"I don't get it. How did Viggo get away?" Hiccup asks. "How did we lose Heather, Windshear and the Flightmare?"
"I don't even want to think about what they're going to do to her and the dragon." Astrid says as the others return.
"You guys find anything?" Hiccup asks.
"No, the fog was too thick. They used it as cover and just vanished." Fishlegs tells him.
"It could've been worse. We could've brought the Dragon Eye." Tuffnut says, seeing an upside when Ruffnut hits him.
"How do you know I didn't bring the Dragon Eye?" Hiccup asks him.
"How did I know you didn't bring the Dragon Eye?" Tuffnut asks as Ruffnut elbows him again.
"Whatever, okay. I didn't bring it." Hiccup says since he doesn't know where it is.
"No kidding. Then, Viggo would have Heather, Windshear, the Flightmare and the Dragon Eye." Snotlout states in anger.
"Which is still back in Dragon's Edge, completely unguarded by nothing but dragons." Hiccup realizes and they need to get back.
-
Returning to the Edge, the entire place has been torn apart on their search for the Eye and most of the dragons were taken down by the dragon root arrows.
"This was the last part of Viggo's plan. Leading us away so the Hunters could come in and steal the Dragon Eye. How did I not see that?" Hiccup asks himself.
"Are you sure you put it away after you got it back from the twins?" Snotlout asks Hiccup.
"Got it back from the twins?" Hiccup asks, not known what he means.
Snotlout leads them to a cave at the end of the Edge where Tuffnut retrieves the Eye.
"Thank Thor." Hiccup says taking the Eye. "I can't believe you took this without telling me. All you had to do was ask. It belongs to all of us." He informs them.
"Yeah, you two, do you know what could've happened if Viggo got a hold of it?" Snotlout asks.
"Seems to me, if I hadn't removed the Dragon Eye from your masterful hiding place, we'd be having a very different conversation right now." Ruffnut tells them.
Hiccup walks out of the cave and needs to think of what to do.
"I can't believe I let this happen. I got Heather and Windshear captured and risked the Dragon Eye being taken. I fell for Viggo's plan." Hiccup says as Toothless tries cheering him up.
"You're right, it's a mess." Astrid tells Hiccup. "And if there's a mess, we clean it up. All of us. Together." She assures him.
"We can find some of our allies, load up whatever weapons we can and go in, dragons blazing." Fishlegs says.
"Can I bring Macy? She's been begging to come along on a mission." Tuffnut asks.
"No, were not going anywhere. Nobody is going anywhere. Not yet anyway." Hiccup tells them knowing they can't go in without a plan. "Think about it. We do what we do well. We're a smart group. Fast, fearless, and ride dragons. But Viggo, he manipulated us like we were a bunch of inexperienced kids. If we have any chance against him, we can't go in, dragons blazing. Like normally. That could get Heather and Windshear killed. Any of us could be killed."
"Well, I for one, am definitely against getting us killed." Tuffnut says.
"Yep, I have to agree. And not just because we're twins and we always think the same thing." Ruffnut agrees.
"So you want to leave Viggo to hunting dragons at will?" Astrid asks.
"I want to do the right thing. And that is going to take some thinking. I don't want to loose Heather or Windshear." Hiccup tells them and walks off to think.
-
At the Dragon Hunter base, Ryker is feeding the Flightmare.
"Dragon, dinnertime. Viggo wants you to eat up, like a good little boy. If it were up to me, you'd starve." Ryker informs the Flightmare.
"Come now, brother. This dragon is our guest." Viggo states to his brother. "His value to us us immeasurable. We must treat him well, keep him happy. The bigger question is what to do with out other guest."
"The prisoner. Whispering Death tunnels. Drop her in. Watch them tear her to pieces." Ryker suggests, referring to Heather. "It could be entertaining for the crew. Boost moral."
"I'm not concerned with entertaining the crew. They need to stay sharp. It's only a matter of time before Night Rider formulates his parry." Viggo says and Ryker doesn't know what that means. "Counterattack, big brother." He explains. "Thank Thor he blessed you with strength of body. Leave Shadow be for now. She will prove useful. Almost as useful as our glowing friend here."
Back at base, Dagur is leading a hand-tied Heather to a cage.
"This should keep you nice and cozy until we bring this Dragon Rider nonsense to its horrifying conclusion." Dagur tells her.
"Dagur, we come from a proud and historic tribe of Vikings. Berserkers, we don't turn on each other. We stand for each other. How can you just ignore that?" Heather asks of him, trying to find a way to escape. But they were smart enough to separate her from Windshear so it will take some doing.
"Well, I let it enter my noggin and then I pay no attention." Dagur says honestly. "Right? I mean, that's how you ignore something."
"Dagur, we share the same blood. You are too smart to ignore anything, brother." Heather says, trying the family side f things.
"Can I ask you something, sister?" Dagur asks. "Where were all these lovey-dovey family values when you and your boyfriend were trying to blow up my ship and kill me?"
"I didn't know you were my brother at that point. And if you remember, you destroyed my entire island that brought me to this position." Heather reminds him, since if it weren't for Dagur, she wouldn't be here at all.
"Good point." Dagur admits while trying to think. "Are we okay, you and I, on that whole thing?" He asks and Heather looks at him like he should know the answer to that as he closes the cage.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Heather asks him.
"If there's one thing I've learned out here over the years, it's that I can only trust one person. And do you know who that is?" Dagur asks her. "Me. That's who I trust. He's so trustworthy. He's faithful. Tried and true that Dagur. So stop moving your mouth and causing more trouble! You know, your really giving the family a bad name." He informs her before leaving.
"Where are you, Hiccup?" Heather wonders.
-
Hiccup and Astrid are flying back to Viggo's ship to find some answers and learn whatever they can about him.
"We've been through this place before, Hiccup. They took everything when they left." Astrid tells him as they search the cages.
"You ever notice, Viggo never actually puts himself in danger? He fights with his intellect." Hiccup is able to tell. "Planning every move, accounting for every scenario. Take Johann and Heather."
"You think he knew Johann was giving us intelligence and played along?" Astrid asks.
"I think, at some point, he found out, and used him to manipulate us." Hiccup says and Toothless growls at something in another room. "Watcha you got there, bud?" He asks and sees a cloth hiding something.
Hiccup pulls it off and sees its a board with three characters.
"Maces and Talons." Hiccup sees. "The Viking King. That's supposed to be me, trying to save the prisoner." He tells Astrid.
"Who's the other one then?" Astrid asks.
"The Chief of the Marauders. If I had to guess, I'd say Viggo." Hiccup says and picks up the prisoner piece that's broken in half. "This piece? This is the Prisoner. Heather."
"It's almost like Viggo wanted you see this." Astrid says.
"It's a challenge from him to me. He's daring me to play." Hiccup assumes.
"Why did he break Heather's piece?" Astrid wonders.
"Because the prisoner dies in the end. The prisoner always dies." Hiccup says and sees he needs to save Heather, and he needs a perfect plan to do that.
-
"Hiccup, Maces and Talons! Does this mean-" Fishlegs asks as they bring the board back to the Edge.
"No, Fishlegs." Hiccup stops him, knowing where he's going.
"But, Maces and Talons was designed to test the abilities and decision making expertise of future chefs in the heat of battle." Fishlegs reminds him.
"Yeah, I'm not taking over as chef of Berk. Not now, or any time soon." Hiccup states since he has made no plans of returning to Berk for good. "Viggo left this for me. He wants me to play Maces and Talons with him." He epxlans.
"Viggo's here?" Tuffnut asks looking around.
"We got next!" Ruffnut yells, running up to the board.
"Guys, no, no. He's not here and we're not using the board. We're playing for real. With real people. Viggo is forcing my hand. He's making me play him for Heather's life." Hiccup explains to the two of them.
"What we need is a strategy." Snotlout says.
"We do, Snotlout. And that strategy has to be different from anything he's ever seen or tried." Hiccup tells them. "Otherwise, Heather won't stand a chance."
-
They're all later flying out to the Dragon Hunter home base with a plan at the dead of night.
"All right, remember guys, Viggo is a master of deception. We have to be one step ahead of him at all times or it's game over." Hiccup warns the group.
"Sounds a little to me like it's already game over." Tuffnut says.
"Yep, that was my interpretation." Ruffnut agrees when arrows come flying in and they fly to avoid them.
"Where are those coming from?" Fishlegs asks.
"Beneath The cloud cover. They must have ships down there." Astrid guesses.
"How did they know we were up here?" Fishlegs wonders when they suddenly see more light and turn to see Snotlout has Hookfang on fire, making him easily spotted.
"What?! I was chilly. Now I'm warm and toasty." Snotlout tells them as they keep avoiding the arrows.
"We must be getting close to the island." Hiccup says when the clouds move and they see all the tents and sites. "Viggo's base."
"Are you sure that's it? It looks kinda deserted." Fishlegs says when fire comes in almost hitting him. "And I stand corrected." He says and they see Typhoomerangs being used to attack them.
"He's using flipping Typhoomerangs as blowtorches!?" Snotlout asks as he avoids the flames.
"I thought you liked it toasty." Astrid mocks him.
"I like toast-y. Not toast-ed." Snotlout tells her as they avoid the flames.
"I have to say, you totally undersold this guy, Hiccup." Tuffnut tells him. "He's way more devious than..."
"Look out!" Hiccup says as they're about to get hit.
"Maybe we should turn back? Find a place to regroup?" Astrid suggests. "There's no way were getting through that."
"No. All this is just a distraction." Hiccup tells them.
"It's fire, Hiccup. Actual fire." Snotlout informs him.
"Gonna have to concur with that one." Tuffnut says as his head is on fire.
"What I mean is Viggo doesn't wants us to retreat. It just seems that way. He wants us to get past the fire and the arrows." Hiccup puts together. "He wants me to find Heather. And then his game really begins."
"Well, if he wants us to get through, he's got a funny way of showing it." Snotlout says, as he's avoiding the flames.
"He doesn't want us to get through, he wants us to go around and attack from the back." Hiccup explains to him.
"Oh, that sounds way better. But that's not what we're doing. Is it?" Snotlout supposes.
"Nope. We're going in this way." Hiccup says referring to the fire. "Now I know you think I'm nuts."
"Yes." Snotlout agrees.
"The fire from the Typhoomerangs is like a giant tornado. If we fly right into the eye of it, it'll be hot, but the fire won't touch us." Hiccup promises.
"Inside it? This whole plan sounds completely theoretical." Snotlout says.
"My fine sister and I have performed said feat of daring many times throughout the history of Nut." Tuffnut informs him.
"Yeah, for fun! It does work. As long as you don't panic while you're inside." Ruffnut assures them.
They go for it and all of them except for the twins and Hiccup panic as they fly through it.
As soon as the Typhoomerangs stop firing, the Hunters see them at the last second as they blast them away.
"You guys free the Typhoomerangs. I'm gonna go find Heather." Hiccup tells them and flies off.
-
Viggo's hut gets shaken from the impact of the dragons.
"They're here, I assume." Viggo guesses.
"Not the way you planned. They went through the fire right down the middle of it." Ryker informs his brother.
"Brilliant. Simply brilliant." Viggo compliments. "Night does know his dragons, I give him that."
"Are we going to do something? Most of the troops are on the other side of the island." Ryker reminds him.
"Come on now, big brother. What fun would a game be if saddled with an in inferior opponent?" Viggo asks.
"Whatever you say, little brother." Ryker says as Viggo leaves the tent and Dagur joins him.
"Uh, there's a rumor going around that the Dragon Riders broke through the Typhoomerangs." Dagur tells Viggo.
"You're sure about that?" Viggo asks.
"Yes, I'm thinking the four Typhoomerangs flying into the horizon are a pretty good indication." Dagur says as they look up to see their dragons flying off.
"Dagur, did you do what I told you to do with the prisoner?" Viggo asks, ignoring the dragons.
"Of course. But I'm still thinking-"
"Stop thinking. All thinking has been done. You simply need to do what you're told, follow orders." Viggo informs him. "Can you do that?" He asks while leaving and Ryker leaves the tent.
"You're the big brother, right?" Dagur asks Ryker.
"That I am." Ryker assures him.
"Don't you ever want to kick the living yak dung out of him?" Dagur wonders.
"Of course I do. And I could. Easily. But I don't."
"And why would that be?"
"He's my brother." Ryker reminds him while getting in his face. "Always remember that, Dagur." He says before walking off leaving Dagur to think about Heather.
-
Hiccup and Toothless we're searching for Heather when they happened to come across the Flightmare.
Hiccup walks towards it and takes his shield for protection as Toothless keeps the Hunters back as he finds the Flightmare and it's muzzled in a cage.
"What have they done to you?" Hiccup asks and knows they won't kill it, but Heather is a different story. "I'll be back." He promises as he makes his way to higher ground and finds her double blade axe near a cage.
"There she is." Hiccup says as he makes his way towards the cage and breaks the lock. "Heather, we gotta get out of here." He says and removes the cloak to reveal Viggo.
"Welcome, Night." Viggo greets him.
"Where's Shadow?" Hiccup asks.
"Bad news. She won't be joining us tonight." Viggo tells him. "But on the positive side, you've far exceeded my expectations. Good on you." He congratulated when dozens of Hunters come out of hiding and aim at the cage. "So many guards, so little time. But, please. I am enjoying this. I'll give you a head start."
"Why would you do that?" Hiccup asks, not trusting this guy.
"Because, I'm nothing if not a good sport. And if I didn't, the game would end here. And what fun would that be?" Viggo asks and Hiccup decides to take his chance to run from them.
"Okay, think, Hiccup, think. Why would he give you a head start? He knows we have...dragons." Hiccup stops as he comes face to face with dragon hunters holding the Flightmare in his direction.
Toothless makes it on top of a cage and growls at them.
"Thank Thor you're okay, bud." Hiccup says as Viggo catches up.
"There you are, Night. Didn't get as far as I imagined." Viggo says.
"Games over, Viggo." Hiccup tells him.
"I'm sorry you feel that way. Was I not a worthy adversary?" Viggo wonders. "Don't answer that. Your surrender speaks volumes."
"No one is surrendering." Hiccup tells him.
"All right, here's what I propose. Turn over what your friends stole from me, what has belonged to my tribe for centuries, and I will take serious thought to letting you and your friends go free." Viggo bargains.
"You're talking about the Dragon Eye." Hiccup sees.
"Dragon Eye. A fitting name. If you don't mind, I'll use that." Viggo says.
"Have it your way, Viggo." Hiccup says as he mounts Toothless. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
But before they could even get off the ground, they opened the Flightmare's muzzle to shoot mist at them, causing them to be paralyzed.
"You and your Night fury played into my hands. To be honest, I expected more." Viggo says as he approaches the two and reaches into his satchel and finds the Dragon Eye. "Hiccup Haddock the Third, Night Rider, I've enjoyed our time together. I do truly hope we are able to compete again." He says leaving the two statues.
-
In the tunnels, Dagur and two guards are leading Heather down.
"Wait. This doesn't seem right Viggo said-." One of the Hunters was saying when Dagur knocks them both out.
"News flash, I no longer care what Viggo has to say." Dagur informs them as he takes his axe and breaks the chains off of Heather, surprising her.
Dagur doesn't explain, but whistles and Windshear comes out of the tunnels.
"Windshear! You're okay." Heather says and runs to her dragon as Dagur walks off, leaving Heather confused.
-
After some time, hiccup and Toothless get free and see the tracks leading to Viggo are still fresh.
Viggo and Ryker are moving the Flightmare and Ryker is getting furious at how long it takes to move it.
"What are we doing? Let's kill it and move on!" Ryker states as Viggo approaches it with the Dragon Eye to do something.
Toothless starts charging his blasts and shoots a nearby Hunter.
"Viggo! Dragon Rider!" Ryker warns him.
"Just a moment more." Viggo says as the Dragon Eye is revealing something to him. "Release the Dragon." He tells them and the Dragon takes off.
"Viggo!" Hiccup call's out when the Flightmare comes at them and they fly to avoid getting frozen again.
"Accepting defeat is most difficult, but necessary, part of competition, Hiccup." Viggo informs him as they fly off.
Hiccup and Toothless take charging out as the Flightmare follows them and they meet up with the others.
"This isn't a very fun reunion." Tuffnut says as the Flightmare chases after them and freezes them.
The Flightmare starts attacking everyone in sight as it doesn't know what else to do.
"We need to get this thing out of here, back to its food trail." Hiccup says as it comes back at them when Heather comes flying up to them. "Heather?!" He asks.
"Don't hurt him, girl. We just need to scare if off." Heather tells Windshear as the three of them get it to fly off to its food trail and return to one another.
"Viggo had this whole thing figured out from start to finish." Heather tells Hiccup.
Hiccup gets angry at how easily manipulated he was to loose to this man and screams in anger and flies off to check on the other riders who seem okay.
"He got the Dragon Eye, didn't he?" Heather asks Hiccup who nods at her. "We will find a way to get it back. Besides, we left the Snow Wraith tooth back at the Edge, so he can't even use it."
"And he knows that." Hiccup tells her. "So why did he want it so badly?" He asks and knows this fight is far from over.
-
On Viggo's boat, he and Ryker are in his office with the Dragon Eye between them.
"Well, at least its decorative. Useless without the tooth, but decorative." Ryker says when Viggo slams his desk and a Terrible Terror shoots fire and it activates the Dragon Eye.
"When the Dragon Eye was constructed, the locking mechanism was given an emergency release. A filament, That could only be burned away by the glow of a Flightmare." Viggo informs his older brother. "Hiccup will come to know that his carelessness will cause every dragon on earth to be slaughtered and sold, including the ones he's already saved. And especially these other riders, those other ones, the one who rides a Stormcutter and the other Night Fury."
"You think they're working with each other?" Ryker asks his brother.
"I don't think they know the other group exists." Viggo guesses. "Both of them are working to free dragons and neither side knows anything about others doing the same."