Chapter 15: Release and Reveal
Twilight paced continually on the seastack. She was worried about her brother. Short term: he was captured and chained up in one of the dragon cells. Long term: he was changing.
She didn't know how her blood was affecting. And judging from his actions and calm, he didn't know either.
But he was getting an idea.
She watched the whole thing play out from her vantage point. Hiccup was so close to showing the village what he had learned. So close to gaining Hookfang's trust.
Then he just had to ruin it. Hookfang went wild as soon as he heard the hammer hit the bar. She was slightly concerned when he coated Javelin with his fire, but she knew her brother could take care of herself.
She had heard the signature scream of her species quickly followed by a small explosion. She saw Toothless for only a few seconds before someone tried to ambush him. He defended himself until he got pinned onto the ground.
Twilight wanted to swoop in at that moment and get everyone out, but she held herself back with much restraint.
'No matter what happens, don't come unless I call for you.'
She crept back to where they couldn't see her as the village left the arena, even though she was quite a ways from them. She stayed like that until several Berkians returned to the arena. When they came back out, they were hauling...
Toothless.
Okay, now she was extremely worried. Twilight watched the struggling group until they left her sight. Her eyes drifted over to the large mass of wood and sails clustered around the docks.
"Calm yourself, Twilight."
"Stay calm? They have Toothless!" After she said that, her fear and concern somewhat dissipated.
"Twi, I'm changing. I can already feel the scales climbing up my neck and spine." Her brother's voice held a hint of worry and pain.
"Javelin, I don't know why this is happening."
"I do. Or at least I think I do. It's my midi-chlorians: they're reacting to your dragon blood."
"What?"
"It's the only reasonable explanation. Now, we can't go after Toothless. Not yet, as much as it pains me to say it."
"Why? I can break you out an-"
"And attack the fleet where it sits. Sis, I can't risk losing you. Not like... our parents."
The memory flashed through both their minds. She quickly understood what her brother had said. He wouldn't stand watching her die and not being able to do anything about it.
She watched as the lead ships began to sail out of the harbor. There was only one reasonable destination.
Dragon Island.
Upon feeling the footsteps entering the ring, Javelin did his best to get onto his feet. He stretched as well as he could, what with his hands tied behind him and all.
"You heard them, too?" Hookfang asked.
"Of course, friend. I am part Night Fury after all," the man said, smiling beneath his helmet. "You can come now, Twilight."
"Finally!"
The door opened and both occupants looked outside. Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and the rest of the gang were waiting.
When Javelin stepped into the light, Fishlegs went nuts. "Oh my gods, he's real. The Legend of the Crimson Rider is true."
"Calm down, Fishlegs." Flapping wings were heard followed by the sound of something landing. Everyone looked to see a Night Fury running towards them, pupils wide.
Snotlout backed away. "Is that a..."
Hiccup answered his cousin, "Yes, that is a Night Fury."
"And my sister," Javeln said. He was knocked down by Twilight. "Aagh. Easy, sis. I'm tied up here."
"Sorry. Let me get those off of you." She got her brother up, then bit down on the chains.
"Uhh, do I see something wrong here?" Tuffnut asked.
"Pff. Yeah, it's your face," Ruffnut replied.
Fishlegs watched as the chains snapped off. "Oh, wow. That has got to be one of the most powerful bites of any dragon!"
Javelin chuckled, rubbing his wrists. "No, Gronckles are number one as far as I know. Speaking of which," he walked over to Meatlug's cage.
Meanwhile, Hiccup was coaxing Hookfang out of his cell. "It's okay." As the Nightmare walked out, Snotlout bent down to pick up a spear. He was immediately discouraged by Astrid.
The heir had already led Hookfang to Snotlout. He reached over and grabbed his hand. "Wait! What are yo-" he near yelled as his hand was lowered to the dragon's snout.
"Shh. It's okay." With that, Hiccup replaced his left hand with Snotlout's.
Snotlout went from fear to a bit of amazement as he rested his hand on Hookfang's nose. He noticed Hiccup walking towards a crate. "Where are you going?" his voice regaining some fear.
"You're going to need something to help you hang on." Hiccup pulled out some rope to show the teenagers. They looked behind them to see the rest of the training dragons.
"May I gladly introduce Meatlug..."
"Hello."
"Stormfly..."
"Hello."
"Barf and Belch..."
"Nice to-"
"-Meet you."
"Hookfang." Javelin looked at his shoulder to see a Terrible Terror poke his head out. "Sharpshot, and my dear sister, Twilight," he finished, hugging the Night Fury.
He reluctantly ended the embrace. "Now we just need find out who should go with who..."
The Viking warriors of Berk set up their weaponry and defenses. Several land-based catapults were already constructed, triple rows of stakes buried into the black ash. The siege weapons had just been loaded, ready to break down the stone walls of the volcanic stronghold.
Stoick was showing Spitelout, Gobber, and Phlegma his plan for breaching the mountain. The catapults would break the rock face open, allowing them to proceed. "When we crack this mountain open, all Hel is going to break loose."
"In my undies," Gobber let out. "Good thing I brought extras." Spitelout and Phlegma shook their heads in disgust.
Stoick got up. "No matter how this ends, it ends today." He brought his open left hand up, then closed it into a fist.
The catapults released their tension, flinging the boulders against the rock. Both cracked apart at the impact. Soon, the wall opened up to reveal a large, black tunnel.
Stoick was the first to climb to the entrance. All the rest waited on the beach. He motioned for a light with his warhammer.
The wooden shot was loaded, lit, and launched. It sailed through the air and through the tunnel, the flames showing hundreds and hundreds of dragons of all species coating the floor, walls, and ceiling. Soon enough, the light faded out of view.
With a roaring battle cry, the mass of Vikings attacked. Stoick charged into the entrance, swinging his hammer at the horde of attacking dragons. The others reached at the beasts with their weapons, trying to down them.
But they didn't attack. They all flew from the dormant volcano, completely ignoring the intruders. The dragons rose into the sky and were soon surrounded by fog.
Everyone could only stare at shock and wonder. The terrible beasts had them outnumbered at least five to one. So why did they leave instead of defending their home?
Spitelout cheered, "We've done it!" The warriors of Berk joined the second-in-command in celebration.
Except Stoick.
He saw the black devil that they used to lead them here shake against its chains in fear. It was as though it was trying to escape from...
"It's not over! Form your ranks, hold together!" he ordered as he turned to face the dark tunnel.
A loud roar blasted out of the passage and into the Vikings. Its force was powerful enough to push the boats back to the water several hundred meters away.
The stone floor began to crack open, the lines shooting towards Stoick. He backed away and yelled, "GET CLEAR!" He jumped down to the ground and ran to join the others. Boulders were pushed out of the volcano, making the tunnel larger.
A massive, blue dragon head rose and revealed itself, the skull filling the opening. Gobber stood in amazement. "Beard of Thor! What is that?" he asked Stoick, who had just approached.
The giant beast climbed out of the volcano, showing its size as it roared its might. Its mouth was sure to be large enough to eat a large group of Vikings in one bite, even with its man-sized teeth.
Stoick could only stare in horror. Now he knew what Hiccup was warning him about. "Odin help us." He and Gobber quickly fell back towards the rest of the village. "CATAPULTS!" he yelled.
The siege weapons launched their rocks against the queen's hide. The shots only irritated it, as was evidenced by another angry roar. The head knocked away the devices, ensuring their destruction.
With their strongest weaponry disabled, the Vikings ran in fear.
"Get to the ships!" someone yelled.
"No! No!" Stoick shouted, but it was too late. The beast breathed a huge river of fire at the beached vessels, coating all of them in flames. The Vikings aboard immediately jumped ship to avoid or douse the fires licking at their bodies. Everyone on land scattered to the sides.
"Smart, that one," Gobber said, following the chief.
"I was a fool," Stoick responded. He caught up to his brother. "Take everyone to the far side of the island."
Spitelout nodded. "Right. Everyone to the far side of the island! Let's go!" He ran off to lead the mob.
The chief went back to Gobber. "Gobber, go with the men."
"I think I'll stay in case you're planning something crazy."
He raised his hand toward the blacksmith. "I can buy them a few minutes if I give that thing something to hunt."
Gobber grabbed Stoick's hand and held it firm against his own. "Then I can double that time."
With renewed vigor, Stoick charged the giant queen. He grabbed a stake and threw it at the head. It hit, causing the beast to concentrate on the bravehardy man. "Come on, fight ME!" he taunted.
"NO! Fight me!" Gobber challenged, diverting the dragon's attention between the two. It refocused on Stoick and reared its head back to launch another blast of fire...
On one of the nearby seastacks, two figures, one a human, the other a dragon, watched the ridiculously one-sided battle below. They both were covered in gray, allowing observation with impunity.
The man wore an armor suit like that of his brothers-in-arms. The plates rested on a black undersuit that had to try to show itself. The smoky-black visor stared as the Vikings below cracked the volcano open.
The dragon next to him did the same, her eyes like the sky burning through her fog-colored body. Her species' coloration stayed monochrome, the scales showing as white, black, gray, and all the shades in between. But the eyes could be almost any color, although blue, green, and gold were the most prominent.
Down below, the nest's inhabitants fled the rapidly growing wrath of their queen. A cheer was carried through the air, but was quickly silenced as the rocks broke apart.
The Queen of Dragon Island revealed herself and attacked the mob of intruders. The catapults were thrown away, followed by the sight of flames biting away at the fleet of ships.
Even though they could have helped at the beginning, their mission was clear: keep an eye on Dragon Island. Observe only. With the exception of a few others, this duo was the best one for the job. Well... shift, really.
And besides, the village of Berk was hostile to dragons.
They watched from the edges of the fog as the Vikings split into two groups, running away from the terror. Two stayed valiantly behind to distract the beast as long as possible.
They looked at each other with worry. They knew.
But orders were orders.
(AN) - Hey, guys. I just finished writing Chapter 17, so I though I might as well post 15. Thank you for reading, everyone, and I hope you have a good day/night.
Once again, thank you for your reviews, andipose169. Don't let him be the only one giving support, guys.
A warm smile to everyone who knows or guesses who the two beings at the end are...