Hiccup flew onwards, trying to hold down the sickeningly tight feeling in his chest. Of course he regretted leaving everyone to fend for themselves, but this was life or death.
In silence, he and Toothless flew onwards.
=0=
"Sir, here's the rider."
Myre looked back at the man standing beside Caird, and tilted his head as if in mild confusion.
"I know, you, don't I?" he asked.
"I couldn't possibly say."
This one had an elegant voice, an elegant accent. A dark eye and a milky one stared back placidly, a hint of artfully concealed shrewdness behind them. His hair was cropped close to his skull, and he had attempted to hold a beard at some point.
Myre tapped under his own eye. "Not born with that one, I'll wager."
"Correct, sir," the man replied.
"May I ask how?"
"I hope you don't mind if I keep that to myself. It's rather a personal matter."
Myre sat down at the desk in the workspace on his ship, elbows on the wood, fingers plaited, his chin resting on his hands.
"Of course not. Now, I have a job for you. But first, some questions."
"As you wish," the rider said patiently.
"Your dragon?"
"A Skrill."
"Ah. That takes care of the other questions."
The rider frowned. "Pardon?"
"I was going to ask if you were confident that your bond is strong enough, whether your dragon is a stealthy flyer, fast enough to keep up with a Night Fury- something wrong?"
The rider had inhaled sharply.
"A Night Fury?"
"Yes. Does that pose a problem?"
"A personal one, yes," the man said bluntly.
Myre paused for a moment before breaking out into quiet laughter.
"I admire your outspokenness. If you don't want to, you don't have to go. I'm sure Caird can find someone else, yes?"
He turned to Caird, who was standing silently to attention by the door.
"I do have another person in mind, sir, but this one is our best," Caird responded.
Myre looked back at the rider.
"Well?"
He remained silent for a moment before answering.
"I'm afraid I will have to decline."
Caird started. "You-" he began, but subsided when Myre shot him a look, then addressed the rider again.
"Of course. Out of curiosity, can I ask a question?"
"If you are willing to trade the same opportunity with me," the man said.
Myre blinked, then smiled in a manner that sent a shiver down the rider's spine. He was not a man that scared easily, and he too had partaken in his fair share of battles of intellect, but there was something about Myre that made him suspect he was far outclassed.
"And it is just that turn of phrase that I wish to ask about. You may have your opportunity, but will you tell me why you don't pay me the same respect as, say, Caird here, even though he outranks you?"
The man hesitated. "I'm sure you know the answer. Sir," he added pointedly.
Myre smiled back at him. "I had my suspicions. And now, your question?"
"How does my being bonded with a Skrill answer the other questions?"
"Simple," Myre replied. "I wanted to ask if your bond is strong enough. Anyone who can bond to a Skrill will have a bond for life. Speed is common knowledge. Stealth is common knowledge. After all, a Skrill is difficult to find. The last question was whether you could fight back if attacked."
Myre looked up at the man standing before his desk.
"And you already know the answer to that, don't you? You've experienced it firsthand."
=0=
Hiccup almost started when he saw the shield pop into view at daybreak. The translucent blue went all the way up to beyond the sky. Hiccup wouldn't have been surprised if the gods themselves could see it in Asgard.
Toothless warbled tiredly. They'd flown the entire way at full speed without stopping, and he was ready to drop. Hiccup was praying that didn't happen.
Lightning flashed by him, and Hiccup yelled, tugging on the saddle. The tired dragon lurched to the side as another beam of bright blue-white agony just missed them.
Hiccup glared at the point the lightning had come from.
"I'm a Berkian!" he yelled. "I'm here because of Myre!"
The Skrill that had fired at them materialised, fizzling into view. The rider that sat on top gave him a piercing stare.
"We drove Myre away," he said.
"Well, he's back," Hiccup snarled. "Now take me to Alphas or so help me I will blast you all to Jotunheim."
The rider developed an irritated grin. "Watch your words, friend. That sort of talk can get you in trouble."
"You'll be in more trouble than you can imagine if I don't get to see Alphas or Omegas RIGHT NOW!"
The rider sighed, and gestured.
"Have at him, boys."
More dragons popped up around them. Hiccup whirled around, glaring at every single person mounted on one of them.
"Myre just paid a personal visit and took my entire village from me. If you go ahead with what you're thinking, you're going to regret it."
"Hah, right. Now then-"
"What the hell are you lot doing?"
A burning vision with wings swooped in out of nowhere. Sweeping flames decorated the dragon's golden body. Even the horns were a brilliant gold. It was like the dragon burned from within with a holy fire.
Hiccup almost fell over the side with relief.
"This one and all his friends are allied with us," Leonidas told the assembled riders. "You will let them in if they visit, on orders of the king."
He looked at Hiccup.
"Why are you here again so soon?"
"Myre came back to Berk," Hiccup replied. "He came with what looked like his entire army and just took the island."
Leonidas frowned. "Are you sure he was Myre?"
"Oh, I know it was Myre. I might never have met him or heard of him before Alphas told me, but that was Myre, alright."
Leonidas sighed and tapped his dragon on the head, seemingly unbothered by the flames that washed across it like liquid. It swooped away in the direction of the island.
"Come with me," he called back.
With a parting glare for the other riders, Hiccup urged Toothless onward, who obeyed with the last dregs of his energy.
"Is there anywhere that Toothless can rest?" he asked as he caught up to the Commander. He frowned back at him.
"You named a Night Fury 'Toothless'?"
"Give me a break, okay?" Hiccup said hotly. "He didn't have his teeth out and it was the first word I said to him as a friend. It just felt fitting. Got your backstory? Now tell me where I can keep him."
The Commander narrowed his eyes. "Calm down. I'm giving you a pass for now in that you're stressed, but lashing out does no one any good, do you understand?"
He looked ahead, to where they were nearing the barrier.
"I'll take him to a stable. Your dragon will be taken care of there."
"Right. Thanks." Hiccup took a deep breath.
"And… sorry about what I said. You're right. I should try to calm down."
The Commander looked at him with something similar to surprise, then looked back.
"Right."
As the people at the barrier generators saw them, they hastily set to work at putting the blue wall down, and a section shimmered out of view right before they flew right into it. The guards saluted at the Commander as they passed.
He pointed to a flat-roofed, wooden building. "Land by that."
Hiccup nudged Toothless downward, and after a few seconds the dragon staggered to a stop outside the building.
The Commander's dragon landed smoothly behind them, and he dismounted.
"Get off," he instructed. Hiccup obeyed, and began to stretch as the Commander led Toothless into the building.
He glanced at the Commander's dragon, which regarded him curiously. From inside the building, he could hear the Commander talking to someone.
He approached the dragon, peering at it, at its long horns, at its long, slender front legs, at the golden scales with little swirls of white, unnoticeable from a distance. Close up, the heat haze that surrounded it was boiling. He extended a finger hesitantly, and quickly tapped its neck.
Hiccup hissed and retracted his hand, sucking his finger. It was definitely Stoker Class. That skin was like a Fireworm's.
"The species is called a Sunspawn, if you're interested," the Commander said, dusting his hands as he came out. "Now sit down."
Hiccup gave him a look. "Are you insa- are you serious? I'll never be able to sit on anything else again."
"On the saddle, obviously. I'll adjust it, then I can sit in front of you."
"But you'll get burnt then," Hiccup pointed out.
"I can make a quick sigil to disperse the heat," the Commander told him. "Now sit down. I'll adjust it when I'm done with the runes."
Hiccup sat down on the saddle. It was, surprisingly, not hot at all. The material encircled the entirety of the dragon, presumably so that the rider could dangle their legs without risking them being melted off.
He watched as the Commander scraped something onto some stiff brown material. It sounded like a mix of wood and leather. The Commander set the board of mystery material down and traced some lines on his legs and, twisting around, on his backside.
The saddle was pushed back, the board was set down on the dragon's back, and carefully, the Commander sat down on it.
"Uh… are your legs okay?" Hiccup asked.
"A little hot, but they're fine, thanks." The Commander tapped the dragon on the head, between the horns. "Up now, Hephaestus."
The dragon rocketed silently up, and Hiccup clutched at the Commander to keep from falling off.
"Doesn't it hurt, to be holding on to the horns like that?" Hiccup asked when he looked over the Commander's shoulder to see how he had retained his balance.
"The horns don't have the same heat as the rest of the body."
And that was all Hiccup got.
The rest of the ride was spent without a single word as they flew to the castle.
=0=
The rider that Myre had sent looked on from the clouds at the island with a sort of glee.
Well well, this was definitely going to result in a promotion.
"Find something nice?"
He immediately sent his dragon into a barrel roll as a blast of flames streaked by. A Nightmare shimmered into view. The rider was wearing a smug sort of grimace.
"No clue who you are, but I'd know that uniform anywhere," the other rider said.
"Not going to help you much though, is it?" said the scout.
"Oh?" the defender said with a smile. "You might be happy to know that I have some friends on the way. We could have a party together."
"Numbers don't make a difference. Look at my dragon. Look at her."
The rider looked, and immediately lost the smile. "Oh, hell."
"All you've heard is stories, isn't it? Would you like to experience it firsthand?"
"Back off," the defender said, a hand out. "Hades, div-"
"Mern, flare."
And then there was light.
=0=
The sky boomed, and Hiccup and Leonidas both looked back to see the clouds dissolving before a ball of peachy, orange and pink fire. The flames were unusually long-lasting, curling and flaring long after the initial thunder, still expanding. At the core of the explosion was a pale yellow-white light.
"Oh, fuck," the Commander breathed.
"What? What is that?" Hiccup asked.
"You," he growled. "You've led him right to us."
Hiccup's eyes widened. "I-I couldn't have. Toothless would have known if we were being followed!"
"Really?" the Commander said. "Your exhausted Night Fury would have been able to detect another dragon following from a mile away?"
Hiccup almost stopped breathing. Oh, gods. He'd led the enemy right to his allies.
He'd led Myre straight to the sorcerers.
The Commander sighed in exasperation. "I'll have to get defenses set up. With any luck, this is just a scout. Myre might not launch a full scale attack for a couple of days."
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right."
"Um," Hiccup said hesitantly. "Won't the shield hold up?"
"Not too sure," the Commander said without looking at him. "Normally, yes, but Myre seems to have magic on his side and who knows how far that goes."
"I'm so-"
The Commander twisted around in his seat and had Hiccup by the lapels in a flash.
"Don't you dare apologise to me," he snarled. "If you're going to say sorry, you say it to the king. You've cost this entire island, the least you can do is apologise to the person who represents it all."
He let Hiccup go and turned back, while Hiccup tried to get his breathing under control again.
The shame, the guilt was eating him up inside. He'd already left his friends and family in Myre's hands, all for a single chance. And now he might not even get that, if Myre managed to win.
=0=
The scout Myre had sent out returned by the next night.
Myre looked up from the papers he was reading when he entered.
"Yes?" he said pleasantly.
The scout gulped. All confidence had immediately deserted him the moment he actually met the man. He'd been planning to ask for a promotion, but suddenly that didn't seem like a very good idea.
"Er, I found it, sir."
"Oh, really? That is excellent," Myre remarked. "Which direction would you say it is in?"
"About fifty miles southeast of this island, sir, leaning more towards the south."
"I see. And the dragon? I hope it met all expectations?"
The scout nodded. "Surpassed them, sir. But I think the protection could use a bit more work. I felt the explosion even through the shield."
"Ah? Thank you. That will be all."
He went back to reading.
After a moment, he looked back up.
"Orgoze?"
"Yes, sir?" said a voice from behind the returned scout. He jumped and looked to see a tall man with orange hair, dressed in an unassuming brown, leaning against the wall beside the door. His arms were folded and those blue eyes were icy calm.
"Would you say that there is still a man in the room besides you and I?"
"I would, sir."
"Ah, good. I thought I was imagining things for a moment." Myre steepled his fingers and finally gave his full attention to the scout, who felt much worse for it.
"Is there still something you would like to inform me of?"
"Er, uhm," the scout stuttered. "I just wanted to ask if I could have a promotion, sir."
"Oh, is that all?" Myre smiled. "I was just thinking that if you completed another mission of this calibre, you may be worthy of promotion."
The scout almost fell over with relief. "Yes sir. Thank you sir."
He scurried out of the room. Both remaining men were silent for a bit.
"Orgoze?"
"Yes, Myre?"
Myre took a page out from under the sheets, wrote a single word in the middle of the lone paragraph, and then rolled up the parchment and handed it to Orgoze.
"Copy this and send it to the divisions I've listed on top, will you? Oh, and set someone to finding a way to make better parchment. The kind we use right now is rather frail."
Orgoze bowed. "Right away, sir."
=0=
Leonidas stormed through the castle, Hiccup trailing dejectedly behind. The attendant hurried to open the doors, but the Commander reached before him and kicked them open. They bounced off the walls with simultaneous bangs.
"Philander, Myre's found us."
"He what?" the king said, looking up from his table with shock written all over his face.
"Your ally here," the Commander said, grabbing Hiccup and pushing him forward, "led him right to us."
The king frowned. "Leonidas, I will trust you not to act like that again, do you hear me? Doubtless he had a good reason."
"Your goddamn majesty, he was followed the entire way. There is such a thing as common sense. He could have checked."
"He's right," Hiccup mumbled. "I'm really sorry about this. I should have known better than to make that kind of mistake."
The king nodded to him. "Your apologies are well-received, but it is not your fault, young man. The mistake is forgiven."
"And one more thing," the Commander said.
The king got up from his throne and walked all the way until he was right in front of them. "Leonidas, if you say one more thing just to be discriminatory, I will kill you myself."
"Oh, thanks," the Commander said sarcastically. "Saves Myre the trouble then, does it?"
"If it's not important, don't you dare say it."
"The eggs hatched, Philander."
The king physically recoiled. He actually took a step back in the face of the statement.
"Already?"
"By the look of it."
"What look?"
"You thought that thunder was natural? That was one of them flaring."
"Here?"
"Where else?" the Commander yelled. "You think you're going to hear them all the way off in the middle of the homeland? Myre has at least one, Philander, and I don't want the opportunity of finding out if he has more! You had better give me the manpower I need to get the defenses up and running, because I don't even know if the barrier will make a difference!"
The king nodded. "Take everyone you need and do everything you see as necessary. If there is anything more you need, tell me."
"Oh, I'll be needing more than you have if Myre's really on his way. Sit tight now, huh?"
He stalked outside, his coat flaring behind him. Hiccup and the king, apparently named Philander, were left alone together.
The king sighed and held his head in one huge hand while Hiccup stood awkwardly to the side.
The king looked at him. "Don't worry about it. Some things are just meant to happen."
"But what if this wasn't one of them?" Hiccup blurted out. "I could have stopped this from happening, I could have!"
The king gripped him by the shoulders, presumably to reassure him, but he didn't get any further than that. The action brought up memories of the way his father used to greet him, and Hiccup began to cry as he remembered the last thing he could have prevented.
"I could have stopped it!" he managed between the sobs. "I should have just… should have just stopped to think! Then things wouldn't be like this!"
The king's hands hovered around him, unsure of what to do.
"I should have-"
"There's no 'should have'," a voice cut in.
Hiccup looked to see Alphas walking in from one of the smaller doors set into the walls. He was dressed entirely in loose, thin white now, with a golden wreath held in his hand.
"It's happened," he continued. "Can you reverse time? No. Best thing is to live with the world you're in now, and make the most of it."
He reached Hiccup, and carefully wiped the tears from his face with one of the long sleeves.
"Want to make things right?" he grinned. "Then we'll beat Myre back, and we'll beat him even more."
Hiccup… hiccupped. He managed a watery laugh.
"Hey," he said, and sniffed. "I did a me."
Alphas smiled kindly back at him. "There we go."
Hiccup hiccupped again.
"I'll… get you some water, shall I?" the king said. He shuffled off, but not before whispering in Alphas' ear, who grinned.
"What did he - hic - what did he say?"
Alphas looked back at him.
"He said 'thanks'."
Hic.
=0=
Orgoze looked at the parchment he'd been given, another set of parchment laid out in a loose sheaf to the side of the table he was sitting down at to work.
The single word which Myre had filled in was 'fifty'.
Everything else, including directions, were pre-written.
=0=
The ships sailed, Myre's at the forefront. He stood by the prow of his own vessel, hands clasped behind his back.
At last he had a chance to remove the greatest obstacle on the path to a better world.
And then he would make magic his own.
=0=
"Ah, damn," Alphas said. "They're here."
Hiccup got out of bed, yawning and attempting to smooth down his hair as he made his way to the window. For the past two days, he'd been sharing a room with Alphas and Omegas.
Speaking of which…
"Where's Omegas?" Hiccup asked, glancing at the wall of ships that approached the island.
"He's gone out."
That was another thing. Hiccup woke up at the crack of dawn. These two got up even earlier. They could have strangled the rooster before it had a chance to crow.
"So…"
"Yes. Moment of truth."
"Has the Commander made all the arrangements?"
"Finished up around midnight. You don't have to call him Commander by the way, you know. Leonidas or Buzzard works as well."
Hiccup scratched at his neck in embarrassment. "I just… I don't feel like I should be allowed to act that way."
"Act what way?" Alphas asked. "Buzzard might not appreciate the whole breadcrumb trail thing, but that's no reason to respect him any more than you already do."
"I'm- I'm sorry?"
"He hates you for something that isn't your fault," Alphas told him. "Being meek isn't going to do anything. He'll just have more reason to be an asshole. He yells at you, you shout back at him."
"Is that what you did?" Hiccup asked sarcastically.
"It's the only way Buzzard lets people get on in our military, actually. He says if you've got the guts to get up in his face then you've probably got the guts to wrestle an Enzare."
"Enzare?"
Alphas flapped a hand at him. "Sharp Class dragon. Completely untameable. You might see us set one on Myre, if it comes to that."
The door exploded open. Omegas stood loosely in his uniform, panting with his fist against the door for support. They both watched him as he tried to get his breathing under control.
"I've run… all the way… here… from Buzzard. He's… asking… where you are."
"Right." Alphas pushed himself away from the window, picked up the folded uniform (which Hiccup had begun to refer to as his rough-and-tumble clothes, purely to annoy him. It seemed to work), and gestured at Hiccup.
"Mind stepping out for a minute?"
"Oh, yeah," Hiccup said, pushing the sheet off. He swung his legs out of the bed, cracked his back, then shuffled out, slumped.
Omegas shut the door and leaned against the white marble of the wall. There was a clicking sound as Alphas slid a bolt home.
"You walk like a grandpa."
Hiccup was taken aback. "Sorry, what?"
"Don't get me wrong," Omegas said, frantically waving his hands in front of him in a placating manner. "I'm just talking about when you get out of bed. You even did the whole 'Ooh my back routine', is all."
Hiccup snorted. "Alright, I see what you mean. Where's Toothless, by the way?"
"Waiting for you outside," Omegas said, flashing him a grin.
Hiccup smiled.
The door clicked again as Alphas undid the bolt, and he walked out with his sword in its sheath, buckled over his shoulder, his dagger in his belt.
"Can I ask for a favour?" Hiccup blurted out.
Both twins glanced at him. "Yes?" they said in unison.
"Even though you've already done so much for me and for Berk, I feel kind of bad asking for more from you but I'm just really curi-"
"Dude. We don't mind," Omegas said, head tilted jauntily to the side as he wore a confident grin. Alphas nodded his agreement.
Hiccup sagged with relief. "Oh, good." Then he perked up.
"So I wanted to ask if I could see how you make Indus steel."
Alphas smiled faintly from the side. "Of course. If we get through this, that is."
Hiccup's mood immediately dimmed. "Right. Thanks."
"Pleasure," Alphas said, walking onward.
The dragons were waiting outside. Toothless was curled up beside Wreckage, who was sitting down in a sort of kneeling position. The head was resting on the ground, while the folded legs supported the rest of the body.
And behind them, Spiral lay down with his long neck draped over the two of them.
"Well," Omegas remarked. "They're getting along, at least."
Hiccup looked at the image before him and wished he could sear it into his mind. It was definitely up there as one of the best things he had seen in his life.
"Do you have a parchment and pencil?"
Alphas frowned. "Yes? Why do you need it?"
"Just hand it over," Hiccup said, holding his hand out.
Still frowning, Alphas took out his book from his belt, tore out one of the blank pages, and handed him the charcoal pencil from the back of the book.
Hiccup set to work.
The twins peered over his shoulder as he drew. Alphas' breath halted for a moment, while Omegas gaped.
"Whoa…" he managed at last while Hiccup was putting the finishing touches on Wreckage before moving on to Spiral. "Didn't know you were that good."
"I wish my hand was that steady," Alphas remarked. "Hell, I wish I could draw."
Hiccup finished the sketch, then handed the pencil back to Alphas.
"Thanks," he smiled, and went over to stuff the new drawing into the journal in his saddlebag that served as his map.
When he turned back, the two sorcerers were regarding him curiously, in Omegas' case, and with pleasant interest, in Alphas'.
"Any other little surprises you have in store for us?" Alphas asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
Hiccup shrugged modestly. "I can't think of any at the moment."
"Well then," Alphas said, looking up at something. "I suppose we'll have to interrogate you later."
Hiccup looked back to see what Alphas was looking at. The blue shield was still up.
And beyond that, the horizon was lined with ships. The nearest one was close enough that Hiccup could just barely see some tiny people running about on the deck. And a single person, standing at the absolute edge of the foredeck.
Bared fangs, fire within.
Myre.
Hiccup pointed. "That's him."
Alphas and Omegas were immediately beside him, squinting at the ship.
"On the edge?"
"Yeah."
"Huh. First time I see Myre, I suppose."
"Yeah, yeah," Omegas said. "But I think we all forgot Buzzard's still waiting on us."
"Oh, hell," Alphas said, leaping onto Wreckage's back and urging him into a standing position. Omegas clambered over Toothless to Spiral, and they almost immediately took off. After a second, Wreckage was up with a few powerful beats of his stony wings.
Hiccup looked amusedly at Toothless, who stood and let him get into the saddle. And then they soared up, tailing behind the other dragons.
After about a tenth of an hour, they landed in front of a crowd of soldiers, dressed similarly to Alphas and Omegas. The Commander paced in front of them, his stern face unusually, but not unexpectedly, full of rage.
"YOU WILL MAKE YOUR MOTHERS PROUD OR YOU WILL MAKE THEM CRY! Ah, your majesties."
Hiccup blinked at the complete about turn in demeanour. The Commander didn't even look at him.
"Yes, hello Buzzard. Sorry to make you wait."
"No matter."
"And you were…?"
"Just delivering a bit of a motivational speech."
Omegas laughed, the sound now tinged with uncertainty. "With you, it would probably come off as a promise to kill them if they didn't die in battle." He turned to the assembly. "Would you agree?"
A few soldiers found themselves nodding.
"Well, that's too bad, because if you don't die he won't exactly kill you, but by the time he's done with you, you'll wish you were dead."
The ones who had nodded froze and looked at their feet.
"Oh, yes," Alphas picked up the line of conversation in Omegas' stead. "He'll make a man out of you, as much as you might wish he was making a corpse out of you instead."
He smiled. "But you might not get the chance to be a man, you see. You'll just be a corpse, if you don't do well enough."
Oh, there it was. There was the smile they had all first gotten to know him for.
Danger itself nestled between his teeth. Pure confidence radiating from his stance. Indescribable rage in the set of his eyes. Murder in the way he held his hands, in the way his fingers curled. An inspiration of terror, in all his self.
The hellhound that held its own leash was the first Alphas they had known.
And now that Alphas was turning just a bunch of fighters with training into a true force to be reckoned with. Hiccup could see that magic working. He watched as they stood straighter, as their eyes grew hungry, as the feeling that they could conquer a world on their own grew until it was almost, but not quite, arrogance.
This was pure, undiluted confidence. Confidence in the self and in everyone around. This was the absolute belief that they would win, so strong that it could almost bend reality around it.
"But oh," Alphas whispered. "You will do well enough."
And then that dangerous smile broke down into the parts of its sum, and the spell which had been cast over all of them went away, only a lingering feeling in the air to prove it had ever existed.
But it had had the necessary effect.
They turned to see the approaching ships. They had almost reached the barrier now.
The Commander clapped his hands. "It's almost time. Everyone to their stations."
The crowd started streaming in every direction as they made their way to where they were supposed to be. Hiccup pushed through the throng to the Commander and the twins.
"I want you, Omegas, to lead the dragon attack," the Commander was saying, "and Alphas, you're in charge of taking the ships down."
He looked at Hiccup as he finally shoved his way to them. "You can be a part of the dragon attack."
"What are you going to do?" Omegas asked.
"About everything else," the Commander replied.
"Excuse me," Hiccup said. "What's supposed to happen in the dragon attack?"
"Shouldn't you know?" the Commander said, frowning, before either Alphas or Omegas had a chance to open their mouths."You had the basics down pretty well when you attacked Caird the first time, from what I hear."
"Oh, so we just need to try and take the ships down?" Hiccup asked, relieved, and slightly confused at the lack of aggression in the tone.
"What a wonderful way of saying it exactly wrong," the Commander replied. "There are tactics. Ask Omegas, preferably before you go up in the air. "
"Buzzard-" Alphas began.
"Shut up, Leonidas."
The Commander blinked in surprise, then advanced on Hiccup.
"What did you just say?" he hissed.
Hiccup took a deep breath. "I said shut up, Leonidas. Are your ears as terrible as your brain?"
The Commander inhaled furiously. "You-"
"I told you to shut up!" Hiccup screamed back at him. "You think it's my fault that they're here? You're right! But that does not give you an excuse to be like that! You want to blame someone? Blame me! Sure! But don't you dare take every opportunity to have another stab at me!"
He breathed out. The streets had emptied rapidly the moment he raised his voice.
"I don't have a problem with you blaming it on me, because it's definitely my fault," he continued in a calmer tone. "But you're not allowed to take it to that extent, do I make myself clear?"
"You little-"
"Do I make myself clear, Leonidas?" Hiccup hissed at him.
"You didn't let me finish," Leonidas said. "You little bastard."
Hiccup waited for a bit before it became clear there was nothing else to say. "Are you done? Now tell me. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Leonidas responded coldly, and walked off.
Hiccup waited until he was gone, then made a sound like gasping backwards as he emptied his lungs of air.
"Oh Thor, I don't know how I did that."
"It's called getting angry," Alphas told him with an amused smile.
"He called you a bastard," Omegas said, almost dancing with glee.
"Yeah, I heard," Hiccup said bitterly. "So much for standing up to him."
"No no, you don't get it," Omegas told him, laughter penetrating the sentence. "The worse the insult, the more respect you've earned. From now on, you get the same amount of respect as everyone else."
"Oh, so I'm starting from below even ground level," Hiccup said sarcastically.
Omegas pointed at him with both fingers, and waved them in the air. "You got it."
"Sorry, what was that?" Hiccup said, befuddled.
"Hm?" Omegas looked at his hands. "It's called finger guns, I think."
"Okay, I obviously know what fingers are, but what's a guns?"
"Uh," Omegas said, glancing at Alphas. "You know what a cannon is?"
"No," Hiccup asked, tilting his head. "What's a cannon?"
"Okay, wow. This is going to be harder than I thought," Omegas sighed while Alphas snorted with amusement behind him. "And you shut up."
Alphas pulled off a mock salute. "Just show him the cannons when they fire and explain from there. For now, though, get going."
"Right, right. Hiccster, come on." Omegas jumped onto Spiral and took off.
"Hiccster?" Hiccup asked as he got on Toothless and followed.
"Just bear with me, man," Omegas called back. "I'm a little stressed."
A cloud of dragons hovered by the shield, right in front of the lead ship. Hiccup could see Myre watching them. Omegas flew over to them, Hiccup just behind him.
"Alright," Omegas said, clapping his hands. "Buzzard's put me in charge. Now I want Strike Class and Stoker Class dragons to stay here, as well as any Power Class. All Boulder Class, Mystery Class, and Sharp Classes are to form a line on the inside of the shield. You," he said pointing to someone on a Changewing, "tell the Tidal Class riders in the water to do the same thing. And the same goes for Tidal Class riders here. I want you all ready in the water."
Several dragons and riders swooped down at this, while another multitude of dragons began to fan out and position themselves facing the shield.
"What about Tracker Class?" Hiccup asked. Omegas tilted his head.
"Tracker Class must be something you have, because I've never heard of it. Which dragons are included?"
"So far? Nadders, Rumblehorns, Submarippers, Windgnashers, Thunderclaws, and Snifflehunches."
"For us, Nadders are in Sharp Class," Omegas promptly replied, "Rumblehorns, Windgnashers, and Thunderclaws in Power Class, Submarippers in Tidal, and Snifflehunches in Stoker. I'll be sure to tell the others about maybe making a Tracker Class, with enough study, but that's only if we get through this."
Hiccup nodded. Not the time for discussion.
"You come with me," Omegas said, and flew up above the dragons he'd instructed to stay. Hiccup followed uncertainly. They hovered about the other dragon riders, watching Myre. The first ship had almost reached.
Hiccup looked back at the island. There seemed to be a lot of activity near the castle, and soldiers were milling about at the flatter parts of the island that were closer to the edge. The catapult operators were standing poised for any eventuality.
"I don't like it," Hiccup stated flatly.
"None of us do."
"Even Leonidas?"
"Even him. He's aggressive, but it's less of a warrior aggression and more of a brawler aggression."
Hiccup looked at Omegas questioningly.
"He likes to fight, but not for anything in particular," Omegas explained, and glanced down at the ship. He frowned.
"You said that's Myre, didn't you?"
Hiccup looked down. "Yeah."
"What the hell is he doing?"
Myre was crouched on top of the guardrails. He didn't even wobble. His hand fell down on the top of the rail, and he jumped and spun so that he was standing on the outside of the guardrails.
"Really," Omegas stared. "What the hell is he doing?"
With a single hand gripping the bars, Myre leaned outwards, away from the ship, the other hand outstretched.
"Is he thinking of touching the shield?" Omegas wondered out loud. "What good will that do?"
The ship drew closer, and the soldiers on the deck drew various weapons. Harpoon cannons were readied and pointed at the dragon riders.
Myre drew his hand back right before he reached the shield and looked up, straight at Hiccup.
Even though he could only barely make out the smile, Hiccup shivered.
Myre tapped the shield.
The blue rippled violently, waves spreading outward from the point of contact, covering a huge section of the barrier that encircled the island.
And then it dissolved.
Hiccup stared in horror as harpoons fired through the hole, and cries of "Shield down! Shield down!" resounded faintly from the island.
"Oh, shit," Omegas whispered as panicking riders swooped through the hole and began to attack the ships.
"What the hell is he?"