Toothless, and Serenity glided over burned trees, charred black and destroyed, some of them even reduced to ashes.
Rapunzel couldn't help but gasp at the sight that laid before her, around her, and behind her as well. The vegetation was gone, leaving the land black and crisp and burnt. It might never be habitable for people or animals ever again.
They didn't have the slightest idea what could've done this. The air smelled stale and thick, almost like charcoal and a fireplace. The smoke still hung in the air, making it hard to breathe.
They came to a small hill on the dark terrain, and once they flew over it, and they found themselves gasping all over again.
There was a large, white, and blue hunk of ice, and even that was an estimate. Jagged pieces were strewn out of it like a lion's mane, some of them short and some of them long. Solid white with some hints of blue everywhere. It looked so sturdy that Hiccup was certain even Toothless would have a hard time blasting it down. It would take at least a hundred plasma blasts before it was down completely.
"Whoa," Hiccup breathed from beside her. The dragons came to a screeching halt in mid-air, roaring and growling at the structure of ice that laid before them. It was such a contrast to the black, ruined forest they had just passed.
Hiccup turned around, glancing at Rapunzel and he looked just as confused as she felt, and at the same time, worried as well. "Stay close," he told her, and then, he sped on with Toothless and Serenety following them closely.
They circled the spikes of ice, glancing nervously around it. Hiccup couldn't help but notice pieces of splintered wood caught in the midst of the ice...almost as if the ice had sliced straight through the wood. There was a ship of two, completely wrecked by five spines of ice that shot straight through them.
With damage like this, they would have been surprised if they found any survivors. If this was an attack, no one would have been able to survive it.
Unless the attacker wasn't going for the kill, but that just seemed odd. Who would attack and desolate ships without a reason?
Hiccup heard Toothless growl, and when they looked at what he was looking at, they saw a large footprint in the ground. It was big enough to be able to fit five, maybe even six, Monstrous Nightmares or even three Typhoomerang's.
And, by the looks of it, it was also fresh…
"Hiccup, look!" Rapunzel gasped quietly, and he instantly looked in the direction Rapunzel was pointing. Just as they did so, a collective shout of "fire"! cut through the air, followed by a random bola shooting straight in their direction.
"Look out!" Hiccup shouted. Serenety shot spines at the net, and Toothless fired a single plasma blast, but there were more coming, and they were coming fast.
Hiccup dodged one, and moved out of the way of it, just in time, but then…
"AHH!"
The bola hit Serenety, pinning the dragon's wings to her side. Rapunzel shrieked, getting thrown from her dragon's back as Serenety plummeted towards the land below them.
Toothless swooped towards the falling girl and grabbed her by her leg. With that done, they looked down and watched helplessly as Serenety hit the ground.
Almost as soon as the Nadder was down, men jumped out from nowhere and began tying her. They were trying to take Rapunzel's dragon, and for what reason, they didn't know, but they was going to make sure they didn't get what they wanted as they swooped downwards on Toothless.
"STOP!" Hiccup demanded as they neared the captured dragon and her captors.
"Serenety!" Rapunzel shouted as soon as Toothless set her down.
Toothless then follows and hit the ground, his rider jumping off the dragon's backs as soon as possible. Men approached them, and Hiccup drew his Inferno sword, swishing it back and forth threateningly.
The men who had once been charging at them stopped, staring at Inferno's fire-lit blade in awe. Rapunzel grabbed a small, sword-length wooden plank off the ground and held it warningly. Even with a stick, she looked dangerous.
One of them men, one who was tying Serenety's horns, gasped. "Soil my britches," he said, rising to his full height, stepping on Serenety's back. "That is a Night Fury!" the man gasped. He nudged one of his companions. "I thought they were gone for good! Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads!" the man continued. "Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army."
Rapunzel made a face. "Dragon army?" she repeated in disgust.
Hiccup looked at Rapunzel, and then looked back at the men. "Look, we don't want any trouble," he said honestly.
The man laughed. "Ha!" he said. "You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragons and blasted our fort to bits!" He gestured wildly to the ice spikes around them and the splintered wood.
"Yeah, look at it!" another one of them men agreed.
"What are you talking about?" Rapunzel asked in clear disbelief.
Hiccup stepped forward, obviously trying to give her the silent message not to attack. "You think we did this?" he asked. No one liked to be wrongly accused. Even a sweet, kind father like Hiccup.
He and Rapunzel have been laying low these past few years as they never seen these guys before.
The man laughed again, sarcastically obvious. "Ha," he said yet a second time. "Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is, without do-gooder Dragon Riders sneaking in to rescue them!"
So the men were Dragon Trappers, then. They definitely looked properly equipped to do something like that, and they were professional by how quickly they tied down Serenety.
"What do-gooder-" Hiccup began, but then, his voice cut off abruptly. "Wait, there are other Dragon Riders?" he asked as he retracted Inferno's fiery blade, probably in hopes that by looking less menacing, these trappers would tell him what he wanted to know.
"You mean," the trapper went on, "other than you and your thieving friend from last night?" He jabbed his finger at Hiccup. "You tell me. You may have an ice spitting dragon on your side, and a Night Fury...but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain all this mess to Drago Bludvist?"
"Drago what-fist?" Hiccup said, laughing quietly. "Does anything you say make sense?" he asked the man while waving his hands around.
The trapper opened his mouth, but another one spoke up. "He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow," the low-voiced, short trapper spoke.
Another taller one stepped up. "And Drago don't take well to excuses." His voice sounded thick and clogged, almost as though he were congested.
The head trapped pulled down his sleeve, exposing a large, red scar on his shoulder and upper left chest. "This is what he gave me the last time I showed up empty handed," he said darkly.
Hiccup and Rapunzel exchanged disgusted glances.
What kind of horrible person would do something like that?
He pulled his sleeve back over his scar. "He promised to be far less understanding in the future," he said.
"Look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief, or...an 'ice spitting' dragon…" Hiccup tells the trapper as he suddenly nodded...was it a signal? A secret signal for his men to attack? "Or, your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay?" He finished. "Just give us back our dragon, and we'll go, strange, hostile person whom we've never met."
The trapper shook his head. "Oh, where are my manners?" he said. "I'm Eret." He bowed, but Hiccup could easily see him hiding something behind his back. "Son of Eret." He swung his arm, and his sword was drawn in his hand. "Finest dragon trapper alive!" Eret went on. "After all...it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury."
Toothless roared in outrage.
"And this is Toothless," Hiccup said, calmly although there was an edge to his voice. "He says we're going. Now."
Eret laughed again. "They all say that. Rush 'em, lads!"
Trappers attacked from all directions, and Toothless fired at a large icicle, and it fell in front of more dragon trappers and kept them back. They exclaimed something they couldn't make out and sprang backwards.
Hiccup drew Inferno once again to cut the ropes trapping Serenety. The Deathsong was freed almost instantly, and Rapunzel whistled to her. "Serenety! C'mon! Go!" She leapt onto her dragon's back, and Hiccup jumped on Toothless' back as well. "Go! Go!"
They shot into the sky, arrows and bolas still being fired up at them but Toothless and Serenity kept their riders safe.
"YOU WILL NEVER HOLD ON TO THOSE DRAGONS!" Eret shouted from the ice below them.
Hiccup and Rapunzel looked back one last time.
"YOU HEAR ME!?" Eret screamed. "DRAGO IS COMING FOR THEM ALL!"
Who is Drago Bludvist?
They knew they needed to get some answers as they flew away.
And they needed them fast!
