Chapter 5: Storm Dragon Race

Toothless and his friends landed next to the Rescue Riders at the Roost. The sleeping cave wasn't big enough for all of the new dragons. Toothless and Moon decided to sleep at the Roost while the rest headed to Eclipse and Edelweiss's cave. They made themselves comfortable. Hookfang lit the fire pit.

"Well, what do you guys think?" Edelweiss asked as she sat next to Eclipse.

"Brings back so many memories," said Meatlug dreamily.

"It must be really nice for you to find other humans who speak dragon," said Stormfly to Edelweiss.

"Yes," Edelweiss said.

"Dak and Layla seem so young though," said Meatlug. "Our riders were at least fifteen years old when they started riding."

"And I was a baby when my parents first took me riding," said Edelweiss. "Age is just a number."

"So what about about this Magnus guy?" Cloudjumper asked. "Should we be worried about him?"

"No, there's a lot more of us then there are of him," said Eclipse. "Even with his Mechano Dragon." She laughed.

"You think you'll live up here?" Hookfang asked. "Like your mother lived on Berk for a while?" Edelweiss considered.

"I don't know," she said. "My mother said she liked living on Berk. But it couldn't replace her real home. My dad felt the same way when he was living in the east. Huttsgalore can't replace Draconia, or Draco's Nest."

"That seems fair," said Skullcrusher. "Well we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We should get some sleep." They all settled down as the stars came out. Eclipse got to her feet and headed out for a night of fishing. The others soon feel asleep.

Down in the woods, Magnus and Axle were putting together dragon traps to catch th King of Dragons. Magnus knew it was going to be tricky. But was up to the challenge. He made sure there were no dragons watching him and Axle. However the only dragons watching were the cloaked Slinkwings. Lurke watched from a tree branch.

"Those humans are setting up traps for the King," Snoop said worried. "Should we warn him?"

"No, we could use this to our advantage," Lurke sneered. "These humans can take the King out for us. Perhaps we can even lend a wing." He and Vizzy took off to find a different watch point. Snoop hung back. He felt conflicted. If the King found out about this scheme it would mean certain death, but turning against Lurke would most likely mean the same thing. He reluctantly flew after his fellows.

The next morning the dragons and humans woke up to a howling wind storm. The ocean crashed against the island. Edelweiss and the dragons walked out of the cave. Suddenly a gust of wind knocked Edelweiss off her feet and she would have fallen off the cliff had Hookfang not grabbed her foot in his jaws. He pulled her safely back onto the ground.

"Thanks Hookfang," she said, patting his nose. She held on to him to keep herself from being blown away.

"We won't be going anywhere with this wind," said Stormfly. "I hope Toothless and the others are okay." They all looked towards the village and the Roost. The Vikings were struggling through the winds, tying down loose items.

"We'll have to hunker down until the storm passes," said Cloudjumper. The dragons reluctantly went back into the cave.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Edelweiss asked.

"The wind is too strong for us," said Stormfly. "We'd only be a hazard to the village."

"My mother could ride through storms," said Edelweiss settling next to Meatlug.

"I've seen her fly through many storms," said Stormfly. "Pretty impressive riding. But even she wouldn't fly through winds like this. I'm sure your new friends aren't going anywhere either." Edelweiss patter beak.

"All right," she said. Cloudjumper walked to the cave entrance to watch for clear skies.

"Hey how come you don't sleep in the Roost?" Belch asked. "Since you're such good friends with them."

"Nothing wrong with having my own space," Edelweiss said. "My mother had her own space and she was friends with your riders."

"That's true," said Barf. "Say do they know about your, um, big secret?"

"About being half dragon?" Edelweiss asked. "No, and I'm not sure I'm going to tell them. It's not like they need to know."

"I suppose," said Belch. Edelweiss looked out at the storm. The wind seemed to be dying down.

"Is the storm ending?" She asked hopeful.

"No, it's just a lul," said Cloundjumper. "This'll be blowing for a while." Edelweiss sighed.

"Maybe I can hurry down to the Roost before the next big wind," she said. "Eclipse is fast." The dragons exchanged a glance.

"I'll fly you down," said Meatlug. "I'm less likely to be blown off course." Edelweiss hesitated for a second.

"All right," she said. They both made their way out of the cave. The wind was still blowing, but not as strongly. Edelweiss climbed onto Meatlug and they took off. Edelweiss hung on tight as the wind battered Meatlug about. But the Gronckle managed to maintain control.

They reached the Roost and landed in the yard. The wind started to pick up again as Edelweiss and Meatlug went inside. The Rescue Riders were all huddled in the sleeping cave with Toothless and Moon.

"Hey guys how are you holing up?" Edelweiss asked.

"We can't go outside without be blown away," said Winger. "Did you see how the village was?"

"It seems to be ok for now," said Meatlug. "But who knows how long this storm will last." They heard the wind pounding the side of the lighthouse.

"Where's Hookfang and the others?" Moon asked.

"Still in the other cave," said Edelweiss. "They didn't want to risk getting blown out to sea."

"Makes sense," Dak said. "But how'd you guys get through?"

"There was a lul in the wind and we took a chance," said Edelweiss as she sat between Toothless and Meatlug. Cutter rolled onto his back.

"Is this storm ever going end?" He complained. "I'm so bored." Toothless took a deep breath.

"I remember I time when Berk faced a fierce ice storm," he said. "We and our riders had to hunker down for weeks. And we all went mad with boredom. Hopefully this wind storm won't last that long."

They all sat and waited out the storm. Toothless and Meatlug told the Rescue Riders stories about all the adventures they'd been on with their riders. It helped pass the time. The storm lasted most of the day. But soon it died down. Edelweiss took a peek outside when the wind died down. The air was still damp and chilly, but calm again. Everyone came outside. The other dragons glided down and landed in the yard. The storm had left quite a bit of damage in its footsteps. Several trees had been blown over, some had landed on top of houses. The Vikings were emerging and surveying the damage.

"I bet this place rebuilds just as fast as Berk did," said Stormfly.

"Faster with our help," said Winger. The riders mounted their dragons and they all headed for the village. Toothless and his friends all lent a wing in cleaning up the village. Toothless rounded up other local dragons to help. Hannahr was hard at work fixing tools and making barrels. Chief Duggrd came up to the Rescue Riders when all the trees had been cleared from the house.

"Rescue Riders, you think you can round up our sheep?" He asked. "We had to turn them loose to get out of the storm's way."

"Sure thing," said Layla. She and the other two riders took off on their dragons. They all took off.

"Let's split up," Toothless suggested. "I'll go with Dak and Layla, and their friends. The rest of you head to the far side of the island." Hookfang and Stormfly exchanged a competitive glance.

"You know what this means?" Hookfang said, smirking.

"Dragon Race!" The other dragons said in unison. They all turned and headed over another part of the island.

"Dragon race?" Summer asked curious. Toothless rolled his eyes.

"Ah it's a sport our riders came up with a long time ago," he explained. "The dragons race to see who could round up the most sheep."

"Hey that sound fun," said Cutter.

"I'm not so good at racing," said Burple sadly. "I'm the slowest dragon in the group."

"Don't worry about it Burple," Toothless said. "Dragon racing is played in teams and requires finding sheep. I always tried to get Meatlug on my team. She could find the seep better then I could, and could fly through trees to grab them easier. Then I'd speed them back to the finish. You rock eating dragons have maneuvering skills that I don't have." He smiled.

"Cool," said Burple. Just then Cutter spotted three sheep being chased by a pack of wolves.

"Sheep! Down there," he announced. Toothless fired a plasma blast at the wolves making them scatter. Then Burple, Cutter, and Aggro each picked up a sheep and headed back to the village. The rest of them continued to look for more sheep. They found four more sheep being cornered by more wolves.

"Wow, this place is crawling with wolves," Toothless observed.

"Yeah, I'm glad my mother isn't here," Edelweiss said. "She's still terrified of wolves." The dragons all flew down and grabbed the sheep before the wolves pounced. They turned and headed back to the village.

They got back and put the sheep into the newly repaired sheep pens, then landed in the plaza. The adult dragons landed near them, each with five dragons.

"Looks like we tied," Meatlug said. Just then Duggard came up and counted the sheep.

"Oh no, Haggis is still lost out there," he said. The dragons jumped to their full height at this news.

"Yes, tiebreaker!" Stormfly said. They all took off again, and split up.

"Wow, they're in a hurry," said Duggard.

"They're very competitive," Edelweiss said. "They'll get Haggis no problem."

"I should go supervise them," said Toothless. "Make sure they actually find Haggis, and no roast him."

"I'll come with you," said Moon.

"No, you stay here," Toothless said. "I'll be okay." Moon nodded, though reluctantly. She and the rest of the group went back to cleaning up the village.

Toothless flew low over the trees. He kept his eyes and ears open for his friends and for the final sheep. However he failed to see small catapult aimed right at him. Suddenly it fired bags of dragon pepper at the Night Fury. They exploded over his head and made him sneeze out of control. He sneezed so much that he didn't see the dragon trap he was heading right for, until several bolas snapped around his wings, snout, and tail. He crashed into a tree and fell to the ground, unconscious. Magnus and Axle landed the Mechano Dragon next to him. Magnus jumped down, proud of himself.

"Got you at last Night Fury," he snickered. He looked over at the dragon's tail. He had just removed the mechanical fin when the pirate Wildando jumped down form a tree and knocked out Axle, then Magnus. Having done that, he turned to the downed Night Fury.

"The King of Dragons, mine at last," he said, kicking the metal tail fin over a cliff. Wildando then used the Mechano Dragon to move Toothless towards his waiting ship.