By the time everyone else had arrived at the Academy, few words needed to be spoken. We knew the mission and the plan; we knew the objective. There was little else to do but execute it, and that we did. There were side conversations, mostly between the twins and Snotlout with Fishlegs or Gustov chiming in occasionally but for the most part, everyone was focused. It was as though even they appreciated the mission and what it's completion would mean. An end to Krogan and his reign of ruthlessness; an end to the direct threat on Hiccup's life. For what good is a tribe, a fleet, or a squad of trained and experienced dragon riders if we can't even protect and fight for our chief. At least, that was how I was trying to reason it in my head, for the separation of duty and love was especially challenging for me in recent weeks.
"Alright gang, let's catch this guy and bring him to justice." Hiccup calls out as he hops onto Toothless and glances at me with a soft smile as I nod, returning his smile. There was a collective 'Yeah!' from the group as we all took off and started our flight.
The moon was nearing the cresting point in the sky as we neared Villainy, the large snow-capped island was hard to miss heading south. We have even ventured to Villainy for hunting in the past though that changed when the dragon attacks became more frequent, then stopped all together after we befriended them. Riding higher in the sky, the mouth of the cove was practically invisible to the naked eye, with me only being able to spot it because Hiccup and I scouted it earlier.
Glancing to Heather and the other riders, I pointed out the cove entrance as we followed Hiccup far above the entrance to the cove. When the island was hardly visible below us, he stopped, and we all circled.
"Alright. Remember, fast and hard. A Team hits the right side, Riders hit the left. Focus emplacements, then decks. Use the Gel bombs on the tents. Once inside, Astrid, Eret, Heather and I will break off and track down Krogan while everyone else finishes off the ships. Make noise, keep them busy but don't take unnecessary chances. Fishlegs, Twins and Snotlout, you two will break off and see about the Snow Wraiths with the A team decimates the rest." Hiccup states as Tuff raises his hand.
"I have a question." Tuff states as Hiccup sighs.
"Is it actually a question or is it something you know I'll say no too?" Hiccup asks and he pauses.
"Uh, don't confuse me." Tuff adds, pausing as Ruffnut sighs.
"What he means is; do we care what happens to this cove or can we go all in?" Ruff explains as I sigh, glancing to Hiccup.
"We don't want to sink the island, but we also don't care if the entrance to the cove is sealed so long as its sealed after we leave. So, keep your explosions to the targets, once we have what we came for, go all in and drop it." Hiccup adds as both twins shout in utter joy.
"YES! Hiccup, you know us so well. It's almost like we've worked together for.." Tuffnut begins.
"Years or something." Ruffnut finishes as the two bonk helmets. "Twintuition." They say together as all the riders sigh in unison.
"Okay, not that again." I exclaim, glancing to Hiccup with a light smile as he shakes his head and laughs lightly.
"Okay, yes. Let's go. Break off into your groups, watch each other's flanks! Let's make this message loud and clear!" Hiccup yells out and then dives with everyone following suit.
The following few moments was utter chaos that rivaled the time of the Hunters when we weren't aware of their capabilities. Our two groups darted in and the first wave of emplacements were destroyed with relative ease before a loud, crippling alarm siren blared from one of the ships as the sounds of men screaming and catapults being loaded echoed in the large cove.
The cove itself housed eight ships, with dozens of tents and two solid wood buildings. Beyond those were several large caverns in the ice that seemed to hold more dragon cages, hopefully the Snow Wraiths as well. Dodging the following storm of arrow, nets, rocks and more as we darted around the ships, the sounds of fire echoed the cove as we let loose on the ships, wiping out more and more emplacements as we dodged the fire.
It was risky but I don't even think these trappers were ready for us to come at them full force like this. We had lit our gel jars and the first salvo found their way to the tents nearest the ships as we passed by, no sign of flyers like before, just people on the ground exclaiming in fear at our attack.
"Riders, break!" Hiccup shouted as Heather, Eret and I peeled off and followed him while Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout broke off and darted down one of the larger caverns.
Our group headed to the larger wooden building that hugged one of the walls. Landing at its entrance, Hiccup dismounted before opening the door and barely dodging out of the way as a man-sized axe hurls past him. Krogan was there.
"Watch out!" He calls back as the sound of Toothless's blast is heard chasing the axe and destroying it before it hits anyone else. Rushing inside, we all heard the familiar laugh of Krogan as we see him standing there with an outstretched hand and a large scar down the right side of his body. His low laugh echoes as he smiles and releases his hand.
"And I really liked that axe." He says simply before narrowing his eyes at Hiccup. "Hello again, Hiccup. Here to kill me?" He asks sarcastically as Hiccup snarls and shakes his head.
"I'm here to take you into custody of the Berkian People, to be judged for your crimes. The easier you make this the better." Hiccup states as he shrugs.
"Come now, you should know by know I don't make anything easy." He adds and there is a sudden explosion that rocks the cavern as his lips curl further into his smile; the sounds of the Snow Wraiths echo. "Tsk, oh my, seems like your snow wraiths are none too pleased. What's your next move going to be?"
Hiccup growls before glancing back to Eret. "Eret, take Heather and go check in on those guys. Remember, we don't want to hurt the dragons. We'll handle Krogan." Hiccup states, glancing to me as I nod with a smile.
"Keep a close eye on him, Stormfly. Spines at the ready." I say softly to my dragon as her spiney tail flairs as the other two take back off. Now it was just Krogan, Hiccup and I; and Krogan was unarmed, though time would tell if he actually surrendered or not. He was no strategist like Viggo but he had a cold calculation to his movements that rivaled Viggo's stratagem and demanded a degree of respect. Either way, he was ours now.
Gazing down the room at this man who had haunted my waking world and dreams for the past several weeks since I realized he still lived. He was the same as he was before we thought he was killed; cold, confident, ruthless. He must've arranged something for the Snow Wraiths, something hopefully the trapper, Eret, and Heather could help with while Astrid and I dealt with Krogan. We were too close to let him slip through our fingers again; we've come too far.
"What's the matter chief, having a hard time deciding what to do next. I'll make it easy for you; survive." Krogan says sinisterly as he pulls out a pair of blades from his belt and launches them directly towards me before I can even react. Luckily, Astrid was prepared and Stormfly fired a pair of spines that intercepted the blades before they hit me. She then fired another pair towards Krogan as Toothless fired a plasma blast at him, blowing him back.
"No, Krogan. I'm not having a hard time. But you are about too. You've lost, you've been bested. Surrender now." I state as he just smiles from the ground and throws a pair of eels towards us, prompting our dragons to freak out. Toothless sends me flying as Krogan kicks another eel towards him and Stormfly throws Astrid off before running out of the entrance. Both of us then draw our weapons, igniting Inferno as she bears her Axe towards Krogan as he stands. "Don't make us do this, Krogan."
"Do what? Kill me? Is that within your repertoire? Chief Hiccup Haddock, a killer?" Krogan taunts as I wince and glare at him, leveling my blade towards him.
"We don't need to kill you. Severing your limbs will keep you alive and able to receive judgement." Astrid snarls back, twisting her axe towards him as she shrugs and smiles.
"Maybe so, but you, like Drago, will find out that I am hard to capture and even harder to kill." Krogan retorts before kicking a pair of chairs towards us that Astrid and I bat away with relative ease.
Despite his injury, Krogan hasn't lost his speed and he followed the chairs, charging straight towards me and as I blocked his assault towards my head, I felt his powerful knee impact my gut as Astrid's voice echoed the room. He rolled past both of us as I staggered back to my feet and glanced to Astrid before following him to find he was now armed with another axe and facing us again with a smile.
"Now, the odds are even." He says coolly with a smile, seemingly confident of his victory as he charged us again.
This time, however, we were ready. He had caught me off guard but that wouldn't happen this time. His first strike was leveled towards my head with his powerful axe that I parried swiftly to the side as Astrid came in besides me and swiped at his leg with her axe. He let out a sharp cry as he knee buckled and his strength wavered enough for me to lock his axe and turn it, opening his side and kicking him with my metal leg. I heard him wince as he fell back to the ground and Astrid held her axe to his throat, panting slightly at the brief but powerful exchange we had.
"Surrender. Now. Last warning." She says coldly as I level my blade towards him as well.
"We don't want to kill you Krogan." I add as he shakes his head and laughs.
"No, you want to cage me. I didn't let Drago cage me; I didn't let Viggo or Johann kill me. I haven't let any of these bloody warlords kill or cage me. Why would I bow to a kid and his friends?" Krogan snarls back as Astrid presses the axe closer to his throat.
"Because you are injured. You caught me off guard once and only once. You have no chance here. We won't kill you, lie down with your hands on your back and we'll treat you with justice as is demanded by Thor. Try to level your blade to us again, and we will kill you." I answer, the flames from Inferno licking the side of his face as he tries to pull away from it and presses into the axe with a wince. He growls at his situation; we had caught him wounded and he tried to act like he had the upper hadn't but he didn't.
"Fine." He mutters, lying down fully and placing his hands on the small of his back. I kick the larger axe away from him as Astrid presses her axe to the back of his neck. Moving closer, I tie his hands together and stand him up as Astrid and I escort him outside. The A team is still laying waste to the ships with little resistance at this point, and the Snow Wraiths are no where to be seen. The twins, however, are the first to fly to us followed by Stormfly and Toothless, who hops down from the top of the building.
"Oh, my, Loki. Is that, Krogan?" Tuffnut exclaims.
"Yes indeed, my brother. That would indeed be one Krogan, bounty hunter of the archipelago, bound by one Hiccup Horrendous Haddock." Ruffnut adds, holding up her finger as Tuffnut yells out in glee.
"Tell me! How does it feel, to go from the baddest, most ruthless hunter or trapper out there to a wounded guy at the whims of a one-legged rider!?" Tuffnut asks Krogan who growls as I shake my head and scoff.
"Really, Tuff?" I ask as he shrugs. My mother lands next to us on Cloudjumper.
"So this is the feared Krogan up close, right hand to Drago. I'm glad that chapter can be closed entirely now. Hiccup, I'll take him back to Berk with Cloudjumper." She offers and I nod.
"Not alone. Twins, where is Snotlout, Fishlegs and Eret, and Heather?" I ask and they shrug
"They chased the Snow Wraiths outside to get them back to Villainy's snow peaks." Ruff states and I nod.
"Okay, you two go with my mother, make sure they get back to Berk. Astrid and I will round up the A team and the other riders and meet you there. Mom, make sure he is secured, and don't trust anything he does or says." I state and she nods.
"Oh, don't ye worry, son. This man will not escape my sight, he'll be lucky if I don't have Cloudjumper drop him in the ocean." She states with a smile and I just nod and kick Krogan to the ground to her. She climbs Cloudjumper and the larger sharp dragon picks up Krogan before taking off with the twins in tow, flying beneath the caught trapper and berating him with comments as they flew.
As I turned to look towards Astrid, I felt her arms wrap around my neck and her lips press towards mine as she nearly caused me to fall back. It was a welcomed feeling, another victory. Returning her kiss, she parts and smiles.
"We did it, Hiccup. We took him alive, just like we planned. We can rest easy tonight knowing he is captured and in chains, knowing he will be judged for his crimes and pay for them. Knowing that the direct threat to you is past." She says softly and I nod, smiling.
"If only it were that simple." I answer solemnly and she cocks her head at me with a confused look as I sigh, wrapping my arms around her. "The judgement will demand his death. The threat on my life will only become worse now that we've removed their hunter. The Warlords will become increasingly desperate in the coming months when they realize they can't stop us. If I actually make this summit, I'll still be targeted. It isn't going to end anytime soon, Astrid." I whisper and she shakes her head.
"Let us take this then. It is ending with this; we'll all be targeted for the choices we've made. We'll all have enemies and need to live with them. But together, you and I, we can beat anything. Overcome any obstacle; I believe in you, now more than ever, Hiccup. You had the opportunity to kill him. You had every reason to kill him right them. You didn't. That's what makes you, you. And that's one of the countless things I love about you. Don't despair, we've won. And we will next time, and the time after that, and the time after that." Astrid answers, kissing me softly and I smile.
"You make it sound so easy. Okay, let's take this win and deal with what comes tomorrow. For now, let's gather up everyone else and head back to Berk." I state. First, Astrid and I check out the second wooden building and grab whatever papers we found to be sifted through later then we round up the A team. Following that, we fly to the snow-capped peaks of Villainy and find the other riders circling overhead where the Snow Wraiths had since burrowed.
"They've burrowed but they are safe!" Heather calls out and I nod.
"Alright, let's go. Krogan is bound and on his way back to Berk. We did it, gang! Let's go home!" I call out and everyone shouts in happiness as we start flying our way back. It was over, at least for now, and that was enough. I was looking forward to a night of rest in Astrid's arms without worrying about what the next day would bring. That'd have to wait until tomorrow night though, as all I can think of is what tomorrow brings during Krogan's judgement before the people of Berk, and what implications it'll have across the Archipelago as a whole later.
