Chapter 9
Astrid woke with a start. She had a hard time falling asleep last night, made worse by overhearing the Sisters conversation. It took some effort, but she had managed to finally fall asleep. Now as her eyes popped open, the morning sun was already well up. She hoped the Sisters were still asleep, so that she could warn Hiccup of what she had heard last night. But as she looked around, she saw that luck wasn't on her side today. Hiccup, Elsa and Anna were sitting around a fire having breakfast. She decided to keep her secret for now.
"Guess I overslept." She commented, walking over to the group.
Elsa greeted her. "Good morning, Astrid. Care for some breakfast?"
"Sounds good. Thanks." She replied, picking up a piece of meat. But she nearly choked as Anna happily munched on a Woodland Tidbit.
"You're actually eating THAT?"
"Mm Hmm." Anna replied, "It's actually not bad, once you get past knowing what it is."
Astrid was astounded. Looking to Elsa, she was then left dumbfounded. Elsa also seemed to be enjoying the unique menu item.
"Pretty impressive, eh?" Hiccup commented pleasantly, "Yesterday they were tossing chow, and today they're eating like vikings."
Elsa added, "We came to realize that if you can survive eating like this, and clearly you can, then it can't be all bad. And with the inconvenience you've tolerated caused by our presence, it would be an insult to you for us not to put real effort into adjusting to your ways."
Astrid felt her heart sink as Elsa popped down another Tidbit.
After breakfast, they took to the air. Hiccup and Elsa were discussing viking life as they flew. Astrid however, in an attempt to stave off turning royals into vikings, kept hitting Anna with questions about life in Arendelle. Anna happily told her everything she wanted to know, and to Astrid, it sounded like the perfect life. Why would anyone want to give that up? That was the one question she avoided asking Anna. Whatever it took to keep her thinking about what she really was.
A few hours into their flight, Elsa spotted something on the horizon. Something big. She pointed it out to Hiccup. With a hand gesture, he signaled for Astrid to follow. From this distance, it could well have been an island. But Hiccup knew this region well, and there were no islands out here. As they got closer the mass grew, until it seemed to cover the horizon completely. Shapes began to form. Could they be trees? No. Trees don't grow straight up, or all the same. Masts! Hiccup looked through his little spyglass as something rose from the mass into the air. And panicked.
"SKRILL!" he shrieked
Elsa asked, "What is a Skrill?"
"A very powerful dragon. One that we try to avoid at all cost." He answered shakily.
"I don't think it's giving us a choice!" Anna screamed.
Sure enough, the fearsome beast was heading straight for them. Hiccup looked through his spyglass again, and very nonchalantly said. "Ho, this just got worse."
Astrid asked, "How could this possibly get worse?"
"It is a Skrill, "he answered, "it's coming this way, and Dagur the Deranged is riding it."
Anna commented, "Astrid. When you ask how things could get worse, they always do."
From his saddle on his mighty Skrill, Dagur glared at his prey. Ahead of him, a Night Fury and a Nader were flying towards him. He had no doubts as to who he was facing, even if he couldn't see their faces at this distance.
"Well well, Hiccup," he growled "now we'll see just who is the dragon master. Keep your precious Night Fury. Better yet, DIE WITH IT!"
Dagur tapped the Skrills head, and it released a massive bolt of lightning towards the Riders.
Seeing a flash of light from the Skrill, Hiccup and Astrid turned hard, just missing being zapped by a bolt of lightning. It was clear to all of them that Dagur had only one goal in mind. And it wasn't to just make their hair stand on end. Hiccup and Astrid however, had a different goal now. To protect Elsa and Anna at all cost. Hiccup could easily have gotten Elsa out of the area quickly, as Toothless could easily outrun a Skrill. But Stormfly didn't have the speed to escape. And Princess Anna was on her back. The only choice now was to fight.
Hiccup called to Astrid, "Split up! Come at him from the sides! Don't give Dagur an easy target!"
And the battle was on. Three dragons tore up the skies, two dragons firing on one. Elsa and Anna kept their eyes on Dagur, keeping their pilots constantly informed of their opponents' doings. They could have used their powers, but Hiccup had suggested they keep that secret weapon hidden for now. But Dagur had trained his dragon well. And despite the best efforts from both sides of the fight, neither was giving or losing any ground. It was a battle that seemed to have no end.
Stromfly swooped down on the Skrill from above, launching a stream of fire. The shot missed, and Dagur banked quickly to get firing position. He then fired another bolt at the Nader, missing by only a few inches. One stray tendril of energy however, found a target, striking Astrids helmet. Her body went stiff, then she slumped sideways, rolling off Stormflys back.
"ASTRID!" Anna screamed as her pilot tumbled towards the sea far below.
Dagur cheered loudly, proud of making the first hit of the fight. Giving no further though to Stormfly, he turned his full attention to Hiccup and his accursed Night Fury.
Elsa had heard Anna scream and now screamed herself as she saw Astrid fall.
"HICCUP! ASTRID'S FALLEN OFF HER DRAGON!" she yelled, pointing at their falling comrad.
Without a word and before Hiccup could even give a command, Toothless turned hard and rocketed down towards Astrid. With only seconds before she hit the water, Toothless was beneath her, and she landed in Elsas waiting arms. "She's out cold!" she told Hiccup.
A bolt of lightning shot past them. Dagur had not given up his pursuit, and was closing in. Hiccup took evasive action, but with 3 riders, Toothless found it harder to maneuver. This fight had just gotten harder.
Anna was terrified. She now found herself alone, high above the North Sea on a dragon she didn't know how to fly. Below she had seen Toothless, Hiccup and Elsa snatch Astrid from the jaws of death. But she could also see Dagur charging in towards them. She fought to pull her thoughts together. What had Astrid said about Naders that would help her now?
"Stormfly?" she stammered. Stormfly clucked a response.
"We have a big problem here. Astrids fallen off. I'm alone with you, and I don't know how to fly a dragon!" She was hoping Astrids comments about the Naders intelligence weren't exaggerated.
Stormfly bobbed her head and chirped, which Anna took as 'Take the horns'. Anna took hold of the two longest horn on Stormflys head. Stormfly lowered her head slightly and descended, then tilted her head back and rose. She then squawked to Anna.
"I think I get it, girl!" Anna replied. "Just point your head where I want to go. And just tell you everything else, right?" Stormfly chirped happily in reply.
Annas courage came back. "Then lets get back in this fight!"
With 3 riders on his back and an angry Skrill on his tail, Toothless was giving everything he had to gain some distance. Elsa held Astrid tight as Hiccup tried everything he could think of to get his dragon and passengers to safety. But Dagur would have none of it. Bolt after bolt shot from his Skrills mouth, Toothless always just dodging the shot. Dagur roared in frustration. Elsa looked back. The look on Dagurs face was clear even from this distance. He wanted blood.
The look on Elsas face suddenly changed from fear to surprise as a blast of dragonfire struck the Skrill broadside, sending it tumbling off course. She looked to where the blast came from and, pointing towards the source, cheered wildy. Hiccup and Toothless looked also, huge smiles appearing on both their faces.
From the far right, Anna and Stormfly swooped in, still firing on Dagur. With the tables turned, Dagur fought to get positon on the new attacker, but Anna stayed hard on his tail. This gave Hiccup a chance to get a better position himself. At that point Astrid started coming around.
"Easy Astrid," Elsa told her, "I've got you."
Astrid spoke, but what she said was gibberish. Elsa looked to Hiccup.
"She took a lightning bolt to the head." He said. "She'll be fine in a while."
Anna wasn't about to let Dagur get away. She matched every turn he made, calling out fire commands to Stormfly. But she had lost count of how many times Stormfly had fired, and now the mighty dragon was coughing out smoke puffs instead of fire. Anna pulled back, bringing Stormfly to hover.
"Oh No! You're out of fire." She cried out. Stormfly gave a whimpered chirp. Dagur took the opportunity to look his opponent in the eye, bringing his Skrill to hover a short distance from Anna.
"I've never seen you before," Dagur chimed, "But I can see you've used up your dragons fire. Since you are quite beautiful, I'm gonna give you a choice. Die here and now, or join me and rule the North Sea at my side."
Neither option sounded in any way appealing to Anna. "My dragon may have a shot limit," she said angrily, "But I DON"T!"
She thrust her hands forward, releasing a steady stream of fire. The stream pounded against the Skrills chest and spread out in all directions. Both Dagur and his dragon held their position, too confused by this surprise attack to respond.
Elsa saw the opportunity that her sister had given them. "Hiccup. Get me in close!"
Without a word, Hiccup spun Toothless around and flew straight for Dagur, hoping Elsa knew what she was doing.
From the corner of her eye, Anna saw the Night Fury coming in fast. At the right moment, Anna ceased her attack. Dagur regained only enough composure to see Toothless passing beside him. The woman at the back held her hand up, releasing a blast of energy. The blast covered his dragons' right wing in a thick layer of solid ice, sending he and his dragon spiraling down into the ocean.
With Dagur defeated, the 2 dragons flew alongside each other. Elsa, Hiccup and Astrid were amazed.
Hiccup stated. "Anna! You're actually flying a dragon!" Astrid babbled something incomprehensible.
"I think she's asking how you pulled that off." Elsa commented. "I'd like to know that myself as well."
Anna smiled. "Actually Stormfly taught me." She then looked worried. "What's wrong with Astrid."
"Lightning strike to the head." Hiccup answered. "She'll be ok in a while."
Elsa stated firmly, "Still, it might not be a bad idea to head for Berk. We know where the fleet is now, and who's running it. And I'm a little worried for Astrids condition. We should get her to help just to be safe."
Everyone agreed. Hiccup and Anna pointed their dragons west towards Berk, not noticing the angry Skrill and its rider in the water below.
Dager held onto his dragon, its right wing still encased in the hardest ice he had ever seen. As he watched his foes fly off, his mind raced. How could this have happened? Who were those 2 women, and what power did these 2 women have that could so easily defeat him? Then he had a moment of clarity.
"So the stories are true." He growled. "The Sisters of Arendelle are real. Looks like my armada has a new target."