Chapter 12: Playing
The tall island with sheer drops into the sea stood alone. Even the closest island to it was at least fifty kilometres away. Long caverns and tunnels spanned across the underside of the island. Ever since development began on the island a few years ago, the vegetation had grown sparse. Tall luscious vegetation used to cover the island for hundreds of years, but the only evidence for this was the small forest on the east side of the island. Green grass still covered the island, but gone were the tall trees and thick bushes.
The sun was slowly setting below the horizon, painting a very beautiful picture. An orange glow illuminated the sparse trees and cast long shadows at the entrance to the tunnels.
The island had a name, but that name was long forgotten. People simply referred to it as the island that no one went to. Even with the development, no one wanted to visit the island. After all, bad the steep cliffs into the sea and the menacing bola launchers and catapults by the edge of the island, there was the very prevailing fact that the island was the base of the dragon hunters. Visitors were welcomed, but only during dragon auctions and other events.
Krogan walked along the island that was home to his headquarters. Hiccup and the dragon riders would be here soon, Krogan knew. A thick bush just outside the entrance to the caverns stood still despite the cold wind blowing. Empty dragon cages leaned against the rocky face of the mountain. Above the entrance, a large boulder stood on a small ledge. Yet another large boulder was resting a little distance away from the entrance. Everything was ready for Hiccup to come.
Speaking of which, loud cries could be heard from the edge of the island. His scouts. The riders were here. Just as he ordered, his scouts came running past him and straight into the caverns. They took up defensive positions at the entrances; five people standing in a W formation, front three people shields raised and the back two people bows drawn. Each of the two entrances had this formation. Krogan smiled. Everything was coming to perfection. He took one last glance at the darkening sky. Vaguely, he could make out dark specks that occasionally blocked out the sparkling stars. The riders were definitely here. It was time.
Krogan retreated into the tunnels.
XX
Hiccup wasn't surprised when he spotted the outposts running back into the tunnels. They would have been extra vigilant after discovering his plan. Hiccup gave Gustav a signal. Gustav nodded, and the A-team surged ahead to their positions. With just the original dragon riders left, Hiccup awkwardly signalled to fly low with his weaker hand. He scowled at his left hand that was trapped uselessly in a cast. It couldn't even grab Toothless for stability. Hiccup tightened his core as Toothless swooped down.
The island's surface drew up below them. A large wooden dock with a few ships moored there whizzed past below, green grass quickly taking its place. The entrances to the caverns were right in front of them. Each entrance was being guarded by a heavily armed team of five. It looked like Krogan's plan was just to fend off their approach, Hiccup reasoned.
"He's just defending the tunnels!" Snotlout called out. Hiccup nodded. Deep down though, something felt off, but he couldn't pinpoint it.
"Perhaps he's not ready for us to attack," Fishlegs observed. Hiccup figured his explanation made sense. If that was the case, it would be a huge boost to them. But it did little to soothe Hiccup's worries. Hiccup ignored the feeling, however. He didn't drag them all the way here to retreat.
"Remember the plan, guys!" Hiccup called. They nodded, and pulled on their gas masks. They split into their two groups. Astrid had adamantly refused to allow Hiccup to participate in the fight, but she had allowed him to lead them. Hiccup hung back as the first riders threw the Zippleback gas canisters at the entrance. The hunters coughed and backed up. The archers fired their arrows, but the riders dodged it easily. It was almost as though they weren't trying to hit them. The number of hunters was much lesser than he predicted too. They threw more canisters as the hunters continued to back off. Arrows flew in their direction, but none of them came close to hitting any of the riders. The arrows bounced peacefully off the rocky walls of the caverns.
The riders kept up the momentum, pushing the hunters further and further back. A few hunters deeper in the tunnels joined in the battle as they progressed, but all they did was join in the retreating force. For all the firepower and weaponry they had, they couldn't get close to the riders at all. Hiccup briefly wondered if he had given the hunters more credit than they had deserved.
The fight had progressed beyond the widest cavern and into the final stretch of tunnels. And yet, the fight had barely taken anything out of them. It was easy. Almost too easy, as though they were playing a game with children. Krogan simply didn't have enough people to resist. Most of the hunters must have dispersed after the battle at Berserker Island, Hiccup reasoned. He kept his eyes peeled for Krogan, but he saw no sign of him yet. He definitely saw Krogan run into the tunnels earlier. Hopefully the A-team had caught him.
But little did the riders know, the battle was just beginning. The riders had been so absorbed in their assault, that they had failed to notice the hunters hidden outside the tunnels where they began their fight. As the riders advanced through the tunnels, the hidden hunters sprang to life. The thick bush rustled and gave birth to a bunch of archers. Another rogue group emerged from behind the empty dragon cages, bows drawn and ready. Even more hunters emerged from behind the boulder on the ledge and the boulder on the ground, dragon root arrows behind their backs and bows in their hands. With minimal noise, they advanced through the tunnels quickly.
Meanwhile, the dragon riders were reaching the other end of the cavern. The hunters kept up their steady retreat, shields held high and arrows being shot back uselessly. Just a few more meters and the A-team would drop a net on them.
Suddenly, a loud battlecry rang out from behind the hunters, and a swarm of hunters stormed in from behind the defending groups. Where had they come from? Hiccup felt his heart sink. The new hunters were heavily armed too. All of them had weapons, and the majority of them were carrying bows or crossbows.
"Get them!" A tall and powerful man shouted. The hunters let out a rousing cheer, and began to fight back. Arrows flew at them with a renewed ferocity. Swordsmen pushed forward, shields raised to fend off any fiery attacks. The Zippleback gas canisters lay forgotten on the ground. The whole dragon hunter army was pushing through the gas. Anyone who stumbled and fell were trampled on. Hiccup's worst fears were confirmed. They weren't that easy to fight, they were merely pretending. Hiccup had thought that the riders were playing with them. But it was them who had been played.
"Retreat!" Hiccup yelled. The riders didn't need a second invitation. They spun around and flew back…
Only to be greeted by another group of hunters. Hiccup froze. They drew their bows and prepared to fire. Dragon root arrows. These arrows would knock their dragons out immediately. Perhaps they could fight their way out? Hiccup glanced around. No, it was impossible. There were too many of them. They were surrounded. They were doomed.
"Hiccup!" A familiar voice called out. The voice was deep and smooth, and laced with a foreign accent. Krogan. A path cleared through the hunters and Krogan walked calmly through them. He had a huge ugly scar on his face, cutting cleanly across his nose. Hiccup recoiled slightly at the sight of it. Krogan walked coolly towards them, a wide and smug grin plastered on his face.
"We meet again, Hiccup. I see you had an accident," Krogan said, eyeing his sling. Hiccup glared at him. Krogan chuckled. "Your plan failed, Hiccup, as it always does. As you can see, you're surrounded." He stretched his arms wide open and gestured to all the hunters in the cavern. "Surrender!"
"Never!" Astrid barked back. "We'll fight all the way!"
"Even though I have so many men with me?" Krogan said, amusedly. "You don't stand a chance. Besides, if I need to, I wouldn't hesitate to run an axe through your thick skulls." He smirked. Hiccup scowled at him, but he knew Krogan was right. They were severely outnumbered and surrounded. Archers were training their arrows on the riders. At the order of Krogan, each dragon could have five dragon root arrows fired at them. And that wasn't even counting the crossbows. The other riders were looking at him, waiting for a move. Krogan was waiting too. It didn't help that he kept saying "Well?" or "What's your move?" There were so many moves he could do, but all of them - bar one - would lead to certain death or further injury. Besides, the A-team's lives depended on him too. Hiccup closed his eyes and sighed. There was no choice.
Slowly, he dismounted from Toothless, all the while making sure his left hand didn't hit anything. He refused to wince or hiss in pain when his shoulder jolted from the landing. He glanced at the other riders. They got the message. Reluctantly, they all joined him on the ground and raised their hands. Toothless warbled curiously and began to prepare a plasma blast in his mouth, but Hiccup stopped him. Fighting back would make it worse. At least for now.
With a nod of his head, Krogan motioned for the swordsmen to capture the riders. They advanced slowly, keeping their shields raised all the way. The archers trained their bows on the riders too in case they tried anything. But they didn't. The dragons didn't resist as they were muzzled. The riders remained silent as their hands were bound tightly behind their backs. Only Astrid screamed death threats and pulled against the ropes when they forced Hiccup's hands behind his back. Hiccup couldn't stop himself from hissing in pain. Krogan laughed. He had won. The riders were captured.
Like a trail of ants, the dragon riders and their dragons were marched out of the tunnels. Krogan's ugly scarred face twisted into an evil grin. The riders were his. Hiccup was finally his prisoner. How he had longed and dreamed for this day. Vengeance had been on his mind ever since Hiccup became his enemy. Hiccup was going to suffer a slow and painful death. He would see to that.
Barking instructions to his men, he ordered the riders and dragons to be caged in separate cages. Their hands were to be chained to the roof of the cages. Search them thoroughly too, make sure they didn't have any hidden weapons or tools. Astrid's boots produced a vast plethora of knives and daggers, while Hiccup and Snotlout had a hidden dagger each. Krogan smiled cruelly when Hiccup cried out in pain. His shoulder was clearly causing him a lot of discomfort. He would definitely put that knowledge to good use. But first, he had a promise to fulfil. Jerrick wanted to talk to Hiccup. He wouldn't deny the boy his request. What harm could come from it?
XX
Jerrick sat quietly in the hull of a ship. He had heard the heavy wing beats when the riders flew over the ship. But since then he hadn't heard anything. They were told to stay down there regardless of the situation.
"This sucks, why can't we go out there?" Dustin complained.
"We might get in the way of their fight," Corey offered.
"I'm going to take a peek outside," Dustin said. He walked to the door, but it suddenly opened. Dustin had to jump back to avoid getting his face slammed. Krogan walked in, dark brown eyes scanning the room before a triumphant smile appeared on his face.
"Got them!"
Jerrick smiled. The others burst into cheers. The whole mission at Berk had been a success. Jerrick felt glad that interacting with the riders, no matter how tiring it got, had paid off in the end.
So why did he still feel some apprehension?
"Do you want to talk to him?" Krogan looked at Jerrick. He nodded. Krogan walked off, and Jerrick followed him. At the last moment, Jerrick paused at the door.
"What's wrong?" Kari asked. Jerrick turned slowly.
"Come with me?" Jerrick asked Kari gently. Usually bold and confident, Jerrick had an unusual vulnerability in his voice. Dark brown irises seemed to plead with her. Kari nodded and followed him.
The duo caught up with Krogan. Krogan led the way off the decks and onto the island. Armed guards stood at regular intervals on both sides of the wooden deck. At the top, gravel paths criss-crossed across a large grassy plain, lit torches illuminating their way. A thick forest lay off to their right. It could provide good cover if they ever needed to hide. The fire in the torch cackled. The flames danced in a manner that seemed quite hypnotic. Jerrick briefly remembered that he was almost on the wrong end of the fire.
Eventually they reached something large and squarish that had a tarp wrapped over it. The tarp was way too big for whatever was underneath it, in fact, the excess tarp - which was neatly folded at the back - could hide a few people in there. The two guards standing there pulled back the tarp, revealing a dragon cage underneath it.
But it was what was inside the cage that made Jerrick feel a surge of hatred.
Hiccup was there, chained painfully to the roof of the cage. Both hands were stretched to their limit. Hiccup was trying to take as much strain off his left hand, using his right hand to try and loosen the chains on his left hand slightly. Krogan had really gone out of his way to make Hiccup feel pain.
"I'll leave you two alone," Krogan said as he opened the door to the cage. He signalled to the other two guards, and they left. Kari gave him a worried look that clearly meant "Do you really want to do this?" Jerrick glanced at Hiccup briefly, and nodded determinedly. Kari took a few steps back. Jerrick entered the cage.
Now it was just the two of them. Jerrick and Hiccup. Hiccup and Jerrick. Hagen Brandt's son and murderer. Jerrick glared at him. Hiccup's cold, defiant eyes glared straight back. The gall of this person! Jerrick clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles began to turn white. Anger built in him like a volcano bubbling and waiting to erupt. Jerrick saw red. At that moment there was only one thought in his mind, and that was revenge on Hiccup. His blood boiled simply looking at the man.
Jerrick couldn't hold it in any more. With a vicious snarl, he swung his fist at Hiccup's rebellious face. His fist connected sweetly, burying itself into Hiccup's cheekbone with a satisfying thud. The chains jangled and held firm as Hiccup was flung by the force of the punch. He yelled in pain. Jerrick massaged his fist. He thought he heard Kari gasp behind him. Jerrick waited a few moments for Hiccup to catch his breath. It was time to get some answers.
"Why did you do it?" Jerrick snarled. Hiccup glared back at him. He made no sound other than his heavy breathing. A look of blatant defiance and stubbornness was plastered on his face. Jerrick's blood boiled. Unconsciously, he tightened his fists again. "Talk to me!" Jerrick yelled.
"I'll never talk," Hiccup said in between deep breaths.
"You think you're so high and mighty, don't you? You think you can get your world peace and whatnot by killing? I've news for you, idiot. You can't." Hiccup's eyes softened. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm saying."
"Who did I kill?"
"There's so many you don't even remember?" Jerrick sighed and shook his head exasperatedly. Hiccup was much worse than he thought. Didn't he say he didn't like to harm people? Was that all a lie? Or perhaps he was telling the truth… Jerrick tried a different approach. "You killed my father." Hiccup looked blank.
"When did I do that?"
"Two years ago. You hunted him down and killed him."
"I never did such a thing."
Jerrick's blood boiled. He swung his fist again. Jerrick's hard knuckles snapped cleanly into the soft part of Hiccup's cheek. Hiccup yelled in pain. Jerrick cringed inwardly when he heard Hiccup cry out. The punch was purely a reflex action, Jerrick told himself. Jerrick shook his head again. Why did he need to reassure himself about punching his father's killer?
"Well you did. You hunted him down using dragons."
"I would never do such a thing."
"Then who did?" Jerrick waved his hands around. "Astrid? Snotlout? Which one of your cronies in your little group of terrorists did it?"
"Terrorists? Do you really think we're terrorists?"
"You don't think you're terrorists? Killing people to achieve a human-dragon utopia? Isn't that what terrorists like to do? Kill to achieve something?"
"I've never killed anyone. We don't kill."
"Then who killed my father?"
"It wasn't me."
"Then who? Who?" Jerrick gripped the collar of Hiccup's tunic as he screamed the last few questions in his face. Hiccup winced and hissed as Jerrick rattled him around. A strong feeling of guilt suddenly came to Jerrick, and he released Hiccup. Jerrick stared at his hands guiltily, as though wondering how it had managed to move by itself. The auburn man took a few deep breaths to steady himself.
Jerrick sighed. "I don't care what you think you are," Jerrick began in a calmer tone. "I don't care if you think you're terrorists or peace-nuts or whatever. You still killed my father. You killed my dad. How would you feel if someone killed your dad?"
"Who told you that I killed your father?"
"Krogan."
"And you trust him?"
"Why shouldn't I? My father was in his army."
A look of realisation suddenly appeared on Hiccup's face. "Your father worked for Krogan?"
"You have a problem with that? Do you feel happy killing him now?"
"No, not at all. I would never feel good killing someone."
"Then why did you do it?"
Hiccup paused. "How did he die?" Jerrick clenched his fists, but Hiccup interrupted him. "Jerrick, I want to help you. Please. Trust me." There was a certain edge in Hiccup's voice that made Jerrick pause and think. Hiccup's voice was warm and kind, begging to be trusted.
Jerrick sighed. "Dragons killed him."
"What dragons?"
"I don't know. There were small pricks in his arms and singe marks on his chest though."
The thoughtful look returned to Hiccup's face. "The small pricks sound like the work of Speed Stingers. Not sure about the singe marks though."
"What do Speed Stingers look like?"
"Small, stinger on their tail, fins on their head, run on two feet, clawed front paws, have you never seen a Speed Stinger?"
"Never heard of them."
The duo lapsed into silence. Finally, Hiccup spoke. "Jerrick, I think I know who killed your father."
"Who?"
"I think… Krogan did it."
Jerrick scrunched his fists, but Hiccup spoke before Jerrick could react. "Jerrick, wait, hear me out. Krogan is not who you think he is. He's a ruthless man who would kill people who got in his way. I've heard a story of a dragon hunter who died because he tried to leave."
"Why would he kill my father?" Jerrick demanded. "My dad never did anything wrong. He was a loyal soldier. He was a peaceful person. He was someone who just wanted to do the best he could in everything."
"Can you think of anything that could anger Krogan?"
Jerrick thought back. Did his father ever do anything wrong? Not as far as he remembered, but…
"There was one time my dad came back home looking quite worried. He had just returned after searching for dragons for two weeks. He told me that someone had opened the cages and all the dragons escaped. They came back empty handed."
Hiccup winced a little when Jerrick said that. "That could be it," Hiccup said. Jerrick noticed that Hiccup tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible.
"But that happened quite a while before my dad died. Why would Krogan kill him later on?"
"Maybe it happened again? Look," Hiccup continued quickly, changing the topic. "The truth is, I'm not sure. I can't say for certain that Krogan was the one who did it. But there's a good chance it might be him."
A tense silence filled the air. Jerrick glared at Hiccup. As much as he didn't trust the man, something in him told him to give Hiccup a chance. Jerrick sighed and relaxed. Jerrick was at a loss. Could Hiccup really be telling the truth?
Jerrick's mind began to piece together what he had seen, as though it was forming a case for both sides. First up on the checklist was Krogan. The incident at the weapons merchant, Krogan's uneasy vibe when they first met him. His odd behaviour when they met him again at the Northern Markets, and the way the bar quieted unusually when he appeared. There was the disappearing bartender too. Next on the checklist was Hiccup. Hiccup's cold gaze when he met him, and Astrid's icy, rage-filled glares. But then there was the time when Hiccup saved him from torture too, and their general hospitality to him. Jerrick tried to find a positive side of Krogan, but nothing came to his mind. Everything they did with Krogan relied on them trusting what he said wholly. Could Hiccup be right?
Jerrick clenched his fists. The seeds of doubt had been sown. Now Jerrick had to decide whether to nurture it or uproot it.
"You better be right about this," Jerrick warned sternly. "If you're wrong, I'll behead you and your whole terrorist group myself. Am I clear?"
"Crystal." Hiccup forced a small smile. Jerrick stormed out of the cage and stalked off. Kari had to quicken her pace to catch up with the confused boy. There was a tense silence as Jerrick brooded over all that just transpired.
"How'd it go?" She asked after a while.
"It's a mess," Jerrick said. "First he doesn't know what I'm talking about, then he says that Krogan might have been using us all this while."
There was a mixture of emotions on Kari's face. "How are you taking it?" She asked at last.
"I don't know," Jerrick admitted softly. "I don't know what's right and wrong any more. But I do know that I'm going to get some answers later. And hopefully we can put this thing to bed."
