Since becoming a couple, Dagur and Mala had been spending even more time together. One dusk, the Berserker was thinking about going to track down some more hunters and poked the Defender. "You should come with us. An extra pair of eyes is always welcomed." he told her. Mala was about to deny the offer when Dagur said, "I know that you don't want to ride on Sleuther, but if we find out what some of the hunters' next moves will be, we'll be able to protect our islands better than if you stay here and wait for an attack. Also, with your keen observation, we'd have a better chance at finding stuff out." The queen thought more about it and finally sighed, resignfully, "All right. I shall go with the two of you to see what schemes the hunters are plotting. Keeping the island safe is of far more importance to me than keeping its traditions." Smiling, Dagur lifted Mala up to put her on Strykie's saddle. Obstinately, she swatted him away, "I am quite able to perch myself upon his back, thank you." she stated, with an indignant grin. The chief chuckled and watched as she, gracefully, leapt onto the dragon. He got on in front of her and turned his head to see the queen. Before he could suggest that she hold on, the Defender wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. Dagur beamed at Mala, then turned back to Sleuther, "All right, Strykie. Let's go."
They took off and the wind brushed the leaders' faces, pleasantly, as they soared over the seas. Despite how much Mala had wanted to be able to say that flying was as absurd as her ancestors had proclaimed it to be, she was undoubtedly enjoying herself. She had never been so high nor able to see the world in such a way. Gradually, she was beginning to understand her boyfriend's and the Berkians' love of flying. "Sooo?" Dagur sang, seemingly having read her thoughts, "You like this, don't you?" Mala saw the sun reflect off of the water, creating a myriad of oranges and crimsons, and smiled, "Yes, it is actually quite nice." They flew on for a while longer and found a lone hunter ship docked by an island. Checking for more, the trio circled the island, then returned to where they had been prior to moving. "Weird." Dagur commented, "Since when do they only send one shipload of hunters out?" A dragon shrieked, though its cry sounded different from what either of the vikings had heard before. Sleuther followed the sound and, slyly, crept around the trees. Abruptly, he ducked down as a blast of fire shot past him and everywhere else. A couple of yards in front of the group laid a dragon that was shooting fire from its mouth, underbelly, and tail.
Some hunters had netted the dragon and were about to plunge a Dragon Root arrow into its side, though this was the least unsettling part of what Dagur and Mala saw. Near the dragon, some more hunters were there, but not on the ground floor. Instead, they were mounted upon more dragons of the same breed as the one they were trying to capture. The hunters had put harnesses around the rest's snouts to direct them and had switches in their hands keep them at bay and under control. While this certainly did not constitue as being a dragon rider, it shocked and disturbed the group to see that the hunters had gained fliers as well, adding them to their ever-growing roster. Dagur stared at the scene and pondered, "I have no idea what those dragons are and since I don't, I won't have a clue on how to deal with them. I don't want to hurt them, anyway." The Berserker bit his lip, "I can't risk an attack with a large number of completely unknown threats-not with Mala and Strykie with me." The queen was looking at the dragons and had tried to recall what she had studied, "If I remember correctly, it would be more than foolish to challenge these dragons, even if they, themselves, do not wish to fight." She and the chief leaned close to each other at the same time, "We should spy on them only." they said, in unison.
Staying out of sight, the trio listened in on what the hunters were saying. "Do we need so many?" one asked, almost whining. A tall, hooded figure was standing by the largest of the dragons that was a red one with furious eyes. This man seemed to be in charge and he turned to look at the lazy hunter, "We need as many as I command you to obtain. Our next move will not be simple." Another hunter seemed less than thrilled over whatever the next plan would be, "No, it won't. It might not even work. We should be focusing on those Dragon Riders, not the Defenders. What good would it do us to destroy their island?" A mild lapse in conversation occurred and the hooded man walked over to the other and patted his shoulder, "It will do us well to eliminate all of ourenemies that wish to see dragons frolicking, joyfully. However, if you are too imbecilic to see the obvious," he moved his hand from the shoulder to the hunter's throat, "I canunot see any reason to have you stay among our ranks." After some futile struggling, the hunter went limp and sunk to the grass. Clapping his hands together, the choker spun to face the remaining vikings, "Can we all return to our duties, now?" Hurriedly, the others began rounding up the dragons.
Though the trio could not engage the fleet of dragon fliers, they did what they could to help the reptiles. A few slick lifts with Sleuther's tail freed plenty from their nets. Before anyone could get suspicious, the trio returned for Caldera Cay. Immediately, they set up extra guards and lookouts. When everything was done, Dagur went to get back onto the Triple Stryke's saddle. "Where are you going?" Mala asked. The chief observed the island's protection, "You all are ready for war with vikings, but not dragons. I'm going to bring some of my fleet and Bluebolt." The Defender raised her brow, "We shall not include Hiccup Haddock and the others, then?" Dagur shook his head, "I don't know when Berk, the Edge, or both will be attacked, so they need to stay there. I doubt I'll have time to give them a warning, but-" he stopped, a light dawned in his eyes, "While I'm gone, can you send a Terror Mail to them? Just attach a note to a Terrible Terror and it'll take care of the rest." Mala agreed and he flew off with Sleuther for Berserker Island. It was not difficult to gather together a nice sized fleet, while still leaving a substantial amount to protect the island, should they get attacked simultaneously. The Berserkers sailed into the Defenders of the Wing's harbor and just in time. From the south, Dragon Hunters and Fliers were approaching, but they lacked the element of surprise with which they had thought themselves blessed.
Already, Sleuther and Bluebolt started to shoot the vessels. The Skrill narrowly avoided being harpooned by doing a flip, then he responded by sending a lightning blast into three ships. As the Triple Stryke moved to finish off two more, a large fireball whooshed near his body. He spun and saw a flier coming towards them. The hunter was slapping the dragon, provoking it to fire. Dagur patted Sleuther's head, "All right, let's see if we can get that hunter off of him." Speedily, they zoomed past the dragon and Dagur hit the hunter with a knife. Following a painfilled cry, the viking lost his balance and plunged into the wild seas. The Berserker looked for another hunter to attack, but they all flew ahead of him, going towards the island. Sleuther, while by no means slow, was not the fastest dragon, so they could not keep up with the hunters. This was accentuated when the other dragons used their tails and stomach blasts as motors to go even faster. Sleuther dropped to maneuver around the streak of fire that had been expelled. Even before the smoke cleared, Dagur knew where they were heading. The hunters were going to the volcano to attack the Great Protector, but that was what everyone had expected, so they were prepared.
As soon as the fliers reached the island, Defenders that had hidden in trees and bushes shot them with darts and arrows. One by one, the vikings tumbled off the dragons and onto the floor. A few hunters got close to the volcano, though the dragons stopped after seeing eels sprinkled upon the ground. Due to the harsh halt, the rest of the fliers fell forwards and right in front of the Defenders. All the survivors were taken into custody and the leaders spoke to one another. "Great idea about the eels, Mala." Dagur commended her. She smiled, "We would not have known about the attack, had you not suggested that we find the hunters." Like before, Mala appeared as though she had something heavily on her mind. Dagur looked at the queen, "Either another dragon is still here and skimmed the tip of your head with fire...or you're thinking so hard that you're smoking." The Defender chuckled and stared, meaningfully, into his eyes, "I believe, it is now the time to say what I have been wanting to tell you." Intrigued, Dagur followed the queen to her hut and they sat next to each other. "Do you recall when I spoke of prophecies?" Mala began. The chief slowly nodded and she started up again, "Well, that was because we have something that falls into that category. It was said that a man from another island would venture to mine and save my life. This man would become my husband and the king of Defenders of the Wing Island."
Realization dawned in Dagur's eyes and they widened. A large grin spread over his face, though it shortly faded. "What is wrong?" Mala inquired. The chief looked at her, "I can't marry her." he thought, miserably, "With all these hallucin-actually they haven't been as bad lately-but who knows when they'll return? She deserves someone who's..sane. And to be king, I'm having a hard enough time convincing my own people to follow me. I doubt I'd be able to convince two islands to trust me." Dagur finally spoke, "I can't marry you, Mala. I want to, but I can't." The queen was unable to hide her disappointment, "Why are you unable?" Even though he knew the question was coming, Dagur was still unsure of what to say. Surely, saying that he had been feeling rather unstable was a bad as demonstrating the fact. "I have a lot of things to work out and it wouldn't be fair to drag you through them." Mala took hold of his hand, "Whatever is wrong, we can work through that together. I am not expecting perfection. If we cannot love each other in spite of our flaws, then we cannot love each other at all." To say that she was not making it easy for Dagur is to understate the situation. There was nothing he could think to say, so Mala continued.
"The prophecy made me aware of the possibility of you and I getting married, though it was because of you that I want it to occur. Of course, I do not expect you to abdicate your duties as chief of the Berserkers. Certainly, we would be able to periodically alternate between the two islands." Seeing how sad Dagur looked, the queen sought to help him lighten up. She grinned and slid closer to him, "And you do still owe me a spar." Mala told, sending a playful punch into his arm, "That is not even to mention how many hunters you and I will be able to execute." Her eyes glimmered with a deadly shine, "You could show me some of your favorite termination techniques and we could create more as a team-" The Defender's words were cut off as she was kissed by the chief. Then, in Dagur's mind, he saw himself going mad and attacking Mala. Hurriedly, he let her go and pulled back. The Berserker rose from the chair and leaned against the hut's wall, "I'm sorry, Malapoo. I can't." Desperately, he wanted to tell her the reason, "It's just...I-I need to fix things first." the Berserker sighed, despondently, and Mala went over to him. "I hope that you accomplish what you seek, Dagur." She gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and a hug. When they released, he held her hands in his, "When I get this done, I'll come back." In an unintentionally dramatic way, he added, "My soul will not be at rest until ours are, again, together, my Beloved."
Dagur exited the hut and trudged over to Sleuther. The dragon nudged him, sensing his emotions, but received only a nod in response. Taking to the air, the pair flew to Berserker Island. A few days passed and Dagur focused on tending to chiefly responsibilities and meditation. He had only imagined one hallucination during this time and was trying to figure out how they were caused. The only constant factor he had had for not experiences mirages was being around Mala. How he missed her. Depression often distracted the chief from what he was doing, but he had to set his mind in order before he and the queen could really be together. Among his dismal thoughts, Dagur heard the flapping of little wings. Glancing blandly up from patting Sleuther, the viking saw a Terrible Terror. The small dragon was hovering over them with a note attached to its horn. Dagur took the letter and it flew away. The Berserker read it, a frown forming on his face, "Looks like we need to go to Dragon's Edge." Jumping on the Triple Stryke's saddle, Dagur went to Dragon's Edge and found Hiccup and the others. The Berkian heir was deep in his ponderings, but quickly noticed his friend and went over to him.
"Dagur, I'm glad you could come and thanks for the warning about the hunters." Hiccup said. The Berserker's face was serious, "No problem, but you wrote that Viggo sent you a letter about going to talk with him?" His comrade nodded, "He requested the two of us. Only us, though, of course." Dagur's face clouded over with suspicion, "He wanted both of us to go alone and speak with him? I'm guessing we're just supposed to assume he'll come alone as well and without some devious plan." Crossing his arms over his chest, he eyed the Berkian, "Did he at least give a reason for why we should. You know, other than for a friendly visit." Hiccup walked over and handed the Berserker the note that Viggo had written. Dagur looked it over, scanning it for anything else that might have been the hunter's arrogant way of giving clues to his own betrayal. Handing it back, the chief was unmoved, "All right, so he claimed that he wouldn't attack again with his fliers. We'd be idiots to believe any words out of his mouth..or written down on his paper." With annoyance, Dagur could see the determination for peace within Hiccup's eyes. "We don't know what he'll do, whether it's against us or not. All we know is that there is a chance to end this without anymore bloodshed. We need to take it. You don't have to come, but I want you to know what's going on."
Dagur's eyes narrowed, "'Peace' will come after Viggo's dead, if even then. You can't be serious about going. It's a better setup for a trap than anyone could hope for." The Berkian got onto Toothless's back, inducing a grunt from the Berserker, "Of course you're serious." Grumpily, Dagur mounted Sleuther's saddle and scowled at the younger viking, "When this goes wrong, don't say I didn't try to warn you." Hiccup smiled, appreciatively, and the two set off, using a map that had been provided with the scroll to find the youngest Grimborn brother. They found the location to be a miniscule hunter ship in the middle of the sea. All of the openings were too small for either the Triple Stryke or Night Fury to enter, so the riders had to dismount in order to go into the lower compartments. Sitting in a chair and looking over maces and talons pieces, the duo saw Viggo. He smiled warmly at them, "I'm so glad that you two could come." he told, "I do apologize for not sending you a scroll personally, Dagur, but with all your travels, I was not sure where to send it." His smile turned sinister, "How is Queen Mala? I hope that she was not injured." The chief's blood boiled, though he could have fooled almost anyone. "Get to your point, Viggo." Hiccup said, being able to notice that the Berserker had tensed.
The hunter was not yet done, "Do you like my new allies? They are quite skilled, aren't they?" He gained no reply, "You do not have to answer. Your presence tells me more than your words could ever hope to." Viggo exuded smugness, however, finally reached his motive for calling on them. "Since we all know what I seek, I see no reason to delay this further. I want you to return the Dragon Eye to me." Hiccup looked at him, "You know that I'm not going to give you that. I'm sure there's another way we can work this out." The hunter chuckled, "You are very hopeful, my dear Hiccup. You are not much of a realist, though I admire your optimism-as unwarranted as it might be. I promise you that the best outcome for you and your friends would be if you give me the Dragon Eye." Steadfast, the Berkian folded his arms. Viggo appeared to be nonchalant and leaned back in his chair, bringing his hands together and tapping his fingers against each other. "It interests me which plants and combinations create lethal toxins. For example, only blue oleader is required to kill a dragon. Toxins which harm people, though, are far more intriguing in my opinion. Perhaps, you will tell me if you agree."
Sensing someone else there, Dagur turned in time to see a hunter fire an arrow. In two moves, the Berserker pushed Hiccup out of the way with one hand and threw a knife into the archer's throat with the other. The Berkian was sent to the ground from the force and had confusion written on his face for why he had been shoved. Seeing his friend, he saw the reason. The arrow mildly stung as it penetrated Dagur's flesh on his arm, but he was more annoyed about trying to remove the object and the fact that it had landed in a vein. Small barbs laced the edges of the arrow and would take more diligent time than Dagur felt they had. More hunters were coming into the room and the two realized that other ships must have been joining them. Their dragons would need aid in avoiding the Dragon Root arrows, so they needed to get on the deck and to them. Before they did, Dagur wanted to kill Viggo, although when he turned, he saw that the hunter had vanished. The Berserker made a pathway by taking out hunters and the two got to the deck. Upon seeing them, their dragons swooped down and they were able to get on their backs. There were too many hunters, so the vikings and dragons returned to Dragon's Edge, dodging harpoons along the way.
Along the way, Dagur toyed with the arrow, trying to remove it. He ended up getting it out, though felt almost lightheaded. Holding onto Sleuther with a little bit more strength to avoid falling off, the viking recalled what Viggo had said before he had gotten shot. Mentally, he cursed, "I've been poisoned." The closest island was still Dragon's Edge and that was fortunate because the toxins were working quickly. When Hiccup looked over, his eyes widened to see how pale Dagur had become. Automatically, he too knew what was wrong. "Fishlegs and I will be able to find an antidote." he said, with more conviction than he felt justified for utilizing. The Berserker gave a hardly noticeable nod and they arrived to the Edge in no time. The other riders hurried over to see how the mission had gone and their faces filled with concern as they saw the chief. "Fishlegs, start setting up for experiments. We need to figure out what kind of poison this is and how to remedy it." Hiccup said, helping his friend to relax by sitting down. Every bit of blood in Dagur's body burned like he was being roasted by a Deadly Nadder and Fireworm queen, simultaneously. His muscles felt like he could not move and bones as though they would shatter into pieces if he did. There was no relief for the agony. All that he could do was try to rest. "Hold on." He heard Hiccup say, kindly, "You'll be all right. Just hold on, Brother."