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DreamWorks Dragons: Defenders of Berk
Authors: Fareway; HTTYD Frozen Forever
Free Reign, Chapter 5
Writer: Fareway
A loud knock sounded on the large wooden door and Hiccup stood up from his seat to drag him over and open it. The tired boy was quite surprised to find Alvin at his doorstep as he gazed at the man with confusion.
"Alvin?" Hiccup addressed. "Aren't you supposed to be with my father at the meeting?" He questioned.
Alvin chuckled, "That meeting is for Berk, and Berk only. Allies have no part in it." He responded in his deep, raspy voice. "Besides, I wasn't invited." He added as he casually walked in.
"Why are you here then?" Hiccup questioned as he closed the door while keeping an eye on the older one.
"I figured I'd come by and check on the new Temporary Chief." Alvin replied, turning around to look at the young heir and rest his hands on his hips.
"Uh, thanks—I guess—but I'm doing just fine; everything is taken care of." Hiccup replied.
"You don't look fine." Alvin stated factually.
"I never asked for your opinion." The boy softly growled.
"You know Hiccup, I have some experience with chiefing. You can always come to me for advice." The man attempted on persuasion.
"No offense, Alvin, but I wasn't exactly thinking of your kind of leadership." Alvin muttered something inaudible in response. Hiccup took no notice to it as he sat back down in his seat at the table.
"Besides, I have it handled." Hiccup re-stated as he picked up the feather beside the book and dipped it in the small jar of ink.
"Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup;" Hiccup looked up from the table, at no one in particular, with half-opened eyes of no amusement.
"When are you going to let people help?" Alvin questioned, grabbing hold of Hiccup's chair to loom over his shoulder. He had an eerie look to his face as the shadows from the fire danced gently across his features.
Hiccup turned around in his chair, "I do ask for help, but only from people I trust, Alvin." The room was filled with silence, except for the fire crackling, as heir and former enemy stared for dominance in the conversation. Toothless moved his eyes between the two before landing on Hiccup and cooing. Neither of the Vikings looked at him, but Hiccup did lift his hand to pet his beloved friend's head.
"It's getting late." Hiccup stated, allowing his eyes to drop back down to the Book of Dragons. Alvin scowled, but otherwise kept his cool.
"Indeed it is. I'll be here tomorrow if you need me." Alvin's tone made Hiccup want to rethink his opinion of the man. He looked up as Alvin disappeared behind the door, it closing shut. Toothless came around to face him, nudging his head into Hiccup's hands. He gazed at the boy as he sensed the confusion swirling around in his head.
"I don't understand, Toothless. My father can trust Alvin; why can't I?" He confided. Toothless huffed in response and looked at his friend with honesty.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Dad doesn't completely trust him." Hiccup said as he smiled and returned to his work on the Book of Dragons. "I don't think anyone can." He added. Toothless chortled in agreement before laying his head down on the table; his eyes following the movement of Hiccup's hand.
Suddenly, a loud sound resonated from the door again and Hiccup and Toothless peered over at the entry way.
Hiccup sighed and lay his feather pen down, "Don't tell me it's him again." He growled, but upon opening the door, his grumpy attitude flew away.
"Oh, Astrid." He said in a much happier tone.
"Did Alvin stop by, because I just saw him—" She stated, but didn't bother finishing.
"Yeah, don't ask." Hiccup replied, his exhaustion coming back.
"Still tired from today's chiefing?" she wondered, walking in, but keeping the door open as she stood just shy of it.
"Who wouldn't be?" Hiccup exasperated.
"Well, I hate to make things worse, but we've got to go check inventory at the forge." Astrid informed.
"What, why?"
"Gobber left a letter insisting that we maintain the forge." She answered.
"Do we have to do it tonight?" Hiccup moaned. Astrid just gave him that look and placed her hands on her hips. Hiccup sighed in defeat, "Fine."
The small inset was enough space for the fiery dragons to climb on top of each other in a pile. They curled around and layered themselves into a ball of gold light as they filled the small space hidden between the wood.
The village was perfect for a home, and the labyrinth of caves underneath would provide the perfect concealment for their queen. The only problem was the Vikings still residing in the houses. But that would be an easy fix once the numbers came from the caves…
Hiccup and Astrid walked the short distance from the Chief's house to the forge. Toothless followed behind the two, his black skin blending well with the night. He stopped and sat down just outside the door, yawning and resting his head to take a nap as Hiccup and Astrid did whatever it was that they were doing.
"Alright, let's get started." Hiccup's voice could be heard clearly from outside.
"We should start with the shelves." Astrid suggested.
Toothless paid no mind to what they were talking about. It was late at night and all he planned on doing was sleeping.
"Toothless!" At the call of his name, Toothless opened one tired eye and perked up on ear.
"Can I get some light, bud?" Hiccup asked with a smile as he held up a torch taken from the wall. The black dragon groaned, but otherwise opened his mouth to fire a breathless plasma blast. Hiccup flinched from the small explosion before smiling as light was given unto his hands. He used it to see what he was doing as he poked the embers back to life in the pit.
Whispering buzzes and hisses sounded from the dragons as they rested among each other. The closer they were, the brighter they got. However, their light didn't matter between the wood as it was their heat given off that posed a threat.
Toothless snored softly as he breathed in and out. Curled up in a Night Fury ball, the black dragon rested peacefully outside of the forge.
Suddenly, his ears perked up as his nose began to twitch. His eyes blinked open from their slumber right before he lifted his head. Toothless sniffed the air for a second or two, and then narrowed his eyes once he turned to the left.
A small light radiated off of a single Fireworm as the little dragon sat vertically on a rock. Toothless walked up to the fiery stoker and warningly growled. A strange tension filled the air as Toothless threatened the little beast away. He watched as the Fireworm's light slowly faded from view.
Hiccup picked up a mace that lay on the wooden table in the forge. Gravity brought the weapon down towards the ground, but didn't quite grasp it as Hiccup held firm onto the handle. He was familiar with the weapon's weight.
"Mace," He stated with a slightly strained voice as he passed the mace over to Astrid's hands.
"Mace." She repeated, mentally checking the iron tool off the list once it was placed on it holding rack on the wall.
The minute Hiccup let go of the mace, a sudden burst of heat hit his face, and he exhaled deeply. Did it just get really hot in here? He thought as he looked over at the pit. It can't be the pit, I just scattered the cinders.
His eyes suddenly shifted over to the left as his ears picked up on a familiar sound. A crackling hiss, very soft and almost inaudible.
"You hear that?" he questioned to Astrid without looking over at her.
"Hear what?" she asked, not picking up on the noise. But as she stopped moving and listened, she heard it.
"It's coming from over here." Hiccup said as he made his way over towards the far end of the wall. The young Viking knelt down beside the wood and gently placed his hand against it. The sudden burn and sharp pain caused him to retract his limb immediately all the while shouting out his short agony.
"You okay?" Astrid asked, approaching him quickly. "What happened?"
"It's hot…" Hiccup informed, confusion written on both of their faces. He stood up and grabbed a metal bar laying on the table. With both hands, he jammed the bar in between a crack and tore open the wood. Light gushed into the darker room, Astrid and Hiccup both having to shield their eyes for a few seconds.
The huddled group of dragons started hissing louder as the Vikings were in view. Astrid and Hiccup gazed down at them with surprise before looking at each other.
"Fireworms?" They said in unison.
Toothless snorted to himself as he watched with unhappy eyes as the little Fireworm pest disappeared. He understood perfectly why the humans thought them useful. They were a great light source. Small, containable, and having more of them meant brighter or duller lights—controllable. That's more to say then for a Nightmare…
But for Toothless, and pretty much all other dragons, they were a nuisance. They were like spiders, you always found them no matter where you went. Especially from times before, Toothless would fly down from the skies to catch some fish at a nearby lake or pond. Every other time, he was accompanied by them and had to protect his fish.
No, wait; those were Terrible Terrors…
Despite the short story, dragons didn't like Fireworms. It always felt easy for them to just… overrun.
Toothless huffed out a breath and twitched his nose a bit before getting off of his butt and walking back over to the forge. But something caught his attention and the black dragon halted. He sniffed the air and immediately reacted with broad eyes. Upon turning around, the soft glow from the small Fireworm returned, except different. The light was no longer soft, but now hard; the glow no longer small, but big; and the noise of hissing became more apparent than Toothless ever dreamed of.
The Night Fury roared in warning as he saw what was coming.
Toothless' roar was easily heard by the two teens, and both of them whipped their heads up towards his call.
"Toothless?!" Hiccup called as he started off to his friend. Suddenly, a scream sounded from behind him and he turned to witness the Fireworms from the wall jump onto Astrid.
"Hiccup!" she screamed as the little dragons began biting and burning her skin.
"Get off her!" Hiccup yelled as he grabbed the torch from the wall and began swinging it around near the beast. Oddly enough, even though the Fireworm's skin burns hotter than the sun, they didn't like fire. Astrid fell down on the wooden floor as the Fireworms scattered and escaped out the doorway.
"Astrid, are you okay?!" Hiccup practically hollered as he rushed over to her side. She was breathing deeply, but awake, looking at her arms as burns littered her skin.
A screech Hiccup has only heard once before sounded dangerously nearby. Both of their heads popped up from the noise as a large glow began to scrawl towards the entrance of the forge. As the light crept closer, Hiccup and Astrid heard Toothless roaring angrily.
"Toothless?" Hiccup questioned as he dare not leave Astrid's side, but ever so wished he could find his pal. A plasma blast fired and hit the forge's doorway, causing the teens to flinch.
"Astrid, we have to—" Fire engulfed the forge walls, cutting Hiccup off. Another blast hit the failing structure, and soon, Hiccup and Astrid were rushing out. Out of nowhere, a force pushed Hiccup and Astrid to the ground. Hiccup's hold on her faltered and she was lost in the night's burning smoke that covered the village.
Hiccup fell on his back as the force knocked him over, a sudden pain resonating from his lower body. Upon looking down, he found parts of the forge's roof laying on his legs. He struggled to lift the wood up, but failed and caused the large piece to shift bringing more pain then what was needed.
"Astrid! Toothless!" He yelled. A roar from above called him to look up as he saw Hookfang hovering on fire. The Nightmare was firing at something, but when Hiccup looked over, all he could see was smoke and ash. Through the smoke, however, a large light emerged and from it came a blast of flames directed towards Hookfang. The dragon quickly flew out of the way, safe from harm, but now the light was closing in on Hiccup.
Out of the smoke, roaring and hissing, emerged a giant Fireworm; it's serpent head whipping back and forth as her eyes picked up on the other dragon's locations.
Hiccup gasped, "Fireworm Queen." He whispered. The Queen peered down at the trapped boy, and hissed. Using her many legs, she climbed over the debris and lowered her head right down to him. Before Hiccup could lift his hand up to try and calm the beast, she flicked her tongue and struck the boy's arm. Hiccup gasped, and moved his arm away. Suddenly, it felt like the smoke was starting to suffocate him as his breathes began to quicken and his heart began to beat faster. His vision swayed and his limbs began to go numb as a strange heat overwhelmed his veins.
The last thing he heard was Toothless screeching…
Author's Note:
Oh, you don't know how long it took me to get this chapter done. I started it during my quarter and man were my classes piling on projects and due dates. I must say though, this took way longer than I had hoped. Still though, it is a long chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy.
Sorry for the terrible delay, not just on this story, but on my other stories. Thank you for reading and have a great summer! -because mine only lasts for 2 weeks :/