"Hiccup Haddock!" shouted Krogan about the roaring flames, his posture asserting dominance over the Dragon Rider who stood tall despite his aching body, the exhausting temperature, and suffocating air.
The Singetail rattled its teeth against the chains, perched on the roof with its claws digging effortlessly in the wood. But Hiccup refused to let the sight intimidate him. He watched as the dragon crawled down, making its way over what was left of the bridges of the outpost. Hiccup didn't move, waiting for Krogan to get closer.
"I've been looking for you," said Krogan, tugging on the chains to bring his Titan to a halt before the Rider.
Hiccup's mind raced to find an explanation of how things could've gone so terribly wrong. How all of this could've happened so quickly. How he, Hiccup Haddock the Third, leader of the Dragon Riders, heir to the throne of Berk, son of Stoick the vast, stand dragonless and teamless on his burning base, face to face with his most hated enemy. He studied the situation he currently found himself in, finding no other word to describe this other than 'surreal'.
Instead, he went with, "I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about." He crossed his arms over his chest, defying the Flyer in his own small irritating ways.
"Mmh," was all that came out of Krogan's mouth before he lifted his chin up high and looked around as if admiring his masterpiece of chaos and destruction. He wasn't infuriated nor did he look disappointed. "I am surprised that you could have forgotten the things you've done so easily." He returned his eyes on the Rider, cocking an eyebrow. "Especially after destroying everything you love and tearing your friends and allies apart."
"What are you talking about?" asked Hiccup, tilting his head to the side slightly in confusion. He wondered if Krogan was simply playing tricks on him, attempting to blame this destruction on him and plant a seed of guilt at the bottom of his stomach. He promised himself he wouldn't fall for that. He'd seen many strategies from the part of his enemies. He wasn't falling for this one.
Krogan chuckled at his question, genuinely sounding amused. Hiccup uncrossed his arms, his stare demanding answers.
"You may have forgotten, Hiccup Haddock," said Krogan, straightening up on his Singetail. "But know that the real damage wasn't my doing… Peace is such a fragile thing. You cannot imagine the depths you went to tilt it over." He paused, looking down at him like he was studying him closely before nodding and huffing. "I am impressed. Viggo has my respect."
Frustration lit up inside Hiccup's chest like a spark catching fire. He might not know who things had ended up this way, but one thing he knew for sure, was that this wasn't how things were meant to end.
Screeching met his ears and Hiccup spun around on his heels to see more Dragon Flyers coming down from above to land behind him, trapping him in an inescapable prison. Hiccup turned back to Krogan, teeth bared and hands balled into fists.
"You can't win, Krogan!" he shouted, taking a step forward. "I will stop you, just like I've stopped you before!"
The Rider felt the strong hands grab him by the shoulders and force him down on his knees. His wrists that he'd just freed were bound together once again behind his back.
"You and what army, mmh?" said Krogan, watching with satisfaction as his men took care of restraining their newest prisoner. He met the Rider's gaze filled with rage and sadness, the confusion and fear obvious in their color. Hiccup held his gaze challengingly while the Flyers lifted him back up on his feet, holding him firmly by the upper arms. "You abandoned them. You let your friends down. You're alone now and they're not coming back for you."
Hiccup wanted to lunge himself at him, make him swallow back his words. Everything Krogan was saying didn't make any sense. Nothing made sense at all. He couldn't be the one to blame. His rescue was the least of his worries. What concerned him was how everything had come to this. He wanted answers. He wanted the truth. Nothing of what Krogan was saying could be true. Him? Abandon his friends – his team? Impossible. He'd lay down his life for them.
He wanted to shout – to scream – to make Krogan take it all back. He wanted to find his friends, his best friend, and make sure they were okay. He didn't know. He didn't know what had happened and he didn't know what was happening. There were so many things to which he wanted closure, but his train of thoughts was brutally interrupted when a hard object met the back of his head, knocking him out of this world once again.
...
Astrid took to the air the moment Hiccup was secured inside her hut. Even if he'd become a villain, he was still Hiccup and she would never let anything happen to him – not by Krogan and his Flyers.
Stormfly had been eager to join the battle. Taking care of Hiccup had made them late to the party. The Dragon Flyers came down on them like boulders plummeting down from an erupting volcano, setting aflame everything they could. At first, Astrid thought they were just bad shots, missing them Riders by a lot. That's when she realized that the enemy wasn't exactly aiming at them, but at the base. They were trying to destroy their base. But the burning buildings below her Nadder's wings were the least of her concerns. She and her team could deal with that later. They had done so many times in the past. After all, that's why they had the twins.
She barrel-rolled a shot, feeling the warm wind kiss her skin before darting down at the incoming Singetail from which the blast had been fired. The fires on the island below were growing bigger and brighter by the second, lighting up the night like a campfire in the middle of a clearing in a dark, gloomy forest.
She watched as the other Riders faced the Singetails head-on, shouting out their battle-cries. The twins were as excited as ever to be blasting off the enemy. The amount of Zippleback gas that slipped out Barf's jaws was a little too generous to Astrid's opinion. But no way she'd tell them to hold back. On the other hand, Snotlout, who usually flew as Fishlegs' wingman, didn't seem as energized as Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Something was off. She noticed the same thing about Heather and her flying. Just like she and Hiccup usually flew in perfect harmony with each other, taking the windows they gave each other during heated battles, Snotlout and Fishlegs seemed to lack that harmony just like Heather lacked it with Dagur. The connection with their flying partners – their wingmen – was cut. She could spot every single opportunity offered to take down the Flyers from where she hovered. They never took any of them.
Snotlout was quick to part from Fishlegs to follow his own path, chasing after a Flyer on his own and leaving Fishlegs vulnerable and exposed. Heather wasn't attentive to the fight, reacting late to incoming blasts. Dagur flew close behind her, there to protect her should anything come either behind or from either side of her.
Astrid knew all too well what was happening. She narrowed her eyes on the Singetails before tightening her grip on the saddle, diving back down into the battle. She ducked another shot before blasting off a Flyer in her way as she reached Fishlegs' side, taking down another Flyer headed right for the Gronckle Rider with a series of tail spines.
She moved on quickly, chasing after Snotlout after he'd chased off another Flyer.
"Snotlout!" she shouted from above. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"What does it look like I'm doing!" he shouted back, gesturing in front of him. "Kicking butts!"
"You broke formation!" she yelled accusingly, gesturing back at Fishlegs fending for himself. "This isn't how we work! You're his wingman, you need to stay by his side, no matter what!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" he yelled back, flying off with a powerful wingbeat. Astrid wanted to go after him but was cut off by another Flyer. She escaped, flying up yelling 'cyclone!'. She'd get him back, she promised herself that.
She trailed after Heather and Dagur, soaring next to the Razorwhip sharp wingtip to meet her best friend's gaze.
"Heather, I really need you to focus," she said as kindly as she could manage in their situation.
"I-I'm sorry, Astrid," she apologized, escaping Astrid's concerned yet understanding gaze. "I'm just a little—"
"I know," said Astrid, cutting her off. "But I need you to pull yourself together. This isn't the time to freeze up."
Heather nodded apologetically before diving down, Dagur hot on her tail.
Astrid looked down at her hut, her expression neutral. She didn't know what she was feeling. But she could finally see the lasting effects of Hiccup's influence with words and how it was finally affecting their team's performance. Snotlout wasn't blind to the fact that she and Fishlegs had lost trust in him after catching him disobeying her direct orders and talking with Hiccup. And of course, Snotlout also suspected Astrid, more than anyone, to be willing to do whatever it took in order to protect Hiccup, even if it meant putting their team in grave danger to do so. The effects on Heather were mostly obvious. Self-doubt had no place in battle. The twins seemed unaffected by their leader's harsh words though. They got over it pretty quickly, and she wished, for once, that everybody in her team could move past it. At least for now. Of course, Astrid knew this was probably the enemy's plan all along. Poison their team and attack when there was most blood in the water. It was a genius plan. And Viggo was behind the idea, no doubt.
The more the attack went on, the stronger the fires grew on the base. The stables were aflame by now, the fire eating away at the wood like a hungry predator feasting on the corpse of its dead prey. Good thing she'd moved Hiccup when she had. Her hut would be the safest place for him for the time being until they could chase away the Flyers and get the fires under control.
She joined Fishlegs' wing again. "We have to get their attention!" she shouted. "If we can get them to follow us in the forest, we can take advantage of the terrain and pick them off one by one."
"I don't think that's gonna work, Astrid," said Fishlegs, the amount of worry in his tone all too concerning.
"W-why not?" she stammered, wondering what made him say that.
"Krogan's after his test subject," explained Fishlegs. "And you know how determined he can be to get what he wants."
"We all know that, Fishlegs," she said, looking down below her dragon's wings as the flames caused more and more damage to their base. "Which is why we can't let it happen."
She took off again, fighting a few more Flyers with every window she was offered. The deafening roar of a Titan echoed in the sky and Astrid raised her eyes to see the massive Singetail descending down, its imposing size making her wish Hiccup could be up here on Toothless to help them out. But she knew her silent request would be unanswered. Hiccup was not Hiccup, to begin with. At least they had Toothless who was perched on the roof of his rider's hut, firing plasma blast from the ground in order to help out their team. Astrid knew the dragon and knew he would be smart enough to flee for the cover of the trees in the center of the island should things heat up a little too much for a flightless dragon. He wouldn't allow himself to be a sitting duck without something to say about it.
Krogan met her eyes as Astrid soared next to the Flyer leader on her speedy Nadder, the temptation to just hop off her dragon and onto the Titan's back to simply slap that smug grin off his face almost stronger than her. But she flew right past the Flyer leader and doubled back around. She halted to a hover as she watched through frightful eyes as more Dragon Flyers followed behind their leader, way more than she and her team could ever handle alone. She saw from the corner of her eye as her teammates struggled against the enemy, chased closely by the Flyers, barely avoiding their blasts. She recognized that a fight like this could only go on for so long without any serious injuries. She'd had her fair share of battles against the Dragon Flyers and Hunters and learned at what point in a fight to retreat in order to save everyone.
She quickly thought back of Hiccup and what he would do in a situation like this. Keep fighting and risk it all? Protect their base or run away from Krogan again? If she had all of her friends up here in the sky with her, she would've already retreated many thoughts ago. But they weren't. Hiccup was still down there. If they fled now, they were abandoning him. He'd fall into Krogan's hands. Thor knows what they'd do to him this time other than poison him and tear his friends apart. But Astrid knew there wasn't an option. Stoick's saying echoed in the back of her mind.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
Astrid shut her eyes tight, hating to admit the painful truth, and turned around as the next wave of Dragon Flyers reached the base, starting their next attack. She swooped close to her teammates as they gathered in a group to face the next wave.
"Fall back!" shouted Astrid, cupping her mouth with her hands. Her tone was alarming and the Riders knew not to argue with the order, following their second-in-command closely as they fled the scene, leaving their leader alone at the mercy of Krogan and his men.