Chapter Thirty Seven

Panic settled in fast as Cloudjumper narrowly avoided getting turned into a frozen Stormcutter by the dark Bewilderbeast. But then his tail got frozen and Valka was thrown off. Hiccup and Aniu exchanged knowing looks and both nodded in agreement. This needed to end, now.

As the pair flew off towards Drago, Aniu could see Stoick rescuing Valka and the two of them running to avoid getting attacked. Aniu sent a silent prayer to the Gods that they would both make it out of this safely. The situation was getting far worse than she could have imagined. More and more dragons were being pulled by the dark Bewilderbeast's call. Even she was having trouble focusing under it's influence. Luckily Toothless and Cybele hadn't been taken under it's control, but Aniu knew it was only a matter of time.

"Stop!" Drago spun around in time to see their Night Furies land in front of him.

"This madness ends now!" Aniu added, her eyes narrowed with fury. Drago stared at them for a few seconds before suddenly laughing, catching them both off guard. He'd seen Aniu before, but not Hiccup. She suspected he wasn't expecting Hiccup of all people to be a 'dragon master'.

"These are the two Dragon Masters of Berk?" he asked in disbelief, earning a look of surprise and confusion from Aniu. "The son of Stoick the Vast and some wild child? What shame he and his tribe must feel."

"You are going to pay for that!" Aniu shouted in Dragonese, this time earning a look of surprise from Drago. She desperately wanted to fire an arrow straight at his heart for everything he did. If she had the chance, she would take the shot.

"All of this loss and for what? To become unstoppable? To rule the world?" Hiccup asked him, trying to reason with the madman. Aniu was well aware of Drago's cold eyes falling upon her. A shiver ran through her as she imagined what sort of sick thoughts were running through his mind. If he had any at all. "Dragons, they are kind, amazing creatures that can bring people together," Hiccup added in a hopeful tone. Drago seemed to listen as he looked at Hiccup thoughtfully, but than his attitude went back to that of a madman once more.

"Or tear them apart," he sneered, and than he unhooked his prosthetic left arm. Hiccup and Aniu could only gape at the stump that made what was left of his arm in disbelief. "You see, I know what it is to live in fear. To see my village burnt, my family taken. But even as a boy left with nothing, I vowed to live above the fear of dragons, and liberate the people of this world," he explained while walking around them in a circle.

Aniu hadn't missed the way Drago was staring at her. It was as if he saw her as his next prize. Someone who could speak to dragons would certainly prove useful in a dragon army. She couldn't help but wonder if capturing and controlling all the dragons would satisfy him enough. From what she could gather, Drago was intent on controlling the entire archipelago and beyond.

"Then why a dragon army?" Hiccup asked, breaking her thoughts.

"Well, you need dragons to conquer other dragons," Drago replied.

"The dragons won't be put under your control," Aniu snapped, letting her anger rise to boiling point. Drago had hurt countless dragons because of this stupid battle. And now he planned on controlling them! She wasn't going to let that happen! "They have more heart than you ever will."

"Or maybe you need dragons to conquer people, to control those who follow you, and rid of those who don't," Hiccup added, his face set with determination.

"Clever, both of you," Drago replied.

Aniu felt her heart sink when she saw a flash of hope in Hiccup's eyes. If he thought Drago could be reasoned with, he had another thing coming for him. She saw the mad gleam in Drago's eyes. The hunger he had for power and to control those who couldn't be controlled.

"The world wants peace," Hiccup tried reasoning with him again. "And we have the answer on Berk. Just let us show you—"

"No. Let me show you!" Suddenly he raised his bull hook in the air and started swinging it again. Then he started screaming like the madman that he was, and it dawned on me that he was summoning the dark Bewilderbeast. Hiccup and Aniu had backed away once they realized the Bewilderbeast was approaching them. Once he had arrived, Drago slammed his bullhook to the ground. At once the Bewilderbeast bowed his head submissively. Just another sign of proof that Drago had abused this dragon beyond repair. "No dragon can resist the Alpha's command. So he who controls the Alpha, controls them all," Drago said, pointing his bullhook at Toothless and Cybele.

That's when everything went from bad to worse. Aniu felt her heart racing with panic when she saw Cybele and Toothless struggling with the Bewilderbeast's call. Even she could feel it's pull as the two Night Furies continued fighting him off.

"No, I won't hurt my sister!" Cybele moaned frantically as she shook her head.

"Toothless? You okay, bud? What's going on?" Hiccup asked warily when Toothless started moaning and whining.

"Can't… shake him off." They were now grinding their heads against the ice, moaning in agony. It was painful to watch, especially when Aniu could hear what they were desperately trying to shake off. The pull was strong, and she herself struggled against the Alpha's will.

"Witness true strength. The strength of will over others," Drago sneered as he watched their reactions. "Now let us see what the Alpha can do to those who speak with dragons."

She could hear the voice that was buzzing in her head. Aniu felt a rush of panic when she realized it was telling her to kill. Kill the very ones who were defending the dragons. Kill anyone who stood in her path and defied Drago's word.

"Aniu?" Hiccup asked when he realized something was wrong. "Aniu, what's wrong?" Drago than pointed his bullhook at Toothless and Cybele with a look that said everything.

"In the face of it… you two are nothing." Then he pointed his bullhook towards Hiccup.

And it took everything she had not to finish what the Bewilderbeast had started. Aniu struggled against her own willpower as she stared at the face of true terror. To be controlled was like nothing she had ever faced. And to make matters worse, both Cybele and Toothless were under the dark Bewilderbeast's influence. Their eyes were void of any emotion as the dark Bewilderbeast gained control over them.

"Uh, what did he just tell you to do?" Hiccup asked nervously.

"To kill." Aniu's voice was barely a whisper, but Hiccup heard it loud and clear. She had regained her senses, but the pull of the dark Bewilderbeast was strong. She needed to keep fighting it off if she wanted to keep control over her actions.

What horrified her the most was seeing the dark void in Cybele's slanted eyes. She and Toothless were advancing on them menacingly. And with nowhere to go but back, Hiccup and Aniu suddenly found themselves backing against a wall of ice. This was pure madness. To see her sister acting this way was nothing Aniu could anticipate.

"Toothless, what's the matter with you? What're you doing?" Hiccup was now growing frantic, and he was clearly hoping his voice could break the Bewilderbeast's call.

"Cybele, you have to fight it," Aniu added in Dragonese, hoping that would be enough. "Please, come back to us."

That was when they opened their mouths, and Aniu could hear the gas building up as the prepared to fire plasma blasts. Any minute now and they would fire. Aniu and Hiccup were sitting targets. She was suddenly aware that things couldn't get much worse. Drago now had control over their Night Fury friends. And he had almost gained control over her. She wasn't sure if she could fight off the Alpha's pull again if he tried.

"Stop! Snap out of it!" both Hiccup and Aniu shouted at the same time, now both completely overwhelmed with fear.

Their attempts were ending in miserable failure. Both Toothless and Cybele were preparing the final strike. Aniu had stopped begging when she realized it was hopeless. Hiccup, on the other hand, wouldn't stop trying.

Reality only just dawned on Aniu that she had escaped death several times. She was lucky to have survived at all after the battle with the Red Death. She was even luckier that the dragons had taken her in rather than hurt her when she stumbled upon their nest. This time she wouldn't be so lucky. She was bracing herself for the pain that would follow when the sound of Stoick's voice suddenly caught her attention.

"Hiccup!" the Chief shouted.

No! Aniu couldn't believe that Stoick would risk his own life to save hers. Then she realized his eyes were on Hiccup.

"Stop!" Hiccup shouted frantically at the top of his lungs as Toothless and Cybele readied their plasma blasts.

"Son!" Stoick yelled once again, and this time Aniu stopped him.

"Stoick, don't come any closer!" she called back.

"Dad!" Hiccup held up one arm and tried to stop his father from getting any closer, but by than it was too late. That was when Toothless and Cybele fired their plasma blasts.

It all happened so fast that Aniu wasn't sure how to react. One second Aniu was bracing herself for the pain, and the next she was slamming face-first into a pile of snow. Aniu whirled around in time to see Cybele and Toothless were still under the dark Bewilderbeast's influence. They were panting, their chests heaving from the huge amount of firepower they just released.

Time felt as if it had slowed down when Aniu saw someone covered in a pile of ice shards. Her heart nearly skipped a beat with horror when she saw who that someone was.

"No," Hiccup breathed out as he scrambled to his feet and rushed over to his father's side. "Dad!" he cried out as they struggled to clear the ice off of his father.

Aniu couldn't speak even if she wanted to. Her mind went numb with shock as she tried to piece what had happened. She desperately wished there was a way she could have turned back time, make it so that she was in the line of fire instead of Stoick.

Her heart was pounding with dread as she realized that Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk, was dead. The very man who had used her as bait to find the dragon's nest. The very one she had forgiven despite all the horror he had put her through. She couldn't believe this was happening. She didn't want to believe that it was.

Valka and the others had finally seen what had happened and rushed over to provide Hiccup what little comfort they could give. Aniu was too shaken to move. Finally Aniu was able to hear the sound of dragon feet shuffling towards them, and she turned to see that Toothless and Cybele had broken out of their trance. Aniu let out a yelp of surprise when Cybele pressed her snout against her hand.

"Aniu?" Cybele asked in confusion.

I'm not afraid of her, am I? Aniu wondered as she realized she was pushing her sister and best friend away. The shock of what had happened was almost too much to handle. And it was all because of what Drago and his dark Bewilderbeast had told them to do this.

Cybele and Toothless had started approaching Stoick after realizing something was wrong with him.

"No, how could I have done this?" Toothless whimpered as he tried pressing his snout against Stoick's lifeless hand. "I'm so sorry…" But Hiccup was already pushing him away out of grief.

"No! Get away from him!" he yelled, rage evident in his face and tone.

Toothless and Cybele just looked as if they had been kicked in the side, their innocent faces showing signs of pure shock.

"We didn't mean to," Cybele whimpered as she backed away.

"Go on! Get out of here! Go away!" Hiccup continued shouting, tears streaming down his face.

Aniu wasn't sure she could have stopped him even if she wanted to. She was still in a state of shock over the fact that Cybele had tried to kill her. Would Cybele have done that had she not left Berk? Would their bond have been strong enough to fight the dark Bewilderbeast's pull? Guilt stabbed at her heart as the two Night Furies whimpered and ran away.

"It's not their fault… you know that," Valka told him softly as the dark Bewilderbeast unleashed it's hypnotic spell once again, calling all of the dragons this time, including all of the Riders who had fought alongside them.

That was when Aniu had had enough. Her hands were shaking with rage, grief and guilt as she stood up and glared daggers at Drago Bludvist. He was going to suffer for what he had done today. Drago didn't know the meaning of real pain. Not until he felt what she had suffered for the last twenty years.

Without a second thought, she suddenly charged after Drago when he claimed Toothless as his prize, and Cybele was by his side. Drago's triumphant smirk turned to a look of shock when Aniu slugged him right in the nose.

"I've always wondered what my men were droning on about when they spoke up a wild child," Drago sneered as he recovered from the blow. "They acted like raving lunatics, the lot of them. But now I can see that you are more dragon than human."

"You're nothing but a monster," she spat the words out while reaching for her bow and arrow, until realizing with a start that she had run out of arrows.

"You're out of options, and I'm running out of patience." Drago suddenly grabbed Aniu by the wrist, hard, and gave her a malicious grin. "She who speaks with dragons can be controlled by dragons. I will make sure of that."

No! Fear suddenly wormed it's way into her heart as she imagined what it would be like under the Bewilderbeast's influence. The Bewilderbeast of the Sanctuary had never tried controlling the dragons, and while she had felt a comforting buzz, it was nothing like the forceful pull she felt now.

"Aniu, you have to fight it!" She froze at the sound of Zena's voice. Zena and the rest of the Riders had joined Hiccup and Valka when their dragons were taken away by Drago. It was bad enough to lose their dragons, but to lose one of their own to that monster's control would only make things worse. "Don't let him turn you into a mindless beast!"

Drago's eyes narrowed with hate when he realized that it was working. It took everything Aniu had to ignore the pull. But she managed to evade it, only to feel his iron grip around her throat. Drago glared at her furiously.

"You're nothing more than a worthless worm," he snapped after suddenly tossing her.

Aniu hardly had time to think as she collided with someone, not even realizing that someone happened to be Hiccup. She was gasping for breath and sat up in time to see Drago leave with all the dragons, Toothless and Cybele included among them.

"Cybele! No!" Aniu cried out as she watched her sister follow blindly. She struggled back to her feet and tried following her best friend/sister, only to feel a firm grab her and pull her back. "I can't let her be controlled by that monster!"

A combination of grief, guilt and pain became too much for her. Stoick and Cybele were gone… and now Drago was planning on invading Berk… Aniu wasn't sure if things could get any worse than this. The others had kept their distance as Hiccup wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. Eret had one hand on Astrid's shoulder as she fought back the tears that were threatening to overwhelm her. Snotlout looked as if he was ready to break down from the emotional turmoil they were facing.

"Good dragons under the control of bad people… do bad things," Valka explained as she too felt an overwhelming sense of grief.

All that kept running through Aniu's mind was that she had failed in protecting the dragons. She had failed, and was reduced to nothing.

AN: Well, I planned on making this different from all my other stories, but hopefully not too different from the original movie. As for whether or not Drago can control Aniu, that isn't necessarily going to happen. At least, not in this story ;) Thank you MMM and dracologistmaster for reviewing!

MMM - I actually do plan on making a sequel, and was thinking of delving into Aniu's past... at least for the first half of the story. As for how the plot will go, I've already got a vague idea as to what will be posted... it's just a matter of writing out the outline and seeing where I go from there :) Thank you for the suggestions, though.