Author's Note:
Hello everyone and sorry for the slightly longer wait for this chapter. This time things really heat up as Drago and the Bewilderbeast go head to head. Thank you everyone for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
I own nothing.
War
The appearance of the mighty airship brought all fighting to an absolute halt as every living thing stared up at the terrifying vessel.
Standing upon an outside platform in the bow of the airship was Drago and he gazed down upon the Sanctuary revelling in the fear that his ship produced. It was the same fear that the Fortress garnered before it had been destroyed and he'd waited a long time for such a reaction to be directed at him again. For the first time in five years he felt like the conquering king once more and he had no intention of losing that reputation again.
The Bewilderbeast stared right at him and Drago was certain that the Alpha knew who was challenging him. The great dragon reared up on his hind legs and gave forth a roar that seemed to shake the sky itself declaring his authority and his answer to Drago's challenge. Drago smiled and returned the roar causing all his men to tremble in fear as the gauntlet was cast down. Dragons and humans alike scattered leaving a vast area clear for the impending fight as the Throne slowly flew over the Sanctuary's shores, as the airship turned ready to move away Drago gave a roar of joy and threw himself from the platform and into the air. Like some fell meteor he plummeted to the ground landing before his opponent shaking the earth and cracking the stone around him.
A hush fell over the onlookers as they beheld the Alpha Titan himself.
Drago had outfitted himself for the battle and had shed his dragonskin cloak for heavy armour. It was dark in colour and decorated with strange orange markings and unknown runes he'd only ever encountered in the vision that had once been granted to him by the artefact before its destruction. He wore no helm but a metal eyepatch covered his right eye, the very same eye that Spitelout had destroyed five years earlier when the Fortress fell. He hadn't armed himself with a weapon but he still gave off an aura of power and strength that was only matched by the Bewilderbeast himself and everyone took a couple more steps back as the two leaders stared each other down.
Slowly they began to circle each other looking for openings and opportunities to land a hit, both were experienced and neither one was foolish enough to believe that their strength alone would overcome the other. There would be no ice blasts in this fight, these sort of challenges had ancient rules which every dragon instinctively knew as well as Drago. Disobeying the rules would not mean victory even if the one who did vanquished their opponent, unless the original Alpha was defeated properly as the ancient rules dictated then the dragons would not be able to be controlled by the victor and that was just how it worked.
Tension grew as they continued to circle and the very air seemed to still as the sea somehow fell silent. The two stopped moving and stared at each other as all others waited to see who would make the opening move.
It was the Bewilderbeast who obliged them.
At a speed a dragon of his size should not be capable of the King of the Sanctuary swung his mighty tusks at Drago but he was ready. Moving easily into a defensive stance the Alpha Titan blocked the blow with his hands and pushed back, the Bewilderbeast swiftly changed tack and pulled his tusks back and lunged forward to stab. Drago dodged to the side and struck the nearest one with his clasped fists deflecting it to the side, the Bewilderbeast staggered slightly but soon regained his footing and stamped downward with one of his feet as if to crush his foe. This time Drago stayed beneath it and the ground shook and dust filled the air as the foot crashed upon him but he was far from crushed.
The dust cleared to reveal him holding the foot in place above his head and the Bewilderbeast pressed down harder, the Alpha Titan pushed back and the ground cracked and broke as the two powers pressed against each other. The contest of strength continued as everyone waited to see who would give first.
Though most were entirely focused on the fight a few were using the distraction it was causing to further their own goals.
Viggo had left the Dragon Eye and was on his way towards the Throne having altered his plans slightly at its appearance seeing an opportunity he could not ignore.
Now was the perfect time to begin his takeover of Drago's forces and the man had provided the perfect means for him to do so. The airship the so called king had brought was obviously the most powerful weapon around so whoever controlled that controlled the army. He had to admit he did not expect Drago to turn up in something as powerful as that but Viggo wouldn't have got to where he was now if he couldn't adjust to the unexpected, once again Drago had impressed him by managing to keep something like this from his spies but he would soon turn this development to his advantage.
He'd spent quite some time slowly turning people over to his side, many were dissatisfied with serving Drago and were interested in following a new leader. They were in every part of Drago's forces and they all knew what was expected of them when the moment of betrayal came. No doubt the airship was crewed only by those loyal to Drago but Viggo had men in every other vessel of the fleet and more than enough to take the Throne in an attack.
As they approached he gave a nod to the one piloting the landing airship and the man saluted before activating a particular function of the craft. A small launcher fired a single canister into the air and once it was a safe distance from the vessel it exploded and Viggo gave a smile.
The signal had been given.
Down on the ground Viggo's spy had seen the explosion in the air, recognising its message he left off watching the Alpha's fight and returned to his task.
Hurrying away with Hiccup he made for one of the landing airships that was piloted by one of Viggo's men intending to take his captive to the Dragon Eye. As he moved shouts sounded from among the watching crowds and there was the clash of weapons as those who followed Viggo turned upon the ones loyal to Drago. Confusion took over as men were caught unawares and were forced to defend themselves from their own allies. What had been a mass of people watching the fight between Drago and the Bewilderbeast became a melee as Viggo's takeover began to spread through Drago's forces.
The spy did not quite understand why his master had implemented his plan now but he did not waste time questioning it, his job was to get the boy to the Dragon Eye so that was his only concern. If his master believed that now was the best time to take control then he must have a good reason and that was enough.
The sudden eruption of violence served as an excellent distraction so he dispensed with stealth and simply went for speed, everyone was too busy to worry about him right now. Dodging around fighters he pressed on with his captive managing to keep a hold of the boy despite his violent struggles.
He was getting close to his destination when a sudden blast impacted in his path forcing him to a halt.
His ears picked up the sound of wings through the air and he nimbly dodged to the side just as Toothless made a grab for Hiccup. The dragon landed neatly on the ground and faced the spy with a ferocious growl making it clear that he wanted the boy back. The spy assessed the situation coolly, he was not foolish enough to believe he'd outrun a Night Fury so that left him with fighting as the only option. He may be a spy but that didn't mean he couldn't handle a normal fight, his skills were many and he saw this as simply an unwanted obstacle on his mission.
Without hesitation he drew a dagger from his belt.
Viggo's mutiny had happened aboard the ships as well and his men were carrying it out with ruthless efficiency.
Any that remained loyal to Drago were killed while those that were willing to change sides were forced to do so. Weapons clashed as the two sides met and fought and blood flowed as the sudden struggle for power gripped them. Many fought anyone and anything like they were gripped by madness, the confusion meant that a lot of Drago's forces actually had no idea what was happening while some simply didn't care who won and just focused on surviving.
Aboard the Dragon Bane the remaining Titans struck down Viggo's men as they kept control of their airship. Kadlin commanded them and kept order amongst their troops in the midst of the madness. They all had to be careful with their powers as one misfire could seriously damage their vessel but that did little to lessen their ability to fight, Kadlin and Erika maintained their distance as they took out their foes while Arina was in the midst of the fight wielding her sword and axe with terrible joy as she decimated her attackers. Anthea was right alongside her as her twin daggers wreaked havoc alongside Akila and her spear. Heather had no need of a weapon since her Razorwhip powers meant that her whole body was one, her arms sliced through men with ease killing many before they could even hope to break through her iron-like skin. Dagur however was nowhere to be found since he'd disappeared when the fight started, it looked like he'd abandoned his Titan siblings but all of them knew better than that and their focus remained on their foes as they left him to whatever he was doing.
Outside Dagur had climbed onto the Dragon Bane's vast balloon a hunch having led him there. He was certain that the Riders were sure to take advantage of the mutiny and press an attack so he'd headed up there to hold them off.
Scanning the skies he soon saw the flock of dragons heading towards the airships and he grinned happily. Focusing his power he felt lightning crackle around him as he charged the air, the sky soon responded and a bolt of lightning lanced down towards him striking directly upon him. Electricity danced around him and he laughed with joy as the power surged through his body. Then he thrust his hands forward sending all the power right towards the dragons, it shot across the sky, lighting it with its brilliance then struck right among the dragons hitting several and blasting them from the sky. Many of them managed to avoid the devastating blast and they scattered throughout the sky heading towards different airships, one however headed directly towards Dagur and the Titan's grin grew wider as he recognised it.
The Rumblehorn!
Seeing the chance for revenge Dagur summoned more lightning and readied himself for the upcoming clash. Fighting in the very air itself gave him a rush he could not get anywhere else and he let it fill him with strength.
This time he'd win.
The Titans on the ground had run into their own fight when Hookfamg and the others launched themselves at them.
With the Bewilderbeast in the middle of his own battle they'd resumed their attempts to rescue Snotlout but they were not faring well.
The Titans far outmatched the teens and they were skilled at fighting dragons making it a very one sided battle. The one thing the teens and their siblings had in their favour was the fact they'd encountered the Titans before so they knew about their abilities but that simply let them dodge and survive rather than gain any real advantage. They were managing to prevent the Titans from escaping but it took everything they had to even manage that.
As Stormfly dodged some spines from Nova Astrid growled in frustration, "How are we going to deal with these guys!?"
Barf and Belch released and detonated some of their gas but it missed their target as Leif nimbly jumped out of the way and Ruffnut snarled, "We can't even hit them!"
Hookfang roared angrily and released his flames all over the surrounding area but the Titans simply avoided or endured them, Newt suddenly appeared out of nowhere and kicked Tuffnut off of Belch and the teen fell earthward, "SIS!"
Ruffnut yelled in alarm and her Zippleback brother immediately dived after the plummeting boy, Amber took advantage and fired her amber shots to entrap the dragon but Stormfly managed to blast it before it hit home. Leif launched himself at the Nadder but was thwarted by Hookfang smashing him out of the air with his tail, Nova caught his falling Titan brother and launched some spines at the Nightmare which Hookfang dodged. The Whispering Death Titan then jumped to the side as Barf and Belch's gas poured around his feet and exploded, they'd safely caught Tuffnut and had tried to catch him by surprise but he'd realised just in time.
The fight raged on while Snotlout watched from where he'd been left bound in amber by the Titans and neither side was making much headway with their respective goals. Suddenly the boy sensed something and he looked up to the sky above.
Lightning crackled and rumbled and a shape was descending straight towards him, Gustav seemed to see it as well and he immediately charged towards Snotlout believing that whatever was coming was going to rescue the teen. A bolt of lightning lanced down forcing the Nightmare Titan to jump back to avoid it and in the brilliance it caused someone landed before Snotlout. Gustav dived at the new fighter ready to strike them down but the person swung a spear and struck the Titan with a mighty cry, "NO YE DON'T!"
The blow sent Gustav flying backwards and the fight stopped as he landed solidly among the others, all looked towards the newcomer who held the spear ready as a Skrill landed beside him in a blaze of electricity. Lightning sparked around them and all saw and recognised his face.
Alister had joined the fight.
PS-Alister has arrived and everyone's plans have kicked into high gear. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.