Chapter Eleven: Divided and Conquered

"…wake up!"

Matt stirred a little, staring at the a picture in his dream. He didn't know when he was looking at this picture, or for how long, but he swore he heard it say something.

"…get your dragons…we're under attack!"

More confused than ever, he simply pressed his ear closer to the picture.

Boom!

Matt bolted awake, causing his dream to instantly evaporate! Dust was falling from the rafters above, with what sounded like…roaring?

"Matt? Wh-what's going on?!"

Limping out of bed, he saw Heather walking out of her little room from their loft they shared when they lived on Dragon's Edge. "I don't know! I'm sure the twins are behind thi-Gah!"

Boom!

Another explosion sounded off! This time rocking the floor so much that they both fell on their hands and knees.

"I don't think it's the twins!" Heather cried out, hearing more explosions still ring outside. Honestly, it didn't take much to make him agree with her.

"Rraoooorr!" Wasatch and Windshear both roared from under them.

"Come on!" He shouted, helping her up. Running down the stairs, they were shocked to see flames already burning away at one of the walls!

"Gah!" Heather shouted, feeling the floor shake again! "What is happening?!"

"Let's find out!" He shouted, scrambling to the door. Pushing it open for their dragons, he stood there in complete awe. "N-no…"

Dragons! Dragons everywhere! Firing explosive fireballs at almost everything! And…were those riders on them?! The dragons were ones he never saw before either. They had four wings…and had faces like chameleons! But the sight that put him in awe, was seeing them shoot their explosive fireballs from almost any direction! Their tail, underneath them, it didn't matter! What he did realize, was that they were most definitely under attack!

"Come on Matt!" Heather shouted, climbing on Windshear.

Shaking his head to snap him out of his trance, he quickly ran to Wasatch, who was roaring and rearing to go! "Push 'em away from the huts! That'll help the others get to their dragons!" He thundered, feeling a rush of anger flood through himself.

"Got it!" Came the reply as she and Windshear launched into the air.

Matt finished strapping himself down, feeling the heat from the fires cook the air. "Alright bud! Tear 'em ap-"

Boom!

Another explosion ripped apart the deck they were standing on, showering both dragon and rider in splinters! Wasatch fell on his side, being pushed by the sudden explosion. "Aghk!" Matt roared, having lost his balance completely.

Wasatch instantly went into a wild rage! Screeching his deathly cry, he scrambled to his feet while letting Matt regain his balance. The odd sight though, was after the death screech, almost all the attacking dragons began to look panicked. Like they recognized something.

"Finish them Lasher! Stay close Arrow!"

Matt looked up to see Ukiah and Lasher almost magically appear above one of the attacking dragons. Descending on it, Lasher essentially planted himself on it and struck the rider with his all three of his scorpion like tails! Arrow then emerged from the dark sky, grappling the falling rider and biting him as they fell.

"Help 'em out!" Matt roared, finally sending Wasatch the que to take off.

Screeching, Wasatch launched straight into the air, already drawing lightning from the sky! The sight of the red glowing smoke, the radiating lightning striking the frenzied Skrill, and the thunderclaps rivaling the sound of the explosions, the sight was honestly impressive! And as evidence showed, terrifying to their attackers. Several of the four-winged dragons roared in terror as they turned tail and ran, with their riders trying to bring them back to the fight.

Matt was ready to pick out their first target, just as he heard the familiar scream he loved to hear.

…rrrrrRRREEEEEEE!

A purple blast with pin point accuracy launched one of the foreign riders off their dragon. A black blur then darted above one of the raging fires, revealing the silhouette of Toothless.

"Matt! Don't hit the Singetails!" Hiccup shouted, banking Toothless to fly closer to Matt.

"Wait, Singetails? What are they supposed to be?!"

"Dragons that can shoot fire in any direction! They're only attacking because those flyers are forcing them! Knock off the riders, the dragons will leave! See?!" Sure enough, the two dragons which both he and Ukiah had knocked the riders off, were flying away as fast as they could! Save the ones that began to flee after Wasatch's spectacular scene and death screech.

"Seriously?!" Matt shouted "That's gonna make it harder to chase 'em out of here!"

"Don't hurt them!" Hiccup shouted as he lined himself up at some other Flyers.

"Ragh! Careful with your lightning! Small bolts only!" Matt ordered, instantly hating the handicap placed on them.

Wasatch either didn't care or hear Matt, as he fired his stored-up lightning at the closest Singetail, blasting both dragon and rider apart from each other!

"Wasatch! What did I say?!" He roared angrily.

"Stormfly, spine shot!"

Matt whirled around, seeing Astrid and Stormfly send a flyer off his dragon that was coming behind Matt.

"Stay with me Matt!" She called out, putting Stormfly into a dive. "The twins can't get to Barf and Belch!"

"Got it! Right with ya'!" Matt shouted back, letting Wasatch follow closely. "Thanks for the cover! Who are these guys?!"

"No idea! But it doesn't matter!" She roared back. "Let's just kick them out of here!"

Matt grit his teeth, following her through a pillar of smoke. Seeing the twins surrounded by two of the Singetail dragons and their riders, the two instantly split up and went for the riders sitting atop of them.

"Whoa! Easy buddy!" Ruffnut shouted angrily, getting snapped at by one of the Singetails.

"Hey! Only I can snap at my sister!" Tuffnut shouted, whirling and ignoring the dragon threatening him directly.

No sooner had he said that, both the attacking riders were jerked up into the air as both Stormfly and Wasatch hefted them up with their claws!

"Aaiiiyyeeee!" They both screamed, getting thrown into the bay below.

Wasatch then turned around and screeched a war cry at the two Singetails that almost made Matt's eardrums bleed. The Singetails didn't like it any more than he did, as they instantly bolted from him! Though, again, it wasn't like it was because they knew they were free, but rather that they were terrified of the Skrill.

"Yeah! Now that's what I love about that lightning blazing dragon!" Tuffnut shouted happily.

"Sqqurrawk?"

"Oh. And you too Stormfly!" He quickly followed up with, turning to her with an apologetic expression.

"Hey! Muttonheads! Get to your dragon!" Astrid shouted, glaring at them.

"Oh, you got it, Astrid! This is going to be so much fun!" Ruffnut shouted, grabbing Tuffnut and dragging him to the Hanger.

Astrid shook her head as she looked at Matt, only to look horrified! "Matt! Look out!"

Wasatch whirled around, taking a fireball directly into the chest!

Matt's balance was instantly thrown off! "Gah!" He cried out, flailing his arms as they fell.

The two crashed into the deck below. Matt felt his left foot twist in sudden pain, as well as become unfastened suddenly, making him panic at the thought that his binding was broke. It was a chilling thought, despite the heat from the explosion.

"At least I can put you down…" A familiar voice growled.

Looking up from where he lay, he gasped as he saw the largest Singetail yet! But that wasn't what shocked him, it was its rider! The bounty hunter that took him and Hiccup! Except without his facemask or hood! Just the same outfit!

"I should have killed you when I had you and your brother…" The man growled coldly, glaring at Matt.

"Get away from him!" Astrid shouted angrily. "Spine shot!"

Stormfly flung her tail again, sending a deadly hail of her spikes at the man!

The Singetail roared as it spun around, letting its tail knock away some of the spikes. The ones that didn't get deflected, simply burned away as the tail left a wall of fire.

"You're annoying me…" The man growled, glaring at Astrid. "You and your friends are about to have your wings clipped."

"You sure about that?"

Both Astrid and Matt watched as Ukiah and Lasher flew through a pillar of smoke, barreling right towards the rider.

"You!" The rider roared, pulling on his chain reins to force his dragon to face his new attacker.

"Miss me that much?" Ukiah jeered, rolling around the fire wall the Singetail created to deter the new attackers.

The man instantly forgot about Astrid and Matt as he sent his dragon to chase after Ukiah!

"Matt!" Astrid shouted, landing Stormfly next to Wasatch who was still stunned, but very angry with the cheap shot. Jumping off, she knelt down to try and help him sit up.

"Urgh…I think I twisted my ankle…" He groaned, looking at the binding that was still strapped to his free leg. The explosion seared away the leather strap holding his binding in place, essentially breaking it off. In the process, his foot twisted in it enough to make it throb.

"Come on! We need to get you out of here!"

"Urgh, sure. Unbuckle my other foot. I can't reach it."

Astrid instantly did so, though it took a few tries for to figure out how the snowboard bindings released. "Where's Heather?"

"Don't know! She took off before Wasatch and I could." He grunted in pain, clenching his eyes shut. Yup. His left ankle was for sure twisted. And not to mention he forgot his brace back in his burning hut, which wasn't helping his leg.

"Need to ride with me?" She asked with concern. Helping him stand, she saw him balancing on one foot.

"No. I can sit on him." He grunted, hopping to Wasatch who was now able to stand up. "Wasatch, bud! Come on!"

"Better hurry! There's more of those goons circling around!" Astrid shouted, looking behind them to see another four of the Flyers heading towards them!

"Come on bud! Let's lead them away from the Edge!" He growled as he finally settled himself on Wasatch's neck. "Come on Astrid!"

Leaping onto Stormfly, Astrid then launched her into the air. Matt was right with her, being awkward for him since he, well, never really fought a battle while sitting on Wasatch!

"Come on! We'll take them through the canyons!" She shouted.

Matt was quick to reply, looking behind him and Wasatch at their pursuers. "Right behind you! I'll follow your lead!"

"Gah! Windshear!"

Windshear shook her head angrily, shaking off the sudden explosion that appeared in front of them. Heather quickly looked behind her. Three of the Flyers were weaving around each other, making it impossible for her and Windshear to try and sling their quills at them. Let alone blast them.

…rrrrrrRRRRREEEEEE!

To her relief, she watched as two small, purple blasts knocked off two of the Flyers, with the familiar black blur of Toothless flying behind the third one, grabbing the last remaining Flyer with his front claws and letting him fall into the ocean below!

"Heather, are you and Windshear alright?" Hiccup called out, coasting next to her with an anxious expression.

"We are now." She breathed out, taking in the moment to rest a little bit.

"Come on! I thought I saw Ukia-"

"There she is! That's the Rider Krogan wants!"

The two turned in horror to see four more Flyers begin to fly at them!

"They don't stop coming!" Heather cried out in anger and exasperation.

Hiccup however, wasn't concerned with how many were invading their home. He heard a name. Krogan. And they just announced they wanted Heather! "With me Heather! Whatever you do, stay close to me!"

"Got it!"

Hiccup knew exactly how to get away, thanks to the notes he and Fishlegs were able to pull away from the Dragon Eye before it was destroyed!

"Go up! Fly high!" He shouted, making sure Heather was still with him.

Heather felt the heat of an explosion to her right, forcing her weave to the left. "Gah! W-what?! We'll be sitting ducks! They'll have perfect shots at us!"

"Trust me!"

"Rrraggh! Come on girl!" Heather cried out as she pulled up on Windshear to follow Toothless!

As expected, the four Flyers instantly followed suit. Splitting up slightly, two flyers lined up with Toothless, while the other two took aim at Heather.

With wide, worried eyes, Heather watched as she was sure she and Windshear would get lit up with a hail of fireballs! But, to her shock, the Singetails started to buck and thrash! Those Flyers that could retain control, were significantly slower than when they first started to chase them!

"Keep going!" Hiccup shouted, not looking behind him and focusing on climbing higher and higher. Windshear roared as she beat her wings harder and harder, keeping up with Toothless. Finally, the two broke through the cloud layer, revealing a full moon shining down on them.

"Hiccup! Wh-what happened to them? Why aren't they chasing us?" Heather asked aloud, taking a moment to breathe and to watch for one of the Flyers to break through the clouds.

"Singetails hate altitude. They're not high flyers." He quickly answered, putting Toothless into a glide.

"That's great! Now we can control the battle a little bit!" She replied with some excitement about the news.

"No…Heather. We need to get you out of here."

Shocked, she instantly started to shout at him. "Leave? Why?! Hiccup, we're just going to abandon the Edge?!"

Looking defeated at the thought, Hiccup nodded. "Yes. There's too many of them. We free one Singetail, and three more Flyers arrive! Besides that…they're after you specifically. Did you not hear them?"

"Forget about me, Hiccup! This is about your home! Our home! Dragon's Edge is as important to me as it is to you!"

"But it's not more important than you!" Hiccup quickly replied angrily, glaring at her. "Matt would never forgive me if I put you in harm's way. Or got you captured! Those guys are the ones that put the bounty on you!"

Saddened that they were beaten, Heather then turned to look at the glowing fires of Dragon's Edge, coming in and out of view of the clouds.

"Come on. We'll regroup at Caldera Cay. The others will have to know the Edge is lost and will retreat too."

"Are you sure Hiccup?" She asked, looking at him with worry. "Should we at least try to find them?"

"We'll have to trust them. Ukiah is smart enough to know when a battle is lost. Matt too. Astrid will make sure everyone is out of there. I'd be shocked if Matt doesn't help her. But for us, we need to make sure you stay safe!"

Not taking her eyes off the fires as they started to fly away, she then had a thought hit her. "What about the Dragon Eye?!"

"Right here."

Turning around, she saw him pull it out of his saddlebag. "I was working on it when we were attacked. Decided to keep it with me. Glad I did."

Sighing, Heather looked down at her saddle. "I'm sorry Hiccup. That we couldn't save your home."

"It's alright Heather. I'd feel worse if you were hurt or captured. That's the truth." He consoled, smiling at her. "Come on. We need to tell Mala what happened so they can prepare in case those Flyers attack them!"

Nodding, she then focused on staying with Hiccup; all while praying to Odin that the others, especially Matt, would get away from the fight.

"Oh Thor! Oh Thor!" Fishlegs shouted as two fireballs sailed under him and crash into the forest! "Whoa! That was close Meatlug!"

Meatlug simply growled with wide eyes! There was no way she was going to be able to shake off the two Flyers chasing her and her Rider! Both she and Fishlegs thought flying low through the forest would help shake off the Flyers, but it wasn't working!

Turning around, Fishlegs stared at the two Flyers lining themselves up for another volley of attacks. He had to do something to shake them!

"Hey! Only I get to mess with Fishface!"

To Fishleg's surprise and relief, a stream of fire ripped across the two Singetails! Though the dragons shrugged off the flames, the Flyers simply cried out in pain as they crashed onto the ground, rolling to a stop and putting out any flames that would have lingered on them!

"Snotlout! Hookfang!" Fishlegs cried out, seeing the familiar faces hover alongside of them.

"You're welcome!" Snotlout smirked at him. "Feel free to call me Knight Snotlout! Your savior and protector!"

"Uh…" Fishlegs began to say.

"Oi! Get out of here!"

The two instantly turned to see Ukiah barreling towards them, leading a much larger Singetail and Flyer.

Lasher roared angrily, seeing that he wasn't shaking his pursuer. With his nimble agility, he went into a tailspin, to where he was briefly looking at the Singetail. Those few seconds, he released a column of fire at the Flyer.

The Singetail simply banked upwards, taking the fire to the chest and flying away from the Triple Stryke.

"Ukiah?! What're we going to do?!" Fishlegs asked, seeing their friend watch the Singetail take a wide bank to line up for another shot.

"Leave! Head to Berk! I told the twins to go that way. I'm sure that's where Hiccup wants to meet up!" He roared. "Get going! I'll lead this brute away again! I'll either send word that I found Hiccup somewhere else, or I'll meet you back at Berk!"

"U-uh, you sure?!" Fishlegs stammered.

"Go!"

Lasher bolted forward, letting a fireball whiz by right where he was hovering.

"Right! No need to argue!" Snotlout commented, letting Hookfang surge ahead.

Fishlegs was torn. He wanted to do what he was told, but didn't want to leave Ukiah! Feeling like he was letting him down, he turned Meatlug and began to follow Snotlout away from the Edge!

Ukiah was busy weaving between trees, trying to lose the man he beat in a sword fight. But the much larger Singetail simply didn't care to maneuver around the trees. Rather, it just blew them up before it got to them. That, or just fly through the smaller ones.

"Come on! Up!" He shouted, finally guiding Lasher above the tree line. Banking left, he too then began to fly out towards the sea. Though he still had to figure out how to lose his pursuer!

"It's over boy!"

Gritting his teeth, he turned to see the man line his dragon up perfectly behind him.

"I'll keep your ashes on my mantle!" The man roared, letting his dragon charge a fireball in its mouth.

Then, to Ukiah's shock and joy, saw a blur slam into the man!

"Gah! Wh-what?! Noo-Agghh!"

The man was launched off his dragon, being sent off into a thicket below! His dragon instantly reared back, shocked at what just happened and looking for its rider.

Unknown to the big beast, the reason why his rider had 'left' him, was soon learned by Ukiah when he watched Arrow pull up alongside him and Lasher! With a happy smile, he growled proudly at them with a trickle of sand leaking out of his mouth.

"Arrow! You devil!" Ukiah laughed happily at his other dragon. "You're sure full of surprises!"

The adolescent Sand Wraith simply roared gleefully, relishing in the praise!

"Come on…let's see if we can't find Hiccup." He said aloud. Though he was on patrol, he had very little time to raise the alarm of the attack. He was lucky he wasn't ambushed himself. But it didn't matter. Attack or no attack, he had to find Hiccup. The last thing he wanted was for Hiccup to be alone with someone he trusted. The closes place that he knew of, was Wingmaiden Island. So that was where he was going before heading to Berk."

"Oh come on! Riding like this can't be this difficult!" Matt shouted, frustrated that he and Wasatch weren't as maneuverable! Since being forced to sit on Wasatch's neck, they both felt out of sync and clumsy in the air! Navigating through the canyons was putting more than a little stress on the two!

"Come on Matt! We got two more on us!" Astrid shouted, looking behind them with an anxious expression.

Six Flyers were now behind them! Two above the canyons, watching where they were going, and four staying close to them!

"Gah! Forget it!" He roared, unable to make a sharp turn down one of the many avenues of canyons he wanted to take. Forced to continue through the main canyon, he finally urged Wasatch to turn around and face their pursuers. "Light 'em up Wasatch! Dragon and all!"

"Matt!" Astrid screamed, not able to stop with him!

With white eyes, Wasatch let a large bolt of lightning strike him! Screeching a cry that was similar to the one that nearly left Matt deaf, the echo in the canyon amplified its effect! Some rocks were shaken loose because of the intensity of the screech!

Matt was about to point at one of the Flyers, only to see all six of them fighting to stay in control of their dragons! Several were thrown off, with their dragons turning tail and flying away as fast as they could from the frenzied Skrill! Those that remained on their dragons, had little say in where they wanted to go, as their dragons too were fleeing at the sight and sound of Wasatch!

Stunned, Matt simply hovered there, watching them disappear.

"What…was that about?" Astrid asked, having been able to turn Stormfly around. Hovering next to Matt, she kept glancing back at him and the where the Flyers ran off too.

"I don't know. Honest." He replied with some uncertainty. "But that's not the first time I saw that. Anytime Wasatch would roar, or radiate lightning, I don't know. It was like those Singetails were terrified and flew away just like that! As if they thought he was going to eat them."

"Well, at least we lost them." She replied with a sigh of relief. "Come on. We need to fix your saddle. And see if you really hurt you ankle."

"What about the others?" He asked "We can't leave them to fight!"

Astrid bit her lip, knowing she didn't want to leave either. "I know Matt. But what can we do? Even if we regroup, we're outnumbered five to one. Hiccup knows when a fight is lost. And Ukiah won't make the same mistake of sticking around to the end. We just need to figure out where they went. But we need to take care of you first!"

Breathing hard, and swallowing his pride, Matt nodded. The only things he could feel was his heart, beating a million miles an hour; and his ankle, still throbbing. He could feel it swell up in the binding still latched on it. "Fine. I'll trust you on this. I just hope Heather's okay."

"Hey, of everyone, she's the most experienced with survival and hiding. She'll be fine. Come on! We'll find a small island to take care of you before we try to find the others."

"Thanks Astrid." He replied quietly. Stroking Wasatch's neck, he then quietly added. "Thanks bud. You did great…You okay with that hit you took?"

Wasatch snarled, almost with a scoff. He was fine. Just angry he didn't drop as many of his attackers as he would have like.

"Come on! While we're not being followed!" Astrid announced, turning Stormfly to leave.

Reluctantly, Matt did the same, leaving behind the Edge and the invading Flyers.

Like I said, I want to try and finish this sooner than later! I hope it was a good chapter! And I want to say thanks to all those who PM'd me and left reviews with the last chapter. Means a lot! More than you all realize. Anyway, hope to update it soon! Thanks for the support!