Chapter Nine
The Foxes Hunt the Hounds
Astrid finally plucked up the courage to venture outside of her house some hours later, when night had fallen. She wasn't sure what to expect. The village had by now been cleaned up entirely, the few injured treated by Gothi. She ran straight into Hiccup, who was wearing the tunic and the vest, and had a green Terror draped over his shoulders.
"You're wearing it!" Astrid was half-speaking, half-singing. Hiccup grinned.
"I left the spare boot in my house though. I'll let that one slip."
"Oh my gods," Astrid reeled. How had she missed that? How had Toffa missed that? They had given him TWO BOOTS. He only had ONE FOOT. "I am so, so sorry!" she stammered, face burning.
"That's fine. Really," he reassured her. "And thank you. You wouldn't believe how darn uncomfortable it is to have those stupid metal shoulder guards on all day. Either they're freezing cold from the snow or they're roasting hot from the sun. I'm guessing you didn't make it yourself?"
"You considered the possibility I did?" She made a face. "Hiccup, I can't sew, any more than Mildew can spend a day without complaining."
"Exactly. I rest my case. But enough of that; we need to find the others. Sharpshot just arrived. Drago's on his way."
o~0~O~0~o
"Ruffnut, Tuffnut! Get over here!"
"Idris! Meet us by the well,"
"Gobber! Find Grump and follow us!"
The Night Fury and the Nadder swooped over Berk, their riders calling to the various people below them. Once each of the other riders had been found, they located Stoick and landed in front of him.
"Thor Almighty!" yelped Stoick as Tuffnut and Ruffnut nearly landed on top of him. "Hiccup? What's this about?"
"Drago," Hiccup said promptly, sliding out of the saddle. His prosthetic squeaked as it hit the ground. "I sent out my Terror, Sharpshot, and I taught him to find me when he starts hearing the Bewilderbeast. It's heading this way, and it'll be here around an hour before dawn."
Stoick's eyebrows lowered dangerously.
"You lot get in your armour and find your weapons. I'll organise the village."
He ran towards the village, in the direction of the Big Drums. Hiccup slumped.
"I just took the armour off…" he muttered before straightening.
"Alright. All of you, make sure you've got all your equipment. Weapons, masks if you have them, and Gobber, make sure you have more than one weapon on you. Idris, get your leg straps; there'll be a lot of dangerous flying involved here; we don't want you falling off. Snorri, grab a spare quiver of arrows from the armoury. Astrid, there are some spare axes there too; you might need them."
He fired off commands and Astrid climbed onto Stormfly's back and took off just as Stoick began beating the drums. The villagers all looked around simultaneously, and decades of practice had them trooping towards the square outside the Mead Hall. Snorri and Fiske were right behind her; their sea-dragon wasn't quite as slow as they had made out. Stormfly landed and skidded to a stop, pebbles flying into the air as her tail swung around. Astrid leaped to the ground and shoved the armoury doors open. She zeroed in on the axes; she plucked each of the double-headed ones from the wall before choosing her spare. Snorri had picked out another quiver and a spare bow and Fiske was sliding the tiniest of knives into his boots.
"I know a few tricks," he said, noticing her glance. They returned to their dragons, and Fiske pulled out a length of rope and tied Astrid's two axes to either side of Stormfly's saddle. The dragon shook her wings impatiently as Astrid climbed up the scaly blue leg and wrapped her hands around the leather grips on the saddle. Stormfly lifted off, and the Nadder flapped her way over the village to find Toothless. The dragon was waiting outside Hiccup's house; as Astrid landed heavily he emerged from the house in his armour and mask once again.
"And now we wait;" he told her. The dragons took up positions on the tall spire above Berk, watching carefully through the darkness. Below them; the villagers shifted uneasily. Open combat they could understand; this waiting made them all jumpy and nervous.
Hiccup was shivering as a fine snow began drifting downwards. Astrid couldn't blame him. It was only Stormfly's boiling hot scales that were keeping her warm. Gobber was obsessively changing his prosthetic hand every few moments; there was a squeak as he unscrewed an axe and replaced it with a hammer. Idris was clutching her strange sword-spear weapon tightly, knuckles white, while Valka rattled her staff uneasily on the ground. Even Snotlout was twitchy, jumping every time a snowflake landed on his neck. Hel, even the twins were silent. They kept looking at each other nervously, like they knew exactly how this might turn out. Astrid gulped.
In a few hours, any number of the Vikings and dragons gathered here might be dead, completely gone from Midgard forever. She shuddered as, unbidden, an image of a smoking battlefield entered her head, Hiccup sprawled in the middle of it. She shook her head to clear it, but the haunting image remained. She cursed her vivid imagination; it seemed so darn real; from the blank look in his eyes to the little trail of blood from the corner of his mouth. She wrapped her arms around herself, rocking slightly in the saddle, and stared at Hiccup.
He's fine. He'll be fine. He beat this Red Death, as everyone's calling it, surely Drago's no threat to him, right? He'll be fine.
Hiccup raised an eyebrow, still shivering violently.
"What's up with you?"
She cursed silently.
"Pre-battle jitters," she lied brutally. Hiccup looked unconvinced but accepted the explanation. She kept nervously checking every few moments to see if Hiccup was still there. It was stupid, she knew, but that image was terrifying.
Then there was a screech and suddenly Snotlout was thrown off of his Nightmare as it abruptly threw itself skywards and streaked off to the southwest. Snotlout stood up, bemused.
"Hookfang!" he yelled.
"Ha, he can't even keep the dragon under control," Tuffnut laughed, before his head of the Zippleback stiffened and threw him off, Ruffnut landing on top of him.
"What?" Ruffnut yelped as the Zippleback streaked after Hookfang.
Hiccup's eyes widened.
"Oh gods," he said, with a look of horrified discovery. "Everyone, get off the dragons, now!"
Astrid hesitated for a second before retrieving the two axes and jumping off of Stormfly. The Nadder was twitching, and her pupils were uncontrollably dilating and widening. Idris was fumbling with her leg straps and only just got clear of Stormcleaver's back before the Grapple Grounder flew after Hookfang and the Zippleback. The dragon's tail whipped around and Idris cried out as she was knocked over the precipice. Astrid only just managed to grab her and pulled her back onto the solid ground.
"What's going on?" yelped Fiske as Thunder jerked. He leaped to the ground and ducked under the Seashocker's huge flailing wing. Snorri slid down the other wing as the sea-dragon took off. Stormfly let out a pained screech, tail thrashing. Toothless was shaking, roaring like someone was shooting at him and his head was low to the ground. Valka swung free of her own saddle.
"Cloudjumper, stay with us, come on," she pleaded, but it was like the great orange reptile… couldn't hear her?
"Hiccup," Astrid said, comprehension dawning. "Alpha dragons… do they have some sort of control over their dragons?"
Hiccup's prosthetic had jammed in the stirrup, twisted at the wrong angle, but after one tug Hiccup realised and gave it up, opting instead to cover Toothless' eyes.
"Come on, bud. Block it out!"
"HICCUP!" Astrid yelled. He turned to look at her, a tortured expression on his face.
"Yes! They do!" he cried. "You can do it, bud! Don't listen!"
Toothless' ear plates were shivering, and Hiccup bent his elbows to cover them. Behind them, Fishlegs was struggling to control his Gronckle, but it zoomed away after the others, along with Cloudjumper and Gobber's Hotburple. Hiccup tore off the scarf he wore around his neck and tied it around Toothless' eyes.
"Do you trust me, bud?" he asked. The dragon stilled for a moment, then made a soft cooing sound.
"That's it, Toothless!"
Gustav's Nightmare fluttered off, leaving the young teen alone. Stormfly finally stopped struggling and flew dazedly after the other dragons. Astrid turned to Hiccup.
"Why's Toothless not reacting?" she asked, unable to hide the panic in her voice.
"Because I trust him to do what's right. If he follows the Alpha, then he knows I'll die. So he's fighting it,"
And then Astrid saw it. There was a flock of dragons all flying together towards Berk, beneath them a group of boats. There were far fewer boats than she had expected. On top of a gargantuan white, bony beast that Gobber yelled obscenities at was the dark outline of a man, who let out a terrifying roar.
At first Astrid was unable to comprehend the sheer size of the monstrous dragon breaking the surface of the waves around Berk, knocking one of the carved statues into the ocean. She saw the gargantuan tailfin and thought it was a wing; saw a toe and thought it the whole foot. It was only when she looked at the eye that she realised.
"Thor protect us all," she whispered in terror. The Bewilderbeast was the single biggest thing she had seen in her life.
"I'm not Thor," said a voice beside her, "but I'll do my best."
Astrid caught Hiccup's arm and gestured to the stranded dragon riders.
"What do we do?" she asked.
"Take them to fight with the ground fighters. Put Idris with Gothi to help the injured; she'll only join them if she fights. Tell Dad what's happened and for Thor's sake make sure he doesn't come after me!"
And then the blindfolded Night Fury took off, a great gust of wind blowing back Astrid's hair.
"Go," she whispered.
o~0~O~0~o
She skidded straight into Stoick's voluminous stomach, panting.
"What's happened?" the chief asked.
Astrid sucked in breath.
"TheAlphahascontroloverthedragonsandHiccuphastofightitalone!" she said far too fast.
"Slow down, say it again," Stoick commanded.
Astrid panted and repeated herself.
"The Alpha has control over the dragons and Hiccup has to fight it alone!"
Stoick paled.
"Odin help us," he whispered. The boats drew close and almost a hundred Vikings poured over the sides. Above them, Drago leaped from his dragon onto the Bewilderbeast's head, and immediately the dragon he had been riding zeroed in on Gobber. The smith roared a battle cry and swung his hammer into its head. Astrid had just enough time to see Gobber tumble as the dragon snapped at him, and hear the sharp crack of bone, then the horde of Vikings was on them, and Astrid lost one axe within seconds. Hefting the one Hiccup had made for her, she yelled furiously and swung it into another Viking's chest. Above them, Hiccup was looping circles around the Bewilderbeast, Toothless firing jets of plasma at its head. The huge dragon roared in fury, a jet of ice pouring from its gaping maw. It missed and fell upon the Vikings below, and Astrid gasped as she saw Mulch frozen into the ice.
Stoick was fighting like a demon; his hammer in one hand and his sword in the other. A Viking came at him from behind; without hesitation Astrid hurled her axe at him and it took him high in the chest. She dashed over and pulled it free. Stoick grunted thanks and brought his hammer down on another opponent.
Astrid heard Snorri let out a wordless cry of fear, and her vision tunnelled; Fiske fell backwards holding his arm, and his opponent leered and lifted his spiked mace high. Astrid let out a feral roar and, using her current opponent exactly like she had used the wooden barriers in dragon training, flipped overhead and brought her axe down on the man's head. Fiske stood up shakily, holding his left arm, which hung at an awkward angle.
"Get to Idris and Gothi," she ordered, and fell back into the fray. Above, the Bewilderbeast let out another roar and huge spikes of ice broke apart buildings. Stoick was so close that he had to tear off his fur cloak, the ends of which had become frozen in the glacier. Astrid looked up. Hiccup had dodged the last blast by the skin of his teeth, and he abruptly switched direction, swooping back towards Drago on the Bewilderbeast's head. He suddenly slid free of the saddle, and for a moment Astrid's breath caught in her throat before she realised that he had tied a long rope to Toothless' saddle. Astrid was so fixated on the fight she almost lost a hand to a huge swordsman in front of her. She smacked him with her axe and ducked out of the way, still watching the skies above. The Night Fury was gliding, the tailfin locked, and Hiccup had drawn Inferno. Before Drago could react, Hiccup clicked the end and a huge cloud of Zippleback gas burst out. Toothless then shot downwards, away from the cloud. Hiccup let go of the rope and for one heart-stopping moment he was motionless in mid air, then he sparked the gas and dropped three feet, landing neatly in Toothless' saddle and clicking his peg back in. The Zippleback gas exploded violently, and Astrid flinched and nearly dropped her axe. Drago was thrown from the Bewilderbeast's head, and he crashed onto the huge right tusk. His left arm seemed to suddenly fall off, and bounced off the tusk, crashing into several of Drago's men below.
Astrid was suddenly thrown backwards, her axe torn from her grip, and she cursed her inattentiveness. A hulking Viking was leaning over her, a hammer in his beefy hand, and she rolled to the side as he brought the hammer down. She tried to kick his leg out from under him, but it was planted solidly on the ground. He lifted the hammer again and Astrid squeezed her eyes shut.
Great Odin's ghost, this is it, she thought. I'll watch over Hiccup even if the Valkyries have to drag me away by the ankle.
And then she heard the man gurgle, and opened her eyes to see a bright blade protruding from his ribs. It was withdrawn and the man fell backwards.
Toffa the seamstress grinned.
"Don't let your boyfriend down," she said, holding out a hand. "Getting yourself killed would make him mad. But who am I to intervene when the needles of Fate start clicking?"
Astrid took Toffa's hand and pulled herself to her feet.
"'Needles of Fate'?" she questioned, retrieving her axe. Toffa shrugged.
"You can't expect me to come up with brilliance all the time," the seamstress said. "Now get back in that fight!"
And so she did. Astrid swung her axe at another Viking, one of the few left standing. And when he dropped she had a perfectly clear view of Drago hurling his bull hook like a javelin and taking Hiccup high in the chest.