Chapter XVII

We were getting close. I could feel it. Rina and I were on Heartbeat and Toothles leading Astrid who rode a Deadly Nadder, Ruffnut and Tuffnut riding a Ziplebag, Snotlout on a Monsturous Nightmare and Fishlegs with a Gronckle. As we were approaching the dragon island we saw over ten thousand dragons flying away. We could hear in the distance people screaming and smoke coming from the burning ships. When we got close enough I saw my dad and Gobber trying to get attention from the gigantic dragon. It was even bigger than I imagined.

,,Now Heartbeat!" yelled Rina making Heartbeat fire at their queen. When they saw as on dragons, Gobber and my dad could onely watch slack-jawed, in awe.

,, Every bit the boar-headed, stubborn Viking you ever were." I could hear Gobber say to my dad. I turned to face the others while we were flying over the gigantic dragon head.

,, Fishlegs, break it down.".

,, Okay. Heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing. Steer clear of both. Small eyes, large nostrils. Relies on hearing and smell.".

,, Okay. Lout, Legs, hang in its blind spot. Make some noise, keep it confused. Ruff, Tuff, Ast, find out if it has a shot limit. Make it mad."

,, That's my specialty." said Ruffnut.

,, Since when? Everyone knows I'm more irritating. See." said Tuffnut making irritating sounds.

,, Just do what I told you. I'll be back as soon as I can." I said and we took off to find the dragons that my dad captured.

We were gliding over the burning ships when I spotted them. Only two were left. The others must have escaped.

,,There!" I said pointing but Heartbeat and Toothless were already heading down to their friends. I got on the wrecked ship and turned to Rina.

,,Go help the others! They'll need you!".

,,Be careful!" she said taking off as I fought my way with Toothless to the Terrible Terrors and managing to unbuckle the muzzles.

,, Okay, hold on. Hold on." I said freeing them from the chains but something provoked the giant dragon and she stepped on the boat sending Toothles and me into the sea. I looked around and saw that Toothless was stuck with his tail between two rocks.

I swam as fast as I could to where Thootless. I couldn't free him and I was almost out of air. But then a hand grabbed me and dragged me to the surface. I got laid down on the shore and saw a blink of my rescuer before he went back.

,,Dad?".

After a few seconds Toothles emerged from the water carrying my dad. He landed on the shore, setting my dad down and releasing him. Toothless got on a rock and raises his wings. He turned to me and snorted like he was telling me it's time to go.

,, You got it, bud." I said getting on him but dad grabbed me before we could fly away.

,,Hiccup. I'm sorry...for everything." and I knew by the regret in his eyes he was really sorry.

,,Me too dad."

,,You don't have to go back there.".

,, We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard.".

,, I'm proud to call you my son." he said giving me an honest smile.

,,Thanks dad." and then we took off.

I looked for my friends and saw them retreating. But then the Red Death, the giant dragon, opened her mouth and started sucking in air, taking Rina and Heartbeat with it.

,,Oh no you don't!". Toothles fired and hit the Red Death but the explosion was too big and Rina and Heartbeat got seperated and started falling. We dived down and grabbed Rina before she could hit the ground.

,,You got her?" I asked and Toothless shrieked in approval. Heartbeat managed to straighten herself and got under Toothles so she could get Rina back on her. We flew around the Red Death and I saw something interesting.

,,Rina, that thing has wings! " I said. She looked at it and then smirked.

,,Okay, let's see if it can use them!" she said and we pulled our partners into a turn heading down with tremendous speed. Toothles and Heartbeat both unloaded a fireball against the Red Death's head and it went down with a rumble.

,,Do you think that did it?" she asked and to answer her question I pointed behind us. The Red Death was right behind us flapping its wings, furiously.

,,Well it can fly. Let's go up!" I said and we headed straight up in the air while the Red Death still chased after us. We needed to hide and I saw my chance in the clouds.

,,Time to disappear guys!" I said as we hid in the clouds vanishing from the sight of the others who were looking from the ground. The Red Death lost us but we could still see her. We bouth started shooting at her but that made her really angry. She bellowed in frustration and whirled around, unleashing fire blindly, in all directions. We tought we avoided her but...

,,Hiccup, Toothless, the tail!" yelled Rina and I saw the problem. It was on fire and slowly burning away.

,,Okay, time's up. Let's see if this works." I said turning Toothless right in front of the Red Death and taunted her.

,,Come on! Is that the best you can do!?" Toothles and I insulted and we jackknifed into a steep dive. Rina and Heartneat joined us and the Red Death followed.

The Red Death closed the gap. I tucked in and holded Toothless steady ,allowing the monster to set its sights on us.

,,Steady..." said Rina watching the Red Death getting closer. It opened its mouth to fire at us and that was the moment we were waiting for.

,,NOW!" we turned and they both fired inside the Red Deaths mouth. It came unstable and went for the ground. She saw she was going to hit it and spread the wings to stop but they got ripped and she couldn't stop. The Red Death hit the ground, head-first and it exploded like the Hindenburg. We all managed to avoid the falling dragon but then I saw that Rina and Heartbeat were going to get hit by the tail.

,,Watch out!" I yelled and acted instikntly. Toothless and I pushed them out of the way taking the blow ourselves. The last thing I remember was that I was falling while Toothless was diving after me and Rina's and Heartbeat's horrible screams.