it would be something like this, but it was good to hear Hiccup say it. Together, they turned their dragons in the direction on Crescent Island.

A short time later; on Crescent Island,

The scene was … pretty much what Hiccup had expected, when he, Astrid, and their dragons finally found the twins: Paint on themselves, and on pretty much everything else except the dragons of Crescent Island.

After having to dodge two paint- packs himself, Hiccup turned to Ruff and Tuff, "Guys: You're supposed to be tagging the dragons… Not each other." Hiccup thought for a moment, then added, "Though I suppose I should've expected this."

Astrid would've laughed, but then she noticed something, "Hiccup; isn't it supposed to be just one dragon- color per island?"

Hiccup nodded, " Yeah… Why?"

Astrid pointed to the dragons she'd just spotted, "I see two colors down there." Hiccup turned in the direction she was pointing. "Could we have been using the wrong one?"

Hiccup frowned, "I don't think so… I'd better ask Fishlegs."

Astrid raised an eyebrow, "You're going to fly all the way back to Berk?"

"Nope: Don't have to," Hiccup replied, pulling a sheet of parchment, a quill, and scribbling a note as he spoke. "Fishlegs and I have been working on something new." He reached down, and picked up the Terrible Terror that he'd brought with them when they left Berk. He slid the scroll into a case that had been tied to the small dragon's leg, "We call it: 'Air- Mail'."

"Do you really think that Terrible Terror is going to fly all the way back to Berk?" Astrid asked, incredulously.

Hiccup nodded, "Yep: And right to the Academy: Terrors' are especially territorial, so it's a natural instinct for them to return home from wherever they happen to be."

"And how will we know if he made it?" Astrid asked, as she and Hiccup walked over to where their dragons waited. From her expression, Hiccup could tell that she still didn't quite believe that this would work.

"When Fishlegs and Snotlout meet us on Dragon Island," Hiccup replied, as he settled into Toothless's saddle.

Astrid raised an eyebrow, "If that happens, I'll kiss Snotlout on the lips."

Hiccup turned to her, "Uh, Astrid; I trained that Terrible Terror myself, so…"

Astrid's eyes widened, "Ok, strike that: 'I'll believe it when I see it'."

Later; Dragon Island,

Sure enough, Fishlegs and Snotlout were waiting for them. Fishlegs came forward to meet them, "Hiccup, I got your message: I knew 'air- mail' would work! So what's the emergency?"

"We've seen dragons painted green on Crescent Island." Hiccup explained.

"That's your emergency?" Snotlout snorted. "I was in the middle of something very important."

Fishlegs rolled his eyes, "You were sound asleep." Turning back to Hiccup, he continued, "No… They shouldn't be: The green dragons belong on Tall- Tree Island; that's where I tagged them."

"We need to figure this out," Hiccup decided. "Lets check out Tall- Tree Island."

"Great: I was wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my day!" He jumped into Hookfang's saddle, and the dragon took off. "See you back on Berk, suckers!" A moment later, Hookfang and Snotlout vanished from view.

Almost two hours later,

"I don't understand: We should be there by now." Hiccup commented.

"Maybe we're off- course?" Astrid suggested.

Fishlegs looked offended, "I don't 'do' off- course, Astrid."

"Even if we were off- course, we should still be able to see the island from here," Hiccup commented.

"Well; an island can't just disappear…" Astrid said.

"Earthquake, maybe…" Fishlegs suggested. "Volcano, Wrath of Thor, Wrath of Odin?"

The other two looked at him for a long moment. "What? I'm just throwing out possible explanations!"

"None of that explains this!" said Astrid, pointing ahead of them, at the three wild- dragons that were heading in the opposite direction. "Orange!" Astrid called, when she saw the blotch of paint that marked the dragons' backs.

"Burnt apricot, actually," Fishlegs corrected. Astrid rolled her eyes, at this, but didn't respond.

Hiccup checked his map, "According to this, they're from Sunstone Island… So that's where we need to go."

Some time later,

"Huh," said Fishlegs. "I thought it was bigger."

Meatlug sat at the top of a small lump of land, while Toothless and Stormfly gripped the cliff top with their forelegs, while the rest of their bodies hung over the edge.
A single tree stood next to Meatlug.

"You think?" Astrid asked, sounding more than a little sarcastic.

"I have to say, the beaches are a bit of a disappointment," Hiccup commented.

Fishlegs looked thoughtful, "Huh; One Island is missing, and another one's been sunk…"

"I guess an entire island can disappear," Astrid commented – amending her earlier comment.

'Something is very wrong…' Toothless commented. Turning to Hiccup, he added, 'You feel it too, don't you?'

Hiccup nodded, "We need to get back to Dragon Island – Now."

Forty- five minutes later; Dragon Island,

Dragon Island was where it was supposed to be, but that was the only good news: In the time that they'd been gone, dragons from three more islands had arrived…

Fishlegs listed off the colors: "Pistachio, Burnt- apricot, Vermillion…"

Astrid was watching Hiccup, who was examining his map. Finally, he said, "This is bad." He set the map down on a flat- topped boulder, and drew a line connecting each of the 'missing' islands... "If this continues, more islands will be in danger: Boar- Head Island, Thor Rock Island." He turned around, "Toothless: We're going back out."

"I'm coming with you," Astrid said, following Hiccup to where the dragons waited.

Hiccup nodded once, and turned back, "Fishlegs, you stay here in case any more dragons show up." Fishlegs nodded, appearing relieved.

Over the course of the next few hours;

"Boar- Head Island should be down there," Hiccup said grimly. "It's gone too."

"So what do we do now?"

Hiccup's worried expression turned into determination, "We keep going."

Finally, Astrid said, "Wow: Look at what's left of Thor Rock… You know, maybe Fishlegs's Wrath of Gods theory isn't so crazy."

Hiccup looked thoughtful, "Lets take a closer look." They descended towards the island below, though they decided not to land. Immediately, something below them caught Hiccup's attention; "This markings look familiar, but… different, somehow."

Toothless growled. 'You recognize them because I do, Hiccup; they look like Whispering- Death holes, but they're larger than they should be... This is the work of the Screaming- Death!'

An instant later, another section of the island collapsed into the sea… A moment later, a massive bone- white dragon rose into view: The Screaming- Death, and it was far too large to have fit inside the egg they'd seen on Berk.

Hiccup's eyes widened, "Oh boy: Someone's been eating their vegetables."

"And everything else in sight!" Astrid agreed, her eyes a little wide.

The dragon before them let out a piercing scream, that seemed to disorient their own dragons. Before they could recover, it dove back into the ground.

"The Screaming- Death has been destroying all of the islands," Hiccup realized. "It must be tunnelling underneath, and causing them to collapse in on themselves."

"But why would it do that?"

"I don't know," Hiccup admitted. "Lets get back to Dragon Island: Now that we know what we're up against, we need to figure out a way to stop it."

Astrid agreed, appearing a little relieved, and they turned back in the direction from which they'd come.

Back on Dragon Island,

By the time they returned, Fishlegs was frantic, "Periwinkle blue! There're now periwinkle- blue marked dragons here!"

"I know," Hiccup said, as he got off of Toothless's back. "Boar- Head Island."

"And eggshell- white," Fishlegs continued.

"From Thor Rock Island," Astrid confirmed, as she joined them.

"What happened to them?" Fishlegs asked.

"The same thing that happened to all of the other islands," As he spoke, Hiccup drew an 'X' over each of the destroyed islands depicted on the map. "The Screaming- Death."

Fishlegs's face went white, "The Screaming- Death is back?"

"I don't think it ever really left," Hiccup admitted.

"Yeah," Astrid chimed in. "It just got bigger and nastier."

In a voice that made it sound like he really didn't want the answer, Fishlegs asked, "How much bigger?"

Astrid picked up a handful of loose rock, and; sprinkling it as she spoke, said, "'Chomp, chomp, there goes your island'- big." Fishlegs gulped.

"It's just as I thought," said Hiccup, standing over the map. He picked up his pencil; "The Screaming- Death is following an imaginary- line, destroying anything in its path…" As he spoke, he continued to draw the line.

"It's coming right at us!" Fishlegs breathed.

"That's not even the worst part," Hiccup continued to draw the line.

"It's headed straight to… Berk." Astrid's eyes widened as she realized what Hiccup was saying.

"We… We have to get back to Berk and… and warn Stoick!" Fishlegs exclaimed, barely keeping his panic under control."

"No," Hiccup's voice was firm. "We head it off: We make our stand here… There's no other land between here and Berk. Besides, if the Screaming- Death destroys Dragon- Island; all of these dragons will overwhelm Berk, and the Screaming Death won't be far behind."

"Look… I'm all about danger, but did you see the size of that thing?" Astrid asked. Even as she spoke, though, she knew that Hiccup was right: They had no choice.

"It's not going to be just us," Hiccup reassured her. Then he turned to Toothless, "The wild- dragons will help; if I ask them to, right?"

Toothless hesitated for a moment, then 'said', 'Yes.'

Before Hiccup could speak, Astrid was beside him, "What are you planning?"

Hiccup took a deep breath, and said, "I'm going to use the Dragon- Trance." When Astrid looked as though she was about to object, Hiccup added, "Just long enough to call the wild- dragons: Not even the Screaming Death would stand a chance against all of the dragons we've got here."

Astrid looked taken- aback, "Are you sure you can do that?"

It was Toothless who answered, 'If he is in need, the majority of dragon- kind will heed his call: We know who he is, and what he is meant to be – even though the time is not yet right for your kind to know.' Astrid still looked a little uneasy, but she nodded.

Since the first time Hiccup had entered the Dragon Trance, his instincts had grown sharper than he'd believed possible. Now, guided by these instincts, he tapped into the bond: He didn't know exactly what he was doing; nor, he knew, would he remember it afterwards.

Perhaps a minute after Hiccup had closed his eyes, they snapped open: only now, they glowed yellow: the eyes of a Night- Fury. Astrid and Fishlegs knew what to expect, more or less, having been present the first time that Hiccup entered the Dragon trance… Despite that, it was a surprise to see those yellow eyes gleaming in an otherwise familiar face.

Hiccup turned his back on the ocean, and let out a series of growls and roars: Dragon calls. Once several dozen of each of the main species had gathered, Hiccup fell silent. His eyes changed back to their normal color, and he started to fall forward, but Astrid caught his arm, and helped him remain upright until he regained his footing.

A moment later, Hiccup had recovered. He grinned at Astrid, and nodded a 'thank- you'. Before he could speak, a distant roar sounded.
The Screaming- Death appeared in the distance, drawing closer, with every passing second.

"Lets go," Hiccup said, already mounting Toothless. "If it gets underground, it'll be that much harder to stop him!"

The wild- dragons rose as they did. And, as soon as they were within range, they attacked the Screaming Death.
It wasn't a long fight: As Hiccup had said, the Screaming Death was simply no match for them. Every time it tried to unleash it's disorienting- scream, several dragons would zip in – each one biting at a spike- free section of tail, and the scream would turn into a growl of pain an annoyance.
The sheer number of targets prevented the Screaming Death from focusing on any one for more than a few seconds at a time. This, in turn, made its attacks all the easier to evade…
Finally, their mutual enemy let out a final outraged growl, and spiralled away.

Clearly relieved, Hiccup turned to the others, "Lets get back to Berk."

"Yeah," Astrid agreed, "Before something else happens."

Late afternoon, near the Dragon- Training Academy,

"I just hope we never see the Screaming Death again: It's giving Meatlug gas, and I don't have to tell you what that's like."

Astrid rolled her eyes, and went to join Hiccup; where he stood, watching the ocean, "Hey, did you find anything else about the Screaming- Death?"

Hiccup glanced up at her, "Well, the good news is that they only hatch one every hundred years or so."

"That's the 'good news'?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup nodded, "The bad news is that it's still out there, and… someday, it'll come back to Berk."

To be continued…