An long road ahead means an road to nowhere, coming all this way from Point A to B for nothing in the end. Oh how it never ends up, or does it end up well in the end? I forget...
-Bucket
(A/N: Another short chapter, perhaps I just need to focus on writing Chains of Hooligans, Betrayal and Pride of Berk until I become reinvested in rewriting this Story. Oh and yeah, Betrayal is based off of God of War: Betrayal for the Java ME; ever heard of it and the Verizon V-CAST? Well now you have. Enjoy!)
The Knights all flew through the sky, ready for what was coming up ahead for them and it just so happened to be at this time that the Hunters down below were on their Brigantines, armed with Gronckle Iron Grappling Chain Cannons and Dragon Root Arrow Launchers; but were also armed with Flaming Catapults and Ballistas to which after many failed attempts, they had started to equip their Brigantines with them in order to slow down the Knights. Some oxidized copper "Dragon Proof" Cages were brought out for the Knights' Dragons to be placed inside, ready to have them be locked up and brought back to the Island for their valuables such as their scales, flesh, horns and whatnot
"Get ready to fight" Drayko told the others calmly, knowing that they were equipped with just enough firepower to take out an powerful rampaging Dragon such as the Bullrougher; which killed an Hotburple that Fishlegs loved and he was really upset
The Dragon Hunter Archers drew back their Dragon Root Arrows and fired as soon as the Dragons came into sight and range, the Arrows soared through the air but missed their targets; some of which had struck Meatlug but only bled out a little as the Arrows showed no effect towards Gronckles like her, most likely by their rock based diets. The Catapults were launched with flaming boulders and striking Hookfang out of the sky, being caught by the chains and brought onto the deck; Raijah however launched his Phoenix Talons which were set ablaze onto the pole of the Crow's Nest of the Brigantine (A/N: Yes, that's what the little basket at the top is called; now you know and knowing is half the battle) the Scorching Vigilante swung over the ship, kicking away some of the Hunters who came to claim their prize
A few of the Hunters came armed with Axes, Crossbows and Dragon Root Spears ready to attack. One of them had charged forward to swing his Axe with Raijah parrying the attack and meeting a decapitating end afterwards while another came ready to fire with his Crossbow, with the Scorching Vigilante slashing the Arrow before letting Hookfang burn him alive. The third one took this opportunity to stab and pump the Monstrous Nightmare full of Dragon Root, but was dismembered immediately by Raijah and thrown into the ocean; along with the Hunter's limbs
"You will never again lay another hand on the Nightmare that once saved me from that Sand Wraith, it will be your final hour..." Raijah snarled calmly as he had not forgotten about that memory long ago
During this time the Dragon Hunters had aimed for Meatlug and shot out their Gronckle Iron chains, coiling and wrapping around the Gronckle as she was shot down before being taken by them. Fishlegs had jumped off when she was captured and used his War Hammer to slam down onto the ship; puncturing an hole through the Brigantine to which because of this, the ship was starting to sink below the water. But not before Fishlegs slammed the Dragon Hunters away with each swing, smashing their skeletons and bludgeoning their organs into bloody messes that stained the deck. Fishlegs then slammed Shatterquake down onto the chains and severed the links, freeing Meatlug and getting back into the sky to continue their fight while leaving the Brigantine to sink
Raedwit along with Barf and Belch on the other hand were surrounded by incoming Dragon Hunters who were ready to strike at them, but the Master of Illusions would be without other plans as he smiled devilishly. Without warning, Raedwit sprung his trap in the form of a nasty surprise and casted them all in a Illusion where an dangerous tempest had occured without their knowledge; suddenly a flock of Skrills had all charged up by amplifying their powers from the lightning and fried them all to death, ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Nothing of their remain was left behind, just like the Outcasts Tribe that they have fought long ago. "That never gets old" He laughed with his Zippleback before taking off once again
Eventually this battle had Heather make the situation clear to the Knights that they were obviously slowing them down. "We don't have time for this, let's move on!" Drayko ordered to his Knights to forget about the Hunters and continue flying to the Sanctuary, as there was no time for them left. However the Dragon Hunters had taken this opportunity to fire at Heather and Windshear with an Dragon Root Arrow to take them down, capturing them with an Gronckle Iron chain as the Razorwhip was taken thrown inside an oxidized copper cage
"Heather!" Fishlegs cried out, making a sharp U-turn back to the Brigantine to rescue the Razorwhip Raider; as he started to grow attached to her like any lover would. But the Dragon Hunters all aimed their Bows and Crossbows at him
"Move and this bitch dies!" The commander warned as one of the Hunters held her with a knife to her throat, planning to slit her if he tries anything
Fishlegs instead gripped Shatterquake and let out an warcry before charging towards the Dragon Hunters, spinning a cyclone with his War Hammer and smacking them all away. He smashed the skull of Heather's executioner and saved her, but not before he made his attempt to break the oxidized copper cage; with no success until he and Heather used Meatlug's firepower to slash down at the lock, breaking it open and freeing Windshear as they both returned back to the skies with the rest of the Knights. As for the Hunter who tried to kill Heather, she kicked the knife out of the Hunter's hand before Fishlegs smashed his skull just to clarify
"Do not let them escape!" One of the Commanders ordered out to a trio of Dragon Flyers
"Yes sir!" They all yelled in response as they mounted their Singetails, chained against their will and forced to obey their master's commands; chasing the Knights across the skies
Knowing what to expect from the Dragon Hunters, Dragur immediately had his scythe droop down before he jumped onto one of the Singetails chasing the Knights; stabbing the Dragon Flyer before flinging him off and freeing the Dragon itself by removing the chains. Bladehead on the other shot a electrical arrow into the second and sent him falling down to the seas below while the third one had jumped onto Stormfly to put up more of a fight against Maria
(A/N: I like to point out that the Arrow Bladehead used is the same one that Speedy recovered from Chapter 15, it was a little experiment that Drayko wanted to try out)
"They're trying to slow us down from reaching the Sanctuary, we must take those Brigantines out if we're going to reach the path" Maria insisted as she stabbed the Flyer in the throat before slashing out to the side, kicking him off afterwards
"It's about to become a total warzone out here, as if it wasn't one hell of a warzone before. Now it's serious" Drayko spoke vigilantly, ready for another onslaughter ahead
The Dragon Hunter Brigantines were all ready to begin their ambush by order of their superior who commanded the fleet, Hunters running back and forth to bring out the oxidized copper cages, chains and arrow launchers as well as getting onto the Ballistas; the nets were also being readied to retrieved the downed Dragons of the Knights. As soon as they came into sight and the range of their weaponry, they all fired away their Dragon Root Arrows and began launching their chains; shooting them from their Bow and loading up the catapults as well as the Ballistas, although they would make the reloading speed quicker later on. The Flyers mounted their enslaved Singetails, armed with their flexible and sharp bladed riding crops before flying towards the Knights; who had no time for this distraction and wanted no part in this scheme to slow them down until they were all taken out
The Flyers relentlessly chased our heroes through the skies above the battlefield, firing off their scarlet flames upon being smacked by their master's riding crops; doing what they were being told out of fear for the consequences being bestowed upon them by their defiance, but if only their masters knew the many times that they were defeated by Bladehead and Storm. They were once the most feared of them all since Ancient Times, but the Skrill has proven itself to bring the cowardliness within the beast; due to their lightning easily overpowering and negating the Scarlet Flames to destroy their firepower and ultimate strike them down, they were not meant to be fought against
Seeing how they hate flying at High Altitudes and refuse to go through fog due to the fear of the unknown, Drayko led the Knights into the heavy fog of the clouds before them and vanished; the Singetails stopped as they were very unwilling to enter. But the Flyer Leader would not have it at all. "You cannot hide from us Knights, fire away!" He ordered, smacking his riding crop on his mount to launch a scarlet fireball through the fog with the others following his lead
"God feckin' dammit! May these mamafeckin' Flyers be anymore relentless?! Not while they're 'bout to see me Skrill's true power, tha's for sure! Storm my boy, blast them!" Bladehead ordered in his Scottish slang just as his Skrill's scales began to eletrify themselves, infusing with the power of thunder and lightning before launching a fury of bolts towards different directions. The Flyers struck and suffering heavy casualties just like before as the Singetails were freed
HTTYD
The Dragon Hunter Brigantines were coming in fast towards their direction and were using every available weapons they had to stop the Knights in one last assault, trying in their damnest to shoot them down from above. "Concentrate all firepower on the nearest Dragon!" The Leader of the fleet ordered to his men, the Hunters decided that Raedwit would be a good target and began firing away at his Zippleback
Standing atop Barf and Belch, Raedwit brought out his Double Bladed Spear and began spinning it in a rapid fast windmill motion in order to deflect the incoming Dragon Root Arrows being fired from the Archers, Arbalists and Arrow Launchers. Seeing that this was of no use, the Hunters switched to using Bolas and eventually shot down Barf and Belch; but Raedwit had other plans for them as he vanished out of their sight, just as the Zippleback came falling down to the deck of the ship. A Hunter in particular had his knife ready and spoke to the entangled beast
"I'll enjoy skinning you alive for our Vests and Tents along with your little Typhoomerang friends, but I think you're better off being used for our Dragon Hunter Elites..." He chuckled at the end, but he wasn't chuckling anymore when Raedwit reappeared from behind and swiftly unleashed an illusion of a horribly violent inferno of hellfire on him; all with a snap of a finger
"Dragon Hunter Elites eh? Thanks for informing us of your new branch of Hunters meant for taking us out in the future, I'll make your torment less sufferable. But you know who else would love to hear what you told us? Drago Bludvist, that's for sure!" He cut the Bolas off and returned to the skies on his Zippleback, preparing to end the entire battle so they may move on in trying to reach the Sanctuary where General Scorpio needed them the most
So with yet another Illusion casted upon the Dragon Hunters and them cowering in fear as they believed that Titan Wings and Hostile Dragons were tearing their fleet apart, the Knights escaped swiftly in the end as the Brigantines burned down and sunk below the seas. The image of such a sight to Eret made him realize just how close he could to ending this madness and how close to redemption he was as he wanted to free himself from the past of being a Dragon Trapper before his betrayal. He was almost there in having his revenge and in the end, it's time that he starts righting the wrongs of who he was before
After all that trouble, they descended to the road leading to the Village where General Scorpio was waiting for them; it was long but the Dragons were too weakened by the relentless Dragon Hunters and Flyers for the time being, so they decided to walk in order to regain their strength which is what they did and eventually they did regain their strength to fly again. Though nonetheless they continued walking since they all have two legs that aren't broken, but that might as well be a excuse to say that they didn't walk too much at all today; they were mostly flying. So while they walked the road to the Sanctuary, Drayko took this time to think to himself as the sun was rising above the clouds; thinking about the time he interrogated Captain Lech with Toothless:
"I want some answers right here and now. Why the hell did you capture me for? It's not to tame your Dragons at all, so you better talk before I splatter your entire organs all over the sea!"
"You stupid bastard, don't think I didn't acquire you for no reason. There was something that the one who paid me needed from me, and I figured that I can use you to to get it"
"What was it that he was seeking?"
"How the hell should I know?"
Drayko punched him in the mouth as Captain Lech spilled the beans
"Only they knew what it was, they sent me and my men to get it for them; but that bitch stowed it inside the chest and left it to sink when those Dragons raided and attacked it. It's under ten feet of water, you can't get it it now; only a suicidal person would do such thing"
"When the winter is melting in the Archipelago, this time of the year the water drops a dozen feet or more; enough to let it be seen as a shadow and allow the Dragon Divers to retrieve it. Thanks, Captain Lech..." He kicked the two swords back to him. Captain Lech began to feel a unhinged outrage about to blow up from him, knowing that he just admitted to him about his true intentions and thus with veins popping, steam boiling and blood raging like a volcano; he took out his anger on Drayko and Toothless
"You son of a bitch!"
All of this was taken into consideration of his mind as they continued down the long pathway, seeing Valka's Sanctuary not too far from here since it was really huge; not too hard to notice just how close Mierveia Vde Rallie was to the Archipelago, but as the fog rolled into sight it really seemed that they entered a different world altogether. But as the path to the Sanctuary made some turns here and there with a fork in the road, they have taken notice upon reaching the outskirts
First off, the countless year old Bewilderbeast Nest structure looked like it was assaulted and damaged; some shards were missing and others have fallen to the ground, stabbing the very foundation of the earth or even just lying around in ruin and disrepair. Second was that there was some rising smoke that rose into the sky and made it so dark and cloudy, there was some fires and embers still burning about but that didn't seem to concern them. Third and finally, very little stains of blood sprinkled the road to the Village; it was definitely not normal to come across this, not even if it was a disastrous mugging gone horribly wrong. Fishlegs wanted to vomit at the sight up ahead, but he kept his stomach strong and mastered the courage to scout what haunting sight there was to be seen. He did so and the Dragons followed him, Drayko followed further up ahead than Fishlegs as they all reached the end of the road leading to the Village and Dragon Sanctuary. What they saw was one of the most horrifying things that they would rather forget about, it was even worse than the ruins of the Village that the Changewing Tribe resided when Red Death, the Bane of Queens ordered a massacre
"No..." Fishlegs muttered in his paled skin and horrified tone. By the gods, what has Drago Bludvist become? The answer would not be enough to describe the hellish and awful wasteland that beholds the power of an Self Proclaimed God
But perhaps, there could survivors... there was bound to be after what has happened here
This isn't the only scene in which inspiration has come from a Walt Disney movie with a good sequel, and that movie is Mulan (1998) as the next Chapter has another one coming right up. But after what you've just read at the end, you all know what to expect next since we all saw the film and just how ruthless Shan-Yu really is in the end; besides, he doesn't sing unlike other Villains. A shame that his voice actor: Miguel Ferrer passed away, damn you Head and Neck Cancer...
But yeah in order to remember him by as the great Hun Leader we were all terrified by in Mulan, this next Chapter has what you expect to see next. For now, I just want to focus back on writing Chains of Hooligans and Pride of Berk; though the two stories are short because the chapters are long, they're meant to prequels you know. Remember this suggestion: Don't like it, don't read it. Otherwise, Feel free to Review and Until next time as I will return...
TheLegendaryBlackDragonKnight
P.S: Yes, I do enjoy Mulan II no matter the flaws. It may not be as Action Packed as the first film, but Action isn't truly everything. I do it because that's exactly what the theme of Knights Of The Dragon Riders is: Patricidal Revenge on an Tribe who abandoned you long ago, ironic considering that Patricide is the deliberate act of an Son killing his Father. Nevertheless, there's more to this Trilogy than what I'm leading you to think