So... I'm doing it. We're almost at the end and I'm introducing new characters. It's official! I'm going back to rewrite the story into an actual book! There's so much I need to add in the first few chapters...

There will also be a "sequel" to this story, but I'll talk more about that once we reach the end.

Today we hunt

Spitlout Jogersson was the younger brother of Stoick Horrendous Haddock, born on the wrong side of the blanket but raised alongside Stoick as his brother. In Berk, having siblings was considered healthy, especially for a leader, so their relationship had no other strains than their personalities put on it. Since Stoick's only son was lost and gone and Spitlout's only son had gone insane, the two brothers had started to sit in each other's homes, more hours than words passing between them. The silent support, if not understanding of the other's pain, might have saved their sanity.

So when Stoick walked into his house, Spitlout didn't think anything of it until his brother started talking.

"The Overlands have returned, and they say they've found Hiccup."

The younger of the two slowly turned away from the sink where he was doing dishes after his breakfast. He must have heard that wrong.

"The Overlands have returned with the hiccups?" he asked for clarification, but Stoick's expression didn't change.

"Think about it, brother; if anyone who had disappeared ten years ago could come back or send word to us, they would have. But it's been complete silence, which is why we thought they were all dead. But Jackson speaks their names. He spoke of Alvin. Alvin! Has anyone ever mentioned the outcasts within the village since… since when did anyone speak of them?"

Spitlout frowned in thought and rubbed his beard, then his eyes grew wide. "Alvin the Treacherous? Now, that's a name I haven't heard since Hiccup gained a reputation. Are you saying the Overland boy met him?"

"From what I could gather it was Alvin who was behind the whole thing ten years ago. Something about the Enchantress too, and considering Exellinor was his mother, I believe it."

Exellinor. Spitlout shuddered and made signs to repel evil and bad luck.

"Nasty witch. So what? Like you said; if that son of yours could send word to you he would have. What became of him that he hasn't if he is alive?

"I believe Snotlout might not be as mad as we've always believed," Stoick said with a sad shake of his head and an apologetic look his way. "According to Jack, Hiccup was turned into a dragon. A cripple who can't move and can't leave."

Spitlout returned to the sink and finished washing his dishes in silence. He dried his hands and sat down at his table, facing his brother, still deep in thought.

"The first one to disappear after the incident was… Heather Derange, was it not? Younger sister of that Dagur fellow."

Stoick nodded. He'd been thinking about this all morning and was glad his younger brother caught on. "Quite smart young woman, but not sane."

"Couldn't accept her brother was gone and blamed the dragons. Makes sense she'd kill any dragon she came across in search of him."

"Second was Sven the Spearhead."

"Another formerly famous dragon-hunter," Spitlout mused and stared out the window. "I'm starting to see the pattern. The Overland family are the only ones who weren't hunters, or insane in one way or another."

"I don't know what happened to them or the actual dragons or anyone else we lost, but if Jack can take me to Hiccup, he can explain."

The younger still stared out the window. Out there was a village he barely recognized anymore. So many faces that had never had their houses set on fire as a distraction while the dragons hunted their livestock, had never fought for their lives, lost limbs or lifted weapons to prevent all of that from happening. None of them had known the relief that had come with coexisting with the dragons, or the thrill of being loved by them.

So many of those people who knew were gone, leaving gaping holes in the hearts of the people who were left behind.

"I pray you'll find more than just Hiccup."

"You can pray, brother. Just don't hope."

"I know. Hope is cruel."

Before, it had taken Eugene almost three days to fly from the east where he'd been looking for Mother Gothel's magic to the Enchantress's tower thankfully located about a mile northeast of the capitol. This time it had taken twenty-eight hours, and he was almost completely drained of all his magic.

If a familiar runs out of magic they die, but Eugene couldn't find it in himself to care too much about that. The only reason he did hold on to the last dregs of his energy was because he needed to live to tell Rapunzel what Mother Gothel had done.

Crashing into the Enchantress's chamber through the window, Eugene was distraught to find only Miriam there.

"Rapunzel!" the familiar wheezed. "Where's the Enchantress?"

The servant had been startled at his entrance, but was fast to pick up her mistress's morning robe to wrap around the tired familiar.

"Milady Goldbloom was summoned by the king. She's in the castle."

"Are you joking!? Call her back! This is important!"

"I-I can't. The king…"

"SCREW THE KING!" Eugene hollered in desperation. He didn't have enough magic left to make it to the castle, and as he did his math about how long it would take Berk's hunters to be informed, prepare and arrive at the dragon's prison and compared it to how long it would take Rapunzel to reach the same destination, they were talking minutes.

"I'll take you to the kitchen," Miriam decided after the shock passed. "I can't summon Lady Goldbloom for you, but I can feed you. Some food and you'll have enough energy to fly and meet with the Lady."

God bless Miriam, Eugene thought, even though he cried from the fact that this was the only solution; food.

Then an idea popped into his head. Spices. The repellent he'd run into. Poison and medicine was the same thing at times.

"No need to cook!" he said. "Brew a tea of verbena, chamomile and wolfbane and let it steep long enough to get bitter. I need the boost to make it to Rapunzel."

Miriam had very little knowledge of magic and familiars. She'd known Eugene only since she became Lady Goldbloom's servant. He came with the odd comment about spices when he hung around the kitchen, but Miriam had never listened too closely. Still, Eugene was obviously in a hurry, and Miriam trusted he knew best what to do.

It was past noon, the sun already close to setting, and Ruffnut was going out again, planning to go right back to Overland's farm and demand to know why he'd asked about her brother out of the blue.

It felt like she was waking up from a long dream. She could feel something was about to change. And Ruffnut wasn't the only one. The news that the Overlands were back was causing a stir amongst the villagers, the Berkians most of all. And in front of the inn Stoick stood on a podium and called for attention. Beside him stood North and Jack. People were gathering in front of them and Stoick's voice was sure and strong as he talked.

"As you can see; North and Jackson have returned to the village unharmed and sane, but they didn't follow the road and thus missed Flynn Rider who went out to look for them. Most of you saw the flare in the north that went off this morning! That was Pitch Black searching for Rider. Let us all hope that young man will return to us as well. I have come to the decision that if two people can return, the danger in the north has passed. Jack has agreed to take me to where he's been the past two months so that I can confirm it for myself and to all of you. To those of you who lost someone ten years ago; yes, I do hope to find out what happened, but don't hold your breath. You need no village chief in your day to day lives, still I'll leave my brother Spitlout in command."

People started murmuring, unease evident in most of their faces, some shaking their heads while those who had not lived in Berk for more than eight years couldn't understand what the commotion was about. Everybody stared at the Overlands like they were wild animals.

Ruffnut roughly pushed her way forward. She had to talk to Jack.

"It's Pitch!" a woman's voice suddenly called.

The whole crowd turned like a wave. Ruffnut didn't care at first and wrestled her way towards the Overlands. It took only one look at their faces for her to turn to look towards where Pitch Black was slowly making his way up the road.

He was alone, and look on his face was grim under a layer of soot and dirt.

Stoick felt how dread filled him from the core.

"Pitch Black!" he called and went to meet the gravedigger. "What happened? Where's Flynn Rider."

In lieu of answering, Pitch put his cart down and lifted the sacking.

The chief froze. Flynn's face had stiffened in an expression of shock and pain and his arms were bent strangely. But Stoick had clearly seen the flare he'd given Pitch go off this morning. The modern ones couldn't burn so brightly.

"Shortly after I fired the flare, Flynn Rider came running, chased by a black dragon," Pitch Black spoke, his voice loud in the silence. "Thank you for giving me two flares, Stoick. It saved my life. I… I'm sorry it wasn't enough to save Rider."

The chief was oblivious to the pause in the crowd behind him and instead lifted off the sacking to inspect Flynn's body. There was a hole to his guts, charred from the heat of the fire that had caused it, and Stoick frowned, both horrified and confused. But then a cry tore through the air and the chief spun around.

Flynn's parents had rushed forward.

Stoick hastily covered the gruesome wound.

Ulrika was wailing uncontrollably reaching for her son, but being held back by her husband who had gone white as a sheet.

Murmurs started up in the crowd while the chief ushered the Rider pair away from the corpse of their son, the gravedigger assuring them he would clean the boy so they could say their goodbyes later. On the side, Jack was lost. Stoick had asked if it was Flynn who had brought them home, and he'd been uneasy about the innkeeper finding his way to the castle. But he too had seen that red flare, and the mirror said Hiccup was still inside the castle.

Were there two dragons?

"It's a trap!" Mr Thorston yelled. Ruffnut's father broke away from the crowd and stepped up to Stoick, pointing fingers at North and Jack. "They're luring you into a trap! They've unleashed Exterminators to the world!"

"Of fuck, those are black too!" Ruffnut cursed beside Jack.

"Exterminator dragons are hatched from extreme heat and kills everything like grasshoppers, Thorston!" Stoick argued hotly. "We'd all know if there was volcanic activity in these mountains! Don't let your paranoia run away with you."

"What's this about?" Pitch questioned.

"Chief Stoick! This cannot be a coincident! Those…" Mr Thorston waved a hand towards the Overlands with a face of disgust "unnatural creatures return and are now luring you away! Flynn Rider was brave and smart! He must have seen through the charade and come running to warn you!"

Agreement sounded through the gathered and Jack felt how hostile eyes turned on him.

"SILENCE! This is not a time to panic! I was a dragon hunter too once! If there is a hostile dragon, do you not believe I can handle it!" Stoick roared his voice powerful and so full of authority that there was a lull in the unease. Quiet enough for Pitch's voice to be heard when he spoke.

"Unless the dragon in question is a night fury."

Beside him. Ruffnut gasped and covered her mouth. Jack wasn't knowledgeable enough about dragons to understand, but apparently this one type of dragon was a big deal.

"THAT'S THE ONE!" another voice broke out, and Snotlout Jogersson stepped up with a face that shone with joy, as if he had solved a mystery that had plagued him for years. "That's the one I saw! That's the dragon that ate Hiccup! THAT'S THE ONE!"

"Snotlout, calm down!" Spitlout growled.

With a jerk Jack suddenly realized what was going on. He leaned forward to run up, but North grabbed him.

"Dad, what are you doing?! We have to stop this!"

"What if they are right?"

Jack couldn't believe his ears. He felt betrayed, more so than he'd felt when his mother left.

"How can you say that? Didn't you hear me! It was Alvin and the Enchantress and…"

"Alvin?! I knew it!"

Jack spun around to stare at Mr Hoffersson pointing an accusing finger at Jack.

"You are spies of the Outcasts!"

"Seize them!"

Chaos followed. Jack felt himself get torn out of his father's arms. Fists rained down on him, hands tore at his arms, hair and clothes and he screamed and cried from the pain of it all.

Why had he agreed to come back to this place? Why hadn't he stayed with Hiccup? Why hadn't he argued more that North would be easier to convince of Hiccup's innocence if the dragon was in front of him?

In the midst of the pain and the deafening cry of the people surrounding him, there was suddenly another roar. Louder than the crowd, inhuman, and it stilled the chaos.

"You act like animals," Pitch Black said coolly. He held some sort of horn in his hands. "Whether Alvin is behind this or not is irrelevant. Whether the toymaker and his son are spies or not means nothing. The fact that there is a dragon remains wither way. That a dragon was chasing Flynn Rider, and killed him, is also a fact. The dragon fire flare Stoick gave me wounded the dragon enough for it to retreat. We also know where it is. Once upon a time us of Berk were dragon hunters. You are all spineless cowards if you believe hurting a teenager and his father will change any of that."

Jack breathed painfully, blood flowing from his nose and split lips, he was bruised and battered. He didn't dare speak and he didn't understand where Pitch was going with all this.

"You're just saying that because you want the boy," someone spat.

Pitch's eyes calmly sought out the one who spoke. "Tell me that again when no action is taken against this dragon and you find your daughters mutilated in the morning. Let that be said by someone who have actually lived through dragon attacks and ambushes, Mr Arendelle."

"Thank you, Pitch," Stoick said and stepped up beside him. The situation had become extremely delicate and he had to thread the ice carefully. He still wanted to leave. Still wanted to see his son, but if Hiccup had waited for a decade, he could hopefully wait until spring. "The toymaker has a workshop under his house. North Overland and son will be held and guarded there."

"Good call, chief," the gravedigger agreed. "And in the meantime, I suggest to send out the hunters. The dragon is wounded and we all… I'm sorry, most of us know they are slow during winter."

"No!" Jack cried. "Don't hurt him! Chief, you can't hurt him."

Stoick grew pale, and Pitch shook his head sadly. "You sound so much like him, Jackson. You sound like another boy who once also pleaded for a dragon's life. Snotlout has tried to tell us for years what became of that boy."

Murmurs rose in the crowd again. Stoick was caught between a rock and a hard place.

But he had one ally.

"Let us start by locking up the Overlands!" Spitlout said, grabbing Jack by the neck and roughly pushed him froward, causing the boy to cry out, and caught his brother's gaze for only a split second. "Bring the old man. I will guard them until the hunters has been organized."

Stoick's eyes widened fractionally, then he pulled himself up. "Take them away."

Wolfbane. What had he been thinking? Eugene already regretted ever suggesting Miriam make him the brew as he flew towards the capitol and the castle, feeling like he'd been run over by the train. Thanks to the chamomile added to the verbena that stabilized the magic flow within his body he'd managed to open his senses, making him acutely aware of everything around him; every living cell in the wind, how incredibly cold the air was and how much his muscles wanted to lock up on him. The wolfbane kept him moving with the insane magic adrenaline kick that he would regret even more in the morning.

What had he been thinking? Oh yeah; almost out of magic and Rapunzel needed to get her ass over to the Cursed One's castle and she had no time to entertain someone as unimportant as a king.

Being as high as the castle itself and with all his senses open and mind set on reaching the Enchantress, Eugene decided the window between him and Rapunzel would open when he flew towards it.

Rapunzel, the king, the counsel and every knight in the room all jumped in fright when something crashed through the window. Shields were in front of the king in an instant, one knight tried to do the same for the Enchantress, but she was faster. She lifted her hands and stopped the movement of both the glass and the projectile.

"G-good thinking, your highness," the knight said awkwardly, but didn't step back. The Enchantress decided to ignore him completely and concentrated on what had come crashing into the room.

"Eugene?"

"Why didn't it move?" the familiar said, sounding surprised.

Alarms rang through Rapunzel's head. Eugene was here, and he was high.

Manipulating the time of the broken window, the Enchantress put it back together and allowed her familiar to drop into her arms. He looked utterly pathetic with his feathers ruffled, his feet sticking up and his pupils blown wide.

Rapunzel faced the room. "I had sent my familiar on a mission of outmost importance. For him to return in such a state; the situation is dire. We will continue this meeting at a later date."

And so she walked into the wall and walked out into her own chamber.

"What happened Eugene? Why are you high?"

"You weren't here, so I took wolfbane… and verbena and… chamomile."

The Enchantress looked startled. "You took such strong drugs?! Why?"

"I have like… this much magic left," Eugene said, gesturing with his foot. "And you weren't here. And it's really important!"

"I trust you found whatever spell Mother Gothel left behind then? Is it really so important that you couldn't wait until I came back tomorrow morning?"

"Yup, you have until tomorrow morning."

Rapunzel stared at the bird, uncomprehensive. "What about tomorrow morning?"

"Mother Gothel have a Cursed One with a repellent that knocked me out twice and there's a room full of people who died and they've been there for a decade and the flower is wilting and Berk is gathering their hunters to kill the Cursed One," Eugene listed off.

The Enchantress mouth was hanging open at the end of all that, her mind struggling to keep up.

"W-what? What about a Cursed One? Mother Gothel really did put a curse on someone?"

The familiar struggled to talk as the drugs were finally starting to knock him into a less communicative state of mind.

"Mother Gothel put a spell on a whole house and the dragons and everyone inside. And the dragon thought it was a curse so he tried to break it but it's not a curse. We are going there now, right? You need to go east, and they're one and a half hours ahead of your time. Mother Gothel made a man a dragon, you know! And he said someone went to gather hunters to kill him. So you have… until morning."

Rapunzel put her dear friend on her bed and carefully cradled his head with one hand and put the other on his body. Eugene hadn't been joking when he said he was almost out of magic.

Gently she tried to re-establish the balance within him. "Stay with me, Eugene. Where do I need to go? What do I need to take with me? You said something about a flower. I guess it's a timer Mother Gothel set. I need to know what kind of spell it is, Eugene, you're not making any sense."

Eugene was suddenly furious. "Mother Gothel petrified the dragons!" he cried and flailed with his whole body. "She made a boy a dragon instead and told him he and the dragons and the humans would return to their original form if they fulfilled the requirements! He thought he was saving them! He's tried to save a whole castle full of people and dragons but Mother Gothel fooled him! And now! And now! Berk is going to hunt him! Because he's a dragon! Tomorrow morning they will all be dead and Mother Gothel will laugh forever!"

"Berk." Rapunzel picked the familiar up again and teleported them to the library where the map hung on the wall. She measured the distance between her tower and the village of Berk. "Here?! I have to go here? Before morning?"

Eugene stared at the map and where Rapunzel pointed.

"No," he stated calmly after a while and tried to fly.

The Enchantress lifted him.

"Iduna shows there way here… to here."

Rapunzel felt a chill settle inside. Eugene was pointing to the very edge of the rift. She could only teleport within her own tower and the king's castle. It would take her days to go that far east.

"Shit!"

Jack heard his father plead somewhere behind him, but was too busy trying to break free from Spitlout's grip. He had to leave. He had to get to Hiccup. He had to warn them, help them! He wished he knew if Bunny had family here that he could call out to. All of them had come from Berk and they must have friends and relatives here.

Why hadn't he asked more questions?

Ruffnut had run ahead, but was coming back now.

"The doors to the workshop are locked," she said right before she gripped a handful of Jack's hair and pulled. "Where is the key?" she demanded.

"Inside!" North answered desperately. "There is a hook inside the big clock. Please, don't hurt my son!"

Ruffnut released Jack's hair and ran ahead. Jack reached out a hand, trying to grab her, stop her. He couldn't let them lock him up! But Spitlout's grip hardened to the point of strangling and pulled him back. Jack tore and scratched at the big man's fingers, but there was no reaction even as he drew blood.

They crossed the bridge and Jackson faintly saw Ruffnut open the doors to North's workshop and despair filled him. The grip around his neck was so hard Jack was on the verge of fainting from the lack of oxygen. His struggling was getting weaker. Then the grip was gone and Jack found himself weightless for half a second before he hit the floor. North followed shortly, bruised and beaten and covered with dirt and blood.

There was the final sound of doors slamming shut and the click of the lock.

"NO!" Jack screeched and ran at the doors, slamming his entire body into them. "No! Let me out! Don't hurt him! You can't hurt him! Please, I beg you!"

"Jack, stop it."

The teen rounded on his father. "I can't! I love him!"

The words echoed between them, and in the silence that followed Jack could hear his own heart break. He was gasping for air, his neck aching from Spitlout's grip and he felt hot tears burn down his face. North looked like he'd been struck by lightning and there was no going back from here.

"I love him," Jack repeated faintly. "He saved your life, and mine, time and time again. H-he killed to protect me. He did everything he could, everything I asked of him. He's in that place all alone, trying to save everyone. Why can't you see that?"

North still looked at him with that same shocked expression, and Jack just sat down and wept, quiet sobs shaking his frame. He'd failed. Failed as a son, failed as a friend, he'd doomed the one he loved to death. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he do anything right?!

Behind him, the lock clicked open.

Jack jumped up in surprise, and backed away when Ruffnut slipped inside with a bowl of water and a few rags in her arms.

The door closed and locked again behind her. Without a word she placed the bowl on the steps, squeezed water out of a rag and started cleaning Jack's face with rough hands.

"You look like shit, just so you know. You too, toymaker. Here, clean up."

Jack stared uncomprehensive at the blonde. Ruffnut just took his hands and started cleaning away the dirt and blood.

"I was born in this village, Stoick has been my chief for all my life, he doesn't need to voice his orders to me," she said as if that explained anything. "So; the dragon is Hiccup."

It was a statement, the name so familiar in her mouth Jack almost dared to hope. Hope that Hiccup still had friends in Berk.

"Yes. The Enchantress cursed him."

Ruffnut's face hardened, her lips pressing together into a thin line, as if she really didn't want to speak the next few words.

"What about my brother?"

"Tuffnut," Jack said with a nod of his head. "He's a cup, a big tea mug. He… he doesn't understand rhetoric questions and laughs at really morbid things," Jack listed, talking faster and faster as recognition lit in the woman's eyes. "And Gobber is a clock, doesn't laugh but cracks these really horrible jokes. Astrid is a candlestick and Bunny is a vase with a bunny painted on it and, and Tooth Fairy is a dresser! Dagur an oven and there's Mulch and Bucket and Fishlegs and Ida and-"

Ruffnut grabbed Jack's shoulders hard enough to add even more bruises to his skin. Her face was tense and her eyes closed tight. She shook Jack slowly.

"They're alive," she whispered. "My brother… my friends…" she looked up, her eyes wet and her expression grave. "What about the dragons?"

"Petrified," Jack answered honestly. "All of them are stone."

The blonde nodded as if that made sense. "That's why Hiccup can't leave."

"Who is he?"

Jack and Ruffnut both turned around to stare at North. The old man had gotten up and was seated on a stool.

"Who is this Hiccup?" he asked again and there was a desperation in his voice, as if something really important depended on the answer.

Ruffnut straightened up. "Hiccup is Stoick's son and was supposed to be our next chief. He was a wimp, such a weakling. He got his name because he was born too early and nobody expected him to survive, especially since we were dealing with dragon attacks a few times a month as well. But he did survive, and he found a wounded dragon and started to learn about them. He found a way to communicate with them and… no, that's too long a story. Hiccup risked his life for the dragons and to prove he could stop the attacks as well as make use of the dragons in our day to day life. He was… too kind really."

"Yes, he's really gentle, compromises a lot," Jack filled in as those words rang true to him.

Ruffnut smirked. "Not always. The thing with Hiccup is that he's so damn clever. It was always a blast to see him deal with Snotlout. Hiccup could run him in circles."

"I believe that," Jack nodded. "He certainly ran me in a few circles."

North stared at them, looking as lost as before. He didn't know the person they were talking about. Couldn't put the image they were creating to the dragon that had locked him into a cold tower.

Ruffnut's face quickly lost its spark of life as she turned to Jack. "So what now? Pitchsqueak is using everything Stoick says against him and is telling stories of the glory days of dragon hunting to everyone who has never killed one before. Too many of the hunters in the village now never met Hiccup so there's no use throwing his name around."

Jack stared at her, caught on one particular word.

"Pitchsqueak?" he repeated slowly, laugher bubbling unbidden in his chest.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "He's younger than me, you know. He used to follow Tuff and I around as a child, I have every right to call him Pitchsqueak."

"Oh," Jack said. Did that mean Hiccup was also older than Pitch? By how many years? How old was Hiccup?

Shaking his head, Jack returned to the main issue. "I need to get out of here and get to Hiccup. Whoever the dragon was that killed Flynn it wasn't him. He was still in the castle this morning. I need to warn him. I'm sure he can figure something out."

Ruffnut blinked. "How would you know where he was this morning?"

"I'll show you as soon as you get me out of here."

"Not so fast, brat. We're not leaving before the hunters."

Jack's heart immediately sank to his feet. "Why? No, I have to get here right away! I made a promise and-"

"And I don't care," Ruffnut cut him off harshly before throwing her head towards the doors that kept them prison. "Spitlout is guarding the door right now and Stoick is trying everything he can to save the situation. That's how many allies you have right now, Snowflake. Would you like to know what would happen to Spitlout and myself if you were seen leaving?"

Jack didn't know, and didn't want to know either. Ruffnut wasn't even his friend, but he couldn't let her be hurt because he made another dumb decision. He had already done too many of those and forced Hiccup to murder.

The teen swallowed but relented. Ruffnut nodded.

"So I'll come back an hour after the hunters have left, and you'll take me with you."

With those last words, the blonde banged twice on the door and was let out.

Pitch was happy. Things had turned out much better than he had even imagined. Flynn was dead, each and every old hunter that still lived within the village had come to inspect the killing wound and determined that it was indeed from dragon fire. Some questioned why a dragon had suddenly appeared again, but without Hiccup's knowledge on dragon behaviour, Pitch could throw out any theory he wanted and people believed him. After all; it was him who had seen the dragon and wounded it.

Best of all; he was asked by multiple hunters to join them on the hunt.

Becoming a dragon hunter had never really been his aim, but he couldn't deny the heady thrill of the moment, of the preparations. The fact that everyone was frazzled over Flynn's death, that Ulrika was inconsolable, that her husband had asked Pitch to put the beast down for good made the entre experience even sweeter.

They were gathered in the inn to plan the hunt when one tracker, a young woman named Kamikaze, appeared beside him.

"Pitch has been telling the truth. I found where the attack happened, only four and a half miles away from the village. I have never seen such tracks before. Here, I found these scattered about."

She placed a handful of scales on a table for everyone to inspect.

Pitch cursed silently. He'd said Flynn had been killed by a black dragon to place the blame on Hiccup's Night Fury. He'd forgotten he'd used the remains of a Monstrous Nightmare to make create the scene.

But none of the elders stepped forward. Instead it was all the younger hunters who picked up the scales and inspected them.

"They are so hard," a young man commented.

"But they're red. I thought you said the dragon was black?" another said.

Pitch raked his brain for an excuse, but one of the elder hunters grunted.

"Some dragons can use camouflage or change colour according to their mood."

There was a chance here, a thread he could weave into a new pattern if Pitch only dared to gamble.

"But I'm sure the dragon was black. The only black dragon I ever saw was the Night Fury."

"How would you know it was a Night Fury?" the hunter demanded. "There's more to dragons than their colours. And considering the situation, your memory might not be what you actually saw."

Pitch nodded in respect of his elder. He had done exactly what Pitch hoped he would.

One of the other elders started to drum on the table. He was quickly joined by the rest, a baritone hum of voices filling the air.

Pitch felt his blood simmer in recognition of his father's favourite song. They were truly going to hunt for a dragon, and they were heading out.

Today we hunt

Tonight we kill

Tomorrow we will feast on the flesh of the beast.