Thirty-Five: Fallen

The twins were sprinting fast through the forest, grateful for once that Astrid had punished them for their mischief by making them run. Ten minutes earlier, they had seen the first Outcast boats pull up onto Thor's Beach and they had done what they had been ordered to do and left. Though they had yelled for their dragon as they had raced back towards the village.

Both the twins had been silent, running furiously until they had broken through the forest and out into the top of the village.

"OUTCASTS!" Britt yelled. "They've pulled up on Thor's beach!"

"We saw four ships!" Odd-Knut added breathlessly. "The first two were already landed…"

There was a pause and Spitelout sighed.

"This isn't a funny prank," he complained.

"It's not a prank!" Odd-Knut retorted. "We were asked to watch out for the Outcasts-because Hiccup knew the watch on Thor's Beach would be dropped as soon as the Chief left the island! And they're here and heading this way!"

"While almost all of the warriors are off the island," Mrs Larson commented, looking up at Spitelout. "What are we going to do?" The man looked over to his wife and daughter and then he smiled.

"We have nothing to fear," he assured them. "My son will be with them. All they will do is restore things to how they should be…no dragons and Snotlout as the Heir to Berk. As long as we don't fight them, there will be nothing to fear."

"Nothing to fear?" Mrs Gunnarson yelled. "They're Outcasts! They were thrown out for committing heinous crimes. Their leader has sworn revenge on the whole of Berk! You have to protect us!" Spitelout shook his head.

"My orders are to remain calm and not to fight!" Spitelout growled. But the twins shared a glance and whistled. Instantly, Puff and Blast appeared, landing protectively in front of the two youngsters.

"And anyone who wants to, can come with us-now," Britt announced. "Hiccup had this planned. He wants the families of the Riders out of the village-and anyone else is welcome…" Spitelout scowled and lunged at the rebellious Gunnarsons but the Zippleback swatted him away with her double tail and growled fiercely. The young girl stared at her mother and sibling. "We gotta go, Mom!" Marta Ingerman stared at Spitelout for a long moment, her cool blue-green eyes scathing.

"Stoick would be ashamed of you-and so would your father," she said and turned away after the twins. Mrs Larson rounded up her younger children and grabbed a shawl, a blanket and a bag of food while Hilde's mother-a solid woman who was an older image of her daughter-hefted a small barrel of salted boar over her shoulder and trudged up the hill. A few of the other mothers with children shepherded their offspring away, trying to soothe them despite the urgency of the situation while Spitelout watched. It was only when Gerda moved that he grabbed her arm and restrained her, his face falling into a cruel scowl.

"Those nobodies can go all they want-but you are standing by my side for the return go our son and his ascension to the Chiefdom of Berk!" he hissed. At his side, Else gave a furious look at her mother, almost as if she was an enemy, but Gerda was unrepentant.

"You really think that Alvin the Treacherous will just let our son be ruler of Berk when it's a prize he has coveted for decades?" she snapped, her eyes shining with anger. "You've sold us out to the Outcasts for your own gain. And that, my husband is called treason!"

"Treason? Now that's somethin' I approve of!" A wheezing voice ran down the Plaza and the small number of remaining Hooligans looked up as Knut the Disappointing emerged, followed by a huge shape with massive wild black beard, scarred face and cruel black eyes. "Ooh, this seems ter be a bit awkward. I thought yer were a welcomin' party fer me and little Snotlout 'ere! Was I mistaken?" Spitelout looked up and forced a grin onto his suddenly-pale face, his blue eyes searching for the stocky shape of his son, who emerged smugly from behind the Outcast leader.

"Not at all," he announced brashly. "Alvin the Treacherous-welcome to Berk!"

oOo

"Did anyone hear that?" Gustav asked, his eyes flicking over the other dragon riders. "Um…it sounds awfully like a large dragon."

"I thought it was supposed to be killed!" Tiril yelled.

"Entombed!" Hiccup shouted back. "It was supposed to be entombed because I wasn't sure I could think of anything that could kill a dragon about a hundred feet high!"

"Now he tells us!" Tiril yelled back.

"Actually, he told us right at the start!" Yaklegs shouted at her.

"That doesn't help right now!" she yelled back. A chunk of rock the size of a longboat fell off the side of the mountain, sendin up a huge cloud of black dust. Fishlegs was starting to panic.

"Oh Thor, oh Thor, oh Thor," he whispered as a louder roar sounded.

"This is not the time to panic!" Astrid told him briskly as her knuckles whitened around her axe. Another huge crack opened in the side of the mountain.

"I think we may have made him really mad," Tuff commented helpfully. "We're good at that!"

"But this was Hiccup's idea," Ruff pointed out. "Do you think…he's come over to our side. To the God of Mischief? He's joined the ways of Loki?"

"No, no I really haven't!" Hiccup shouted back at her. The roar sounded, closer.

"I really think now is the time to panic!" Fishlegs yelled.

"I'm with my brother!" Yaklegs added.

"Okay, I think we have to accept that dropping half a mountain on it hasn't stopped it. At all. So it's time for plan B," Hiccup announced as his wife cast him a jaded look.

"And what's that, babe?" she demanded.

"Working on it!" was the hasty reply. "Everyone, back away from the mountain! Dad…get the warriors back…" Toothless flapped lower...and to his surprise, he saw Stoick was smiling. "Dad?"

"It's okay, son," Stoick told him, his eyes filled with definite pride. "You gave it your best shot. It looks like we're going to have to do this the Viking way!"

"But the Viking way will get you all killed!" Hiccup replied desperately. "That thing will crush you like ants!"

"Then it crushes us-but not without a fight!" the Chief tools him firmly.

"Thor-what was I thinking?" Hiccup said suddenly, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I've got you all killed…"

"Don't say that!" Astrid and Stoick shouted together.

"You were thinking like a Chief!" his father told him proudly. "You used everything in your power to fight against the enemy that has been attacking us without mercy for three hundred years! And it was a glorious explosion, son! It just…wasn't quite enough. But I couldn't have been more proud of how you have conducted yourself-as a Viking and as a Dragon rider. And when I go to Valhalla, I will still be proud of you!" Lifting his chin, Hiccup's emerald eyes hardened in determination.

"That isn't going to happen," he said firmly.

"No, I really do think I ought to go to Valhalla. I'm a Chief, you see…" Stoick tried to explain.

"Well, yes, obviously…but not today!" Hiccup told him. "Dad…when it breaks out, can you distract it. I want it not focussed on the dragons so we can get a proper look at it. But if it comes towards you, break and head for the ships, okay?"

"But I…"

"Head for the ships!" Hiccup insisted and his father gave a curt nod as the young Viking flapped upwards to the other riders.

"You with us, babe?" Astrid asked him and he nodded, staring at the crack which was practically ripping the side of the mountain in half.

"To the end," he promised. "Brace yourselves and back away when it emerges. It can eat any one of us in one bite!" Below them, the Vikings were roaring and jeering at the mountain as it finally shattered and hatched a monstrous beast, stone grey with red spines down the side of its head and along its back. The huge head was topped by a bony frill and three small, mad eyes gleamed at each side of its head. Four solid, trunk-like legs held up the massive body and wings were tented above the back while the club-like tail cracked the rocks as it lumbered out, roaring its displeasure.

"Wow-it really does look mad," Gustav commented.

"Um…bigger than I had realised," Hiccup murmured. Toothless gave a challenging roar and the dragon snapped its head round. Instantly, it was met by a hail of catapult fire, rocks the size of a man hammering into its head-and bouncing off harmlessly. But the dragon turned her furious attention to the attackers and slammed a paw down on the nearest catapult. Instantly, a dozen more rocks cracked into her face and she roared, then lowered her head. Hiccup could hear the hissed intake of air and Toothless urgently shot upwards.

"GET DOWN!" he shouted. Stoick looked up-and saw the dragon's mouth glow.

"INTO THE WATER!" he bellowed and the Hooligans raced to the waterline, diving into the sea as a tsunami of fire exploded across the beach, shattering the catapults and killing two older warriors too slow to get out of the way-one of them Ulric the Wide. Stoick glanced up through the water at the world glowing golden with flame and stayed down until the glow faded and it was safe to emerge. Around him, the heads of his Tribe were popping up.

"Are yer okay, Stoick?" Gobber asked, concentrating. Though he didn't allow his disabilities to slow him down, his hammer hand which he had donned for battle really wasn't designed for swimming and was weighing him down badly. Absently, Stoick grabbed under the prosthetic and kicked strongly, taking them both back to shore.

"Is everyone safe?" he asked. There was a pause.

"Ulric and Sven the Yakfaced have been cremated," Phlegma replied.

"The catapults are gone," Lars the Swift added.

"Thank Thor that boy of yours told us to move the boats or they would all have been destroyed as well," Hoark added. Stoick nodded wordlessly, his eyes sliding up to the eight dragons hovering above the monster.

"Thor help him now," he murmured. "Withdraw!" he called louder. "Swim along the beach and get out past that promontory. My son and his riders will draw the dragon away. Getting killed won't help anyone!"

"I really think NOW is the time to panic," Fishlegs insisted.

"Well, before you do, can you analyse the dragon for me?" Hiccup asked him shortly as the husky young man huffed and scanned the dragon, swiftly flying around it as Gustav, Hilde, Tiril and the twins buzzed around the dragon, making noise to distract it and firing shots to make it mad.

"Large head and tail for bashing and clubbing. Small eyes so it probably relies on other senses. Huge size suggests flight will be limited or clumsy. Probably a Stoker class. Can I go now?"

"Distract the dragon," Hiccup said. "It seems less intelligent than our dragons." Toothless made a grumbling sound. "Yes, I know it's way stupider than you, bud. But it makes up for it in anger. It can really focus on one thing…so lets get it to focus on you guys."

"We'll distract it!" Hilde volunteered, grasping Hookfang's horns together. "C'mon, Gustav." The black-haired teen grinned.

"Monstrous Nightmares rule!" he yelled and both the dragons burst into flames as they swooped at the head. The monster snapped at them, but both dodged and slammed in its face. Fishlegs had Meatlug cough a mouthful of lava into its face but it shook its head and the molten rock sprayed away.

"Figures it would be lava proof, from living in a volcano," Hiccup commented and then he beckoned Astrid and Tiril over. "It has six eyes and no blind spots. It clearly uses its vision to lock in on targets…" He looked into his wife's eyes. "Can you get Stormfly to fire spines into its eyes? To blind it?" She looked into his eyes and took a wary breath: that Hiccup, who cared for dragons, was willing to go this far told her how seriously he took the situation. She nodded.

"If you feel we need to," she admitted. Tiril sighed and nodded as well.

"Jadespine isn't as accurate as Stormfly but we'll try," she admitted. The younger girl hadn't spent as much time training with her dragon and certainly hadn't put in anywhere near as many drills as Astrid had in controlling her dragon's weaponry. "I'll follow your lead…"

Stormfly shot up and flipped round with the green Nadder behind her and then she fired a volley of shines, impaling two of the eyes facing her. The Chief gave a shattering roar and snapped at the Nadder as Tiril whipped round and another spray of spines rained down onto the other trio of eyes. Another two were impaled and yellowish fluid poured down its face. Stormfly flipped on a wingtip and Astrid slapped her hand onto the back of her head. The blue and gold Nadder launched a single spine that buried a single spine deep in the remaining eye on 'her' side.

Thrashing around furiously, the Chief roared and flamed hugely, the edge catching Jadespine's wing. The Nadder shrieked and lurched sideways, flapping desperately as she landed heavily, pitching Tiril onto the black sands. She glanced up-and then screamed and rolled away as a huge foot missed her by less than a foot. Scrambling up, she headed towards Jadespine but Yaklegs swooped down and scooped her onto the Gronckle as Hilde zipped down and snatched Jadespine away before the little Nadder could be crushed. The twins zipped around and blasted the Chief's face and it snapped blindly at them, roaring and exerting her power like an insidious blanket over the beach. Instantly, Stoneskin grew sluggish and Hookfang gave an irritable roar and began to fight Hilde.

"She's controlling them!" Astrid yelled and Hiccup leaned forward.

"Okay, bud-I think it's up to us," he murmured and Toothless warbled, then shot up, flipping round in a tight roll and arrowing down fast towards the Chief. The Night Fury whistle sounded through the beach as the pair arrowed down and Toothless fired furiously, a huge impact slamming the monster dragon back against the remains of the mountain. Another slab half the size of the monster fell to the floor, sending up greyish dust that billowed around the creature.

"Get back!" Astrid shouted to the other riders as Hiccup swooped round and Toothless fired again. She staggered and flamed wildly, causing all the dragons to duck but Toothless whipped round again and a huge plasma blast slammed into her side, causing her to crash against the mountain. There was a huge roar and half the mountainside collapsed, rocks the size of houses and ships tumbling away like pebbles, exposing the hollow heart of the volcano. But as the mountain crumbled, Hiccup realised there were three tall jagged needles of black basalt jutting amid the chaos, standing like spears against the sky. The mountain shuddered and smoke poured from the cone. Enraged, the dragon staggered up and unfolded its wings.

"Come on, bud-let's see if it can manage to fly," Hiccup said as they buzzed past it again, the black shape zooming through the last vestiges of its vision, the shriek of wings cutting air causing the dragon to snap futilely after them. It roared and wings hundreds of feet wide flapped and lifted the huge body off the ground. "Okay-Fish reckons she won't be anywhere near as good as you. Shall we check that out, bud?"

Toothless rolled his eyes, his head streamlined as he accelerated, huge wings propelling the pair faster away. But though the Chief Dragon wasn't fast, it had huge wings and every flap was equivalent to many of Toothless's-so it closed at a shocking rate. The whistle of Toothless's wings meant the dragon could track them, even if it was almost blind now…but it was so angry it was going to chase them to the ends of the world. Hiccup glanced over his shoulder: they were slaloming through the sea stacks but the Chief was just barging through them, for her size meant she turned slowly and had huge momentum. And though she was tough, she wasn't indestructible.

They're not fireproof on the inside…and she isn't completely invulnerable. Sure, she can sit inside a volcano…but a big enough, tough enough weapon would piece her hide…

"Let's go into the clouds, bud," he said, pulling back on the saddle. "See how mad she is at us!" So Toothless swooped round, shot her again and then arrowed directly up. The other Riders stared in shock as the huge dragon roared and flapped unerringly after them. The thick, roiling clouds enfolded them and they vanished from sight.

In the cloud, Hiccup and Toothless circled, seeing the dragon slow and they realised she used her sight far more than Fishlegs had realised. In the stench of the volcano, the senses of smell and touch were useless and sound was limited. She was almost blind and they were dark and stealthy.

She can't slow down well…too much momentum…

He swung Toothless round. "Can you blast some holes in her wings, bud?" he murmured. "They don't look as tough as the rest of her…" And I want to see how well she lands at full speed from a few thousand feet…

The Night Fury nodded once and spun round, diving in to strike, a narrow plasma blast punching a hole in one wing before stabbing one in the other on the way back. Back and forth they swooped, slicing her wings up until she exhaled a river of flames around, the blast knocking them sideway. Hiccup groaned, pain lancing through his arm as he saw his sleeve was on fire, Frantically, he slapped the flames out and as he did so, he nodded.

"Time to go," he murmured and Toothless gave an approving grumble, whipping past her one remaining eye as he blasted her one more and then dived downwards. There was a roar and they could feel the huge displacement of air as she dropped after them, her huge wings barely flapping as she allowed gravity to speed her closer and closer to the fleeing black dragon and his human friend. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw her closing and he drew a deep breath.

Okay, this is seriously crazy. I mean twins crazy. Worthy of a saga? Possibly? Worthy of a place in Valhalla? Oh, I really hope so…because I'm not sure we can get away. But…those columns were tough enough to survive us blowing up the volcano, her breaking out of the mountain and then it falling apart. Maybe…they are tough enough to break her?

And she's not fireproof on the inside…but she has to be full of gas or whatever they use to create flame…

I wish I could have spent longer with Astrid…

"Angle us towards the mountain, bud," he commanded without a second of hesitation and they rolled, drawing the dragon over so they were heading directly down into the huge crater where the side of the mountain had fallen. The Chief was closing and Hiccup could hear the dragon iron its mouth and take a breath. The chemical stench of gases filled its throat and Toothless flipped round.

"NOW!" he yelled as the Night Fury fired deep into he dragon's throat, prematurely igniting the gases. The flames sped back, through its body to the gas chambers. The ground was coming up and Toothless rolled, trying to get out of the way as the dragon spread its wings, the membranes ripping apart around the rents and failing to slow the dragon at all. Astrid sat on Stormfly with the other riders hovering around her, Tiril sitting behind Yaklegs with Jadespine safely suspended in Hookfang's claws and the others all watching as the black shape of the Night Fury flittered up past the huge head with the flames raging from its mouth as the dragon impacted, the basalt pillars impaling its huge shape. Flames roared from the body where the basalt needles pierced it as the dragon finally slammed into the ground. An explosion blew the dragon apart, the club tail arching up in a terminal jerk and slamming Hiccup and Toothless apart as the explosion blasted them away.

Astrid ducked as flames and debris washed over the riders and all the dragons raised their wings to protect their riders…but Toothless was tumbling end over end, crashing into a seastack and dropping into the sea. And Hiccup was tossed like a leaf on the wind, flying limp and helpless to splash into the waters of the bay…and sink.

"HICCUP!" Astrid's yell echoed through the bay as Stormfly arrowed into the sky, heading straight and true for the spot where Hiccup had fallen. But flying beside her were the twins on their Zippleback.

"Get Hiccup," Tuff said in a low voice. "We'll grab T!" And they peeled away to dive into the water, emerging with the limp Night Fury hanging from their dragon. Meanwhile, Astrid hovered over the sea, peering for any signs of her husband before patting the dragon and taking a deep breath-and then they dived in.

The water was freezing and her eyes were stinging from the salt but Stormfly undulated down, using her wings to skull deeper. And in the distance, sliding further and further away was the limp and battered shape of Hiccup. His eyes were closed, his limbs limp and his water-darkened hair framing his slack face. Pointing, she urged the dragon on and Stormfly swum deeper-until Astrid could grab his hand and pull him against her…but the Nadder was already swimming up to the greying surface and then flapping them up from the water. Astrid's breath hitched, her arms closing tight around the unconscious shape in her arms. Hiccup was limp and still, blood smeared on his face and a leg mangled from the explosion. Swiftly, they swung round and landed on a patch of sand, some way from the burning remains of the Chief Dragon. The stench of charred flesh filled the air but Astrid slid down, laying Hiccup flat in his back.

Gently resting a hand on his cheek, she saw his lips were blue and a sob thickened her throat, but she shook him and then, recalling something her mother had once told her, she pressed hard on his chest…and again…and water bubbled from his mouth and nose. Then, praying she recalled it right, she placed her mouth over his and breathed hard into his mouth. And again. After the third time, he coughed pitifully, water trickling from his mouth and he began to breathe once more.

She never heard the other riders land, never heard the thud of feet as they dismounted or the worried croons of dragons. Nor the panting breaths of Stoick and Gobber as they arrived by the injured young man. All she heard was the wondrous rasp of his breaths and the occasional cough that told her the one thing she had prayed for. She looked up, unashamed of the tears on her cheeks.

"Hiccup is alive."