Its been like an eternity right? While that is a slight exaggeration, I do realize I have taken quite some time. I hate it when an author takes for ever just as much as you, but I also understand why it does take so long sometimes. Anyway, you have a new chapter so you should be at least a little happy about it, if you still read this at all.=^-^=

Ch. 9 - Unexpected


Several armored ships appeared out of the ice maze that surrounded the island. The Alpha's nest towered over the other ice shelves which in turn towered over the ships that weaved through them. The lead ship was pulled along by an underwater chain slowly. The large man at the very front slammed his spear into it every few seconds as if beckoning it into motion. Upon the shore stood a man adorned in armor with his blue armored dragon at his side. They waited patiently for the ship to halt its approach with several others taking a position beside it. "I've been waitin Drago!" Logan shouted from the shore. He wore a confident smirk with his arms crossed.

Bludvist eyed him a moment before letting out a laugh. "Am I to take this as good news Fenrir?"

The sell sword raised a cocky brow as he stepped to the side. "A bit more than that actually."

Drago hopped onto one of the metal walkways put down to the shore. Behind Logan sat a dragon tangled up in a net, and it greatly interest the man. "So you caught him eh?" The dragon squirmed in the net at the sound of his voice and let out a growl.

"Didn't I say I would?"

Bludvist approached at a moderate pace with his spear clutched firmly in his grasp. "Your reputation does not disappoint." Drago commented as he stood over the dragon in the net. "So Wild One, you remember me?" The grey dragon growled viciously at the man as it struggled against the ropes of its net. His face became an evil smile as he leaned down. "Good, then we don't need to waste time with any of those pleasantries." He finished as he stepped down on the dragon's snout.

With the speed of near lightning the dragon whipped out its tail, but Drago was no fool. He pinned the appendage back with his spear without batting an eye. "Oi! I thought I had that tail secured!"

Drago waved it off. "I'm sure you did, but this one's got a history of getting out of tight spots. Don't you Wild One?" He let out another laugh before turning back towards the sell sword. "And what of the Rider?"

Fenrir reached over towards Saphira's saddle and pulled off an archaic horned helmet with war paint, and quite a bit of blood. "To be honest, I'm not the one who did him in. It seems this one got to him a we bit before me. I've no doubt this made his capture a bit easier, but the end seems just as well." He then pointed to the large spiked nest. "You won't find many a dragon in there either." A couple of the large ice spikes sat along the coast and one began to fall as he pointed. "Whatever happened between them, the other dragons cleared out."

Drago looked up at the faltering ice in frustration. He wanted to kill the rider's Bewilderbeast and claim the dragon nest for his army. He then turned back towards the sell sword with an analytical gaze. "The dragons are gone then?"

"Aye, though there were a few stragglers when I arrived yesterday, my only interest was in this one here. I was under the impression I wouldn't be paid for the others."

Drago almost chuckled at the man's logic and gave a nod. "Of course, the capture of this dragon is far more valuable than the rest of that nest, aside from maybe the Alpha. But as you said, it was gone." He then leaned down to get another good look at his prize and saw something grab the dragon's attention. Several shouts were heard as a new dragon flew over the ice spikes and barreled down at them. Drago watched as this new grey dragon approached with something on its back.

"Hmm? Where'd he come from?" Fenrir mused as he pulled his halberd from his back.

"Let him go damn it!" The young man on the dragon's back shouted.

"Saphira, the dragon!" The Arch Striker happily complied as she charged up a small beam of lightning. It hit the oncoming dragon point blank and it faltered before it was knocked out of the sky by a net and crashed through the snow. Lupedrax was on the pair quickly and so was his dragon. "You just want me to kill ya don't you boy? Pay or no, you're not giving me much choice." He claimed as he raised up his blade.

"Hold on!" Drago commanded much to the sell sword's surprise. He approached with an expression of deep thought. "This one may be of use to me." He looked back at the netted dragon and then towards the newly down dragon. "This boy was able to tame this dragon, and it is the same kind as the other." Several of Drago's men approached on the coast and he turned to them. "Bring in both dragons, and the rider. You can put him with the others, but the dragons I want kept on my ship." The men obeyed without question and began by hauling in the original Moonstreak. Drago then turned to the young man netted with the unconscious dragon. He was giving him a venomous glare which seemed to intrigue the man. "What's that glare for? I just spared your life you know."

"Excuse me if I'm not overwhelmed with gratitude Bludvist!" Mathias shot back from under the net.

"So you know me?" Drago said with a chuckle. He then took a good look at the young man. His attire seemed more regal than common, the boy himself seemed rather well groomed. He then tugged a bit at the net with his spear and noticed a familiar emblem emblazoned on one of the bags of the dragon's saddle. "Oh ho! Langaholt eh?" He deduced with a twisted smirk. "What relation do you have with Eirikr?" Mathias simply scowled at him and refused to speak. "No matter, we'll talk soon enough." He promised as his men began to pull the net Mathias and Nightshade were tangled in.

Lupedrax sheathed his blade and pat Saphira on the neck. "Looks like another completed contract, and you know what that means." The dragon seemed pleased as she let out a growl. She then turned her head up to the sky and shot out a bolt of lightning. Drago turned to the sight with a calculating expression. When Fenrir noticed the man, he quickly cleared up the strange behavior. "She does that when we finish a job."

Drago seemed amused by the explanation before heading back towards the ship. "Fine, but I have another job for you Fenrir." He declared, and despite the calm tone, Fenrir knew it was more of a command, and followed.


"That was the signal." Hiccup stated as he raised his head away from his spyglass. He turned to Astrid who was sitting just behind with Stormfly.

"That means they've gotten in." She finished for him.

Hiccup got to his feet and put the spyglass away in one of the bags on Toothless' saddle. "Then we need to go and join up with Bo'mar and my mom." He swung himself onto the Nightfury's back.

"Do you really think this plan is going to work?"

Hiccup shrugged. "No, but we can't turn back now."

Astrid hopped onto Stormfly's back. "True, but I don't trust that Fenrir guy. He tried to kill you and, Mathias, not to mention your mom."

Hiccup nodded as both Toothless and Stormfly took off. "Yeah, but my mom does. I really don't know all that went on, but Bo'mar seems to trust him too. He's gotten me to do a lot of crazy things that turned out to be the right idea."

"Like getting slashed by that Spike Shredder, and having it almost kill you?" Astrid asked with annoyance.

"Yeah, but the key word here is almost. As far as I can tell, Bo'mar wouldn't be letting any of this happen if he didn't have a reason. If we had stayed, the nest would have been destroyed by Drago's army. We also wouldn't be able to find out what he was up to." Hiccup then pulled down the wind guard of his helmet and Toothless took off.

Astrid followed close behind with an unsatisfied expression. "He better, or I'll kill him myself."


Not long after being taken captive by Drago did Mathias find himself being escorted away from his dragon. He took a good look at her as he was pushed along. "Don't worry Mathias…." She tried to console before her mouth was bound by Drago's men. He took a breath himself as he lost sight of her. "I can do this.."

"Quiet!" The man commanded as he pushed him forward.

Several minutes later he found himself tossed haphazardly into a prison cell unable to catch himself due to being tied up. "Geez, could've been a little nicer about it…" Mathias grumbled from the ground.

"Oh they could have, but then where would the entertainment value come from?"

Mathias pulled himself up to see Snotlout sitting in the cell next to him. "Uh… Snotlout?"

"Duh." He stated bluntly.

"Mathias!" Fishlegs called from across the room.

"Fishlegs….?"

"Yeah, so you got captured too? What about Hiccup? Or Astrid?"

Mathias shook his head. "They're fine." He then took a good look around the room to make sure none of Drago's men were around. Once he saw it was clear he looked back to Fishlegs. "And I didn't get captured, I wanted to be brought here."

"Alright! We're saved!" Tuff shouted at the top of his lungs.

Mathias instantly shushed him hoping no one heard him. "For the love of Thor, be quiet!" Mathias snapped with a hushed tone.

"I knew someone would come for us." Fishlegs stated with relief.

Mathias gave him a sheepish expression. "Uh…. Actually I had no idea you guys would be here…" He got blank stares across the room.

"Then why are you here?" Snotlout grumbled out.

"Well, you could say I'm in deep cover to figure out what Drago's up too. Since I'm related to the king of Langaholt, we figured I'd be the best choice of hostage to be kept alive."

"So you got captured? Tell me where this was a good plan?" Snotlout chided as he leaned back in his cell.

"He obviously has some sort of plan to escape." Fish corrected with a glare. He then turned to Mathias with an expectant expression. "So what is this plan?"

Mathias thought a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, but it'll be better if you don't know. As a matter of fact, just go back to thinking I was foolishly captured. We didn't put you guys into the plan since we didn't know where you were."

"So you're leaving us here?" Ruff deduced rather bluntly.

"Great, some rescue this turned out to be." Tuff grumbled in agreement.


Bo'mar watched the skies within view of his icy hide away. He and Valka had to move the dragons for their plan to work, and the old man just happened to know of another glacier they could hide in temporarily. "I think I see 'em Valka!" He informed as he slid down the icy path inside.

"That was faster than I thought it would be." She noted as she held Scorch in her arms. The little dragon, to everyone else's surprise, quickly became attached to her, and enjoyed his pampered position in her arms.

"Aye, but I suppose that means everything went okay."

Valka gave him a serious expression. "Nothing will be okay until Drago has been dealt with."

They both heard the Night Fury as it landed in an area above then, followed quickly by the Nadder. Bo'mar gave a shrug as he turned to the entrance. "I suppose."

"How are the dragons?" Hiccup asked as he slid down the ice tunnel followed by Toothless.

Valka gestured to the opening on the other side. "Fine for now. The Alpha is keeping them together, but this glacier is not large enough to keep them for long." She released the Bane Hunter as he flew over to Hiccup's shoulder.

"I know, but we couldn't risk a confrontation until we knew what he wanted. Lupedrax said he had an army, and if he really does have an Alpha dragon of his own, then we need a plan."

"How long are we going to leave them there anyway?" Astrid asked as she brushed herself off from sliding down the ice tunnel.

Hiccup turned to her with a serious expression. "As long as it takes. Mathias knows more about Drago than we do, and as far as Drago knows, he was captured."

Astrid gave a nod with a slight scowl. "It's not Mathias I'm worried about, it's Lupedrax. I still don't trust him."

Hiccup raised a brow. "Neither do I, but he did have a good idea." He then turned to his mom. "And my mom trusts him."

Valka gave a nod. "He may be self-serving, but he is a reasonable man Hiccup."

Hiccup let out an understanding breath before patting Scorch's head. "Regardless, we should make a back-up plan in case he does side with Drago." He was just about to reach for Toothless' saddle when a familiar angry roar rang through the cavern. Hiccup instantly turned towards the cavern into the glacier. "Was that… Balrog?" He wondered as Bo'mar strolled to the tunnel.

"I do believe it was. It would seem that we have an intruder." He didn't seem at all worried about the implications if his tone and body language meant anything.

They all quickly headed down the tunnel which opened up into a large cavern with a water pool taking up about half of the space. It was there that the Bewilderbeast lay with his head resting on the icy shore of the glacier. Down on the opposite side Balrog was charging another dragon of roughly the same size as the Lava Guardian. "Is that… oh man…" Hiccup groaned as he recognized the Rumblehorn in combat. Balrog was the only dragon fighting while the rest kept quiet in the many crevices within the temporary ice shelter.

"What's Skull Crusher doing here?" Astrid asked as she approached Hiccup from behind.

"You know that dragon Hiccup?" Valka asked with Cloud Jumper in toe.

Hiccup turned to her. "Uh yeah he's… he's kinda…"

"Hiccup!" He heard his name in an angry tone. Stoic the Vast's temper was never something to be trifled with, and so the young man visibly flinched at the shout. The chieftain ran over to him, ax in hand, from one of the side tunnels. Toothless ran alongside him as he approached though the Nightfury seemed excited in contrast to Hiccup.

"He's kind of… dad's dragon…" He finally stuttered out as he turned to the large man. Valka froze at the prospect. She hadn't seen him in twenty years after all, and he thought her dead. "It's about time I tracked you down! Now tell me all this mess about Fenrir right now!"

Hiccup raised his hands defensively as to appease his father's anger. "Well things are a little bit more complicated than they were last night dad."

"And how am I to know what they were to begin with if you go flyin off before telling me anything!? You barge into the house saying the other riders are missing, then something about Fenrir being involved, and leave without another word!"

"Yes, I realize I maybe was a bit too hasty-" Hiccup started but couldn't finish.

"A bit!? You weren't home more than five minutes! If something is going on, I'd prefer you at least explain it to me before flyin off!"

"I know dad, I wasn't think-"

"No you weren't! I know you're more responsible than to go off like that. Now I want an explanation right now!" He demanded with a stern tone.

"Well like I was saying before, things have-"

"Then hurry up then!"

"Stoic!" Valka suddenly shouted from behind him. The chieftain froze at the familiar voice and his face contorted in confusion. He furrowed his brow before turning back to see his wife looking at him with a stern expression he hadn't seen in decades. "You can't expect him to explain anything if you keep interrupting him."

The man couldn't believe his eyes as his footing faltered with a step. "I… I can't… Valka?" He finally called and her confidence shook at his tone. She turned away from him, and Cloud Jumper leaned over her in a protective gesture. "You're alive?" He asked aloud while still coming to terms with what his eyes were telling him. When he looked at the dragon he felt a distinct déjà-vu moment, and then turned back to Hiccup. "Again…?" He then turned back to Valka, and dropped his ax.

"Shouldn't you say something?" Astrid whispered to Hiccup over his shoulder.

The young man didn't look confident as he shook his head in response. "I don't think so."

The two of them simply watched as Stoic silently approached his wife. He removed his helmet, and his unreadable expression seemed to shake Valka's confidence even more. "I shouldn't be surprised by that." She finally continued. "You were always stubborn, and hard to reason with." She stated with even less confidence than she'd displayed so far. Stoic didn't say a word as he continued his approach. "I tried so many times to stop the fighting, but you wouldn't listen. As far as I could tell, that wouldn't change... What proof did I have that you could? Or anyone on Berk could?" She had backed to the water's edge now while Stoic still approached silently. "T-that was a mistake... I-I see that now. I should have come back... and I'm sorry..."

He was right in front of her now, and he wrapped his arm around her to keep her from falling back into the water. "No Val." He finally responded calmly and quietly. It was surprising as she finally looked him in the eye again. He was never this calm at a time like this.

"W-what was that...?"

He gave her a sad smile as he took her hand into his free one. "I'm sorry." He squeezed it tight in his hand. "I'm sorry I didn't listen. It was a mistake that I... I made twice, before realizing what I was doing wrong." He took a side glace back to his son before looking back into Valka's eyes. "It's been 20 years..." He almost whispered as he stroked her hair as if to make sure she was real. "And you are as beautiful now, as the day I lost you." Valka was speechless at his declaration, and her surprise made it impossible to resist as he leaned in to kiss her. Cloud Jumper seem curious over the gesture as his neck fell back to relax.

Meanwhile Astrid laid her head on Hiccup's shoulder as they watched the scene quietly. She could see the smirk on Hiccup's face out of the corner of her eye, and squeezed his arm in hers. "Good call." She whispered, and felt him place his left hand on her arm in response.


A wild broken roar rang out from deep inside Drago's ship as Phalanx declared his outrage. It had taken several of his men to chain the dragon down, and one of them lay limp on the floor near the door as Drago finally came to see his prize. He chuckled as he looked at the man who could barely breath, and simply stepped over him. "You haven't changed Wild One. Perfect." He praised with a sinister look in his eye.

Two of his men came around with metal ropes in hand. "I saved these for you." Drago announced as his men lassoed them around the Moon Streak's neck and pulled tight from both sides. His roars were tapered from the restricting jerk, but his growls still held defiant. The metal dug into his scales, but the aged blood staining the metal showed they had done far more before. Drago leaned down to the dragon with a smirk. "This time I will break you." He then tapped his staff on the wood floor. "Bring in the other one!" He ordered with a scowl before turning back to the dragon.

He chuckled again as several yells heralded the entrance of Nightshade. She was dragged into the room by her horns with her mouth bound, her legs in irons, and a strange amber like substance encasing her tail stinger. As soon as she was chained down to the floor across from them the men wrangled her neck much like Phalanx's was. She gagged from the strain, and her legs went weak under her. Drago looked over to the dragon with a confident nod. "Of course that one may break first." He quickly looked back to see the ever sharper glare of the larger Moon Streak and gave an evil chuckle. "And here I thought you couldn't be any more defiant." He then stood up to his full height and wore a scowl. "We'll see how long that lasts dragon!" He slammed his staff into the side of the dragon's face though Phalanx barely budged from the impact. The fresh scare dripped over the metal hook while the dragon remained solid in defiance. Drago wore a smile as he turned about. "Good. That'll make it even more satisfying when you are under my boot." He left them without another word. His men made sure they were both bound well, before taking up their comrade, and baring the door behind them.

Phalanx glared at the door for good measure several minutes before turning to Nightshade. She seemed strained as the wire nooses kept her from moving even more than the chains. "T-this...!" He grunted out to get her attention before laying with his head hanging from the wires. He found it easiest to simply hang from them instead of pulling one way or another. They weren't strong enough to choke him through his thick hide. Nightshade watched him lay with surprising comfort, and did the same. After seeing how easily the ropes lined up with his scars, she wanted to ask him about it, but the muzzle on her mouth made it impossible. Whether he confirmed it or not, however, she knew how he'd gotten those scars now.


The sun was falling down the sky as the glacial hiding place of Valka's nest gleamed under its rays. The dragons kept quiet within as to not draw any kind of outside attention. Deep under the frozen wall, however, many of them crawled through the many ice tunnels that they formed themselves or found naturally. Balrog watched as several baby dragons chased each other around before going back into his lava trough, provided courtesy of a few Gronkles in the nest. "I'm still surprised at how well he does outside a nest." Valka commented somewhat absentmindedly as she stood beside Bo'mar.

The old man nodded. "Aye, he's a stubborn one."

"That he is..." She responded though it didn't seem like she was talking about Balrog anymore.

Stoic watched from several yards away while Hiccup went over their plan. "Dad? Are you listening?" Hiccup asked when he saw him looking away.

Stoic quickly turned back to him. "Yes, but I don't understand why you'd trust that damned sell sword with something like this."

"Because it was a good idea, and better than anything we could come up with at the time. I don't think he's the one we need to be worrying about, but Drago."

Stoic scowled at the name. "Bludvist!" He growled out. "That madman. I should have expected him to return."

"You know him?" Hiccup asked curiously though he figured he might.

Stoic gave a nod and leaned on his knee. "Aye. It was many years ago at one of the last Chieftain gatherings before you left. We were discussing the growing dragon problem when he suddenly stormed in demanding our allegiance. He said he'd protect us from the dragons if we bowed to him."

"And of course that didn't happen." Astrid noted as she rolled her eyes at the concept.

"No, and we all laughed." He then took a breath. "Seconds later dragons broke through the walls of the hall, and the place went up in flames in minutes. I was the only one to make it out alive."

Hiccup laced his fingers together in deep thought. "I suppose with all I've been told about him, I couldn't change his mind about abusing dragons." Astrid placed a comforting hand on his. She knew he hated just thinking about what was being done to them.

"A man who kills without reason cannot be reasoned with Hiccup." His father declared with a controlled and resolute tone.

Hiccup waited a moment before nodding with a sigh. "I figured as much." he then looked to his father with a serious expression. "Then we need to stop him as soon as possible."

Stoic reciprocated the nod, and stood up. "We'll need to reinforce our own defenses, and send word to King Eirikr about Drago's army."

"Yeah, but we should wait until Lupedrax comes back with more information. He may be able to get Drago's next target, and we can warn them about it."

"Then we bust Mathias, and Nightshade out along with how ever many dragons we can along with him." Astrid added in with a determined expression.

Hiccup gave a nod. "Yeah, but only if we can get close enough before he notices us. Remember, he might have an Alpha dragon like the BewilderBeast." Hiccup concurred with caution. "We have to be careful."


Gods, I know this doesn't have too much, but hopefully its enough to be spared the old 'Tar and Feather' routine. I haven't been terribly inspired to write though anyone who follows my other fics probably already noticed this.=^-^=

As always comments are appreciated, and encourage me to continue. Questions are welcome, and if you plan to yell at me... have mercy.=^-^=