Night Of The Hunters

Part One – An Early-Morning Flight

Somewhere on Dragon's Edge,

Astrid let out an excited whoop, as Stormfly shot upwards, into the clear blue sky; mere seconds before they would have colliding with a looming cliff face. They'd gotten up early, and what better way could there be to start the day than with an early- morning flight.

"Ha-ha; we're going vertical, Stormfly!" Astrid cried, as her dragon spun through the air.

Stormfly glanced back, gave Astrid a brief smile, nodded, than returned her attention to what lay ahead of them.
They shot into a stand of trees, weaving around the tree trunks; then along a river that flowed between two cliffs, which rose above then, to either side.

When the cliffs dropped away, behind them, Stormfly set down, next to the river. Astrid dismounted, sat beside her dragon, and leaned back, sighing, contentedly.

"Ahh; nothing like an early morning ride to start the day!"

'Easy to see why Hiccup and Toothless always start their day like this, hmm?' Stormfly commented.

Astrid smiled, and patted her dragon on the snout, "I know, we should do it more often! From now on, I promise…"

A sudden sound, clearly a dragon in distress, reached them: clearly coming from somewhere near by. Astrid leapt to her feet, and clambered back into Stormfly's saddle.

The moment Astrid was settled in her saddle, Stormfly shot into the sky. They continued to follow the sound for close to five minutes, drawing ever closer to a stretch of beach. They set down, a short distance away, and approached on foot; not wanting to lose the element of surprise, until they knew what they were dealing with.

Then they saw the ships, and the men on the beach; loading crates of supplies. "I've never seen those colors before," Astrid commented. Then she spotted the crest on one of the sails, and frowned, "But I have seen that insignia… it was on The Reaper! These guys are dragon- hunters!" She thought for a moment, and then turned to her dragon, "Come on, Stormfly; lets get a better look."

Part Two – Dragon Trappers; First Encounter

Five minutes later, behind some tall boulders,

Astrid and Stormfly now huddled behind a cluster of boulders; large enough to for Stormfly to hide behind, on the edge of the beach where the men worked.

From their new vantage point, they could see several dozen caged dragons; and the guards, moving among the cages. One dragon uttered an angry growl, and the nearest guard banged his mace against the cage, "Quiet down, you useless lizard!"

Astrid glowered at the man. Before she could decide whether or not to act, another man approached the first. The new arrival shoved the first man up against the cage, pressing his face right up to the bars, "Just. Load. Them. Up."

"Yes; Ryker!" The first man stammered, eyeing the Monstrous- Nightmare in the case, nervously. "Sorry; Ryker!"

"Look at him," Ryker continued. "Powerful… Perfect… Remember: they're smarter than you." An instant before the dragon lunged, Ryker released the man, and he stumbled back. The dragon's teeth snapped shut on empty air, right where the man's face had been.

"But not me." Ryker chuckled. Then he frowned, and began to sniff at the air; Astrid and Stormfly ducked behind the boulders mere seconds before Ryker turned in their direction. Then he pointed, and shouted, "And grab that Nadder!"

Astrid scrambled back into the saddle on Stormfly's back, and the dragon shot into the air. Below them, they heard exclamations of surprise; as the men below spotted Astrid, on the dragon's back. "Get us out of here, Stormfly!" Astrid cried.

Astrid shot forward, towards the open ocean, and, from somewhere behind them, they heard Ryker shout "Archers!"

Moments later, arrows were shooting past them. Stormfly spun around: preparing to launch a wave of spines, from her tail. Moments after Stormfly launched her volley of spikes, Astrid saw Ryker with a bow aimed at them… but he wasn't holding an arrow.

An instant later, Astrid heard Stormfly's voice in her head, 'I'm hit!' Then something strange happened: Stormfly jerked and began thrashing; she lost altitude, dropping towards the ocean below; and getting further away from Dragon's Edge.

Caught by surprise, Astrid was sent flying off of her dragons' back; she landed in the ocean, and grabbed a floating log, to keep herself afloat. When she looked up, she saw men on one of the boats throwing lengths of chain into the air.

Astrid could only watch, as the chains wrapped around Stormfly, and the dragon- hunters pulled her down, onto the deck of their ship.

Then she heard Ryker's voice again, "Move out!"

"What about the Rider?" one of the other hunters asked.

"Never mind," Ryker answered. "We've got the dragon!"

Astrid's eyes widened, "No … Stormfly!" She watched, helplessly, as the boats got further and further away. "I'll… I'll find you!"

Feeling empty inside, Astrid leaned her forehead against the log she clung to.

An hour after noon, Dragon's Edge,

Hiccup had been watching the approaching storm for almost an hour, now. He turned to Toothless, "Astrid and Stormfly should've been back by now… Lets take a look around, make sure they're ok."

He clambered into the saddle, on Toothless's back, and they shot into the gathering storm.

'Where should we start?' Toothless asked, as they gained altitude.

"North," Hiccup decided. "That's the direction the storm's coming from."

Half an hour later,

Astrid felt her strength beginning to leave her; she'd been clutching her log for what felt like forever. Waves were constantly crashing over her, pushing her down; she'd struggle back to the surface, and the next wave would push her down.

For the briefest moment, her grip on the log loosened; and, at the same moment, another wave forced her down. She kicked for the surface, reaching for her log, but the downward pull was too strong. She sunk deeper, deeper…

Finally, she couldn't hold her breath any longer: she exhaled, and breathed in water.

Part Three – The Search Begins

A few minutes later,

Astrid dimly heard someone calling her name. She coughed, spitting out the water that she'd inhaled, and took a deep breath. The voice persisted, "Astrid!"

She groaned, and opened her eyes. They were in the air; Hiccup was holding her in his arms, as Toothless flew them back to Dragon's Edge. She smiled, "What kept you?"

"Oh, thank Thor!" The relief in Hiccup's voice, and on his face, was clear to see.

Astrid's memories returned to her in a flash, and she gasped. "Hiccup; we need to find Stormfly! We…"

"It's ok, it's ok," Hiccup said, trying to reassure her. "We'll find Stormfly."

Astrid shook her head, "Hiccup, you don't understand: we need to…"

"Astrid, you need to get some rest," Hiccup said. "Besides: I can hardly hear you, over this storm." Astrid opened her mouth to argue. "Astrid: I'll wake you as soon as we get back to the island; you can tell me what happened, and we'll go find Stormfly."

Astrid tried to argue, again, but she was too tired to find words. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes; and leaned back, her head against Hiccup's chest.

Twenty minutes later,

The next time Astrid opened her eyes, she again found Hiccup leaning over her. They were in a cave; presumably back on Dragon's Edge; and there was a fire crackling.

"Ok... take it easy, Astrid; you've had a tough couple of hours."

"No, no, no… You don't understand, Hiccup: they were all in cages and… and they have Stormfly!" Astrid said, her voice half a sob.

"Cages?" Hiccup's eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa, whoa… Wait: cages? What are you talking about, what happened out there?" Astrid opened her mouth to speak, but Hiccup held up a hand. "Listen to me, Astrid: you need to relax: Take a deep breath, then tell me what happened." Astrid tried to speak, again, and Hiccup put a hand on her shoulder, "Astrid: my connection to Stormfly isn't as strong as my bond with Toothless; I'll admit that; but I do know that she hasn't been hurt. The only way we'll be able to find her, before that changes, is for you to relax, take a deep breath; and tell me what happened, as it happened."

Astrid took a deep breath, and another. Then she turned to Hiccup, "Dragon hunters."

Hiccup's eyes widened, "Dragon hunters? And they have Stormfly?"

Astrid nodded, "A whole fleet of them... And this big, ugly, one; oh, when I get my hands on him!"

"Where did this happen?" Hiccup asked; Astrid told him. Hiccup nodded, and got to his feet, offering a hand to help her up. "Toothless is on his way back, he'll be here any minute; you can tell us the rest on the way to the beach."

Astrid nodded, took his hand, and got to her feet. When they reached the cave entrance, Hiccup cupped his hands around his mouth, and began shouting in the language of dragons. Astrid had a fleeting glimpse of a Night- Terror, and instant before the dragon shot into the sky: relaying Hiccup's message to the rest of their colony.

Two minutes later, they were on Toothless's back, in the air, and halfway to the stretch of beach where Astrid and Stormfly had encountered the dragon- hunters.

By the time they arrived, close to two dozen Night- Terrors were already scouring the beach; looking for anything that might give them a clue about the trappers.

The moment Hiccup and Astrid's feet touched the sand, Toothless said, 'I'll get the others.' He was in the air before either of them could reply, and a dwindling spec in the sky, by the time Astrid looked up.

Ten minutes later,

Ten minutes after Hiccup and Astrid had arrived on the beach, the other riders and dragons set down on the beach.

"Did you find anything?" Fishlegs asked, as soon as they were within hearing distance.

"This," Hiccup said, handing the tip of an arrow, like the ones Astrid had described, to Fishlegs. "But not much else, so far."

Fishlegs took the arrow, and examined it closely; then he sniffed it, licked it, and turned to the others. "I'm guessing that this is refined dragon- root. I've heard that, at high- concentrations, it can overwhelm a dragons' senses completely: making it almost impossible for them to fly!"

"That's exactly what happened to Stormfly!" Astrid confirmed.

"Just think…" Fishlegs continued, "With one quiver of these arrows, could decimate an entire flock of dragons!"

Astrid felt a wave of hopelessness wash over her. "How are we going to find her? We have no idea where they're going!"

"Maybe not," Hiccup said, taking the arrow from Fishlegs and considering it. "But, we do know where they've been. We need to pay a visit to The Reaper."

Almost two hours later,

The flight to the wreck of The Reaper, the boat where Hiccup and Toothless had first found the Dragon Eye, didn't take long. Once they arrived, they split up and searched the boat.

The problem: They had no idea what they were looking for.

While Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff searched the main deck, Hiccup and Astrid went below. For the better part of an hour, they searched, but came up empty.

Finally, Astrid began to lose her patience, "There's nothing here!"

"Just keep looking; we'll find something," Hiccup said, as he removed the top on yet another barrel. It was empty; like every other one they'd tried, so far.

"What if we don't? What if we can't track them down?" Astrid's voice broke. "Hiccup; I'm…"

Hiccup turned to look at her, one hand on the next barrel. "I know; but we have to try to stay positive."

Astrid nodded. "I know; I'm trying, but you didn't see Ryker: He actually enjoys hunting and caging dragons, and he has mine!"

Astrid unsheathed her axe, and swung it at a shield, that hung on one wall. In an instant, all of the energy seemed to leave her, and she turned to face him. "Hiccup; I don't know what I would do without Stormfly…"

Hiccup crossed the room, and put his arms around her. A moment later, he drew back; and, his hands never leaving her shoulders, he looked her in the eye. "Astrid; the morning you and Stormfly went to attend drills with the Berk Guard, I prayed to Thor; asking for guidance. A few hours later, we clashed with a Snow- Wraith; that's how I got the tooth I used to unlock the Dragon- Eye … Thor guided us to the Snow- Wraith, so that we could unlock the Dragon- Eye, when we retrieved it."

Astrid's eyes widened, "Yesterday, one of the Night- Furies told your father and me that the Gods had 'taken an interest' in you…"

"They want me to do… something," Hiccup said, nodding. "I don't know what, but I know that the four of us; me, Toothless, you, and Stormfly; we all have a role to play." He paused, for a moment, and met Astrid's gaze. "Astrid, we will find Stormfly: We won't stop looking, until we do… I don't know what the Gods want from me, yet, but…" Something caught Hiccup's eye, and his sentence trailed off.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, suddenly anxious. "What is it?"

"The shield, Astrid; look at the shield!" As Hiccup spoke, he turned Astrid around, so that they stood facing the shield. He reached out, plucked the object from its niche, and held it out for Astrid to see.

Astrid's eyes widened, "It… It's a lens for the Dragon Eye!"

Three minutes later,

Hiccup, Astrid, and the other riders and dragons huddled together, on the top deck of The Reaper. They had attached the new lens to the Dragon- Eye, and every dragon in the group had tried to make something project through it. None of the attempts has worked.

"Well… It looks like this lens doesn't work with any of our dragons…" Hiccup commented, clearly disappointed. He turned his attention to the shield, trying to make sense of the patterns on it."

"If we can't find figure out what kind of dragon we need…"

Tuffnut was frowning at the shield, "Huh; it's either the inside of a yak… or, a Changewing in a cage."

Hiccup's eyes widened, "Tuffnut's right: it's a Changewing! Come on, guys!"

Part Four – Changewing Island

Some time later,

"Ok, guys: we need some glowing Changewing- acid to shine through the Dragon- Eye, so we can see what's on this lens," Hiccup said.

"Let me guess: that means we somehow have to find a Changewing; an ambush- predator, that can blend- in perfectly with its environment; and milk its acid before it tears us apart?"

Snotlout snorted, "Yeah; great idea, Hiccup!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Actually, Snotlout, I was thinking of asking a Changewing to help us." Without waiting for a reply, Hiccup raised his voice, and began to speak in the native- language of the dragons.

A few moments later, a Changewing materialized, and it stepped into the clearing. He stood where he was, for a moment, considering them. Then it growled something.

Hiccup gave his reply; and the dragon grunted, and spat a mouthful of acid at a nearby pile of boulders. Then it shot into the air, and shot back into the stand of trees from which it had emerged. An instant later, the only sign that it had ever been there was the hissing puddle of Changewing- acid.

Moving quickly, but carefully, they carried a small boulder, the top of which was covered in Changewing- acid, into a nearby cliff face, which rose, high above them. Hiccup held the Dragon- Eye into position, and, a moment later; a map was projected onto the wall of the rocky wall.

Fishlegs examined it, then turned to them, shaking his head. "This doesn't help; we've seen this map before."

"It looks like a hunter- port," Hiccup commented. He turned to Astrid, "And it's the closest one to the beach where Stormfly was captured. That must be where they're heading; after that, who knows?"

"Then we have to hurry!" Astrid urged.

Hiccup nodded, already clambering into Toothless's saddle, and holding out a hand, to help her clamber up behind him. "Everyone mount up! There's a chance we might overtake them, so listen up: I'll explain the plan on the way!"

Snotlout frowned, "How could you possibly have a plan? We just found out where we're going?"

Hiccup turned to him, "Astrid gave me a pretty good idea what we're up against; and, since dragons fly faster than boats sail, there's a chance we'll catch up with them before they get to the trapper- port." As he spoke, the dragons took off, rising into the sky.

Hiccup gestured for them to come in close, so they could all hear him, and he began to tell them the plan.

Part Five – The Traitor

The sun had almost set when they spotted the boat; some distance ahead of them, and further to the east. Not wanting to lose the element of surprise, Hiccup handed Astrid his spyglass; so she could observe, and confirm the target, from a safe distance.

"It's them." Astrid confirmed, handing the spyglass back to Hiccup. She hesitated, then asked, "Hiccup; now that we're closer, can… can you find out anything about Stormfly?"

Hiccup turned to her, "I should, yeah…" He closed his eyes, in concentration. Several minutes passed, in tense silence. Then Hiccup opened his eyes, "Astrid, Stormfly's fine… I can tell that much."

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank the gods … Lets go get her!"

Hiccup sighed, "Astrid; remember the plan… If we move in now, we won't be able to see the arrows they shoot. Toothless has his armor, and Meatlug is immune to dragon- root; but if any of the other dragons get hit…"

Astrid took a deep breath, and exhaled. "You're right; sorry, I guess I'm just…"

"You're worried about Stormfly," Hiccup said, his voice soft. "And I get that, but the best way to help her is to stick with the plan. We'll get Stormfly out, and be back to The Edge, before lunchtime tomorrow… You'll see."

He took in the scene around them, "Now we need to find a place to set down, try to get a little rest."

The following morning, Sunrise,

The first hint of dawn was brightening the horizon, as Toothless drifted towards the trappers' boat on silent wings. On his back, sat Hiccup and Astrid.

They rose to the level of the main- deck just long enough for Astrid to hop aboard. Then Toothless dropped back below the side rail, and dug his claws in. If all went well, they would rocket skywards when Astrid and Stormfly made it up on deck.

If something went wrong, no one would see them coming.

Astrid,

Astrid hit the deck running. She kept her eyes peeled for lookouts, making her way towards the forward entrance to the lower levels.

Then a voice said, "Hello, Astrid… imagine meeting you here."

Astrid spun around, and her eyes widened, "Heather? What are you doing here?"

"And why wouldn't she be here?" Dagur asked, stepping out of the shadows where they'd been hiding. "Come to save your dragon… so predictable!"

Astrid, who'd been staring at Heather; shook her head in disbelief, "How could you? We were your friends; we helped you!"

Heather shrugged, "Well… Family is family." She unsheathed her double- bladed battle- axe, and turned to Dagur. "Brother, do you mind?"

Dagur smirked, "Course not, sis; enjoy! I know I will!" He chortled.

Heather moved towards Astrid, and Astrid backed away, unsheathing her own axe. "I can believe this!"

With the advantage of a double- ended weapon, Heather had little difficulty in forcing Astrid to retreat, down the length of the ship. One they were out of hearing range, Heather said something; Astrid frowned, and made some reply.

Apparently, Heather didn't like what she heard; she lunged, swinging her double- bladed axe. The blade narrowly missed Astrid, and embedding itself in a supply crate. Astrid moved to take advantage of the opportunity; Heather intercepted her blow with the blade of the free axe, and Astrid had to jump back.

As they fought, the two young- women continued to exchange remarks. There were only four other people on deck: the sentries. And all of them had come to stand next to Dagur.

That meant that there was no one to spot the second figure, as he clambered aboard. Hiccup took one look at the combatants. His eyes widened, in surprise and disbelief; then they narrowed, in anger.

He took one last look, then slipped below decks, into the hold of the ship.

Eight minutes later,

Astrid was beginning to tire, and get worried: the plan was for her to slip below decks, and free Stormfly and the other dragons. Hiccup and Toothless were close by, she knew; ready to jump in, if need be; but that was supposed to be the contingency plan.

The other Riders and Dragons circled above them, but they were supposed to stay out of range; circling, and ready to help cover Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly; as they made their escape.

They had been fighting for close to ten minutes; twice, they'd stopped to catch their breath. Their 'conversation' had ended several minutes ago: there was nothing more to say; both of them knew what they had to do.

Suddenly, a chorus of growls and roars sounded, from somewhere below decks. An instant later; dragons, moving too quickly to get an easy count; surged into the sky.

The first dragon into the sky was a Deadly- Nadder, Stormfly. On the dragons' back, sat Hiccup: his Night- Fury helmet on, and the faceplate down.

"Stormfly! Hiccup!" Astrid cried, relief filling her.

Before Heather, or any of the others on deck, could recover from the shock, Astrid rushed to put some extra distance between Heather and herself. Stormfly landed just long enough for Astrid to clamber onto her back, and then she shot skywards.

Heather was, apparently, the first to recover, "REMEMBER WHAT I SAID, ASTRID … THIS IS NOT OVER!"

"So, what happened down there?" Snotlout asked.

"Heather and Dagur were there; with the dragon- hunters." Hiccup said, grimly. As he spoke, Toothless came to hover next to Stormfly. Hiccup jumped across the small gap, and settled into the saddle on Toothless's back.

The others responded with exclamations of shocked disbelief.

Astrid seemed to be struggling with something. Finally, she sighed and said, "Guys… we've got a lot to talk about." She smiled down at Stormfly, "Good to have you back; girl!"

She turned to Hiccup, "Thanks, Hiccup… thought they had me cornered for a moment."

'It's good to be back,' Stormfly said, a slight tremor in her voice. 'But it wasn't for nothing: those hunters know how to make Gronkle Iron... I saw them sorting boulders, and feeding them to the Gronkles they'd trapped.' She turned to Fishlegs, 'I memorized the formula: three parts limestone; two parts sandstone; one part iron- ore, and one large spoon of hardened Gronkle- lava ... After what happened, I would really like to have a set of armor, made of that stuff.'

Hiccup nodded, and glanced back at the boat. "That's a good idea, Stormfly; something tells me we haven't seen the last of those dragon- trappers."

The other riders and dragons exchanged uneasy glances; they all had a feeling that Hiccup was right.

To Be Continued…