Elation
His cape whipped around him as he fell. His last Deathgripper tumbled helplessly through the sky as well with its wings broken. They were both falling to their deaths.
Pure bliss was all he felt.
He had done what no others had ever managed.
All the hunts in the wild, all the dens found, all the pairs and spawn that he had cleansed from the world. It was finally finished after many years.
Even as he beheld the falling Night Fury many lengths away from him, he knew what was assured.
Why the dragons had been vanishing from the world over the last few decades, and especially a couple years ago, no one knew. There was only this one remaining place, this Haven, that had to be cleansed. The dragon menace would soon be no more.
He had just seen further proof of why his mission was a just one. That Night Fury used unholy and impure magic as he knew it could. That arcane power in their corrupt souls, that malice, was something that even few of the great hunters knew about Night Furies. But he knew from old tomes and forbidden knowledge passed down through his family from generation to generation. A purpose kept alive in the hearts and minds of all to keep the world pure.
The dragons would eventually turn against humans. It was inevitable. Dragons are hunters and killers, and hunters and killers do not befriend their prey. These humans in Haven were so... blind, naive, childish, and arrogant to think that they could change the way that had been through all of history. Such corrupted thinking could not be allowed to spread, and it would not. Nature always prevails in the end.
If only he had thought to make himself some false wings like the dragon riders had. But, his death would be more powerful, now that he thought about it. His mission had never been about himself after all. It was always for others and to protect the future.
Even his own downfall would assure his victory. The fleet was filled with people motivated by righteousness and the desire to protect the world from the dragons. They would not turn back even after his death. The whole fleet could see his fall from the sky in this faint light before daybreak. Even in his death his name would be a beacon of hope for people. A rallying cry against the monsters of the past.
He tried to steady his fall somewhat. His cape was torn from his back and lost to the wind as he tumbled.
Weightless.
Falling.
Floating.
Elation.
A moment of panic gripped him and a snarl escaped his lips as he saw the other Night Fury and the white female Night Fury in a dive toward the fallen one. He should have just killed and skinned the white one when he had the chance.
Surely the two demons could not catch up to the fallen one in time and save it...
The poison might not have been a lethal dose.
A moment of wavering uncertainty.
It was no matter.
Even if it was saved... it would change nothing. The fleet would continue on. They would find the dragon riders and would either engage them or drive them away. But there was nowhere in the world that the dragon riders could flee to with their dragons. They would always be hunted, even if out of revenge. If they had wanted to vanish off the map by leaving behind Berk and the other islands they hailed from, they had failed and would always fail. Haven was on the map. They would eventually be found no matter where they would flee to and would be cleansed from the world.
And the dragons... their fate was certain also. There was only one thing that they could do now. Only one choice could preserve themselves.
They must turn their tails on the dragon riders and choose their own kind by flying out into the far wilds where they belonged. He knew that they would do it. Everyone always chooses their own group when forced to!
This little Haven, nothing but false, empty peace that should never have been, was always fated to fall!
It was as he explained to Shadowwing down on the burning flagship.
The races of dragons and humans would always be enemies.
The two kinds would never know each other after this.
He had already won before the fight started.
Humans or dragons was the only way.
Peace was not the way of nature.
He looked up to the cloudy sky above him while savoring the feeling of freefall. There was no fear in his heart at his imminent death. He saw only an empty sky up above. A peaceful sky without any shadow or threat of wings and fire.
His purpose had been fulfilled.
He had won.
Author's Note – We are all the heroes of our own stories. Grimmel has a certain 'purity of purpose' behind his actions. He truly believes and embraces the 'us' against 'them' tribalism and hateful segregation that is so appealing in its simplicity and devious in its claim to be in 'our' interests.