Chapter 5

Fated Fight.

The four heads hissed at Hiccup, sending small flicks of their respective breath-weapons at him. Toothless growled next to him and he patted the dragon's head restrainingly.

"Goodnight to you too, it's nice to see you doing so well. How's the Queen treating you, General Scales for Brains?"

The heads all hissed a string of curses that made Hiccup grin softly.

"Really now, is that the way a royal dragon ought to speak? I am sure you father would be ashamed of you."

Chuckling, the dragon lashed out, trying once more to escape. "You already know what happened to my father, Rider. The same will happen to you. I will kill you as well."

"Over my dead body," Toothless growled.

"And mine!" Crimson added dangerously, puffing up her chest.

Stoick had been standing nearby and walked over to see why his son was growling and hissing at the beast. "What is it, son?"

Hiccup turned to speak to his father, his eyes never leaving the enemy. "This monster... killed a friend of mine. A very close friend. It is one of the dragons that command the others in the name of the Red Death, the Queen of the nest that attacks you."

Stoick looked from his son to the four-headed dragon. "I have never seen a dragon like this," he admitted.

Hiccup nodded slowly, his eyes burning brightly with hatred. "He is a rare breed. You would only find his kind on the shores of the Roman Empire. It's a Hydra, and he goes by the name of Elemental."

Stoicks eyes widened in shock. "You've been to Rome?"

His son glanced sideways at him and smiled, despite the seriousness of the situation. "Wherever there are dragons, I have been. I have had three years to travel this world, father, and considering that dragons are much faster then any ship, there are many places I have been to."

Stoick nodded and a loud roar brought both of them back to the problem at hand. "What do we do with it?" he asked, motioning to the Hydra.

Hiccup looked to his father disbelievingly. "You are asking me?"

Stoick nodded sheepishly. "Yes, well, ah... You are, after all, the Dragon Rider, so I ask your opinion on this matter. And because you know this dragon and you seem to have a problem with it, you get to pick how we deal with it."

Hiccup nodded. "I will kill him. Let him go so he can fight. Toothless, Crimson, are you ready to kill the slayer of Swift Wing the Wise?"

Both dragons roared, their voices filling the night's air, and every human that heard it shrunk back with fear.

"You can't fight him yourself." Stoick was looking at his son and back at the dragon, a line of worry wrinkling his forehead.

"This is something personal, father and I will not let anyone but me kill him."

Stoick shook his head, still not quite following. "I thought you didn't kill dragons?"

Hiccup let out a cold laugh. "Father, that thing is not a dragon, it is a monster. It kills for the fun of it, it tortures its victims... I would know, I have been one of those."

Stoick looked at his son, looked at the flame of hate shimmering in the boy's eyes like wild fire, but he saw his wife, saw the fierce gaze of the determined woman he had loved. His son had those same eyes now: the eyes of a man seeking justice in the world, a man who wanted to put things right. Reaching down, he patted the boy, no, man's shoulder. His son was not a child anymore. Somehow, in those three years he'd been away, his boy had grown into a man, and he was proud to stand behind him.

"Very well, son, do what you have to, but I make no promises about standing by, watching you get eaten."

Hiccup nodded and pulled his sword from his right hip, the cold metal gleaming blue as he pointed it at the dragon. He nodded at his father. "Let him go."

Stoick sighed heavily and bellowed: "Release the dragon!"

The men who held the net look at their chief in confusion but obeyed, letting go.

Springing away, the dragon roared and threw the net from its body. "That was stupid Rider. I will enjoy using you as a toothpick after I have had my fill of the humans around you.''

The world seemed to slow as the two watched each other warily. Toothless growled from Hiccups right and crouched low; Crimson hissed and puffed out her chest in challenge. And then the world started again, with a boom.
A fireball shot at where Hiccup had been standing a split-second before.

The boy had rolled to his left, coming to his feet as he did, sword out and eyes on the dragon before him. Hiccup held out his arm, the black scales reflecting the moonlight. He flexed his hand and made a fist, and a click sounded, followed by the whirl of gears. The large scales split and formed a shield, smaller scales covering the gaps and metal, the same which his sword was made of, running under the scales.

A blast of boiling water shot at him and held up the shield, bracing himself. The blast slammed into it and Hiccup felt his toes bury into the ground under him as he was pushed back, gritting his teeth, hot water rebounding in different directions.

Hissing, the four heads lashed out. Dodging the first, Hiccup rolled forward, ducking under the the next. The third swiped at him, but luckily glanced off his shield. The last one rushed at him, mouth open. It was the head with the gas. Very few people remained alive after knowing what the gas did, and Hiccup was one of them.

He clenched his fist again, popping the shield closed, and he reached behind his back and pulled a bola from the pouch on his back. Jumping back, he spun the weapon with his wrist and, after a few solid turns, let it fly. It shot out and snapped taught, spinning in the air. Elemental saw it coming but was already rushing towards the boy. The cord struck home, wrapping around the head that breathed acid.

In the background, the vikings of Berk watched, eyes wide at the sight. Hiccup was winning, or at least not dieing, which was a novelty to them. Astrid could not draw her eyes away. She was worried, but this was a fight she could not enter. The chief had told every one (rather loudly, as well) to stay out of the fight, that his son asked this of them. Stoick himself was watching as if spellbound, his knuckles white as he gripped his hammer, wanting to step in.

Hiccup dodged another bolt of lightning and Toothless fired back, the blue bolt of fire hitting the four-headed dragon with a resounding boom. Elemental stumbled back and lost his footing, landing hard on his back. He howled and lashed out with his tail. Hiccup saw it coming and had just enough time to get his shield arm up. The tail slammed hard into him and he flew back through the air, crashing through a heavy door, shattering it. The young man slammed hard into the floor with a resounding crack, pieces of door laying around him.

The sound of wings ripped into the silence of the night. Springing to his feet, Hiccup cried out in pain and gripped his shield arm. He had dislocated it, he could feel it. The pain running through his body was fresh and it sparked old memories; the image of Elemental and the torture he had endured flooded his brain and he forced the pain away as he stumbled out of the house onto the battlefield.

Elemental was gone. He could hear the laugh of the dragon's many heads far off in the distance.

"Damn it!" Hiccup hit the side of the wall with his left fist. Falling heavily onto the wall, he slid down slowly. His father and friends rush to see if he was alright, but he didn't want to face them. "Why...? Why can't I kill him...?"

"Because," Toothless huffed, "he's a coward and all he knows how to do is run, but eventually he will run out of places to run and then we will have him."

Hiccuped nodded slowly, his face still twisted in pain.

"Son! Are you alright?" Stoick the Vast bent down on a knee and looked at his son, more worried than he had felt in a long time.

"I'm fine, just a dislocated arm," Hiccup mumbled, not meeting his eyes. "I need it popped back into place. If someone would be so kind..."

Gobber had reached them and he smiled at that. Gripping the boy's right shoulder, the beefy man popped the arm back into place with a loud grunt. Hiccup gritted his teeth at the pain, making sure that no sound escaped his lips. His vision swam.

"That's going to be swollen in the morning. And very, very sore."

Hiccup nodded, still looking away. "I will be sore all over anyway, so nothing to worry about there."

Gobber looked away then back. "I hope you can still fight."

Hiccup tried to look around the people gathered before him, but couldn't see. "Why, is their another dragon?"

"Worse, a happy looking man whose daughter is suppose to mop the arena's floor with your face tomorrow."

"Thanks for reminding me," Hiccup sighed, leaning back and closing his eyes. "I am going to pass out now, please wake me when the Valkyrie comes for me."

Astrid watched as Hiccup was lifted by his father, the giant of a man turning and walking to Hiccup's house, followed by his brother. Fishlegs took the lead, Toothless walked next to them and Crimson fluttered behind.

A frown formed on Astrid's brow as she watched them leave. Hiccup had fought a dragon. Only, was he not suppose to protect the dragons? What would make Hiccup so mad that he would fight something he was supposed to protect? She wanted to run after them and learn the full story, but seeing her father nearby made her stop.

She looked at him. The man was smiling widely, and she knew why. She was to fight Hiccup at noon, and his arm would still be hurting. She had guessed what had happened: a dislocated shoulder. The way he had nursed it showed that such a thing had happened before, which would lessen the pain, but it would be sore and swollen, making the arm slow and sluggish.

She looked away. She had promised herself she would not hold back, but now she wondered if she should.

"Odin... What should I do?"

Hiccup woke. His body hurt all over, pain running up his arm and back. He noticed that he was now bare chested, and he looked down at the many scars that ran across his lean frame. Groaning, he rose slowly and rolled his right shoulder testingly. Popping sounds caught at his ears as the pain of the action ran up his spine.

Groaning some more, he stood.

"Master, you're up! You should not be, you need rest!" fussed Crimson, floating in front of him.

Hiccup looked up to stare at the little dragon. "I'm fine, just sore." Then a sharp tap to his shoulder caused him to cry out. Whipping his head he glared at Toothless who smiled.

"Does that hurt?"

Growling Hiccup turned and walked away from the dragon. "Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile," he grumbled. He heard Toothless chuckle in his weird way.

The boy opened the door to his bedroom and found Stoick the Vast, Fishlegs, Spitlout, and Gobber sitting at the long table in his living area.

"You are holding a party in my house and did not invite me?"

Stoick leaped to his feet. "No, we were just waiting for you... What happened to your...?"

Hiccup didn't need to look to know exactly what his father was gesturing to. Slowly, he looked up. "That monster did this. He is... He killed a lot of innocent people as well as dragons. I have fought him many times and each time I have walked away with a new scar, but most of these are from 2 years ago, when I was still coming into my own as a Dragon Rider Swift Wing was the king of the dragons in this part of the world. He was killed..." He had to stop as his eyes clouded with anger. He bit his lip and clenched his fists, slowly regaining command of himself. "He was killed by his son, that monster, Elemental the Wise. He killed his father and imprisoned me for the crime. I was tortured, but I managed to survive and escape. Then I drove him from the hidden Place of the Kings, and I have been hunting him ever since."

The crowed around the table stared at him in startled silence. Fishlegs was the first to break the silence. "They have a prison?"

Hiccup grinned. "Yes."

His uncle laughed and clapped his hands like a little child. "Now that is a story I would like to hear!"

Stoick shook his head. "Sorry, brother, but the boy does not have time. He has a fight to get ready for, and I want to make sure he is fit enough to fight it." He looked at his son with concern. "Are you well enough, son? Or will you have someone take your place?"

Hiccup shook his head and stood tall. "I will fight my own battles, as I have for the last three years." He looked at his dragons with a smile, and added, "With some help, of course." Then he became serious again. "But this is my fight, just as the one last night, and I will see it through."

Stoick nodded slowly. "Very well, then I will go and inform the Elders." Turning, his father moved towards the door, then stopped. Look at his son, he smiled. "Good luck."

Hiccup laughed, "The only kind of luck I get is bad luck."

Stoick forced out a laugh and left. Fishlegs stood and picked up a bundle that sat in front of Gobber.

"Here," he said, "Gobber repaired your armor. A few scales were missing, so he replaced them with some that your dragon lost while in the cage."

Hiccup nodded and took the armor. A training sword also lay bundled with the armor. Running a finger down the dull blade the boy frowned at the memories that flooded back. Rome, Gladiators, and death.

"Let's get this over with."

Next chapter is up thanks to my co writer Pluma. An thanks for all the views, reviews and favs.

I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.