Thanks to everyone who's reviewing, and I hope y'all love this mega-chapter. The longest one of the story. It's predictable, but so was the movie. I think the new dialogue and altered events are worth it, and there's something special added in (read: Hiccstrid!)
So, let me know what you think in a review! Thanks again for reading!
21. Ragnarök
Vikings, especially those from Berk, were unparalleled in their stubbornness. There was never a problem they couldn't fix, no matter how large. And if they couldn't fix it, then they could sure beat the problem with a hammer until it fixed itself.
It turned out that a dragon the size of a mountain was not that type of problem.
Warriors of all ages and sizes ran for their lives, a disorderly mob wracked with incomparable fear. The monster at their backs roared again, furious that its turf had been intruded on and its subjects had been scattered.
"Catapults!" Stoick roared above the panic. He still had a hold on some of his men, and they had to do something. Catapults swung into action and launched huge boulders, but they may as well have been mere pebbles as they shattered against the massive beast's hide, hardly bothering it at all.
Most of the warriors saw that the catapults were doing nothing, and another wave of fear rippled through them. As his army collapsed before his eyes, Stoick tried and failed to regain control. For the first time in his life, he had no idea what to do.
"To the ships!" a panicked Viking screamed.
Stoick knew better. "No! No!"
He heard the hiss of gas an instant later, and a column of fire larger than any Stoick had ever seen flew over his head, effectively putting the fleet to the torch. He watched some of his fellow Berkians that had been manning the boats leap in the water, narrowly avoiding a fiery death. Many of the ships went up in flames, wooden frames crackling loudly as the fire indiscriminately ate them away.
"She's smart, that one." Gobber remarked, somehow finding a dark humor in their situation.
"Hiccup tried to warn me," Stoick lamented, "Gobber, how could I have been so foolish?"
Spitelout ran up next, chest rising and falling rapidly. "What do we do, Stoick?"
Stoick wracked his brain, deciding quickly. "Lead everyone to the far side of the island. Get out of sight, board whatever ships are left, and get out of here."
Spitelout nodded and yelled out orders, gathering most of the army. Stoick turned to look back at the beast, who was busy tearing apart a catapult with its enormous teeth.
"Gobber, go with the men." Stoick said, and he started to walk toward the dragon. He'd gotten them into this mess, so he had a duty to do what he could to get his people out.
"I think I'll stay, just in case you're thinking about doing something crazy." Gobber refused, hobbling after the Chief.
Oh, for the love of Odin, his friend was stubborn. "I won't have your blood on my hands, too, Gobber, so go! I can buy you some time if I give that thing someone to hunt."
Gobber snatched Stoick's meaty hand in his, squeezing. They were battle brothers, Stoick knew this, and there was nothing that would keep them apart in war. Gobber wasn't going anywhere.
"Then I can double that time."
Stoick stiffened, and then nodded, grateful above all else that he had a friend as devoted as Gobber. Stoick turned back to the monster and Gobber stepped up to his side, and they both stirred up a proud bellow from their lungs.
"Here!" Stoick thundered, waving his massive war hammer.
Gobber ran away from Stoick, in the opposite direction that the rest of their people were going. "Oh, no! Here!" Gobber called. The monstrous dragon looked back and forth between them, two beady eyes shifting to examine each potential prey. The trick worked, and the beast struggled to decide which one of the measly Vikings it should go after.
"Come on! Fight me!" Gobber howled, waving his axe-attachment like a madman.
"No, me!" Stoick added, keeping the dragon distracted.
Something seemed to click, and the beast decided to take them both out, raising its huge head into the air and breathing in. Gas filtered in from the dragon's throat, a death sentence for Stoick and Gobber alike.
Stoick paled and hoped that his people were far enough away to escape.
A big, bright explosion suddenly erupted on the back of the monster's head, silencing its flame and knocking the beast around. It stumbled on its enormous feet, its vision surely blurred from the concussive blast. Stunned, Stoick looked up at the gray clouds, and four dragons swooped into view.
What was most peculiar about it, though, were the five teens on the dragons' backs. A Nadder flew at the front of the pack, directed by none other than Astrid and Hiccup.
Stoick was at a loss for words. It was a day of firsts, apparently.
Gobber chortled as he stepped up to Stoick's side, throwing a brawny hand on the Chief's armored shoulder. "Every bit the boar-headed stubborn Viking you ever were!"
Stoick nodded slowly, still stunned. "I don't… how did they even get out?"
"My guess is one of them kids busted 'em out. Thank the gods in Asgard for their complete disregard for authority."
As thousands of dragons frantically flew away to escape the impending massacre, four others charged through the fog. The dragons navigated the haze seamlessly, weaving through a twisting maze of sea stacks and cliffs to the heart of Helheim's Gate. Another terrible roar split the air, and the dragons expressed their discomfort with nervous warbles, but nevertheless kept on going. Afraid as they may have been, they had a job to do.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…" Hiccup murmured even as Stormfly zoomed ahead of the pack, "I just hope we're not too late."
Deep within the fog, a bright orange glare sprouted into view, followed by a brutal rush of hot air.
"That's a lot of fire..." Fishlegs warned.
The dragons flocked sideways and up as one, surging higher above the shallow sea below, and finally they broke through the clouds of fog. The scene below was about as good as they could've expected. Planted on the center of the beach was the queen in all her fearsome glory, absolutely massive and yet somehow smaller than Hiccup and Astrid would've expected from their encounter the night before, though no less terrifying.
On the banks of the island, their huge fleet of ships were in the process of burning to a crisp, and hordes of Vikings scattered as one to the right to flee the living nightmare that stood before them. Far away from their fellow tribesmen, Hiccup squinted and spotted Gobber and his dad on the ground, shouting at the queen to keep her attention as the others ran.
"Okay, gang, everyone ready?"
"What exactly are we doing?" Fishlegs squeaked.
"Putting an end to this." Hiccup replied, eyes fixed on the queen.
The teens flew their new dragons up and then down, following Astrid and Stormfly to zoom towards the queen. The monster never saw them coming, eyes fixed on the two Vikings at her feet.
"Now!" Hiccup shouted, and the teens all commanded their dragons to fire. The bursts of flame clustered together and connected with the back of the queen's head, exploding violently and disorienting the monstrous dragon.
The group flew over the dazed beast, their cover blown. The panicked activity below ground to a halt as hundreds of eyes stared up in awe at the teens riding on dragons.
Tuffnut whooped, howling with delight. "Yeah! Check us out! Treasonous kids!"
Astrid led the group forward and turned, prompting the others to follow in a tight formation. The queen shook its massive head, trying to recover. "Fishlegs, what are we looking at?" Hiccup called, and the husky boy wasted no time.
"Let's see… okay, she's got a heavily armored head and tail, probably for bashing and crushing—steer clear of both! From what I can tell: small eyes and large nostrils, which means she can't see very well and relies on hearing and smell. I see wings, but they don't look too good. My guess is this dragon hasn't flown in a long time." Fishlegs explained.
Hiccup nodded, "Okay. Here's how we'll do this: 'Legs, 'Lout, see if you can find its blind spot. Make some noise and keep it confused. Ruff, Tuff, find out if it has a shot limit. If we can, we want it to use up all of its fire, so make it mad."
Ruffnut beamed, "That's my specialty!"
Tuffnut scoffed, "How? Everyone knows that I'm more irritating, see?" To prove his point, Tuffnut turned upside down and stuck out his tongue, making annoying noises along with it.
Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Just please do what I told you. I need you guys to buy us time to find Toothless, and then we'll go from there. Everyone clear?"
The others nodded fiercely, even Tuffnut. It was clear that this was no time for joking. This was their final test, and failure meant death.
"Good. Go!" Hiccup ordered, and three dragons broke from the formation to get to their tasks. Hiccup turned to Astrid, shaking as he spoke, "Okay, Astrid, let's find Toothless."
Astrid directed the Nadder toward the burning ships, eyes scanning for one black dragon. Hungry flames ravaged the wooden fleet, making it horribly hot as Stormfly swooped between the doomed vessels.
"See anything?" Astrid asked. She knew Hiccup was frantically looking while she put most of her focus on steering Stormfly. The mast of a nearby ship suddenly exploded, sending a rush of heat and sparks into Stormfly's path. Astrid jerked on the Nadder's crown, successfully guiding her out of the way. "Sorry!" Astrid yelped.
"It's fine. Nice work." Hiccup said quickly. A smile slipped onto Astrid's face. She steered Stormfly around to do another sweep of the ships when an unmistakable roar split the air. Hiccup gasped and pointed.
"There, one of the ships up front! See him?"
Astrid squinted and indeed spotted a black shape immobilized by a series of restraints. Toothless. The Night Fury would be fine for now, but eventually the burning ships would start to sink.
"I see him. Stormfly, go!" Astrid ordered, spurring the Nadder to the head of the fleet. They quickly lowered, flying in front of the ship so that Toothless could see them. The Night Fury warbled worriedly, a mix of emotions flushing across its scaly, black face.
Hiccup leaped down from Stormfly's back, landing cleanly on the deck and whirling around to look at Astrid. "Go help the others, I'll be right behind you!" Astrid nodded and tugged on Stormfly, directing the Nadder towards the fight. Hiccup caught the briefest glance of the twins flying dangerously close to the queen, and the massive dragon split the sky with a column of fire that ultimately missed the twins and Zippleback.
"Okay, bud," Hiccup said, shaking as he turned back to Toothless and stepped up to examine the restraints, "Let's get you out of here."
Astrid flew as fast as she could to get into the battle. The queen sent a huge gust of fire into the air, and she heard Ruffnut's shrill laugh as she got close.
"Nice try, butt elf, but you missed!"
Fishlegs and Snotlout were stationed on either side of the massive dragon's head, beating their weapons against their shields liberally. The beast shook its head, irritated, and Astrid spotted two additional eyes crack open on Fishlegs' side.
"Um, this thing doesn't have a blind spot!" Fishlegs cried.
Snotlout huffed in disgust, "Ugh, seriously? How many eyes do you need, fatty?" Astrid guessed that the same had happened to Snotlout.
No blind spot. Okay, this wasn't a problem. Everything was fine.
"Look alive, boys! Help has arrived!" Astrid hollered, "Stormfly, let's show her what life without eyes is like!"
Stormfly squawked and unleashed a blast of white-hot fire at the right side of the queen's head. The Nadder was lethally accurate, dousing two of the three eyeballs in searing liquid fire. The queen dragon instantly recoiled and released an ear-splitting roar of agony.
"Alright, we're doing it!" Snotlout hollered, continuing to bash his shield with his hammer. Astrid rolled her eyes and flew beside Fishlegs, helping the husky boy fly out of the queen's reach.
"Where's Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked, keeping a wary eye on the queen. He hit his shield with his hammer a few more times, and the Gronckle fidgeted in midair.
"Busting Toothless out. Just a couple more minutes." Astrid answered, "Okay, the noise doesn't seem to be working all that much. Let's bust out the rest of those eyes and try doing some damage to her nose."
Snotlout called out to them from the other side of the queen's head, looking down at his dragon with concern. The Nightmare was shaking violently, and Snotlout was struggling to hold on.
"Uh, guys? Something's wrong!"
Astrid sucked in a breath. Vikings had been using the 'make noise, and lots of it' tactic for generations while fighting dragons. It still seemed to work to a degree on the queen, but it was also messing with the dragons they were riding.
Astrid's body seized as the Monstrous Nightmare threw Snotlout from its back. Snotlout flew, shouting in terror as he fell onto the top of the queen's skull with only his hammer and his dragon flew away in panic.
Snotlout landed on the queen's head and looked around, a bright idea coming to him. He promptly grabbed his hammer and leaned down, swinging the weapon into one of the beast's spare eyes.
Snotlout laughed, "Yeah! I can't miss! What's wrong, buddy? Got something in your eye?" he taunted before bashing the damaged eye twice more for good measure.
It was safe to say that the queen did not appreciate that, jerking its head up and bellowing in agony.
"Snotlout, look out!" Fishlegs cried, and the queen suddenly lurched to the side. The queen's sideways charge inconveniently collided with the Gronckle, ejecting Fishlegs from his seat on its back and knocking the small, burly dragon from the air.
"Uh, oh! Stormfly, catch him!" Astrid yelled. Stormfly locked its gaze on Fishlegs, diving down after the flailing boy as he fell towards certain death. Stormfly extended her legs as they closed in, successfully snatching Fishlegs' feet and flying low to the ground.
"I'm okay!" Fishlegs declared, losing his helmet as he dangled upside-down from the Nadder's grip. He squealed, hollering into the wind this time as if he couldn't believe it, "I'm okay!"
Stormfly set the boy safely down on the ground and Astrid surged up beside him, "Get to the others and stay out of danger!" she ordered and immediately flew off, leaving Fishlegs in a gust of wind.
Stormfly rocketed through the sky and Astrid sidled up beside Snotlout, who was dutifully bashing the Hel out of the queen dragon's eyes again. One furious eye was pointed backwards, trying to spot the teenager stamping out its other eyes, while the two supplementary eyes beside it were ruptured and discolored from damage.
"Yeah, you're the Viking!" Astrid cheered. Snotlout grinned. "Step back, we're gonna burn those out for good!"
Snotlout scampered back, concerned, and Stormfly spewed blinding fire onto the two damaged eyes, even managing to spill some of the liquid blaze onto the queen's main eye. Snotlout shielded his eyes from the glare, mouth hanging open in amazement at the brilliant sparks of fire.
The queen herself did not approve. She stumbled towards the water, enormous feet landing at awkward angles as the monstrous dragon tried to recover. Snotlout rocked back and forth with the erratic movements, losing his footing.
"Snotlout!" Astrid called, moving to dive in to rescue him. The queen's huge tail came swinging in, and Astrid had to jerk Stormfly out of the way to avoid being clobbered. Snotlout fell off the side of the queen's head, luckily catching himself on one of the huge, bony frills jutting out of the queen's head.
Astrid leaned forward to send Stormfly back in to help, only to look to her left for Hiccup. He was taking his sweet time rescuing Toothless, and things were quickly going south.
The queen continued its violent turn, and its huge tail slashed clean through a cluster of ships, severing their masts with ease. Astrid spotted Hiccup jump back, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the mast of the ship he and Toothless were on.
The queen then took a blurred step forward, its foot falling onto the ship itself and into the water. The hull splintered automatically, and the remainder of the ship instantly listed onto its side, overturning and launching Hiccup and Toothless overboard and into the sea, the Night Fury still hopelessly trapped in its restraints with no way to breathe.
Astrid's entire body shook as sheer panic parted her lips. "Hiccup!"
Hiccup tugged on the muzzle holding Toothless' mouth shut, and the Night Fury immediately warbled worriedly. "I know, buddy, I know. Hang tight, we're gonna get you out of here." He grabbed a stray metal rod and drove it into one of the restraints locking Toothless' feet down. The structure was remarkably sturdy, and Hiccup put all of his might into pulling, trying desperately to rip the restraint apart.
He should've asked Astrid to stay behind and help him. How could he have been so stupid? Maybe he didn't trust the others to hold their own without her leadership. That wasn't an outlandish thing to think.
What was outlandish was that he thought he'd be able to break Toothless out of these manacles all on his own. If he'd gotten Astrid to help, they'd already be up in the air.
"I'm so sorry, Toothless. I'm so sorry I let them do this to you." Hiccup rambled, forcing himself to stop hyperventilating as he returned to work. Smoke scorched his throat as he breathed it in, impossible to avoid as the ship burned to cinders around him. After a solid minute of tugging, the restraint broke.
"One down, way too many to go." Hiccup muttered. Toothless looked up at the battle raging on the beach and warbled with fear. "I know, bud. They're going to keep her busy and we'll join them, just hang tight, alright?"
If only he'd known that that was not at all what was happening.
He realized that about five seconds later when the queen's tail tore clean through the masts of a dozen ships, including the one he was on. Hiccup's head snapped up and he spotted the burning mast plummeting toward him, leaping out of the way and grimacing as he heard the wooden mast crash onto the deck.
"Okay—we're okay, bud, I promise, we're…" Hiccup started. He stepped over the severed mast and scrambled back to Toothless, returning to work on his restraints. The Night Fury's green eyes widened in terror and the queen stepped on the ship. With a sickening creak, the deck rolled over under the queen's enormous foot, sending Hiccup and Toothless sliding straight towards the water.
"No, no, no!" Hiccup yelled as he slid. He scrabbled for some kind of handhold, but found none and plummeted into the freezing sea. He crashed under the water just after Toothless, easily spotting the black dragon sinking fast, still trapped in his restraints.
Hiccup bit back a curse and swam desperately after his dragon. His ears pounded as the air pressure tightened around him, squeezing his lungs as they begged for air that Hiccup couldn't give them.
He had to save him. He had to.
Hiccup reached Toothless at the bottom of the shallow sea, wrapping his small hands around the thick neck restraint, pulling even as he realized how terribly hopeless it was.
Toothless was going to die.
Hiccup tugged, the cold water forcing his oxygen reserve out of his body twice as fast. Toothless thrashed, the sheer desperation of their situation suddenly dawning on the black dragon. Hiccup pulled, and pulled, and pulled some more, and yet nothing budged.
His tugging suddenly grew weak as he ran out of air, rapidly descending into unconsciousness.
The word formed on Hiccup's lips, silent as he spoke into the water with the last of his breath.
"Toothless."
And then something dragged him away from his best friend.
It felt like only a few seconds, and yet it also felt like an eternity. Either way, Hiccup tasted air and immediately sucked in a huge gulp. A spray of salt kicked up and invaded his nose, but he knew he was breathing fresh, true air. In another instant Hiccup was slammed against a rocky beach and water that had seeped into his lungs immediately surged out, flooding his throat as he seized upward and coughed it all up.
His vision cleared and gave him a half-second to see a muscular, red-headed shape go diving into the sea. "Dad?" Hiccup slurred. The shape disappeared under the surface of the water, leaving only a ripple in its place.
A half-minute later, a different shape launched out of the water, carrying Stoick to the shore. Toothless dropped Stoick safely onto the ground and flapped onto a nearby rock. The Night Fury shook the last of the seawater from his hide and then looked back at Hiccup, releasing a beckoning roar and flicking his head in the direction of the queen.
"You got it, bud." Hiccup said. An awestruck shiver ran down his spine and he ran to his friend. He vaulted into Toothless' thankfully-intact saddle, attaching the harness to the loop on his belt and preparing to fly.
"Hiccup!" Stoick bellowed, and Hiccup looked back. A spike of fear stabbed at him, but he softened when he saw Stoick's face. There was no malice in the chief's face, no hate or disgust for the dragon below him. Stoick snatched Hiccup's small arm with his enormous hand, gently holding his son.
"I'm sorry. I should've listened to you. I'm sorry for what I said, what I did. I'm sorry… f-for everything." Stoick said. There were too many things that he had to apologize for, too many wrongs he'd done his son, when he could've seen everything that Hiccup was and was trying to be.
He finally understood.
"Yeah, me too." Hiccup said, "Thank you, Dad… thank you for saving Toothless."
Stoick allowed a smile to slip to his face, and he chanced a look at the enormous queen further inland. Two dragons, a Nadder and a Zippleback, relentlessly circled the queen and the monstrous dragon split the sky with a beam of fire, missing the small dragons it aimed at. Hiccup flinched and looked back, catching a glimpse of the fire flying into the horizon.
"You don't have to go up there. We can drive her away and escape. We'd come back with every ally we have and come in with a plan." Stoick said, even though he knew that Hiccup would go up there—that Hiccup did have to.
Hiccup shook his head. "The Viking Way isn't gonna win this one, Dad."
Stoick nodded, knowing that his son was right. "I know. I just wish that it wasn't so dangerous. I wish that I could help."
"You have," Hiccup said, patting Toothless' head. "Besides, we're Vikings," Hiccup added, shrugging and allowing the slightest smile to creep on his face as he quoted his father, "It's an occupational hazard."
Stoick snickered and looked at his feet. He wasn't sure that he could be any prouder of Hiccup than he was right now. One day, he would make a fantastic chief.
Stoick's heart swelled as he met Hiccup's eyes again, and he placed his hand on Hiccup's, covering up the boy's small hand. His next words were indisputably truer than anything Stoick had ever said.
"I'm proud to call you my son."
Hiccup stiffened. He'd heard the phrase before recently, heard his dad tell him that he was proud, but this was the first time that it felt true. This was the first time that Stoick knew the truth and was still proud.
And that made all the difference.
"Thanks, Dad." Hiccup said, and he pulled his arm free from Stoick's grip, "C'mon, bud!"
Toothless launched into the air, leaving the shrinking shape of Stoick the Vast behind on the ground.
Astrid heard the whistling wind as the Night Fury climbed into the air, and she'd never felt more relieved than she did in that moment.
"He's up!" she shouted, grinning from ear to ear. The twins swooped in beside her and Toothless took off away from the island, flying out to sea and away from the battle.
"Uh, but like, where's he going?" Ruffnut drawled.
"You'll see. Get Snotlout out of there, quick!" Astrid ordered. Toothless was fast, which meant they only had a few seconds to evacuate Snotlout. The twins obeyed and flew straight at the queen. Snotlout saw them coming and ran, bounding onto the queen's snout and leaping, managing to catch himself on the Zippleback's body.
"Wow! I can't believe that worked!" he yelped, and the twins flew off to safety.
Astrid flew another circle around the queen, admiring her handiwork. Four of the queen's six eyes were practically melting before her eyes, oozing some bodily liquid mixed with the residue of Stormfly's magnesium fire. One of her two main eyes was also damaged, a sickening red rash of irritation discoloring the pale blue of its eye. The enormous dragon seemed to recover from her long daze as Astrid flew around to its front, sneering furiously as it recognized the Nadder even in its impaired vision.
The queen opened her gigantic mouth, inhaling all of the air she could muster and effectively trapping Astrid and Stormfly in a vacuum. Stormfly flapped her wings violently in an attempt to escape, but there was simply no air around them, and the queen's titanic inhale began dragging them in. Astrid chanced a look back at the queen's enormous teeth, shivering at the sight.
And then the sky began to scream.
"Here they come, girl! Brace yourself!" Astrid said, laying down across the Nadder's back. The queen continued to try and suck them in, ignoring the scream of the approaching Night Fury.
The blast of plasma cut through the air and exploded against the side of the queen's huge face, knocking its great head to the side. Astrid and Stormfly fell, but the dragon flapped her wings and thrusted up as air surrounded her again. A black shape whooshed past them, a sharp whistle the only indication that they'd ever been there to begin with.
Stormfly flapped her wings some more and ascended as Toothless came back around, slowing as Stormfly approached. Astrid beamed, a sigh of relief escaping her as Hiccup came into view.
"I've never been happier to see you than I am right now." Astrid breathed.
"Sorry for the holdup." Hiccup quipped, "Where're the others?"
"Out of commission. We've done some damage, but she's still going strong." Astrid answered, chancing a look back at the angry queen. The huge dragon was recovering from her daze, a low rumble shaking the tense air.
"Then let's finish the job." Hiccup decided. He laid down against Toothless' back and the Night Fury rushed downward. Astrid directed Stormfly after them, acting as a reliable second line. Toothless screamed downward and loosed a bolt of plasma right as the queen looked at them, blasting her right in her enormous nose. Once again, the queen snarled and staggered back, and Astrid swooped in to paint the beast's face in liquid magnesium fire.
The two dragons swung into the sky and Astrid and Stormfly caught up. She took another glance at the infuriated queen. "She's not gonna go down like that. We're gonna have to figure something else out."
"I know. I think I have an idea." Hiccup said.
"Mind letting me in on it?"
"Dragons aren't fireproof on the inside. If we can get our flame inside her, it might do the job for us." Hiccup said, "But it's going to be hard to bait her into that. We may have to come back and fight another day."
"I'd prefer to avoid that, if we can."
"Me too."
The queen recovered and looked to the side, suddenly spotting the horde of Vikings hiding out away from the battle. A low growl penetrated her colossal throat.
"Uh-oh." Astrid said.
"Time's up. Let's see if this works."
Hiccup and Toothless dove down, once again closely followed by Astrid and Stormfly. They flew in front of the queen's face, once again drawing her attention.
"Hey, ugly! Forget about us?" Hiccup taunted. The huge dragon snarled and followed after them now, summoning another massive blast of fire. Toothless and Stormfly scattered, avoiding the blaze with ease.
Toothless and Stormfly flew over the Viking horde on the ground, where the other three dragons from Berk's arena were patiently waiting with their riders. Toothless looked down and snarled a sharp cry down below. Without question, the Nightmare, Zippleback, and Gronckle took to the air, rejoining the battle.
"Getting us some help, bud? Smart." Hiccup said. Toothless smacked his lips, accepting the praise. Astrid flew in beside them.
They flew as one in another circle around the queen. The huge dragon glowered at the others now following Toothless and Stormfly and focused, emotionless eyes narrowing into thin slits.
"What's she doing?" Astrid called over the wind.
Toothless snarled and barked, and the three dragons followed.
"I think they're battling for control! The queen controls them and makes them raid… maybe she can control them in other ways, too!" Hiccup wondered out loud. The queen bellowed, quickly getting angrier.
"If that's what she's trying to do, it isn't working." Astrid answered.
Toothless roared and the other three dragons fired. Flaming gas, liquid fire, and a sphere of molten rock rained down on the queen's head, exploding in a concussive blast. The queen growled and thrashed, swinging her armored head wildly.
"Get her, girl!" Astrid called. Stormfly spat a bolt of magnesium fire right into the queen's huge nostril, filling it with fire and disorienting the massive dragon. The queen glared at the Nadder as they passed overhead, her black pupils thinner than the blade of a knife.
Stormfly shook her head pitifully, squawking as the queen tried to exert a mental hold over her.
"Stormfly?"
"Rawk!" Stormfly cawed, her flight slowing and becoming wilder and less orderly.
Astrid threw her hand onto Stormfly's cheek, gently scratching her scales and the soft skin around her neck. "Stormfly, you can fight her! C'mon, girl, don't leave me!" Astrid urged. Her words broke through to the Nadder, the bond between girl and dragon stronger than the dragon's fear of her queen.
Astrid looked ahead and froze. The queen had slowed Stormfly's flight as they flew above her, so all of Stormfly's speed was lost, and the queen's armored tail was now hurtling toward them.
"Stormfly!" Astrid cried, and the Nadder flapped her wings in a frantic attempt to avoid the incoming tail. The Nadder wasn't fast enough, unable to build enough speed to dodge, so she raised her wing to shield Astrid's body.
Stormfly and Astrid were swatted out of the air with a sickening crunch, the Nadder's left wing crushed by the queen's tail. They hurtled to the ground at an angle, Astrid holding on for dear life as the ground rushed up to meet her.
"Hiccup!"
"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled and swooped in, flying Toothless as fast as he could. The Night Fury let out a panicked roar and stuck out his legs, claws extended and grabbing Astrid just in time. They pulled Astrid from Stormfly's back, and Toothless extended his wings to brake as Stormfly landed with a painful thud on the rocks.
"Stormfly!" Astrid cried. Toothless descended, letting Astrid drop to the ground first before landing at Hiccup's direction. The Night Fury sent up a short roar to their three dragon allies, and the Nightmare, Zippleback, and Gronckle accordingly started blasting the queen with fire to keep her distracted. The angry queen roared and snapped at all three dragons, but they kept out of her reach and continued to defiantly douse her with their flames.
Astrid fell to her knees at Stormfly's side, eyeing her damaged wing with horror as Hiccup swung off of Toothless' saddle.
"Oh, Stormfly! Girl, I'm so sorry!" Astrid whimpered, almost delirious as she hugged the dragon. "This is all my fault."
Stormfly squawked, resting her head on the black beach and cooing with relief. Her human was safe, and that was what counted. Astrid looked up at the queen and her features twisted with rage.
"We have to get back up there. We have to kill her." Astrid said, determined. Her blue eyes pulsed with fury, and she moved toward Toothless.
Hiccup cut her off, standing between her and his dragon. "No, Astrid, you've done more than enough. You need to get out of here."
Astrid whirled on him, angry at the mere suggestion. "What? No! That thing could've killed Stormfly!"
"I know that, and you're no use to her up in the air!" Hiccup snapped. He placed his hands on her shoulders, close enough to her that he could feel her panicked breath on his lips. "Think, Astrid, Stormfly needs help, and she needs to get to safety. She needs you. We'll handle the queen."
Astrid stammered, "B-b-but, but…"
Hiccup surged forward, not really sure what he was thinking (he probably wasn't thinking, actually) but going ahead with it anyway. He tilted his head and caught Astrid's lips on his, and her protests instantly went silent as she realized what was happening. Instinctively, her hand reached up to cup his cheek.
The feeling was incredible, sending an electrifying tingle rippling down her body. She kissed back, laying all of her secrets bare in that moment and not caring at all as she focused on the tender softness of his lips. Even as the battle of a lifetime raged nearby, her entire world shrank down to him, and only him.
He pulled away way too soon, and Astrid was on her toes for an instant as the departure of his lips tugged her towards him. He smiled in that sheepish, unabashedly Hiccup way and gently grabbed for her hand, warm as ever.
"If anything happened to you, milady… I would never forgive myself. I need you to get Stormfly to safety, for her sake and for yours." Hiccup whispered. He chuckled as he looked down at their joined hands and met her eyes once more, his own green irises twinkling. He'd actually kissed Astrid Hofferson. "I can't even begin to explain to you how much your support has meant to me. You've been with me every step of the way when it was the last thing that you needed to do. You believed in me when no one else would. Let me end this, please."
Astrid nodded, understanding. She parted her lips to speak, voice soft and suddenly hoarse, as if she were in sheer awe of him.
"Go."
Hiccup stepped away from her, taking as long as he was able to before carefully separating their hands. He climbed onto Toothless and slid his feet into the stirrups, meeting her eyes just one more time. "I will be coming back."
The boy with the dragon took off, leaving her behind.
A new voice hollered at her from across the beach, drawing her attention. "Astrid!" Astrid squinted and saw a group of three Vikings sprinting for her and Stormfly. The Nadder bristled, worried as she saw the weapons at the warriors' sides. Astrid, too, grew defensive.
She softened when she recognized one of the Vikings as her father. Ingvar Hofferson raced to her at the front of the group, and Astrid rushed to meet him as well. Her father latched his arms around her as they met, holding her tight.
"Astrid, my darling. I'm sorry that I let them throw you in jail. I tried to stop it, but before I knew it—" Ingvar explained.
"It's okay, Dad." Astrid interrupted. For a moment, she squeezed him harder than he was squeezing her, her adrenaline-addled brain not entirely sure yet if he was indeed real. "You're not mad at me?"
"For a moment this morning, I was. Then, I was sad, because I feared you'd lost your way and would suffer because of it. But now, seeing what you did up there… I'm proud. And I'm convinced."
Astrid smiled, wistful. She knew what he meant. Stormfly squawked behind her, injured and unprotected and eyeing Ingvar's companions with suspicion. The Nadder held her broken wing close at her side as she laid on the ground.
"Dad, Stormfly's hurt." Astrid half-panicked, naturally expecting her father to resist.
But Ingvar didn't. He nodded, resolute, and looked to his two friends. "Well, are you just going to stand there? You heard my daughter; her dragon needs our help!"
The air whistled as Toothless righted himself, circling high above the queen. The dragons Toothless had enlisted used up the last of their shots, having painted their former queen in searing flames that still stubbornly burned around her hide.
"Alright, bud, it's up to us now, you got it?" Hiccup called. Below them, the enormous queen snarled, pointing one evil eye at Hiccup and Toothless as they approached. A vile ooze seeped from the two supplementary eyes on either side of its head, a mix of fire and blood irritating them and forming a ring of ruptured, burnt skin around the main eyes. One of her nostrils had also been torched by Stormfly, and the queen's head was littered with scrapes of all shapes and sizes.
"Looks like they did a number on her," Hiccup commented, and the queen turned toward them. Hiccup and Toothless dove and the queen responded by snapping at them, crushing empty air between her huge teeth as she missed and Toothless flew underneath her gargantuan body.
"C'mon, is that the best you can do?" Hiccup taunted, "You want our friends, you're gonna have to go through us!" He changed the position of Toothless' tailfin and they picked up speed, ascending in a repeat of the loop they'd done to start off their attack. Hiccup looked behind him at the furious queen, catching sight of the ancient, camouflaged wings on the beast's back.
"Fishlegs said that thing has wings… let's see if she can use 'em!" Hiccup urged. Toothless looped around, flying at incredible speed to return to the island. A bolt of plasma built up in the back of Toothless' throat, flying out on Hiccup's command and exploding against the side of the queen's body with colossal force. The huge dragon fell over from the force of the blast, making the very island shake as her incalculable weight crashed down on the rocky beach.
"Nice shot, Toothless, let's…" Hiccup started, but he was cut off by a furious, agonized wail from the queen. The enormous dragon finally unfolded its wings, revealing ancient, tattered extensions and crawling to its demonic feet.
"C'mon, too slow!" Hiccup shouted, guiding Toothless in and roaring a challenge at the queen. The massive dragon roared back and beat her enormous wings, somehow lifting off into the air.
The queen quickly proved that she was capable of flying quite fast for her size. Hiccup steered Toothless away from the island, goading the queen to follow. She unleashed another column of orange fire at them, and Toothless effortlessly dodged.
"Okay, that might not have been the best choice of words back there." Hiccup lamented. Toothless groaned, slightly annoyed at his human. "Yeah, yeah, you can chastise me later!" Hiccup complained. He looked back at the queen behind them, watching as the beast somehow made ground on them.
"Well, she can fly."
Hiccup put his focus up ahead and guided Toothless through the air, constantly feeling the terrifying heat of the queen dragon on their heels. A blood-curdling roar shook his very bones, but he refused to look back, only listening for the hiss of gas that indicated incoming fire.
As Toothless weaved amongst the maze of sea stacks, the queen merely ducked her huge head and crashed into them, shattering the pillars of rock where they stood. The process repeated and repeated, the queen chasing after the Night Fury and the Viking on its back. Hiccup finally glanced back, eyeing the ridiculously large wings on the beast that was relentlessly dogging them. Just one of the wings had to be at least twenty times Toothless' entire wingspan, possibly even more.
Hiccup tried not to think of what it would be like to be raided by this dragon instead of the lackeys it dominated in the nest. Berk wouldn't even exist anymore. Vikings wouldn't even exist anymore.
Nope. Now was not the time for those thoughts.
They reached the far side of the island, where the horde that was Berk's finest (well, really the vast majority of Berk. Stoick hadn't segregated this journey by battlefield prowess. At all.) had gathered in what was likely the 'safest' place on the godsforsaken rock that they now stood on. A few measly ships remained undamaged, half-full of Vikings, and he heard cheers from the beach as he and Toothless flew by, and then boos as the queen decimated yet another sea stack in her furious charge after them.
The irony of the village screwup being the one to find the nest and lead the battle against the queen of the dragons was almost too great for Hiccup to ignore. The way that he was fighting that same battle made it even better. He wanted to laugh. Unfortunately, he had more pressing matters to think about.
He had to think of a new strategy. Now that the queen was flying after them, their one advantage was shot. Hiccup glanced up, noting the dark storm clouds overhead.
The idea clicked, and Hiccup leaned down to speak so that Toothless could hear him clearly. "Okay, Toothless, see the clouds? Time to fight this thing on our terms!"
Hiccup cranked the tailfin into a new position and Toothless climbed, dragging the queen after them to the storm clouds above.
Stoick watched with concealed terror as Hiccup flew past them on the Night Fury. The colossal dragon queen flew after them, somehow keeping up as she shattered sea stack after sea stack in her way, never losing ground.
The chief chanced a look down at the teenagers that made up the dragon training class standing in front of him. Each of them was watching intently, all throwing their arms up and cheering as Hiccup flew by. All except for one.
Astrid stood on her knees over the Nadder she'd been flying, doing what she could as a couple of burly Vikings bandaged up the dragon's wing and built a makeshift splint. They'd all seen the queen dragon's tail smash against the girl and the Nadder in midair, surely crushing its wing. Ingvar had gone running after she'd crash-landed, and with the aid of two others, had brought the Nadder to safety so they could work on her wing.
With her dragon taken care of, Astrid looked up as Toothless flew overhead with what Stoick could only assume was the same abject fear that gripped at his heart right now. She probably wanted desperately to get out there on the back of a dragon and fight by his side, and yet she knew she couldn't. Her dragon was wounded, and this was Hiccup's fight.
Speaking of dragons, Stoick eyed the three other reptiles waiting patiently nearby. No one dared attack them, for the beasts had very much saved their lives, following Hiccup and the Night Fury into battle to keep the queen occupied until they'd used up their shots.
Stoick suspected that if they survived this, some changes would be in order on Berk. He had a lot to atone for.
Stoick just hoped that Hiccup knew what he was doing and would win this fight. Because if he didn't, every man and woman standing around him now would personally punch a one-way ticket to Valhalla.
Toothless surged through the clouds, tinting Hiccup's field of vision with a dark, stormy gray. The light level plummeted and the Night Fury kept going, blending into the dark clouds with ease. There was a huge whooshing of air and Hiccup held his breath, feeling but not seeing as the queen thundered up into the cloudy realm around them.
The queen rumbled with a guttural growl, sniffing furiously as she tried to track Toothless. A grunt of pain shook the beast as the intake of air stung her burnt nostril. Droplets of molten fire and bodily goop dribbled from either side of her enormous head, very clearly bothering the gargantuan monster.
Hiccup silently guided Toothless in, and the sky screamed as the Night Fury reached striking speed. Toothless unleashed a powerful bolt of plasma, rocking the queen's entire body as the blast connected with her head. The dark environment lit up with lightning, and a rumble of thunder growled from the darkness as a storm began quickly rolling in.
"We'll have to be quick, bud." Hiccup whispered, feeling the change in the air.
Toothless grunted in agreement and followed Hiccup's gentle commands, zooming in and out and each time landing a perfect strike on the queen.
The queen roared furiously after the third blast, opening her enormous toothy mouth and breathing a huge column of fire. The queen spun as she did so, spreading the fire every which way.
"Crap, watch out!" Hiccup yelped as the fire cut off his and Toothless' latest escape path. Toothless corkscrewed, but Hiccup heard the sound of burning leather all too clearly in his ears. Turning back, he grimaced as his guess was confirmed. The tailfin was slowly burning to a crisp.
"Alright, one shot left. Let's see if this works." Hiccup said. He turned Toothless around, praising every second that the tailfin kept them airborne, and flew close to the queen's hampered vision. The beast spotted them, widening her damaged eye, and snarled violently. "Come on!" he yelled, taunting the huge dragon to chase them. Toothless dove, and the heat of the queen hot on their heels made Hiccup squirm.
They broke through the storm clouds, the ground quickly rushing up to meet them. The queen behind them opened her mouth, hoping to snatch them up in her jaws, but when that clearly wasn't going to work, she changed her method.
"Hold, Toothless…" Hiccup whispered, and he waited until he heard the telltale hiss of gas building in the dragon's mouth. "Now!"
Hiccup whirled Toothless around so that they looked straight at the queen, and Toothless automatically shot a ball of plasma straight into the queen's open mouth. The enormous dragon gasped as the gas in her throat caught fire, not intending to ignite it herself just yet.
"Okay, go!" Hiccup yelled, and he whirled Toothless back around. The Night Fury unfurled his wings and the wind caught them. They were dragged up past the queen's head, catching sight of her wings literally burning to cinders. She wouldn't be able to pull up, hurtling instead to her doom on the fast-approaching ground.
The explosion rattled Hiccup's ears, and the heat of the spreading fire vibrated against his skin. Flame rushed up after them, faster than Toothless could hope to fly as they navigated past the countless frills and protrusions decorating the queen's enormous back.
Hiccup cranked his foot along the tailfin's pedal, trying to open it up fully so they could escape. But the fin didn't respond. Panicked, Hiccup looked back, and he saw the burnt skeleton of the tailfin promptly fall off of the rigging attached to Toothless' tail.
Hiccup gasped and pointed his eyes ahead, gasping as he watched the queen's clubbed tail come hurtling toward them. The tailfin was gone, which meant they couldn't change course, even if Hiccup put all of his might into turning Toothless sideways. They would just continue to fly straight—right at the incoming club.
"No." Hiccup stammered. Not like this! "No, no!"
Toothless roared in fear and the club struck them, stopping Toothless' flight path cold. The force snapped the harness in two and Hiccup was kicked off of the saddle by the hit. Toothless felt Hiccup's absence instantly and whirled around as he began to fall, watching his human plummet helplessly below him.
"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled, and the dragon chased after him, flapping his wings relentlessly in an attempt to close the gap.
The fire quickly rose up on either side of Hiccup's vision as Toothless closed in. Hiccup reached out for the dragon, falling with his back turned to the ground.
The next thing he felt was the sharp sting of teeth sinking into his leg. Then it was heat as the flames made their final reach to take him.
The next thing he saw was yellow, and then a blazing orange.
And then black.
Ash polluted her sight, obscuring everything around her. The teenage girl ran frantically through the haze, looking for something—anything that might tell her Hiccup was alive.
Astrid panted, slowly panicking as she found nothing. Seawater calmly lapped at the shore, unaware of the great battle that had just taken place. Vikings surged in behind her, led by none other than Stoick the Vast as he too searched for some sign that his son was safe.
"Hiccup!" the Chief yelled, the panic in his voice clearer than anything Astrid had ever heard from him before.
Likewise hoping that Hiccup would suddenly call out to her in answer, Astrid sent her voice to the wind, "Hiccup!"
"Son!" Stoick tried again, flailing through the ash and smoke and the overpowering stench of death.
They saw it at the exact same time. A black shape huddled on the ground, silently tucked into itself as a thousand weak fires burned out their last breaths around it. Astrid and Stoick breathed in at the same time, rushing forward. Their hearts swelled as they realized that the shape was Toothless.
That hope was then suddenly dashed as the details filled themselves in. Astrid squinted through the falling ash, silently begging any god who would hear her that what she was seeing wasn't true. This couldn't happen now, not after the… moment that they'd shared before he'd taken off. Not when this beautiful little thing that was them was just getting started.
The saddle on Toothless' back was empty, charred into a useless scrap of leather by the flames. The contraption on the Night Fury's tail where the dragon's prosthetic tailfin was supposed to be was ruined, warped into a handful of thin, snarled rods. Although damaged beyond repair, everything was where it was supposed to be.
Except for Hiccup.
Astrid stood deathly still as Stoick took a few more steps, each heavier than the last. Tears jerked at Astrid's eyes, not believing what they were seeing. Her hands found her face, covering her nose and mouth in an attempt to hide the horror creeping onto her features. Toothless was clearly alive, breathing in and out at a painfully slow pace.
She was the best warrior of her generation, and yet she'd never felt as useless as she did now.
Hiccup was gone. And her world was darker for it.
How did I do? Was that good? Was that bad?
Next couple of updates are actually some of my favorite parts: a few Astrid-centric chapters as we explore what it's like without Hiccup! Some changes are in order for Berk, but the talking fishbone that started it all is temporarily out of commission. How will it all go down? Until next time, thanks for reading!