Stoick looked over his assembled Vikings, his very small group of assembled Vikings, and drew a hand down his face with a sigh. He and Gobber weren't exactly known for their stealth. And there had to be another plan, besides allowing Valka to go scout.

He turned to look at the intimidating cliffs that surrounded the bay. Skullcrusher and the other dragons were hidden nearby, behind a knoll, with a pile of fish to keep them occupied. It had taken some maneuvering to convince the dragons to land. With a small shake of his head, he edged his way forward towards the ridge overlooking the bay.

Dirt stuck to his palms and elbows. On the other side of the ridge, across the wide bay, was a sickening sight. It was a complete armada. And there were so many dragon cages. The brine of the sea couldn't cover the smells of this…camp. And they were flying under Drago's colors.

He took in the sight in silence.

There was a scuffle as Valka started up the ridge, moving like a scuttling dragon, insect thing. Stoick looked away briefly. "My dragons will fight. We should attack!" Valka whispered, edging up next to him.

Stoick said nothing, and Gobber held his peace as his chief surveyed the situation. It would be a hard battle. Drago had watchtowers, defended barracks, and—

Stoick froze.

And dared to look again.

Wanting to crush something, preferably Drago's skull, Stoick nudged Gobber and pointed east. Gobber looked in that direction with a frown. Then he muttered a curse. A scorch mark ruined the walkway below the outpost. It was a very familiar scorch mark. The same mark littered his house, especially Hiccup's floor, until they had gotten the stinkin' dragon his own bed.

Hiccup's trail of destruction was relatively easy to find after more than two decades of being his father.

Until the trail ended suddenly.

"Stoick?" Valka's voice was low. Her eyebrows were drawn together as she watched him. She reached out briefly towards his shoulder before pulling her hand back.

Stoick felt something in his hand and looked down to realize that his nails were biting into his palm.

Gobber cleared his throat and looked at Stoick before focusing on Valka again. "Hiccup rides a night fury."

"A night fury?" Valka said.

"Yes. They're inseparable," Stoick muttered, looking over the compound.

Gobber cleared his throat again and ignored Valka's curious expression. "And usually they…Nah. Rushin' in on that dragon of his is always his plan," he said, looking at the small bit of destruction on the eastern side. Gobber's face was grim. "But he usually has better luck with dragon hunters."

"How did Hiccup even find Drago?" Stoick asked, bringing up the more important question. The questions that would get his son out of the hands of this blood-thirsty man.

Gobber's eyes went wide at the growl in Stoick's voice but still answered. "Despite the Riders' best efforts, they couldn't have gotten every one of Johan's hunters. Cretins like that are always easy to find. And the night fury could have frightened just about anyone into giving up the information once Hiccup put his mind to it."

"Aye." Stoick acknowledged after a moment.

Stoick crunched numbers in his head. Berkians…no. Riders? Only Hiccup's friends would be battle worthy against this many enemies. But Drago…Drago always had something up his sleeve. Plans were just about useless when that man was involved.

"My dragons will fight," Valka said next to him, placing an emphasis on dragons. "We need to attack!"

"No," Stoick said with a quick shake of his head. Stoick started backing down the ridge.

"Just because they're dragons—" Valka said, still hidden on the lip of the ridge after Gobber followed Stoick down.

"Oh no. It's not that," Stoick said, judging the distance and jumping to his feet. Oh, his back. The things he did for Hiccup. A soak in his favorite hot spring would be needed after this. He took a deep breath, smelling the grass and faint smoke from their dragons. "We're gonna need every dragon we can get. But those are dragon hunters and slavers."

"Exactly! They won't stand a chance against a dragon's anger—"

"But if they do get captured, they don't have thumbs to get out of the cages," Stoick said, whistling softly for Skullcrusher. "Plus, a Viking usually is a little less noticeable than a monstrous nightmare."

"Aye. But it all depends on the last time the Viking had a bath," Gobber said, petting Grump as the dragon went to the Viking.

Faint vibrations could be felt through the ground as Skullcrusher shuffled over. His eyes were darting from place to place, and the dragon was breathing heavily. There was a muffled yelp. Stoick turned to see Valka being smothered in a dragon hug by the stormcutter.

Gobber looked up with a blank face. He was thinking. "They're nervous," he said, scratching Grump on the dragon's cheek.

Stoick turned back toward where the bay was hidden by the ridge. "Drago," he said, placing his hands on his hips. The faint prickling of adrenaline and fear started in his chest. "What secret does he have?"

"Secret?" Valka said, rubbing her dragon's wings.

"Aye," Stoick said after a moment. "Dragon slavers wouldn't be able to take out Hiccup. He's destroyed them before. But…"

"It looked like a short fight," Gobber finished. "Neither of them would give up a fight that easy, especially the night fury."

There was a moment of silence as Stoick remembered the Drago he'd met years ago, the burning of that meeting hall and so many chieftains all those years ago.

"I might have something," Valka said with slow deliberation as she looked back towards her ice fields. "But I don't know if I can convince him."

"No," Stoick said, reaching up and swinging himself into the warm leather of Skullcrusher's saddle. "Let's go for overwhelming numbers."

Valka raised an eyebrow at that and picked up her flying mask so she could play with it in her hands.

"Hiccup has been fostering alliances," Stoick said. "It's time to call some of those favors and alliances in. I say let's go get rid of a threat to all dragons and rescue my son."

"Our son," Valka said, swinging up to settle between her dragon's upper wings. "Apparently there's a lot of catching up for me."

Stoick's stomach dropped at that and his fist tightened, but he pulled up a mental map of the Archipelago, the wind currents, and other traveling necessities.

"Well, you did miss most of his life. There's gonna be a lot of catching up to do," Gobber said behind Stoick.

Stoick ignored the two behind him again. He turned Skullcrusher north, north towards the Defenders of the Wing.