The air rushed into my face as I fell towards the water. I couldn't turn into a dragon and fly away because of my arm, so instead I shifted into a Quaken and splashed into the sea. I sunk like a rock. I shifted back into myself and swam the best I could. I reached the small sandy shore near the island and started to walk back towards base. It was midnight by then, and the air was filled with ominous sounds. As I walked on the small beach overshadowed by the cliff, I looked out to sea. A giant Dragon Hunter ship sailed towards the island. This was an entire invasion. I ran towards the base as fast as I could.
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I finally reached the base after what seemed like an hour. I was very out of breath as I ran up the stairs to Astrid's hut. On the way I ran into Tuffnut.
"Oh, hey Jackson, you haven't seen the other half have you? We're going to play Stack the Yak." He said.
"No...Tuff...They got Ruffnut! Dragon... Hunters!" I said through heavy breathing. His face turned to fear. "Come on!" I said. We both ran up to Astrid's hut. She was inside leaning on Stormfly sharpening her axe. I arrived at the door and tried to catch my breath.
"Jackson? Tuff? You okay?" She said. I tried to talk, but had to catch my breath first. Tuffnut was also struggling. "Guys, breathe. What's going on?"
"You have got to do something about those stairs. I mean, there must be hundreds of them, there's over ten at least." Tuffnut said.
"That's it? The stairs?"
"No no." I said, having caught my breath. "It's Ruffnut. Dragon Hunters. South Forest...ambush…they got Ruffnut, and there's a lot of them."
"What? Hunters? Here? Come on we have to get to the South watchtower." She said, getting on Stormfly.
"Wait, why are you so out of breath?" I said to Tuffnut.
"Come on!" Astrid said.
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We arrived at the watchtower around midnight, judging from the moon. We stood in fearful awe at what we saw. Out on the horizon, emerging from the fog, was not a shipful of Dragon Hunters, but instead a whole fleet. The three of us were under a complete attack.
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We rushed back to the clubhouse to start making plans.
"Okay, what's the plan? We have to get my sister back." Tuffnut said.
"First thing is to send an SOS to Berk." Astrid said, writing a letter.
"Yeah, we will need reinforcements, fast. The auxiliary team. Also, Astrid sent one to Hiccup's last location." I said.
"I will, but it probably won't work."
"Worth a shot" I shrugged. Both Terrible Terrors flew out the door past Tuffnut. Astrid began gathering weapons while I grabbed supplies.
"How do we know he'll get there in time?" Tuffnut worried.
"We don't." Astrid said, putting several weapons on the table.
"Well, how do we know they'll get back here in time?" Tuff asked again.
"We don't." Astrid and I said in unison.
"Okay, there is a terrifying lack of clarity in those answers." Tuff said.
"It's all gonna be okay, Tuffnut." Astrid said. I brought out the map of the island and started marking it. I circled the beach where the Dragon Hunters landed, I drew lined through the forest where they would most likely attack, I crossed off the area where me and Ruff were ambushed.
"Astrid's right. But, so is Tuffnut. There is most likely no help coming. The three of us will hold down the Edge, and we will get your sister back." I said. I reached up to label the map some more, but my right arm suddenly shot out with pain.
"Jackson, you okay?" Astrid said, rushing towards me. I didn't realize I made a sound, but I must've.
"Fine, just, kinda forgot my arm was broken." I said.
"Here. Use this." Tuffnut said grabbing a sling from a box near the door. I put my arm in the sling.
"Thanks." We all sat in silence as the gravity of the situation settled in. We had one fly-able dragon, as Barf would not fly well with me, little defenses, and I couldn't use my powers. We sat as the fire burned an orange glow into the night sky.
"Alright. This is bad. I'll admit." Astrid said standing up. "There is no possible way we can defend the baser against an all out assault."
"No, don't talk like that." Tuff said.
"But maybe," Astrid continued, "we can slow them down until help gets here if we use our spears and arrows sparingly…" Astrid began thinking out loud.
"Wait! I know an even better way we can slow them down." Tuffnut said.
"Not now, Tuff. I need to think." Astrid said.
"No seriously, Astrid! You need to hear this! Listen to me!" He yelled.
"All right, what? What is your idea?" She resented. I zoned out as Tuff began explaining his ideas to her. Something about Tricksville?
I began to think about any way we were going to do this. There were about four possibilities that were likely to happen. One: We hold down the Edge and the Hunters leave with their pants on fire. Not the most realistic result. We would have to perfectly predict and parry their attacks. Two: The Hunters annihilate us, killing us and our dragons and taking the Edge. Unfortunately, this is the path we're on. We might have the home advantage, but they have numbers and a hostage. Three: We hold the edge until Hiccup or the A-Team can arrive. That would be easier than completely stopping them, however still unrealistic because we would have to hold the edge for about two days. Four: I make a deal with the Dragon Hunters. I offer myself in exchange for the Hunters releasing Ruffnut and leaving the Edge untouched. If they want me, I will go quietly if they promise to leave my friends untouched. I looked over towards Tuffnut and Astrid. Astrid was trying to get Tuff's attention while he was gushing about Loki. No. That's a backup plan. No sacrificing myself unless it comes to it. I'm not ready to leave my family yet. Plan three would have to work. I walked back over towards Astrid and Tuff.
"-This is a time for strategic thinking and precise preparation." Astrid said as she took back the weapons. "There are times in life when you have to be serious. Deadly serious." She continued, picking up a dagger. "Or people can die. We can die. Ruffnut can die." She said, plunging the dagger into the table.
"Yeah, speaking of 'strategic thinking,' I have a plan." I interrupted. "A plan that involves both your ideas. Astrid's placement of defenses, and Tuff's Loki-ing."
"Really?" Astrid said with more than a hint of skepticism.
"Yes. it goes like this…" I began explaining my plan to them, leaving out my backup.
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We immediately got to work on the base. Astrid started at the dome, setting up fortifications. I used my Night Fury fire to help with the metal, and my Gronckle tail to use as a hammer. Tuffnut meanwhile was setting up a dummy with a face.
"Oh, boy." Astrid sighed. I just shrugged. We kept fortifying the base,, Astrid gathered the Monstrous Nightmare gel and put it near the catapults, while I went and armed each catapult. Tuffnut kept setting up dummies. We were headed to the forest when Tuffnut asked me a favor.
Astrid was setting up the forest traps when a Changewing walked out of a bush backwards, looking down at the footprints it was making.
"It's him, right?" she asked her dragon.
I transformed from the Changewing to see Astrid looking at me with a confused look on her face.
"Oh, hey Astrid. Tuffnut wanted me to make 'Dragon Rider footprints.' It's actually not a bad idea. These will draw the Hunters towards the traps." I said.
It was morning by the time we completed the traps and defenses. The Hunters hadn't made their move yet, but I wasn't sure why. I turned to Astrid, "You know, they are probably after the Dragon Eye."
"I know, it's still hidden underneath your fake rock." She said while standing over the table.
"I might move it. Someplace better."
"Alright, just be careful. I'm going to check on Tuffnut.
I went down to the rock pile behind Fishlegs hut and took out the dragon eye from my fake rock. It was pretty convincing, I thought. I instead hid it on top of my hut, underneath the rock, next to more rocks.
I got back to the clubhouse to see Astrid talking to Stormfly.
"This is gonna be a rough day, Stormfly. Whatever we have to face, I'm glad we're facing it together." She said to her dragon. I looked out to the sea. It was calm. Considering everything that was about to happen, I was glad I had the backup plan. I grabbed the box of weapons I collected and walked up. "Hey, whatcha got there?" Astrid asked.
"Well, I found some extra weapons and thought we could-" I started.
"Is that Macey?! Don't you use my Macey." Tuff yelled, taking back his mace.
"Umm? Okay. Well we could use these weapons-" I said.
"Jackson, these weapons are all for close combat, if we even get that far, there's three of us, and we're done." She said.
"No, I know that-"
"Listen, we don't have time. Tuff, can you do me one favor?" Astrid said.
"Depends…" He said.
"The ballista on my roof, you know how to use it right?"
"Uh, it's a massively destructive weapon, isn't it?"
"It is. So, get up there, and massively destroy things." She said.
"Yeah, just remember Tuffnut, you take out the first ships on my command, then prepare for the counterattack." I said putting down the box.
"Got it. Come on Macey." He grabbed his mace and walked off.
"I'm sorry, Macey?" I asked Astrid. We looked out to the sea. A fleet of ships were heading straight for us.
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We waited until the two first ships were close enough.
"Now Tuff! I yelled from below the Ballista. He fired, sending a wave of arrows towards the ship. Some went higher, so I shifted into a Nadder and blasted the higher ones. They caught on fire and hit the sails. The rest hit a very precise area and made a hole in the ship and it began to sink.
"Yes! Who kicks Dragon Hunter butt? Tuffnut kicks Dragon Hunter butt." He said in a sing-song voice.
"This thing is far from over." Astrid yelled from Stormfly. "Go!" Tuffnut jumped off the Ballista onto Astrid's roof. He slides down and grabs the zip-line. He flies down to the other side of the cliff, jumping off right before he and Ruff hit the pole on their first try. He almost falls off the cliff, but manages to back up.
"Huh, so it was useful in the right situations." I said to Astrid, grinning. She smiled and rolled her eyes. Tuffnut fired the flaming barrel of Nightmare gel into the ship. The volatile barrel exploded with the force of a Plasma Blast. The ship went down immediately.
"Yeah!" I cheered before running back towards the clubhouse. Astrid headed back to the Western forest to activate those traps. I looked out towards the Eastern forest to see several blasts in a controlled area. They looked like Razorwhip blasts.
"Thanks Heather." I said to myself.
"Jackson! I set off the traps in the Western forest and tried to hold them off, but there were too many. How are we doing on the other side?" Astrid said flying in.
"Good, it seems like Heather is doing her part." I said. "Hopefully the rest of the traps and the misleading prints will throw the hunters off. It was getting to be a nightfall. We waited in the clubhouse. The Hunters seemed to be stopping for now. Tuffnut arrived.
"There you guys are." He said running in.
"Tuff, did you reset the Western traps?" I asked.
"Yep."
"Great."
"We are almost through this." Astrid said.
"I hope so." I said, looking out to see more ships approaching.
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"Ropes soaked with Monstrous Nightmare gel?" I wouldn't have thought of that." Astrid said as we poured the gel onto the grappling lines the Hunters threw up the cliff. Stormfly blew fire and ignited the ropes. Several Hunters plunged into the sea.
"I, We might be wasting resources, why not just light it on fire?" I said.
"What else you got, Tuff?" Astrid said to Tuff, ignoring my comment.
"Oh, you're gonna love this." He said chuckling. I followed them back to the Edge. They began hiding behind different dummies, shouting and throwing different items at the hunters. I shifted into many different dragons in different places and fired at them. Eventually, the overwhelmed Hunters ran away screaming.
"Tuff, that was brilliant! Make the Hunters think there are more of us than there actually are!" I said as we regrouped.
"Yeah! Just like when we were on the boats-" Astrid stopped herself, looking at me. I looked down. "Sorry," she said.
I looked back up and started walking past them, "I'm fine, let's get going to stop their next attack. I have some ideas." I said looking towards Barf and Belch.
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"Astrid, ready?" I said hiding in a bush. She got on Stormfly and flew over the forest. I waited until Dagur and his squad of Hunters walked past my bush. I snuck out from the bush towards another tree, trying to get around them. The moon was full and bright, it shined my shadow towards the Hunters. One of them noticed the shadow and turned around.
"There!" He yelled. The rest turned and shot arrows at me. They whizzed past my head. I took off into the dense foliage.
"Don't let him get away!" Dagur yelled, chasing me. I kept running, until Hunters cut me off. I was surrounded.
"Oh, great." I said as Dagur caught up. They trained their weapons on me. I looked around at all twelve of them.
"Fire boys! Fill 'em full of wood!" Dagur shouted. I took the distraction and ran with it, literally. While pulling out my sword, I ran past two Hunters. On the way past, I swung my sword, knocking their weapons to the ground. One fired an arrow into the leg of another Hunter. I ran to a tree, then hid behind it. I waited.
"There! There! FIRE!" Dagger shouted at the top of his lungs. I braced myself. I heard the whiz of arrows flying. They hit, and the sound of air hissing filled the night air. I stepped out from behind the tree.
"Well guys, it's been a pleasure." I said with my arms extended. The Hunters trained their crossbows on me.
"What's that smell? I know that smell. It's Zippleback gas! He was driving us right into a trap!" He yelled.
"Well, I've overstayed my welcome." I quickly shifted into a Nightmare. The Hunters eyes filled with fear. I lit myself on fire, and the whole forest exploded. I curled up into a ball while the orange glow of the fire lit up the entire night sky. Eventually, it stopped. I shifted back into myself. My clothes were charred and smoking. The Hunters were on the ground. Some were running away. Zippleback gas burns hot, bright, and most importantly for this scenario, fast. It burned so fast that none of the plants caught on fire. I got up and walked to the clearing. Astrid was waiting for me.
"You ok? That was one blast! It was daytime for a few seconds!" She said getting off Stormfly.
"I hope! We filled the forest with enough Zippleback gas to blow up the sun!" I said. I walked towards her holding my side.
"You ok?" She repeated.
"Yeah, just didn't work perfectly." I said lifting the half of my sword that survived, it was orange and glowing.
"Oh, sorry."
"It's fine, I can fix it. We need to regroup. Pretty soon the Hunters will regroup and most likely attack with full force. Come on, we need to get back."
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We got back to the clubhouse to see Tuffnut with an eyeglass and a worried look on his face.
"These guys just won't give up! There are at least 50 more soldiers on the beach heading for us. What is it going to take!" He said. I looked out to the dark beach. Many brigades headed for us. I thought about my backup plan. It may come to that.
"Well, we need a new plan." Astrid said.
"I. I may have just what we need." I said heavily.
"What?" Astrid asked.
"We need one last plan right? Well I've got one." I said, before a dozen arrows shot above our heads.
"All right, whatever we're going to do, we need to do it fast." Astrid said.
We went to the cliffs above where the Dragon Hunters were staging their attack. They had gained a lot of ground, having moved from the beach up to the foot of the cliff.
"Good evening Mr. Ryker." Tuffnut said from the top of the cliff. "We've been expecting you.
"You can start with this one. But save the chicken. I like chicken." Ryker said, trying to scare Tuffnut. Chicken looked up with a fearful look.
"Don't worry, my little fricassee. You won't be on anyone's menu tonight." Tuff said to Chicken. He then yelled out a very strange battle cry. The Hunters looked around, before the Night Terrors flew out and attacked them. Several Hunters fled on the spot.
"Hold your ground!" Ryker yelled. He took a dropped bow and shot a perfect arrow into Smidvarg, sending him out of the sky. The rest of the night terrors fled. While the Hunters were distracted, I came out from behind them. I stared into the backs of about 200 Hunters. As far as Astrid and Tuffnut knew, I was going to attack from behind while they reengage from the front.
"RYKER!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. All 200 Hunters, including Dagur, Heather, and Ryker. Ruffnut, who was tied up to a tree, looked towards me.
"Jackson! I'd hoped you had a better plan than that." He nodded to his Hunters, who took out their bows. Roughly 80 bows pointed directly at me.
"Wait." I said as Ryker approached me. "I have a proposition for you."
"What do you want? I've got bases to burn down. Especially yours." He said into my face. His cod-flavored breath made me want to hurl.
"It's not what I want, It's what you want." I looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow. "Listen. If you promise to cease your attack on my home and on my friends, I will go with you. I will go willingly, and I will not fight back. However you must leave this base immediately, and everything with it, including Ruffnut."
"Why? Why not just kill you now, and take your base?" He sneered. The Hunters around us shifted, anxiously.
"Because my friends and I will never give up. You will lose all your men. Plus do you really think I came here without a backup plan?" I gestured to my belt clip, on which was a pouch of Monstrous Nightmare gel, next to a couple of rocks. "I hit here, and I explode, taking you, and probably the first 30 Hunters nearest us with me." The Hunters within our earshot backed up slightly. Even Ryker had a glance of fear cross his eyes.
"If I leave the base, you'll come willingly with us?" He asked. I nodded. Asitrd and Tuffnut were on the top of the cliff, looking down at me with both anger and worry.
"Jackson what are you doing!?" Astrid yelled.
"What happened to the plan?" Tuff yelled.
"Plus, think of what your big brother will think about my capture?" So what'll it be Ryker?" I stared at him. He thought for a second.
"Deal." He turned to his Hunters. "Pack everything up. We leave immediately." There was unrest among the Hunters. They started to walk to the dinghies and pack up everything. The moon went down as I was chained up and taken to the dinghy with Dagur and Heather in it.
"Heather." I nodded to her.
"Jackson." She said back with fake spite.
"What, no hello to me?" Dagur asked, stepping into the boat. Astrid and Tuffnut flew down on Stormfly and landed near my dinghy.
"Jackson, you are not doing this." Astrid said. The Hunters around us raised their bows. They were met with glares from me and Ryker. "You are coming back up and we're finishing this."
"Astrid you and I both know we have no chance other than this." I whispered to her.
"But you can't. You know what they will do to you."
"Astrid. This is the way." We hugged. Well, I had my hands behind my back, but I counted it as a hug.
"Jackson, you're stupid." Tuff said, wiping a tear from his eye.
"See you Tuff. Watch your sister." I looked towards Ruffnut, who was untied now. "And you watch him."
"That's enough. I feel my lunch coming back up." Ryker said. I got on the dinghy and looked back towards the Edge. I saw the custom huts, the diverse dragons flying around, I saw the little plants, the giant rocks, I saw the crested waves crashing on the shore, the beautiful mountains, and I saw my friends, my family. Looking at me. While I had little time on the Edge, it was the best time of my life. The dinghy was pushed off the shore as the sky turned a bright pink-orange.