Chapter 20 –
Jack had never fought in a war before. When any unrest between countries or even within countries themselves had started, Jack had done his best to avoid the battlefields. Of course, he wasn't always left with a choice since he couldn't not deliver winter to areas just because humans were slaughtering each other in the name of their country or beliefs. He'd only lingered on one battlefield longer than necessary to try and get someone to notice a wounded solider that would die from their injuries and exposure if left in the storm Jack had created for too long. When no one came despite his best efforts to get the attention of passing soldiers by throwing snowballs at them or having the wind roughly push them towards where he knelt with the injured soldier who looked no older than Jack physically did and the soldier had let out one final frosty breath, Jack had vowed to never step foot onto a battlefield again. There were times during his 300 years after that moment where he'd almost broken that vow but up until this day, he'd stuck by it.
Dragons of every description and colour came tearing past him as he flew through the battlefield, firing ice lightning at everything he could that wasn't a dragon under the Alpha's protection. There had to be nearly a thousand men alone in battle formations and manning the traps while hundreds of dragons, all wearing armour that both protected their head and was fashioned with some sort of blade that would do damage, flew into battle with roars and screeches of fury. The Alpha's dragons answered their challenges with little fear of their own, determined to protect their home and their Alpha. Jack had no clue what Hiccup, Stoick, Valka, or Gobber were doing that was taking them so long to join him in the air but he kept his focus solely on his self-assigned tasks.
As he fired another bolt of ice lightning at a large trap that looked like a flyswat that would capture a dragon and pin them to the ground rather than outright kill them, freezing its operating mechanisms so it was useless until it either defrosted – which it never would without Jack's say-so – or the men manning at it chipped away long enough at it to free the mechanisms, Jack heard a deep, rough voice shout out, tone commanding obedience from everyone who heard it. "Whatever comes, keep hitting the mountain! We need to draw the Alpha out!" The person who spoke sounded like all they'd done in their life was shout, tearing their vocal cords apart.
Jack immediately swung around in mid-air, looking for the person belonging to that voice and soon spotted him standing unflinchingly in the middle of the battleground, eyeing the dragons clashing in mid-air or on the ground with distaste and he knew this was Drago. He had long hair mid-way down his back and styled in dreadlocks, a beard that was also styled in dreadlocks that ended just above the wide, red belt with a large sun symbol in the middle that secured clothing that looked like they were made out of dragon skin, more scars on his face than Jack could count at the distance he was, a large, hooked nose, cruel eyes, and was wearing a cloak also made of dragon skin that hung over his left arm, obscuring it from view completely. He had a large metal staff in his right hand that looked like an oversized fire poker and Jack shuddered as he remembered what Valka had said Drago used his staff for. He had a leather wrap that covered his arm from his wrist to just below his elbow and a leather pad similar to a knee pad that skaters would wear secured from just above his elbow to just below his shoulder but the most notable thing about Drago was the sneer he wore on his face that was a mix of confidence, hatred, fury, and self-assured victory, as though he thought this battle was a sure win for him.
Jack growled silently as he shot forward, freezing another trap similar to the one he'd hit before. He wasn't touching the large, dome-shaped traps since he knew there would be dragons in there and he didn't want to leave them in there for long. He was just waiting for Drago to give the order for those traps to be in play so he could help the Alpha's dragons free the captured ones. Sure enough, Drago was soon giving those orders, obviously deciding they'd waited long enough to utilise those traps. "Ready the traps!" he shouted, gesturing with his staff to the traps in question and his men leapt to obey him.
Using a lever on the side of the traps, they cranked them open, pulling the two metal covers back and revealing the bait dragons within. At once, the dragons who were tied cruelly in place let out whimpers and weak roars for help that the Alpha's dragons couldn't ignore. Jack flew alongside them and froze as many traps open as he could so they couldn't be sprung but he wasn't able to get to all of them in time and he watched in horror as a Raincutter landed in one trap to help a fellow dragon only to trigger it and wind up with a wing caught in between the metal jaws. The traps that Jack did manage to freeze stayed armed even with the extra weight of another dragon in there and Jack couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at how frustrated the men were that the traps were frozen so they were useless. They did climb into the traps to try and subdue the intended victim only to be killed by two unbound dragons once the bait dragon had been freed.
Jack couldn't bring himself to use his powers to kill any human or dragon affiliated with Drago. He knew that he would never be able to live with himself if he did so he did the second-best thing he could; he caused them trouble. Aside from freezing the traps, Jack had also taken to freezing the humans' feet to the ground and their weapons to their hands – though he didn't use his never-melting ice to do that so they could get free eventually – and he also took inspiration from a couple of plane crashes he'd heard about when it came to the dragons. By creating a thick, uneven coating of ice over their wings, he destroyed their aerodynamics completely and sent them crashing to the ground, usually on top of a catapult or other such weapon when he could, destroying those in the process. The dragons weren't hurt badly and most of the time the crash destroyed the ice coating their wings so they could get back into the air soon after but his actions meant that some of the Alpha's dragons weren't hurt or killed so Jack counted that as a win.
Jack heard the sound of a second round of traps being cocked open and turned immediately to find them so he could start disabling them only to stop when he saw green gas seeping out of one. One of the men who'd armed the trap had just turned to it, a puzzled expression on his face, when the gas was ignited, killing the men around the trap and revealing Ruffnut and Tuffnut riding Barf and Belch out of the smoking ruins of the trap. Ruffnut gave a delighted whoop while Tuffnut punched the air, a victorious and smug, "Surprise! Yeah!" escaping him as they immediately joined the battle.
"WHAT?!" the furious bellow from Drago almost had Jack laughing as he watched Astrid and Fishlegs on top of Meatlug then Snotlout on Hookfang escape their own traps and join the twins in the air. The last to join them was Stormfly with – to Jack's complete surprise – Eret on her back, doing his best to cling to her as Stormfly headed straight for Astrid.
"You guys are really full of surprises!" Jack exclaimed as he headed for them, causing most of the Vikings to swing their heads around to look at him in shock.
"We could say the same for you!" Astrid said with a grin as she leapt lightly from Meatlug's back onto Stormfly's so she was now behind Eret, clutching onto him. "Does you being here mean we should expect Hiccup to show up as well?" she asked, already looking around for the Night Fury and her best friend.
"He and Toothless should be out here soon. I don't know what they're doing," Jack told her as he fired an ice lightning bolt at another group of men, freezing their feet to the ground before he brought the wind rushing past the group with him, knocking the catapulted nets to the ground. "Stoick and Gobber found us as well. There's someone else too. We found the other dragon rider," Jack said, nodding to Eret. "The one you told us hit your fort with the ice-spitting dragon," he said before he shook his head at Astrid. "I'm gonna let Hiccup tell you who that person is. It should come from him," Jack told them.
Astrid nodded, her curiousity about who this person was not being strong enough to distract her from what was going on around them. "Right, we need to focus on this battle and helping the dragons," she said, voice commanding. No one argued with her taking charge. "Ruff, Tuff, I want you guys to focus on the traps. Free those dragons before any more get hurt," she instructed.
"You can count on us!" Tuffnut said as Ruffnut saluted, both pulling Barf and Belch away to start attacking the traps.
Astrid turned to Fishlegs and Meatlug next. "You guys are on the weapons," she told them. "Take advantage of the boulders Drago and his men are using to fuel Meatlug's lava and get rid of the catapults and whatever else there are," she ordered.
"We're on it!" Fishlegs said, his face determined as Meatlug growled in agreement, the two flying as quickly as possible to the nearest pile of rocks.
"Snotlout," Astrid said, getting the teenager's attention, "you and Hookfang get the ships," she told them, earning herself a fist pump and grin from Snotlout. "See if you can convince some of the free dragons to join you in getting those ships out of the way. Don't focus on burning them, just destroy the rigging and sails if that's all you can manage," she instructed.
"None of those ships will be able to float once the Fangster and I are through with them!" Snotlout swore before yelping as Hookfang took off without warning, heading for the anchored ships.
Astrid watched as her teammates left before she turned back to Jack. "You and I are going to focus on helping the others where we can and battling the dragons in the air," Astrid told him. "What kind of things have you been doing?" she asked.
Jack called upon his friend one more to knock down a bunch of arrows and nets coming there way. "That," he said, gesturing to the fallen weapons, "and I've been icing over the armoured dragons' wings so they crash to the ground as well as freezing the attacking soldiers' feet and weapons. I've also been freezing the mechanisms of the traps and weapons with my longest-lasting ice so they're basically useless," he told her.
Astrid nodded. "Keep doing that," she said. "We'll do what we can to help," she told him, her eyes filled with grief as she watched the dragons battling, claws ripping into each other and teeth sinking into flesh. "Whatever Hiccup, Stoick, and Gobber have planned better be worth them not being out here right now," she muttered before she tapped Eret on the shoulder. "Do you want to stay with us or do you want Stormfly to land? You could probably find some weapons on the ground and help us out from down there if you want," she said.
Eret shook his head. "I'll stick with you lot. Probably safer on dragon-back than on foot," he said, looking down at the ground with a grimace.
"You're probably not wrong," Jack said cheerfully. Eret eyed him warily, obviously confused at his tone. Jack just knocked down a few more nets, acting like he didn't notice the look he was getting from the newest dragon rider. "We probably shouldn't stay here much longer. We're basically stationary targets," Jack pointed out.
Stormfly gave a warbled agreement and Astrid nodded. "Let's rejoin the battle," she said before she gently signalled for Stormfly to head back into the fray, Jack following close beside them.
Tuffnut and Ruffnut could be clearly heard above the sounds of the ongoing battle, their shouts of victory sounding each time they destroyed some traps and freed the dragons within. Fishlegs and Meatlug were obliterating the weapons with a mixture of boulders and lava. Meatlug had one boulder in between her legs at all times and once she was out of lava, she would signal Fishlegs by dropping said boulder on the next trap, after which Fishlegs would find a new batch of rocks for her to gobble up so she could keep going. Several dragons had noticed the actions by the two groups of dragon riders and were actively helping by mimicking each team and either freeing more dragons or destroying weapons. Snotlout and Hookfang had the biggest group of helpers as dragons of all species joined them in destroying every piece of rigging they could manage and setting the ships ablaze. With only a skeleton crew aboard them, Drago's men were having a hard time defending the ships, though they did manage to tranquilize several dragons. Before they could capture the downed dragon, a couple of other dragons would swoop in and save the unconscious one while more would follow to destroy the ship, sending the men diving into the ocean if they didn't want to burn.
"CUT THEM DOWN!" came the furious bellow from Drago as he snarled at the nuisance the dragon riders and Jack were making of themselves.
One of his men answered by firing a net at the twins, who were flying past Jack, Astrid, Eret, and Stormfly. Before Jack could get past Stormfly so he could stop it, the net unfurled and knocked Ruffnut off her saddle, sending her plummeting towards some sharp rocks on the ground. Moving quickly, Jack dove after her and used the wind to slow her fall enough so he could grab her arm and stop her from crashing into the rocks. Barf and Belch headed for the pair, Barf wanting to get his rider back, and they ducked underneath Ruffnut, who landed on the saddle with an "oomph!" when Jack released her. "Thanks for the save!" Ruffnut said as she settled herself back on the saddle properly.
"Don't mention it," Jack said as he headed back up further into the air to make it easier for him to attack enemy dragons or people and harder for the weapons to reach him.
Firing off several ice bolts as the twins got back to work, Jack's attention was suddenly grabbed by Astrid's frantic calls. "Up, girl! To the left, Eret!" Astrid ordered, trying to help Eret fly her dragon since she wasn't in the saddle herself. Several catapults fired, sending boulders into the spikes above Astrid, Eret, and Stormfly, sending the broken pieces directly down onto them. "Look out!" the blonde Viking cried but before Jack or Stormfly could do anything, the broken pieces of ice exploded just after the familiar sound of plasma shot could be heard.
Toothless, Skullcrusher, and Grump all flew through the flames and ice, their riders aboard their backs and Jack gave an inaudible sigh of relief as he took all of them in. Hiccup had his helmet on and was slouched low over Toothless' saddle as he and his dragon flew straight past the winter spirit before wheeling around and firing a shot at a net launcher, knocking it onto its side. Barely a moment later, Stoick was there, leaning over Skullcrusher's side and slicing through the trigger line, sending the net at a throng of soldiers that had been surrounding a downed dragon, giving it the opportunity to escape.
"Take 'em down!" The call came from a random archer who was gesturing at Stoick and Hiccup so his men knew who he was talking about.
Jack watched in fascination and amusement as Gobber and Grump flew behind them, not a single archer spotting the pair as they approached. "Heads up!" Gobber called out, a chuckle in his voice as Grump's heavy tail connected with every archers' head, knocking them all out cold as he passed through them.
Jack grinned as Hiccup and Toothless came up beside him, joined quickly by Astrid, Eret, and Stormfly. Hiccup was very quick to notice the extra person and grinned, no small amount of amusement in his eyes as he took in Eret's mildly-frightened demeanour and general unsurety of what he was doing. "Welcome aboard, dragon rider!" he greeted, somewhat teasingly.
"Thanks, I think," Eret huffed out, grinning uneasily as Astrid glared at Hiccup.
"Where have you been?" the blonde demanded. "Why weren't you out here helping Jack?" she asked, gesturing to the aforementioned winter spirit.
"Oh, you know," Hiccup said casually before he nodded skyward, "catching up with Mum."
Jack couldn't help but chuckle as Astrid gave the brunette a confused look before she and Eret both glanced in the direction Hiccup had gestured and gaped as they watched Valka – clad in her full warrior garb – rising from the towering ice spikes on top of Cloudjumper, her staff raised high. "That's your mother?!" Astrid exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief.
"Well, now we all know where I get my dramatic flair from," Hiccup said with a laugh, obviously delighted at the reaction he got. "As for why I wasn't out here with Jack straight away, he headed into the battle the moment it started while I had to get Toothless' gear on him and get out of the mountain," Hiccup said, deciding to answer Astrid's second question even though the blonde was still gaping at his mother.
An earth-trembling roar soon sounded and Jack sucked in a deep breath as he realised who that roar came from. "You're bringing the Alpha out into the battle?" Jack asked, eyes wide with horror. "That's what Drago wants! You can't do that!" he cried, fear filling his being as he watched the Alpha climb out of the mountain, bellowing again before he unleashed an icy attack on the troops closest to him, freezing at least a hundred men in one go.
Hiccup turned a confused look at Jack. "How do you know he wants the Alpha out here? How would he even know Mum has an Alpha here?" Hiccup asked him.
"I heard him telling his men to keep attacking the mountain until the Alpha came out. I don't know how he knew he was here," Jack said, eyes still fixed on the Alpha as he crushed ice under his massive foot as he moved closer into the battle.
"Why didn't you warn the Alpha that Drago was waiting for him to come out?" Hiccup asked and Jack froze as he realised he had completely forgotten that he and the Alpha were bonded. The Alpha had been sleeping most of the time while Jack was bonded to it so he hadn't felt much from the ginormous dragon and anything he had felt when they'd realised Drago was on the island, he'd obviously not noticed since he'd been feeling much the same thing. Hiccup gave him a look that was a mixture of sympathy and confusion. "You forgot you could, didn't you?" he asked and Jack gave a slow nod.
Before Jack could answer verbally though, a stream of fire crossed his vision, causing the spirit to fly backwards several feet before he realised it was Stormfly destroying some netting he hadn't noticed coming towards them. "Whatever you two are talking about can't be more important than keeping your idiot selves alive!" Astrid snapped at the pair. "Finish talking once we've defeated the crazed maniac in front of us!" she ordered.
"She's right," Hiccup said, giving Jack a reassuring smile. "We'll get through this fine. We know Drago's after the Alpha now. All we've gotta do is make sure he doesn't get him," he said confidently.
"Oh, is that all? Piece of cake, really. Don't know why we have all of these dragons fighting with us, in that case," Jack drawled sarcastically, getting a snort from Hiccup as he, Toothless, and Jack dove back into battle.
"A battlefield probably isn't the best place to be sarcastic," Hiccup chided, laughing when Jack levelled him with a flat look even as the spirit froze over two more traps.
"Pot meet kettle," Jack deadpanned.
"I don't even know what a kettle is!" Hiccup laughed, nudging for Toothless to fire at a trapped Hideous Zippleback who had been captured in a Dragon Swatter, as Jack had called it in his head. "Thatta boy!" Hiccup praised, causing Toothless to growl happily.
Jack shook his head as he continued firing ice lightning, sending the wind roaring ferociously through the ranks of the soldiers below them, or freezing the armoured dragons' wings as he fought beside Hiccup and Toothless. Astrid and Eret had gone ahead of them, not wanting to be in the same area as they were so they wouldn't be attacking the same targets. Jack watched as Valka and Cloudjumper flew past them, the massive dragon grabbing hold of armoured dragons who were winning their match against the wild dragons and physically pulling them off the rescued dragons, throwing them away from him and sending them plummeting to the ground which they almost always hit. The Alpha was bellowing loudly, encouraging his dragons as he continued attacking, going for the soldiers and ships that were in his path.
Not willing to let the Alpha go a moment longer without being warned, Jack reached out for him, hoping their bond was still intact. "Drago meant to draw you out of the mountain. I don't know why but you need to be careful," Jack warned.
The Alpha's blue eyes swept the battlefield before they landed on him and Jack let out a sigh of relief, taking the action to mean the Alpha had heard him. "He has one of my brethren hiding in wait," the Alpha informed Jack, voice solemn. "Because of this, I believe his plan is to have me fight my brother for control of all the dragons here."
Jack's heart thumped painfully in his chest as the words sunk in. "What do we do?" Jack asked the massive dragon, barely remembering to keep an eye on the clashing dragons and men so he wouldn't wind up getting himself seriously hurt.
The Alpha gave him a look that Jack couldn't quite decipher. "What we must," the dragon said, tone heavy before he breathed harshly, sending a wave of ice to encompass another group of soldiers.
Jack took his words to mean the Alpha wouldn't be speaking on the topic any longer so he turned to find Toothless, Hiccup, Valka, and Cloudjumper so he could tell them what the Alpha had told him. Toothless and Hiccup were quite some distance from him and at first, Jack couldn't find Valka until he heard her cry out. His eyes roved over the battlefield, searching for the woman only for them to widen in horror when he found her engaging Drago in a fight by herself. A quick look showed Cloudjumper was nearby but entangled in a net and couldn't aid his rider, despite his attempts to free himself. Jack knew that he couldn't help Valka – he didn't know her battling style well enough to predict her moves so he could fire an ice bolt at Drago with minimal risk of hitting her – but there was something he could do. He could free her dragon so that Cloudjumper could help her.
Flying towards the downed dragon – only pausing to defend himself or aid a wild dragon who was struggling with one of Drago's – Jack was soon close enough to hear Valka's voice. "-our dragons! They are controlled by the Alpha!" she snarled at Drago, her voice slightly muffled by her mask.
Drago sneered at her as he pushed her away and stepped back before Valka could attack once more. "Then it's a good thing I brought a challenger," Drago said, grinning sardonically before he turned to the flagship and let out a savage, deep shout, whirling his bull hook over his head.
Jack found himself stopping in mid-flight and watching with a mixture of dread and apprehension as the sound of heavy chains scraped against wood as they were released. The water between some of the ships was soon churning as something massive beneath its surface made its way upwards. Jack felt the Alpha's own dread and deep sadness but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the disrupted water. It wasn't long before a Bewilderbeast appeared, a challenging roar tearing from its throat as it broke the surface. It was a darker colour than the Alpha Jack was bonded with. Rather than being the snowy white of the first Alpha, this one looked as though its scales and skin were stained with soot. Its sclera was bloodshot and once it got fully out of the water, Jack could see that not only was it a bit bigger than the light Alpha but it was also covered in hundreds of scars, each one betraying the abuse it had gone through at the hands of Drago. Each of its massive tusks had iron cuffs fastened to them and Jack realised that the chains he'd heard being dropped had originally been fastened to those cuffs.
"Another one?!" Jack heard Hiccup exclaim from where he and Toothless were currently hovering, everyone having paused when the dark Alpha had made his way out of the ocean. Fishlegs was shouting something about being wrong and classes but Jack wasn't listening to him as the dark Alpha shook the sea water from himself.
Jack felt anger boil up inside him as his eyes continued finding scars upon scars as the dark Alpha came to a stop on land, his eyes taking in what was going on around him before his eyes found the light Alpha. Drago's voice soon broke him out of his red-hazed thoughts and he whirled around just as he called out to his Alpha, "come on! Take down the Alpha!"
Terror filled Jack as he watched the dark Alpha move to obey his master. Bile rose in his throat as he realised this dragon was fully prepared to slaughter one of his own kind at the word of Drago due to the abuse he'd obviously suffered at the hands of the deranged man. Jack hesitated, not sure whether to continue with his original plan of freeing Cloudjumper or whether he should get in between the two Alpha's and try to talk the dark Alpha down and stop him from attacking the other Alpha. When he glanced at Valka and saw her get knocked completely to the ground, Jack groaned before he headed for Cloudjumper just as Drago managed to forcefully remove Valka's helmet.
The only reason Jack didn't try to aid Valka was because of who he saw heading for them. Jack grabbed a random dagger that one of the soldiers must've dropped and started hacking at the ropes that made up the net that kept Cloudjumper tangled as Stoick knocked Drago to the ground before helping his wife to her feet. "Thank you," Jack heard Valka say to Stoick before he glanced over and saw Stoick readying his sword as he faced Drago.
"For you, my dear," Stoick said as Drago gathered his fallen bull hook and removed his heavy dragon-skin cloak to reveal a completely metal arm, "anything." With that, Stoick took a step forward, getting into a battle stance. The roars of the Alphas caught Jack's attention and he winced when the two massive dragons clashed, their tusks smashing up against one another. "Val, do you think you can stop them?" he asked his wife as he and Drago continued facing off with one another.
Valka nodded, moving backwards and kicking her staff up so she could catch it in her hand. "I'll do my best," she promised Stoick before she headed for Cloudjumper and found him almost free from his binds thanks to Jack's efforts. "Thank you, Jack," Valka said as she used her staff to cut the last of the ropes, allowing Cloudjumper to stand and shake himself free of any aching muscles. "You're bonded with them, right?" she asked, nodding to the Alphas.
"To yours, yes," Jack said, "but I might be able to force Drago's under my command," Jack admitted, grimacing at the very idea of forcing a dragon that was already abused at the hands of a human to be unwillingly brought under his control.
Valka eyed him sympathetically. "I'll need your help," Valka told him and Jack nodded. "Let's go," she said, jumping onto Cloudjumper's back and extending her staff for Jack to take hold of, obviously intending for him to ride Cloudjumper with her.
Knowing that speed was the key to stopping the Alphas, as well as quick manoeuvring to avoid the battles still going on around them, Jack accepted the offer and allowed Valka to help pull him up so he was standing beside her on Cloudjumper. The dragon barely waited for Jack to be steadied before he launched himself into the air and it was only thanks to centuries of riding the wind that Jack managed to stay on the dragon as Cloudjumper twirled under the other dragons, nimbly avoiding them. They flew past the other dragon riders, not bothering to check on them and trusting they were alright as they headed for the two Alphas.
"You focus on your Alpha," Jack said just as they got close to the Bewilderbeasts. "He's more likely to listen to you than Drago's Alpha will so I'll focus on him instead," Jack explained.
Valka nodded as Cloudjumper came to a stop in between the two clashing dragons. "Good luck," was all she said before she turned her back to the dark Alpha and focused on her own, trying to stop him from fighting.
Jack on the other hand, called on the wind to bring him up off of Cloudjumper, ensuring the dark Alpha's attention was on him, even if only for a moment. The dragons had stopped their attacks, backing down to gather themselves once more and keep going and this was the moment Cloudjumper, Valka, and Jack were taking advantage of. Reaching for the memories of bonding with the light Alpha, Jack reached out for the dark one. "Stop," he commanded, trying not to focus on his ability to control animals under his domain but his newfound ability to bond with them. Controlling the dark Alpha's free will would be an absolute last resort.
Jack saw the moment the bond had been forged between him and the dark Alpha as the massive dragon shook his head, as though trying to clear it. Jack was hit with everything the dark Alpha was feeling – his confusion, fear of Drago and what he would do if the Alpha didn't win this fight, his revulsion at what he was doing, his self-hatred, and his self-loathing. The biggest thing Jack felt, however, was the dark Alpha's desire to stop fighting but his terror at what would happen to him if he disobeyed Drago. That terror was what made the dark Alpha launch another attack against the light Alpha, forcing Cloudjumper and Valka to dive to avoid being caught in the middle but Jack stayed in between the two, making sure he was out of the way of where they'd clash though.
"Stop fighting each other!" Jack tried ordering again, this time reaching for both bonds.
"I cannot!" Jack flinched at the dark Alpha's voice and the fear that soaked it. "I must kill him or else my master will be upset with me!" the Alpha cried, attacking the light Alpha again, putting more effort behind his attacks when he did so as though the thought of what Drago might do if he failed had given him extra motivation to succeed.
"We'll protect you from him!" Jack tried saying, voice pleading but he could feel the dark Alpha's disbelief. "My friends are down there right now doing everything they can to stop Drago from hurting another dragon ever again!" Jack said, flooding the bond between him and the dark Alpha his genuineness.
"The Winter Spirit speaks the truth, brother," the light Alpha said, even as he retaliated, trying to push the dark Alpha away from him. "I do not wish to kill one of my own species because of that man. Please do not make me do so in order to fulfill my protection duties to the dragons under my rule," the Alpha pleaded.
The dark Alpha seemed to hesitate slightly before he shook his massive head. "It is impossible to defeat my master," he said sadly. "I tried for many years to escape him when he first took me but he always stopped me or found me soon after if I did manage to break free. The punishments I took for trying to defy him grew harsher with each attempt. I will not disappoint him and risk what he'll do to me," the dark Alpha told them before he blocked them both and resumed his attacks against the light Alpha.
Jack had no choice but to get out from between them as the dark Alpha's attack grew more frantic and therefore making it more dangerous for him to be there. Just as he readied himself to try and forcibly take control of the dark Alpha, he heard a shout from below him. Turning as the two behemoth dragons clashed once more, Jack found himself looking at Toothless and Hiccup on the ground, the pair having been separated by soldiers. Jack had no idea why they'd landed but he headed for Toothless anyway, the dragon having been closer to him. He glanced back at the two Alphas and saw the light Alpha was seemingly gaining some ground and hoped he would continue to do so until Jack had gotten his friends out of trouble and could come back to help the light Alpha with his fight.
Jack waved his staff at the men who were surrounding Toothless and knocked most of them off their feet as he landed on Toothless' back, flicked the lever that would switch out Hiccup's stirrup for the one he could use and got his feet into the stirrups while Toothless fired plasma blasts at the remaining men. "I don't know how the two of you got separated but let it be known that I will be lecturing the both of you about it once this is over," Jack informed the Night Fury as he clicked his tail into the right position so Toothless could get back into the air. Toothless cooed happily at him and Jack shook his head. "Don't you try being all cute and stuff with me. You're still going to get scolded," Jack told him, causing the dragon to visibly pout.
They got into the air and Toothless immediately fired at the men cornering his rider, causing them to scatter and giving Hiccup some breathing room. Jack found his attention split between getting to Hiccup and making sure both Alphas were still alive and his divided attention soon caught up to him. Hiccup's shouted warning and Toothless' attempt to sharply veer to the left wasn't enough for Jack to completely avoid the attack from one of Drago's armoured dragons and he cried out in pain as his right arm was grazed by the stream of fire the dragon had released. Tears obscured his vision but Jack still managed to get Toothless to Hiccup before the pain became almost too much to bear.
Hiccup was by Toothless' side in no time and helping Jack off the saddle and to the ground so he could inspect the injury closer. "Jack, I'm gonna have to cut off what's left of the sleeve so I can see how bad it is," Hiccup warned the winter spirit, grabbing his dagger as he did so.
Jack gave a nod as he bit his lip to try and keep back the whimper of pain that was crawling up his throat. It suddenly became darker as Hiccup moved and Jack looked up to find Toothless' wings around them, protecting them from any attacks while the dragon fired plasma shots, stopping the soldiers from getting too close to the pair. A ripping noise soon got Jack's focus back on Hiccup and he watched as the dragon rider carefully peeled the burnt remains of the red sleeve away from Jack's arm. For a normal human or spirit, the injury from the attack would've only looked like a severe sunburn with some blistering happening as the injury healed but for Jack, the burn was worse. Jack flinched when Hiccup lightly grabbed his forearm to try and manipulate the rest of his arm so he could see if better and a fresh wave of tears fell as he took in the severe second-degree burns that spread from the top of his shoulder, down the outside of his arm, and ended at the elbow.
"Sorry," Hiccup immediately apologised before he took in the injury. "Jack, I don't think you can keep fighting with this injury," he said honestly. The spirit's arm hadn't been burned as badly as some of the injuries Hiccup had seen on some of the Vikings on Berk but he knew that Jack's pain would be worse due to his being the Spirit of Winter.
"I have to get back to the Alphas. I have to try and stop them," Jack argued, sniffling sharply as he tried to pull himself together and ignore the pain so he could do exactly that.
Hiccup managed to hold him down as he thought quickly. Jack wouldn't stop and he wouldn't listen to Hiccup to stay there, even if Jack would've been safe. Hiccup and Toothless couldn't stay grounded to keep Jack safe before it would put both of them at risk as well so Hiccup did the only thing he could think of. "Stay here with Toothless," Hiccup ordered, causing Jack to blink up at him. "I'm gonna grab some snow from the snowdrift near us and I'll pack it onto your arm before I wrap it so you can start healing," Hiccup explained.
"But the battle –" Jack started saying, eyes widening in fear at what he thought Hiccup was risking just for him.
"Toothless will have me in his sights at all times and I have my sword," Hiccup said, getting in a crouching position so he could duck out from underneath Toothless' protective wing. "I'll be fine," he swore when he saw Jack wasn't convinced. Toothless gave a rumbling agreement that was filled with promises to protect his rider and finally Jack nodded, though he still looked like he expected Hiccup to be killed the moment he left Toothless' side.
Hiccup didn't hesitate once Jack nodded and ducked out from under Toothless' wing, heading straight for the snowdrift a few metres away. There was some blood and torn scales from the dragons above in it but Hiccup went for the cleanest spot and gathered as much as he could carry in his arms before he headed straight back to Toothless and their injured friend. Toothless fired a plasma shot at an opportunistic soldier just as Hiccup ducked back under his wing and dumped the snow in Jack's lap, startling the winter spirit who had been arguing with Baby Tooth, who was half out of the saddlebag.
"Sorry," Hiccup apologised before he reached around to the saddlebag Jack was trying to convince Baby Tooth to stay in and opening it, grabbing some bandages before he dropped the flap, trapping the fairy once more. "Sorry, Baby Tooth, but you need to listen to Jack and stay in there until the fighting is finished. You might get hurt if you don't," Hiccup told the little fairy and earning himself an irritated chirp in response.
"Thanks," Jack said as Baby Tooth settled down and didn't make any further attempts to come out. "She wanted to check on me and wouldn't listen when I told her that it was too dangerous for her out here and that I would be fine until this fight ended and she could check on me then," he explained.
"She's just worried," Hiccup said as he grabbed a small handful of snow in one hand and held the bandage in the other. "Can you hold your arm like this?" he asked, sticking his arm up so it was out to the side of his body and parallel to the ground. Jack nodded and mimicked Hiccup, wincing as the movement pulled at his fresh injuries and caused new tears to fall. Hiccup couldn't help but feel the guilt Jack's pain caused him but he knew the winter spirit would wave off any apology he tried to give so he instead focused on wrapping Jack's injury up quickly so the spirit could get some respite from the pain sooner.
Hiccup pressed the handful of snow he held onto the top part of Jack's burn and secured it in place with a wrap of the bandage before he repeated the process, wrapping each handful of snow quickly and securely in place. Jack flinched every time Hiccup pressed snow onto the burn but relaxed immediately as the snow soothed his skin and helped start healing the injury. Toothless continued firing plasma blasts at any who dared come too close to him and those under his protection while the fighting continued raging on outside. Jack could still hear the clashing made by the two Alpha's colliding with one another and his bonds with them both told him neither one had managed to hurt the other just yet.
Placing the final lot of snow just above Jack's elbow and wrapping the bandage around it before wrapping around the same spot again to tie it into place, Hiccup finished tending to Jack's injury. "Can you do something to make sure the snow doesn't melt too quickly so we don't have to change it if the fight keeps going for a while?" Hiccup asked and Jack nodded before he pressed the tip of his staff to the bandages and allowed his power to flow through it.
"I did the same thing I do to my clothes but I made it stronger," Jack explained when he spotted Hiccup's curious look. "Thanks, by the way," he added as he wiped his face with his other hand. The burns still hurt a phenomenal amount but the snow was slowly numbing the injury and Jack could feel himself relax further with every moment he wasn't in as much pain passed.
"You'd do the same for me," Hiccup said confidently before he offered a hand to Jack as he stood, causing Toothless to fold his wings against his body. Jack accepted the hand up as he grasped his staff with his right hand, wincing as the injury throbbed at the movement. Toothless was still on high alert as the boys got themselves up but he managed to coo in concern at Jack, sparing him a worried look before he went back to snarling warningly at the soldiers around them.
"I'm as good as I can be," Jack assured the dragon before he glanced at the saddlebag Baby Tooth was secured in. "I'm sorry I asked you to stay in there, BT, but I swear that I'll be fine. You can check for yourself when the fighting is over," he promised the fairy. Muffled chirps that were both concerned and angry came from the saddlebag and Jack winced slightly. "I don't think this situation warrants you telling Tooth about it," Jack said, his voice a little whiny. One miffed but firm chirp later had him sighing in resignation and making a mental note to prepare himself to be smothered by Toothiana's mother-henning once he was back in his own time.
Hiccup seemed amused by the exchange but the sound of a fireball hitting close to them pulled them both out of their thoughts. "Are you sure you're going to be fine?" Hiccup couldn't help but ask, green eyes shining with concern.
Jack nodded. "I'll be fine. It doesn't hurt much anymore," he told Hiccup honestly. The dragon rider must've picked up on his truthfulness because he simply nodded. "Don't get yourself killed before this is over. I told Toothless I'd be lecturing the pair of you for getting yourselves separated," Jack told him, letting the wind pick him up so he was a foot or two off the ground while Hiccup climbed into Toothless' saddle.
Green eyes rolled at him as Hiccup clicked his foot into place, barely flinching when Toothless fired off a plasma blast while Jack sent an ice bolt soaring over the top of the pair to a soldier trying to sneak up on them. "Well, with something as exciting as that to look forward to, why would I dare disobey you?" Hiccup drawled.
"What happened to the whole 'a battlefield isn't the place for sarcasm'?" Jack laughed as Hiccup readied Toothless for flight.
"There was something about pots and kettles in response to that, if I recall," Hiccup said, grinning at the spirit. "Keep yourself safe," he said, voice serious as he eyed the two clashing Alphas warily.
"You too. Both of you," Jack said, addressing both Hiccup and Toothless, the latter of whom cooed at him with his own worry and well-wishes.
Nodding at the Night Fury and his rider, Jack turned and headed for the Alphas once more. He heard the sound of Toothless getting airborne and allowed himself to relax a little before he fired ice lightning at any dragon who tried to attack him, causing their wings to ice over as he weaved through the other dragons as he coaxed the wind to go faster so he could get to the Alphas quicker. The dark Alpha was still frantically trying to knock the light Alpha down but the light Alpha wasn't giving him any ground to work with until the unthinkable happened. The light Alpha's front foot slipped, causing him to falter as he pushed back against the dark Alpha and the attacking Alpha seized the chance given to him.
"NO!" Jack shouted as he watched the dark Alpha shove the light Alpha down, pushing him all the way into the side of the mountain before he reared back, ready to deliver the killing blow. "STOP!" Jack screamed, imbuing his voice with his commanding ability and causing the dark Alpha to falter as he drove his tusks into the side of the light Alpha, causing the downed dragon to bellow with pain.
The dark Alpha backed away a couple of steps, an unmistakeable sadness in his eyes as he watched the crimson blood flow from the devastating injuries he'd caused to his fellow Alpha. "I didn't want to," he mourned as Jack flew down, landing on the side of the light Alpha, standing just above his injuries. The light Alpha still drew breath but Jack knew that if he wasn't healed soon, he would die from these injuries. "Can you help him? My master will think we've won and we'll leave soon so he'll be safe shortly if you can heal him," the dark Alpha said, voice beseeching as he looked at Jack.
Jack felt his initial panic skyrocket at the dark Alpha's request but he nodded as he recalled the few times he was able to help heal an artic wolf or penguin or other such animal. "I can heal him," Jack told the victorious Alpha.
"Don't let him wake up before we're gone or my master will send me after him again," the dark Alpha pleaded and Jack gave another nod.
"I won't, I promise," the spirit swore. "You should leave though. Take this chance to run while Drago is too busy with this fight," Jack urged but when he felt the dark Alpha shrink in on himself, he knew there was no way the uninjured Alpha would try, not with how much control Drago had over him.
"NOW FINISH HER!" the shout from Drago could be heard all over the island and Jack glanced down to find the Alpha's abuser pointing his bull hook in the direction of Cloudjumper and Valka.
Jack gasped as the dark Alpha moved to follow Drago's orders. "Please don't," Jack pleaded as he took to the air once more.
The dark Alpha looked at him sadly. "Focus on him, please," the dark Alpha requested before he moved lumberingly towards Valka and unleashed an ice attack.
Jack felt his heart leap into his throat as he saw Cloudjumper's tail get enveloped with ice, causing him to spiral out of control and for Valka to be thrown from his back. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Stoick and Skullcrusher appear out of nowhere and Stoick launch himself off of Skullcrusher's back to save his wife. Knowing Stoick would let no harm come to Valka, Jack finally turned his attention to the downed but still alive Alpha and raised his hands. Closing his eyes to concentrate, Jack hovered in mid-air as his power flowed from his raised hands down to the light Alpha and he started his work on speeding up the Alpha's healing by an incredible amount. He gasped as his power surged out of him, unseen by any who may have been watching, but shone a pale blue to Jack so he could gauge its strength and adjust it if he needed to. He knew his power was working when the light Alpha let out a low groan that went unnoticed by everyone else because at that exact moment, the dark Alpha roared.
So focused on the light Alpha was he that Jack didn't notice that Hiccup and Toothless were now confronting Drago. Hiccup had, however, noticed what Jack was doing and knew that it wouldn't take Drago long to spot the winter spirit and order his dragons to focus on him, even if Drago didn't know what Jack was doing exactly so the brunette decided to use this opportunity to confront Drago and hopefully keep his attention off Jack long enough for Drago to be dealt with. Drago was watching him as he flicked his prosthetic over from his flying one to his walking one and got off of Toothless' back, removing his helmet as he did so.
Drago took in his appearance and laughed incredulously. "This is the great dragon master? The son of Stoick the Vast?" Drago asked, gesturing at Hiccup's lean frame. "What shame he must feel."
Hiccup didn't let the insult affect him like he might've a year or so ago but that didn't mean Toothless was willing to let Drago get away with insulting Hiccup. He released a snarl and started building up a plasma blast but Hiccup held a calming hand out to him, bringing a stop to the impending attack. "All of this loss," Hiccup said, gesturing to the dragon and human carcasses that littered what once had been a peaceful and safe haven for rescued dragons, "for what? To become unstoppable? To rule the world?" he asked and received a smirk from Drago as the man looked over the destruction he was directly responsible for and nodded in response to Hiccup's words. "Dragons are kind, amazing creatures that can bring people together," Hiccup started saying, trying to accomplish his goal of changing Drago's mind only to stop when Drago reached up to his left shoulder.
"Or tear them apart," Drago said, laughing mockingly as he removed his metal arm to reveal a stump at his shoulder that was covered with aged scars. Hiccup flinched back at the sight unconsciously. "You see," Drago started saying, "I know what it is to live in fear. To see my village burned, my family taken!" he snarled, reattaching his arm and clipping it into place and moving to circle Hiccup and Toothless, the latter of whom kept his lips up in a ferocious curl, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. "But even as a boy, left with nothing, I vowed to rise above the fear of dragons and liberate the people of this world," Drago told Hiccup.
"Then why a dragon army?" Hiccup couldn't help but ask as he and Toothless moved with Drago, keeping the crazed man in their sights.
Drago gave him a smug grin. "Well, you need dragons to conquer other dragons," he said, tone telling Hiccup that he thought the answer was obvious and that Hiccup was an idiot for even asking.
"Or maybe you need dragons to conquer people," Hiccup said, glaring at Drago. "To control those who follow you… and to get rid of those who don't," he said.
Drago gave an amused huff as he looked at Hiccup with an almost approving glint in his eyes. "Clever boy," he said as he grabbed his bull hook and approached the brunette once more. Toothless arched up, ready to attack but Drago didn't seem to even notice the dragon's actions.
Hiccup felt a deep sense of dread and an almost overwhelming urge to get on Toothless and get out of there as he watched Drago approach. "The world wants peace and we have the answer, back on Berk," Hiccup told Drago, placing a hand on Toothless' head. "Just let me show you." He didn't even get the offer completely out when Drago snapped.
"NO! Let me show you!" Drago snarled, before he started shrieking in the same manner he had when he summoned his Alpha.
Toothless curled protectively around Hiccup when Drago started screaming and that protective circle tightened when Drago started whirling the bull hook around. Hiccup watched, his heartbeats increasing as the Alpha looked over at Drago before he obediently moved forward, abandoning his hunt for Valka and Stoick. Drago continued shrieking in the hair-raising way he was before he stabbed the bull hook into the ground, causing the dark Alpha to flinch before he came to a stop submissively. There was something heart wrenching about watching such a magnificent and once-proud creature like the Alpha acting in the way this one was but before Hiccup could do anything, Drago was facing him once more.
"No dragon can resist the Alpha's command," Drago told Hiccup, pointing to his Alpha with his bull hook. "So he who controls the Alpha, controls them all," he said, a smug and cruel grin on his face as he moved the bull hook to point it at Toothless.
Hiccup watched in confusion as Toothless looked up at the Alpha before all of a sudden, his dragon was cowering under the Alpha's stare. Something happened that Hiccup didn't see or hear that caused Toothless to start whining in pain, rubbing his head into the ground as though trying to rid himself of a sound that was hurting him. Hiccup reached out for him but had to keep jumping out of the way as Toothless thrashed on the ground. "Toothless? You okay, bud? What's going on?" he tried asking his dragon but Toothless didn't seem to hear him. Hiccup couldn't help but glance up at Drago, knowing it was his doing, and found himself looking at a disgustingly smug expression on the man's scarred face.
The Alpha sounded a low, throaty grumble as his stare seemed to increase as he continued trying to force Toothless to succumb to his will. Hiccup kept trying to talk to Toothless, to help his dragon but his efforts were in vain. All of a sudden, Toothless stopped writhing on the ground and raised his head, his pupils now slits and his expression vacant and blank. Hiccup reached out to Toothless only to stop when Drago spoke again. "Now witness true strength. The strength of will over others," Drago said, moving his bull hook so it was pointing at Hiccup. The Alpha responded by hissing at Toothless and Hiccup found himself looking at his dragon who didn't seem to see him. "In the face of it, you are nothing," Drago said, eyes filled with a cold enjoyment.
"Uh, what did he just tell you?" Hiccup asked Toothless as his dragon slowly advanced on him, showing no signs of knowing what he was doing. "Toothless, what's the matter with you? What're you doing?" Hiccup kept trying to ask, splitting his attention between his surroundings, his dragon, and trying to find someone who might be close enough to help him. He didn't see his father desperately racing for him as he continued to move backwards until his back hit a piece of ice, leaving him with nowhere to go. Toothless opened his mouth, a glow starting at the base of his throat that told Hiccup that his dragon was readying himself to fire at him. "Knock it off! Stop!" he tried ordering Toothless, who didn't even react to his voice. "Snap out of it!"
Then suddenly, Hiccup heard a voice that caused his heart to almost stop. "Hiccup! Son!" his father called and Hiccup looked over to the direction the voice was coming from to find his father sprinting as fast as he could towards him, his green eyes filled with the desperation he felt to reach his son in time.
Toothless continued his advance and Hiccup knew in that moment that there was no way he could get through to Toothless in time and there was no way he could make his dad stop which meant that either he was going to die or his father was. That certainty he felt that he was going to be greeted by Hel within the next minute was so strong that Hiccup almost collapsed from it but he couldn't go down without trying to stop his father from following him. "DAD, NO!" he shouted, holding a hand out to try and stop Stoick from heading towards him but Stoick didn't listen, continuing his desperate race for Hiccup. As Toothless built up his attack to the point where he would fire at any time, Hiccup found himself praying to the gods for a miracle that would have Toothless stop before he or his father was killed by his best friend.
Jack had been tuning out absolutely everything that wasn't his own power and the downed Alpha he was trying to heal. He hadn't seen Hiccup and Toothless confront Drago, he hadn't heard Drago shriek for his Alpha, he hadn't even noticed the dark Alpha obey his abuser. What did finally break his intense concentration was the dark Alpha shouting in his mind. "You need to stop him! He's going to kill him!"
The desperate cry had Jack pulling some of his focus off the downed Alpha and looking around, trying to find out what the dark Alpha was talking about. He felt his heart leap into his throat as he watched Toothless stalking towards Hiccup, his mouth open and glowing with the start of a plasma shot being built. He had no idea why Toothless was about to attack Hiccup at first until he realised the dark Alpha had control of Toothless. Jack wrenched his power away from the light Alpha as he moved so he was flying in a position that meant both Hiccup and Toothless were in front of him. This new position meant he could also Stoick running towards him as he tried to reach his son, having obviously noticed what was happening and trying to save Hiccup's life. Jack flew forward a few feet but he knew he would never reach the trio in time to stop Toothless from being forced to kill one of them.
Pausing in his flight, Jack raised his staff so it was pointing at Toothless. He didn't want to hurt the Night Fury but he couldn't let him kill Hiccup or Stoick either. Toothless would never be able to live with himself if he came out of this trance to find either Hiccup or Stoick dead by his doing and Jack knew it. He was about to fire at the dragon, planning to blast Toothless in the side of the head in hopes of throwing off his aim enough for the shot to miss and perhaps even force Toothless' mind to break free of the dark Alpha's control when he realised that from the side he would be attacking from, if he hit Toothless and knocked his shot to the left of Hiccup, he would likely cause Stoick to be hit by the plasma shot. Toothless finished building the shot and Jack had no time left. Aiming, he fired a bolt of ice lightning only a second before Toothless loosed his own shot at the same time Stoick reached Hiccup and was pushing him to the side.
The two attacks hit each other, Jack's ice lightning colliding with Toothless' plasma and causing both of them to explode in a magnificent display of power. Jack felt his energy levels plummet as the effort and power put into that single bolt of ice lightning drained his already depleted energy by an enormous amount. He managed to fly back to the light Alpha so he could keep healing him but was forced to land on the ground in front of the injured dragon as he couldn't afford to waste energy on trying to stay in the air with the wind's help. Sending his remaining energy back to the light Alpha, Jack glanced over at where Toothless, Hiccup, and Stoick all were to make sure all three of them were alright. The explosion caused by his power colliding with Toothless' plasma blast had caught both Stoick and Hiccup and thrown them both into the ice Hiccup had been backed up against. Toothless had also been caught by the blast and knocked onto his side but the three of them were moving so Jack knew they were alright.
Jack's focus went back to the light Alpha, trusting Valka and Gobber – both of whom had been trying to keep pace with Stoick as he'd raced for his son – to keep the three of them safe only to have the dark Alpha's bellow break his concentration. Jack glanced over only to find the massive dragon on his hind-legs, roaring to bring the other dragons in under his control as Drago walked away from the downed Hiccup and Stoick. To his horror, Jack watched as Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, and all the other Berk dragons, including Toothless, answered the Alpha's commands. Hiccup was being tended to by Astrid and Valka and Jack just knew the brunette was still too dazed from the attack to have noticed Toothless was being taken. Jack tried reaching for the dark Alpha to stop him from taking the dragons but he had no energy to spare to do anything so he was forced to watch as Toothless tried to get into the air, failing because there was no one in his saddle to control his tail.
Disgust and anger rose in Jack's throat as he watched Drago use his bull hook to grab Toothless by his saddle gear, pin his head cruelly to the ground by placing his bull hook against the back of Toothless' head, and climbed onto Toothless' saddle. Forcing the controlled dragon into the air, Drago raised his bull hook as he looked down on what remained of his men. "GRAB THE SHIPS AND MEET ME AT BERK!" he roared as he turned to his Alpha and jabbed his bull hook at him, causing the massive dragon to flinch before he dutifully led the dragons and his abuser towards Berk.
Jack felt tears prick in his eyes as he watched the dark Alpha leave, taking every dragon still alive and capable of flight with him while Drago flew Toothless, leading his dragon army in the direction of Berk to attack the clueless Vikings left on the island. Jack thought about trying to shout for Baby Tooth and get her to leave the saddlebag but he knew that even if she heard him and got out of the saddlebag, she'd likely be hurt or killed by Drago or one of his dragons. As unlikely as it sounded, Jack honestly thought Baby Tooth was safest where she was until he and Hiccup could get Toothless back. He saw the moment Hiccup realised what was going on and watched as the Viking got to his feet and tried to surge forward in an attempt to do something to save his best friend only to be held back by his mother. Jack could feel the dark Alpha's last thoughts before the dragon was too far away for their freshly made bond to reach and felt himself fill with a steely determination as he pushed more energy he didn't have into healing the light Alpha so that he could get him healed up enough to get him to Berk so that they could save the Berkians, the dragons, and the dark Alpha from Drago.
A/N - And here it is! The battle of the Dragon Haven! Thank you so much to those of you who left me a comment/review on the previous chapter and let me know their thoughts! I'd really love to know your thoughts on this chapter and the very big changes I made to the storyline so if you feel nice enough to do so, please leave me a little something telling me what you thought :D Also, sorry about leaving it off here but I couldn't keep going without doubling the chapter length so you just get to wait until next week for the Battle for Berk! See you then!