Maverick was currently beating a piece of metal into the shape of a shield when a loud horn echoed throughout Berk.
Maverick: Gobber, that's the scramble horn. I gotta go.
Gobber: Aye, go do yer duty. Yer a dragon rider first, a blacksmith second.
Maverick grabbed Vitani's saddle, literally threw it on her, and took off to join his group.
There were 5 groups. Each one was led by one of the original riders and dragon.
Alpha group was Hiccup's. Beta was Astrid. Charlie was Snotlout's. Delta was Fishlegs'. Finally was Echo with the twins.
Each group had 4 flights consisting of anywhere from 4-8 dragons. Each flight had a leader, an element leader, who led if the group was separated or if the leader was shot down, 2 wingmen, and sometimes 4 element wingmen.
Due to Maverick and Snotlout having become sparing rivals, Maverick was Element lead of Snotlout's flight in Charlie group.
As they got to their proper altitude, they saw the situation. 40 warships, and some 80 dragons, the lead dragon. A Skrill. The boats bore the Berserker insignia.
Hiccup sent 70 of the 150 dragons and riders to take care of the ships. Him and the other 79 would fight the dragons. Maverick was one of the ones who would face the dragons.
The 2 sides passed at high speeds, sizing each other up. They repeated this 5 times before Snotlout got impatient. He broke formation and took 2 others of his 6 flight. Maverick was then tasked with the other 2. From then on… it was hell.
Every 10-20 seconds, a dragon and rider would go plunging into the water on fire.
Maverick grabbed his crossbow and shot a couple of the riders on the dragons. Remove the riders, and the dragons don't have orders to follow. Maverick went to reload, when Vitani made a sharp left to avoid a lightning bolt from Dagur's Skrill. He dropped his only extra box of arrows.
Maverick was about to let out a string of curses, but he felt his tongue and the roof of his mouth. Both has changed to become more dragon like. While he ran his tongue on the roof of his mouth, he found if he did it fast enough, it made a spark. He would probably be able to breathe fire very soon.
Of course this lack of focus, no matter how short it was, made him a target. A Deadly Nadder dove on him and Vitani. It was ready to lose its Magnesium fire. Maverick switched to the stone launcher and fired his bow. The rock hit the Nadder's head and knocked it out. It plunged into the water below. He searched for a new target.
He saw Toothless and Hiccup retreating, Toothless's artificial fin was crackling with electricity and was smoking. He'd been hit and was visibly struggling to stay in the air. The group commanders came to his aid by attacking the Skrill, but its multidirectional lightning kept them at bay. They needed help.
Maverick: Vitani, when I say now, fly by the Skrill as fast as you can. I'll see if I can flame the rider.
Maverick switched to flamethrower, when he stopped. He looked at the bow.
Ive got an idea.
He tore the piece that sparked the Kerosene off, aimed at his mouth, and pulled the trigger. The Kerosene gushed down his throat. To a human, this would've been suicide, but Maverick was as much of a dragon as he was human. He threw his crossbow away.
Maverick: Now Vitani. Fly by close, and shoot below the Skrill.
Viatni did as she was told, and Maverick knew what to do.
Back during dragon training, Maverick sometimes made himself throw up to skip class. So he knew how to force the contents of his stomach up. His did the same thing. Just before the Kerosene reached his mouth, he opened it, and ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth quickly, the spark igniting the Kerosene. A stream of liquid fire shot out of his mouth, and right above the Skrill, who was being forced up by Vitani's fire. He flew right into Maverick's stream of flames.
The liquid fire didn't hit Dagur, but it did hit the Skrill's wings, and began to burn holes into them. Dagur, concerned about losing his precious Skrill, actually made a logical decision, he ordered a retreat to help cover him and the Skrill.
As the riders did a head count, they discovered that 30 of them would never return home.
Vitani flew through the formation and up to Toothless.
Maverick: Looks like he took a nasty shot. Is he gonna make it Hiccup?
Hiccup: We're not out of the woods yet. He loosing a lot of strength. That lightning really hurt him.
Maverick: Switch with me.
Hiccup: While we're flying? Are you crazy?
Maverick: Yes, but I'm the only one who can help keep him in the air. *He gestures to his wings* Ok, jump on three. One
Hiccup: You're insane. I'm not doing it.
Maverick: Two
Hiccup: you not serious about this are you?
Maverick: THREE!
Maverick and Hiccup stood up and jumped as fast as they could. They landed on each other's dragon.
Maverick got into position and began to beat his wings. The extra movement of air gave Toothless a reprieve he desperately needed.
Hiccup: Where in Thor's name did you come up with that idea?
Maverick: I don't know how, but I can think of the solution too any problem at a moment's notice. It's a useful skill.
Hiccup: You are so getting promoted to Beta group for this.
They returned to Berk, and gave Toothless medical attention. Turns out, the heat from the lightning melted the metal for a moment, and it solidified ON his tail. Throwing it off balance and forcing him to compensate took a lot of energy. Had Maverick not helped, Gothi said he probably would've died.