Hiccup ducked, the flaming bolt shooting through the air to impale itself on the wood right above his head. Hiccup recovered and backed up as the sail – little more than a white sheet hastily tied to the mast – started to smolder. Toothless sniffed the air.
"I guess that's our answer," Hiccup said. "Time to-"
Toothless shoved his shoulder into Hiccup, knocking the man to the ground as the metal capsule on the bolt exploded, sending out a wave of flames across the boat and rocking it side to side. The sail caught fire and began to burn. Hiccup's two rowers dove off the boat and started to swim back to shore.
Toothless looked down at Hiccup, his pupils narrowed with the stress from the blast. The image of Toothless stalking him from that day on the ice flashed in Hiccup's eyes and he shoved himself away from the dragon, breathing hard. After a moment, he shook his head and stood up. "Thanks, bud," he said. "Are you ready, Toothless?"
In response, Toothless snorted and a faint blue glow began along his back, growing brighter as Hiccup climbed in to the saddle. Hiccup glanced at the armada once more and saw Haakon staring down at him. His expression was unreadable from the distance.
"Alright, bud," Hiccup said. "Let's fight this war."
Together, they shot up into the air and left the burning boat behind.
Astrid saw the duo fly up off the boat from her vantage point circling above Berk with Stormfly. Even in the late afternoon light, Toothless's blue glow was clearly visible.
"That's the signal!" she shouted to Valka, who flew opposite her on Cloudjumper. "Let's go!" The older woman nodded, then crouched down and pointed her staff towards the armada below. Cloudjumper turned into a dive, followed by Astrid and Stormfly and a dozen other dragons and riders. In the distance, the rowers from Hiccup's boat were picked up by dragons from the island.
Haakon watched the dragons break from their circle and fly towards the armada. "Ignore the dragons! Let the others take care of them." he yelled. "Aim for Berk!" The order was repeated from ship to ship as various catapults were pulled back and launched. The volley sailed across the waters and landed. Some missed their targets, falling short and plunging to the shoals, but others hit the buildings closest to the cliff's edge. Wood shattered into pieces and left gaping holes in the (victims) that didn't collapse.
The ships on the outside of the armada were loaded not with catapults, but with ballistae that threw nets and bolos. Harald's ship was at the front of one cluster of boats and he watched Astrid's team dive closer. Wood creaked as warriors drew back their ballistae. Harald raised his arm in preparation to signal the release, but waited.
"Stormfly," Astrid yelled as she and the dragon swooped low over the head of the armada. "Fire!"
The blue dragon let out a belch of flames that hit the mast of a lead ship, sending flaming bits of wood everywhere and leaving people ducking.
Upon hearing the explosion, Haakon turned to see what was happening behind him. His warriors continued to launch projectiles towards Berk. Haakon was greeted with the sight of warriors trying to douse dozens of burning masts. He growled in frustration but turned back to watch Berk's destruction.
Harald too watched the masts burn, but paused in giving his signal.
"Sir?" one of his warriors said.
Harald pursed his lips, then lowered his hand. "Hold off. I want to watch where the battle goes."
On the other side of the armada, Bertha was nearly thrown from her boat as a blast blew up her sail. She gripped the railing of the gunwale as the boat rocked back and forth violently. As it settled, she righted her helmet and looked around, watching her warriors stand up and scramble to set out the fire. What her eyes did not find, however, was her daughter.
"Cami?" Bertha yelled. "Cami!"
There was no response. Bertha turned towards the warrior she had told to watch the girl, who shook her head. "She was right here before the explosion, Chief."
Bertha grimaced. "Get someone to look for her and anyone else who fell overboard." To the other ships in her command, she said, "Send in the rowboats!"
A small fleet of long, thin rowboats without sails pushed out from the greater armada, splitting off in different directions. They were filled with Vikings from multiple villages and led by Bertha's own warriors dressed in dark leather armor. Neither Bertha nor her lookout saw a soaking wet Cami perched on the cargo in the back of one of the rowboats, smiling widely.
On Toothless above Berk, Hiccup watched his plan to slow the ships work somewhat, but the success was tempered by Fishlegs, who shouted Hiccup's name. "They're sending out the rowboats now! What do you want us to do?"
"Get people to start picking off the rowers one by one," he shouted back. "Drop them in the water away from the boats! Snotlout, go with him."
Fishlegs nodded in affirmation and flew off on Meatlug, Snotlout and Hookfang in tow. Ruffnut and Tuffnut waited with Barf and Belch nearby. "What about us, Chief?" Tuffnut asked. For once, it sounded sincere. There was no smile on either of their faces.
Hiccup looked at the battle beneath him. Berk was beginning to return volley with their roughly built catapults. Rocks and boulders landed in the water next to the ships, sending up waves that disrupted the armada's own aim. But they were vastly outnumbered by the return fire. A good number of masts were still burning, but others were put out before too much damage could be done. The boats of the outside of the armada had picked up on Hiccup's initial plan and had traded their sails for paddles. It would not be long before the armada would make a half circle spreading around the populated area of Berk.
"Find every Zippleback you can," Hiccup said. "Wait until the rowboats are out of the way and then start gassing up" – Tuffnut snickered and Ruffnut rolled her eyes – "the area around the edges of the armada. Don't," he emphasized, "set anything on fire until I tell you to."
"What do you think we are, five?" Ruffnut asked while Tuffnut groaned in disappointment, but the two of them flew off without any further argument.
Hiccup sighed. He patted Toothless's head and the dragon cooed back at him. "Alright, bud. Let's go see what else we can do." They flew off towards the village.
Down at the water's level, Cami ducked between the bucket-sized barrels in the rowboat and narrowly avoided being grabbed by a diving dragon. Another warrior was grabbed and disappeared in a dragon's claws. Cami watched in open-mouthed wonder at the passing Monstrous Nightmare, who swooped back around in another pass at her boat. She could see the complex leather saddle and the dark-haired warrior sitting in it upon the dragon's back. At the last second, the rider pulled back and the dragon turned in order to avoid slamming into the rocky cliff of Berk that the boat was now under.
The rowers slowed the boat as it (sailed) under the large wooden structure that Cami saw were stadium seats. She gaped, speechless, as the complexity of the build until her awe was broken by some ropes that one of her mother's warriors threw at her. "Since you're with us now," she said, "might as well make yourself useful and climb to the top of this thing. Secure the rope when you get there."
Cami grinned. "Yes, ma'am!" she said, and began to climb up the wood with a nimbleness the larger warriors could only envy.
On the other side of Berk, a different rowboat had made it to the Berk docks. The Berkian ships were gone save for a few small boats lashed to the docks along the cliffside. The rowboat pulled up to the dock near the ramp to the village proper. In the shadow of the island, the entire dock was cast into a premature twilight with odd shadows at every corner. The warriors climbed out of their boat and readied their weapons. They crept along the empty dock with no movement except for the light of explosions in the distance.
One of the warriors put his back to the wall and peered around the corner that led up to the village, clearly expecting resistance. He scratched his head, then turned to his compatriots and shrugged. He turned back and rounded the corner. He found there, right in his face, the horn of Skullcrusher, who snorted in his face. Hesitantly, he looked up to find Eret, son of Eret, looking down at him.
"Hello," Eret said, grinning. On cue, Skullcrusher charged forward, throwing the man aside and scattering the approaching troops. Spitelout and two other warriors on dragonback dropped down from their hiding places among the upper ramps of the docks behind the attackers. Spitelout drew a sword and smacked an enemy warrior in the face with it, knocking him into the water. The others did the same, drawing weapons and disarming the enemies.
Eret jumped off Skullcrusher's back and found along the dragon's flank. They took up most of the entranceway up to the village, Skullcrusher ramming his horn into attackers from one side, Eret defending with his sword and bravado from the other. The eight of them held the gate like this well, until something hit Eret in the left shoulder.
He slapped a hand over the wound and found a small dart with red feathers. Eyes wide, he looked around a spotted a warrior with a blowgun to his mouth that was pointed in Eret's direction.
"Spitelout!" Eret called. "Watch…out…." Before he could finish, Eret topped backwards and slumped with his back Skullcrusher. The dragon let out a roar.
Upon hearing his name and the dragon's bellow, Spitelout turned to see what had happened. He barely had the chance to see Eret slump over before he, too, collapsed on his dragon's back, a dart sticking out the back of his neck. Within seconds, the other two warriors were similarly compromised.
Skullcrusher defended the gate by himself while the Vikings were pulled off their dragons and tied up. The dragons were captured as well, weighted nets tossed over them and darts blown into their hides until they collapsed. Only Skullcrusher, with his armored plates preventing darts from landing, remained. Swords, too, were ineffective.
One of the attackers suddenly leapt on Skullcrusher's saddle. The dragon bucked like an angry bull, trying to throw the warrior off, but somehow he held on. He managed to lean over the side of the saddle and stab a handful of darts into the joint around Skullcrusher's wing where the skin was softer. Skullcrusher roared with pain and anger and finally threw the warrior off his back but the deed was done. Skullcrusher gave one last snort and turned his body so that he blocked most of the ramp up to the village before he passed out. Even so, it only did so much to delay the invaders. With a second rowboat making its way to the docks, the warriors shoved Skullcrusher out of the way enough that they could start carting small barrels from the rowboats up to Berk.
The sun was nearing the horizon as the battle continued. Despite Astrid and Valka's best efforts, more ships had made their way closer to the island and were continuing to launch their volleys. Several teams of invaders found passages up to the village. Gobber's warriors fought between the buildings with swords and shields, fending off attackers with the help of only a few dragons to avoid damaging the village as much as possible. Snotlout and Fishlegs were forced to retreat as the rowboats finished their advances and the other ships were close enough to hit the dragons and riders. Smaller boats maneuvered between the larger ones to fish out dragons and Vikings that had fallen into the water. The Berkians were tied up; the dragons were tossed in the holds. Ruffnut and Tuffnut's cohort of Zipplebacks could only find places on the sides of the battle to spew their gasses.
The twins themselves swooped through the underside of the race stadium, leaving a trail of Barf's noxious gas behind them. As they passed under the sheep goals, Tuffnut dodged to avoid an arrow that nearly took his helmet off.
"Ruffnut!" he yelled, pointing. Another pass around the outside of the stadium showed Ruffnut what her brother was pointing at. Four rowboats had been lashed to the posts holding the structure up, and several rope ladders hung down from the top. Invading warriors were busy unloading small barrels in bucket-brigade style, carrying them up to the stands and into the village. They took potshots as the twins and the dragons as they flew by, preventing them from getting any closer.
"Hiccup didn't send anyone to defend the stadium," Ruffnut called back. "We need to tell him!"
Tuffnut nodded, and the two of them – plus Barf and Belch – flew off to find him.
Hiccup, Astrid, and Valka circled on their dragons over the battlefield. Other riders waited with their dragons nearby. It was not going well for the Berkians. Most of the cliffside buildings had been destroyed. The delaying tactic of destroying sails and masts was no longer effective, though it had allowed the evacuation to finish.
"What would my dad do in he were here?" Hiccup said to himself. Toothless didn't respond. The dragon was distracted, eyes darting here and there across the battlefield and the distance sky. Hiccup sighed, closing his eyes for a second. The sounds of the battle drifted up to him, crashes and booms and faint yells. Then he opened his eyes and sat up, squaring his shoulders, decision made.
"My dad would show no mercy on whoever attacked his home, whether they were dragons or Vikings," Hiccup said, looking at Astrid and Valka each in turn. "We're doing to do the same. Mom, Astrid, same thing, except this time attack the boats themselves. Try to sink as many of the ones attacking Berk as possible." They nodded and flew off in tandem. "Lout and Legs! Go to the village and help Gobber out." Off they went. "Does anyone know how Eret is doing with the beaches and docks?"
"Hiccup!" He turned to look at the twins as they flew up.
"They're climbing up the stadium," Tuffnut said. "We didn't get close enough for Belch to blow them up!"
"I thought I told you…never mind," Hiccup said. "We'll take care of it. You guys go check on Eret at the docks!"
The twins glanced at each other, then nodded at Hiccup. Ruffnut spoke. "They have some sort of barrel with them that they're carrying up to the village. Don't know what's in it though."
"Thanks," Hiccup said. "Now go!"
Hiccup and Toothless were left alone above the battlefield. The man shifted in his saddle, crouching down low for fast flying. "Alright, bud," he said. "Let's take care of this."
Toothless responded by darkening his glow and going into a steep dive around the backside of the peak directly behind the village. With the cloud cover and the darkness of night, it was hard to see exactly what was going on, but enough fires were burning that they could pick out the racing stadium. Toothless came in low and fast, the characteristic Night Fury cry echoing from his mouth. Warriors climbing the structure looked up at the sound, unable to tell exactly where it was coming from. They jumped off the ladders and into the water right before Toothless let fire a single shot.
The dragon's aim was perfect: the blast hit the rowboats right at the base of the structure. The explosion lit up the entire side of Berk. Waves of fire rolled out over the surrounding area, igniting the faint cover of Zippleback gas that lingered in the area. A greater portion still shot up and out away from the island, reflected off the cliff wall across from the boats. Shards of wood were sent flying out over the heads of the warriors submerged in water, who had to dodge falling debris. Boats in the harbor rocked with the blast and more than one ship was set aflame once more.
The blast scattered the dragons without riders that Valka was directing. They flew off into the night. Only she, Astrid, and two other dragon/rider pairs remained.
In the village, Gobber and several other warriors were knocked off their feet with the force of the blast. He rolled over, coughing, and stared at the fireball that filled the air. The moment of distraction was enough for two invaders; they tackled Gobber and wrestled him until they wrapped ropes around his arms and chest. Another rope tied up his legs.
Haakon recovered from the blast that sent waves of heat across face and arms. He stood at the stern of his boat and grinned. "Finally," he said. "It's here."
Toothless circled back around and he and Hiccup evaluated the damage. As they watched, part of the burning stadium collapsed in a heap of sparks and steam. Hiccup stared, then pushed his mask up. "That shouldn't have been that big, even with all the Zippleback gas. Toothless?" The dragon growled but shook his head once.
Down below, Astrid flew over to Valka. "Stormfly's reached her shot limit," she said. "Without the other dragons, we can't keep this up."
"I know," said Valka. The woman crouched on her dragon's back, surveying the battle. "Cloudjumper's almost done too. Do you see Hiccup?"
Astrid shook her head. "No. Without Toothless's glow, I can't-"
A ball of flames flew past Stormfly. The dragon flapped her wings wildly to find purchase in the chaotic air. Astrid was knocked from her back and fell, screaming, to the water below. Both Stormfly and Cloudjumper dove down to reach her, but Stormfly was once again hit with something, this time a net shot from one of the nearby boats. The dragon crashed into the choppy water.
"Astrid!" Valka looped one end of her staff around one of Cloudjumper's back spikes and knelt against the dragon's side as he flew near parallel to Astrid. She reached out her hand to Astrid, who just barely was able to grab it. Valka pulled Astrid in while Cloudjumper righted himself. The woman kept a tight embrace on Astrid and looked up at the sky, searching for something. Below them, a boat on fire sat half in, half out of the waves.
"That was fire from a Night Fury," she said. She looked at Astrid. "Toothless wouldn't have taken a shot so close to you, would he?"
Astrid shook her head. "No, he wouldn't. You don't think…?"
Valka stood up and once again looked at the distant sky. "Aye. I do. The other Night Fury is here."
From his vantage point above the battle, Toothless tracked the other Night Fury as it struck twice more in rapid succession. Two more ships with holes in their sides, sinking into the dark water. The other dragon was more reckless than any of the Berkian dragons had been. It flew dangerously close to the ships and only narrowly avoided being hit by nets.
Hiccup shook his head. "We can't let him keep doing that, bud," he said. "He's only going to get himself caught." Hiccup flipped his faceplate down once more. "Let's get him out of here, Toothless."
Toothless paused for a moment, wings flapping in the blackness as he sought out the other Night Fury. Without warning, he shot forward so fast that Hiccup gave a yell of surprise. The dark of night prevented Hiccup from seeing their quarry; all he could do was react to the subtle clues Toothless gave about which direction to turn. If the Night Fury realized he was being chased, he gave no indication of it. After firing another shot at the armada, the dragon curved high over the battlefield diagonally across it, coming down in a large circle so that he came down and flew right above the water. Toothless, likewise, soared across the water, spray coming up into both his and Hiccup's eyes.
Without warning, the dragon bobbed in the air and switched course so that he flew nearly vertical into the air. Neither Toothless nor Hiccup had enough time to react to the dragon's sudden change before it became clear this was another trick: directly in front of them was the broad side of a larger warship towards the back of the armada. Toothless scrambled to turn, but in his haste it was too difficult for Hiccup to coordinate with the dragon's movements. Toothless's right shoulder slammed into the wooden boat enough to crack several boards. Hiccup barely avoided cracking his head into the wall by putting his arm up at the last second. It took the brunt of the force. The impact stunned both dragon and rider enough that neither could find purchase to scramble on. Toothless almost bounced off the ship's side and fell into the water sideways, plunging himself and Hiccup into the choppy sea.
The cold water broke Hiccup out of his stun enough that he pushed himself away from Toothless. The dragon flailed as he tried to right himself. Hiccup got a wing in the face in the process. The two managed to bob to the surface, gasping for breath. For a moment, Toothless looked around frantically until he spotted Hiccup a few meters away. The dragon calmed down. Hiccup tried to swim over to the dragon, but found it difficult; his right arm wasn't working properly and he had to use only his left arm. He managed to make it over to the dragon, whose head was barely above the waves. His wings beat hard under the water in order to keep himself afloat.
From the rocking boat maybe five meters away, several figures came to look over the edge, pointing and shouting at the duo in the water. "Looks like we m-might b-be in for a little t-trouble, b-bud," Hiccup said, teeth chattering.
Another person joined the ones at the edge. Despite the distance and darkness, Hiccup could clearly see the man's eyepatch. Harald (blah of the blah). He stared down at Hiccup and Toothless, who stared back at him. After a moment, Harald nodded once at them, then turned abruptly and walked away. His warriors followed him.
"D-don't know what th-that was ab-bout," Hiccup said. He looked around and spotted an abandoned boat half floating in the water. He and Toothless began to make their way over to it, Hiccup holding onto Toothless's saddle with his one good arm while the dragon propelled them forward with his wings.
In the village, Cami snuck around the upper part, farther away from the cliff's edge where the battle was taking place. She and several other warriors placed the small barrels here and there among the buildings. They crept along by moonlight that shone through the now broken cloud cover overhead. Faint clangs and yells could be heard from other parts of the island as the battle went on. A troop of about a dozen dragons kept dive bombing various sections of the village, sometimes blasting away at something and other times picking up what looked like people and carrying them away. Cami couldn't see where they were taken.
Down at the docks, Ruffnut and Tuffnut watched, unseen, from one of the upper ramps. Two enemy boats were lashed to the docks: one mostly empty, with only a few of the small barrels left. The other sat low in the water, its draught weighted down by captive dragons and Vikings, Eret, Spitelout, and Skullcrusher among them. A trio of invaders stood in various places around the dock, watching the waters and sky for anyone who might approach. They each held a spear and the last one held a torch.
"We should get one of those barrels for Hiccup," Ruffnut said.
"Yeah," Tuffnut said, "but how?"
"Fox in the Well?"
"Nah, too many people. The Four Deer?"
"We don't have enough rope for that." Ruffnut frowned, thinking. Then, a slow smile crept across her face. "How about we bring out the Garm Hound?"
Tuffnut grinned. "Oh, yes."
At the lowest dock, the guards were alert for anything that moved. Nothing did beyond the water and the explosions they could see the flash from. From up above came the howl of a wolf, echoing down between the rocks. The guards all started, looked at each other, then started looking around for the source of the sound.
"I think it came from up there," one guard said, pointing at the upper docks.
Another howl came, clearly from the direction that the guard had pointed towards. The guard that spoke poked another one in the back. "Go see what that was," he said.
The other guard crept forward and disappeared from sight around the rock face. There was a brief flash, a short scream, a splash, and then nothing.
The two remaining guards looked at each other, then back up at where their companion disappeared. The guards gestured furiously, arguing silently about who should go next. Finally, the first guard through his hands up in the air and stalked off towards the howl's source.
He put his back to the rock face and inched around slowly and cautiously until he was out of sight of the other guard. He peered around the curve of the rock and found himself face to face with Belch. The dragon sparked right in the guard's face, blinding him enough for Ruffnut to take advantage of his momentary disorientation and shove the guard off the back of the dock and into the water below.
While the remaining guard was distracted, Tuffnut tip-toed along the dock behind him to sneak his way to the boat's cargo. He almost made it to the cargo of the boat when he stepped down on a wooden board that creaked. The guard turned with a shout.
"Uh, hi," Tuffnut said. "I was just…"
Before he could come up with a good excuse, the guard ran down the rest of the dock and lunched at Tuffnut with his spear. Tuffnut dodged. "Ha! Missed m-" only to have the butt of the spear take him in the back of the leg. He fell on his back, groaning. The guard poked him in the stomach with the dull end, hard, for good measure.
Ruffnut heard her brother shout and came racing down the dock, yelling. The guard saw her and grabbed one of the barrels, lighting a string that hung out of it. He tossed it at Ruffnut, who caught it reflexively. She looked down and realized what she was holding.
"Uh oh," she said. Ruffnut threw the bomb right before it exploded, tossing her away from the guard and her brother.
On the half-sunken boat, Toothless pulled himself out of the water and shook himself off. He joined Hiccup at the boat's bow, watching the other Night Fury continue to attack the armada. Only the afterimage of the dragon's explosions revealed his location. Hiccup's right arm hung useless at his side.
One lucky net took the dragon in the flank, trapping his wing against his body. The Night Fury screamed as he fell and crashed into the water between boats of the armada.
"No…" Hiccup breathed. "We have to go help him!" He hobbled over to Toothless, only to find that the rope connecting the stirrup to Toothless's prosthetic had been burned and severed. They were stuck here.
Fishlegs, flying on Meatlug over Berk, heard the Night Fury's scream and turned to look at the armada. "Was that Toothless?" he yelled to Snotlout, nearby with Hookfang. Snotlout opened his mouth to speak, but in their distraction, both the Vikings and their dragons were brought down by nets and darts.
Haakon watched from his still floating ship as the crew from two retrieval boats wrestled the netted Night Fury into one of the holds. The dragon fought wildly, biting and sending small bursts of flame out at its captors. They managed to haul it into the hold where its thrashings rocked the boat from side to side.
"Excellent," Haakon said. He turned to the warriors assembled behind him. "Begin the second phase of attacks."
The catapults were loaded with more projectiles, though this time they were smaller and lit on fire. The flaming rounds flew farther than their larger counterparts and landed amongst all parts of the village.
Bertha watched the bombardment begin. Some, but not all, of her rowboats had returned, filled with captives. She gripped the gunwale tightly and screamed. "NO! My people are still up there!"
On Berk, Cami dove for cover as a flaming ball roared over her head to crash into a house behind her. It was followed by an explosion as the bomb placed on its doorstep exploded, sending a wave of flames that caught on several buildings. The world around Cami was an inferno of flames and smoke.
She stood up and put her arm over her face to block out the smoke. "Mother was right. Of course she was. I should have stayed on the boat with her." She inched her way slowly towards a gap in the flames that she could just barely make out, coughing all the while. "I wouldn't be about to DIE on some island covered with- eep!"
Something grabbed Cami by the shoulders and pulled her off the ground. Cami screamed as she was yanked into the air by what turned out to be a pair of clawed feet. She twisted in their grip to look up at the dragon that had taken her: a Hobblegrunt. The dragon's grey and yellow hide reflected the light of the fire onto Cami's face. She pounded at the dragon's claws for a moment, struggling in its grip, shouting, "Let me go!" before the dragon flew out of the cloud of smoke and Cami looked down. The ground was far below. She could see the whole village. It seemed like every building was on fire, with more explosions every second. Cami stopped struggling and clutched at the dragon's claws. "On second thought, don't do that."
With the thinned smoke, Cami saw that she was not the only human taken by a dragon. At least a dozen other dragons flew nearby, each with a Viking or two in their claws. The dragons flew in a group over to an open field on the east side of the village that was untouched by Haakon's attack. Cami's Hobblegrunt dropped her lightly onto the grass. She came up in a roll, spun around, and found herself face to face with the dragon.
Cami stared, open mouthed and speechless, at the Hobblegrunt. The dragon cocked its head at her, its fanned crest upright and alert. Then, the dragon let out a squawk, as if satisfied that Cami was alright, before it turned and flew back into the smoky sky, leaving Cami to stare at its retreat.
In the smoke above Berk that blocked out the cloudy sky, Valka scanned the burning village from Cloudjumper's back. Astrid did the same behind her. The paths between buildings were empty; Valka could not see any remaining warriors.
Out of nowhere through the smoke came a ball of flames. Cloudjumper rolled to the side to dodge, forcing Valka to grab onto the spines to avoid falling off. From behind them came a scream.
Valka righted herself. In the smoke, she could not see Stormfly in her frantic searching. "Astrid!" she cried. No response.
Cloudjumper swooped around to where they had last seen the girl and her dragon. "Astrid!" Valka yelled again. "Stormfly!"
"We're okay!" came the faint reply, barely heard over the cracking flames. Stormfly's outline became apparent in the gloom and the dragon came to fly next to Cloudjumper and Valka, Astrid on her back. Another explosion sent a tower of sparks over the dragons and riders.
"We have to go," said Valka. "It's too dangerous to stay here much longer."
"Is there anyone left in the village?"
Valka shook her head. "I don't know. The smoke is too thick for me to see." Yet another explosion sounded through the smoke.
Astrid looked troubled at the thought of leaving anyone behind, but she nodded. The two women and their dragons flew out of the smoke, leaving the burning village behind.
As the ships of the armada began to leave the area around Berk, four invaders loaded a bomb much larger than the others into one of the surviving catapults. Someone pulled the lever to launch it. It crashed into a house and came to rest in a pile of burning wood. The short fuse caught on fire and in no time at all burned down into the barrel.
In their half-sunken boat, Hiccup and Toothless crouched down to avoid being seen by the dispersing armada. They peered over the gunwale just enough that their faces were illuminated when the final bomb exploded. The force of the explosion rocked their small boat back and forth, and both Hiccup and Toothless ducked to avoid the shrapnel that was thrown everywhere across the island and sea.
Hiccup righted himself and Toothless shook debris off his head as a cheer went up from the armada. The battle was over.
"It's gone," Hiccup said. He looked at Toothless and said, "Berk is gone."
Toothless didn't respond. The dragon stared straight ahead at the island, his expression unreadable. The remains of the armada moved around their little boat, ignoring them entirely.
A drop of rain splashed down onto the ship's wood. Another fell, and then another. Within seconds, a downpour began. Hiccup and Toothless waited there, crouched down in the rain, watching their home burn.