Hiccup and the other Riders were hunting down several heavily armed Dragon Hunter ships. They soon landed on a sea stack and Hiccup pulled out his spyglass to look around and spotted three ships on the horizon.
"What are we landing for?" Snotlout asked as he watched as the other lot Riders landed. "They're pulling away. Hookfang, come on!"
"No," said Hiccup. "There's too many and they're sailing in tight formation."
"I'll show you tight formation," Snotlout muttered as he landed on the sea stack.
"Hiccup's right," said Fishlegs. "We'll never be able to approach that convoy without being spotted first."
"And there's no cover faster hide behind, they'll see us for miles," said Ragnar.
"We need a distraction," said Astrid.
"Leave that to us," said Hiccup as he began to rummage through his satchel.
He then pulled something out and show them a yellow tailfin with the Strike Class symbol on it.
"Hiccup, this is no time to play dress-up," said Snotlout furiously.
"And how can you even think of wearing yellow after Snoggletog?" said Tuffnut shaking his head disapprovingly. "That, my friend, is a fashion faux pas."
Ruffnut look at it in disgust. "How gauche!"
Hiccup ignored them and began replacing Toothless' tailfin. "This one is lighter and stiffer. It's made with a thin sheet of Gronckle Iron," he explained. Once he was finished Toothless lifted his tail up and began extending the tailfin. "It's not great for long-distance flying, but…"
"The added stability will allow you to fly along the water surface without using any wing-flap," Fishlegs finished.
"And thus allowing you to sneak past the Dragon Hunters from beneath without them hearing you," said Ragnar looking immensely impressed. "Impressive."
"Exactly," said Hiccup as he mounted Toothless. "We're gonna glide in right under their sight line. Watch for my signal!"
They then watch as Hiccup took off and then glide along the water surface.
"Honestly, I would have stuck with the red," said Tuffnut. "Yellow with Night Fury black? Really? Puh-lease."
Hiccup and Toothless were approaching the Hunters ships and as expected they hadn't seen them yet since they were flying so low and silent. They didn't shoot out in front of the shelves until they were right past them.
"Now, bud!" Hiccup yelled.
Toothless then fired a plasma blast on the lead ship which got the attention of the other Hunters.
"Dragon Riders! Defend the cargo at all costs!" roared one of the ship's captains.
However the captain was then blasted by another plasma blast.
From the sea stack, the other Riders saw the ships now flames. It appears that Hiccup's diversion had worked.
"That's our signal," said Fishlegs. "Let's go."
"About time," said Snotlout. "Giddy up!"
The other riders then took off heading straight towards the Hunter ships.
Meanwhile the Hunters were having their hands full dealing with Hiccup and Toothless, who had just taken out one of their net launches. A Hunter tried to snack them with a bola, but they dodged it.
Then Snotlout came flying in and began setting the sales ablaze. The other ships had their problems, especially when Astrid and Stormfly began firing spikes at them. Hiccup and Ragnar just watched as the Riders attacked the ships.
"Windshear, down!" Heather yelled zooming past them.
Windshear then began slicing through the sails, preventing them from moving.
Soon the Riders landed on the leading ship and the Hunters knew they were beaten and surrendered.
"We'll be taking a card now," said Hiccup places hands on his hips.
Hiccup, Ragnar and Fishlegs then entered the cargo bay in order to free the dragons the Hunters were holding captive.
"Come on, guys," said Hiccup. "Let's free these dragon so we can help with the other ships."
"I hope we didn't startle them too much with all that commotion," said Fishlegs as they ran through the cargo bay. "Poor things."
"I don't think we need to be concerned, Fishlegs," said Ragnar stopping in his tracks.
He was right, there were no dragons and instead there was blocks of marble all over the place.
"Guys…" Fishlegs said staring at the marble, "where are all the dragons?"
Meanwhile above deck, the twins just finished tying up the Hunters.
"Tuff, you think we tied these ropes too tight?" Ruffnut asked.
"No. You can never be too tight," said Tuffnut.
"Yeah, good point," said Ruffnut as they watched the Hunters struggling to free themselves.
Then Hiccup, Ragnar and Fishlegs returned to the deck, still mighty confused about what they had found. They were soon met by Astrid and Heather, who were checked the other ships.
"Hiccup, the ships don't have any dragons on them," said Astrid. "Just marble blocks."
"Why were they fight so hard to protect a bunch of rocks?" Heather frowned.
They then heard some faint shrieks in the distance.
"Hiccup?" said Fishlegs looking up.
"What is that?" Snotlout asked.
There was definitely something flying towards them in the distance and at first it looked like a large flock of bats.
"Whatever it is, it's moving fast," said Astrid.
Hiccup looked through his spyglass to get a better look and then he saw different species of dragons flying straight towards them. He sighed.
"Bad news?" Fishlegs guessed.
"It's not great," said Hiccup. He then grabbed Fishlegs. "Duck!"
"Dragon stampede! Take cover!" Snotlout yelled.
"No. We need to get in the air!" Hiccup yelled as he switched Toothless' tailfins again.
"What? Why?" Snotlout yelled.
They then mounted the dragons and followed Hiccup, who were taken off into the air. They then began flying through the mass of dragons, which was anything but easy.
"Hookfang!" Snotlout yelled as a Gronckle headed straight towards them.
"Windshear, look out!" Heather yelled as she spun to avoid a collision with a Monstrous Nightmare.
"Watch out, Skull!" Ragnar yelled as a Deadly Nadder flew past them.
"Hiccup, where are we headed?" Fishlegs asked.
"Look, we're gonna follow this stampede to its source," said Hiccup. "These dragons, they're fleeing for a reason."
It took quite a bit of manoeuvrability, but finally they managed to get past the stampede. There they saw an island in the distance and then they heard a great big booming sound emanating from it.
"Do you hear that?" Fishlegs asked.
"We need to take a closer look," said Hiccup.
However, the twins were still trapped in the stampede and several dragons were flying straight towards them.
"Incoming!" Tuffnut yelled.
A Deadly Nadder then slammed into Barf and Belch and the twins found themselves spinning uncontrollably as they crashed down towards the island.
"Ruff! Tuff!" Heather yelled.
"I regret nothing!" Tuffnut yelled.
"I regret everything!" Ruffnut yelled.
They watch as the twins crash landed in the forest and judging by the movement of the trees it was quite a rough landing.
The Riders soon landed on the island and began looking for any trace of the twins.
"Ruff? Tuff?" Hiccup called.
"It's all good in the archipela-hood," said Tuffnut as he emerged from the forest, but seconds later he collapsed to the ground.
Ruffnut then appeared helping Barf and Belch along, who had one broken wing and a broken leg. "But it look like Barf and Belch are going anywhere for while," she said.
"I'll see what I can do," said Ragnar as he dismounted Skull and began rummaging through his satchel.
Snotlout then approached Hiccup. "Perfect. Great plan, Hiccup," he said in a sarcastic tone.
However, Hiccup wasn't listening and that's when Snotlout noticed that he was looking down at a dock with Dragon Hunter ships.
"Hiccup, though ships are just like the ones from the convoy," Fishlegs frowned as he made his way over to him.
They then heard the sound of men grunting.
"Hide!" he whispered.
They quickly ran into the forest and hid behind the trees and seconds later they saw Dragon Hunters pulling carts of marble blocks towards the docks.
Hiccup then looked to Toothless. "Come on, Toothless," he said.
Seconds later, Toothless jumped out right in front of the Hunters blocking their path.
A minute later the Hunters were tied up and struggling to free themselves, to no avail.
"Do your worst," said the lieutenant. "I stared down the mouth of a Whispering Death. You don't scare me."
"Oh, really tough guy, huh?" said Tuffnut glaring down at the lieutenant. "Put your mace where your mouth is."
"You won't get anything out of us, you dragon-riding dogs!" the lieutenant snarled.
Hiccup then looked to Snotlout, who snapped his fingers. Hookfang then showed up and ignited roaring at the Hunters ferociously.
"Okay, I'll talk," said the lieutenant fearfully.
Hiccup and Snotlout smiled at one another.
"Two convoys left earlier this morning headed for…"
Unfortunately, before they can get anything else out of him, Tuffnut whacked him on the head with a tree branch and knocking him out cold.
"I thought that I would never shut up," said Tuffnut. He then looked to the others. "Am I right?"
"Tuff, he was just about to tell us everything," Fishlegs moaned.
"He was?" Tuffnut blinked.
Luckily the lieutenant wasn't as out cold as they fought, but unluckily Tuffnut slammed the tree branch onto his head again and knocking him out cold for good. He then looked at the others the apologetically.
"Sorry. It's a reflex," he said.
"And this is why we never let you interrogate someone," said Ragnar facepalming himself.
Hiccup sighed and then turned to Astrid. "Astrid, you, Heather, and Snotlout get out there and see if you can track down at other convoy, find out where it's headed."
"On it," said Astrid.
Hiccup then looked at the others. "Meanwhile, the rest of us will scout this island for more answers."
They began making their way through the forest and every now and then they heard a massive bang that created small earthquakes. They eventually made their out of the forest and found a canyon.
Hiccup at once pulled out his spyglass and looked through it. There he discovered that it was not a canyon, but a marble quarry and mining the marble were Dragon Hunters. They appear to be using massive wrecking balls to mine the marble which cause the earthquakes.
"This operation is huge," Hiccup stared.
"That explains the booming," said Fishlegs noticing the wrecking balls.
"But what's so important about the marble?" Ragnar frowned.
"And what does Viggo what with all this marble?" Hiccup frowned handing the spyglass to Fishlegs.
"I don't know, but it can't be anything good knowing Viggo," said Ragnar.
Hiccup nodded. "Okay. Ruff, Tuff, you'll strike on the ground. Ragnar, Fishlegs, we'll hit from the air," he said as he mounted Toothless. "Cover me while we take out those wrecking balls. We need to find out what's going on here and what Viggo has to do with it."
Hiccup then took off. Fishlegs how looked at the lacking bald one more time and grasped. He then handed the spyglass to Ragnar and his eyes widened.
Hiccup and Toothless were not directly over the wrecking balls. "Okay, bud."
Toothless prepare for plasma blast, but then before he could fire Ragnar and Fishlegs place themselves in front of them.
"No! Don't!" Fishlegs cried.
"Hold your fire!" Ragnar yelled.
"What that—?" Hiccup stared pulling Toothless back.
"Hiccup, look closer. Those aren't wrecking balls," said Fishlegs. "Those are Catastrophic Quakens!"
Hiccup looked down and saw that Fishlegs was right. A Hunter with a massive hammer slammed it on the ground and the wrecking balls blew up revealing themselves to be Catastrophic Quakens.
"Hiccup, they're using Quakens for the demolition work," said Fishlegs looking at the chained Quakens in horror.
Hiccup could already see a problem. "Fishlegs, I would love to discuss this, but…"
The Quakens then rolled themselves into a ball and slammed right into the canyon wall and created a massive shockwave that ran through the entire island. Hiccup, Ragnar and Fishlegs flew away, but they were unable to escape the shockwave and were blown off course.
Hiccup, Ragnar and Fishlegs were able to recover, but the twins, whose dragon were still unable to fly, were not as lucky. The shockwave sent them flying straight into the forest.
"The twins!" Hiccup cast.
They quickly flew down into the forest and looked around for the twins, but saw no sign of them.
"I'm sure they're okay, bud," said Hiccup as he dismounted Toothless. "Those to have survived worse."
The ground shook again indicating that the Hunters had forced the Quakens to strike the canyon wall again.
"On your feet, dragon," a voice cried from the distance.
Fishlegs when to investigate and found that one of the Quakens, exhausted from all the pounding it was forced to do, was worn out.
"Oh, Thor!" Fishlegs asked.
The Hunter shoved his hammer right into it as a second Hunter slammed his hammer to the ground pointing at the canyon wall.
Fishlegs' eyes widened. "It's the vibrations, guys."
"Vibrations?" Hiccup frowned.
"The Hunters have trained the Quakens to react to the vibrations when the hammer hits the ground," he said and looked away in disgust. "Trapping them, then fighting them, now working them against their will. This is monstrous! I know these dragons. They may seem dangerous and aggressive at first, but they have a softer side."
"I know," said Hiccup. "No Dragon deserve to be treated like this."
"We'll find a way to free them, Fishlegs. We promise," Ragnar assured.
"Tell me how were gonna free them?" Fishlegs asked.
Hiccup and Ragnar looked at one another, unsure how to answer this question. "Well…" Hiccup began.
"Whatever you're planning, you can count on me to hit someone with a branch," said a voice behind them.
They turned around and found the twins appearing out of the woods, looking the worse for wear.
"Ruff. Tuff. You're okay!" Hiccup then notice Barf and Belch limping out of the woods. "Wait, is Belch?"
Belch looked a little woozy and dizzy, which made the movement difficult and woozy.
"Oh, he's fine," Tuffnut assured as he took off his helmet and began hitting it. "We Thorstons are known for extremely thick craniums."
"Yeah. Was used to wear the skulls of our ancestors as helmets," said Ruffnut and approve the point she slammed a wooden stick on top of Tuffnut's head which broke to pieces.
"See? Thick skulls," said Tuffnut laughing, before he toppled over and was knocked unconscious.
"That explain so much," said Ragnar, who looked both impressed and disgusted.
"Okay, there's a deeply disturbed image I would very much like to forget," said Hiccup.
Toothless did a dragon's equivalent of a laugh.
"So what's the plan to free those dragons, boss man?" Ruffnut asked.
"I am hurt," said Tuffnut, who would regain consciousness.
"Ah, well, there's not a lot of manoeuvrability in that quarry," said Hiccup. "But now that I think about it, I might have something that could get as close enough to cause a distraction for Fishlegs and Ragnar to infiltrate."
Hiccup then began to reach into his saddle and pulled out another tailfin, but this one was blue with purple wavelike images on it.
Meanwhile, Astrid, Heather and Snotlout were looking for that convoy the Hunter had mentioned. So far they had no luck in finding the ships and flying around in silence.
"You know, I've been meaning to get this out in the open for while," he said, breaking the silence between the three of them. "But moments between the three of us don't have to be weird, guys.
"Why are you talking about?" Astrid frowned, not sure whether she wanted to find out.
"I realise that you're both into me and that's hard on our group dramatically," said Snotlout as he placed his hands behind his neck.
"What?" Astrid stared.
"Oh, no, he did not," said Heather shaking her head.
"But I think it can still work. We're all grown-ups," said Snotlout, completely oblivious to the looks of the two girls. "And I think you're both great. I really don't want you guys to take this one too hard. We got to keep it professional. It's best for the team you know."
Heather stared at Astrid in disbelief. "It he serious?" she asked gesturing to Snotlout.
"You have no idea," said Astrid shaking her head. She then looked forwards and saw something in the distance. "Wait! Up ahead!"
There they saw three Dragon Hunter ships in the distance.
"Looks like our missing convoy," said Heather.
"Let's hang back and see if they lead us to Viggo's delivery point," said Astrid.
They then flew into the clouds to hide from view from the ships.
"Seriously, can we talk about this, ladies?" Snotlout asked.
"Snotlout!" the two girls snapped.
Meanwhile at the quarry, a Hunter just noticed Hiccup and Toothless flying straight towards them.
"Dragon Riders!" he yelled as he got ready to fire an arrow.
He fired, but Hiccup and Toothless spun out of the way and Hiccup had a bit of a tough time trying to maintain their balance.
"Easy, bud. This new tail is sensitive," Hiccup reminded. "But it'll be easier to manoeuvre in that tight quarry. All right, we'll round up those Hunters and find out what Viggo is up to."
The two of them then began flying around the quarry and two Hunters began to take aim at him.
"I got you!" said one of them.
"Get them!" Ruffnut yelled as they ran past.
However, instead of unleashing gas, they unleashed sparks. The two Hunters just looked at them confused.
"It's gas, then spark!" Ruffnut reminded as Barf began to unleash some gas. "Belch, get with the program, man."
Belch then spark the gas.
The two Hunters were now even more confused, as the gas surrounded them.
"What do you reckon?" one of them asked.
However, before the other Hunter could answer there was a huge explosion and the twins cried out in excitement.
Meanwhile, Hiccup and Toothless were still flying around the quarry trying to get the Hunter's attention.
"Okay, we've got them distracted," said Hiccup. "Now release the Quakens!"
Ragnar and Fishlegs began flying down towards the trapped Quakens.
"Don't worry, Quakens, we are getting you out of here," Fishlegs assured them.
"We'll get those chains off you faster than you can say Hideous Zippleback," said Ragnar.
Meatlug then began to spew lava over the chains and Skull began melting the chains with his fire breath.
"Great work, Meatlug!" said Fishlegs rubbing Meatlug affectionately.
"Nice going, boy," said Ragnar passing Skull on the head.
The Hunters are just noticed that Ragnar and Fishlegs had just released the Quakens. Then they saw Hiccup and Toothless flying overhead.
"It's over. Now leave," said Hiccup in a commanding voice.
The two Hunters then laughed.
"That's not really the response I was expecting," said Hiccup.
A Hunter holding a large hammer then walked up. He then slammed it down onto the ground and the Quakens felt the vibrations and began to snarl. The Hunters then pointed their hammers towards Ragnar and Fishlegs.
Ragnar and Fishlegs saw as the two Quakens they had just freed rose up into the air and snarling at the two of them.
"This can't be good," said Ragnar.
Fishlegs looked at the Quakens confused. "What's the matter? You're free," he said.
The two Quakens then roared at them.
"Let's move it, Skull!" Ragnar yelled.
"Meatlug, look out!" Fishlegs yelled.
The two boys flew as fast they could away from the Quakens, which cut up into a ball and began rolling after them.
"Run!" Hiccup yelled.
Soon Ragnar, Fishlegs and the twins were trying to get away from the rolling Quakens, which were being egged on by the Hunters slamming their hammers onto the ground.
Hiccup and Toothless try to keep up with them, but Toothless' new tailfin wasn't designed for long distance flights.
Tuffnut turned his head and saw the Quakens rolling towards them. They were unable to fly since Barf and Belch's wing was still broken and they were unable to run as fast since one of their legs was also broken.
"Great!" he muttered and looked down at Belch. "Go left, Belch! Go left!"
Unfortunately, Ruffnut had told Barf to go right and as a result the two dragon's heads were wrestling on which way to run.
"Seriously?" Tuffnut yelled.
Hiccup could see the problem right away and looked down at Toothless. "Toothless, the twins will never be able to outrun those Quakens. We need a draw them away."
They flew over the Quakens and fired a plasma blast at them, causing them to stop in their tracks.
"I think we got their attention," said Hiccup. The Quakens rolled back to the normal form and growled at Hiccup and Toothless. "Uh, yeah, we did."
They then took off as fast as they could and the Quakens rolled back up into a ball and began chasing after them. Hiccup and Toothless flue through the forest doing some crazy manoeuvres to dodge the trees, but the Quakens simply smashing right through them and they were gaining.
It didn't help that the fact that Toothless tailfin was dragging them behind.
"Sorry, bud," said Hiccup apologetically. "I guess it's good for tight turns, not high altitudes." Toothless growled. "I know. I know. I'll work on it."
Hiccup quickly made a sharp turn in the hopes to get away from one of the Quakens. He managed to lose one, but the second one was hot on his tail and once they reach a clearing it jumped into the air and slammed into the ground. Next second the huge shockwave covered the place and they were blown off by the shockwave.
Then the second Quakens appeared in front of them, jumped and also slammed into the ground. Now he was being hit back and forth by the shockwave emanating from the two Quakens.
Up in the air both Ragnar and Fishlegs saw everything.
"They're not gonna survive long under that kind of punishment," said Ragnar.
"They don't send the chance against those angry Quakens," said Fishlegs. "I understand those dragons better than anyone. I'm the only one that can stop this."
Ragnar stared at him. "Fishlegs, wait!" he yelled.
But too late, Fishlegs and Meatlug flew down towards the Quakens as the continual chasing down Hiccup and Toothless like a pair of mad boulders. They then hovered off the ground and Hiccup and Toothless past him, but they remained where they were.
Fishlegs raises hand out in the hopes to stop the two Quakens without having to fight them.
"Hiccup!" Ragnar yelled.
Hiccup looked up and saw Ragnar pointing at Fishlegs. He quickly turned and saw what Ragnar was saying.
"Oh, he can't be thinking of training them! Fishlegs, get out of there!" Hiccup yelled.
Fishlegs however, remained where he was. "I know these dragons. I know these dragons."
He remained there no matter how close the Quakens came, but Meatlug seen there was no stopping them move out of the way just in time as they rolled past them. The two Quakens then jumped into the air, rolled into a ball and plummeted towards the ground right on top of Fishlegs and Meatlug.
"Oh, Thor!" Fishlegs moaned.
Fortunately, Hiccup was able to grab them before they were squashed by the Quakens. Unfortunately, they were struck by the shockwave and were blown way off course, everyone the Dragon Riders were blown away by the shockwave.
Hiccup coughed and began to brush the dust of way. "Everybody in one piece?" he asked.
"I'm fine and so is Skull," Ragnar groaned on top of Skull.
The twins were stuck up in a tree.
"We're good over here," said Ruffnut. "Except, Barf took a branch to the eye."
Barf raises head reveal a very bloodshot eye and Hiccup and Ragnar just looked at it in slight disgust.
Tuffnut then made his way over to them. "Oh! You guys are a hot mess. But I can work with it," he said.
While Ragnar went to help with Barf's eye, Hiccup helped Fishlegs up.
"Fishlegs, what were you doing out there?" Hiccup asked. "You nearly got yourself pulverised."
"They relate more to the cruelty of their captors, than to the kindness of somebody who wants to help them," said Fishlegs in shock.
"You know, I had a cousin in Stockholm that that happened to once," said Tuffnut.
"Fishlegs, freeing these dragons isn't gonna be easy," said Hiccup. "Especially if they don't want to be freed. Those Quakens have obviously been in captivity for a very long time."
"We'll find a way to help those Quakens," Ragnar assured. "It won't be easy, but will find a way. It just might take some time."
Fishlegs sighed. "There has to be a way to get through to them somehow," he said.
"Maybe. But we might also have to accept that it may be too late to save them," said Hiccup grimly. Fishlegs stared at him and Hiccup gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Fishlegs."
A few minutes later, Ragnar was fitting and eyepatch with a specialised ointment on it over Barf's bad eye.
"Cool," said Ruffnut.
"The ointment that eyepatch should ease the swelling," said Ragnar.
Then suddenly there was a massive thud and the entire ground shook indicating that the Hunters had restarted their excavation of marble again.
"We can't let them keep excavation continue," said Hiccup. "Viggo definitely needs this marble for something big."
"But we also can't risk harming the Quakens," said Fishlegs.
"I hate to say it, but I think were stumped this time," said Ragnar.
Tuffnut then sniffed something in the air. "Ugh. Barf, your gas breath. Pop in a mint," he said looking at Barf with a firmed expression.
"Tuff, that's not Barf's breath," said Hiccup.
"Is it mine?" Ruffnut asked and began to smell her breath. "Mmm. Fish brains."
Belch sniffed her breath and then fainted.
"Come on, woman, and he been through another already?" said Tuffnut.
Hiccup, Ragnar and Fishlegs then saw a gas vein that had just appeared in front of them.
"It's a fissure. And gas?" Fishlegs frowned.
"And it doesn't look like that it was naturally made, look at the cracks," said Ragnar.
The entire island then rumbled.
"Quaken-related?" Tuffnut asked.
"No," said Hiccup. "That tremor wasn't Quaken-related. Not directly, at least."
"What you mean?" Fishlegs asked.
"Those area tremors that we thought were Quakens were actually the island's instability," Hiccup explained.
"Not surprising, given the fact that the Hunters are making the Quakens slam into the ground willy-nilly," said Ragnar.
"That's probably why those wild dragons were fleeing the island in the first place," said Fishlegs.
"Exactly," Hiccup nodded. "Like Ragnar said, the mining of the marble and the constant Quaken strikes are causing this island to become unstable."
"So, my breath is fine?" said Ruffnut.
"Ugh! Let's not get crazy," said Tuffnut. "You've got dragon breath. No offense, Barf."
"Fishlegs, maybe there is a way to stop this operation and get those Quakens off this island after all," said Hiccup.
Meanwhile, Astrid and the other Riders were still following the Dragon Hunter ships. They soon came to an island there was very familiar to all of them.
"Hey, does this place look familiar?" Snotlout asked pointing at the island.
"Yeah. Too familiar," said Heather.
"Viggo's base," Astrid gasped.
"I think we just figured out why Viggo need all that marble," said Snotlout looking towards the centre of the island.
In the centre of the island, they could see a large dome made of marble blocks.
"Look at that thing," said Heather in horror. "It's impenetrable."
"Almost impenetrable!" said Astrid pointing.
As they flew around they saw a gap in the dome which revealed Hunters still working on the dome inside. It appeared they were holding the dome by using marble pillars and they were setting up defences inside.
"What you say we make some renovations?" Snotlout asked with a smirk.
"For once, you actually didn't say something ridiculous and annoying," said Astrid.
"Aww, see? I knew we could make this work," said Snotlout.
Astrid rolled her eyes, she should have seen that one coming.
She then led them inside the dome and began blasting the inside. They were able to take up the catapults and net launches easy, but the marble blocks were another thing entirely.
"Hit them, Hookie!" Snotlout yelled and Hookfang fired a fire blast at one of the pillars, but it wasn't even singed. "It's not working."
"It's the marble!" Astrid yelled. "It must be impervious to dragon fire!"
"Then we need a different approach," said Heather.
She and Windshear flew down to one of the pillars and Windshear sliced tail on the marble, but it was as ineffective their fire attacks.
"Viggo's created the ultimate dragon-proof fortress," said Snotlout.
"We need to tell Hiccup what we found before another convoy arrives," said Astrid.
"One more shipment and this stronghold will be complete," said Heather.
"And no dragon will be able to get in. Or out of it."
Meanwhile at the quarry, the Hunters were still forcing the Quakens to estimate the marble, unaware of island's instability.
They only stopped working when, Toothless fired a plasma blast. They looked up and saw Hiccup and the other Riders on the edge of the quarry looking down at them.
"Shut down this quarry and leave while you can," said Hiccup. "Have you noticed the island's unstable?"
The Hunters looked at one another and then walked off.
"I knew you were reasonable," Hiccup smiled.
However, instead of leaving the quarry, they freed the Quakens from their chains. They then got the hammers ready and the Riders had a pretty good idea what they were going to order them to do.
"I don't think he's as reasonable as you think, Hiccup," said Tuffnut.
The Hunter then slammed his hammer into the ground and then pointed it straight at them. Immediately the two Quakens turned and looked up at them growling.
"Should have seen this one coming," said Ragnar.
"Everyone out!" Hiccup yelled.
The Quakens then rolled up into a ball and began rolling towards them. They just below the quarry ledge they were standing on and sent massive shockwaves across the ground knocking them off their feet. This of course created new fissures in the ground and gas exited from them.
"Okay, maybe the worst is over?" said Tuffnut hopefully. Then the ground shook violently. "I was wrong! Incorrect!"
The entire quarry began to cave in and the Hunters scattered and what was worse the cliffs of the island began to crumble away. The islands instability was spreading and they do know how long they had before the island sank into the sea.
Hiccup ran over to Toothless, but before he could mount him one of the Quakens flew up and rolled itself into a ball. Hiccup and Toothless took off, but they were caught by the shockwave and they fell into a fissure.
"Hiccup!" Fishlegs yelled.
Hiccup shook his head and looked up to see the Quaken looking down at him. Fortunately the fissure was too small for them to follow, but Hiccup did want to stay inside the fissure a moment longer. He quickly grabbed Toothless' original tailfin his satchel.
"Okay, bud, we can do this," he said as he switch the tailfins.
The Quaken roared at him and then fissure cracked under its weight. He then fell into the fissure and was completely submerged by rocks and was riding front of Hiccup and Toothless.
"Uh, Ragnar? Fishlegs?" said Hiccup.
The second Quaken then landed on the edge of the fissure and looked down into it. It was then that Ragnar and Fishlegs noticed that it wasn't attacking.
"You won't hurt your friend!" Fishlegs gasped.
"Makes sense, dragons do look out for one another," said Ragnar.
"Maybe there is a way to reach them then," said Fishlegs.
Then before Ragnar could stop him, he and Meatlug rushed out towards the Quaken. He then grabbed the hammer and looked firmly at the Quaken.
"Fishlegs! What are you doing?" Ragnar yelled.
"Reaching out to the Quakens!" Fishlegs yelled without turning his head. He then took in a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."
He then tapped the hammer onto the ground and the Quaken looked up at him. Fishlegs then raised his hand and rubbed it against Meatlug, who relaxed at his touch. The Quaken tilted its head, and familiar to this sort of treatment.
Fishlegs then pointed the hammer down to the fissure and Meatlug flew into it. The Quaken looked at Meatlug and then to Fishlegs, who raised his hand again. Fishlegs then pointed the hammer at the edge of the fissure.
The Quaken then took off into the air, rolled itself into a ball and smashed right into the fissures edge. This widens the fissure enough for the Quaken to join his friend and the two dragons looked at Hiccup, who was less than thrilled.
"Fishlegs!" Hiccup yelled.
The Quakens then looked at Fishlegs who raised his hammer up into the air. Then the two Quakens followed his command and flew out of the fissure. Fishlegs then pointed the hammer at the opposite side of the ledge and the Quakens landed exactly where he was pointing.
Then suddenly the entire ground began to shake, the excessive excavation caused by the Hunters had finally unstable the island and began to collapse in on itself.
"Now, Toothless!" Hiccup yelled as the fissure collapsed in on itself.
He quickly mounted Toothless and took off into the air with Meatlug following close behind.
Once they were out, Hiccup looked down at Fishlegs and Ragnar. "Guys, we need to get out of here," he said.
Fishlegs quickly turned to the Quaken and raised his hand. He then tapped his hammer onto the ground and the Quakens roared. He then mounted Meatlug and pointed the hammer upwards as Meatlug flew up into the sky.
The Quakens quickly followed him and Ragnar mounted Skull and took off into the sky as well. They left just in time, because the island began to collapse in on itself as gas from the fissures exited from the cracks all over the island.
The twins and their dragon had to get to the docks because Barf and Blech, were still too injured to fly. They were forced to jump into a row boat and sail away from the island as it sank.
They only just got out in time as a huge explosion emanated from the quarry on the island began to sink into the sea.
"Help!" Tuffnut yelled as he and his sister paddle for their lives.
Hiccup was looking back at the island's thinking how now skate they had when Astrid, Heather and Snotlout returned. The three of them were completely bewildered what had just happened.
"Uh, what happened to Barf and Belch? Why is the island sunk? And where did those two Quakens come from?" Snotlout asked bewildered. "I feel like we missed a lot."
"Hiccup, we know what Viggo wants the marble for," said Astrid. "He's building a dragon-proof stronghold."
"A stronghold?" Hiccup gasped. "We need a strike immediately."
"It won't do any good," said Heather. "Marble can withstand dragon fire."
"Um, Hiccup, I might have an idea of how we can take it down," said Fishlegs looking at the hammer he still was holding and to the two Quakens hovering behind him.
After Astrid groups failed attempt of destroying the fortress, the Hunters had armed themselves preparing for another attack.
"There you are," said a Hunter as he drew an arrow when he saw the Riders flying straight towards them.
Fishlegs was leading the charge he held the hammer up into the sky and pointed it straight at the stronghold. Instantly the Quakens charge straight towards the island, rolled straight into a ball and headed straight towards the ground.
The first Quaken struck the ground just beyond the defences the moment it made contacted sent a powerful shockwave that blew the Hunters and their defences away. The second one soon joined the first and they both ground straight at the stronghold.
Fishlegs then hovered directly above the stronghold with his hammer high up in the air. He then pointed the again on the stronghold and the Quakens rolled into a ball and rolled straight at the stronghold. They went straight through it like a raging yak and began bouncing around smashing through the pillars and the outer walls.
The Riders watched as the dome fell inwards and the Quakens standing outside the crumbling stronghold, who were roaring at the top of their voices. The marble blocks were now crushed, preventing the Hunters from recreating the stronghold answer is they foolishly destroyed the island they got the marble from there was no way they can completed.
The Quakens then made their way over to Fishlegs, no doubt wanting to know what their next orders were.
"No. No more work," said Fishlegs.
He then dropped the hammer onto the ground and held his hand out. This time the Quakens placed their snouts into the palm of his hand as a form of respect.
Hiccup smiled at his friend. "You did it, Fishlegs."
"But how many more dragons like these does he have out there?" Fishlegs frowned.
"If they're out there, we'll find them and free them," Hiccup assured. He then placed a hand on Fishlegs shoulder. "Now, take us to Dark Deep. It's either these Quakens to enjoy their retirement. I'd say they earn it."
"Seriously, is someone gonna tell me where those two Quakens came from?" Snotlout asked.
Later that evening, Viggo returned to his headquarters to marvel at his new stronghold. However when he and Ryker got there all they found was a crumble of marble blocks.
"Viggo, how?" said Ryker staring at what remained of their stronghold.
Viggo glared, for he knew the culprit. "Hiccup. This is becoming all too familiar, brother. But I promise… it ends now."