AN: My goodness, this is so LOOOONG. Please enjoy this chapter, I hope this beast's length is enough to make up for the two weeks without updates. I've been crazy busy and this chapter was a bit more than I could handle in that time. Anyways, enjoy!
REVIEWERS!:
yaoiprincess101: Glad to hear it! There's plenty more where that came from! Yeah, it took me a little while to decide who Edna's victim would be, but I just kept coming back to Snotlout!
Acecove: Yep, yep! The lovebirds will get more action, promise. Don't worry, I promise there will be plenty of friendship angst to come, and that Rapunzel's exclusion of Hiccup was not accidental or just because she forgot. She most definitely has not forgotten. *Pterodactyl screeching*. Poor Snotlout, but yeah, I couldn't pass it up.
Eris: Thank you, glad you liked it! All answers that will be given soon ;)
NOTES: Uneasy lies the Head that wears the Crown.
Chapter 18: The Brethren Court
Every Pirate Lord responded to Eret and Esmeralda's Call within a week of it being sent out. Getting all of the Captains in the same place, however, took quite a bit longer. The Archipelago winter froze over large parts of the ocean, causing delays and forcing sailors onto land for weeks at a time. By the time the cold season finally released it's fierce grip to softer freeze and all of the passages were open once again, word had come that another one of the Pirate Lords had fallen to the Prime Minister. He managed to keep his life, but had lost both of his eyes and relinquished his claim to the title 'Pirate Lord'.
With only seven out of nine Captains left, the rest were determined to continue with the agreement of the meeting. Pirates from every corner of every sea rushed to the sanctuary called Tortuga, eager to even hear of the proceedings that would make history as the Third Gathering of the Brethren Court.
It was midday when the last of the Pirate Lords finally arrived on the docks of Tortuga, and by sunset they were crowded together with their crews in a small and stuffy meeting hall. Cat and Talia stood off to the side with Eret as Esmeralda took the lead, calling the meeting to order.
"As she who issued summons', I convene this: The Third Brethren Court!" Esmeralda proclaimed, followed by lots of muttering and talking as the Lords' took their seats at the long table, their crews standing behind them. "To confirm your Lordship, and Right to be Heard, present now your pieces of eight, my fellow Captains!"
Esmeralda lifted her foot to the seat of her own chair and bent to remove the anklet she was wearing, placing it into the dish that her firstmate carried to each of the Pirate Lords as they pulled out bits and pieces from any which place. Alvin the Treacherous pulled out a dragon tooth tied with a leather thong, John Silver pulled out his own glass eye, and so on and so forth.
Talia leaned over, her lip curling in confusion. "Those aren't pieces of eight. They're just random pieces of junk." She whispered to Eret, who chuckled.
"Aye, the original plan was to use nine pieces of eight so that each Pirate Lord could prove his title, but when the Original Brethren Court met, they were, to quote one, "Skint Broke,"."
"Why not change the name, then?" Talia wanted to know.
"What? To 'Nine pieces of whatever we happened to have in our pockets at the time'? Yes, that sounds very Pirate-y." Eret snickered, sobering only a little when the dish was presented before him. He gave Talia and Cat a wink before removing the Owl Pin on his fur vest and dropping it into the dish.
The dish was presented to Court by being placed at the center of the table, and then Esmeralda addressed them once again.
"As it stands, before we may discuss the plague that threatens us, our first order of business must be to fill the titles left open by Captain Villads, and Captain Smit, may he rest in peace." She said, bowing her head respectfully as a few murmured in agreement. Others rolled their eyes.
Two more of Esmeralda's crew members brought forth two separate dishes: one held a silver ring with a skull carved into the top of it and a red ruby stuck into one of the skull's eye sockets. The other held a coin with the image of rampant lion on it.
"And who, do you suggest, take the titles?" Alvin sneered. "I see no other Captains in our midst! Are we pass out their titles to the next Captain we see?"
"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but Alvin does have a point. Smit never passed on his piece, and Villads' crew refuse to sail without their Captain. Neither of them have a proper successor." Sinbad said, leaning back in his chair, though he kept one hand on the table.
"Mayhaps we present our own successors? Decide for ourselves the next generation." John Silver suggested.
"And risk you getting a second seat in this Court through whatever puppet? Do you take us for fools, Silver?" Captain James, a fairly young but decently experienced lad, spoke up.
"Well then what do you suggest?" Silver growled at him.
A gentle jingle sound caused everyone to look over at Captain Zarina, a fairy, gesturing to her First Mate, who nodded intently before addressing the Court.
"Captain Zarina says we must turn to the Code. Otherwise we forfeit our gentleman-ship as war mongers." He recounted confidently for his Captain.
"Zarina is right! We have the Code! It is not unheard of for a Lord to go to Davy Jones without passing his title. Some, as we all know, even tried to take it with them! We will find Captains fit to take the mantle." Esmeralda stated.
"If I may," Eret spoke for the first time, slowly and gently rising from his seat to address the Court as he ambled over to stand beside Esmeralda. "The Code states that a Captain who earned their title by defeating a Pirate Lord in a duel, is then first in line to take the next available title."
"Yes, and, your point be?" James questioned, but Alvin was already glaring daggers at Eret.
"There are already two such Captains standing in this room." Eret said, and everyone looked to Eret with exclamations of surprise and confusion. "Might I present Captain Talia Eagle, who bested me in a duel with my entire crew as witnesses, and Captain Cat, who defeated Alvin the Treacherous in a duel at Skullion Island."
Cat stiffened at the sudden intensity of every eye watching him. Talia's eyes widened almost comically at Eret, who was smirking widely, obviously pleased with himself. The Court had erupted into loud arguing and demands of witnesses. Alvin gave a full belly laugh before jumping into the argument fray that was quickly turning into a physical brawl.
The Court was divided in opinions of whether to believe Eret or not, and then whether they liked the idea of Cat and Talia being the next in line for the titles. They apparently showed their distaste for the other point of view, by punching the person who presented it to them. People were punching and kicking and clawing like animals. One man was thrown on the table and dragged down half the length of it.
Esmeralda shouted for order, but was ignored. Eret leaned back on his heels and watched the chaos with that same smug look on his face. Talia and Cat moved closer to him and, as she watched the proceedings with horror, Talia spoke up.
"This is madness!" She said, her eyes darting around the blustering crowd.
"This is politics." Cat told her.
Alvin was the one who finally ended the excitement by swing his axe and slamming it into the table. Everyone froze at the sound and then slunk back to their corners, leaving only the Pirate Lords, Talia, and Cat around the table. Alvin glared at the three BlueBlazer representatives.
"The Code assumes that after winning a duel against a Pirate Lord, one would then Kill that Pirate Lord. By not doing so, your brats forfeited their claims to the titles!" Alvin snarled. "Hook may be worried about Silver's puppets, but you're even worse, Son of Eret!"
"Am I? Well, it seems to me that while you've all been drinking away your prosperity in sanctuaries, I managed to secure us the means by which we might actually survive Frollo's reign." Eret retorted, resting both his fists on top of the tables flat surface.
"Don't we get a say in this? You never told us anything about being Pirate Lords!" Talia hissed, crossing her arms over her chest.
Cat wasn't sure how he felt about the idea, but he knew what Eret was getting at. Cat and Talia were both highly educated, even if they never finished, and they both had magic. What's more, Cat had dragons. The Brethren Court on their own would surely die against Frollo and his army of wizards, but with Cat and Talia, they might actually stand some form of a chance. It was tactical genius on Eret's part, but it also meant exposing themselves to the rest of the Court, which Cat wasn't sure he was ready for. But, then again, with Frollo closing in on them from all angles, there wasn't much of a choice left in the matter.
"I agree with Eret. We have greater concerns than petty rivalries, Alvin." Esmeralda stepped in again. "We must take action! Let anyone who opposes Captain Talia and Captain Cat's claims to the titles and the Pirate Code, speak now or forever hold your piece!"
There were light murmurings and mutterings for a few minutes. Alvin looked entirely livid, but the others didn't seem as concerned by Eret's political move. Silver looked amused, if anything. Though Hook seemed suspicious, and Sinbad looked annoyed.
"Very well," Esmeralda said when silence finally greeted her. "Captain Talia Eagle, I welcome you to the Brethren Court as a Pirate Lord. Receive your piece of eight." Esmeralda picked up Smit's ring and held it out to Talia who hesitated, looking at the ring, but then slowly picked up the ring from Esmeralda's open palm.
"Captain Cat, I welcome you to the Brethren Court as a Pirate Lord. Receive your piece of eight." Esmeralda said again, this time holding out Villads' coin. Cat eyed it from his place beside Talia and Eret, both of whom stood between him and Esmeralda. He crossed over and picked up the coin, hearing a gentle, metallic ringing sound from it.
"Truly a tragedy that we should welcome such young and fresh faces to the Court during a time of death and battle," Silver started joyfully, still grinning ear to ear since the moment Eret made his little announcement, but then the older Captain straightened up. "What shall we do about this Ministry business?"
"We must fight." Esmeralda said before he'd even finished getting the words out of his mouth. "Frollo may have the advantage of magic, but we know the seas better than any of his people. And he won't stop. Not ever. We must take a stand."
"Suicide!" Alvin scoffed, throwing his arm up at her as many of the crews muttered in agreement, even if it was a bit reluctantly in some cases.
"As much as it pains me to agree with Alvin of all people; he's right." Sinbad leaned forward. "We don't stand a chance against an army of wizards."
"Then what do you suggest we do? Stay here in Tortuga's fortress for months until half of us starve to death?" James questioned, planting both palms on the table.
"Captain Zarina says Tortuga will never hold against the magic and weaponry of the Ministry." The fairy's First-mate said as she communicated to him when sign language.
"What say the young Lords?" Silver interjected suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to Cat and Talia again.
Cat looked at Talia, who also looked back at him, and he shrugged. "To be blunt, I've spent the past few years hiding from the Ministry of Magic and anyone even remotely connected to them. I'm not eager to go to War with Frollo. In fact, I think I'd prefer to embrace that tried and true method of Running Away, but I'm not sure if that's an option in this case."
"Really?" Talia pursed her lips, her brow furrowing. Cat just shrugged again, and Talia rolled her eyes at him before addressing everyone else. "Unlike Cat, we can't just ignore the problem and pretend it isn't there." She glanced sideways at him with a pointed look, and it was Cat's turn to roll his eyes. "If Frollo doesn't already have our location, I'm sure he'll find us soon enough. He has every resource available to him. Hiding isn't an option anymore, and we can try to run, but they're faster. Our only option is to fight!"
"And how do you propose we do that? You've already said they have resources and speed. They also have weaponry and numbers, and lets not forget that little detail known as Magic!" Alvin snapped. "You lot may not know wizards, but I certainly remember! Why do you think I chose to be a Pirate? Just one is bad enough, but we're facing an army of them!"
"We can find a way around the Ministry's advantages. It will just take careful planning and precise attacks. Not to mention the fact that we have a few tricks of our own that could very easily give us an edge against them." Talia argued, and several different crews' members began murmuring thoughtfully, considering what she'd said.
"You'd have to be an utter lunatic to believe such a thing! What tricks could we possibly have that would give us an advantage on the Ministry of Magic?" Alvin demanded, stoking the embers of doubt among the sailors.
"You know exactly what she's talking about, Alvin. You got your ass kicked by me and my Dragons back on the Isle of the Skullions." Cat quipped back at him, and everyone burst into heated, yet hushed muttering and murmuring, a few shouting out different comments whether in shock, doubt, or even excitement that the rumors were true. "Dragons are immune to any kind of magic besides their own, so they could easily help us turn the tables against Frollo."
"I guess the rumors were true after all!" Silver wheezed with laughter, slapping his knee with his palm. "Is this the 'means by which we might survive' that you were talking about earlier, Eret? It's either madness or brilliance!"
"It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide." Cat replied as Eret chuckled. Silver roared with laughter.
"Well, let's hear the whole of your plan! If this was only the first bit, the next part must be just as fun!" Silver said, grinning widely as the Court looked to Eret expectantly. "What do you say we do?"
"I submit that, here and now, we must embrace the oldest and noblest of pirate traditions," Eret said, opening his arms to the Court and then moving one to point at the ground. "We must fight!... To run away."
"Aye!" No-Name shouted, raising his fist in his eagerness. This caused many of the others to shout "Aye!" as well because no pirate would pass up the opportunity to run away from a fight, especially one with the Law.
"As per the Code," Alvin spoke over the cheers to sneer at Eret. "An act of War, and this be exactly that, can only be declared by the Pirate King. And that being said, there hasn't been a King since the First Court, and that's not likely to change."
"Why not?" Talia asked.
"The Pirate King is elected by popular vote." No-Name told her, but Alvin cut in to finish the statement.
"And each pirate only ever votes for himself." Alvin gave Eret a look of smug satisfaction, but Eret just smiled.
"I call for a vote," Eret said easily, and Alvin rolled his eyes as annoyed murmurs went up from everyone in the room.
"I vote for James Hook." James proclaimed to start off the voting.
"John Silver." Silver rose from his seat, nodding at them all.
"Captain Zarina, votes for Captain Zarina." Her firstmate said.
"Sinbad." Sinbad said with an annoyed look at Eret.
"Esmeralda of the Court of Miracles." Esmeralda shrugged also looking annoyed by the apparent waste of time.
"Alvin the Treacherous." Alvin drawled mockingly.
"Talia Eagle." Talia shrugged, unsure of what else to do.
"Cat." Cat figuring he'd play along and see what happened.
"Talia Eagle." Eret said, looking Talia dead in the face.
"What?" The girl exclaimed, and Eret smirked.
"I know. Curious, isn't it?" Eret said, and loud arguments and exclamations rose up from the gathered Pirate Lords, most of them shouting over the fact that he voted for Talia instead of them. But after a few moments, Eret managed to get a word in. "Am I to understand that you lot will not be keeping to the Code, then?" He asked and everyone fell silent, except for Alvin.
"Give me one good reason why I should follow that little twit of yours into a senseless War?" Alvin demanded.
"You mean, besides the fact that it's a much greater chance of survival for all of us?" Eret responded easily, giving Alvin a questioning look.
Before Alvin could retort, however, the room rattled and shook as though rocked by a giant earth quake. Several people fell to the floor with the power of the tremors, and Cat had to grab hold of the table to stay on his feet. He could smell canon powder and fire in the air, he heard shouting, and his tongue caught the taste of copper from the air.
"They're here!" Cat exclaimed when the shaking had finally stopped. He ran from the room, throwing open the door and rushing outside with Eret and Talia right on his heels. He allowed his magic to pulse twice, calling out to Toothless who was hiding on their ship with the other dragons.
Outside people were screaming and running all over the place. Buildings were on fire, and canon balls had already broken through a small part of Tortuga's defenses thanks to the Ministry's surprise attack. Flaming arrows and levitated explosives fell from the sky, raining down on the sanctuary as the Pirate Lords gathered on the upper deck of the tall building they'd been meeting in.
Across the plaza from where they stood, Cat spotted a pair of children running through the chaos, but one twisted their ankle and fell. The older boy stopped to help him, but a new wave of arrows was arching through the sky.
Without thinking, Cat launched himself forward over the railing. He hit the ground and lunged forward onto his hands, bounding over to the pair. He tackled the both, wrapping them in his arms as he rolled out of the way of the arrows that struck the ground a second after he'd moved.
"Are you alright?" Cat asked the two kids. They nodded, but they were covered in soot and looked terrified. "Go, quickly! Catch up with the others and get out of here." He told them, pushing them to their feet and in the direction of the fleeing civilians.
As the two kids raced away, Toothless appeared beside Cat, radiating Relief and Alertness. "What should we do?" Toothless asked.
Cat looked over at where Talia and the other Pirate Lords had come out into the plaza with him. Some were helping civilians to escape, others were calling their crews to arms, but they all stopped when Esmeralda called their attention to Talia.
"What say you, Captain Talia Eagle, King of the Brethren Court?" She asked. All of them stood frozen as they waited for Talia to respond.
Talia looked at each of them with uncertainty and then allowed her eyes to land on Eret, who gave a her a sharp nod. She looked over at Cat, who returned her gaze with Toothless looming over his shoulder. She seemed to draw confidence from their presence because after seeing Eret and Cat with Toothless, she straightened up and addressed the other Captains.
"We aren't prepared for this fight. Get all of the civilians to safety and retreat!" She ordered, receiving loud 'Aye's in response as the Pirate Lords and all their crews rushed to save the people of Tortuga.
Talia didn't join them right away, but instead looked over at Cat again. He tilted his head in question, and she nodded to him. With permission given, Cat looked around and found a tattered cloth that he snatched up and tied over the lower half of his face. He then swung up onto his saddle, and he and Toothless took off.
Instead of flying through the single, cave-like opening in Tortuga's towering walls, they flew high above and out the skylight opening at the top. Up in the sky, Cat was able to survey the Ministry forces below, taking note of their formation and where they might find possible escape routes. After a moment of committing the battle field to memory, Cat patted Toothless's shoulder and they exchanged a look before diving towards the lead ship, which was stationed at the center of the fleet.
Shouts of astonishment and fear went up as they landed on the bowsprit. Wands were pointing at them defensively along with crossbows and terrified expressions. Of all the things the Ministry expected, it most likely wasn't him, Cat assumed.
"Well, if it isn't the mysterious Dragon Boy I've been hearing so much about." Cat looked up and felt his brow pinch as he kept his eyes on Prime Minister Claude Frollo. The man was dressed in fine, purple silks and calmly descended the stairs from the quarter deck. He laced his fingers together in front of himself as he came to a stop a few yards away, his soldiers surrounding them. "What a pleasant surprise."
The way he said it made Cat believe that it wasn't a surprise at all, and that thought alone was enough to make his skin crawl. How did the Prime Minister know about him? And what did he intend to do with that knowledge?
Deciding to save those concerns for another time, Cat addressed the issue at hand. "This attack is unprovoked and unnecessary. Stop this, now, or the Brethren Court will consider this an act of War." He told them, hoping that his tone was solid and hard like he'd been aiming for.
"And why should I be concerned about that? The Pirates find themselves one little Dragon Boy and they suddenly think they can stand against me?" Claude Frollo chuckled. "No, they don't worry me in the slightest. However, you could put an end to the slaughter right now if that's what you truly want..."
"What do mean?" Cat asked, placing his left hand on Toothless's head when he felt the familiar rumble of a growl beginning.
"If you're willing to cooperate, I will end this attack immediately. All that is necessary for that to happen is for you to come quietly." Frollo said, his lips curling into a smile without any teeth.
"Why me? What do you want?" Cat questioned, trying to stay calm and still. He didn't want Frollo to know his stomach had done a flip and was turning itself into a giant knot.
"Much like the Guardians, I had my suspicions about you, Hiccup Haddock," Frollo said, and Cat's body went stiff as Toothless snarled. "While I was unable to confirm it, having only heard very little of you and your friends, I kept tabs on all four of you simply because the Guardians were interested in you. But while they began to fear what you might become, I wondered how we might benefit from it. But then you disappeared and believed to be dead. I thought that was the end of it... Until I spoke with the Dragon Hunters. They've been a great help to me many a times, but the information about a boy who rides dragons, well, that was priceless."
"How did you know it was me?" Hiccup demanded, uncaring that his voice was too loud or that his tone wobbled with a slight crack.
"To be frank; I didn't. It was only after I'd managed to find a small lock of hair, or rather, scrap of fur that had been caught in a Roman soldier's ring. Amazing what tracking spells can be done with only a tiny piece of hair. It revealed to me not only your face and identity, but your location as well. A pity hair is so fragile, it can only ever be used once in a spell." Frollo gave a slightly wistful look, as if he'd hoped for further experimentation with it. "But it's no matter; what is truly important is what you could do for the Ministry. I believe you hold the key to a great power. One that I intend to obtain for the Ministry."
"You mean for yourself." Hiccup spat.
"Don't think yourself above the Law. You can come peacefully and I will spare this sanctuary along with all the pirates in it, or I can take every last one of you by force." Frollo threatened, his expression growing dark. "The choice is yours, boy."
Hiccup held his gaze, feeling the intensity of hatred burning through his core. The Prime Minister was no better than Pitch Black or the Romans. He didn't care who he might hurt, he only wanted power.
Hiccup clenched his teeth and leaned down, bunching his muscles in sync with Toothless, and they shot into the air, leaving the Prime Minister behind as they flew back towards Tortuga to help the others.
They swooped down into the square where they had left Talia and Eret, and found them not to far away, directing people towards one of the hidden exits constructed at the back of the sanctuary. Hiccup didn't leave the saddle when they landed beside his friends and jumped right into relaying what had happened.
"So, we have no choice then." Talia muttered before looking up at Hiccup and Eret. "Cat, I need you to focus on holding them off while we get everyone out. Eret and I will organize the Pirate Lords and make sure this happens as fast as possible."
"Aye-aye, Captain." Hiccup smiled, giving her a salute and she snorted.
"Get moving!" She ordered, and Hiccup and Toothless took off once again. This time, however, Toothless roared for the other dragons, calling them out to join the fight.
Hiccup and Toothless flew about the mouth of the giant tunnel that was the entrance into Tortuga; an island surrounded by natural stone walls that created a half-made cavern. The only ways in or out was through the main tunnel, which was fortified with many wood guard walls and weaponry, or the circular skylight hole in the top of the cavern which, until Hiccup had arrived, was unreachable to people. There was also the secret exits carved into the back of the cavern, allowing for a secret escape should the need ever arise, and, unfortunately, the need did arise.
While Talia and Eret shepherded the people to the secret exits, Hiccup and Toothless focused on defending Tortuga. They blasted flaming arrows out of the sky and knocked canon balls off course and into the water. It wasn't easy, but they were also trying to keep their distance. Hiccup didn't want to risk getting too close when he knew they wouldn't have any back up.
The other dragons joined them quickly and their defense grew stronger because of the numbers. Even so, Hiccup kept glancing up at the skylight, hoping that the Ministry hadn't seen him come up from there when he'd gone out the first time. While it had given him the advantage of surprise so he could approach and land without being attacked, it was also a risk. The walls didn't reach high enough in the air for it to hinder flight on a broomstick. If the Prime Minister had flyers aboard his ship, they could easily begin raiding the sanctuary from the main entrance and above.
They were lucky in that it didn't seem the Ministry forces were trying to attack from the sky, but it also meant that the attack on the main entrance was that much more intense. One of the main defensive walls burst open with a giant explosion, flames licking away at the wood despite the dampness from the sea. The walls were beginning to crumble into the water with great splashes and, without the protection those walls provided, more and more arrows and canon balls were able to get through. Tortuga was burning, more than half of the buildings on fire, and canon fire collapsed the large tower where they had held Court.
Hiccup could hear the screams and feel the Panic flooding up from the sanctuary, but he kept his faith in Talia and Eret to handle everything on the ground so long as he could hold up his end of the bargain.
"Barf-Belch, light 'em up!" Hiccup ordered, and the Zippleback dove forward, releasing his gas across the surface of the water in front of the ships and then sparking it into an explosion. "Stormfly, give us some cover!" Hiccup instructed, and the Nadder swooped down with a flick of her tail, blasting her fire straight into the water to stir up a thick fog over the entire entrance.
Hiccup closed his eyes, focusing his energy on all of his other senses to seek out their enemies and understand their movements. The cover may have hindered their sight as well as the Ministry's, but dragons didn't need their eyes to survive at all. They could move, attack and defend, just as well as when they could see, the Ministry, however, had lessened their canon fire. As Hiccup had predicted, they were likely trying to conserve their canon supply by not wasting it on blind shots.
Slipping through the fog, Hiccup reached out with his mind to direct the dragons. Drawing them into a tight formation as they slid along the surface of the water, right along the hulls of the first few ships in the Ministry's attack. The other dragons rumbled silently as they slithered up the sides of the ships, splitting off from each other to surround their targets.
Toothless latched onto the side of the ship leading the attack and slowly crawled up and over the railing, green eyes glowing in the deep fog as he glared at the soldiers standing on the deck who had yet to notice their presence. Hiccup placed his left hand on Toothless's head, steadying the Night Fury so he wouldn't attack. One soldier was looking every which way, trying to see through the fog as he held his wand in a tight grip and backed towards the railing. He was backing up straight towards them.
Toothless snorted when the man was directly below him, his hot dragon-breath washing over the man who froze in terror. The soldier slowly turned, looking up until he met Toothless's eyes, and he opened his mouth to scream, but Hiccup quickly slid to the side and reached out. He pointed directly between the man's eyes with his left hand and the man froze again, his eyes becoming unfocused.
Hiccup felt his magic curling up inside of him and used it to bewitch the soldier. The man's eyes went wide and then he collapsed to the deck with a loud thump. At the same time, Toothless allowed himself to fall backwards, swooping off into the fog as the soldiers began yelling that one of their men was down and leaving them with no clue as to what had happened.
Hiccup pressed close to Toothless's back, moving with him as they moved about, incapacitating one soldier at a time alongside the rest of their flock. Hiccup used every sleeping and paralysis spell he knew of, attempting to leave the soldiers immobile for as long as this attack would last, or at least until the others were ready to retreat. Hiccup's breathing became labored with each spell as he tried to rein in his magic and prevent himself from losing control. He had to stay in control.
The stealth attacks served them well, keeping them safe from the sheer numbers of the Ministry's forces and giving Hiccup enough time to wrangle his magic, but suddenly their well-laid attack was foiled.
Multiple powerful blasts of air cut through the sky, blowing away all of the fog and leaving the dragons out in the open without any cover. The soldiers started shouting and pointing, Hookfang roared back from his place atop one of the masts, and Stormfly squawked as they both scrambled away to get out of the range of the soldier's arrows. Meatlug and Barf-Belch rushed passed Toothless and Hiccup to get up high, and they were about to follow, but the ear-bursting boom of a canon made Hiccup's head snap up to see one of the ships further back had shot a canon ball straight at them and the ship full of mostly asleep or knocked out crew members.
Hiccup's stomach clenched, knowing they were completely defenseless, so instead of moving like Toothless motioned to do, Hiccup twisted them so he could reach out both hands and force his magic into a high concentration and catch the large canon ball with levitation. His hands were tensed and shook under the intense pressure from both restraining his own magic and from levitating such a large and heavy object that had been flying through the air at high speeds.
Slowly, Hiccup eased the canon ball back and then let it fall into the water, releasing the spell and bending over in his saddle as he gasped for breath. Toothless roared in concern, and Hiccup nodded.
"Get us out of here, bud," Hiccup wheezed.
"Hang on tight!" Toothless replied, diving and twirling to avoid an onslaught of arrows and then giving a powerful thrust with his massive wingspan to shoot them off towards the sanctuary where the other dragons had already retreated to.
The two front ships were half full of scrambling, panicked soldiers and the other half were sleep-ridden, leaving the ships unmoving and blocking the path for the others. Toothless and Hiccup landed on the dock with the other dragons, looking out at the ships as they caught their breath, trying to prepare themselves for the next attack.
They found relief in the form of red sparks firing into the air from the other side of the sanctuary. It was a Periculum charm from Talia. They had finished the evacuation and were retreating. Hiccup heaved a sigh of relief and then nodded to Toothless.
"Let's go!" Hiccup said, addressing all of the dragons. One by one they took off towards those red sparks, leaving the Ministry behind with the emptied sanctuary. Toothless and Hiccup were the last to follow, giving one last glare at the fleet of ships gathering at Tortuga's entrance.
Finally, Toothless turned and jumped into the air, flying off after the others with Hiccup pressed tight to his back, still trying to catch his breath.