Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD
A/N: Don't mind me, I'll just be hiding in my secret bunker. Look, it's the thirteenth chapter. Thirteen is an unlucky number. Ergo, there's bad luck.
Chapter Thirteen – Pyrrhic Victory
Nocte and Skylancer had been patrolling the southern coast when the second dragon had suggested they turn back. Nocte refused. *I'm going further, but if you want to go back, don't let me stop you* he'd declared coolly. No one had any stamina these days. Skylancer tried to persuade him, but finally gave up.
The drake flew on, following the stars. He instinctively kept track of the moon as it moved across the sky, wanting to get back to the nest before dawn broke. At last he decided to head home. Nocte made to bank around and fly up the coast again, but before he could, he noticed something. A ship heading north, with ominous looking black sails. It was disturbingly familiar to the ships that came in the huge flock – no, the fleet – which forced his pack to leave their home.
Now they had a new territory to defend, and this ship was already far too close for comfort. Nocte back-winged and hovered, hesitating. He should fly back to the nest and raise the alarm; if they all remained out of sight, the ship would hopefully pass them by. Yet if he could keep it from moving, by destroying the sail perhaps, he'd buy them all more time. Was it worth the risk, he wondered?
No. There was a difference between checking out a threat and recklessly going into danger, after all. Nocte hurried back the way he'd come, flying low so as to not alert the humans to his presence there. However, that took him within range of the Demoneater lurking amongst the weathered rocks below him. It lashed its telson-tipped tail (1) and shot a venomous dart upwards, right at him.
It struck the underside of his right wing, piercing the thin, capillary laden membrane. All Nocte felt was a slight prick; he flapped his wings, but the minuscule hooked barbs along the dart kept it embedded in his skin. The amount of venom in the barb was small but potent nonetheless, and spread quickly through his veins. Soon his wing grew limp and he tumbled from the air.
With his one good wing, Nocte tried desperately to slow his descent, to no avail. He crashed, landing wrongly on the limp appendage, shrieking as the bones splintered. Skidding to a halt at the edge of a cliff, winded and bruised, Nocte barely had time to catch his breath when his attacker landed heavily in front of him. Snarling, he did his best to heave himself back to his paws and face them.
The dragon, of a kind he'd never seen before, reached out a pincered forelimb and clamped his jaw shut as he opened it to fire a blast. *Let go of me!* he screeched, clawing futilely at the carapace-like scales. Their grip tightened, drawing blood from his jaws. Nocte didn't ask who they were or what they wanted. He didn't need to. They were a threat and they wanted him dead.
The bulbous tail arched over their head, splitting open like a bud to reveal a spike dripping venom. Fear shot through Nocte – he was going to die. Terrified, he struggled harder, unwilling to just let them kill him. Just before the spike came down and pierced his scales, Nocte painfully wrenched himself away. The cliff edge crumbled beneath him as he fell backwards, plunging towards the sea.
He struck the cold, cold water. The shock of it forced air from his lungs, but at least it numbed the pain of his broken wing. He struggled to the surface, gasping for breath. Above him, the vicious dragon shrieked in rage and spread its wings as if to swoop down and finish the job. Nocte could feel the rest of his body slowly going numb; he'd drown or freeze to death if he remained in the ocean.
An arrow, then another shot past his would-be killer. The humans weren't trying to hunt it; merely drive it away. The ship sailed closer to him, even as Nocte fought to keep his head above water. He gulped in a breath and held it as a net spun out and engulfed him. Dragged through the water, he left a trail of blood from the painfully stinging gash on his jaws. He was hauled out onto the deck.
Though exhausted and injured, barely able to move, Nocte still growled fiercely at the hunters that surrounded him. To his immense chagrin, they seemed unfazed. "Looks a bit worse for wear, don't it?" remarked one human, eyeing Nocte's broken wing with distaste. "That Grimmel bloke wasn't kidding when he said those things are inelegant. Why didn't we just let 'em eat it?" he asked.
Hearing that the dragon had intended to not only kill him, but eat him, chilled Nocte to the bone twice over. He then heard another human say "because, you moron, if we feed 'em too soon they won't follow this ones scent back to its nest." The human leaned over to meet his eye, and Nocte glared at it. "Thanks for flying all the way out here to us, dragon. That was helpful of you" it mocked.
Nocte snarled, but half-heartedly. Part of him felt like he deserved this. If he hadn't let his pride get the better of him, and just gone back to the nest with Skylancer, this wouldn't have happened. What would they do with him now?
The other human asked that same question. "Splint that wing and lock it up below. This guy is gonna be the first in our own personal Night Fury attack force" said the humans leader, baring yellowed teeth in a cruel grin. "And if that doesn't work out, he'll be our first new set of dragonskin armour in a while."
The humans laughed maliciously, and Nocte couldn't help the whimper that escaped from his throat. Saved from death by drowning or devouring, only to face enslavement at least and being skinned at worst. He knew not all humans were this vile, but it was hard to think of such things when he felt such fear.
After flying in celebration all night, the Swift-Wings of Myrkr were ready to sleep most of the day. Of course there were still a few awake, such as Skylancer, who had noticed his friends absence. *I'm going to look for Nocte* he told Eclipse, *He went further ahead than me, but he should be back by now.*
*I'm going to come with you* the drakaina announced, rising to all her paws.
*No, you're the sentry; you need to stay here.* He started to fly south along the coast. However, he didn't get very far before seeing the ship approaching their nest, black sails billowing. Skylancer back-winged and growled at the sight. He turned back to warn the nest, fearing that a terrible fate had befallen Nocte. Perhaps he's still alive, and only captured the Swift-Wing hoped desperately.
Yet as Skylancer approached the cave entrance where Eclipse was standing guard, he noticed a strange dragon stalking towards it. He didn't stop to wonder what it was; everything about it screamed 'threat'. Skylancer beat his wings harder and overtook it, folded his wings and dived to the cave mouth. *There's a trespasser* he announced straightaway, *and a ship. Go warn the Queen!*
Eclipse leapt to her feet and looked down at the strange dragon, snarling at it and herself for missing its presence. The drake shoved her shoulder and urgently barked *Go, quickly!* Eclipse spun around and disappeared down the tunnel to raise the alarm, as Skylancer braced himself ready to fight this threat.
The unfamiliar dragon knew he'd seen it, and charged forwards. It seemed clumsy and bulky, but it was heavier than him and he could not let it pass. The dragon suddenly halted and lashed its tail at him. Baffled by this, Skylancer didn't move; but he heard the faint hiss of something rushing past his ear-fin. Realising it had shot something at him, he fired a blast aimed at its flexed tail.
It leaped aside, faster than he expected, and took to the air. Skylancer tensed as it flew right at him, flicking its tail again and again. He tried to dodge the barbs, but he could barely see them and a few landed regardless. Sky felt his wings and right foreleg go numb, collapsing under him. The attacking dragon lunged, and bowled him over. A spike emerged from its tail bulb and stabbed down into him.
Sky roared in agony when it pierced the softer scales of his underbelly, injecting venom right into him. Pumped right from the source, it soon overwhelmed his bloodstream. All of his muscles seized and went numb, even the ones that kept him breathing, kept his heart beating. The last thing he saw before his vision went dark was the rogue dragon entering the nest he had failed to defend…
Eclipse flew down the tunnel with all haste, shrieking at the top of her lungs. *Intruders! Wake up! Intruders in the nest!* she bellowed. Their sentries lay stunned or killed as the Demoneaters invaded the tunnels. Swift-Wings in every cavern lurched or staggered to their paws, still half-asleep but sensing danger.
Queen Phoebe and her family were all slumbering in one deep chamber, but Iceheart, who had always been a light sleeper, woke at the noise. Briefly disorientated, she shook herself and pawed urgently at her mate. *Artemis, get up, something's wrong! Snowdrop? Wake up, darling* she insisted, nipping at her daughters ear-flap. *Your majesty! I hear screaming, your nest is in peril!*
A golden eye snapped open, pupil slit, and Phoebe sprang to her paws. With a grateful nod to Iceheart, she rushed to the mouth of their cavern and roared a command- *Awaken! Intruders!* In every cavern, the fog of exhaustion cleared as sleeping dragons jerked into consciousness. Dams gathered their fledglings, carrying the flightless kits in their mouths and hurrying to escape the tunnels.
Many of them fled straight into the path of the invading dragons, as those were the main routes out of the nest. Drakes and drakainas alike faced these threatening creatures bravely, but being enclosed by rock walls, there was less room to dodge the strikes of a venomous tail, crushing pincers and goring tusks. Blasts of fire made the dragons reel back but their carapaces turned it all aside.
The largest tunnels that led outside were safe because they opened up beyond the reach of humans. Yet there were some which opened in more accessible places; when Swift-Wings emerged from those, panicked and unheeding, the hunters shot them down with venom tipped arrows, having rowed to shore under cover of darkness with their main ship anchored further out as a decoy.
As soon as she'd heard the Queens warning, Misty began grabbing as many of the healing plants as she could. Onyx helped her gather them, but the sounds of fighting and fleeing drifted to them and made him nervous. *Misty, my dear, we have to go* he insisted urgently as she tried to pick up more supplies. *Misty, please! It's not safe here!* Onyx begged. She abandoned the rest to join him.
Corona, Ikalen and Obsidian were amongst those who encountered an intruder, its pincers and tusks already blood-stained. Obby's parents spread their wings defensively to block him from its sight, and growled. The intruder clacked its pincers and hissed, *So hungry. Want to hunt, want to feast!* It had huge spines along its back, a bloodshot yellow eye and a scar over its blind left eye.
If its appearance was monstrous, its words were even more so. *It wants to eat us?!* Obby exclaimed, flinching. As if on cue the intruder lunged forwards, but two blasts to the face sent it reeling back. Ikalen took a step forwards, snarling.
*Corona, you and Obsidian get somewhere safe. I'll hold it off!* he roared.
His mate protested *I can't just let you*-
*Go!* Ikalen thundered, shoving them away with his tail. *I'll be right behind you!* he promised, but Corona knew better. With a stricken expression, she ushered their son back the way they'd come. Ikalen fired another blast at the dragon threatening his family; it snarled and flicked its tail at him, but his reflexes and instincts were good and he sprang aside. Then leapt backwards.
*Will dad be okay?* Obby asked as he followed his mother deeper into the caverns. *He won't, will he? He's gonna…* the young drake trailed off with a whimper. If they were outside, his sire could fly circles around that freak – but they were trapped here, in tunnels that were supposed to keep them all safe.
Corona swallowed her own whimpers; suddenly, she could no longer bear to leave her mate to face that danger alone. *Obsidian, listen to me* she suddenly urged him, *I need you to get somewhere safe and hide. We love you so much.* Before Obby could protest, she nuzzled him and rushed back towards Ikalen.
When she reached him Corona wailed in horror. Her mate was dead, gored through the chest, and this vile creature – it should not even call itself a dragon! – was ripping at his flesh. It looked up from its grisly meal; terrified, Corona scrambled to flee, both from the nauseating sight of Ikalen's corpse being desecrated, and his murderer. But that meant she turned her back on it…
Obsidian stared after his mother in dismay, torn between calling for her to come back and doing as he was told. Suddenly, he heard the Queen's command - *GATHER* - but more than that, he felt it, an inexorable urge to fly straight to the gathering place. Surely his parents would hear it too – surely they would follow…
Eclipse had no intention of going down without a fight. One of the invaders had followed her in, leaving a trail of death in its wake. She kept taunting it to chase her instead of stopping to eat – eat! – her flock-mates. At last she found an empty cavern to dart into, but not to hide. She hid behind some rock cones that had melted together, watching the cave mouth through a crack between them.
Her attacker stalked inside. Eclipse didn't try to hide, though she ducked behind the stone barrier when it flicked its tail at her. She'd already seen a few Swift-Wings collapse after whatever these creatures threw hit them. *Come and get me, coward!* she roared at it, gathering her fires to strike. With a furious bellow, it charged at her. When it was right where she wanted it, she fired.
Not at the creature itself, but at the stone fang stretching down from the roof. She could only break off the end, but the hunk of rock plummeted down and struck it on the skull. The hit was not enough to kill it, or even knock it out, but the creature skidded to a halt and shook its head, dazed. Eclipse seized her chance to leap out from behind the rocks and dash past it towards the exit.
In her haste she flew right past the creature, only to shriek in pain and terror as something sharp clamped onto her right tail-fin. Twisting to look behind her, she found the monster had lunged and seized her fin with its horrible pincer claw. It dragged her back, the spike emerging from its bulbous tail, but a blast struck it before it could stab her. A familiar yellow eyed drake roared *Leave her alone!*
*Dusk! Help, it's got my tail!* Eclipse howled, struggling. Her cousin blasted the monster again, on its claw this time, which loosened just enough for her to tear herself loose. Instinctively she took to the air, only to crash again. Her tail-fin was tattered, all but ripped in half. She couldn't fly! Dusk screamed at her to run, so she did. They both fled the cave with the monster hot on their trail.
Grounded as she was, Eclipse would be far more of a target. Dusk knew that, which was why he went left when she went right. When the monster charged out and went after his cousin, Dusk lunged to seize its lashing tail in his jaws.
Eclipse heard it screech and looked back to see Dusk wrestling with the monster. *Just go!* Dusk cried out to her, even as it bucked and thrashed beneath him. *Eclipse, run!* Still she hesitated, unwilling to leave him; but then the command echoed in her brain, and she rushed to the gathering place as fast as her limbs could carry her. Yet she flinched at the sound of Dusk screaming.
When as many of the survivors as possible had fled to the gathering place, Phoebe gave the order to block the cave mouths. A barrage of fire blasts collapsed the tunnels at last, leaving their attackers sealed out. Unfortunately, it also kept them sealed in. Even before the dust had settled, they began to panic.
*What in Moon's name are those things?!*
*How did they find us?!*
*We're trapped! They'll dig or starve us out!*
*This wouldn't have happened at the old nest!*
*QUIET!* Selena bellowed at the top of her lungs, rearing up on the rock she was perched on. Everyone stopped and stared at her. Selena declared *You all need to calm down! We're not trapped. Look!* She tossed her head up towards the underside of the glacier above them. Sunlight was trickling in through several crevasses. *If we take it in turns, we can blast a tunnel through the ice!*
*What if those monsters are waiting for us?* demanded Shade, one wing holding Raven close. Both of them were glad their son was not in the nest.
Selena faltered a little, but Artemis climbed up beside her and insisted *Then we overwhelm them with numbers, if we have to. They can't kill all of us. Those of us who can should hold the creatures off whilst everyone else escapes with the kits* he explained. The fledglings were huddling under their parents bellies.
*My son and daughter speak the truth* Queen Phoebe declared, puffing out her chest with pride. *We will not lie down and surrender; not to predators, be they not-kin dragons or human hunters. We will fight our way out if we have to.*
Selena claimed *And we can fight them better outside, in the open air. My mate and his brother were attacked by two of those creeps, and he said the – humans call them Demoneaters – they can't fly upwards very well, so we can escape.*
There was silence, but the pack rippled with hopeful croons. Then Iceheart asked *Then what? If we get out of this nest, where do we go afterwards?*
*Back to Berk, of course* Selena replied at once, *Toothless-Hiccup and their flock will help us fight off these invaders and get our home back, trust me.*
The morning after Selena left, Toothless-Hiccup woke with a bad feeling (2). That uneasy sensation of dread when one was being stalked…or as Toothless described it, the feeling he got every time Hiccup was left to his own devices. The good natured teasing did nothing to ease their tension, nor did patrolling Berk and hearing from the scouts that there'd been no sign of the Demoneaters.
"Astrid, I really think something's wrong" Hiccup insisted. "I can't explain it, but Toothless and I both feel like the Swift-Wings are in danger." Their resident black dragons looked more attentive at this; Astrid glanced at them uncertainly. "Not them; I mean the Myrkr nest. Selena and her brother's family went there yesterday – what if Grimmel followed them instead?" Hiccup questioned.
Astrid's brow creased in worry. "Surely he wouldn't try to take on a whole nest of Night Furies alone…would he?" she asked a tad rhetorically, and doubtfully.
"He's got Demoneaters to do his dirty work for him, remember? Besides, the more I think about it, the less likely it is that Grimmel is working alone. Black Fire, you were there when King Magnus had people questioned about the poisoned fish, right?" he asked the orange eyed drake, who nodded in reply.
*Yes, and one of the fishermen said he'd seen a short human with blond hair walking quickly away from the fish that was poisoned* Black Fire explained.
"Grimmel is tall with white hair, so that can't have been him – and don't forget, those hunters from Adulfr's tribe were never captured. If they skulked off to Norway and ran into Grimmel, or he ran into them, they'd probably team up."
It was a troubling thought, Astrid had to admit. "So, what are we gonna do?"
"I want to fly out there and make sure they're alright" replied Hiccup, "only…if those hunters are there, if the Demoneaters are, I don't think Toothless and I can take them on alone. I'd need back-up…did you say that Eret was coming?"
"He sent a Terror Mail ahead to say he'd be here this morning. You know which route he usually takes, you could probably fly out and meet him halfway" suggested Astrid. Hiccup realised she was right and gave her a grateful kiss on the cheek. Before he could mount up and leave, Astrid announced, "I'm coming too. You're not the only one of us who cares what happens to those dragons."
Hiccup refused at once. "No. Astrid, you can't come with me, not this time."
She raised an eyebrow, and asked "So I'm supposed to wait here whilst my husband flies off and gets himself into who knows what kind of trouble?"
"You need to stay here and lead our people" he insisted, resting both hands on her shoulders. "Besides, we don't even know if there will be trouble. I'm just…taking precautions. Eret and his crew will be there, and so will Toothless."
*And us* declared Shadow, spreading his wings slightly. *Black Fire and I are coming too. It's our nest that could be in danger, if what you suspect is true.*
"There, you see? I'll be fine, Astrid. It's not like I'm haring off on my own…again. I'm not an idiot in my twenties anymore. I'm a far more mature and responsible idiot in my thirties" Hiccup declared, making Astrid chuckle in spite of herself. "And besides, Berk needs you. Our children need you. I…" he hesitated briefly, "I had to grow up without a mother. I don't want that for Helena and Finn."
Astrid sighed and gave him a wry smile. "I don't want them to grow up without their father" she retorted, "but you're right. Just, promise you'll be careful."
"I will be" he assured her, giving her a kiss. "Toothless and I will go and find Eret; but if we're going up against those dragons, you three are gonna need protection" he told the Swift-Wing drakes. "There should be some at the forge."
"Leave it with me" Astrid offered, wanting to help at least in this small way. Hiccup nodded gratefully, and then mounted up. Toothless took off and flew out to sea, heading in the direction they knew Eret's ship usually arrived. On the way, Hiccup found himself fretting over whether this mission was even necessary. What did he have to go on, after all, but an uneasy gut feeling?
*That gut feeling is your instinct, Hiccup* his other half replied when he brought it up, *you should listen to it. Besides, Selena is there, and our friends. Even if nothing is wrong, we can at least warn them hunters might be coming. And if we're right and there is something wrong, there isn't time to make two trips.*
As usual, Toothless was being the sensible one. "You're right. Thanks, buddy" Hiccup said gratefully, before exclaiming "hey, look!" He pointed down at the ocean, where a ship was heading towards Berk. On the sail was a familiar insignia, the twisting branching spirals of Eret's vessel, the Crashing Tide II.
Toothless swooped down and landed on the deck. A chorus of "It's Hiccup!" and "Hey, boss!" rose up from the crew, as well as cries of *Hello, Alphas!* from the dragons. A certain blue-tattooed captain sauntered over to them, smirking.
"Well, look what the dragon dropped in. I didn't think you missed us this much."
"It's good to see you too, Eret. We need your help" Hiccup declared. The smug smile on Eret's face vanished instantly, replaced by a questioning frown. "There's this new hunter on the loose, his name's Grimmel and he's" –
"Grimmel? As in Grimmel the Godly?" Eret cut in with an incredulous stare.
"Yeah, he – Wait, you know him?"
"Well, not personally, but I've heard of him. The Scourge of Night Demons."
"That's what I'm getting at. We don't know for sure but Toothless and I have a
feeling he might be looking for the Myrkr Nest. He's controlling these dragons called Demoneaters, and if they can track down the Furies…" Hiccup grimaced.
By now, every human and dragon on deck was listening – or eavesdropping – attentively. Eret rubbed his chin and remarked "No offence, boss, but this sounds a bit, well…paranoid. I mean, I've heard that Grimmel is bad news, but"-
"Eret, listen to me" Hiccup snapped. "Grimmel isn't just bad news, he's the worst news possible for Night Furies. He wants to wipe them out. He told me they will die, all of them, no matter where they flee to. I think he knows about the nest, and Selena went there yesterday. He could have followed her. We're going out there to make sure they're okay, but we're gonna need back-up if"-
"If these Demoneaters are causing trouble" Eret finished for him. "And you could use help from the archipelago's finest team of dragon wranglers. I can't blame you on that one; but I thought you wanted to keep the nest secret?"
"If Grimmel or any hunters he's working with have found it, then that's kind of a moot point" Hiccup retorted, "and besides, I trust you guys. So, are you in?"
Don't worry, boss; we've got your back. What's our heading?" he asked. Hiccup looked at Toothless, who pointed his snout in the direction they had to go. "Right, lads! Let's get this hunk o' junk changing course. Hard to port!"
Jorge moved the tiller and the ship swung left. Eret and his crew kept their balance easily, but Hiccup staggered and fell against Toothless. Eret hauled him upright again. "Anything else we should know about these beasties, then?"
"Uh, heavily armoured, pincers – oh, and they have a venomous tail" Hiccup explained. "That can shoot venomous darts. Try to avoid those. You'll need armour, and so will your dragons. We need to go back and put yours on, bud."
Toothless informed Eret, *They're fast for such large dragons, but they can't climb well. Too top-heavy. There's something attached to them, like green water, and leather. If you break that off they should stop attacking* he said.
"Gotcha. So, uh, how many of these things are there, exactly?"
"We encountered two, but he might have more. I'm sorry for dragging you guys on what might be a wild goose chase, but my instincts are telling me to go."
Eret nodded in understanding. "Don't apologise; this is what we do now. You two better get going, though; you'll need to put armour on yourselves, yeah?"
Hiccup replied "You're right. Come on, bud, let's head back. Keep heading northwest, we'll catch up with you" he told Eret, even as he mounted up. When they returned to Berk, Hiccup quickly dressed in his dragon-scale covered flight suit and strapped on Toothless' sturdier, better fitted metal armour. Astrid informed him that Shadow and Black Fire were waiting for them on the cliffs.
It wasn't just the two Swift-Wings, however; Hugo and Sparkle stood there, the former dressed in armour that Hiccup didn't even know the man had. Stoick and Skull Crusher were waiting for them as well. "What are you guys doing here?" he questioned even before Toothless landed on the cliff top in front of them all.
Stoick replied, "We're gonna help you defend those Night Furies, of course."
"How do you even know about that? Did Astrid tell you?" Hiccup demanded.
His father shrugged. "She might o' mentioned it. Ach, don't worry about us, son. Skull Crusher and I have thick scales" he boasted, thumping a fist on his own dragon-scale armour. "Your old man still has a lot of fight left in him, y'know."
"Dad, I'm not questioning your battle prowess, but this might not even be a big deal. And what about mom? Does she know about this?" his son questioned.
"Oh, aye. She wished us luck. Only reason she's not coming is because we don't have armour that'll fit Cloudjumper, and his scales aren't as hard as Skull's" explained Stoick. "Besides, I'm a Viking. It's an occupational hazard. These Night Furies o' yours have helped defend my island more than once. Figured it was time I returned the favour" he elaborated, with a solemn nod to the dragons.
Hugo explained, "I happened to be at the forge when Astrid came in search for armour for these two, and overheard her explaining your suspicions. If this Fury nest could be under threat from the same person who tried to poison the royal court…there are men and women I've known for years living there. And before you ask, this isn't about revenge. It's about helping to bring them to justice."
They'd already wasted enough time, Hiccup felt in his gut. With an exasperated groan, he declared "Fine. Have it your way, then. Come on, bud, let's go" he urged Toothless, who bounded to the edge of the cliff and leapt off, flying westwards. His fellow Swift-Wings followed, as did Stoick and Skull Crusher.
The dragon riders approached Myrkr the next morning, flying over a large bank of clouds. "Okay, so…if there are no hunters, you guys stay outside and keep a lookout whilst we go and warn the Night Furies" Hiccup explained. "With any luck we'll be able to stop whatever happens here before it even…starts…"
He trailed off as they reached the edge of the cloud cover. The glacier and mountains that hid the nest were right below, but a ship was sailing away from the shore. Galmi and his hunters had what they came for, however, and were trying to sail away with their black-scaled cargo. It seemed the riders had reached Myrkr just in time. "Oskar, Jorge, Noam, you three stop that ship!"
More troubling still, and even more unexpected, was the utterly bizarre sight of two Demoneaters straining to hold aloft a metal contraption above the glacier. Inside the cage slung below it was Grimmel, his shock of white hair easily visible, aiming a mounted crossbow or spear launcher down towards the Furies nest.
*That hypocrite* Shadow snarled viciously, *He doesn't belong in the sky!*
Hiccup was inclined to agree. "Let's give those dragons something to follow, shall we? Hugo, we'll distract them, you and Sparkle come in from behind and knock them out of the sky. Everyone else, be ready to catch them" he declared.
Toothless swept past the nearest Demoneater with a shriek of *Eel-eater! Remember me?* It certainly appeared to, snarling and starting a dogged pursuit. The metal rig twisted precariously as the ravenous dragon pulled on taut chains like a runaway dog, eliciting a shout of anger from Grimmel. Then Shadow darted past the other one, luring it to chase him in another direction.
The end result was a stalemate between them, as both Demoneaters strained to get at the Swift-Wings on opposite sides. Their tails arched and flicked, but Toothless and Shadow were out of range, if only just. Black Fire meanwhile had gone down towards the nest, followed by Safira and Ruby. The drake wanted to know why that hunter was aiming his weapon down at the glacier, of all places.
Sparkle circled around behind the human in the strange flying cage. "When I give the signal, fire your lightning at that contraption" her rider instructed. To do that she needed to get closer, but as she approached, Grimmel suddenly spun around and fired a crossbow at her. Sparkle jinxed hard to the right, snarling as Hugo cursed in frustration. Then things only began to get worse.
The Demoneaters kept bellowing, ear-splitting roars that echoed through the sky. *Hunt! Prey!* they screeched, drowning out Grimmel's furious shouts. Those roars were answered by four more of the creatures, who emerged from the tunnels of the nest to take up the chase in their chained brethren's stead.
"We've got company!" yelled Hiccup. One of the Demoneaters was heading towards Black Fire, Ruby and Safira. Shadow was closer, and dived to the reduce with a familiar, spine-tingling shriek. "Toothless, look out!" A Demoneater was charging towards them, moving way too fast for such a bulky creature. His other half darted away and started to climb, planning to use the same trick as before.
Only this time it didn't try to follow him, getting distracted by Sparkle and Hugo. Toothless flew above it and fired down at the back of its neck, shattering the glass vials. The liquid poured out, yet to their consternation, it had no effect on the Demoneater, which continued to chase Sparkle with frantic desperation.
*It's no good!* Skull Crusher thundered, even as he rammed into the creature and sent it tumbling away. *These things are in a feeding frenzy! They won't stop until they taste flesh!* There were more dragons around than the Demoneaters could chase, and they howled with starving rage, flinging venomous darts all over the place. Eret and his crew got to work bringing them down, hollering at the thrill of the pursuit. "Come on, you lot! Reel 'em in!"
Shadow and Black Fire were on the glacier, taking it turns to keep a lookout and help free the trapped flock members. Hiccup, Hugo and Stoick went after Grimmel, who was shouting at the Demoneaters lifting his flying rig to "land, wretched beasts! Down!" Yet they were both too busy straining to get at Toothless to listen. *Hungry! So hungry!* they snarled. *Need to hunt prey!*
"Give it up, Grimmel!" Hiccup shouted at the hunter, "it's over! You can't win!"
Sparkle was ready to blast the cage with her lightning, hissing in disgust. Skull Crusher was baiting the other Demoneater so they'd both fail to move far. Grimmel's face was twisted into a hideous grimace. It cleared disconcertingly quickly. "So be it then, and may God receive my soul. In hoc nomen dominus noster interfecisti (3)" he declared, and then he released the Demoneaters.
The rig plummeted. Hugo, who had no intention of letting Grimmel off that easily, urged Sparkle to follow it down. They dived after it as it accelerated. Suddenly free of the weight holding them back, both of the Demoneaters surged forwards. Toothless was forced to dive when the nearest one flicked a dart over his and Hiccup's heads. He plunged straight down, hoping to trick it into crash-landing, yet when he tried to pull up his tail-fin remained limp. He hadn't even felt it be pierced! With a roar, he crashed hard on the ground. Hiccup just kept moving, thrown out of the saddle. He rolled to a stop, bruised and winded, only to struggle back to his feet and limp towards – "Toothless!"
With a vicious snarl, the Demoneater landed right on top of his other half, pinning Toothless down, venomous spike arched up high ready to stab down. In desperation, Hiccup grabbed the nearest rock he could reach and hurled it with all his might, yelling "Get away from him!" It bounced off the dragons carapace, but distracted them enough to not notice Skull charging them until it was too late.
Hiccup ran towards Toothless, only to be cut off by the second creature. It's bloodshot yellow eye glared balefully at him, and maybe he looked or smelled just a bit too much like a Swift-Wing. Either way it attacked, lunging at him with snapping pincers and lashing tail. *No!* roared Toothless, leaping at the creature attacking his rider, only to be roughly knocked aside by its sharp wing.
Before he could recover a dart struck him in the hip, which quickly became numb and yielding. Hiccup went sprawling and screamed, terrified, as the Demoneater jabbed its spike-tipped tail at his chest. Yet it never touched him.
Out of nowhere, his dad got between them, grabbing the deadly cone in two huge calloused hands. "You want my son, devil?" Stoick grunted, bracing his feet and pushing back. "Then you're gonna have to go through me!" It snarled and closed its pincer claws around his midsection, squeezing and tugging.
Hiccup scrambled to his feet, looking on in utter horror. "Dad!" he cried out, drawing his sword. "Let him go!" he yelled, striking the dragons tusk, its claw.
"Son! Go help Toothless!" his father ordered, voice strained with the effort of holding the creature back. Skull Crusher was still wrestling the other one. "Go!"
*Hiccup, hurry; I can't move* Toothless whimpered fearfully, trying to drag himself forwards on three limbs. Hiccup rushed over and tore off his helmet, the better to see what he was doing. Where is it? he thought desperately, running gloved fingers over Toothless' hip until he found the offending barb. With some difficulty he pulled it free, both of them wincing in pain, then moved to the fin.
Behind him, the Demoneater's pincers were scarring and cracking Stoick's armour, made of shed pieces of his dragons carapace. They began to warp and split apart as it tightened its grasp, and Stoick could all but feel his ribs cracking. Even so he held on as if for dear life, saving his breath. From elsewhere came the sizzling crack of lightning, and then everything happened at once, too fast.
Hiccup pulled the dart out of Toothless' tail-fin and spun around in time to see it all. The Demoneater wrenched its spike free of his father's hands, then struck like a cobra, plunging the spike into Stoick's chest between the cracks in his armour before the man could recover from the sudden jerk. Time slowed to a crawl as Hiccup stared in horrified disbelief, watching his father go limp. "No!"
Before Hiccup could move, or even think, Skull Crusher rammed with a furious bellow into the last Demoneater standing. The enraged Rumblehorn proceeded to live up to his name, avenging his rider the only way he could. *Murderer!*
"No" Hiccup repeated, as if denying reality would change it. "No, please, no." He dropped to his knees beside his fathers body and tore off the broken chest piece. "Dad, please, no" he begged, pressing his ear against the still chest, listening desperately for a heartbeat. A second passed. Then another. Silence.
The lightning had been from Sparkle, who struck Grimmel's cage with the man still inside just as it landed in the ocean. She hovered above the water, and Hugo breathed a sigh of relief. "Good work, my dear. Now let's go and…oh, no" he murmured, seeing Hiccup and Stoick, realising what must have happened.
Eret and the rest of his crew began to land, having freed the kidnapped Swift-Wings and chained up the hunters, dragon and human alike. The Furies in the nest began to emerge, scrambling out of the gap in the ice. Selena was the first out; she flew straight to Toothless' side and nuzzled him, whimpering sadly.
There were no triumphant roars, no victorious cheers. Just the sound of waves.
Even the sun had hidden itself behind clouds, and everyone bowed their heads.
With a trembling hand, Hiccup reached out to brush closed his father's eyes.
(1) The telson is the bulb on the end of a scorpions tail. The more you know!
(2) Just to be clear, this isn't the morning the nest gets attacked. Selena and co left Berk yesterday evening (from their PoV) and get there the following evening. I needed Hiccup and the others to start heading there sooner.
(3) 'In the Lords name we slay'.