FORTY SIX: Blood and Snow
Hiccup's heart felt as if it had frozen as he watched Nuffink-his son-slam hard into the snow and lie unmoving as his snowcat crashed into a boulder and exploded. He was halfway across the clearing, lying in the open and exposed and his 'father' Eret was driving straight for his prone and helpless shape. Acting on instinct, Hiccup pulled his legs up under his body and threw himself from his place behind Tuff onto Eret, knocking him from his own snowcat. Spinning free, it smashed into a tree as Tuff skidded away, circling round.
"Ingen?"
"Check Fink!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet and facing Eret. Both had lost their guns in the impact but Eret was crouched low, his eyes locked on the billionaire.
"YOU! Can't you just curl up and die?" Eret spat. Hiccup gave a grim smile.
"You tried that once and it didn't work," he replied. "I gave you a chance. All you had to do was walk away. Instead, you kidnapped the boy."
"He's MINE!" Eret snarled.
"We both know that's not true," Hiccup retorted. "Biologically, ethically, morally…you called yourself his father but you never were. I'm going to give you one last chance. WALK AWAY!" Giving a bitter laugh, Eret hauled out a knife.
"I can't," he hissed. "I come back with the boy or not at all." Hiccup shook his head.
"You know-this is all your fault?" he said softly. "If you had crawled back to your friend Drago on your own, there would have been no attack. This is entirely because you took Fink."
"YOU arranged this?" Eret spat incredulously.
"I'm done with you taking anything more from me!" Hiccup growled as Eret circled him. His stump was twinging from the impact onto the floor and the bitter cold, meaning he was trying to limit the amount of weight he put through the leg. Memories reared their ugly heads, fractured images of the Cellar in Jotunheim, of facing scarred men in front of the blinding lights, the shadowy figures drinking and jeering as he fought for his life. And especially that last fight, where Drago watched the man he had abused then discarded matched against the champion, where Eret and Johann chatted and laughed as his leg was smashed and he barely survived…and was then dragged away to die in his cell.
"There's one more thing I can take!" Eret snapped, lunging. Hiccup barely twisted away, diving under the blade with a grunt and slamming his elbow into the man's side. Eret's arms flailed as he stumbled, allowing Hiccup to get his feet on more stable ground.
"Where's your friend, Johann?" Hiccup taunted him. Eret scowled.
"I guess you're gonna tell me," he snarled. Hiccup gave a grim smile.
"In a dumpster. Dead." He took a step to his right. "I rescued my daughter. I'm taking my son. I have Astrid. You've lost." Eret chuckled nastily.
"For a rich man, you really are pathetic," he sneered. "Content with my leavings. That stale whore. My ruined daughter. And that worthless brat of a boy."
"Maybe you should ask yourself the same question?" Hiccup retorted, crushing down the rage that rose in his throat. "My pregnant girlfriend. My children. Never fathered any of your own, did you? Having to accept my children as your own because you're firing blanks, eh? Now who's pathetic?"
Eret roared and threw himself at Hiccup, but the auburn-haired man was ready, ducking and controlling the fall so they rolled. Eret tried to cut at him and he managed to bend away, though he felt a sharp pain in his thigh, before he closed his hand around Eret's wrist. Simultaneously, he slammed other round to impact on the man's nose. Eret bellowed, snorting blood, and tried to pin Hiccup, but the slighter man managed to crack Eret's hand against a rock and the knife skittered away. Instantly, Eret transferred his hands to Hiccup's throat, starting to squeeze. Ignoring the instinct to claw uselessly at the hands, Hiccup slid his hands across his body and tugged under his sleeve, sliding the knife free from the hidden sheath in under his sweater. His vision was greying and sounds were echoing as the pressure increased…but the knife was solid in his hand…
His arm arched round and he forced the ferociously sharp blade deep into Eret's neck.
Immediately, the pressure on his own neck eased and he ripped the knife free, followed by a spray of hot red blood. Eret gave a gurgle and pulled back, clawing at his own neck. His eyes wildly swung around and he stumbled up, seeing Astrid crouched by the stunned Fink. Blood pouring down his neck and chest, Eret snagged his gun and staggered forward as Hiccup rolled up to his knees, desperately scrabbling to get to his own weapon and swinging it round.
"ERET!" he yelled and fired, the shot hitting the man's head. Spinning with the gun dropping from nerveless fingers, Eret hit the snow mere feet from his former wife and son. Astrid threw herself across her son but as the raven-haired man lay there, eyes staring, she realised that he was gone, already dead even before he impacted the ground. Breathing hard and his jacket soaked with Eret's blood, Hiccup staggered forward. He lowered his gun as he took a couple of exhausted steps to their side.
"Are you okay?" he asked breathlessly as Astrid looked up.
"Hiccup? I should be asking you that!" she said anxiously as he collapsed to his knees.
"I'm getting too old for this," he muttered as Fink-who looked bemused and slightly dazed-stared from his mother to the man he knew as Tallon Fury. "Fink? Are you okay?" The young man stared at the billionaire, covered in blood, dishevelled and without his shades. Emerald eyes that matched his own stared back at him and he took a couple of quick breaths.
"Are you my father?" he blurted out. Astrid's head swung round in shock as Hiccup nodded.
"Yes, yes I am," he said. "Though I only found out yesterday."
"Oh, thank Thor," Fink said and closed his eyes. Then he opened them again, looking panicked. "Zephyr! Johann has taken her and…"
"She's safe," Hiccup reassured him as Snotlout and Dagur finally arrived. The twins had circled round them and were inspecting Eret's snowcat, though their expressions suggested it wasn't salvageable either. "We rescued her yesterday from Trader's Isle. She's safe with my friends on Dragon Isle."
"Mom?" The faint plea was there and Astrid nodded, stroking his bruised face.
"It's okay-we're all safe now," she reassured him.
"Actually not really," Ruff commented. "Have you noticed the explosions are getting nearer?"
"I really recommend getting back to Toothless NOW and getting the Helheim out of here!" Snotlout said irritably.
"I agree," Dagur said, frowning. "Snorri? Come in?"
"We're falling back," the man reported. "Fighting is very heavy. Drago's men are vicious and well-prepared. The Archipelago Marines are taking heavy losses. Drago is still holed up in the central complex and they're moving into the woods in numbers."
"Get out of there!" Dagur commanded. "I'll fly with Fury."
"Roger," Snorri responded as Hiccup paused and then his head snapped up. The sounds of a familiar jet engine were growing closer…and then Toothless appeared over the trees, touching down roughly on the snow about ten metres from the group.
"Anyone called for a lift?" Cami called.
"Gods bless you, Cami," the billionaire murmured.
"The woods are lousy with Drago's men and they're heading here fast so I really suggest you all play happy families when you're back on board. Seriously!" she replied seriously. Snotlout jumped off his snowcat and surged forward, grabbing Hiccup's arm and hauling him to his feet.
"Time to go!" he said, seeing Hiccup's left thigh red with blood from a cut from Eret's knife that he had barely registered. "Fink-can you walk?" The boy nodded.
"Just shaken up," he admitted, his eyes trailing to Eret's body. "Do-do we just leave him here?" Astrid pulled his head into her shoulder and nodded.
"We can't do anything more for him," she said quietly. "And he's not worth getting killed for…" Hiccup slung his hand over Snotlout's shoulder and leaned heavily against him. The shocked and frightened look in his son's eyes had struck a chord in him and he felt a desperate desire to be the man his son would want him to be-no matter how much it stuck in his craw.
"But we have to be better," he murmured, glancing at the twins. Ruff and Tuff shared a look.
"You know, if we had to describe our job, no one would believe it," Tuff grumbled as he took Eret's feet while his sister took the head end.
"And he weighs a frickin' ton," Ruff added as they began to move surprisingly rapidly to the waiting Toothless while Astrid helped her son up and they began to run towards the waiting aircraft. Cami opened the door and lowered the ladder, sticking out her hand to drag the young man up the steps with a smile. But before he followed them, Dagur paused, hearing noises amid the trees and turned back, raising his rifle to cover their escape. And then the first bullets started to land around the fleeing civilians.
Hiccup started as he heard Dagur return fire, the staccato thud of his rifle loud in the snowyclearing. He stopped at the ladder but Snotlout bodily hauled him aboard.
"You're not doing anything stupid!" he snapped. "You're injured and you just got yourself a family."
"He has a family," Hiccup protested as Snotlout dumped him in the pilot's seat. "Heather needs him."
"He's not alone," the stocky man said firmly and ran back to the door. Astrid was strapping Fink into the seat next to hers and the twins had finished stowing Eret's corpse behind the last bank of seats as Hiccup closed his hand on the steering column and glanced over at Cami.
"Bring the weapons systems online," he said. She started, finishing strapping himself in and then pausing.
"You sure?" she asked.
"We're not in the Archipelago so I'm not breaking any laws, my friend is in mortal danger and there is no way he can cover that ground without us making the people firing at him…go away," he said, his voice cold. For a second, she wondered if she had ever known him at all, wondered if the decent, kind human being he had seemed was all an act…but then she heard the twins and Snotlout firing back to try to cover him and realised his point. He wasn't prepared to lose any of his friends-no matter what it took. And, to be honest, her own instincts were the same, though she had promised herself that she would try to be the voice of reason on this incredibly dangerous mission.
"Weapons hot," she said.
"Everyone hang on," Hiccup shouted. "Dagur-when we start firing, you are to head back here."
"Get out of here," the man replied over the com. "There are an entire squad in the trees. I could never make it."
"Dagur-you saved my life in Jotunheim," Hiccup said evenly as he slowly lifted Toothless a couple of metres off the ground and swung him round to face the woods beyond the pinned-down Berserker. "It's time I repaid the debt. On my mark…"
Everyone started as Toothless's nose gun roared into life, rounds smashing through the trees, the few pieces of undergrowth and and the men hiding there. Wood, rocks and flesh shredded under the assault as Dagur popped up from his crouch and began racing towards the black aircraft, his head still ducked low. The cacophony filled the small clearing but a couple of men were still firing and a lucky shot clipped the back of his leg. Staggering for a few more steps, Dagur fell. The twins gave an exaggerated sigh.
"You know, this is getting a habit-corpse duty," Tuff grumbled as they jumped through the doorway and scrambled towards Dagur as Hiccup continued blasting away at the trees.
"I've only asked you to carry ONE corpse!" he growled over the com.
"Still alive here," Dagur added as they grabbed him between them and hauled him back to the aircraft. Toothless briefly touched down as they all ran up the ladder, before Tuff slammed the door behind them.
"What about Johann?" the male twin protested. "We had to help Snot put him in a bin."
"No you didn't!" Snotlout griped. "You just watched!"
"Not that he didn't deserve it," Ruff added, ignoring his protest as they helped Dagur to his seat. Hiccup lifted off swiftly, rising vertically into the cold sky.
"Oh Gods," he murmured.
"You know we could advertise," Tuff enthused as he strapped himself in by Snotlout. "Thorston and Thorston-corpses transported and disposed of by Royal Command!"
"What are you two muttonheads going on about?" the stocky man sighed, glancing over and seeing Dagur tightening his scarf around his leg. The red-haired man shrugged.
"Thanks for the save," he murmured with a wink. "Tallon…brother…I can never thank you enough…"
"You already did…about fourteen years ago when you saved my life," Hiccup said. "Now we need to get out of here…" And then he paused, catching sight of the battlefield. It was chaos, one of the Archipelago troop transports downed and the invading Marines clearly pinned down. There was the wreckage of the air cover strewn over a wider area and Cami was mumbling that the surface-to-air batteries were hot. As the ascended, there were a chain of explosions and the flash of gunfire. Astrid's eyes widened.
"Thor," she breathed.
"They're getting killed," Cami breathed. Hiccup swooped up and accelerated high into the sky, his face set.
"Arm missiles," he said.
"Can I remind you that this ship is a civilian aircraft filled with injured and non-combatants?" she said sharply. "And they have taken down most of the Archipelago aircraft?"
"I'm an aircraft designer and this Night Strike fare exceeds all their specifications," he retorted.
"You're putting us all at risk, Boss," Cami reminded him, already boosting their speed and arming their other weapons.
"And everyone is at risk if Drago gets away," he said, his voice cold. "DragonEdge One to Colonel Oddvar. Do you have air support?"
"Our transports are under fire and seven of our support have been brought down by missiles," the Colonel reported. "We're taking casualties. Was your mission a success?"
"Yes," Hiccup murmured and then he took a breath. "I am armed. Can I help?"
"Sir, you are a civilian," the Colonel told him.
"And I am a citizen of the Archipelago, at as much risk as everyone else if this monster attacks," Hiccup argued. "I fly a Night Strike. I am offering my services."
There was an explosion of the com and everyone winced.
"Colonel Oddvar…duck!" Hiccup commanded and topped out their climb. "Cami-target the main complex. We take them out and the leadership will fall apart."
"They have SAMs," the woman reminded him.
"And we're just hitting Mach One," Hiccup told her, leaning on the stick. Astrid's hand tightened around Nuffink's, reading anxiety in his face.
"He's different to how he's been before," he murmured. "I…I…"
"He's a brilliant pilot," she reassured her son. "I've flown with him in all weathers in Toothless. He almost seems to be one with the aircraft. And he'll do anything to protect you-to protect us." He looked at her face and his eyes widened.
"He really is your old boyfriend?" he asked and she nodded, smiling slowly.
"I think deep down, I sort of knew-but I told myself I was imagining it, because he was dead. I was told he had died in prison before you were born. And this man, this billionaire who was everything my husband was not, couldn't possibly be my lost Hiccup." Fink gasped.
"I mean…seriously? There really is someone called Hiccup?" he breathed. She nodded.
"Yup-and he's your father," she said proudly. "Now hang on!"
Toothless accelerated down to pepper the central complex with a four missiles, engines roaring at full power. Hiccup felt the surge of power run through him at the experience of Toothless being what he was built to be. Beside him, Cami was all business, modulating the power and lining up on the building to fire off two more as they reached the nadir of their dive. Explosions wracked the building, blasting walls apart and collapsing the roof, with flames erupting from every fracture in the annihilated structure. Another two explosions wrecked the place and the tall coms mast toppled, taking out the big guns that were raking the attacking Archipelago forces.
"Feeling better?" Cami asked him.
"Are you?" Hiccup replied and she nodded as Toothless arched up and flipped, spinning round the target the missile emplacements. "You fancy doing the honours?" Cami smiled and blasted them away using their last missiles.
"You know, I doubt many other philanthropists go to this length to help the people of the Archipelago," she commented as Hiccup rolled Toothless.
"I have personal reasons for wanting Drago to pay for his crimes," Hiccup muttered, checking their ground speed. He smiled. "Let's make their lives more unpleasant!" Toothless streaked across the defensive placements, the shock wave of their supersonic passage blasting men and guns aside. Hiccup flicked Toothless up to rise over the forest and back up into the golden evening sky, heading back towards Dragon Isle.
"Colonel, I hope that helps," Hiccup said, checking the scope. "We are heading home. Good luck!" They spun round and decelerated as they located Dagur's transport and matched speed to pull alongside. He looked up and then glanced back at the passengers. "Is everyone okay?"
"A little warning would have been nice!" Snotlout snarked. "Like a month."
"In writing," Dagur added, clutching his stomach.
"Milady? You still with us?" Hiccup asked, his emerald eyes searching her face. She nodded, a weary smile crossing her bruised features.
"Babe-you haven't lost it," she admitted. "That was…intense…"
"Fink?" The question was wary as the young man stared at the billionaire. Cami took over the controls from the co-pilot's seat as Hiccup swivelled his seat to finally face the young man.
"You…came to rescue me?" he asked directly.
"Yes." The answer was guarded.
"Is Zeph safe? Is she okay?"
"She's shaken but Johann didn't do anything to her before we arrived. She'd already escaped…she just needed us to make sure she remained free," Hiccup explained.
"And you took Mom and your friends to get her?" Fink was frowning, trying to understand.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you didn't deserve to have your lives ruined by Eret," Hiccup said quietly. "And I am so sorry that I wasn't there for you. But I never knew you existed until I came to Berk…and that you were my children until Astrid told me. Yesterday. And my friends had somehow worked it out…and managed to run a DNA test! Though they didn't tell me this until after Astrid already shared the news of your paternity with me, to be fair, And when I realised what Eret had done…even if you hadn't been my children…I would have been honour bound to rescue you because my actions in bringing down Eret left you exposed." Fink paused…and then he shook his head.
"You flew to Icefell…with the frickin' Archipelago ARMY to rescue me…" he told Hiccup forcefully. "You stopped Eret. He was going to take me to Drago…" He chewed his lip. "You're completely awesome. And I am…proud you're my father." Hiccup swallowed as he stared into the boy's face.
"And I'm proud you're my son," he said honestly.
"At least I know where I got my crazy streak from," the young man said with a smile. "Except you fly as crazy as I ride…"
"I guess I may need to teach you," Hiccup murmured, a slow smile lifting his features.
"Oh no-I am not having the two of you gallivanting off and trying to crash into the side of a mountain without my say-so!" Astrid told them tartly as Snotlout moved over to Dagur and began to inspect his leg.
"Will I lose it?" Dagur asked, his face tight with pain. The stocky man shook his head.
"Looks superficial," he admitted, tightening the scarf around the wound again. "Should heal up just fine." Dagur's pale green eyes flicked down to look at him.
"Are you sure?" His voice was a little panicky. Snotlout patted his arm.
"Certain." He searched in the first aid box. "I'll get you some painkillers and…"
An explosion shook the whole ship and Snotlout stumbled and almost landed on his face. Hiccup snapped his seat back to face forward and stared at the scope as Cami jerked the whole ship sideways.
"Unidentified aircraft approaching fast from Icefell," she reported. "Two of them. Weapons are active." Hiccup frowned.
"They had no obvious aircraft-from all the intelligence we had," he murmured.
"Unless the intelligence wasn't accurate," Astrid suggested bitterly.
"Tallon-my aircraft isn't built for combat," he said quietly. "My men…"
"We don't have any missiles left," Cami reminded the billionaire.
"We're faster and more manoeuvrable," he said and then he sighed. "We can run-and leave Dagur's men to be blasted to atoms, because they are slow and have no weapons…or we can try to lure them away and allow Dagur's men to get to safety. We still have the guns and we're much faster and more manoeuvrable." He turned his head to glance at the passengers. "I know what my choice would be-but your lives are at stake as well. Talk to me."
"I would give my life for my men," Dagur said immediately. Cami shrugged.
"You know my history and training-but I'll go with the consensus-and whatever you ask, Boss," she said. There was a pause.
"If we gotta go, being blown up in aerial combat is pretty awesome way to go," Tuff commented.
"And it would be the best way a Thorston has died for a hundred years!" Ruff added. "We're in."
"Cutting and running isn't the Jorgensen way," Snotlout said. Then Hiccup turned to Astrid and Fink. The boy sighed.
"We can give them a chance, right?" he asked and Hiccup nodded. "You gotta do it. We can't stand by and let them be killed while we run for safety!"
"Astrid?" he checked.
"Go get 'em, Babe!" she said. Hiccup nodded.
"Shattermaster-this is DragonEdge One-we will try to cover your retreat. Put your foot down!"
"Roger that!"
Then Hiccup and Cami accelerated and banked round, seeing two large red fighter aircraft closing. Hands tightening on the controls, Hiccup blasted straight at them, with Cami raking them with the nose machine gun. Fink stiffened as he recognised the familiar shape of General Krogan in the cockpit of the first aircraft and his hands tightened on the arms of his seat. Astrid grasped his hand.
"It's okay," she whispered but he shook his head.
"That's Krogan-Drago's right hand henchman," he said urgently. "He's completely evil-and he would never leave Drago Bludvist…especially since his HQ is in flames…" The ship shuddered again as the second aircraft narrowly missed them. The familiar long-face of Grimmel was visible in the cockpit, his grimace of hatred unmistakeable.
"Well, we got their attention," Hiccup commented. "Let's see if they want to play follow the leader…"
"Babe-we have an issue here…" Astrid said.
"I think there are some sick bags in…"
"Not that! Fink suspects that's Drago's henchman in the lead ship…and that it may also contain the man himself!" Astrid snapped.
"Drago…" Hiccup's voice was toneless. The ship shook again from another explosion.
"He definitely wants to play follow the leader!" Cami put in. Hiccup nodded, his face hardening as he accelerated and changed course. The two red ships followed them, matching their speed and intermittently firing at them. Suddenly, a desolate island rose from the sea, steep cliffs and grey, featureless land lashed by scouring winds as Toothless suddenly climbed, spinning and flipping round to rapidly accelerate at the nearest red ship. This time, Hiccup deployed the wing guns as well and the red ship lost an engine, the flash of flames rewarding his attack. The pilot peeled away, trying to line Toothless up but the black aircraft spun away, leaving the damaged ship in its wake. The enemy tried to follow and another missile seared past their wing, allowing Cami to blast it apart.
"Hang on," Hiccup grunted, pulling Toothless into a power climb, leaning on the power and taking them over in a loop-the-loop that dropped the attacking ship straight in their crosshairs. Without mercy, Cami took out the remaining engine and watched the aircraft dive fatally to smash down into the grey land, tearing a deep furrow into the half-frozen soil.
The second ship strafed them and Hiccup heard bullets stitch across Toothless's wing. Gritting his teeth in anger, he briefly rested a hand on the panel.
"Stay with me, Bud," he murmured. Then he pulled the steering column back, accelerating upwards with the remaining ship in pursuit. Rolling, the pursuer was firing without effect as the Night Strike hit Mach One, lengthening the distance between them. The backwash hit the pursuer and Grimmel had to fight his controls, the ship bouncing as Toothless arched high into the sky. As the pursuer slowed and dropped back, the Night Strike flipped and accelerated downwards, all guns targeting the smaller ship. Grimmel grinned and accelerated towards them as Hiccup brought all his weapons on line.
"Um…Ingen…much as I love a game of chicken…" Tuff murmured. "I think this guy is even crazier than I am."
"But not more than me," the billionaire ground out through gritted teeth. "All weapons-FIRE!" Bullets traced through the air as the two aircraft closed. Hiccup's eyes were narrowed, chunks of green ice as he flipped one last switch and the experimental nose cannon initialised.
"Hiccup…" Astrid murmured, her hand tightening round Fink's. The billionaire took a breath.
"Goodbye," he murmured and fired. A blast of purple plasma lashed out, blasting the aircraft apart. Everyone flinched at the brilliant explosion as they barrelled through the expanding cloud of flames and debris before they finally began to decelerate down to check the remaining ship. Shuddering, Toothless slowed and they levelled out to a wide circle around the crash site. The aircraft was relatively intact-clearly courtesy of a fine piece of piloting-and hadn't exploded. Still slowing Hiccup skilfully had Toothless elegantly circle the crash, watching as the wreck settled and the door to the cabin opened. Against all reason, two shapes emerged-the lean, staggering shape of Krogan, his face bloodied and a leg clearly broken, a long cylinder clutched in one hand and used as a crutch. The other was the massive dreadlocked black-clad shape of Drago Bludvist.
"Oh crap," Cami muttered, breathing hard. "The kid was right." Dagur leaned forward.
"I'd be more worried by the other guy," he commented.
"What's he carrying?" Ruff asked, her eyes narrowing.
"My dear sister, it very much looks like…" Tuff began.
"ROCKET LAUNCHER!" Dagur yelled as the man dropped to a knee on his broken leg, the cylinder snapping round to line up on the Night Fury. Hiccup swung the ship around as he lined up on the man, his thumb slamming onto the firing control of the nose cannon. Plasma blasted into the man, consuming him and igniting the missile in the rocket-launcher. The charred remains of Krogan were consumed by the explosion and the massive shape of Drago was thrown to the ground. Everyone looked stunned as the shockwaves rocked the aircraft but Hiccup brought the Night Fury forward, the guns and cannon aimed at the bulky shape slowly scrambling to his feet. His finger hovered over the firing controls as he glared at the terrorist.
"Hiccup?" Astrid asked cautiously. "Talk to me. He's unarmed."
"He has a gun and a sword," the billionaire said.
"You have an aircraft and a machine gun trained on him," she said, unstrapping herself and walking carefully to his side. "As well as whatever it was you used to blow Krogan up." Gently, she rested her hand on his arm.
"He's caused so much pain and grief," Hiccup said, his voice emotionless. "They all worked for him, you know. Johann, Eret, the Grimborns…they all did it for him. They used me and discarded me and destroyed me so they could further his agenda. I was nothing to them."
"I know," she said softly, sliding her hand down to rest on his forearm, the muscles taut even through the blood-soaked ski jacket. "But you've caught him. He's alone and he can't go anywhere. There is nowhere to go…" She looked up. "Where are we?"
"Freezing-To-Death," Cami answered automatically and then there was a collective intake of breath.
"He was here," Hiccup said, his voice wavering slightly. "He watched the fights. He watched men fight and die for amusement. He abused them for fun…" He swallowed. "He ordered Alvin to have me killed. Eret was watching the fight. I survived but it cost me my leg. I would be doing the Archipelago and the World a favour if I just end him…"
"But you're not going to," Astrid said quietly, her other hand sliding onto his shoulder. "That would make you no better than him or Johann or Viggo. You are a good man, Hiccup. Everything you have done, even when you took down Eret-it was aimed to harm the minimum of people. And you have given so much back to benefit people who you will never know or meet. Don't let him take that from you. Be the man I fell in love with, all those years ago. Be the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. Call it in. Let the authorities have him."
He took a shuddering breath and then moved his thumb.
"Cami-take the stick," he murmured, closing his eyes. "I'm done."
"Weapons systems to standby," Cami announced, immediately taking the aircraft up and hovering two hundred feet above the glowering shape of Drago Bludvist. "Viking Control, this is DragonEdge One. We have located Bludvist. He is marooned on Freezing-To-Death, coordinates to follow. Please send Throk and his team to pick him up."
"This is Viking Control…how the Helheim did you do that?" The voice was astonished. Then another voice took over.
"This is Mala Wing," the voice said. "The Archipelago owes you an immense debt of thanks. Thanks to your intervention, Drago's forces have been defeated-and finally we can arrest the man who has caused so much harm and misery. Pass my congratulations and eternal gratitude to all of your crew. Now return home. Retrieval team is on the way."
"Roger that, Madame President. On our way home," Cami said, glancing over at Hiccup. His eyes were closed, his hand twined with Astrid's and his head resting against her body. She wrapped her arm around him and kissed the top of his head.
"It's okay, Babe," she breathed. "It's finally over."
