Chapter 15: The Dragon's Den

"Now, when we crack this mountain open, all Hel is going to break loose."

"And my undies." Gobber added. "Good thing I brought extras."

Stoick tried to brush him off with as much annoyance as possible. On other days, he would have tolerated Gobber's banter, but right now was too important. "No matter how this ends, this ends today." He raised a hand and gave a signal for the catapults to fire.

Two or three boulders soared through the air and collided with the mountain before it crumbled, forming a sizable hole inside. Stoick was the first to step forward, hammer and shield ready. It was too dark to see properly, but that didn't matter. This had to be where the dragons were. He gave another gesture with his hammer, prompting the catapults The flaming boulder shot just over his head, illuminating the cave as it passed.

In those few seconds, Stoick saw them. Dragons, every different kind of species imaginable, clinging to the walls like bats. And if they weren't awake before, they were now. He readied his hammer.

Against his better judgment, he thought. He thought of Elinor, who probably would have shirked upon seeing the hordes. He thought of the royals of Corona, who probably would have tried to negotiate peace treaties with the dragons.

And then he thought of Hiccup. Hiccup, who would've wanted to study every kind of dragon in here rather than fight. Hiccup, who would still be trying to convince him that dragons weren't evil. Hiccup, who would be trying to convince him that he couldn't fight what was in here. Hiccup, who was beginning to remind him too much of Valka.

He thought of Valka.

Stoick roared, and charged.

They flew past him.

Every single dragon in this cave flew right passed him, not even brushing against his hammer. Once Stoick realized this, he turned to see them still fleeing, filling up the sky.

"Is that it?" Gobber shrugged and turned to the army.

"WE DID IT!"

Though the rest of the army cheered, Stoick didn't let his guard down. Faintly, he could see the boat where the Night Fury had been tied shaking slightly. The Night Fury was trying to escape for the first time.

It clicked. "THIS ISN'T OVER! HOLD YOU RANKS! STICK TOGETHER!"

The ground shook. A large gust of wind blew through the cave, nearly knocking Stoick backwards. A slightly metallic noise pierced through the air, and Stoick realized. That was a roar. Rock and debris shot out at him, and Stoick quickly realized that the hole they made was quickly becoming bigger. "GET CLEAR!" He ordered, and he made a mad dash out of the way of fire.

The Queen Dragon roared again and stepped out of her hiding spot. It was large, larger than Stoick had even thought possible for a dragon. Once upon a time, it might have been blue in color, but now most of the scales had been dyed a rust-like color. What part of it wasn't covered in spikes was covered in hair-like tentacles, and Stoick could make out six, rageful red eyes.

"Beard of Thor!" Gobber exclaimed. "What is that?!"

"Odin help us."

A nagging bit in the back of his mind (that sounded suspiciously like Elinor) was telling him that Hiccup was right. That they couldn't fight this thing. But Stoick the Vast ignored it. "CATAPULTS!"

The Queen Dragon shook off the boulders like they were bugs. It took another step forward, shaking the ground as it did. It was occurring to all the other Vikings just how fruitless this all was.

"TO THE BOATS!" Someone ordered.

"NO!" Stoick tried to yell. It was too late. The Queen Dragon's attention turned to the boats, and in seconds, nearly all of them were in flames.

Stoick breathed. He couldn't do this. Hiccup had been right. "Lead the men to the far side of the island!" He ordered to a Viking only just out of his vision. "Gobber, go with them."

"I think I'll stay," Gobber responded. "Just in case you're thinking of doing something stupid."

"Gobber, I can buy them a few minutes if I give it something to hunt. Go with the men." Stoick turned, but found himself stopped as Gobber grabbed his hand.

"I can double that." Gobber said.

Stoick offered him a small smile before he turned to the dragon and charged. Most of the catapults had been destroyed now, but the stands still remained. He plucked one of them out of the ground and tossed it like a spear, just missing one of its eyes. That got its attention. It let out a roar and started to narrow down on him…

A fire blast diverted its attention again. It wasn't from him, or from Gobber, or from anyone else in the army. It came from overhead.

A group of dragons flew past it. What caught Stoick's attention, however, were the people on them. Nearly every kid from the village old enough for training was riding past, and if he needed to verify it (which was not out of the realm of possibility considering the circumstances), Ruffnutt was shouting "WE'RE ON DRAGONS! LOOK AT US, WE'RE ON DRAGONS, EVERYONE!"

Nearly every kid from the Dragon Training, but not Hiccup. There wasn't a doubt in his mind, however, that he was the one that pulled this together.

"Every bit the boar-headed stubborn Viking you were!" Gobber exclaimed.

Stoick could only nod. He was. And for the first time in forever, Stoick was beginning to feel genuinely proud of him.


"Fishlegs, break it down!" Astrid ordered.

"Okay! Heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing. Steer clear of both! Small eyes, huge nostrils. Relies on mostly smelling and hearing." Fishlegs read off.

"Right!" Astrid immediately put that into thought. She might not be the master strategist Hiccup was, but she could make up a plan for fighting dragons the second it was identified to her. "You and Stoutlat hang in its blind spot and make noise. Make it confused. Ruff, Tuff, make it mad. We have to find out if this thing has a shot limit."

"That's my specialty!" Ruffnutt proclaimed.

"Why? Everyone knows I'm more annoying!" Tuffnut argued.

Astrid saw the blue flash in the sky before anyone else did. And even though she didn't know what it was, she knew instantly that it had something to do with Hiccup. "I'll be right back!" She said as she flew off to him.

Sure enough, it was Hiccup and the Monstrous Nightmare he took off on. It was also three others; a girl with a mess of fiery curls and wielding a bow and arrow, a boy with white hair and wielding a staff as long as he was, and a girl with short, brown hair wielding a frying pan. "These are your reinforcements?" She asked.

"It's a long story, and I don't think now's the time to tell it!" Hiccup responded. He gestured to the others, and with a nod in response, the three began to board her dragon. "Where's Toothless!?"

Quickly, Astrid scanned over the ships, trying to find the one with even the slightest bit of movement.

"There!" She pointed.

"Right! Now you go help the others!" Hiccup sped off.

The Deadly Nagger shifted slightly as it tried to adjust to the weight. But certainly not enough to really weaken it, Astrid thought with an internal sigh of relief. "So you guys know how to use those!?" She asked, more directed to those that had the arrow and the staff.

As if to answer her, the white haired pretty boy jumped off the Deadly Nagger. Rather than plummeting, however, he floated, and charged in front of her. He rose his staff, and in seconds one of the Queen's Dragon's blasts crystallized and fell to the ground below in pieces.

"You could say that!" He responded, sending a smirk her way before he flew off again.


The other two girls worked in unison, and dismounted to either side of the Queen Dragon's head. Instantly, they worked towards the eyes, trying to shoot or bash (respectively) them shut.

Astrid froze as she watched. Yeah, they'd do quite nicely.

Hiccup jumped off the Monstrous Nightmare as soon as he could. He couldn't waste a single second. "Go help the others!" He ordered, and the Monstrous Nightmare was more than happy to oblige.

Toothless' eyes lit up as soon as he saw Hiccup. Hiccup would have liked to have a better reuniting scene, but right now, the boat was on fire and they were being attacked by the Queen of Dragons. Instantly, Hiccup started to work on breaking the bonds, occasionally muttering something comforting as he did (though he suspected that Toothless realized it was just as much for himself as it was for him). The neck harness was rather easy to peel off, but the rest of them had been bolted down. He grabbed a piece of shrapnel and started prying away.

The boat shook. Even if Hiccup had something he could grab hold of, it wouldn't have done much. Another shake, and soon he and Toothless were catapulted into the water.

Hiccup grabbed as much air as he could and swam down. It was a bit easier to break the harness now that they were underwater, but only just. He only managed to break off the foot binds before he felt himself run out of air.

And felt himself being tossed up on land. He choked out some water as he sat up, and wildly glanced around for the sign of his rescuer. He could only make out the hazy image of…"Dad?"

His dad didn't answer, instead turning back to the ocean and diving in. In a few seconds, Toothless rose and dropped off his father. Toothless landed nearby, giving off a roar and wildly gesturing his head to the Queen Dragon.

"Got it." Hiccup said, and quickly rushed over.

Just as soon as he had gotten the saddle ready, he felt a tug on his hand.

Hiccup turned to him. For the first time that Hiccup could remember, it looked like Stoick the Vast, Village Chief, was looking at a loss for words. "I'm sorry." He managed to sputter out. "Fo—for everything."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Ya don't have ta go up there. It's dangerous."

"We're Vikings." Hiccup shrugged. "It's an occupational hazard."

Hiccup turned, but he felt another tug on his hand. His father was now holding his hand down with both of his. "I'm proud to call ya my son." He said before he let go.

Hiccup blinked for a second. "Thanks Dad." He said in all but a whisper, and then took off.


Compared to some other dragons, Night Furies had a relatively low shot limit. To make up for this, not only were their blast stronger, but they never missed (and if they did, they had good reason). And so, for Toothless' first trick, he fired directly into the mouth of the Queen Dragon.

That certainly got her attention.

"That thing has wings…" Hiccup thought aloud. "Let's see if it can use them!"

Toothless gave a nod. For his second trick, he shot directly at the Queen Dragons' wings, knocking it over. That definitely got her attention.

"You think that did it?" Hiccup asked.

The sounds of flapping wings far larger than his and a monstrous roar answered Hiccup's question.

"Well, it can use them…" Hiccup shrugged.

Toothless charged. He was flying faster than he had ever gone in his life; faster than he thought possible. Expertly, he dodged through the large stone columns, and tried his best to avoid the debris heading his way as the Queen smashed through it.

As soon as they were far enough off the coast that they wouldn't hurt anyone, Hiccup glanced down at him. "Alright, Toothless, time to disappear!"

Toothless flew up straight into the clouds. With a roar, the Queen followed.

"Here it comes…!" Hiccup warned.

Another roar, and Toothless veered left to avoid the large fire blast headed straight his way. And that would only help them out.

Even without a blind-spot, it would be near impossible for the Queen to see a single Night Fury hidden in the heavy clouds and smoke. But it was rather easy for him to make out the very large Queen Dragon. Once he was positive they were hidden well enough, Toothless began to dash around, firing as many shots as he could. One on one wing. One on another. And the last on its forehead. The Queen gave a pained roar, and soon the sky filled with flames. Toothless tried to make it out as fast as he could. His body survived. The tailfin Hiccup had made, however, did not.

"Okay, time's up!" Hiccup said as he saw the prosthetic flake away. "Let's see if this works."

Toothless dove and flew back to the Queen, right within eyeshot.

"Come on!" Hiccup taunted. "Is that the best you can do?!"

Toothless echoed him with a roar.

The Queen snapped at them, but it was easily dodged. Toothless dove back down, and the Queen was quick to follow.

"Stay with me buddy, we're good!" Hiccup said. Toothless had to assume it was about his tail. He could feel it chipping away, but he had no idea just how much damage was actually being done. "Just a little bit longer."

Toothless dove.

"Hold…"

The Queen roared.

"NOW!"

Toothless spun, and fired his last shot directly in the Queen's mouth. Her eyes widened as she realized what just happened. She wouldn't have any more time to react to it. Toothless veered right, and the Queen collided with the ground in a fiery explosion.

Toothless didn't have much time to react, either. He scaled up the body of the Queen Dragon, trying as best he could to avoid the talons and scales that still blocked his path. The explosion was getting closer.

He heard a chip, and he felt what remained of the prosthetic tailfin fall off.

"No…"

He glanced behind him slightly to see the damage, but when he turned back, he could see the Queen's club of a tail slowly closing in on them.

"NO!"

He tried as best as he could to dodge it, and he did get them out relatively unscathed. But that didn't stop the tail from hitting the saddle and knocking Hiccup off.

Toothless took a minute to reorient himself before he charged in. Straight back into the flames he went. Desperately, he tried everything he had to reach out to Hiccup, who was going straight into the fire.

All he could manage was grabbing him by the boot, and he held on with all that he had.

Once the flames had died and the smoke had cleared somewhat, Stoick was the first to charge in. Merida, Astrid, Rapunzel, and Jack were only slightly behind, and more behind them were the other Vikings. However, it was quickly apparent that there was nothing to rush over to. Toothless lay on the ground, curled up and whimpering as he breathed. Hiccup was nowhere to be found.

Stoick collapsed to the ground. "Oh, son," He said, in a voice barely audible. A voice too small for such a big man. "I did this."

A silence fell over the crowd. Each Viking respectfully dipped their heads. Merida froze. Part of her wanted to rush in there and do something, but she also realized that whatever she did would only hurt Stoick more. She tried to bury her tears in her dress sleeve, and when that failed, Jack carefully pulled her aside and let her cry in his chest.

Toothless gave out another whine as he came to. He studied the scene in front of him for a minute, and Merida could tell that he was trying to figure out what was going on. Once he was able to, he carefully rolled over and extended his wings. There was a figure inside.

"HICCUP!" Stoick scrambled to grab his son, and frantically started searching for a pulse. He eventually tossed his helmet off and held Hiccup up to his chest. A pause that felt like an eternity, then "HE'S ALIVE! YOU BROUGHT HIM BACK ALIVE!"

A cheer rang through the assembled crowd. Toothless, however, gave another grunt that sounded rather smug.


Hiccup woke up to something gently bashing against his face. He opened his eyes carefully, just barely making out the black figure in front of him. However, that black figure was unmistakable in its appearance. "Hey Toothless." He breathed, scaring himself by just how weak he sounded.

Once he realized he was awake, Toothless sprung, crawling over him and licking as much as his cheek as he possibly could. He moved one of his paws up, and Hiccup found himself in a world of pain. He sprung up and groaned, and he quickly realized where he was.

"I'm in my house…" He said dumbly. He glanced back to Toothless. "And you're in my house with me…"

Toothless sprung around like a rabbit, ignoring all the collateral damage he left in his wake. The memories of what happened quickly came back to Hiccup. Rapunzel's mother, the Queen Dragon, his dad finally forgiving him… "Does Dad know you're here?" He asked.

Toothless, however, ignored him, and contently went on his way jumping on everything.

"Oh, come on…" Hiccup sighed. He pulled himself back up and pulled off the blanket.

Oh.

Toothless sniffed at the prosthetic, simultaneously curious and sympathetic. Hiccup sighed deeply. Plenty of Vikings had lost appendages (just look at Gobber). If he had to choose something to lose in the battle, he was glad it was something as insignificant as a foot, and not a person.

But still, it was his foot.

Hiccup took a deep breath, and pulled himself up. Alright. Standing. So far so good. He took a shaky step forward.

Toothless caught him before he fell. Hiccup sighed. Carefully, Toothless pushed him back up and navigated right under his arm, acting like something of a crutch.

"Thanks, Toothless." Hiccup breathed. Slowly, the two hobbled over to the door. Hiccup pulled it open, and came face to face with a Monstrous Nightmare. He yelped and slammed the door shut.

"Alright. Toothless, stay here." He spun himself around and pulled the door open again.

Now he saw who was on the Monstrous Nightmare. Snoutlat, who was calling out to another group of mounted dragons. Hiccup gasped as he glanced around.

It was still Berk, but there were dragons. Dragons everywhere. But it wasn't a raid. It actually looked somewhat peaceful.

"I knew it." Hiccup said. "I'm dead."

He heard his father laughing before he saw him.

"No, but ya gave it your best shot." He said with a friendly slap on the shoulder. Or at least it would have been friendly, but Hiccup was already having a pretty hard time standing upright. Fortunately, Hiccup stopped himself from falling while his dad continued. "So, what do you think?"

"It's…" Hiccup tried. Perfect. Amazing. Everything he had ever wanted in Berk, and then some. But the actual words to form that sentence were lost on him. He figured the stunned expression on his face would have to suffice.

He let his father help him off the doorstep. Other Vikings noticed he was there, and soon quite a crowd formed around them.

"It turned out, all we needed was a little of this." Stoick said with a gesture.

"You just gestured to all of me." Hiccup said.

"Well, most of you." Gobber pointed out as he fought through the crowds. "That part's my own. With a little Hiccup-flair thrown in. So, what do you think?"

"Well," Hiccup waggled the prosthetic foot around as he analyzed it. "I might make a few tweaks."

This earned a laugh from the crowd. Hiccup felt a slug on his shoulder, and jumped forward.

"That's for making me worry." Astrid huffed.

"Oh, come on," Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Is it going to be like this all the time because—" She grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him. Hard.

He forgot what happened for a few seconds.

Hiccup stumbled back, seeking out anyone for some proper balance again. "I could get used to it."

Gobber handed him a set of equipment nearly as tall as he was. Instantly, Hiccup figured it out. A new tailfin prosthetic.

"That friend of yours with the short hair was quite insistent about the design." He said cheerfully.

He figured it out before Gobber had to tell him. Purple and gold, with a sun insignia.


Author's Note: Fun fact! That part with Valka wasn't in the original draft. That's because Valka wasn't a thing when I initially wrote this. Considering how well she fit into that scene, I thought I should add her in and foreshadow things to come. Speaking of foreshadowing things to come, this will have a sequel. I still don't have a complete outline but rest assured, Valka will show up for more than just a token mention.