Ch. 2
A Dragon Army

I held onto the saddle tightly as Toothless glided just over the trees. I kept my head up, my eyes forward as I gazed at the smoke. Once we had passed through the two mountains we were met with the rest of the forest. Or, at least, what was left of it. It looked as though more than half of the trees had been burned in a fire. There was nothing left but the black, charred trunks protruding up from the ground, smoke still covering the forest floor.

"Think this might've been a dragon?" I asked Toothless.

'It was either that or a camp fire gone terribly wrong.'

I knew that that meant 'yes'. We continued to fly forward, and I heard Stormfly make a small screech from behind us. We flew and swerved through the trees, looking for the end. Toothless swerved to avoid rocks as he passed through them when suddenly stopped, and I did not need to ask why. There, just in the water of the ocean, was a large, towering iceberg. That was the best way I could describe it, but it looked nothing like the icebergs I had seen in the past. It was bright, icy blue, and it was protruding up from the water in great, giant spikes. What was more, I could see brown, jagged shapes that looked like pieces of a ship embedded in the ice. I felt my jaw drop as I stared up at the ice, wondering what on earth could have done something like this. I turned my head around to look at Austen, but he shook his head, telling me that he had no idea either.

"Stay close," I told him.

"You don't have to tell me twice."

I turned my head forward as Toothless started flying again. We flew around the iceberg, examining it. It looked much more dangerous from up close.

"What happened here?" I asked aloud.

We circled around it and I looked down to see the bigger parts of the ship, destroyed and buried deep within the ice. I tilted my head lower and stared. Down there was a giant mud heap, and in the head were two large footprints. The appearance and the depth of them screamed 'dragon'. Toothless let out a nervous noise and shook his head restlessly.

"Easy, bud," I soothed, patting his head.

'I don't like this,' he told me. 'Something's not right.'

From behind me, I heard Austen gasp. "Hicca!"

I glanced back at him to see him pointing forward, I whipped my head around.

"FIRE!"

I had a split seconds panic before Toothless quickly moved out of the way to avoid the oncoming net.

"Austen, look out!"

But even as I shouted I heard Stormfly give a loud screech that could mean only one thing; she had gotten hit. Austen gave a loud yell as he and Stormfly started to go down. Suddenly, Austen broke free of the net and went through it, but he was still falling.

"Ah! Hicca!"

Toothless reacted instantly. He dove forward just in time to grab Austen by his feet. There was a loud thud of something falling against rock, and I knew that Stormfly had fallen.

"Toothless, go back!" I said quickly.

Toothless wasted no time in turning around and quickly flying back to the iceberg. We got closer, and even from up here I could see several men running at Stormfly, all holding weapons and rope.

"Stop!" I screamed at them.

"Stormfly!"

'Austen!'

Toothless dropped Austen before quickly landing on the ground, and I leapt off of him.

"What're you doing?" Austen demanded furiously, picking up a large stick from the ground and wielding it like a club.

The men started marching forward, wielding their own weapons. I reached across my waist and pulled out Inferno. I clicked the button on the side and the blade shot out, instantly catching on fire. I waved it around in front of me, forcing the men back. They stared at Inferno, eyes wide and making loud 'ohs' at the sight of my fire sword. Then, a man who had his foot propped on top of Stormfly's head straightened up. He was a big man, with dark hair that was pulled into a low ponytail, thick eyebrows, and what looked like a blue tattoo on his large chin.

"Back again?" he said in a thick, foreign accent.

I did not respond to him and neither did Austen, unless you count waving a piece of wood in a threatening way a response. The man lowered his eyes to something behind me, and I knew that it was Toothless. The moment he saw the dragon the man's eyes widened, and a second later he grinned in an almost victorious way.

"Soil my britches…" he breathed. "That is a Night Fury!"

Toothless took a step forward and hissed threateningly.

"Thought they were all gone for good," the man said as he patted another man's back, and he called out, "Looks like our luck's had a turn for the betta, lad! Don't think Drago has one o' those in his dragon army."

I blinked as I stared at him. Did I hear him right?

"Dragon army?" Austen whispered to me.

I glanced over at him, then I turned back to the man, who was now standing on top of Stormfly.

"Look, we don't want any trouble," I told him seriously.

The man laughed. "Ha! You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragons, and blasted our fort to bits!"

He said this last part as he pointed to the remains of his ship that was in the ice. I shook my head, not understanding.

"What're you talking about?" Austen asked angrily.

I stepped forward. "You think we did this?"

The man didn't answer me.

"Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them!"

"What?" I laughed, staring at him. "What're talking about? What do-gooder…"

I stopped talking and froze. The realization of what he had just said suddenly dawned on me. I pressed the button of the handle and Inferno retracted back inside.

"There are other dragon riders?" I asked, my voice faint.

"You mean other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me!" the man snapped, and he slowly stepped off of Stormfly. "You may have and ice-spitting dragon on your side, but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Drago…What-fist?" I snorted. "Does anything you say make sense?"

"He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow," said one of men.

"And Drago don't take well to excuses!" said another.

The rest of the men nodded, muttering in agreement. The dark-haired man stepped forward and opened up his fur vest to reveal his chest, which had a nasty scare in the shape of a symbol that was burned into his skin.

"This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed," he said darkly, folding his vest back up. "He promised to be far less understanding in the future."

I cringed slightly at the sight of the scar, but I shook my head slightly. I had to get the others out of here now.

"Alright, look," I started. "We don't know anything about a dragon thief, or and "ice-spitting" dragon, or your lunatic boss and his dragon army. Just give us back our dragon, and we'll go. Strange… hostile person whom we've never met…"

"Oh, where are my manners?" the man bowed lowly. "I'm Eret, son of Eret," he straightened up and pulled a large dagger out from his belt. "Finest dragon trapper alive."

Hicca, we need to leave now, I heard Toothless say to me.

"After all," Eret pointed his dagger down. "It's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury."

Toothless stepped forward and snarled loudly at Eret, who didn't move a muscle. I smirked as I gestured to Toothless.

"And this is Toothless," I said, and my smirk turned into a frown. "He says we're going. Now."

Eret laughed. "They all say that. Rush 'em, lads!"

The men yelled as they started to run at us. Toothless roared as he lifted his head and fired a plasma blast at the iceberg. A sharp section broke away and fell, heading right for Eret and this men. They all screamed as they jumped to the side, avoiding the piece of ice. While they were distracted me and Austen ran forward towards Stormfly. I unsheathed Inferno and used it to cut the net off of her.

"Stormfly, come on!" shouted Austen. "Go, go!"

Once she was free, Stormfly leapt to her feet and started running forward, Austen hot on her heels. He managed to grab onto her and jump onto his saddle before she jumped into the air, taking flight instantly. I sheathed Inferno before jumping onto Toothless' back, locking my metal foot into the petal, and we took off.

"You will never hold onto those dragons, you hear me?" Eret shouted. "Drago is coming for them all!"

I turned my head to look back at Eret. I could still see his angered face from all the way up here.

'Don't listen to him, love,' said Toothless. 'Nobody's taking the dragons, not ever.'

I frowned as I turned my head back. I wanted to listen to Toothless, but I had a feeling that Eret's threat was not empty.

It was only midday, so I knew that the village would be pretty full by the time we got back. Toothless let out a loud call as we descended onto the village square. People looked up at us and started waving and clapping, something that I had grown accustomed to over the years. Toothless and Stormfly landed in the square and people around us stared. I took my helmet off as I looked around, searching for my father. Then, I heard a booming laugh, and I turned into the direction of the forge, and I saw my dad walking out, his arms held out.

"Ah-haha! There she is!" he called out. "The Pride of Berk!"

The Pride of Berk. Again, another thing that I had grown accustomed to. I stepped off of Toothless and placed my helmet on a hook on my saddle as my dad stepped forward. He looked down at Toothless and let out another laugh as he raised his hand.

"Ah! And my future son-in-law!"

Toothless chuckled as he allowed my father to pat his head. Despite the situation I could not help but blush with embarrassment. Not this again.

"Dad, we've been over this," I hissed as I followed him back to the forge. "We have to be engaged first, remember?"

But my dad just rolled his eyes. "Ah, no point in denying the future, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes. I felt something brush against my arm, and I glanced up to see Toothless in his human form. He was looking down at me with understanding eyes.

"Don't worry, your not alone," he whispered. "Dragon parents can be just like that and more."

I nodded, grinning up at him. I grasped his hand as we both entered the forge. At the entrance was none other than Gobber, who was wearing his metal mask he wore to keep sparks from hitting his face.

"Looks like somebody finally decided to show up for work. Yay…" he said playfully, swinging his hammer at me.

"Sorry, got held up," I released Toothless' hand as I quickly caught up with my father. "Hey, uh, Dad? Could I have a word?"

"Something you're itching to tell me?" he asked, putting an arm around my shoulders as he lead me deeper into the forge.

"Ah, not quite the itch your thinking of," I admitted. "But, yes."

My dad released me and reached up, taking my work apron off the wall and tossing it to me.

"Oh, good girl!" he said. "Now, lesson one: A chief's first duty is to his people."

"You've already told me this," I said as I tossed my apron to the side. "Dad, please listen…"

But he was not listening. He went over to the table and took a number off the wall.

"Come on, darling! They're waiting!" he said as he turned his head. "So… 41!"

I shook my head. "Dad, can we please just talk in private?"

"Forty…"

"That's me!" a man shouted as he pushed past a few people. "That's me, I'm next! Hey, I was ahead of you!"

I rolled my eyes. "Look, if we could just talk…"

"Excuse me, I've been here all day," the villager stepped up and beamed. "Okay, okay… I want one of those high seaters with lots of spikes and a big stowage compartment."

"Absolutely!" my dad said, slapping the counter. "You got it, sir."

"Oh gods…" I groaned. "Dad, this is actually a little more important than building saddles, so-"

My dad shook his head. "Ah-ah! Lesson two: No task is too small when it comes to serving your people."

My dad let out a laugh as he walked through the forge, but accidentally bumped into Gobber's dragon, Grump.

"Oh, excuse us, Grump," my dad said, rubbing the dragon's nose.

"Hey, buddy," I said as I patted his head.

He gave a small grunt in response as I rushed passed him.

"Dad, can we just talk, please?" I asked.

"Grump!" Gobber yelled. "Yah let the forge die down again!"

The dragon groaned as he shuffled around to face the fireplace, not even bothering to get up. He opened his large jaws and let out a large blast of fire that burst, sparks flying out. I yelped as a few came at me and I leapt forward to avoid them. Gobber shook his head before pulling a rope that hung above, and the bucket tilted and water spilled onto the fire.

"That's it, Grump! You're going up for adoption!"

Ignoring the irritated Gobber I turned and caught up with my dad, who was still busying himself the saddle preparations. He took down all my tools that hung on the wall and placed them into a small box, then handed the box to me.

"There you go," he said. "Go on. Have away."

"Dad, seriously," I said firmly as I followed him through the forge. "I really need to tell you about this new land we came across."

"Another one?" Gobber asked as he twisted his hammer out of his arm.

"Any new dragons?" a new voice called out that I knew instantly was Fishlegs.

"More then likely," I heard Toothless say from somewhere behind me. "I could sense some nearby, but…"

"We didn't stick around to find out," I finished for him. "These folks weren't particularly friendly."

"Oh, really?" Gobber said sarcastically. "Your Night Fury and Deadly Nadder didn't bring them cheering to the rooftops?"

"Does having a net trap shot at you count?" I heard Stormfly say bitterly as she and Austen entered the forge.

I rolled my eyes. My dad place a sheet of leather onto the large shaper. I set the box down as I reached in and pulled out a spare charcoal pencil.

"No, actually. It was a whole different," I said as I drew the outlining on the leather. "Not the standard run-for-the-hills hoo-ha I've come to enjoy. These guys… they were trappers. Dragon trappers."

"You should've seen their fort," said Austen. "All blown apart and stuck in giant spikes of ice. It was weird!"

"That's an understatement," said Toothless, who stood beside my dad and folded his arms. "It was downright unearthly."

"I've never seen anything like it," I said seriously. "And what's worse, they thought we did it!"

"They said that it was done by an… ice-spitting dragon or something," said Stormfly.

"Yah know," said Gobber as he placed a small brush into his arm and started combing his beard and eyebrows. "You four are gonna get yourselves in serious trouble one of these days. Not everyone appreciates this way of life."

"Aye, Gobber's right, dear," said my dad as he pulled the leather off the shaper. "Best we keep to our own."

"But what if that's not good enough?" Toothless asked.

"It is when it has to be, lad," Gobber explained as my dad placed the leather on a small table by the cutting blades.

"Besides, you'll have more important uses for your time," my dad pulled the lever down to activate the cutting blades, chuckling as he beamed at me. "Once we make the big announcement!"

My brows furrowed as I frowned. Alright, that's it. I walked forward towards my dad, who continued to beam down at me. I reached up and pulled the lever, shutting off the blades.

"They are building a dragon army," I explained lowly.

Finally, there was a pause. My dad's face fell as he looked down at me, clearly confused.

"Or at least the guy they work for is," I shook my head, trying to remember the man's name. "Um… Dargo…Bloody Fist… something like that, I don't know."

My dad's face fell even more, his eyes widening in surprise. He turned his head to look at Gobber, who now had a look of anger on his face.

"I'll bloody his fist with my face if he tries to take my dragon!" Tuffnut declared when he suddenly burst into the room.

"Or mine!" agreed Ruffnut.

"Ugh, you're such a moron!"

"A beautiful moron," Fishlegs sighed.

"Yeah," said Snotlout, grinning.

Ruffnut glared at them and let out a groan of disgust. Suddenly, my dad grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look up at him.

"Bludvist?" he breathed, his voice low and fearful. "Drago Bludvist?"

"…Yeah, that's him," I said. "I don't know who he is but… Wait… You know him?"

My dad did not answer me, but the scared and angry look in his eyes was more than enough answer for me.

"Ground all dragons!"

"What? Why?" I yelled.

I continued running as fast as I could to keep up with my dad, who was charging through the dragon stables.

"Seal the gates!" he shouted to the people and dragons that were inside. "Lower the storm doors!"

"Wow wow, wait, hold up!" I shouted. "What is happening? Dad, talk to me!"

"Come on! You heard the man!" I heard Gobber shout. "Lock it down!"

At once all the people started to do as they were told, and the dragons all scrambled into the stables. I continued running to catch up with my dad as he ran into the center, Toothless, Austen, and Stormfly all hot on my heels.

"No dragon or Viking sets foot off this island until I give the word!" my dad shouted.

"Wait, because some guys you knew is stirring up trouble in some faraway land?" I asked, completely confused.

My dad whipped around and I had to double back to keep from running into him.

"Because Drago Bludvist is a madman without conscience or mercy!" my dad said fiercely, holding my shoulder tightly. "And if he's built a dragon army… Gods help us all."

I stared up at my dad as he let go of me and turned away. I have never seen my father look so worried or so scared in all my life.

"Get them into their pens!" he shouted to his men. "Quickly!"

I quickly rushed forward and skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Then, let's ride back out there," I told him. "We'll follow those trappers to Drago and talk some sense into him."

"No," my dad said firmly. "We fortify the island."

"But… Dad, it's our duty to keep the peace!"

"Peace is over, Hicca! I never thought I'd have to tell yah this, but… prepare yourself, dear. I must prepare you for war."

"War?" I gasped. "Dad, if Drago is coming for our dragons, we can't just sit and wait for him to get here. Let's go find him and change his mind. I mean, can't I at least try…"

But my dad shook his head sadly. "No, some minds won't be changed, Hicca," he told me. "Berk is what yah need to worry about. A chief protects his own."

My dad turned away from me and stomped off, giving more orders to shut everything down. I shook my head, not understanding anything that was going on. I heard a small chortle from behind me, and I turned to see Toothless standing there in his dragon form. He was giving me a look that told me he knew what had to be done, but he was by me no matter what. I knew what I had to do, too.

"Hicca, I know that look," I heard Austen say. "Please, don't…"

"I have to."

I gave Austen a peck on the cheek before running forward and jumping onto Toothless. I quickly put my feet through the petals and Toothless leapt into the air.

"Hicca!" I heard my dad shout.

Me and Toothless shot through the area, looking for a way out. The last remaining door was already being pulled up and was closing fast.

"Come on, bud!" I shouted.

Toothless flapped his wings and quickly sped up, getting faster and faster. The door kept closing, were only feet away from it, and suddenly we were out.

'That was easy,' Toothless said brightly.

"Yeah," I said. "No comes the hard part; finding those trappers."

There was a screech from behind us and I looked around. Stormfly was behind us and catching up, and on her back was Austen.

'Glad to see you could join us,' Toothless said, chuckling slightly as they caught up with us.

'Wouldn't miss it for the world,' said Stormfly.

I looked up at Austen, who gave me a firm nod. I knew that that meant he was with me wherever we went. I turned my gaze forward as we continued to fly towards the horizon.