Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

A/N: okay, I hope you all get the notification for this. Sorry again for the wait, and thanks for being patient. I really wanted to get this chapter just right.

Chapter Ten – A Matter of Life or Death

Grimmel cursed silently as he watched the Night Demon flit away, after setting off the trap without taking the bait. Perhaps its rider had warned it somehow; or perhaps it sensed the danger of its own accord. He wouldn't put that past a Night Demon, fiendishly clever beasts that they were. Of course, it would have had its guard down if not for those meddling simpletons. He never should have gotten involved with them; mistakes like this were why he worked alone.

The Demoneaters breathed heavily nearby. They could easily give chase on their own, but drugged and dull-witted as they were, they waited for him to give the command. Grimmel did not. He loathed indecisiveness, but this Demons rider was King of Norway, and the less attention he drew to himself the better. Yet if the beast reached the fort then the alarm would almost certainly be raised…At last, cursing inwardly, Grimmel made up his mind. He would have to move to the mountains, where people were less likely to stumble across him and his work by mistake. If the Lord saw fit to grant him good fortune, perhaps there would still be a few wild dragons lurking around. They would be easier to hunt than these 'tamed' ones, and he wouldn't have come all this way for naught.

Grimmel hurriedly packed up the Dragon Cry, tore down his makeshift hunting blind, and snapped at the Demoneaters to stay still as he put them in harness. "Lord, forgive me, I am a sinner" he muttered, over and over as he worked. Everything had to be moved, and there wasn't much time. He was unaccustomed to being this near civilisation, or to have dragon riders close by…

It galled him to have to rely on the beasts like this, but there was no other way. The Demoneaters were large and brutish, they would leave a trail through the forest so obvious a mere child could find it. No such path could be left in the sky, except scent, and any dragon foolish enough to follow theirs would meet a painful demise. At last, everything was ready. Grimmel gave the order. "Rise."

Leathery wings cracked open and flapped; the two dragons, one in front and one behind, slowly heaved themselves into the air. The chains rattled and went taut. The cross-shaped upper frame rose slowly but surely, the mesh-cage gondola swaying below. It wasn't as stable with just two Demoneaters to carry it, and slower, but it would suffice. He left the trap; there was no time to move it.

As they cleared the treetops, Grimmel ordered "Hover." Grabbing a spyglass, he looked out to make sure no one was coming to investigate. The sky was empty of all but stars and clouds; the only lit torches were those in the city, and none were moving. Grimmel pursed his thin lips in grim satisfaction. To the labouring Demoneaters hovering there he gave a well worn command. "Back to the ship."

Iceheart was unsettled. What had happened made no sense to her. She'd flown to rescue this new Swift-Wing from the human commanding them. They had flown over the forest, fired a blast down into the trees, and then fled as if startled. From that she knew there were traps in this forest, traps meant for dragons, so why would any dragon remain here unless they were forced to?

Her attempted rescue had not gone as planned. She'd yanked the human off of the Swift-Wings back and dropped it, expecting the freed dragon to roar in relief. Not roar in panic, and dive to catch the falling, shrieking human. Iceheart had been so bewildered that when Artemis called to her, she flew back to him and Snowdrop, growling uneasily at the strangeness of it all. *He caught it!*

*What were you thinking?* Artemis demanded, *You scared me! Anything could have happened to you. What if the human had made him attack you?*

She pinned her ear-flaps back in remorse and whined apologetically. *I'm sorry, Tem. We should go, find somewhere to hide* she insisted. *I don't like this place.* They fled back towards the mountains, away from the large human nest.

As they searched for somewhere to sleep, a secluded cave preferably, Iceheart explained *I think there are traps in that forest so we must stay away. I still don't understand why he saved the human* she admitted, her tail lashing in agitation. *I freed him from it! Unless something else is making him obey it.*

*Maybe he likes them* suggested Snowdrop. *Mother, maybe Scorcher was right, and the humans here don't want to hurt dragons. They can't all be mean.*

Her mother flicked an ear-flap dismissively. *Snow, darling, humans are dangerous. You know that. They don't like us, so they drive us away and hunt us and try to make us obey them. No dragon would stay near humans unless they were forced to. What can humans give us that we can't get for ourselves?*

Snowdrop didn't know. *They might be friendly* she suggested, uncertain.

Her mother insisted, *There's no such thing as a friendly human.* Then Iceheart turned to her mate. *Artemis, I know you want to get home, but there's another Swift-Wing here. He might be from your pack. We need to try and help him escape these humans, especially the one making him carry it.*

Artemis hesitated. *We'll stay one more night* he decided at last, *and see if we can find him again; but if we can't, we're going west, back to Myrkr.* Iceheart agreed. The small family continued searching for a safe place to hide and rest. When they found an empty cave, Artemis stayed awake on guard.

After yesterday's foiled poisoning attempt, Brenda had the foresight to send a message to Berk. Hiccup had told them to keep him abreast of what was going on down here, after all. It should have taken a couple of days for the message to reach home, so they were all very surprised when four Night Furies appeared in the sky and landed in the castle's bailey. "You got my letter already?"she asked.

Hiccup dismounted and walked over to them. "What letter?" he inquired.

The riders were getting ready to set out on their assigned tasks. "I sent Berk a note yesterday, to tell you…what, did you run into the mail riders on the way?"

"Brenda, we're just here to visit. Moreso them" Hiccup explained, gesturing to the Furies, "but what did your letter say? Has something happened?" he asked.

It was Braun who replied this time. "It was probably about the poisoned fish."

"What?"

"Yeah, the fish they bought from the docks had been poisoned" he continued.

"A poor little Terror died from it; if we hadn't found her body, I don't think we'd have realised in time" Brenda admitted. "We're still trying to find who did it, and who put a trap in the forest last night…Oh, yeah, um, there was…sort of a death trap in the woods" she continued awkwardly. Hiccup stared at her, alarmed.

Just then, two thanes approached. "Lord Hiccup, this is highly irregular" one of them declared stiffly. "We had no warning of your arrival, no time to prepare"-

"That's fine!" Hiccup cut in, "You don't need to. Okay look, I'm sorry for coming by unannounced, but Shadow and Asha wanted to see Black Fire and Silver, and they don't like being around strangers – no offence – so we said we'd come with them, and I have something to tell King Magnus, so can I see him, please?"

They agreed to escort him to the throne room. Trusting that the dragons would have their own reunion without him, Hiccup followed the men into the castle. They told him to wait until the king was ready to receive him, and he did, idly admiring the carvings engraved into the ceiling and walls. He even spotted a few dragons, Fire-Scales perhaps, although one looked rather like a Changewing…

At last he was called into the throne room. King Magnus looked pleased to see him, which was a good sign. "Welcome, my friend" he greeted Hiccup warmly, "it is good to see you again. Surprising, too; I did not think news would travel so fast, with or without the dragons to speed it on its way" Magnus remarked.

Hiccup looked sheepish, and repeated what he'd told the thanes. "Since I'm here, though, Astrid wanted me to make a request, your majesty" he explained.

"Oh? What would that be?" the king inquired curiously.

"Every year on Berk, we have a Dragon Day festival. On the, err, anniversary of when our war with them ended" Hiccup described. "There's a feast and an air show…with dragons, obviously…the point is, this year we've got more allies, more people to invite, and we know that Berk can't accommodate everyone. So, err, we wondered if perhaps the festival could be held here at Nidaros?"

The various courtiers muttered to each other, but Hiccup tried to ignore them. King Magnus at least looked intrigued. "Who else would be coming?" he asked.

"Usually it's just our allied tribes; the ones that the diplomats hail from, except for Brenda, that is. Uh, but we're planning to invite King Harold of England, Duke William of Normandy, and their families" Hiccup explained. "It's just that, Berk isn't really equipped to host, uh, y'know, royalty. I mean, the festival wouldn't have to be in Nidaros, we just need somewhere for them to stay…"

"I daresay this fort would suffice" King Magnus remarked, amused. "Though I do wonder if they would be able to sail to the north in time. When is this festival?"

"Just before harvest time" replied Hiccup, before explaining, "King Harold wants my dragons help in building a new castle. We're going to England in a month or so to get everything sorted out, and I plan to take some sea dragons with us, so that if they do want to come we can just tow their ships up here." They would have to return home under their own sail, as it were, but he'd deal with that.

King Magnus nodded thoughtfully. "The idea does intrigue me" he admitted, "but first, I have things to discuss with you in private." He rose to his feet and called out, "Court is closed until further notice! Everyone but the guards and our newest guest, please leave this room immediately!" he ordered. Soon the place had emptied. Hiccup felt awkward for getting everyone sent out all of a sudden.

"Err…I wouldn't have minded waiting in another room."

The young royal shrugged. He could be wiser than his years, but in moments like this Hiccup was reminded that the king was a teenager. "Well, if I'm king I might as well enjoy it. When you arrived, I assume you saw the diplomats, correct?"

"Yes, your majesty" Hiccup agreed, before elucidating, "Brenda told me that your supply of fish was poisoned, and that there was a death trap in the forest?"

"Indeed" the king said gravely. "Black Fire and I discovered it last night, entirely by chance. We almost" – he cut himself off, but it was clear what he'd been going to say. "I've ordered the forest to be searched and all traps to be destroyed. Ashildr, Margret and Otto will help with that. The others could use your help in finding the hunters who attempted to poison me and mine."

Hiccup asked, "Do you know where the hunters are going, or have gone?"

"Alas, no. We are working on no more than a hunch that they have travelled up the coast, further north, in the hopes of finding more wild dragons. Or, wilder dragons, I should say. Speaking of which, I have news that may be of interest to you, Lord Hiccup. Soon after discovering the trap, Black Fire and I had a spot of trouble with a peculiar kind of dragon. A Night Fury, but white" he revealed.

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Please, call me Hiccup. Your majesty, you saw a…what would you call a white Night Fury?" he pondered, "….a Bright Fury?"

"Why not just 'White Fury'?" inquired Magnus, raising an eyebrow.

"It's too obvious" Hiccup insisted. Then he recalled who he was speaking to. "I mean, White Fury, yes. Good name, your majesty, yours is better, probably."

The king rolled his eyes. "You don't have to grovel; I get enough of that as it is. Now, this White Fury. It attacked me and Black Fire, threw me out of the saddle, and I rather want an explanation. Not to mention an apology" he said firmly.

That was odd. Wild dragons didn't usually attack humans, even dragon riders.

"The White Fury might have thought you were trying to hurt Black Fire, your majesty. If they've encountered humans and didn't get a good impression…don't worry, if we find them, we'll let them know it's safe."

"But of course! I'd hate for the dragon who tore me out of the saddle and let me plunge to my death to feel uncomfortable" Magnus said wryly. In a more serious tone he added, "You should know that the trap we stumbled across; we only found it because Black Fire heard what sounded like one of his own, crying out. I fear these hunters are targeting Night Furies in particular. Be careful."

Hiccup nodded gravely. "We will, your majesty. Thank you for the warning."

By the time he returned to the bailey, three of the diplomats had left. Brenda and Braun were still there however. As were all seven of the Night Furies, and two of them had mismatched pieces of leather strapped to their bodies. "I'm not sure what's more impressive" Hiccup remarked, "the makeshift armour, or the fact that you managed to get some of it onto Toothless…and Shadow?"

His own dragon gave an experimental shake, and failed to dislodge any of it. *If this stuff fit better it would be a lot more comfortable* he complained.

"We're having to improvise" Brenda told him. To Hiccup she said "Ashildr, Margret and Otto already left, but I figured you'd want to come with us. Shadow insisted on coming too; something about not trusting you two on your own?"

Hiccup looked indignantly at Shadow, and received a pointed stare in return. *I don't trust you both not to stay out of trouble. Besides, I'm your older brother.*

*We're helping too!* Selena warbled eagerly. *Black Fire told us about this mysterious white Swift-Wing, so Asha and I are going to help him find them.*

"Yeah, about that. I didn't know your kind could come in white" said Hiccup.

*We don't* replied Silver. *There are stories of Swift-Wings being born with white scales, but it must be very rare. Even more than markings like mine.*

Toothless asked him, *you remember the myth of the first Swift-Wings? How we hatched from the moon, and turned black when we ate the sun's fire?*

"Yeah."

*In one story, not all of those dragons turned black. Some stayed white, and they fought, so the white ones went to live in white places* he described.

Braun cleared his throat. When this failed to get anyone's attention, Firestorm let out a small roar. "Yeah, this catch-up is great and all, but shouldn't we be getting a move on?" his rider asked impatiently. "Those hunters could be sailing off to who knows where, holds full of wild dragons, as we speak!" he declared.

The three of them mounted up and their dragons took off, flying towards the highlands. "Okay, here's the plan!" Hiccup announced, "You two search the coastline, we'll look further inland. If you find the hunter's ships, try and burn their sails. It'll slow them long enough for us to capture the whole vessel" he explained. Their riders agreed to this, then Firestorm and Shimmer peeled off.

Toothless and Shadow dived, levelling out to skim over the rocks and grass. *Not too fast* Hiccup urged them, *we've got to keep an eye out.* The dragons slowed down, and he scanned the ground for anything out of the ordinary, like a campfire or a sign of tracks. His brothers did the same, uneasy growls rumbling through them both. They heard a familiar roar, and it sounded very close…

Toothless circled, ear-flaps pricked. The roar came again. It sounded like a Swift-Wing, but they all knew it was a trap. *What do we do?* he asked cautiously.

*Leave* said Shadow, *You know this is a trap, I know this is a trap. Why risk it?*

*Good question* Toothless quipped. *Hiccup, what's the answer?*

*We should investigate* Hiccup decided. *If the trap is unmanned, we destroy it. If not, we follow the hunters back to their ship and destroy their sail so they can't get away* he explained. *Be careful. We don't want to rush into this.*

They tracked the source of the roar, and wheeled above it, ready to dodge arrows or nets or whatever else was thrown at them. Nothing happened. There was no sign of any humans, just a grassy meadow surrounded by rocks. It was from behind one of these that the familiar, yet unnatural sounding roar echoed.

The black dragons and rider were more suspicious than ever. The expense of grass would be disturbed if a trap was hidden there, but those boulders could conceal anything behind them. Toothless circled around the rock that the roar emanated from behind, and charged a blast. "Wait!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Let's take a closer look, bud. I want to know what's really making that roaring noise."

Going closer to the trap was foolish, so the Furies weren't remotely surprised that Hiccup had suggested it. *We don't need to know. Let's destroy it* Shadow argued. There was no dragon behind the boulder, and that was good enough.

Toothless could still sense his other half's reluctance and curiosity through their bond. *Shadow, watch our backs* he prompted. Before the other Swift-Wing could stop him, Toothless had dived. He landed gingerly on the boulder that hid this unfamiliar bait, and growled when he felt Hiccup dismount. *It's okay, I just want to see* Hiccup assured him, crouching down and peering over the edge.

Meanwhile, Shadow kept watch for traps or hunters or ambushing dragons – like the two prowling towards his brothers amongst the maze of boulders. *Look out!* he roared a warning. One of them – he didn't recognise it – flew towards him, flicking its tail over its head like a whip. Something flew from the tip, but Shadow had already darted aside, charging a blast to strike back with.

The other one had lunged at Toothless. Shadow's warning and his own quick reflexes let him dodge the attack, but Hiccup stood up quickly and was knocked off the rock when Toothless leapt. He rolled to his feet quickly and saw their unfamiliar attacker lash its tail towards Toothless, who ducked. He fired a blast right into the strange dragons face; it lunged at him again, pincers snapping.

"Hey, ugly!" Hiccup yelled, hurling a rock at it. Distracted, it hissed at him. *Toothless, go help Shadow!* he urged his other half; there wasn't time to waste, or to pick him up without getting cornered. To his relief, Toothless didn't argue. *You've got this, bud* he said confidently. Then Hiccup raised his mental walls so as not to distract Toothless, praying that he – they – would be okay.

Me and my stupid curiosity he scolded himself. Still, if he was here now he might as well have a look. Hiccup approached the bottom of the rock. There, half hidden in a bush, was a strange device with a handle, a crank and some sort of tube, with a dragon skull attached to the front. It was from this that the roar emanated, echoing off the rocks around it. "What is this thing?" he wondered.

He wasn't expecting an answer. "It's called the Dragon Cry" said an unfamiliar voice. Hiccup spun around and drew a sword (just a regular arming sword; Astrid had made him leave Inferno at home, because he kept almost losing it), from the scabbard on his back. "Who's there?" he demanded. "Show yourself!"

A man that Hiccup didn't recognise, but instantly disliked, emerged from behind the rocks. Wearing dark brown clothes to blend in, he was tall and gaunt, with ghost-pale skin and hair whiter than ice. One spidery hand was aiming a crossbow, and a smile twisted the corners of his mouth in a too long face, a smile that didn't reach his cold grey eyes. A shiver went down Hiccup's spine.

He had joked, once, about old man Mildew really being a draugr; but of this hunter, he would actually believe it. He raised his sword defensively, glaring. "Who are you?" he demanded, not lowering his sword. He'd put his weapon down when this hunter did the same, and that clearly wasn't going to happen.

"Oh, of course. Where are my manners?" the man asked rhetorically, giving a small and insincere bow. "Grimmel the Godly, at your service. Now, you must be…" he idly looked Hiccup up and down. "Ah, yes. The Dragon Whisperer. Hiccup Haddock, isn't it?" he asked. Hiccup didn't recognise the man's accent.

Why do I keep running into maniacs who know who I am? "Oh, you've heard of me" he replied, trying to sound bored. "Afraid I can't say the same about you."

The hunter – Grimmel – merely shrugged. "No, my reputation has not preceded me as far north as this. Not that I like to boast" he remarked, voice dripping with false modesty, "but fools do tend to gossip. You've heard of the Great Purge, no?" he inquired mildly, as if they were acquaintances chatting in a tavern. "Again, not to boast, but whilst I can't take all the credit, I have been given it."

Hiccup glared at him in disgust. From his belt hung knife sheaths made of Night Fury auricles, which was disgusting, and around his neck was a crude wooden cross. He's a Christian Hiccup realised. "Dragons aren't demons" he insisted. "You're wrong about them. They're more than you think they are, I can prove"-

"No!" Grimmel snapped, his falsely jovial tone disintegrating. "Save your honeyed lies; I will not allow you to corrupt me as you have so many other Christians. The dragons you favour are nothing but demons amongst men, sullying God's Earth…it is my solemn duty as a warrior of the Lord to destroy as many as I can. I wouldn't expect a pagan like yourself to understand that."

Insulted, Hiccup retorted "I don't understand, but it's not because I'm a pagan. My people also had a book telling us to kill dragons on sight, and you know what happened? We realised we were wrong and stopped reading the book" he said pointedly. Grimmel frowned at him, and he counted that as a success. "If you hate dragons so much then why do you have those two?" Hiccup questioned.

"A necessary evil" the hunter sighed dramatically. "I find it deliciously ironic to destroy Satan's work by using one of his own creations. They won't survive, by the way" Grimmel remarked, as if it were an afterthought. "The Demoneaters are very persistent and don't care what, or whom, gets in their way. Your precious Night Demons will perish. All of them, no matter where they flee to."

Hiccup ignored the taunt. "And what about me?" he demanded.

"Oh, you can leave" Grimmel said dismissively, lowering the crossbow at last. "I'm a merciful man" he lied, gesturing for Hiccup to walk past him. He was standing besides the only gap in this ring of boulders that was wide enough to fit through. Hiccup didn't have any desire to take a step near this man. Instead he jammed the sword between two rocks and used it as a makeshift step.

Heaving himself up onto the top of the boulder, Hiccup looked back at Grimmel and declared "You won't win. I won't let you." Then he climbed down the other side and hurried away, following the heart bind. Toothless, please, be okay.

Toothless and Shadow led the strange dragons – he had no idea what kind they were, and he wasn't about to stop and ask – away from Hiccup. Thankfully there only seemed to be two of them; if another one had appeared and gone after his other half, nothing could have kept him away. *Now what?!* asked Shadow.

*Don't get caught!* he roared back. The dragon chasing him flicked its tail again; he swerved to dodge whatever it was throwing at him. *Don't get hit!*

The nearest one to Shadow spat scorching hot acid at him; he dodged it, but a drop or two landed on his wing and he hissed in pain. *Stay still!* the dragon snarled, its voice raspy and guttural. *You won't feel a thing!* It lashed its tail again; a needle thin dart jetted out from the bone white, sharp as a dagger tip. It pierced not Shadow's hide, but one of the pieces of leather attached to him.

*We're so hungry!* the other one shrieked. *We want to feast!* Knowing these dragons were trying to devour them just made Toothless and Shadow want to fly faster. Those claws and tusks probably make them top heavy if they climb Toothless realised as he eyed the dragons. He'd also noticed some kind of harness attached to their shoulders, with several green tubes sticking out of it

They couldn't dodge and outrace these things forever; he needed to get back to Hiccup. *Follow my lead!* he roared to Shadow. Toothless climbed as high as he could, watching the dragon out of the corner of his eye. I wish Hiccup were here. Sure enough, it struggled to match his ascent. He couldn't fly up forever though, and nor could Shadow. He gathered his flames and prepared to fire a blast.

To his left, Shadow was doing the same. *Now!* At the last moment Toothless back flipped, firing at the tubes on the back of his pursuers neck. The blast hit true, and it shrieked. He folded his wings and plummeted to get out of range. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Shadow diving too, which was a relief.

They both snapped their wings open almost simultaneously and looked up at the aggressive dragons, who were just hovering there. *What are they doing?* wondered Shadow. Their attackers were no longer chasing them relentlessly, but flying in circles, a liquid of some sort dripping from them. Suddenly, both flew back the way they'd come, back towards the trap and towards – Hiccup!

Toothless and Shadow followed at a safe distance, the former tentatively reaching out to his other half. Immediately he could feel Hiccup's worry and disgust and anger, but most of all relief. *Toothless! Attaboy, I knew you could do it!* Hiccup praised through their bond. *Is Shadow okay? Are you hurt?*

*We're fine, but watch out. Those things are coming back. Hide somewhere!*

*We can see them. I'm with the others, come to the shoreline* Hiccup urged. Toothless let their bond lead the way, knowing that Shadow would follow him.

At last they caught up with Shimmer and Firestorm. Hiccup grinned at Toothless and vaulted off the Spike-Tail to land on his own saddle. "Oh, thank the moon you're okay" he sighed, stroking Toothless' head. "You really had me worried."

"What happened?" Brenda asked in concern. "What were those dragons?"

*We have no idea, but they wanted to eat us so they're not very friendly at all.*

"Eat you? Gross" Braun remarked in disgust. "So Hiccup, now what do we do?"

"We go back to the fort" Hiccup replied firmly. "It's too dangerous out here."