Toothless was almost overcome by the feeling of dread. He desperately clawed at the wall of rocks, throwing them aside carelessly. He could sense the Song Slicer, and it was in there with Hiccup, his precious boy.
A high pitched voice sent chills down his scales.
.:It appears you didn't finish your lunch:. It said coldly. .:Mind if I have a bite?:.
.:Don't you dare lay a claw on him!:. Toothless screeched back.
The Song Slicer laughed. .:So it IS true. You've downgraded to a house PET:.
.:Don't you dare!:. Toothless repeated, now working, if possible, even harder to break through.
.:He looks so appetising when he's scared:.
Toothless didn't respond with words. Only screams.
The Song Slicer was so close, Hiccup couldn't even get a proper look at it, except for the cold, yellow eyes. His nostrils were filled with the smell of its rank, fishy breath. He thought he could hear thumping, but he wasn't sure if it was Toothless, or the sound of his heart pounding. Hiccup could hardly breathe; his fear was paralysing, although the dragon's long claw around his throat probably didn't help. Despite being physically held up by the Song Slicer, he felt like he was falling. The Song Slicer seemed to be enjoying Hiccup's terror, which had grown so intense, that it was excruciating. He wished something would put him out of his misery.
Suddenly, as if someone had been listening to his prayers, the ground shook violently and debris was thrown all around him.
The pressure of the dragon was forced off Hiccup's neck as Toothless engaged him. Now that it wasn't so close, he could have a proper look at the dragon. The Song Slicer was easily twice the size of Toothless. It had brilliantly blue scales that shifted green and purple as the light hit them. Its claws were massive and sharp; its main weapon. Even as it was fighting Toothless, it moved with a kind of elegance Hiccup had rarely seen in a dragon before.
The Song Slicer screeched, and Hiccup felt it vibrate right through his bones. It had a similar effect on Toothless, who was acting like someone had started knocking their shield near his head.
'A Song Slicer's song', thought Hiccup. 'Deadly to all who hear it'.
"Of course!" he said to himself. "The song disorientates other dragons! Toothless!" he called.
Toothless fired at the Song Slicer, and then bounded in Hiccup's direction. The shot had hit the opposing dragon in the eye, and it howled in pain.
Toothless indicated with his head that Hiccup should jump on his back. Hiccup made a move to do so, but was overcome with a sudden wave of nausea. He couldn't do this.
Hiccup came an otherworldly voice. You must fight. You have the Goddess Eir's protection. With that, Hiccup felt warmth spread throughout his body. He nodded and mounted Toothless.
The Song Slicer screeched again, and Toothless staggered. They weren't going to get far if the Song Slicer kept disorientating Toothless with his screams. Hiccup had a sudden idea.
"Sorry Toothless!" he cried, as he grabbed the shield his father gave him. With a grunt, he smashed the shield into Toothless' ears with all his might.
Toothless was stunned. Why would his boy hurt him? He head rung with the vibrations. He could barely hear Hiccup's voice. He saw the Song Slicer open his mouth, but no noise came out. No wait, noise was coming out, but Toothless couldn't hear it. He marvelled at his boy's brilliance; Hiccup had made his deaf on purpose so that the song couldn't affect him! His lack of hearing would affect his flying, but now things were even. He grinned at the Song Slicer. The Song Slicer looked like he was screaming profanities, but Toothless didn't care. He felt Hiccup move the pedal into position, and he leapt off, bounding over the Song Slicer and firing lightning at it as he went.
The Song Slicer, much like a Thunderdrum, had no actual firing mechanism, only the loud, disorientating shriek. So, all Toothless had to do was keep away from those deadly claws.
The Song Slicer took to the air, and made to grab at Toothless, but Toothless was too quick. Toothless fired again, hitting the Song Slicer in the chest and almost knocking his out of the air. The Song Slicer smiled menacingly at Toothless, and then opened his mouth and screeched.
Toothless chuckled to himself. The screech did nothing to him. But then he felt Hiccup let go of the saddle, and tense up. The Song Slicer was trying to harm Hiccup! Although a human's hearing is not as sensitive as a dragon's, the proximity of the screech, plus the enclosed walls of the cave would surely burst Hiccup's eardrums. Toothless had to get into open air, and made a dash for the open hole in the roof of the cavern.
The Song Slicer was quick to follow, snapping at Toothless's tail as he chased them. Flying at his top speed would be difficult without his full hearing, but Toothless had no choice. He flapped his wings as hard as he could, trying to put some distance between themselves and the Song Slicer.
He could feel Hiccup tearing at something on the saddle, but took little notice. The Song Slicer was fast, and would be on them in milliseconds if he let up.
Toothless was not sure how, but he somehow knew that Hiccup was stuffing his ears with the leather from the saddle. Clever Boy. It would not completely block out the effects of the Song Slicer screech, but it would help. With that, Toothless turned back around suddenly and fired again.
Toothless' shot hit the Song Slicer in the neck this time. The strength of it forced the Song Slicer backwards. It tried to screech again, but nothing came out. It angrily thrashed its tail about.
Hiccup grinned. The shot had obviously damaged the dragon's throat, and so he couldn't screech anymore. His head was still pounding and his ears still ringing from the other screeches, but at least no more damage could be done to his ears. He was worried though; Toothless surely didn't have many shots left.
The Song Slicer lunged at them. Toothless, not being able to hear him, didn't react quickly enough, and the Song Slicer managed to land a hit. Toothless growled in pain. Hiccup felt something wet coming through his trousers, and saw that Toothless had been hurt, bleeding from a gash in his side.
Toothless, despite this, fired again, and took off, determined to get away from the Song Slicer. However, his lack of hearing affected his flight, and he crashed into a nearby rock formation. Toothless had taken the brunt of the impact, but Hiccup still felt a knock to his head that reverberated through his skull.
The Song Slicer charged again, (although to Hiccup it looked as if two dragons were attacking). Toothless, with what would have had have been his last shots by Hiccup's estimate, fired at the Song Slicer's wings. At such a close range, it was a direct hit. The smell of burning flesh filled hiccup's nostrils, as the wings sizzled before his eyes.
Before the Song Slicer fell, it managed to grab hold of Hiccup's leg. He screamed. Toothless, while holding all of them up on the rocks, swung his tail furiously at the dragon, as it hung desperately to Hiccup's only leg, digging its claws deeper.
With his head still ringing and his leg in agony, Hiccup could barely think. There had to be some way.
That was when Hiccup spotted, underneath the scaly fins on either side of the Song Slicer's head, were gills. He looked at them, and then looked down below, where the ocean was cold and dark.
Without another thought, Hiccup grabbed his father's sword from the saddle bag, and drove it into the Song Slicer's gills.
The Song Slicer thrashed about in pain. Its blood soaked into Hiccup's clothes as it writhed.
One more calculated hit with Toothless' tail, and it let go of Hiccup's leg, pulling Hiccup's boot off as it went. With its damaged wings, it fell, crashing into the dark water below. A few bubbles broke the surface, and then, silence.
Hiccup sat there panting. He shakily put the sword back in the pouch, and gave Toothless a head rub with his trembling fingers.
"Good job, Bud," he slurred tiredly. Then he fell forward onto Toothless' head.
So, this has been a long time coming, but the fight scene is finally here! I'm very pleased with how this turned out.
It was a New Year's resolution of mine to finish this, and I cut it very fine. I thought I had finished this story, but it felt incomplete. Then I changed some things in the next scene, (which will be the next chapter), and I was much happier with it. However, that meant the epilogue needed updating, and it was hard to find the time to do it with a full time job. So I'm very happy that I finally took the time to finish the epilogue. I will be updating this story again very soon, I promise, so you won't have to wait a super long time again for an update.
I appreciate everyone's patience with me, and I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year!