In the most desperate of times, we Defenders of the Wing would never lose hope as the Great Protector wouldn't do the same if his offspring is unable to reach the Volcano on Caldera Cay. Not even the Emperor would do the same if his land was in peril

-Mala

Returning back to the Archipelago from receiving the information from the now deceased Archdeacon of the Cathedral, the Knights were approached by Throk who bowed upon seeing the sight of Empress Jacqueline. "Empress, an honor to have you present here but enough of the introductions; the Defenders call for your aid at Caldera Cay, the Great Protector was attacked and infected by an unknown enemy"

"Blight..." Drayko muttered and growled to himself

"Pardon?" Throk asked, not understanding

"The son of a bitch who killed The Prince of both the Emperor and Empress" He clarified as he turned to the Illusionist,"Raedwit"

"I'll alert Jafaris right away, we'll need them" With that he left while the Knights took off to Caldera Cay to defend the Island from the threat that may doom the Defenders of the Wing due to just how toxic and dangerous Blight is, especially since he is a demon of plagues and diseases

But during this time while they were flying, Toothless did not pretend to notice Drayko's personality change ever since the incident involving the Barbarians of Captain Lech; it was this time that he spoke to Drayko in Dragonese. "Brother?" He asked

"Géa?" Drayko responded in a cold tone

"Must you always act like this, even in front of me?" The Night Fury asked, Drayko knew what he was talking about and snarled at that question

"Even after what Captain Lech has done and has been murdered by us both, rotting in hell for his greed; seeing your own Brother be slain by one of his Guards makes me sick, even for him like he wasn't giving one shit. He's the one took your Human self away from me..."

"I understand how you feel disgusted and angry at him, even after we helped the Dragons escape and that Nightmare Hatchling; Emberforge was her name, you calmed earlier find something to eat. But I think you've grown too attached to my Behwearft form" He expressed his worry, Drayko shook his head and refused to carry this conversation on any longer

"I would rather Drinc sé Dréor of a Fathomfim than continue talking about this, you may ask more questions later on" He ended abruptly, he just wanted to focus what's ahead of him now

Heather did not understand anything that Drayko was speaking to Toothless as she heard them talk to each other, it was almost as like they were talking in a completely different foreign language. "Where does he come up with this Language?" She asked as Raedwit responded to her question

"Dragonese, special gift of the Slayer of Red Death no? Bonds only spark and continue to grow stronger with or without that gift. All of us Knights have it and you will possess it as well, for we do not leave out a Dragon Rider such as yourself" He answered like he had an sweetheart with him to which Heather could only come off as disturbing even for an powerful illusionist with god like powers and no mercy to anyone who opposes Drayko. Then again it isn't really hard to see what comes out of from Raedwit at all, that enigmatic masked man is unpredictable with what he's got in mind for his enemies like the Hunters

All the more reason to join them so she can find her supposedly deceased brother, Dagur the Deranged and help stop Savage from ruining the Berserker Tribe as it was fractured and fragmented enough thanks to her brother seemingly dying after his Duel with Drayko; and besides, that was during the time when he was fighting against Red Death

Meanwhile on Berk, Snotlout was beginning to suspect something about his father that did not add up nor seem right at all. He rarely sees him in the Village nowadays and always goes back to into the Forest where his now named cousin "Useless the Unwanted" always goes when they were in Dragon Training. He did not show him much kindness and always left at night wearing a disguise. Regardless of what goes on with his father, ever since Useless was killed in battle with Red Death; he has been made Stoick's Apprentice to be the Heir and trained in Swordsmanship in the ways of Honor and Integrity, that did not stop him from keeping his highly arrogant, selfish, prideful and rotten bullying ways. Even to his own enemies

Snotlout had changed since then. He's grown some facial hair and wore an leather pine blue and green scale tunic with an black bear vest over it, spike emblazoned brown bracers around his arms and black furry top edged boots. He kept his signature curled sheep horned helmet and wore coffee brown colored pants with dark brown stripes running down the leggings. This time around he had Dragon Resistance Armor made from the scales of the mentioned Devils as he would call them and unlike Hiccup who always created armor thanks to his experience, he forced Gobber to create the armor out of scales that protected him greatly and never wore out

His Armor consisted of black smooth boots which still had the black fur sticking out, knee guards that helped him break someone's ribs, gauntlets that also let him set on fire along with his boots as well and an smooth chestplate with scrollwork decorations on the edges that greatly defended him against heavy blows. He wore an brown sleeveless jacket with furry edges that even sported his black furry bear cape that covered the Armor. He mostly sported the double edged broadsword that Hiccup created, which he forced Gobber to modify it for him and had an Hammer as secondary weapon; although he mostly wielded them as a pair

Regardless of being claimed as Berk's next Chieftain after Hiccup betrayed them and perished at the hands of Red Death while also be called an Viking with such Honor and Pride to Berk, he still cannot get the things he wants such as Astrid's love since she viewed him as an insensitive prick due to the death of an former Viking. Sooner or later Spitelout returned to Berk and bid Kingstail an farewell for now as he walked through the streets, finding Gothi lying on the ground feeling light headed; to which she helped her up and brought her back to her house

"Elder Gothi, something's been bothering you these past days. What's happening?" He asked

"I feel the unstable foundation of the dark path that sleeps and lies within Drayko Ryder has clouded my mind for a long while. I can feel strength drain from myself and... I must leave Berk immediately to seek out the answers that the Gods above are trying to tell me"

"Then allow me to escort you to the docks, this self journey may clear your mind"

With that stated, the Jorgenson escorted the Village Elder down to the Berk Docks and helped her onto the boat she's taking; it was then that he bid her a farewell before leaving out to the sea. "Spitelout, I feel that this may be the final hope to what the Gods are trying to say to me; this may be the final hope there is to save Berk from what comes before us..." Spitlout dismissed the idea and replied to her

"No... there is another" With that now stated, Gothi proceeded to row out into the seas and out of Berk as she goes on her journey to seek out the truth. In the meantime her place will have be filled in by the medics of Berk

Back with the Knights, they approached Caldera Cay and found Blight in the middle of infecting an DOTW Soldier with his toxic mist before he spoke to him in his horrible sounding voice that echoed out. "The screaming souls of the victims I slay by my master Goldnail, lusts for your blood as it will stop anyone who opposes thy ruler"

"That's enough, Blight!" Drayko and the Knights landed to confront the Demon with their Dragons by their side. Blight turned to face them and spoke to Drayko

"The Queen must repent her sins, anyone who dares to attempt an rescue are destined to die!" Jacqueline unsheathed her Jian sword as she stepped forward to oppose him

"You fool! Everyone is destined to die, but not from the likes of you!" Jacqueline yelled

Blight in response prepared to vanish but not before summoning a group of ten Demons to distract the Knights with. They were dried out and withering human corpses hung by nooses being covered in cross stitch sacks that were dyed with victims blood, some of their limbs were replaced with blades and blunt weaponry; dressed like theater performers and smiling sadistically as their mouths bleed out with dried blood, their black eyes with red slits were curved downward on both sides and were also formed like the eye of an eagle which in a sense looked like an avian's eye shadow diving down. They were boneless and bendable in impossible ways, although they showed unimaginable fear against fire. These were known as Possessed Ragdolls, regardless of being human corpses

As soon as Blight vanished in his own mist, the Possessed Ragdolls came rushing towards the Knights as Maria decapitated one and froze the other in ice thanks to her Axe, Arcticwind. Raijah allowed himself to be set ablaze by Hookfang as he swung his Phoenix Talons around like chained blades, which burned the Possessed Ragdolls and this immediately made Drayko unknowingly but sadistically smile for a split moment he ignited Inferno and started to burn them all down to ashes; the demons screamed in fear as the rest of the Knights let their Dragons take care of these pieces of shit. Sooner or later, the Possessed Ragdolls were no more as they burned down and blew away in the wind; allowing the Knights to get themselves closer to Mala. Unfortunately they've just so happened to run into more of these assholes with masked and heavily cloaked skeletons wielding staffs, sprouting an bright red fire as they appeared all around them. Eret, Bladehead and Raedwit all slashed and stabbed these Pyromancers down until they were all screaming wildly; spewing an red, blood like substance as they continued on ahead

Upon reaching the Throne where Mala usually sat upon, the Knights and their Dragons all saw Blight mortally wound the Queen as she lied on the earth; bleeding and holding her wound tightly, Blight spoke to them one last time before vanishing yet again. "Death will not be cheated of his victims again, feel the pain of your sins!" With a snap of his toxic mist skeletal like finger, an Demon appeared from the sky and roared at the Knights and Dragons; who showed no fear against this foe

This Demon wore an rather large skull with triple pronged horns on it's face as it was consumed by an red, earth-manipulating aura around itself. It was an arachnid and sported an single slit eye, it's fangs were ready to bite and feast upon their corpses as it sported large and visible bloody veins; some of them were hanging off like appendages and others were blue while the rest were red, it sprouted a thick steaming substance from it's body and was wrapped in a long and ripped cloak that has long since been singed long ago. It let out an echoing laugh that was worse and far more terrifying than the Possessed Ragdolls, this was an Demon known as "Latrodectus"

It leaped very high into the air and attempted to crush the Knights, who dodged out of the way and Bladehead stabbed it's eye; making it scream out in pain before blindly trying to smack the Blacksmith away. He activated his Crossbow Shield and began firing it like a Minigun/AK-47 which fired multiple arrows in a full auto rapid session, the Latrodectus built up a blast in it's mouth before firing; hitting and poisoning Bladehead. But this poison was then burned out as he unleashed his Berserker Rage and charged forward, using only his Double Bladed Halbert as his weapon while Storm joined in with his Rider. The other Knights got Mala away from the Throne Room area and when that was done, Drayko flung his hand forward and used the power of the Bangle of Chrono Quicksilver. "FREEZE!" He stopped time all around himself and used Inferno to strike at the Latrodectus multiple times before time resumed normally and the Arachnid Demon was no mater, collapsing and falling into a pit of it's own steaming blood like substance; the Latrodectus gave off one last laugh before dying altogether. Afterwards, he and Raedwit went to check on the Queen who was receiving treatment by Arson

"I hobe I'm not making your vounds vorze, your machesty. I vouldn't forgiffe myzelf for zat, put zen akain I vould neffer let mein batient die on me at all" Arson spoke carefully as he wiped away the blood and proceeded to wrap up the scars, Mala shook her head and replied

"Even our Medic felt the same as you. But if you'll excuse me, I'll need a word with your King" With that stated, Arson quickly finished up and helped her up as she proceeded to approach Drayko, whom she calls him "The King"

"Seems that we're not too late to seek out help from you after all. I'll require that you head into the Forest and find our Unknown Enemy we're dealing with right away, in return we'll make sure that the Empress is protected by us at all costs" Drayko flipped his Coin and landed on Heads

"Your luck for Caldera Cay's fate continues, your majesty" He replied

"Must you always make your decisions like that?"

"Not making the same mistake I've made that night on board the Ship of the Barbarians"

Without another word spoken, Drayko and the Knights then head out of the Village and into the woods to find out where Blight has taken the Great Protector; although it could be just to lure them into a trap, some things are just better off being discovered at first hand. They walked the path for awhile and made some investigations here and there until they came to a clearing within the woods, they've found an trail that led to the Volcano as well as many of the Defenders being struck down with Illnesses. Arson decided to stay behind to take care of them with the medics while the rest of the Knights followed the trail and eventually, arrived at the Volcano at long last where they begun to witness Blight holding his cursed sword "Goldnail" high above and was about to kill the Eruptodon; "Now shall feel thy painful breath in her final hour, until the burning fires of Hell scorch thee sins..."

However, before he could lay the final blow on the Great Protector; Drayko interfered by throwing Inferno that stabbed and interrupted the Demon, who turned to face him and see that the Knights have arrived

HTTYD

"It is not in your blood to be alive when no one wants you, but to interrupt Goldnail's feast for the blood of the Great Protector?" He spoke in an angry tone in his voice. Drayko did not answer but instead sprinted forward and preformed a downwards slash that was blocked by Goldnail. "The Hatchling of the Great Protector shall fall with this Island" He declared as Drayko continued to swing Inferno multiple times against Goldnail, each of his attacks were blocked six times in a row until the 7th swing had struck his hand and caused a jolt that disarmed him; now Blight's life force was in jeopardy as Drayko attempted to destroy the sword, causing Blight to continuously spray and spurt out blood

The other Knights joined in to slash away at Goldnail, to which the pain that Blight had begun suffering was far too much for him and thus; let out his horrible scream to stop them from striking his cursed sword any longer, smacking them all away and reclaiming the blade as Blight raised his sword. "Thy feast for the Great Protector shall not be denied!" As the DOTW arrived too late to save the mother, Blight slashed downwards onto the scales of the Eruptodon and stabbed into the poor mother, infected and weakened by his toxic mist; Goldnail had torn through the very organs and infused the blood from her heart into the cursed blade, removing it when it was quenched and causing the Great Protector to collapse into a pool of her own dark crimsons blood. The Hatchling who came with the Defenders cried out in fear at the loss of his mother and towards the demon known as Blight, who turned to face it and approach forward

"The offspring of which it came from will now suffer the same fate as the mother has, know your place in the Underworld that I rule alone..." He approached menacingly, swinging Goldnail across and killing the ones who were protecting the hatchling from him; raising his cursed blade and preparing to stab until Heather rushed over and blocked the fatal attack with her Double Axe

"There's no way you're taking it's life!" She yelled, smacking the demon and causing Blight to stagger backwards

"Heather, no! He's too powerful!" Fishlegs yelled for her in worry

The Demon Swordsman proved to be just that, he continued to fend off against Heather's attacks with her Double Axe; blocking the sharp blades of her weapon and parrying any kind of counterattack she attempted, but even then she still proved to be quite the formidable foe and Blight was intriqued. That was the reason why he parried her incoming counterattack to counter with a double kick to the chest, disarming and sending her flying backwards as he grabbed her Double Axe and broke it in half with his knee. Just as Blight held his cursed sword Goldnail in a stabbing stance and was about to kill her right there and then, Fishlegs stood in front and took the hit; getting stabbed in a last act of defense for his new friend as he collapsed onto the floor, bleeding

"No..." Was all Heather could say. Fishlegs started to come down with an illness and was approached by Meatlug, who didn't want him to go away just yet; their bond was just like a father and daughter bond, although Drayko and Toothless' bond was more of an brothers in arm type of bond. Each of the Knights had their own human like bond with the Dragons they've had with them. There was a time where Fishlegs was being a justifiable asshole, being slightly abusive as he was desperate enough to chain her within to stop her from going with the others to lay their eggs; only because he just wanted to spend the Holiday with her. But the need for the Rookery was eliminated as Draconia designed one to fix both problems: Absence of Dragons on the Holidays and the need to Lay their Eggs as well spend time with their newborn children

Drayko felt the rising anger burning in his flesh as he ignited both his Gauntlets and Boots with the lava's ember that burned from the heat of the Volcano. He turned to Arson and gave him this order,"Take care of him, he's not going without Meatlug" He ordered calmly as the Medic nodded and proceeded to take Fishlegs with him, who was clutching his wound tightly; Most of the Knights went with him to give him company while the rest stayed behind

Drayko sprinted forwards towards Blight, throwing fiery punches and burning kicks towards the Demon in order to disarm him from Goldnail; his Birthmark glowing furiously as Blight sent him backwards away from him, that was when Drayko drew back his fist and began to charge up what appeared to be an burning fireball from his fist as soon as he shot it out

The fireball that Drayko shot out appeared to be made of Volcanic Rock with lots and lots of cracks and gashes that sported lava dripping and bleeding out, the rock was the size of Drayko's arm that once it reached his shoulders; Drayko launched it as hellfire surrounded it like it was coated in flames. Finally, the lava inside spurted and exploded upon contact to any foe, burning them like hell and giving them unimaginable pain they have never experienced before like torture; it was known as the "Volcanic Meteor" (A/N: No this is not magic, it is just a little ability that Bladehead and Raedwit added in before the events of this Story; nothing in this Trilogy is magical. Remember that now)

Regardless of Blight using his cursed sword Goldnail to slice through the "Meteor" that Drayko shot out from his ignited gauntlets, the Demon was struck and felt the torturous pain due to the lava cascading down from his blade and damaging his Lifeforce; Drayko had then began to speculate to himself,"Haven't felt my Birthmark giving me this much Ríce since we were fighting Red Death in the final battle" He spoke in Dragonese as Toothless and the others understood him

As Blight continued to feel the cascading pain of the lava burn from his sword, he attacked once last time by summoning some phantom swords around Drayko; whom he countered with the Bangle of Chrono Quicksilver by slowing down time,"SLOWDOWN!" As always everything became negative and he escaped the heavy rainfall of swords, slashing Goldnail one last time as time itself resumed at a normal pace; that was when Blight had enough and called it a stalemate by giving this warning

"Caldera Cay has a Great Protector no more and will not see the end of what fate will become of Her Majesty's Kingdom. Seek me out and you will find more dangers greater than what you will encounter from my Underworld, we will meet again but know this: the enemies you've fought against know how to truly break the heart and soul of a man within..." And with that warning, he vanished in his toxic green mist and evaporated while Vixen came out of Raedwit's Dreadlocks; jumping down and comforting the Great Protector's Hatchling, Drayko and the Knights left the Volcano and returned to Mala who approached them

"Blight... I believe this Demon has a connection to you, Empress"

"Because that Demon is the embodiment of what killed our Prince" She responded sorrowfully, Mala began to think for two minutes about the threat of Blight before inviting them back to the Village. "It will pay for what it has done to the Great Protector, but for now it is time that we Defenders should start protecting you from the plague that took the life of your beloved Prince" She declared

"Do not feel the sorrow, Empress. Although we mourn the loss of our Great Protector who has guarded Caldera Cay for many years without a King, her offspring will take her place as they they cannot produce more than a single egg in their lifetime; the Knights found their own and if there is no heir for them, they will find a way to stop that Volcano on the Dragon's Edge from erupting. I'm sure that you have been informed of this before, have you not?" She asked

"No, I haven't but I have seen it during the tour on the Edge. And I should thank you for offering to protect me..."

"Anything for one such as yourself"

While they were talking to each other, Bladehead took notice of Heather fixing her Double Axe and approached her as he sat down. "Aye young lass, I could make you an replacement if that Double Axe get's shattered again; you know how I work..."

"Thanks Bladehead, but I'll be alright..." Heather replied. "Besides, I don't want to see you get angry if I don't get satisfied"

Once they cleared up everything here and done anything they can, the Knights mounted their Dragons and prepared to take off as Raedwit turned to the Empress; asking her this question before leaving with Drayko: "Will you be alright Jacqueline?"

"Thanks to this Tribe, I will be. Tell my mother Custos that I am under their protection from the Hunters, if you encounter her again" Raedwit nodded and took off with the Knights as the Defenders bid them a farewell for now, with Vixen being held onto by Raedwit as Drayko just wanted to be alone with Toothless

HTTYD

It was during this moment that Toothless took notice of Drayko being bothered once again by what happened. "I did say you may ask more questions later on..." Toothless proceeded to ask away

"Brother, I really am starting to feel like you're losing yourself after what happened to me; in the cargo cell where that Guard was going to stab you-" Drayko stopped him right there

"Even after you lashed out at me when you didn't want to tell me what was wrong or answer my question but instead punched me, you started to think that I'm now Gliddrian" Toothless looked down and replied

"I was only frustrated by everything happening to me, I'm not meant to be a Human like you"

"That was no excuse, I don't want to have to beat your ass to the ground and have my own friends scorn you for what you did. Even then I would still write and publish your Journal that I finished and named Dracahoertan" Drayko replied coldly. Toothless choked on the air upon hearing that name, but told Drayko with honesty

"I think you overdid it with the accuracy of how I felt" Toothless told him, Drayko dismissed him

"I really don't want to talk about this... now that Jacqueline is safe with the Defenders, we may finally get that Alliance with the Murderous Tribe and find the Chalice of Mandragora to get the hell out of this god forsaken nightmare. Shall we brother?" Toothless nodded and continued flying

Fishlegs and Heather were eavesdropping on Drayko and Toothless speak to each other as the former translated perfectly for the Berserker Woman. "You don't mind if... I could learn that Language from you, do you?" Heather asked

"That a question?" Fishlegs smiled. "Drayko knew I was listening on Toothless' lessons to Raedwit and Maria anyways, it'll only make your bond go beyond the limits so why not?" Heather stroked Windshear's side as her Razorwhip cooed in response; knowing what this meant, a bigger bond and bigger experience for them both as a lone rider

In Mierveia Vde Rallie with the ever so fearsome Dragon Hunters, Drago Bludvist stood on the balcony of the Cathedral as the bells toll and some of the city, but not all, has been burned to the ground with many of the civilians slain; lying in their own liquid bed of blood. Ryker approached him and Drago spoke,"The Map's been taken to the Empress' Manor I assume" He nodded and Ryker continued

"Drayko must've taken it, my brother was infected by that Demon that's interfering with your plans to become a Dragon God. We'll take it back from him thanks to me knowing their Dragons' weaknesses" He answered while showing his arrogant prideful side, Drago then responded with a calm but deadly voice

"Burn the Manor to the Ground, if the Map is not there. Then I believe it's time we paid ourselves a little visit to the Offshore Fortress from the Modern District that these people call it; they're bound to be hiding it there from us"

Ryker understood the command by Drago and immediately headed down to the entrance to inform his brother and Krogan their order from the Madgod, to which they understood as Ryker gave this order to Krogan especially. "Make sure that Archdeacon's son is found as well, my brother Viggo has found out something that will make Drago very interested in" Krogan left without a word and took his Titan Singetail over to the Manor, with the Hunters unaware of the Archdeacon's Son hiding from sight in one of the burned and destroyed buildings

"I must warn the Slayer of Red Death" He told himself in a hurry as he snuck on by and escaped on an Ship to avoid the wrath of the horrible warlord

As he sailed out into the seas, he spotted the Knights and got their attention by holding up a rug made from Dragon Nip, which the scent had caught the snouts of the Dragons and had them come to land on his ship

Meanwhile with Gothi, the Elder arrived at an Island where she believed that she could find the answers that the Gods were trying to tell her; she had some unexplained questions such as:

"What does his Insignia mean?"

"Where is The Map to Draconia (A/N: She won't tell Stoick, he'll figure it out himself eventually...)"

"Why is he forming an Alliance with the most feared Tribe of the Barbaric Archipelago?"

"What is his purpose?" But the most important question of them all was...

"Who is the Identity of Drayko Ryder behind the Mask?"

All of these questions she had flooded her mind to no end, but she knew that the Gods are trying to tell and show her the truth. She took a calm and deep breath as she spoke solemnly,"Whatever lies ahead of the road in front of me, may the Gods give me the wisdom to understand" And with that now spoken, she got off her boat and headed inside the Forests to within to meditate as she knows that the Gods above will point her in the right direction; her journey has just begun

They do say that the truth hurts, but only because the illusions born from deception is about to be destroyed. The same could not be said for here, as Drayko does not lie; he shows nothing but the truth about Dragons to anyone who fears them...

Alright, just one more Chapter and we can finally get to the Alliance with the Murderous Tribe. I mentioned the events that happen in "Umbreytingu" many times in this Story mostly because it's one of the Fanfic Stories that I can't stop coming back to read, I'm rewriting my own version of his story because of there were grammatical errors and it just ain't relevant no more to the rewrite of "The Beginning"

Oh and if you played School of Dragons before, then get ready to see a familiar face from that game in this Story because it's more or less focused on Drayko's thoughts. And I DO NOT WANT any bitching about me focusing on Drayko and no one else, this is his story and the Knights are there to help them. They are meant to be his allies and I do give focus to them, so no complaining nor flaming on me. Remember this suggestion: Don't like it, don't read it. Otherwise, Feel free to Review and Until we meet again...

TheLegendaryBlackDragonKnight

P.S: Here are the Dragonese Translations

Drinc sé Dréor - Drink the Blood

Gliddrian - Unstable

Ríce - Power