"Fall back!" Hiccup yelled at the top of his lungs. He waved his arm across his side in the direction of the Great Hall. "Fall back!"
Gobber stood in front of the Great Hall with Valka. He smacked a stray Roman over the head with his hammer and then looked to the skies. When he saw Hiccup signaling, he waved back. He turned to Valka. Another viking nearby looked up at where Gobber was staring. "Hey look, its Hiccup." A bunch of the vikings began to cheer. Gobber grabbed Valka's tunic and pointed towards her son. "Look, he's waving. You're doing great chief!" Valka narrowed her eyes to get a better look. "Gobber, he's not waving." The faint yell finally reached her ears, and she began to panic. "Everyone inside!" She screamed. "Quickly. Quickly!" Those that were close to her heard and obeyed, but their were still hundreds out on the battlefield. Gobber eventually caught on and then wobbled over to the battle horn, where he signaled a retreat.
The sound of the horn reached Hiccup's ears. He relaxed slightly as Vikings began to pull away from the fight to move into the Great Hall. He stopped Toothless when he saw Gobber go in to unlock the emergency exit. Hiccup had used to think that the exit was useless and stupid, but he was now more grateful than ever that the old blacksmith had convinced him it was a good idea. He breathed a sigh of relief as more vikings and some dragons went through the large doors. At least I know a few were saved. His relieved mood was killed quickly by the sound of cracking wood.
Neptune's Wrath began to creak. Not just a few boards of the monstrous ship, but the entire middle section. A large number of planks began to fly off. Large cracks began to form down the entire hull. Hiccup's eyes widened in terror. He didn't. The cracks began to increase in size, to the point were the could swallow a man whole. A deep growl came from within the ship. A peddle-tone deep growl. Toothless dropped his ears in fear and then backed away from the ship. Hiccup unsheathed his blade and bent down closer to Toothless. The ship began to shake. Even more planks began to fly off the vessel. And then, a bellowing, monstrous roar.
Hiccup watched as the ship expanded until it couldn't take any more, launching hundreds of thousands of wooden pieces flying through the air. A large, black dragon stood on the floating bottom of the ship before using its eight wings to create a tidal wave to destroy it. Several ships were hit by the wave, shattering them on impact. Four gigantic heads turned around to take in the surrounding area, whilst a fifth stared straight forward at the battle, a small orange dot, standing on top of it. Hiccup gasped, the heads alone were each the size of a Red Death. The huge beast soared towards the mountain, grasping it with its six huge tails. The Romans immediately dropped their weapons and bowed down before the mighty beast. Romulus laughed as The Black Death let out a triumphant roar. The vikings stood frozen in shock and fear. Hiccup sighed and then leaned down towards Toothless. "Come on, bud. We have a job to do." Reluctantly, the Night Fury made its way towards the beast.
Laughter filled the air as Romulus took in the sight of his frightened enemies. His face was now completely covered by a black silk that stretched from one jaw of the helmet to the other, but his voice echoed across the entire island. When his laughing had finally subsided, he turned towards the crowds of soldiers. "So you thought you could run from me?" He asked the people before pointing his staff at the door of the mead hall. The head he was riding snaked down and pointed its mouth at the huge wooden pieces. Valka and Gobber quickly grabbed the doors and pulled them shut. The center head let loose a large blast of ice, freezing the door way shut. A red flash came from the other side of the mountain, and Hiccup realized that another head had just turned the escape route, and anyone who had been using it, into ashes.
"Now that we have that taken care of, I demand the immediate surrender of all vikings, or I will kill you all." He began to laugh again. "Ah, I'll probably just kill you all, anyway. You've been a real pain." He continued to laugh as he lifted the Dragonstone above his head. "Game over." A small black dragon shot through the sky towards the monstrosity. Hiccup yelled as he tackled Romulus, causing him to drop the stone and his staff. The pair wrestled as they attempted to grab the stone, causing both it and them to fall off of the black dragon. They continued to fight on the way down as they each reached for the falling stone. Romulus grabbed it first, but Toothless caught Hiccup first. The Black Death roared as it lifted off to catch up with the Night Fury.
Hiccup hung upside-down, held by his feet as he grabbed the stone with both hands. Romulus dangled high above the waters of the sea, both of his hands firmly wrapped around the stone as well. Hiccup attempted to swing the stone around to make Romulus lose his grip, but the weight made it impossibly difficult. Toothless barely kept a hold of Hiccup as he dodged the huge tail claws that were trying to grab him. At one point, the Night Fury flipped around, increasing tension on Hiccup's grip. Romulus exploited the opportunity, tucking in in order to create more force. Hiccup yelled in pain as he let go of the stone, unable to hang on any more.
The Black Death stretched its head out in order to catch Romulus, whilst Toothless chucked Hiccup in the air, catching him on the way down. Romulus stood, Dragonstone in hand, and turned towards the pair. "That was a nice try, boys. But, no one can beat Emperor Romulus the Dragon Lord!" Romulus yelled as he lifted his hands up in a gesture of power. "Humble much?" Hiccup muttered under his breath. His eyes widened when Romulus pointed the stone at him. "Look out." He yelled as he pulled on Toothless' reins to get him to dodge. The blast narrowly missed the pair. Romulus fired another one at them, and another one. "Die!" He hissed under his breath, this time making contact with the dragon. Toothless roared in pain. Romulus laughed. "Now I have you."
A Deadly Nadder cry was heard as a spike collided with Romulus' wrist armor, knocking the stone from his grip. Solstice flew in and grabbed the stone as it soared upwards, releasing Toothless from its power. Romulus unsheathed his sword when a another spike caused him to lose it as well. He yelled in rage as Astrid flew by on Stormfly. Also, angered, the top-right head of the Black Death fired a blue blast of lightning at them. Astrid turned to watch as a large monstrous nightmare took the blast for them, killing it instantly. Astrid felt a few tears run down her eye. When you gain a dragon's trust, you gain it untill death. Solstice tossed the Dragonstone to Hiccup as she passed by, and Hiccup's three rescuers flew back towards Berk. Romulus fumed. "Give that back!" He yelled. The Black Death roared, charging at Toothless. Toothless quickly plunged down under the large dragon and shot off towards a favorite spot of his. The large beast followed.
Hiccup caught sight of where Toothless was headed and smiled. "Good idea, bud." The fog became thick as the large stone outcroppings became closer and closer. Their first real challenge when flying. Back when the two had first started training and were falling out of the sky. Hiccup liked to call it the Obstacle Course, and he still thought it was too dangerous for the other riders, including Astrid. Exactly what they needed right now. The pair shot through the maze of rocks at lightning speed, almost colliding with quite a few rocks. When they were through, Toothless slowed down from exhaustion and Hiccup turned around. "I think we lost them." He said. His happiness was cut short as the black monstrosity flew up into the air, blocking out the sun. "Probably should've seen that one coming." Toothless shot off again.
This time Hiccup came up with a plan. He turned Toothless towards the cliffs, where long caves that crossed across the island started. The pair quickly went into the darkest one they could find. The black death stopped at the mouth of the cave and let a loud roar into it, before moving on. Hiccup closed his eyes as he allowed Toothless' echolocation guide them. He opened them again when he knew they were out. "I think that worked!" he yelled. A bellowing roar informed him otherwise.
The pair of heroes stopped where the large crowds could see them. The two sides had stopped fighting and were now waiting on the outcome of their leaders' battle. "We can't run anymore." Hiccup said as he slowly unsheathed Inferno. The two were exhausted, both panting. The Black Death stopped in front of them and Romulus yelled at them. "Enough, I'm tired of this. Keep the damn stone, I've more than enough power to conquer the world. But, I can't have you ruining my plans any further." The five heads of the Black Death charged their different blasts. Lightning, fire, ice, water, and acid. Hiccup and Toothless closed their eyes. They were too tired. Hiccup held the stone close to his chest. At least I know I saved a few. He thought to himself. The image of a blonde girl took over his mind, becoming his final thought. "Goodbye, Astrid."
The five heads let loose.